> Famed auteur Jens Jacobsen yesterday expressed his support for the anti-Kraej protesters in Tarm but quickly retracted his statement after he was dropped by his agent and parted ways with Imagine Productions because of “creative differences” over the “Day of Wrath” sequel.

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> ― Imogen Irgens, “Acclaimed Director Jacobsen Lashes Out About Tarm Protest Brouhaha,” Kraej Weekly Entertainment Magazine

Asteria

The Parian priestess from “Tales of Vesterland” was a tough nut to crack, but I had confidence in Oren. The hero was cute enough to charm most girls her age.

After lunch, we took the bus to Kraej City’s last remaining forest park.

The urban forest was home to thousands of tree and plant species, many of them rare. People called it “Kraej City’s last remaining lung.” It was due to be demolished next year to make way for a more efficient bus route. In the middle of the forest was Sofia’s temple.

People tended to call it “ the Kraej Temple” because it was the oldest one in Kraej City, but it was really named Ubsola. According to the newspaper, Sofia’s family claimed an ancient law exempted them from paying tax. The city government claimed that the exemption had run out years ago, and they planned to seize the property.

The newspapers were all owned by the Kraej Company, therefore, they didn’t report the history behind this site, and why it was tax-exempt.

The native people of the eastern coast were the Parian. They were known for their light pastel-colored blue, green, or pink hair. Thousands of years ago, they fished the seas and battled the monsters in the place that is now called Kraej City. When Hjalmar caused Eatuhea to sink beneath the waves, its inhabitants crowded into navy ships, fishing boats, and anything that could float to flee the doomed continent.

The Parians welcomed the refugees at first, but the two peoples eventually clashed again and again until, finally, the Parians were almost wiped out. The Parian families were forced to live outside the city, in the place where the forest was now. The segregation made it easier to abuse the Parians who were made to pay onerous taxes. Most Parians chose to marry outside their tribe to escape the oppression. The last remaining purely Parian priestly family was Sofia’s. The other descendants, her uncles, aunts, and cousins had given up on taking care of the old temple.

A thousand years ago, when the monster wave came, the Parian priestly family saved the city from being destroyed by using an ancient legendary artifact that protected the coast. Details were scarce, but it took the form of a massive hemispherical shield that covered the city and even extended out to sea to protect the fishermen. The grateful citizens of the city had granted the temple and its grounds tax-exempt status.

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I’d told Oren and Katja about the shield. Our current goal was to see if it could be activated again.

When we got to the temple, we let Oren lead the way.

Sofia was a shock. She was the first one I’d met in this world who really looked like a video game character. Oren and Katja, though they had their share of cute characteristics, seemed wholly human and even mundane to me. Perhaps I’d become too used to strangeness because of Seraphiel.

Sofia, on the other hand, was almost too cute. She was a real-life moe character with huge green eyes, fluffy cotton-candy pink hair, and an adorable little button nose. It didn’t help that, unlike the rest of us who were wearing modern clothes, Sofia was in a white and red robe and a priestess’s triple tiara.

It was a bit much, frankly.

Katja and I were treated to the scene of two people falling in love at first sight when Oren and Sofia met. The two of them stared at each other silently, frozen in place. Slowly, their faces became redder and redder.

“Oh my goodness,” Katja whispered in my ear.

“Shhh!” I covered her mouth with my hand and she covered my mouth with hers. We watched from the sidelines as Oren and Sofia were eventually forced to release the breaths they were holding in two long, identical sighs.

They were still staring into each other’s eyes when the wind made the door slam shut behind us. Sofia and Oren broke eye contact. The priestess seemed to notice me and Katja for the first time.

“Hello, we’re the ones who called earlier,” said Katja. “I’m Katja, this is Asteria, and this blond hunk of spiky hair and muscles is Oren.”

“I’m Sofia,” she said. Her voice was soft and sweet. In the game, she hadn’t fallen in love with Oren at first sight, but this was just the latest in the many ways that reality was different from “Tales of Vesterland.”

Katja elbowed Oren, who finally spoke up.

“We’d like a blessing. Asteria just came of age and we think there will be trouble in the city soon so a blessing would be nice,” said Oren.

“I’d be glad to do the ceremony for you,” said Sofia. She led us inside to the courtyard where there was a simple altar made of wood surrounded by plants and cut flowers in vases. We each placed a white envelope with our cash offerings on a silver plate below the altar. Mine was particularly generous since I could afford it. Besides, giving Sofia money could only help her when she joined the hero’s quest.

The blessing ceremony was short. Sofia anointed us with holy oil and spoke a few words of prayer.

“...May the Goddess Elyon favor you with her divine protection,” said Sofia.

Then we bowed to the altar to pay our respects to the goddess, and the ceremony was done.

“Thank you very much. I feel a lot better. Let’s hope the goddess won’t let us get eaten by monsters,” I said.

“Eaten? Why?” asked Sofia.

“The monsters in our hometown had green glowing eyes,” said Oren. “They’ve been migrating east, too. We think it’s the first sign of a monster wave.”

“What?! Are you sure? The city isn’t ready for something like that,” said Sofia.

“Doesn’t your temple have a special protection artifact?” asked Oren.

“Yes, but it’s not usable anymore,” said Sofia. “The artifact broke and I haven’t been able to find the parts I need.”

I could almost see a big glowing exclamation mark above Sofia’s head. It was the hero’s first quest!