This is how I found myself in the middle of the largest and most crowded street I have ever seen.

  No, not a typical street! It's more like a cobblestone roundabout that links three major roads.

  "Did I do it? Am I in a new world? Is there magic in here?" I whispered to myself.

  At first glance, the people surrounding me looked all human. I couldn't see elves, dwarves, or other generic mythological creatures. I was almost disappointed until I noticed that the people disappeared after they reached a certain point in the street, while others appeared from thin air. The same thing was happening on the two other streets.

  "Is this some kind of magical portal?" I almost jumped with joy.

  "I knew it! It is a magical world!"

  When I started my study, I knew that if I were ever able to perform magic, getting Isekai'ed was high on the list. My theory was that our world had a belief-based magic system that slowly died out when people stopped believing. Creating a fireball under my world's magical rules would be tough because no one believes it could be done. I tried to prove passive magic, like blessings and curses, since people still subconsciously believe in those things. On the other hand, active magic is only alive in our myths, fairy tales, and fantasy stories, with Isekai being a famous rendition. Even scientists strongly believe in the possibility of other worlds. That's why I was prepared.

  Step one of getting Isekai'ed: don't draw attention to yourself.

  I don't think I stand out too much with my long, dark hair and average height. There are plenty of people with similar builds, although I noticed some people with what I could only call anime hair colours. Some others had esoteric skin tones and textures. My white blouse and black jeans are unique, but I am not the only one with special clothes.

  "Oh my god! Does that man have a tail!? A tail!" I gasped.

  Focus, Alice! Don't draw attention by being over-excited.

  Next step: Check the language.

  Damn it! I can't understand anything that is said around me. It would have been convenient if everyone could speak English or another Earth language. Having translation abilities from the start is also a popular trope in Isekai; no luck there either. Learning the language from scratch will take me at least three months. This leads to step three: Find help!

  "I also need to start moving. This is a busy street, and I am starting to attract attention by being the only one standing still."

  I had three options since there was a portal at the end of each street of this three-way roundabout.

  "Where to go... Where to go..." I whispered to myself. "Those portals looked like a canvas with the screenshot of the road when it was empty; no wonder I thought that people appeared from thin air."

  Focus, Alice! I will study the portal in detail later.

  The first portal looked like it led to a wealthy residential area; the most finely dressed people were heading that way.

  The second portal looked like it was full of official-looking buildings.

  You know, the kind of building with the front gate half as big as the front fa?ade.

  A lot of people with weapons and armour were going there.

  The third portal looked like the start of a market street. People heading that way were similar to those going to the second portal. "It's not like I can't return here if necessary. I will go to the market first."

  I followed a group of women heading toward the market portal when I noticed something: one-tenth of the women around me had exposed shoulder blades, and most had modest clothing despite the exposed skin on their backs.

  "Do they have wings, or is it something else?" I thought to myself. No man seemed to have similar fashion choices, although topless men were a valid fashion statement in this world. Most of those women, including the ones ahead of me, were heading toward the market portal. Maybe I should follow them and see where they are going.

  I noticed other patterns of similarity between other clusters of people, people with cyan hair colour, people over 2.5 meters tall, and one insect-looking creature that was so alien there was no way they were related to humans in any way, shape, or form. None of those patterns seemed as promising as the one with exposed shoulder blades, so I followed the one ahead of me.

  I would focus on studying the people once food and shelter were secured. I almost jumped when the woman in front of me disappeared. I tried to stop to examine the portal, but I got pushed by the crowd. I found myself behind the same woman in a crowded market area without anything feeling unusual. Behind me was an empty roundabout that looked exactly like the one I was standing on. I started moving faster so I wouldn't get in the way of people exiting the portal. Observing my surroundings revealed food vendors everywhere. The smell was fantastic. It reminded me that it was past dinner time when I got Isekai'ed, but now it seemed like noon.

  "I am going to suffer from jet lag for sure. Or is it teleport lag?" I sighed.

  After twenty minutes of walking and quietly observing the goods in the market, I noticed the women exiting the main street and heading toward a relatively extensive road. I turned to follow them when I stumbled on my ultimate destination.

  "This is it! This is definitely a temple."

  Nowadays, people forget that religion was made to govern the masses and teach the conceived good etiquette and rules. Religion often defines what's wrong and right, so as long as the belief in this temple is not predatory and I don't do anything outrageous that offends local sensibilities, I should receive some help here.

  This is my best bet! I hope to make friends with a charitable soul who would help me until I can repay them. I am not lacking money since I can sell stuff once I overcome the language barrier. But for now, I have to survive on human decency.

  I stayed on the side of the street and observed the building for half an hour to get a general feel of that religion. The building seemed to be a cross between Christian and Muslim architecture, with stained glass and murals depicting people, combined with domes and mosaics with geometrical shapes. It was a medium-sized building, more extensive than a country church but not as big as a castle. At the front gate, there was a big jar filled with sand, or what looked like sand. Everyone held a handful of it, put it close to their heart, and then disposed of it in another jar before entering.

  Hum… this seemed like a prayer of some sort. Damn it! This complicates things. Does that mean I should do the same? Or is it a faux pas to partake in the ritual as a nonbeliever?

  If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  Almost every person going in was human-looking, which I assumed meant it was a human religion. I only noticed one person enter who looked non-human; they were made of rocks, and even they used the sand ritual.

  I stayed there observing the temple for a good hour when a regal woman in her early thirties with long wavy blond hair and piercing blue eyes, wearing a white robe, exited the front door and started heading my way.

  Shit, did I get noticed? She seems to be an important person. Am I in trouble?

  "Shit, what do I do?" I panicked as the woman drew near me.

  "Anliha na hnka." She said in a language that I didn't understand.

  "Hello!" I said in English while raising my hand in the universal wave.

  "Salut!" I repeated in French while making the same gesture.

  "Konichiwa!" I blurted in Japanese, sounding more desperate.

  "Salam a likoum?" I greeted in Arabic, sounding almost like a question.

  "Salve! Geia sas! Nǐ hǎo!" I rapidly fired my greeting in Latin, Greek, and Chinese!

  "I am sorry, my lady, it looks like I have run out of languages... Was that even remotely helpful?"

  The woman frowned in confusion.

  Well shit! I am out of luck.

  "Aba na," said the woman with a reassuring smile. She gently held my hand and guided me toward the temple.

  I decided to remain silent and follow her. Despite her robes being super modest, behind her long blond hair, I noticed that she still had the two open windows that showed her shoulder blades.

  We skipped the sand ritual as we entered the temple. The walls were covered with depictions of another blond woman in shining silver armour, sometimes glowing with golden light, other times riding a majestic white horse. There was even a depiction of people kneeling to her. In the middle of the temple, people were sitting on chairs reading books or talking to each other, and some were even napping. The back was covered with a rug where people were doing some sport. Others were meditating with their eyes closed, and others were also napping.

  "I like it. It seems very relaxed here," I smiled to myself.

  At the front of the temple was a chair facing the people, some bookshelves, and a door leading to an office, which was our destination.

  Inside the office, a slightly tanned teenage girl with shoulder-length blond hair and lime-coloured eyes sat on a sofa with her hand glowing over a bowl of sand. The lady accompanying me, whom I labelled "priestess" in my head, said something to her, and the girl stood up and got a book and a needle from a drawer next to the front desk.

  They both looked at me and smiled. I did not smile! I didn't like the look of that needle.

  The priestess took the book and opened it to a specific page. The younger girl grabbed my hand and placed it on the open book. She suddenly poked my thumb with the needle.

  What are they doing? Are they taking my soul or something evil?

  Shit, shit, shit, shit! I made a mistake coming here.

  I noticed that my drop of blood was moving on top of the book and…

  "Holy shit! That's my name!" I shouted.

  My blood turned into my name written in English, not some bizarre fantasy script... No, just plain English.

  "Can you understand me now?" asked the priestess.

  "Woah! What the... Yes, yes, I do understand you. How is that possible?" I said, dumbfounded.

  "You look surprised. Have you never seen a Soulbook before? I thought those were getting available everywhere," smiled the priestess.

  Then I noticed a glow emanating from the younger girl. She was still holding my hand. When the light dissipated, I saw that the small wound in my thumb was completely gone.

  "Healing magic," I muttered.

  "Not magic; it's called a Miracle. Magic is the power of the followers of the old gods. We who believe in the Holy are blessed with Miracles," the priestess corrected in a lecturing tone.

  "Oh! Sorry! I meant no offence. I hope you understand that every wrong word I utter is born of ignorance and not malice," I panicked.

  "Hahaha! Don't worry, young lady. I am not offended. I hope my lecture didn’t make you feel like you can’t talk to me freely. I am Sana Lightmoon, head cleric of this temple."

  "Hi, I am Alice A… I am Alice, just Alice. Nice to meet you." I stopped myself from revealing my family name. Stuff like full names could be dangerous in some magical systems; better not risk it.

  "So, Alice, why don’t you sit down and tell me how someone who can speak neither Common nor Holy got here? Even your greeting differed from any other language I’ve heard before."

  "Yeah, I am sorry. I think I came from far away. I am not sure how. I was talking with a friend when I found myself here. I think I got teleported," I said as I sat down on the sofa.

  "Teleported?" gasped the younger girl. "That's rare! I heard that some of the Bloodlines have innate teleportation, but most of the Elemental Bloodlines speak Common."

  "I am sorry, I don't even know where I’m from. I was in a small village before I got here. I don't even know if I’m from the bloodlines or not. Can you tell me where we are?"

  "Yes, of course! This is Hano; it's the city that controls the rift gate between the Elemental bloodlines Realm and the Contested Realm. This temple of the Holy, our people originate from the Mythic Realm. Does anything I said seem familiar to you?"

  "Sorry, never heard of any of this. What's a realm?"

  "Realms are livable worlds, and rifts sometimes connect them," said the younger girl.

  "We are now in the Contested Realm; it's the one with the most rifts," said the priestess.

  "How many realms are there?" I asked.

  "Six," said the girl. "The Contested Realm, the Mythic Realm, the Elemental bloodlines Realm, the Soul Realm, the Kindred Realm, and finally, the Dreaming Realm."

  "Seven," corrected the cleric. "You forgot the Sealed Realm."

  "Does it even exist? I never heard of anyone going there."

  "For all we know, Alice could have come to us from the Sealed Realm," smiled Sana.

  They looked at me expectantly.

  "I am sorry. I wouldn’t know even if I was from the Sealed Realm."

  "Figures," sighed the younger girl. "Do you have any powers like Fire or Light?"

  "No... Sorry, I don’t think I do," I replied.

  "So you're not from the bloodlines, for sure! Everyone of them is born with powers," the girl responded enthusiastically.

  "Vena! Don’t go chattering without introducing yourself!" reprimanded the priestess.

  "Oh, sorry! I’m Vena. I help out around here. I hope to become a cleric too."

  "And clerics have healing pow... I mean, Miracles, right?"

  Vena nodded.

  "Can they cure disease, too?" I asked.

  "Yes, they do," said the priestess. "Are you sick? You don’t look sick."

  "Ah! Sorry, I wouldn’t say I’m sick, but I heard that people living in isolated areas could hold insignificant diseases at home. Those diseases could cause plagues elsewhere."

  "Plagues! I see. I never heard of that. How sure are you about this?" said the cleric.

  "I’m pretty sure about this. I’m not an expert, but I do possess some medical knowledge."

  "I see… You know, the Lady often says never to reject wisdom from strangers. I will hit you with my strongest healing Miracle," said the priestess.

  "Make sure also to heal yourself and Vena. You were next to my blood, and blood spreads disease the fastest." As I said that, a glow emanated from Sana, covering the room. It was the best feeling ever. Better than any massage after a long soak in the onsen. I even felt the sweat and grime disappear from my body.

  "Wow! You didn’t take half-measures," said Vena.

  "Do you have a place to stay?" said the priestess, looking exhausted.

  "No, I’m sorry... I was hoping to ask for help in that regard," I said shyly.

  "That’s okay! You look like a good girl. You can stay with the older orphans for a couple of days. We will talk again later, especially about your medical knowledge."

  "Thank you. I am in your debt." I bowed.

  "Can I take the rest of the day to show her around?" asked Vena.

  "Sure, why not?" said the priestess. "And Alice, I am compelled to tell you that if you hurt any children, we have a Crusader on call that would hunt you."

  "What!"

  …That was not ominous at all…

  Here is an illustration that depict Lady Laurel the most important person in the Holy faith.