Now that fading away was not an immediate concern of her, Olga took the time to think about what she had just read.

Goddess of Thieves. Where once only the word Goddess could be read, now two more words followed after it, signifying a change to her status. And it wasn’t hard for her to imagine why this change had come about. After all, the last time she checked, bread didn’t grow from trees. Although at the very least, she now knew there were more people nearby, and alive.

“Where did you get the bread?” She tried asking the girl, who she could see was named Beyla thanks to being listed under her ‘followers’ tab, as gently as possible. But Beyla didn’t respond to her, and instead had a sheepish expression as she looked away.

She had hoped to start with getting the location of the nearby settlement from the girl, and then breach the subject about her theft at a better time. But it seemed that the order of things would have to be reversed.

So Olga took a moment to think, to wonder what the correct method for approaching this kind of situation was. For even though she had granted Beyla a blessing with the intent that she would use it to better gather food in the forest, she wasn’t mad that it had been used for theft instead. Especially considering the reason Beyla had stolen was because she and her brother were starving. And that was without mentioning that the stolen bread was the only reason she hadn’t faded away just yet.

That didn’t mean, however, that she could allow the occasion to pass without saying something.

“I won’t be mad if you just tell me the truth.” She tried to take on the gentle tone that she could remember her mom using whenever she and her brother did something wrong. But despite her attempt, Beyla refused to answer her. Although she could see from the changing expressions of the young that there was a conflict raging inside her about what to do.

“I…found it.” Beyla meekly answered while keeping her gaze away from Olga.

Olga sighed. “Is that the truth?”

Beyla didn’t respond, instead keeping her gaze glued to the ground.

“Do you really think you can lie to a goddess?” Her words caused Beyla to grimace, something Olga wasn’t particularly proud about. But just like her mom had once gotten her and her brother to believe that she somehow knew everything and anything that they ever said or did, she felt that this was a good way to ensure the girl would be honest with her from now on.

“P-please don’t get mad at her…” Olga heard the young boy, Casmir, plead.

She gently put her hand on top of Casmir’s hair. It was dirty and clung together in clumps, but she still ran her hand through it in a soothing manner as she responded in a reassuring tone. “I won’t, and I’m not angry at her.” She turned back to Beyla. “I just want you to be honest with me. Now, could you please tell me where you got the bread?”

The girl nodded her head, tears beginning to form in her eyes. “I’m sorry…” She choked out.

She took her other hand and put it on the girl’s hair, which was even more unkempt and dirty than her brothers, and began doing the same.

“I already told you that I’m not mad. But could you at least tell me who you stole the bread from?”

“I…don’t know.”

“You don’t know?”

Beyla shook her head. “There was no one home.”

“So you snuck into someone’s home?”

Beyla nodded, looking very ashamed of herself.

“Listen…” Olga began, but Beyla pulled her head back, clearly afraid of what was to come.

“Again, I’m not mad that you stole some bread. Especially because you did so for your brother.” She could feel Casmir shy away at her words. “But you do know that stealing is something you shouldn’t do. Right?.”

“I know…”

“Then that’s good. But just keep in mind that the bread you stole might have been all that they had to eat. And that right now they might be at home going hungry just as you and your brother were. And you wouldn’t want that to happen, would you?”

Beyla hesitated for a moment, then shook her head.

“So whatever you do, don’t steal from those who are just as bad off as you are, okay?”

Again, Beyla nodded her head, but it was clear that there was something on her mind. “Then…” Beyla began after a short silence. “What if I take food from people who have a lot. Would it be fine?”

No. Olga thought. But for a girl who was facing starvation, for one who needed to do whatever it took to survive, it was better that she stole from someone who wouldn’t be doomed because their meager rations had been stolen..

“Listen, don’t do anything that could put your life in unnecessary danger, okay? Especially because you need to stay safe for your brother.” She could imagine that those who had more wealth either lived in better protected areas or had the influence to more reliably call on the authorities. So she didn’t want the young girl to needlessly put herself in harm's way just to steal from those who were wealthier. “But if you have to, and only if you know you can get away with it, then try to take from those who can afford to lose some food. But just take what you need, don’t be greedy and try to take any more than you have to, okay?”

Beyla nodded her head with a serious expression on her face.

“But you don’t have to worry about any of that for now. And hopefully never again.” She gave both children one last hard rub to each of their heads before standing up. “You leave worrying about the next meal to me from now on. Alright? For now, why don’t you tell me where I can get to the nearest town?”

“The town?” Beyla asked.

“Yes, I would like to go there.”

“We can’t go there.” Casmir told her in a dejected tone.

Stolen novel; please report.

“Why not?” Olga asked.

A short silence befell the trio following Olga’s words. Although Beyla eventually responded as she said in a meek tone, “We were kicked out.”

“You were kicked out of the town?”

The two nodded their heads.

“Why? Why would they kick out two kids?”

“Because we—“ Casmir began, but his sister cut him off and answered in his stead.

“Because I got caught stealing. So the two of us were banished from there.”

Right, of course this wouldn’t be the first time the girl had to steal to survive. If the two were orphaned like she believed them to be, with no one to take care of them but themselves, then it was obvious that the girl would have had to do whatever she could to take care of herself and her brother.

“Then…where have you two been staying all this time?”

“Here…” Casmir was the one to answer.

“In this forest, by yourselves?” She asked.

The two nodded.

“For how long?”

“Two weeks, maybe?”

Olga stared at them in shock. Two weeks. For two weeks those two kids had been left to the mercy of the elements and the whims of nature. For two weeks they had been forced to survive in such a decrepit looking place.

She…didn’t have the heart to ask them. About how they lived for those two weeks, about how they were able to procure food and water during that time. She knew the image they would paint on her mind was one that she wouldn’t be able to handle.

“Goddess…where did you come from?” Beyla’s question brought her out of her thoughts.

“A…very beautiful forest, with lots of fruits, nuts, and fishes to eat.” She answered, deciding to give the place she had been summoned to as an answer instead of her past home.

“Does a place like that really exist?” Casmir asked, his eyes almost seeming to shine.

“Could we go there!” Beyla pleaded.

Of course, how could she have forgotten? About the little Eden she had first seen when she first arrived in this world. About the lush forest should be a paradise for anyone that wasn’t her.

But then she looked around the forest she was now in once again. It was barren, with trees which had so few trees that she felt she could count them in one hand. It was completely unlike the paradise she had first seen, a place so different that it made her question her own memories. After all, just how far away could a place that was only a month away by foot really be? Was that short distance really enough for there to be such a difference between the two sights?

“Sorry, I can’t take you there. Not yet at least.”

“Why! Is it because I stole?” Beyla asked her with an expression that pained Olga to see on the girl’s face.

“I promise we’ll be good from now on, so please goddess, could you take us there?” Casmir pleaded to her.

She thought back to her mom, to times when they had to follow her out as kids and they would pass by restaurants or street vendors, whose tantalizing smells were simply too alluring to not ensnare two little kids, and how they would beg their mom to be treated to any one of them. To when she had asked for new clothes for her middle-school debut, saying that she deserved a reward for her good grades. To when all her friends had phones, or all her brother’s friends had Pokemon cards, and they couldn’t understand why they too couldn’t be given what everyone else had. She thought back to those and to many other times they had wanted something but had been told no, and how she had felt as a kid. It was only after growing up that she understood that such things weren’t because they were being punished or because their mother didn’t care for them. It was simply that such luxuries were out of their means.

And as she thought back to her childhood, she wondered how it must have been for her mom to have to say no to the pleading faces of two children. And if somehow she had a chance to talk to her again, if her mom would have some words of advice to give her right now as she faced the desperate and pleading faces of two kids who had just been told that paradise exists, but that they would not be allowed to go there.

It had been a terrible mistake on her part for having ever mentioned it in the first place. Because no matter how much she wanted to take them there, there was no way she could have them wandering around aimlessly for a month until she somehow stumbled her way back to that place. No way she could take them there when she would fade away before even making it a third of the way. And no way she could take them to a place that she was starting to doubt if it even existed.

“It’s…not your fault that I can’t take you there. It’s mine. Sorry.”

The two children seemed to accept her answer, although it was clear that they were still in poor spirits.”

“But I’ll take you there one day, hopefully soon, I promise. Just not now.” She told them, trying to raise their spirits and hoping with all her heart that her words would not end up as lies. “But in the meantime, do you two know of any other place we could stay? A town, a village, anywhere where you two could enter?”

“There’s a small village that’s close to here…but we don’t know how to get there.” Casmir responded.

“It should be close, I think. Our…dad would go there every once in a while and he was usually back in a few days..” Beyla responded, grimacing as she mentioned her father.

“Just one? There aren’t any more villages or towns close by?” She asked, feeling her blood run cold.

“No. At least not from what we’ve heard.” Beyla confirmed her fear.

“I see…Sadly, I don’t know how to get there myself.” She didn’t feel like telling the two kids about what she had seen a few days ago. At least, not yet.

“How did you get inside the town?” She asked Beyla.

“It was all thanks to your gift, goddess.” Beyla responded.

Olga opened the menu in her mind, and took a look at Beyla’s info now that it was fully revealed to her. And there, at the bottom of her ‘stat’ sheet, was the information she was interested in..

Blessing: Elusive Step

She ‘clicked’ on the blessing and read the description.

Elusive Step: Blessing bestowed by a goddess to a young thief. Conceals the presence and sounds of its user.

An useful ability for those who wish to remain unseen and unheard.

Yes, she could imagine the blessing had proved extremely useful in aiding Beyla. But what she needed to know was not how the girl sneaked in, but how she herself could enter this town. She needed to talk to people, to find out if the forest she had come from had been real, or if there was a reason why it seemed to have been left untouched by the hands of man. She also needed to find a way to increase her devotion and stop the doomsday counter from reaching zero. As well as procuring food for the two starving children, especially if they were to head out to the forest she had first seen.

So she asked just that. “Well, could you tell me how I could get inside?”

“Are you going there?” Casmir asked. And she could see fearful expressions on both children's faces.

“Yes, but I won’t take long. I’ll be back before the sun goes down, promise.” If the two had survived for two weeks by themselves, then she hoped they forgave her for assuming they could last for a few more hours. Although it was clear to see on their faces that they didn’t want her to leave. But she had to, both for their and her own survival.

“You can just walk in through the front gate. They’ll let you in.” Beyla eventually answered in a dejected tone.

“Thank you for telling me. And where is the town?”

Casmir had a much more noticeable pout on his face than his sister. But even so, he pointed towards Olga's east and answered, “If you keep walking that way you’ll find the town.”

She gave the two kids a bright smile, then bent down and wrapped her arms around them and squeezed them in a tight hug.

“I’ll be back soon, so be good for me and stay here. Okay?”

The two children, with clearly flushed cheeks, nodded at her.

“Great. Then I’ll see you two soon.”

And with that, she took her leave and made her way towards meeting the people that inhabited the new world she found herself in.