Some time passed from when I started the fish hunting, granting me two new ones. After preserving them, I headed back home since my father was taking an unusual amount of time to come for our lesson, worrying me.

As soon as my feet reached the entrance, I went into awe at the sight of the door open and that of my parents.

“Why are you two dressed so fancy? Is it because of dad’s secret job?”

I could see my mother in a long beige dress helping dad with the buttons on his simple brown leather attire without sleeves, leaving the white shirt below to be seen all the way to the wrists. Usually, they would dress in more casual and cheaper clothing like most peasants.

“Today is the day the Saintess is passing by to do the cleansing ceremony. You know, the one we told you she does at the beginning of every year that helps monsters and beasts stay away?”

“Oh... I didn’t know it was today since the two of you never took me to see it before.”

Once my parents heard that, they laughed lightly as they were nervous about getting themselves ready.

And then he resumed his wording.

“You’re right and there is a reason for that. Every child underneath seven who hasn’t fully awakened could end up sick from being in the range of the Saintess because of her enormous aura.”

My mother closed the last upper button, making Luke choke from how tight the vest became. It caused his breath to become rough. Quickly Rosaline opened it again, granting him some freedom, causing him to follow with coughing.

“Seems like you’ve gained a little weight, honey.”

My mom giggled, making me laugh a tad, and then she gazed at me with a serious expression splattered across her face.

“What are you waiting for? Go dress Iris! We have to get going!”

The startled me ran towards the kitchen, storing the fish, and then washed my hands, sprinting to the bathroom to brush my hair till it became smooth like silk and straight all the way to my back. The next step was my clothing, thus I rushed towards my closet, grabbing a similar wool beige dress as my mother’s one.

Its length went all the way to my knee, allowing both to run if necessary. As I was about to leave my room, I noticed something.

“My hair is stuck... ah...”

After managing to pull it out of my dress, I had to hasten to the bathroom again, to pass it one last time with the brown hairbrush on it.

Once everything seemed perfect in the small mirror on top of the sink, I returned to my parents.

“I think I’m ready...”

Their heads rotated to meet me, judging me with their gazes from top to bottom. They looked at each other with a smile, proud of the looks of their seed, nodding in agreement.

“Now that you have some control over your mana, you’ll be able to experience the... gap.” 

At those words, I gulped and then smiled happily as they walked towards the exit, and then my mother glanced at me, pointing at the living room.

“Iris, don’t forget the hat. Even if it is a bit too big for you, it’ll keep you safe from the sun.”

“Alright, mom!”

This time around, my feet moved calmly towards it, picking it up and placing it on top of my head, which Rosa readjusted so it wouldn’t fall easily. Once fixed, it covered my forehead and was a tad lower on the back.

We then headed towards Astia while chatting.

“I’ve been thinking that you two are always hesitant about me going to the village. Is there a reason for that?”

Upon hearing my words, they traded guilty glances, and then my mother opened her mouth to give way to a soft justification while keeping her eyes directed at mine.

“You know your dad works in a potion shop during the afternoon shift while I do it in the morning. However, there’s more to his job than that.”

She smiled faintly and then looked at Luke, who continued from that point onwards.

“I have, from a certain incident, obtained some connections to important people. As such, I work for them from time to time as a healer and as a doctor.”

“Dad, are you like Vicent?”

I tilted my head cutely, reminding myself of the day of my birth, and the few meetings on the trips to the village with the parents, meeting the old man.

“Yes, to some extent. I’ve learned everything I know from him, so I can cure diseases and use my element’s light properties to heal the wounds on the body.”

“And seeing as neither of you are telling me who they are, it means I’m too young for that.”

I stole a glance at my dad, who nodded, leaving it at that. Rosaline then added some comforting words to me. 

“We trust you, Iris, as you are our daughter, but it’s for your own protection. In this world, sometimes the least you know the better.”

I radiated my happiness at them, gripping both their hands tightly, a signal of trust. Silence then reigned while we walked the rest of the way to the village. Eventually, we got to the center of Astia through the south passage, a place with a beautiful garden and a fountain in the middle of it. I saw some people seating on the wooden benches, which are often freer than today. After some chatting and looking at the decorations, mostly coloured cloth held from one tall pole to another. We then went to buy a rose and I got to choose its color. I made sure to pick the one I liked most and it turned out, it was a specie that was scarce.

After a little while, the bells of the only church in this village rang, signaling the arrival of the Saintess and the Pope. I could hear thunderstrikes which turned out to be drums that were only used for ceremonies like this one. Their sound came with a particular rhythm, blasting the wind fiercely into our eardrums.

The different church underlings approached the main road, along with many army flags leading their way. Some emblems were colored roses imprinted on them. Such was her importance, the key figure of this kingdom. There was not too much protection when it came to keeping her from harm. Thus, it was normal to see soldiers from all the different noble factions surrounding her.

I stood between my parents, near the fountain, as the many peasants gathered to see the many priests and the important key figures of the church passing through further south. As the thousands of them went by on their silky white robes with a green octagram on their backs, I spoke in a lower tone as I pulled the white sleeve of my father’s arm.

“Which one is the Saintess, dad?”

After searching for the woman in question for a tad in silence, he approached my ear, whispering in it.

“That one in the middle with long green hair far in the back over there.”

He pointed at the woman with just a finger, so that no priest would take it as an offense in case someone noticed him. Soon my eyes matched the description in no time seeing a beautiful woman in her thirties, whose white robe was further adorned with golden and green stripes, causing a unique appearance compared to every other priest from the church. Next to her, I stole a glimpse of a very tall old man with a big cylindrical pearly hat, whose robe had similar lines to the one he accompanied, except they were not coloured like the grass but golden ones.

With a further whisper, my father presented to me who that person was as if reading my mind.

“That tall man is Kraus the Pope, the one we I told you about the other day.”

As some of them went through, leaving only their backs in my sight, I took notice of the mysterious symbol that intensified my curiosity.

“Dad, what’s that on the men’s back?”

“It’s a green octagram. It symbolizes the eight churches around the castle. They built all of them to match that pattern.”

With a low tone, regarding the consequences, as he whispered before, I pulled his sleeve once more for his face to approach.

“Isn’t it like a magical circle of sorts?”

“Yes, you could say that. There is even a rumor that the eight archbishops who stand below the Pope and the Saintess have access to a major rite called the hero ceremony. Though people mention the goddess is the one who does the summoning all on her own.”

“How curious..."

"Indeed. Though I believe its the Saintess who actually summons them."

With her passing relatively close to us I asked, "do I give her the flower now?”

“Yes, you should.”

With all my strength as we were a tad far, my arm threw a purple rose, which landed relatively close to the Saintess. It hit an invisible wall of sorts causing a vibrant noise to propagate and her to hear it. She took some steps in its direction curious of the petals tone, different from all the others that were scattered in the ground, mostly either white or green. Delicately, she picked it with brimming eyes, glancing momentarily at the source, finding a short-haired man along with me and a blonde woman. She took some steps toward us, and with each one, I felt an earthquake approaching. It felt like the world was falling on my shoulders, almost like the weight of gravity became more intense, pressuring every inch of me against the ground.

Her presence shuddered my mind along with my inwards. Such was the natural force emitted by this woman, along with her warmth, that embraced us like waves coming from the bright sun itself. It was almost as if we stood under the sunlight during the harsh farming days in the hottest day of the year. It was then that something within me revolted, shaking, willing to burst out. My hand reached out for my heart which seemed to have a will of its own, wanting to gouge out of my body as if it didn't belong there, causing me to clutch the thin texture of my dress.

In my mind, some odd words echoed unnaturally, eerily. 

Notice: Soul-Bound has reacted.

I choose to ignore what it was, since the Saintess was about to arrive. Yet, a man called out to her while bowing deeply, causing her movement to halt, ending up with her nodding lightly in his direction. But before going away, her green eyes, a lighter version of mine, glanced at us with a charming smile, waving at us as if grateful for the gift. The woman returned briefly, resuming the march as two paladins in lustrous full sets of white armor awaited her return in the designed position, readying their weapons for any who may approach her with ill intent.

“That was amazing...”

Sweat dropped along with the tension in my body, alleviating to some extent with each step she took away from us. The same happened to my heart who slowly started to turn calm.

“And I think she liked it...”

My whimpered self muttered with an overwhelmed expression, making my parents agree. Afterward, I questioned them, observing the somewhat cheap yet fancy attires of every peasant around.

“So, what was the point of dressing up?” I looked confused at them, making both laugh.

“In a way, it is to pay respects to the one who keeps us safe for practically the entire year.”

My eyes gazed towards the Saintess’ back and her long green hair, who was far away now with a few children running after her while keeping a safe and modest distance.

“Come girls, let’s go have lunch at a close-by restaurant.”

“Are we for real?”

“Of course, Iris. I know we don’t take you to the village too often, but there are some good reasons for it.”

“Really? Is it dangerous or something?”

My parents traded glances, looking around carefully.

“We’ll talk better about this subject at home. Let’s focus on finding a place to eat for now, as everything seems to be full.”

A couple of hours later, we returned home after eating some expensive cow porridge, sitting on the sofa relaxing from all the walking.

“So what did you think of the one admired as the Saintess?”

After thinking for a while about our brief meeting, I replied cheerfully and sincerely.

“She was beautiful and seemed friendly!”

My parents smiled at such words, making me feel like I had given the right answer. Suddenly, I remembered something which I had saved in the corner of my mind for when we got home. After getting up from the sofa, I took a few steps forward and turned to them before speaking while placing my hands on the back, holding each other.

“Hey dad, about me going to the village, what was the issue?”

“We can go about this in many ways...”

He looked at me firmly while thinking of all the problems.

“First you’re seven years old, basically a kid, even if you’re a bit brighter than most your age. Second, there have been children kidnapped before, and others devoured by wild beasts and monsters when they venture too far outside as they play. Even if the villagers usually omit it through the work of wild animals.” 

My throat gulped at the latter part, as I didn’t expect to hear those words.

“Third, in contrary to the kids who live in Astia, we live far away, so walking there and returning all by yourself is even more dangerous as anyone could intercept you.”

I nodded slightly, scared and quiet, as, despite everything, I had enough maturity to understand the worries of my parents for my safety.

“It would be one thing if you had a class and knew how to use magic to defend yourself, but even then, you would still be weaker than adults, and a few of them are most likely the culprits behind it.”

My mother then added a few words of her own as she embraced my hands softly, warmly.

“They are called bandits, mean people who do a lot of evil things. The soldiers of the Lumen kingdom and the guild adventurers are the ones that usually put a stop to them, but it’s hard to find every single one of them, as there are just way too many groups."

I feel a bit of nausea from Rosaline my dear mother words. 'Monsters... beasts... humans...' I whispered the names of the races of those who could bring harm to my family.

"It is a great thing having the Saintess ritual to keep the other races away, but that doesn’t mean they won’t come by and attack us. In fact, that has happened a few times.”

My father raised his forearms in the air as he grew more serious. “Exactly. Listen, Iris! It is for such a reason that we have guards patrolling the outskirts of the village, the pairs of people with iron plates you see from time to time by the gates.”

“Doesn’t that mean we are the ones closest to danger since we live nearby of the south forest?”

“In a way, yes, but your father and I are former adventurers so we can handle your protection. We live near the mountains, so compared to the middle of the South, we’re far better, and sheltered.”

We’re located southeast of the village, and also from the capital, which is in the center of the Lumen kingdom. 

‘I guess that’s the reason they go to work in turns, to always have someone to stay with me,’ no mind reverberates with warm thoughts, feeling sheltered by my dear family.

“Though it is true having you play with kids your age more often would be beneficial for you in many ways, so we’ll try to take you there when we can. However, you’re still forbidden from going there on your own.”

At that, I smiled, thinking of Elise and the other children I met in these past months.

“Alright dad, I’ll only walk around the house and maximum all the way to the river!”

“I’m truly glad you’re such a good listener.”

He got up and patted my hair softly, with a sorrowful and tender gaze. “I’d be extremely sad if anything ever happened to you...”

Mother got up and smiled wryly, feeling the same way as him. Then got closer to me, caressing my right cheek with a tiny smooch.

‘My parents are truly kind-hearted. I’m lucky to have been born here.’