Dragged to Another World… and I Took the Goddess with me!

"Where did I get this hat?" Finn repeated, adjusting it slightly.

"Yes. That's what I asked," the knight said dryly. "Or are you going to go back to telling me how insufferable you are?"

"Well damn, sorry. I didn't know it bothered you that much."

"Then don't trauma dump strangers the second you meet them."

"Fair." Finn gave a small, guilty nod.

"Well? Where'd you get it?"

"I got it from one of the wizard towers. They gave it to me as a gift for my good works."

"How long have you had it?"

Finn fiddled with the brim proudly. "Couple days now, give or take."

The knight stared at him for a moment, then suddenly gestured toward the chief woman. "Is it just me, or is she checking you out?"

"Huh?" Finn followed the gesture—only to see the woman across the hall staring him down like a predator stalking a zebra. Her gaze was unblinking, hungry.

"What the hell…" Finn muttered, unsettled.

She winked. Licked her lips. Again.

Finn recoiled slightly. Not this circus again.

And then—his head suddenly felt lighter. Too light.

He blinked forward. The knight was gone.

Finn's hand shot to his head, and the truth hit him like divine punishment. His eyes went wide. "That mother—!"

He shot to his feet, bolting through the dining hall.

"Why can't I get a break!?" he yelled, shoving past knights like a man possessed.

Not far ahead, the knight-turned-thief dashed, shoving soldiers aside. One knight's stew went flying into another's lap. Another was hurled directly into Majestria—splattering food across her pristine figure.

Her sharp gasp echoed like the crack of doom.

Uh oh.

Finn sprinted past without so much as a glance. The scream that followed rattled the rafters, a bloodcurdling shriek that promised divine homicide.

Nope. Not his problem. Wizard hat first, divine wrath later.

The chase continued, Finn weaving past tables and benches with surprising agility. He was closing the gap.

The thief barged through Lickthorn's first decent conversation of the night, shoving her poor partner directly into Finn's path.

"AH—!" Finn swerved at the last second, the unfortunate man eating dirt where Finn's ribs should've been.

Behind him, Lickthorn's shrill crying echoed through the hall.

Great. Another girl in the party pissed.

Finn gritted his teeth as he sprinted harder. At this rate Chestelle's next. Or worse—that Chunkus guy. And then I'll really be screwed.

Chestelle was walking straight into the thief's path, balancing a plate of food. A collision waiting to happen. A tragedy in the making.

But at the very last second, she spun on her heel and walked the other way—simply because she remembered she'd left some bread behind on the table.

The thief didn't care. He still punted her to the ground as he ran past, like she had been in the way.

'What the hell?!' Finn thought, startled.

He sprinted past her fallen figure, but there was no scream, no cry, no sound at all. Just silence.

And that was worse. Way worse.

Finn's gut churned. 'It's like that saying… silence weighs more than words. Or some poetic crap like that. Either she's fine—or she's silently planning to weird me out later. Both are terrifying.'

Regardless, the chase pressed on. The thief wasn't slowing down, and neither was Finn. Both had one goal, and neither was willing to let go.

Finn finally did what he should've done thirty seconds earlier. "Someone stop that man! He stole my hat!"

At first, nothing. Just clanking boots and knights staring blankly. Then heads began to turn, some annoyed, others curious. A few actually tried moving in to intercept.

It was useless. Absolutely useless.

They all looked the same—rows of identical knights like clones in steel. The only difference was a couple with dented armor or scars across their helmets, probably veterans.

The result? Chaos.

A cacophony of CLANG-CLANG-CLANG! filled the air as knights crashed into each other like bumper cars, completely missing the actual thief.

By the time Finn and his quarry barreled out of the dining hall and into the open camp, the knights were still busy forming a giant armored pile-up.

Finn groaned aloud. "Are you kidding me? You can't see the difference between me chasing a guy with my hat and two knights playing slap-fight?" Annoyed.

The whole situation felt like some half-baked kid's fairytale.

He sucked in air and shouted again. "The knight with the white wizard hat is the thief!"

That, at least, seemed to register. The crowd shifted, knights scrambling in the right direction—but most were still struggling to keep pace.

The chase was still his alone.

The chase dragged on—neither slowing, neither giving up.

Then it hit Finn. Something that should've hit him ages ago. Wait… I literally have powers.

"How the hell did I forget about that?!"

He threw his arm out at the fleeing knight, then yanked it back.

The Trip God's blessing activated.

The knight's foot tangled itself mid-stride and—WHAM!—he faceplanted into the dirt, armor clattering like a dropped toolbox. His grip on the hat broke, sending it spinning through the air.

Finn didn't even glance at the thief. The hat was all that mattered. He charged forward, stomping down hard on the man's ribs for good measure, then lunged.

"Mine!" He snatched the hat mid-flight, clutching it like a newborn. Relief washed over him, his grin stretching ear to ear.

"I am never letting anyone steal you from me again…" he whispered.

BAM!

A brutal kick slammed into his back, blasting him flat onto the ground. The air shot out of his lungs in a pained groan as the hat tumbled from his hands—landing right back into the thief's grasp.

The knight sneered, pressing a boot into Finn's spine. "You were the only one who actually made this difficult. Annoying as hell. But in the end? I always get what I want. And you don't."

The pressure on Finn's back grew heavier. "And where you are now, is where you'll always belong. In the dir—"

BAM!

The thief was suddenly launched. His body spun through the air like a ragdoll shot from a cannon before crashing headfirst into a tree across camp.

The weight vanished—only to be instantly replaced by another. A smooth, perfectly-shaped foot pressed down on Finn's back.

"Finn…"

He didn't even need to look up. The divine aura practically burned through him.

But he looked anyway—and sure enough, Majestria stood over him, eyes blazing, fist glowing with radiant power.

"…don't think you're off the hook either."