Noa nodded. After a brief pause, he added, "But let's talk about the ugly things first."
Eris raised her gaze slightly, waiting without interrupting.
"In addition to some privileges in terms of transportation, this liaison officer will not be given any other support in terms of life in the Great Tree Village."
His tone remained calm, but firm, as if he was laying down a rule rather than negotiating it.
"Generally speaking, it is the same as ordinary residents. Normal living, normal eating, and normal consumption."
He continued, making each point deliberately clear.
"In addition to the unified assistance at the beginning—basic living materials and shelter—the rest has to be obtained through her own labor."
A short pause followed before he added the final clarification.
"However, if she is providing support or fulfilling assigned duties, as long as it complies with the regulations of the Great Tree Village, then we will not interfere."
This was not something he wanted to leave ambiguous. From his perspective, clarity upfront prevented unnecessary disputes later. If expectations were mismatched, it would only lead to friction between both sides, something he preferred to avoid entirely. He also had no intention of turning the liaison officer into someone who simply lived off the system without contributing.
"It's very necessary to explain these things in advance," Noa said plainly. "I don't want any unnecessary misunderstandings later. And I also don't plan to support someone for nothing."
Eris listened carefully and then nodded without hesitation.
"It's understandable. I will try my best to make the arrangements when the time comes, so please don't worry."
Her response was steady and practical. There was no objection in her tone, nor any attempt to soften the conditions. From her perspective, the arrangement was already quite reasonable. The Great Tree Village was not obligated to provide unconditional comfort, especially when the liaison role itself existed for mutual benefit.
More importantly, this was a necessity on their side. If they wanted stable communication and long-term exchange, then adapting to the rules of the Great Tree Village was unavoidable. That logic was simple and acceptable.
Noa nodded in return. After a few more exchanges, they finalized the timeline and confirmed the logistics. The pickup would take place in three days, with a designated location agreed upon by both parties. The matter, at least on the surface, was now settled.
Under Eris's watchful gaze, Noa activated the dimensional gate and returned.
The familiar spatial distortion unfolded, and his figure disappeared from the world in an instant.
Eris remained standing for a moment, watching the space where he had vanished. Then she turned and quickly returned to the heavenly domain, immediately reporting the entire series of interactions and the positive progress to the central authority.
As expected, the center responded swiftly.
Not only did they approve the continuation of the plan, they also reassigned additional personnel to support Eris's work. From this point onward, she would take full responsibility for selecting the liaison officer.
There was an added strategic layer behind this decision. The liaison officer was preferably to be a native of the world under Eris's jurisdiction. That would make communication smoother and reduce cultural friction when interacting with the Great Tree Village.
The heavenly center, in fact, welcomed this development. Expanding influence through structured contact with the Great Tree Village, while keeping everything localized within a single world, reduced risk and increased control efficiency. It was safer, easier to manage, and far less unpredictable than multi-world interference.
However, the approval came with a practical consequence: Eris now had a significantly more complicated task ahead of her.
Choosing a suitable candidate was not as simple as it sounded.
She already had a considerable number of followers under her guidance, but once she applied the conditions, the pool narrowed rapidly.
There were three main requirements.
First, the candidate had to be female. That alone eliminated more than half of her followers without hesitation.
Second, they needed to possess a certain level of education, cultural awareness, and proper etiquette. This requirement was not originally stated by Noa, but Eris herself insisted on it. From her point of view, she was essentially acting as a representative of heaven. The liaison officer would not just be an individual—they would indirectly reflect the image of the entire heavenly domain in the Great Tree Village. That meant appearance, behavior, and communication skills all mattered.
With that condition added, the selection pool became even smaller. Most ordinary believers were immediately filtered out, leaving only a handful of trained individuals.
In practice, this left mostly female priests who had been trained from a young age within the religious system. They were disciplined, well-educated in doctrine, and accustomed to structured environments.
But even then, Eris was not finished refining the criteria.
The final requirement was self-sufficiency.
Even though Noa had stated that the Great Tree Village would provide initial support—basic shelter and essential supplies—the expectation was clear: long-term dependence was not allowed. Any additional assistance would need to comply strictly with Great Tree Village regulations.
That meant the liaison officer needed to be capable of sustaining herself through legitimate work or assigned duties.
This condition, combined with the previous two, narrowed the selection further than Eris initially expected. What seemed like a large pool of potential candidates had now become a very small, highly specific group.
And that, she realized, would make the selection process far more delicate than she had first assumed.