Now that I was standing in front of the tree building, there was no doubt that this was a shrine of sorts that was dedicated to Drebann.

The reason for that was the fact that there were various carvings of him etched on the wood of the tree including several sculptures that were chiselled out of the wood depicting the god himself amongst several other figures I don't recognise.

Though now I have a question…

I turned to Minnera who was still accompanying me, "Ermm… It seems like this is a shrine dedicated to Drebann… Where would you pray to Ralaie?"

She pointed to the side and I shifted my gaze to realize there was a smaller tree beside the big one that also looked like a shrine except it didn't have the carvings of Drebann.

This one looked like it was just a generic shrine where people could go to pray to the other gods instead of just Drebann.

I guess she will be going there later after we check out the big shrine first.

We entered through the grand arches underneath two giant carvings of Drebann that looked like he was welcoming all the visitors into his temple.

Inside the tree, however, was a large hollowed out space where a single statue of Drebann had been erected.

No, wait… It actually looked like the Trasifs had carved their way into the tree, then carved out this statue before hollowing out the interior to form this hollow space.

Around the statue were several altars where people could pray to him but I caught sight of another doorway at the back so I walked around the statue to see where that doorway led to.

I then quickly realized there was another path that led directly towards the Tree of Life where another grand doorway was carved with intricate details and decorations that paid tribute to Drebann.

Seems like the Trasifs really like him.

I opted to follow the path towards the Tree of Life itself and when I stepped inside, it was revealed that they had created a chapel dedicated to worshipping Drebann inside it.

Inside, there were quite a number of Trasifs that were in the midst of praying to him and while the previous tree also had people praying, the Trasifs here seem to be wearing more elaborate looking robes as compared to everyone else here.

I idly wondered if there was also some kind of class separation here where they decide who is able to pray at which shrine.

Well, I didn't need to wonder for long because one of those Trasifs approached us with a rather stern look on her face.

"I'm sorry…But this place is only for the priestesses of Drebann. Outsiders are not allowed in here. Outsiders are restricted to the other shrine outside."

"Oh sorry… I didn't see a sign outside nor did anyone stop us from approaching here," I explained.

I was going to turn back around and leave but Minnera had other ideas and stepped in front of me, "Is there a reason why this place is restricted? This is a shrine dedicated to God Drebann is it not? Why are there restrictions on who is allowed to pray here?"

The Trasif shifted her gaze to my Commissar lover, "This is the tree that God Drebann has sprouted specifically to protect us. We cannot risk outsiders harming this tree and only trusted people are allowed to be here. Unfortunately, outsiders do not fall in that category."

"In that case, you should know that your God trusts us more than you."

Minnera… Why are you causing a kerfuffle?

The Trasif priestess obviously wasn't amused by Minnera's words and narrowed her eyes, "What are you trying to imply here?"

"I am not implying anything. I am merely stating a fact. I will not have you disrespect my muse like that."

Wait… Is that it? You aren't happy that I was deemed unworthy or something and that's why you're doing this? I think that's a little unnecessary, Minnera… It's not like I don't understand why they have to take that precaution to begin with…

And besides… I could just pray outside to meet with Drebann anyway, there's no need for me to specifically pray here…

The Trasif opened her mouth to speak again, only to gape when Minnera suddenly made her Commissar wings appear behind her back, flaring it to show them off to the Trasif.

E… Eh?! Minnera?! What are you doing?! Why are you showing off now?!

My lover crossed her arms, "A mere priestess dares to tell me where we are allowed and not allowed to go within one of the God's domains? You are not worthy."

The Trasif immediately lowered her head, "My… My deepest apologies… I did not know! Please forgive me!"

Umm… I know there's this thing about Comissars being servants of the gods or something but I didn't think the Trasif priestess would react like that…

I mean… Minnera isn't even serving Drebann but Ralaie instead so… Why does the Trasif need to show such deference?

Is there some kind of dynamic between Comissars and the priests and priestesses of these temples that I don't know about?

Maybe this is something like some random bottom rung employee of a company telling an upper rank management staff what they should or should not do?

Sounds like internal politics to me so I decided not to ask.

Minnera still left her wings out and turned to me, nodding at me to go ahead and enter the shrine.

At this point, all the other Trasifs had seen what happened back there and had also stepped aside, allowing us to approach the giant altar at the end of the shrine.

I don't know how they did it, but there was light filtering in from somewhere that made the area in front of the altar glow so whoever was praying in front of it would be bathed with light, making it look quite ethereal.

As I was getting ready to take position in front of the altar to pray, Minnera immediately went to the side to set up her easel and canvas to start painting.

Ok… That explains everything…

She wanted to paint a picture of me praying in this specific location which was why she fought with the priestess to get us in here…

Should have seen that coming…

Katsuki also went ahead to lay a cloth in front of the altar for me to sit down before I closed my eyes to meditate, praying to Drebann in my mind.

I felt myself flying for a moment before my stomach lurched and I found myself falling.

As suddenly as that feeling came, it disappeared and I was standing on solid ground once more.

I cracked open an eye and I found myself standing in a forest clearing with Drebann laying on a bench chair and wearing his usual Hawaiian shirt and giving me a wave.

"Hey Aster~ I didn't think I would see you so soon~ Here to visit?" He chuckled before he tilted his head at me. "Ah, I see you've reached the Tree of Life! How do you like it?"

I blinked for a moment, "Ah, it's really nice. Did you really make that tree?"

"Hmm… Do you want the real truth or do you want the truth that everyone believes?"

"Erm… The real truth?"

"Nah, the tree was something that all the gods made together. I did not do it myself. But it is a fact that I made use of it to channel my divinity to provide a safe haven for the Trasifs after Immana had cast them out from her protection."

"What about the city? They said you grew the city out for them?"

"Oh yeah, that one's true. In fact, I took some ideas from your World and grew the trees into the shape of buildings just to see what it would look like. I would admit I was just trying it out as an experiment and not something I did intentionally for the Trasifs. Still, it worked out because they figured out how to replicate the feat as well and grow trees into that shape with their magic."

"Eh? But the trees in the other town don't grow like that?"

"That's because they don't want to cut down the existing trees within the forest. For this area, there's still space under the Tree of Life so they can grow more trees and shape them however they want but not in other places."

I scratched my cheek, "Doesn't this mean that the Trasifs have the buildings that look the most 'modern' when compared to my old World?"

"In a way, yes~ That is if you ignore the fact that they are all made of wood of course. They are actually the first people to live in high rise buildings, ironically. Pretty cool right?"

Yeah… I would agree that is pretty cool.

He then sat up from the chair and leaned forward, "So what do you need from me this time? You're here for something again, aren't you?"

"Eh? Oh, not at all. You said I could just come here and hang out so…. That's why I'm here."

"Oh! Why didn't you say so! Come on in then! I have some--"

There was a sudden rip in space and a particular lewd goddess jumped out wearing nothing but a rope bondage.

"Asterrrrrr!! Your favourite sex Goddess is here!!"

…

Hello Hiandoca…

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