Ignoring my confusion, the Hero quickly walked through the gate, forcing us to follow. Speaking of, where, exactly, did we gate to? I, uh, wow. I never actually asked. Haa…

Luckily, my question was answered by a greeting. “Welcome, Hero, Saintess, and companions, to Sarigna (with a silent g).” A priest welcomed cheerfully.

You know, everyone just greeting me and the Hero, with everyone else being left basically as an afterthought, really saddens me. Unfortunately, there isn’t really anything I can do about that. Other than having the church announce my intentions, I guess, but that would probably just annoy people.

And, unlike normal, you can’t just do the usual ‘Hello Hero and companions’ or 'Hello Hero's party’ because I am effectively just as important as the Hero. Haa, the wonders of politics...

“Thank you for allowing us passage.” The Hero replied.

“Yes, thank you.” I followed with a bow.

“No worries; I’m glad that we could be of assistance. Though, a word of advice.” He said, suddenly turning serious. “This land is far less, well, devout, than most, especially after a previous saint was, ‘lost,’ here, causing the church to reduce its presence. As such, while you are unlikely to suffer any grievances, you likewise won’t receive much reverence.”

“Thank you; I will make sure to remember that.” I bowed.

“Glad to help.” He said, once again with his cheerful demeanor. “Anyway, I shall not hold you up any longer. May the Gods bless your travels.”

As we left, I couldn’t help but think about what he said about this place being less devout. Mainly because The Holy Kingdom of Trimune, despite its ‘holy’ title, is actually fairly average in that regard. Though, it's pretty funny how we got that title.

That being, they have produced the second most saintesses out of all the still-standing countries, only behind the temple itself (which cheated, so it only ties for first in actuality) and, technically, Harfenz, but they only acquired that many by conquering a piece of land that had previously produced three saintesses…

Even more interesting, of the seven (including me) saintesses, five of them have been men, with only one, well, now two, women. Considering that sixty percent of all saintesses are female, that’s actually quite remarkable. Also, it’s the only place that has summoned two heroes. Still, the population as a whole is not overly devout. Mainly, everyone just really looks up to saintesses and heroes.

So, Trimune’s people aren’t actually particularly devout. Hmm, I guess that for the duration of my life, Trimune will likely become quite devout, though.

Speaking of the Saints... “You know, I never imagined I’d ever come to Sarigna,” I commented as we traveled through the city.

“That’s because you wanted to be a priestess in the capital.” Rapunzel deadpanned.

“No, I meant that after becoming the saintess, I never expected to come here.”

“Oh, why’s that?” Melly asked.

“For the same reason we were just told, Saint Nick died here, along with a decent amount of Paladins.”

“What happened?”

“No one knows; they just sorta… disappeared. It’s commonly believed that they were assassinated, hence the church’s reduced presence, but there was never any evidence. Hence why the church didn’t directly do anything in response.”

“I do believe an artifact was also lost in the incident,” Greg added.

“Yeah, which is the main reason why, when the searches couldn’t find anything, the church presumed that Sarigna stole it. But, as even to this day it has not reappeared, that is being doubted.” I shrugged. “All I know is that Sarigna still has a bounty out for it, hoping to find it to apologize to the church.”

“Well, that just means we’ll have to watch out for it, right, Hero?” Melly suggested.

“If we find it, we will, of course, return it to the church.” He says, looking at me.

I just shrugged. “Good luck; it’s been gone since the early inquisition, so I doubt it's even intact, much less salvageable.”

“True, most things do not last long when left unattended in the wilderness.” Greg agreed.

“Regardless, if we somehow find it, we should return it.” Rapunzel decided.

“Unless Eli wants it.” The Hero suggested.

“Well, I guess that would count as returning it to the church, but why would I even want some random artifact that probably doesn’t even work anymore?” If it even actually did anything in the first place. Though, I guess the Saint likely wouldn’t have brought it with him if it was just some random trinket. Nor would the church particularly care about its loss…

“We’ll just have to find out then, won’t we?” He teased. I guess?

Anyway, as we were talking, we managed to arrive at the city gate. And once we exited, we were met with a very different view.

“Wow, it’s completely different,” I exclaimed upon seeing the yellowish savanna expand well beyond what I could see. And I can see a lot, considering how flat everything is compared to the city that was built upon a wide, possibly artificial, hill. “Even the air is different,” I add after taking a deep breath.

“Hmm, I thought you were used to this?” Hansen asked.

“Not really. The temple was the only place I’ve ever been to other than the capital. And even then, that’s not particularly far away, so everything seems fairly similar. This though, this is completely different.” I say in wonder, causing Hansen to smile.

“Oh yeah, I’d forgotten how sheltered Eli was.” Melly teased.

I rolled my eyes. “I’m not particularly sheltered. Most people just don’t travel beyond maybe the nearby towns and such, much less to other countries. After all, it’s just too expensive and dangerous to do so for fun. Like, before traveling with you guys, I didn’t even go further than an hour’s travel away from the city.”

“Really? Why?” Rapunzel asked.

“Because why would I? Just what reason would there be for some kid to leave the city? Like, when we first started our journey, we hadn’t traveled all that far before we found a pack of wolves. Even after becoming a saintess, I don’t think I’d have been able to deal with that on my own, much less before then, you know?”

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

“Ah, right, you were just some random kid back then, huh.” Rapunzel comments in realization. “Haa, I can’t believe I’d forgotten how dangerous even the forests around the capital are for civilians. As well as just how young you are. Yeah, it makes sense that you’d not be able to experience the outside world.”

“Yeah. Especially when the only two times I’d actually entered the forest instead of just messing around in the cleared-out area near the walls was during our occasional field trips, where a few paladins would escort a bunch of orphans around the forest as a learning experience. One that convinced us how dangerous the woods truly were. Well, to our childish eyes, at least.” I laughed, remembering the experience.

“Only two times!” Hansen exclaimed, showing an astonishing amount of emotion.

“Uh, yeah…” I answer in shock.

“Why? Why so few times?” He complained, pitying me.

“Well, they only really did the excursions once a year. Well, technically once a month, but for a different church every month. And you also had to be at least so old and responsible to join. So, I’d only joined twice, back to back, before deciding to just focus on learning.”

“Why was it so rare?” Melly asked.

“Well, considering that they needed to recruit like twenty-odd paladins every time, as well as several priests, it was quite the ordeal.”

“How so?”

“I mean, you played with the kids back in Marro. It’s that, but now wolves might suddenly show up and just attack a kid. Who is probably running around in excitement as the priests struggle to keep between twenty and forty kids in a group when all they want to do is spread out and explore.”

“Ah, yeah, I can see why that would be problematic,” Melly agrees with a grim expression.

“And, adding how, despite being quite rare, accidents occasionally happen, which really added to the stress everyone got from the experience. So, yeah, it wasn’t done all that often.”

“Accidents…”

“Haa, yeah. Despite everyone’s best efforts, they are still escorting a bunch of rambunctious kids. Sometimes… sometimes you just don’t notice someone has wandered off until… it’s too late.” I sighed. “Again, such accidents are quite rare, but still… the fact that they do happen is depressing.”

“I, see…”

Yeah, I can understand feeling conflicted. On one hand, the trip is a good learning experience, especially when it comes to understanding the dangers of the wilderness, which is usually enough to stop people from just wandering off into the forest. On the other hand, even with everything the church does, it is still quite dangerous. And, while it’s easy to suggest just sending out more paladins, that’s sadly not very practical, especially with how difficult and stressful the task can be.

“Anyway, I just wasn’t very interested in wandering around in the forest, so I didn’t join in after I got my fill.” I shrugged. “I mean, every trip ended up being quite similar anyways, so it’s not like I really missed anything.”

“Ah, I see…” Hansen said in disappointed understanding. Man, I’ve never seen him like this. It makes me want to apologize, despite not having done anything wrong.

As we were talking, we walked all the way down the hill and left the immediate area surrounding the city, arriving at the grass that blanketed this country. I, I underestimated it. I knew that it was fairly tall, but not this tall! It comes all the way up to my waist!

And it’s just everywhere! It’s not just some patches of tall grass here and there. No, all of it is around a yard tall! Just, how? I have so many questions. Like, is this even safe to travel through?

“Eli?” Rapunzel asks as I stand stunned at the border.

“I-I’m fine. Just… distracted.” Yeah, let’s go with that.

“Ah, yeah, this is quite different than you are used to, huh.”

“Yeah…” I agree before nervously stepping into the grass. Man, even just walking through this is a chore, so I can’t even imagine how fighting in it will be… Especially when a good portion of the predators here are actually quite short, unlike the taller herbivores that I can see off in the distance, making even just finding them a challenge. Haa, this is going to be difficult.

And, considering how striking at a perceived weakest is standard, I’m sure me, Hansen, and Greg are going to be attacked quite often by hidden foes. Haaa, how fun...

Man, even just thinking about this is making me nervous… And, you know, there are also actual, proper nocturnal predators here, which is a whole other issue…

Why are we here again? Ah, right, the Hero led us here.

Haa, I’m already complaining, and we haven’t even really started traveling yet!

“Ah!” I know what I can do!

“Eli? Is something wrong?” Rapunzel worried.

“Kinda. But I can just deal with that while also solving another issue! If I just activate my halo now, I won’t have to worry about using it somewhere dangerous while also dealing with my nervousness!” I smiled proudly. Ha! I know it’s a good idea when the Hero is rolling his eyes at me.

“That is a reasonable conclusion, especially as she would need to do so eventually.” Greg defended. “Shall we give Eli some space then?”

“Let’s.” The Hero decided as he wandered a ways away. Ah, yeah, it’s not exactly comfortable to be around me when I actively use my halo, which, is honestly quite abnormal. As is being pseudo-possessed by my mana, but that’s common sense. Man, I’m just full of oddities, aren’t I?

Anyway, now that everyone had dispersed, I started to infuse my dull halo with mana. And, as usual, I feel like I’m being bound by infernal chains. Though the sensation dulled fairly quickly this time; a result of my, admittedly irregular, practice.

“Let’s go!” I announced after I regained control over my halo. And I was even nice enough to pull back most of my aura; aren’t I just the greatest?

"So, Eli, how’d it go?” Melly asked me as she cautiously approached.

“Lovely! Now, let’s hurry on to wherever we are headed.” I announce with some annoyance. Sadly, I do not actually know where we are going, so I cannot lead us there. Oh, but there is something I can do to assist with our travels.

“Shall I scare off any annoyances while we travel?” I suggested. Oddly, everyone seemed quite nervous at my suggestion. Yeah, I know that it isn’t the most enjoyable experience, but isn’t it better than being harassed by some pests?

“Eli…” Melly sighed as she walked towards me. Once she got close to me, though, she flinched. “You still have your aura up?” She questioned.

“Yeah? How else am I supposed to travel uninhibited?” I said as I tilted my head.

“By relying on us to protect you.”

“But you can’t?” I declared, causing her to flinch. “That’s just how it is here. Things hide in the grass and attack the vulnerable, like Greg and Hansen. While you can probably deal with most of the threats, that’s just not good enough. I, on the other hand, can. Anything nearby will obviously flee as soon as it experiences my magnificence, you know?” I declared confidently.

“As well as us.” The Hero muttered.

“Hmm, is that so? I thought you were tougher than that? I guess that’s all you amount to.” I shrugged with a disappointed sigh.

“Says the person who isn’t experiencing it.”

“Ha, like I can’t handle it.” I sneered. “Watch.” I declared as I fully released my aura. And, annoyingly, he was, almost, right. Haa, fine, I won’t use the obvious answer to increase our safety. I guess I’ll just have to keep everyone safe the normal way. So, I completely suppressed my aura and...

“Arg!” I exclaimed in annoyance. I always remember how I act under the control of my mana, and I’m always disappointed. That’s honestly the main reason why I rarely practice, especially considering how, without outside influence, I just won’t fully retrieve my aura. It’s just so embarrassing…

“You okay, Eli?”

“Yeah, just the usual.” I sighed. “Still, I did at least learn something new this time.”

“Oh, what would that be?” Greg asked.

“I actually can control my aura; it’s just locked behind my alternate persona. As seen with how I was able to limit its range.”

“Ah, that is quite useful.”

“Yeah, at least now I have some clues on how I can progress. Sadly, those clues aren’t easily accessible.”

“Do not worry. It is always the first step that is the most challenging. Now that you have taken it, the rest shall come easier,” Greg assured. Let’s hope so.