Brogen and Tin-Tin were seated in the dining room as the boy taught the girl how to read and write. Brogen had offered to teach her during his free time and Tin-Tin gladly accepted. The boy was hopeful that if Tin-Tin was able to learn how to read and write before the start of the next school year, she would be able to enroll in the same school as him.

“Can you use it in a sentence?” Tin-Tin asked.

“Alright. ‘The man used his pick made out of iron to mine the ore.’”

After a few seconds of deliberation, Tin-Tin proceeded to write down the spelling of the word that Brogen mentioned a while ago. Tin-Tin was still not proficient in the skill of writing, so it took her some time to finish writing down her answer. When she was done, she slid her notebook to Brogen so he could check her answer.

“Alright, let's see what—”

Brogen never finished his sentence as he choked on his saliva after seeing what Tin-Tin wrote.

“What? Is it wrong? Say something!” Tin-Tin said as she glared at the speechless boy beside her.

“U-Um, sorry, I got a little distracted. Well, you almost got the word ‘pick’ right except for one letter.”

“Aww, that sucks.” Tin-Tin muttered. “Well? Where did I go wrong?”

“U-Uhhh…”

Brogen hoped that Tin-Tin wouldn't ask which letter was wrong, but if she didn't, it would defeat the purpose of teaching her in the first place. Brogen looked behind him to see if his mother was there. She was not.

“W-Well, you were wrong with the first letter. It should have been the letter ‘p.’”

“I did write the letter p!” Tin-Tin exclaimed.

Brogen fidgeted in his seat before answering back. “Y-You wrote the letter ‘p’ upside down. T-That's the letter ‘d.’”

Tin-Tin looked down on what she wrote, then realized what it spelled. “Oh.”

“How's everything going, kids?” Elena said as she entered the dining room while carrying a basket filled with laundry. Brogen uttered a surprised cry and closed the notebook quickly. The action was more suspicious than a man in a bonnet entering a bank. Elena's gaze sharpened on Brogen.

“Can you show me what's written in the notebook, sweetie?” Elena asked with the same cheerful voice, but Brogen felt nothing but fear from hearing his mother's tone.

“I-It was nothing! I was just, uh, teaching Tin-Tin some words and how to spell them!”

Brogen looked over to Tin-Tin to try and gather some support, but all Tin-Tin did was give him a grin.

“D-Don't you dare…”

“Yes, Auntie! He was teaching me how to spell a new word and I got it right! Brogen, show her!”

“What?!”

Before Brogen could process what was happening around him, Elena's hands dropped her basket and reached across the table over to where the notebook was. By the time Brogen turned away from Tin-Tin to see what was happening, Elena was reading the single word written on the page where Tin-Tin misspelled the word ‘pick.’

“So this is what you've been teaching Tin-Tin, huh?” Elena said calmly as she snapped the notebook closed.

Brogen gulped as his mother approached him slowly with a sweet smile on her face. When he looked at Tin-Tin, she was already gone from her seat.

●●●

“My father brought me to the town cemetery yesterday,” Ralf said to Terric and Garin as they sat on the stairs leading to the chapel's front doors. They were eating sandwiches that Sister Lina had made for them after they helped accomplish chores in the chapel.

“And?” Garin said as he munched his sandwich. “What did your old man show you?”

“He demonstrated what he did as the Gravekeeper of the town. It was very interesting, to say the least.”

“What does a Gravekeeper do anyway?” Terric asked as he brushed away the crumbs of bread that fell on his lap. “All I know is that they guard cemeteries against graverobbers.”

“Gravekeepers have more duties than simply guarding graves against corpse thieves,” Ralf said. “They are responsible for making sure that the dead stays dead.”

“Wait, you mean they kill the undead?” Terric asked with wide eyes.

“Yes. Their responsibility is to protect the cemetery from outsiders, as well as protect outsiders from the cemetery itself.”

“Then shouldn't that job be pretty easy?” Garin asked. “Erfeld is a small town far from any battlefield, so there shouldn't be any undead rising here. Undead only rise in places with plenty of death, right?”

“Several undead rise in Erfeld's cemetery every few months. Cemeteries have enough death to summon weak undead. Father even fought a zombie yesterday. He showed me how to kill it by destroying its head,” Ralf said nonchalantly.

Garin choked on his sandwich. “Wait, you mean to say zombies have been rising in this town all this time?!”

“Wow, I also did not expect that,” Terric muttered.

“Then shouldn't we be evacuating the town already?!” Garin exclaimed as he stood up hurriedly.

“Calm down, Garin. Even if the zombies escape father's notice, which is impossible, any adult in town can bring down the lesser undead that rise in the town cemetery.”

“R-Really? I thought undead were supposed to be strong?” Garin asked as he slowly sat down again.

“Lesser undead that rise in cemeteries are weak,” Ralf explained. “The undead you're referring to are those that are found in the wild. Those are stronger.”

“O-Oh, is that so? Then your father must be pretty strong if he's been killing undead for years,” Garin said.

“Yes, father is an expert working as a Gravekeeper for more than forty years,” Ralf said with a hint of pride in his voice.

“Do you want to be a Gravekeeper like your father?” Terric asked.

“Yes, that is my dream,” Ralf answered.

Terric nodded with understanding. It was not unusual for most children to take over the jobs of their parents when they grew up. Although Terric wanted to be a knight, a profession that was different from his father's, he was still inspired by his father's job of slaying monsters. A knight also slew monsters, but it was a more honorable profession than exterminators and paid more.

“I wish my dream is as extravagant as yours, Ralf, but I'm pretty satisfied to be a farmer,” Garin said, whose father was one of the farmers in Erfeld.

As the boys chattered about their future dream jobs, Maly and Liz arrived in front of the chapel. Maly greeted the boys with her usual cheerful smile. “Hey, guys! What's up?”

The boys greeted the two girls warmly as they finished eating their sandwiches.

“Nothing much. We just finished helping Sister Lina and Sister Tilly distribute free food,” Terric replied.

“They made us sandwiches,” Garin answered with a dreamy look on his face.

“What brought you girls to visit the chapel? Are you injured?” Ralf asked them. It was a weekday and there was no mass being held today. People only went to the chapel either to attend mass or ask Mother Betha to heal their wounds.

“No, we just came to visit the chapel's library,” Liz answered. Although the chapel's library only consisted of a small room with a few shelves of books, it was the only place in Erfeld where knowledge was readily available. The books there were free to read but unfortunately, the literacy rate in a small town like Erfeld was extremely low. Their group was pretty lucky for being able to learn under Mother Betha's tutelage during Sunday School sessions and being taught how to read and write.

“Might I ask what you intend on reading about?” Ralf asked the two girls.

“I'm gonna go read all about how to be the best merchant!” Maly exclaimed with enthusiasm. “Daddy told me merchants need to study hard so that they know how to make the highest profits in any given situation.”

“Yeah, merchants are so good at their jobs that I sometimes think they're cheating us out of our coin,” Garin muttered. As a family of farmers, Garin's parents periodically sold their produce to the local market and traveling merchants from nearby cities. The greasy smiles that Garin saw on the merchants' faces after every transaction always made him think that they were scammed.

“How about you, Liz? What are you going to study about in the library?” Terric asked.

“I wish to apply for a scholarship in one of the academies in the capital in the future. I need to study for their entrance exams,” Liz answered.

Garin whistled in amazement at Liz's ambition. “Wow, you're seeking to go to the capital, huh? The journey there's going to be expensive.”

“I'm working multiple jobs so I can earn my travel expenses in the future, although it will take me a long time.”

“I guess we'll all split up someday, huh?” Garin muttered quietly, but the rest of his friends heard him. Their mood suddenly dampened at the sad truth.

“W-Well, it's not like we won't see each other again, right?” Maly said. “We can just decide to meet up whenever we want!”

The others weren't as hopeful as Maly was. Traveling took so much amount of time it was almost impractical. The travel time from Erfeld to the capital would take at least a month of constant travel for a horse-drawn cart, and that was if the conditions for traveling were optimal. Changes in the weather, a broken wheel, monster or even bandit attacks were common occurrences for travelers. Adventurers were often hired as escorts, but for people who didn't have much money, traveling was a nightmare.

Maly's friends knew all this, but they decided that it was useless to be pessimistic, so they went along with the girl's enthusiasm.

“Yeah, we can just meet up again when we grow older, right?” Terric said.

“Then how about we meet up in my house when you guys tire of roaming around all over the kingdom?” Garin suggested with a grin on his face. The rest of them agreed to Garin's suggestion with cheer.

“Say, have any of you guys seen Brogen lately?” Maly asked.

“Why? Are you missing your crush?” Garin asked with a teasing look on his face. The others also looked at Maly with wry smiles on their faces.

“W-W-What do you mean, c-crush?! I was just c-concerned!” Maly shouted with a flush on her face.

“Then why is your face so red?” Garin teased further.

Maly glared at Garin, but she couldn't say anything.

“Kidding aside, I also haven't seen Brogen for the past week too,” Liz said, saving Maly from further embarrassment. “Do you think something happened to him?”

“Well, we can just ask Aunt Helen, can't we?” Garin said.

“Now that you mentioned her, I also haven't seen Aunt Helen for the past week either,” Terric said with a small frown on his face.

“It is worrying, but if something bad happened to them, I'm sure Mother Betha would have told us something about it, so I do not think there's any need to worry,” Ralf told the group.

“Yeah, well, I wish Brogen told us something about it,” Maly muttered. She had visited Brogen's home a few days ago to check on him, but nobody answered her calls.

When they were younger, their group would often drop by Brogen's place to hang out, but ever since most of them had come of age, they no longer had time to spare. Liz was working two jobs to earn money for her future travels while studying for her scholarship application, Garin worked full-time at his family's farm, Terric was training to become a knight while working side jobs, Ralf was receiving tutelage from his father to become a Gravekeeper, and Maly was training to become a merchant. The only time they had to hang out was when they stopped by the chapel to help with the chores.

“Well, why don't we ask Mother Betha about it? I'm sure she knows something,” Terric said. The rest of the group agreed and entered the chapel.

●●●

The clacking of wood against wood echoed in the room as I played chess by myself in one of the chapel's vacant rooms. I played both sides as I tried to beat myself in chess.

“So the black side wins this time…” I muttered as I put another point on the scoreboard I wrote on a piece of paper. The white side had fifty-two points while the black side had forty-eight.

I gathered all the pieces and arranged them to their starting positions, ready to do another game when I felt a sharp pain assault my mind. I stayed still to wait out the pain. It lasted for more than a minute before it finally abated, but I remained still to recover from the pain. Damn curse…

It had been more than two weeks since I last used my Authority. I intended to never use it again, but not activating it even once caused painful side effects. For the past week, intense headaches and urges to use my Authority had been assaulting me. Right after the incident last week, my urges to use my power were non-existent, but the more time passed that I didn't use it, the side effects became stronger. The worst part was, I was feeling the urge once more to destroy ugly, filthy, vile clothing that does not deserve to exist.

I slapped my face so hard my eyes started tearing up. A small whimper of pain escaped my mouth involuntarily, but I composed myself immediately. Get your shit together, Brogen. Don't let it control you.

I heard a knock on the door behind me. My instincts were shouting at me to activate my fabric sense and find out who it was, but I suppressed it immediately. I already knew who it was, anyway.

Mother Betha was the only one who visited me over the past two weeks. I hadn't seen my friends or the two nuns ever since, but not because they did not want to. I told Mother Betha to keep them away from me. If they found out I was an Ascendant, it would be bad, but if I hurt them because of my urges on top of that, I might as well kill myself with my own power.

I closed my eyes as Mother Betha entered the room. My eyes were facing away from the door, but I still closed them in fear of seeing Mother Betha's old, sordid, sorry excuse of a pastor's habit. It would have found more use as a rag to wipe the grime off the chapel's stone walls.

“Lunch is ready, Brogen,” Mother Betha said as I heard her place the tray of food on the small table in the center of the room. “I swear, I'm gonna break my back sooner if you keep shutting yourself in this room and making me serve you food like a spoiled prince,” she grumbled.

“I'm sorry, Mother. I'll get the food from the kitchen myself from now on,” I said with my back turned to Mother Betha.

There was an awkward silence as Mother Betha just stood there and I could feel her gaze on me. “Nothing's gonna change if you keep doing this to yourself, you know.”

“Doing what?” I asked with a bit of hostility in my voice.

“Moping around and beating yourself over what happened,” the pastor said bluntly.

I felt my temper rise as my voice turned acidic. “Oh yeah? Well—”

“And living off of my goodwill while doing nothing all day, not even an ounce of help with the chores in return,” Mother Betha added.

My mouth immediately shut itself. Mom always hammered into me that I should always remember to be grateful to the people who help me, and Mother Betha had done nothing but support me and Mom through this entire ordeal without expecting anything in return. Being rude to the pastor would be the same as spitting on her sincere desire to help.

“I'm sorry, Mother.”

Mother Betha sighed as I heard the creak of the chair beside the bed. “It's fine, I understand what you're going through,” she said. “I once knew a friend who was an Ascendant, you know.”

I felt myself freeze at Mother Betha's words. I almost opened my eyes and look at the pastor in surprise, but I stopped myself at the last second?

“What happened to her?” I asked quietly.

“She got captured,” Mother Betha answered with a neutral voice. “Like all Ascendants, she went through an Awakening when her Authority activated for the first time. But unlike you, it happened in front of countless witnesses.”

“An ‘Awakening?’” I asked.

“An event when an Ascendant gains his or her power,” Mother Betha answered. “When an Awakening happens, the Ascendant loses control of his or her power, which often makes it conspicuous. Most Ascendants are captured because of these Awakenings.”

I remembered my Awakening back when I was six. If people saw me make all those clothes and blankets fly around with nothing but my will, they would have turned me in to the government instantly. I swallowed nervously as I was reminded of the extreme luck I had at that time.

“Wait, can Ascendants experience multiple Awakenings?” I asked warily, remembering the incident several weeks ago.

I heard Mother Betha sigh before answering. “Yes, Ascendants experience several Awakenings throughout their lifetime.”

“And you didn't tell me?!” I stood up and faced Mother Betha, but it took all of my willpower just to keep my eyes shut. “None of this would have ever happened if you told me about this!”

“Calm down—”

“Calm down?! How can I calm down when all of this could have been prevented?! Mom wouldn't have resented me and we could have continued living happily!”

“Then if you want Sister Tillie and Sister Lina to overhear our conversation, then go ahead and shout all you want,” Mother Betha said with a harsh voice.

I immediately shut my mouth, but I could still feel my temper boiling. I spoke again, but with a much lower volume. “Why didn't you tell me?”

“I was too arrogant,” Mother Betha said with regret in her voice. I could hear the tiredness in her voice and was reminded that the pastor was old. When I first awakened in Thera, Mother Betha was already old, and a decade had already passed since then. Calm down, Brogen. You're letting your emotions rule your actions again.

I took a deep breath to calm myself and listened to Mother Betha.

“Ascendants experience an Awakening when their power manifests for the first time and experience them again when their Authority undergoes a change. This change usually results in their Authority increasing in strength by an entire order of magnitude,” Mother Betha explained. “The increase in power after an Awakening is no small thing. An Ascendant who could kill ten people with his Authority before an Awakening could kill a hundred after it.”

I felt my heart pound in my chest. I did not realize that not only did my power, my curse ruin my relationship with Mom, but even increased in strength. You have got to be fucking kidding me.

I did not know if Mother Betha noticed my expression, but she continued her explanation. “Nobody knows the conditions for an Awakening to occur, but the only sure thing is that it results in a big increase in power for the Ascendant. This means that Awakenings are rare and only happen with long periods of time between each occurrence. My old friend only experienced her second Awakening two decades after her first, and yet you experienced your second Awakening after a mere four years. I should have expected that you were different since you Awakened an Authority at six years old when most Ascendants only Awaken theirs in their adolescence.”

I did not know if I was the luckiest or the unluckiest person in Thera right now. I plopped down on the floor, wondering whether I shouldn't have trained my Authority so much back then.

“I should have told you and Helen about this, but I didn't think that it would have happened so soon. For that, I apologize, Brogen.”

My eyes flew open at the pastor's words, but I immediately closed them in panic.

“I-It's alright, Mother. It's not your fault I have this power inside me anyway. I'm sorry too for accusing you.”

To think that a sincere apology from the old hag made my eyes open when her earlier revelations were more shocking.

“Then what you said a few days ago… is it true?” I asked nervously.

When my side effects started showing because of not using my Authority, Mother Betha told me that the only way to make the urges disappear was to use my Authority, just like I did every day before the incident.

“Yes,” Mother Betha replied. “Well, as far as I know, that is the only way to make the urges disappear. My old friend also suffered under the same circumstances you are in right now when she was imprisoned and prohibited from using her Authority. Although I have no idea if there is any other way to make it permanently go away.”

Although I already knew that there was probably no other way, I still felt disappointed. I was hoping that if I resisted my urges long enough, I would eventually rule over them. I guess I do have to use my Authority after all.

I still felt fearful of using my Authority since there may be a chance that I would lose control over it again, but if the alternative was letting my urges and newfound instincts dictate my actions, then I would gladly use my power.

With a sigh, I activated my fabric sense to its maximum power. I suddenly felt all the clothes in a radius of a hundred meters around me, bombarding me with information about their colors, shapes, materials, and other smaller details. But instead of a head-splitting headache, what I felt was satisfaction as my urges finally abated and disappeared, as if they were never there in the first place. I felt a huge sense of liberation, and the fact that my fabric sense now covered a huge area gave me some reassurance that I would always know if someone was stalking me if they ever suspected me of being an Ascendant.

I opened my eyes and finally looked at Mother Betha. Her pastoral attire was worn and ugly, but there was no violent instinct urging me to rip it pieces. I still felt a slight annoyance at seeing the state of her clothes, but I mostly felt grateful for Mother Betha's help. I could finally breathe easily.

I would still need a way to disguise my power if there came a time when somebody saw me using my Authority, though. I looked at Mother Betha and an idea appeared in my mind.

“Um, Mother Betha? Can you teach me how to do magic?”

She looked surprised for a second, then a conflicted expression appeared on her face. After a few more moments of deliberation, Mother Betha asked me, “Why?”

“Well, if somebody ever saw me use my Authority by accident, I would need to disguise it as magic, right? And if Mom and I ever get chased by the King's men, it would be one more card under my sleeve.”

The pastor stared at me for a few more seconds before finally agreeing. “Fine, but on one condition.”

“Alright, I'll do anything as long as it's reasonable,” I answered enthusiastically.

“Then I want you to talk with your mother within the day,” she replied.

My enthusiasm waned, but I nodded my head with resolution. I can't keep running away from the consequences of my actions. Plus, I miss talking to Mom.

Mother Betha assessed me for a moment and then nodded before leaving the room.

●●●

“Thank you so much, Sister Lina, may the Holy Mother bless you!”

“Don't thank me, good sir, but the Holy Mother! Come again tomorrow!” Sister Lina replied cheerfully to the poor man, imitating one of Mother Betha's famous lines.

“Looks like that was the last one,” Sister Tillie said as she started cleaning up the kiosk built in the chapel's side. The nuns used it every day to distribute free food to the poor, one of the Holy Mother Church's programs to help people in need.

“Well, that will be it for today. Thanks again for your help, boys,” Sister Tillie said with a sweet smile to the ‘volunteers’ responsible for making sure the food distribution went smoothly.

“N-No problem, Sister Tillie! Don't hesitate to call on me anytime!” said a man who was still too young to grow a beard.

“That's right! It is always an honor to help a beautiful— I mean, the Holy Mother in her goal to help the poor,” said another.

Sister Tillie just giggled at their flatteries and shook each of their hands as they went home with stupid smiles on their faces.

“Still pretty famous, huh?” Terric said from the side as he gathered the wooden bowls used for the free soup. “Tempting other people is a sin, you know?”

“Whatever do you mean?” Sister Tillie said while covering her mischievous smile with a hand. “I am just appealing to the goodness inside the hearts of people.”

Terric saw Sister Lina on the other side of the kiosk casting a suspicious look at her fellow nun.

“And it just so happens that all of them are men, huh?” Garin said as he washed the wooden bowls that Terric was handing over.

“That's not true! I'm helping too, and I'm a woman!” Maly said as she wiped the wooden bowls that Garin washed with a dry cloth.

“‘Woman?’ I think ‘little girl’ would be more appropriate,” Garin replied beside Maly. The woman in question whipped the towel in her hand against Garin's butt, who was crouching while washing the wooden bowls beside a bucket of water. The towel made a crisp sound as Garin cried out in pain.

“Stop playing around, you two,” Liz chided as she collected the dry wooden bowls from Maly and stored them in a wooden chest. “There's still a lot of things to do, so you guys better get moving.”

“Yes ma'am,” Garin answered sarcastically, but Liz just rolled her eyes and proceeded to do her part of the chore seriously.

“I wonder what Brogen is doing right now?” Ralf asked as he cleaned the pots and pans that were used to cook the soup they gave out earlier.

At the mention of Brogen's name, Sister Tillie and Sister Lina froze from their work for a second before continuing as if nothing happened. Ralf and the others didn't miss it. They looked at each other with knowing looks.

“Do you have any idea about what happened to Brogen, Sister Lina?” Terric asked slowly.

“O-Oh, well, Helen got sick, so Brogen had to take care of her as she recovered,” Sister Lina said with a suspiciously high-pitched voice.

“Sick, huh?” Garin asked while staring straight at Sister Lina, who was wiping the counter in front of the kiosk with a forced smile even though it was already clean.

“If that's the case, then how come they're not at home?” Liz asked while arranging the wooden bowls in the chest. Although her hands worked quickly, her mind was focused on Sister Lina's response.

“U-Um, well, they're—”

“They're staying here in the chapel,” Sister Tillie interrupted before her fellow nun could reveal something to Brogen's friends.

“Wait, really?!” Maly exclaimed. “Then why is Brogen— I mean, why are they not meeting us? Are they angry at us?”

“No, nothing like that, Maly,” Sister Tillie said. “Mother Betha wanted to quarantine the both of them in case Helen's sickness was contagious.”

“Is it bad?” Ralf asked with concern. “If Mother Betha deemed that they should be quarantined, then the disease must be a severe one, right?”

“Don't worry, Ralf. Although the disease is contagious, it's not life-threatening. Think of it as a common cold but with higher chances of spreading to others,” Sister Tillie said calmly.

If Sister Tillie was alone, then Terric and the others would have believed her immediately, but unfortunately for the cunning nun, Sister Lina kept giving suspicious glances at her fellow nun who was lying without even batting an eye, not knowing that the group of friends were also looking at her.

Sister Tillie realized this and immediately excused themselves. “Well, we still need to report on Mother Betha about how things went for today's food distribution, so we will go on ahead. Thank you for volunteering to help us again today, everyone.”

Before the others could say another word, Sister Tillie grabbed Sister Lina's arm with an iron grip and dragged her inside the chapel.

There was an awkward silence inside the kiosk for a short while before Garin spoke. “Well, that wasn't suspicious. Nope, not at all.”

●●●

“I'm sorry Tillie, but I'm just not really a good liar!” Sister Lina said as she and Sister Tillie climbed the stairs towards Mother Betha's office on the second floor to report about today's food distribution.

“I already said I'm not angry, didn't I?” Sister Tillie answered.

“Then why are you looking at me with so much disdain?!”

“I don't know what you're talking about, dear Sister.”

“You're not fooling me! And how could you even lie so easily?! Nuns are supposed to be honest people and never deceive others!”

Sister Tillie was silent for a moment before answering. “I know we're not supposed to deceive the Holy Mother's followers, but Mother Betha herself gave us the instructions to keep Brogen's friends in the dark.”

“Even we are being kept in the dark,” Sister Lina muttered with a frustrated tone. She hadn't seen Helen ever since her friend was confined to a room in the chapel. When she asked Mother Betha, the pastor only told her that it was something she didn't need to know. “Don't we have the right to know if our friend is alright? And yet Mother Betha isn't even telling us anything.”

“I know it seems unfair, Lina, but Mother Betha is only doing this for our sake,” Sister Tillie replied to the anxious nun. “When has Mother Betha ever betrayed our trust? She's only doing this because she probably doesn't want us to learn something that would put us at risk if we ever found out about it.”

“What kind of secret would she even hide that would put us in danger?” Sister Lina asked dubiously. “We're not in the capital, Tillie, where secrets could literally cost us our lives. We're in Erfeld, a town in the boonies.”

Sister Tillie sighed at her fellow nun's limited reasoning capabilities. “Remember the Holy See's vested interest in Brogen and Helen without explaining why?”

“Yeah, what about them? Mother Betha also doesn't know anything about it,” Sister Lina said, then frowned. “Wait, are you telling me that Mother Betha knows something?”

Sister Tillie smiled in satisfaction at Sister Lina's realization before answering, “Who knows?”

“Hey, wai—”

“Shush.”

Before Sister Lina could interrogate Sister Tillie, they had arrived on the second floor. For some reason, Sister Tillie was peeking around the corner as if she was hiding from someone in the corridor. The second floor of the chapel consisted of a single corridor with rooms on either side, with Mother Betha's office on one end and the stairs on the opposite end. The rooms in between consisted of the nun's bedrooms and other spare storage spaces. Two of those spare rooms were being occupied by Helen and Brogen.

“What is it?” Sister Lina whispered.

Before Sister Tillie could answer, Sister Lina heard the sound of knocking on wood and a small voice.

“Mom? It's me.”

●●●

I stood in front of Mom's room. I had been standing here for a minute now, but I kept delaying what I was about to do. If a certain rapper from Earth saw me right now, he would see that my palms were sweaty, knees weak and that my arms were heavy. I'm nervous. This is it, Brogen. Time to face your consequences.

I took a deep breath and then exhaled slowly. I raised my hand to the door, hesitated for a second, then knocked firmly. “Mom? It's me.”

I waited for a response. For a few seconds, the silence in the corridor was deafening. I deactivated my fabric sense for this moment so that nothing would distract me from this important conversation with Mom. I think I heard something from the other end of the corridor, but it was probably just my imagination. I guess too much nervousness causes you to hallucinate, huh?

I heard the creaking of a bed inside the room and the sound of footsteps approaching the door. Then it stopped.

“Sweetie?”

I heard Mom's voice from the other side of the door, the sound muffled. I felt my heart sting from the fact that Mom didn't open the door, but I suppressed the tears that threatened to flow from my eyes and answered her. “Yes, Mom. It's me.”

There was an awkward silence for a few moments before Mom spoke again. “Sweetie, I don't know what to say…”

“It's fine, Mom. I came to apologize. What I did back at the house… I just want you to know that I'm very sorry, Mom. I love you and I never wanted to hurt you, but I did not expect my Authority to act that way.”

I clenched my fists as I remembered the events of that night. Even though my Authority was influencing my behavior that time, I still did it. When the foreign instincts permeated my mind, it made me want to do the things I did.

I thought I heard a faint gasp from somewhere, but I assumed it was Mom.

“I know that you're angry with me, so angry that you called me a monster, but I understand if—”

Before I could end my sentence, the door in front of me suddenly flew open. I saw a blur as Mom hugged me to her chest tightly. She was squeezing me so tightly that I struggled to breathe a bit, but I hugged her back fiercely.

“No sweetie, you're not a monster! I'm so sorry for calling you that, but know that you're not a monster!” Mom said as she cried. “I'm not angry with you, Brogen, I'm angry with myself for calling my own son a monster! I love you, Brogen, don't you ever forget that! I'm sorry, I'm so sorry…”

Mom was sobbing now, and I was crying too. I told myself that I won't cry, but that was just wishful thinking. The both of us ended up sitting on the floor while hugging, apologizing to each other again and again. For two weeks I had been avoiding Mom, dreading this conversation, when it turned out Mom felt the same. I guess one would never know what lies at the end of the tunnel if one doesn't even try to venture into it.

Mom and I just kept hugging each other as my thoughts drifted away. What would have happened if I spoke to Christine about everything?

●●●

Sister Lina could have swallowed an apple whole when her jaw dropped after hearing Brogen's words. She looked at Sister Tillie's face to see her reaction and was glad that she wasn't the only one being shocked by this revelation. Sister Tillie's usually calm facade was gone, replaced with a look similar to Sister Lina's: her eyes were open wide and her mouth opened and closed like a fish.

“D-Did I just h-hear that Brogen has a… an… A-Authority?” Sister Lina stuttered.

Sister Tillie remained silent, still shocked about what she heard.

“H-Hey, Tillie, answer me. W-What—”

Sister Lina stopped speaking when the other nun slowly faced her. Sister Tillie had a distant look as she murmured absently. “By the Holy Mother's tits, Brogen is an Ascendant…”

“H-Hey, watch what you're saying!” Sister Lina whispered harshly. She peeked around the corner and saw that the mother and son were still embracing each other. Confident that they weren't spotted, she grabbed Sister Tillie by the arm and dragged the stupefied nun back to the chapel's first floor and into the kitchen.

“Tillie, snap out of it!” Sister Lina said as she shook her friend out of her reverie.

When Sister Tillie's eyes regained their focus, she took a deep breath to calm herself. “This is a big secret. Even though I suspected something, I didn't expect it to be this. We must be careful that nobody else knows of this,” Sister Tillie said, her eyes holding a strange intensity to them.

“I know, I didn't expect it either!” Sister Lina exclaimed. “Do you think this is the secret that Mother Betha was hiding from us?”

“It is likely. Listen, Lina. You must be very careful that you never mention this to anyone, alright?”

“I know, Tillie, I know. People are gonna freak out if they found out an Ascendant was living in this town all along.”

“No, you don't get it,” Sister Tillie said as she stared into her friend's eyes. “If people find out about Brogen, they'll sell him out to the King's men. They'll enslave him and kidnap Helen as a hostage to keep him in line.”

“W-What?” Sister Lina asked in a fluster. Sister Tillie's gaze caused goosebumps to break out on her skin. “They can't do that… right?”

“They'll do it. They have done it countless times in the past, and I— we can't let that happen to Brogen and Helen,” Sister Tillie said with conviction.

Sister Lina noticed that her fellow nun was behaving oddly. She knew that finding out Brogen was an Ascendant was shocking, but Sister Tillie's behavior was too strange.

“Tillie, have you… did you know someone who was an Ascendant in the past?”

Sister Tillie froze after hearing the question. “I-I…”

“If you don't want to tell me, it's fine, Tillie, but please don't lie to me.”

Sister Tillie looked conflicted for a moment, then sighed as she sat down on one of the chairs in the kitchen. For a moment, the nun appeared older than her real age would suggest. “I had a friend once, and it turned out she was an Ascendant.”

Sister Lina remained quiet and also sat down on a chair beside her friend, listening intently to her sister's story.

“You already know that I was a street urchin in the city of Halros when I was young right?” Sister Tillie asked.

Sister Lina nodded seriously. When Mother Betha took Sister Lina into her care, Sister Tillie was already there. When they first met back when they were children, Sister Lina was shocked when she found out that the prim and proper Sister Tillie used to be a street urchin.

“Criminal gangs were rampant in Halros, and before Mother Betha took me in, I used to work as an informant for one of the smaller gangs,” Sister Tillie continued. “I made a friend there who also worked for the same gang as I did and we became very close. But then one night, she experienced an Awakening. The gang we worked for witnessed it and immediately captured her, giving her to the city governor in exchange for the bounty. They feared my friend and her power, so they broke her arms and legs first, not even batting an eye to her screams, before handing her to the authorities. I never saw her again. They tried to kidnap me so they could blackmail my friend, but I was under Mother Betha's protection by then.”

Sister Lina held Sister Tillie's hand to comfort her. Although Sister Tillie did not say much about her relationship with her childhood friend, Sister Lina noticed that her fellow nun deeply cherished the friendship she had back then.

“Don't worry, Tillie. We won't let anything like that happen to Helen and Brogen,” Sister Lina said. Her eyes burned with the same conviction that Sister Tillie showed earlier.

●●●

“Ha!”

Terric let out a loud cry as he struck the training dummy in front of him with a wooden training sword. The impact made a loud noise as the dummy filled with straw shook on the pole it was fixed on. He was training in his backyard early in the morning. Since it was still winter, the thin layer of snow that coated the ground flew to the air as it was disturbed by the wind.

“Damn it, I failed again…” Terric muttered. He was trying to perform a martial skill that his father showed him back when he first started his training with the sword, but he was having some difficulty controlling his mana. Terric wasn't a mage, but he was one of those people who had a substantial amount of mana but couldn't use it to cast magic, so instead, they used it to strengthen their bodies.

Terric had a dream to become a knight like in one of the stories his mother used to tell him at night, and ever since his family found out that he could become a body-augmenter like his father, he trained as if his life depended on it.

Body-augmenters, or Augmenters for short, were warriors who strengthened their bodies permanently by letting their mana saturate their muscles and organs instead of just letting it flow through their mana channels. They did this by meditating, which made it easier for them to control their mana and spread it throughout their bodies. The process of saturating the muscles with mana to permanently make them stronger was called Augmentation.

Terric took a deep breath and positioned himself before the dummy once again. He closed his eyes and felt his mana flow through his body. He tried to accelerate its flow and make mana flood his muscles in an instant, the fundamental requirement to perform a martial skill. By making it flood his muscles, it would give him a short burst of speed and strength.

Terric swung his wooden sword, but unlike his previous failed attempt, his arms moved quickly, almost like a blur, and his weapon struck the dummy in front of him with significantly more force. The poor dummy burst and the straw inside it flew in all directions as Terric looked on with wide eyes.

“I did it! I finally did it! After years of boring meditation, I finally did it!”

Terric celebrated his success, but before he could run inside his house and show his father his newly learned martial skill, his muscles screamed in pain and he fell to the ground with a cry.

“Ow, ow, ow! Damn it, father's gonna chew me out for rushing my training again, but at least I got it this time,” Terric muttered while gritting his teeth in pain. Using a martial skill that was too advanced for the body always resulted in the muscles getting strained.

“Well, at least you have a martial skill to show for it,” Ralf said from one corner of the backyard. He was sitting on the ground with crossed legs, the usual position for meditation. “I think your father would let you off with just a stern warning.”

Ralf also trained daily to become an Augmenter. Although he trained at home, he sometimes came over to Terric's house to spar and compare their progress with each other, although unlike Terric, Ralf never tried to rush his training by trying to learn martial skills. He focused on strengthening his body first.

“Yeah, I wish,” Terric said dejectedly. The last time Terric disobeyed his father's instructions when it came to training, his father made him meditate for six hours straight. Although Carson was a nice and kind father most of the time, he transformed into a drillmaster when it came to training his eldest son.

“How's your training going?” Terric asked while lying on the ground.

“I still haven't learned how to perform a proper martial skill,” Ralf replied. “But instead, I have been focusing on augmenting my body first so that I don't end up in your state when I do try to perform a martial skill and practice my Ritual.”

“Yeah, well, I hope you still end up like me, though.”

As the two young men made small chatter, two older men came out of the house to check on their progress. One was a large bearded man with a scar that ran down his left cheek who was wearing a simple shirt and trousers despite the cold weather. Carson, Terric's father, had a large grin on his face as he looked down on his son. “Let me guess, you tried to perform a martial skill and your body couldn't handle it,” he said with his loud and deep voice.

“I didn't just ‘try’ a martial skill, I actually did it!” Terric said indignantly.

“Ah, my mistake. Then you performed a martial skill and then your body couldn't handle it,” Carson replied, his grin still plastered on his face.

“I may have overworked my body,” Terric said sheepishly.

Carson shook his head. “Didn't I tell you to focus on strengthening your body first? Your body is your foundation. You can't just skip it and proceed to learn all those fancy moves or else you'll end up softer than a vegetable.”

“Yeah, yeah, alright,” Terric muttered while massaging his sore muscles.

“Then if you understand, you'll be doing one hundred push-ups and six hours of straight meditation for your punishment,” Carson said, his grin growing wider.

“What?! The meditation, I understand, but I can't do a hundred push-ups with my muscles all sore!” Terric complained.

“Go easy on your son, Carson,” the other man said with a raspy voice. “Young men like Terric tend to be impatient to become strong. That passion is what will drive him to be strong in the future.”

The gloomy middle-aged man wore a long, dark cloak that covered his thin body and a ragged top hat that sat on his head. His face could be called handsome, but the frown affixed to it drastically reduced his charm. In his right hand, he gripped a grim-looking shovel with a black shaft that was as long as his body. The shaft was decorated with ominous writings of a foreign language and the blade shone black with brown spots staining its dark surface. Whether the brown spots were blood stains or simply rust was unclear.

“Alright, alright, I guess eighty push-ups will do,” Carson said with a shrug. Terric could only groan but accepted his punishment. Despite his strained muscles, Terric was already at the mid-stage of the First Level of Augmentation, making his body far stronger and faster than a normal adult.

The gloomy man, Jannik Spielmann, the Gravekeeper of Erfeld, switched his gaze to his son. “How goes your training, Ralufior?”

“…It has been going well, father,” Ralf answered, discomfort showing on his face after being called by his real name. Ralf didn't really hate his real name, but he felt that it was the type of name parents used to give more than a century ago. If Ralf would put it in Brogen's terms, it was “old-school.”

“Is that so?” Jannik asked. “Then show me your Gravekeeper's Ritual.”

Ralf nodded and picked up the shovel beside him. Unlike his father's, Ralf's shovel was a mundane one.

Ralf went to the center of the backyard and took a deep breath. Terric and Carson were watching with excited looks. Except for training, Gravekeepers only performed their Rituals in specific circumstances, which made it a rare sight.

Ralf started the Ritual by striking the shovel's blade on the ground, both his hands gripping the shaft firmly with his back straight. Then he dragged the shovel across the ground quickly before swinging it in a horizontal arc. Before the shovel could complete the arc, Ralf pulled it back in, held it by its handle with one hand, then thrust it forward with a fast and smooth motion. Then he proceeded with the next steps.

Ralf performed the Gravekeeper's Ritual with graceful motions, swinging his shovel masterfully as if he was training with it for his entire life. Ralf's movement flowed smoothly from one form to the next with no pause or delay in between, making sure that the shovel never stayed still for even a single moment as he glided across the yard with elegant footwork.

“Wow,” Terric murmured. “It's like he's dancing.”

“That's because the Gravekeeper's Ritual is a dance,” Carson replied beside him.

“A dance?”

“Yes. The Gravekeeper's Ritual is like a ceremony that Gravekeepers perform for extremely special circumstances.”

“Like what?” Terric asked.

“They perform it before they bury an honorable person, or before they bury their fellow Gravekeeper who died during his or her service. They do it on the Day of the Dead to give respect to the departed, or when they mourn for a loved one. In essence, the Gravekeeper Ritual is a ceremony to give the highest respect.”

“Wow, that's impressive,” Terric said while watching Ralf perform the Ritual.

“But they don't do it only as a ceremony,” Carson added.

“What else do they do it for?” Terric asked as he looked at his father. But before Carson could answer, there was a loud clanging noise from the front. Terric looked back towards his friend's performance and was shocked at the scene.

Ralf was grunting with effort while holding his shovel in front of him. Jannik was no longer in his previous location, but was instead right in front of his son, his dark shovel interlocked with Ralf's. The shaft of Ralf's shovel had just blocked Jannik's attack.

“Impressive,” Jannik said as he and his son crossed shovels with each other. “Looks like you were training adequately.”

“T-Thank you for the praise, father,” Ralf answered while huffing.

“Then impress me more,” Jannik replied before drawing back his shovel and swinging it from the side.

Ralf scrambled to step back and block Jannik's strike, but the blow sent him flying to the side. He rolled on the ground as he fell to lessen the impact and tried to stand up, but before he could get his footing, Jannik was already upon him.

Ralf was desperately trying to block Jannik's strikes which came at him quickly. One moment the dark shovel was coming from above, the next, it was aiming for his legs. Ralf's earlier elegance while performing the Ritual was nowhere to be found as he was slowly being cornered by Jannik.

“Where has your training gone, boy? Or do you only view the Ritual as some sort of dance performance to be shown to an audience?”

Unlike Ralf who was trying to block his father's strikes with uncoordinated movements, Jannik was performing the Ritual while attacking his son. Jannik's attacks were ferocious while his dance was elegant, two opposing attributes in a single performance.

“W-What the hell, is Ralf going to be alright?” Terric asked his father nervously, concerned for his friend's well-being.

“He's gonna be fine, Jannik's holding back.”

“That's holding back?!” Terric exclaimed. In his eyes, Jannik's movements were so fast they almost looked like a blur. The speed in which Jannik was moving was almost the same as Terric's swing when he performed a martial skill, but instead of a short burst of speed, Jannik was doing it continuously without doing a martial skill.

“Heh, looks like Jannik never lost his touch as a Gravekeeper from the city after all,” Carson commented.

“What do you mean?”

“Well, Jannik used to work in a cemetery of a big city, which means the undead that he fought there were stronger compared to the ones here in Erfeld,” Carson answered.

“Wow, I didn't know Uncle Jannik's super strong,” Terric said.

“Of course he is. He's a Third-level Augmenter.”

“Seriously?! You're a Second-level Augmenter, so he's one level higher than you?!”

“Hey, just because I'm an exterminator doesn't mean I'm the strongest one around. Plus, I'm in the peak-stage of the Second Level, so stop giving me that disappointed look,” Carson grumbled. The worst thing a father could witness was his own son's disappointment.

Terric couldn't keep the shock from showing on his face, though. He knew that the difference between each Level of Augmentation was vast. Comparing a First-level Augmenter with a Second-level Augmenter was like comparing a cat with a tiger, and the difference was even greater in the higher Levels.

Carson taught Terric the different Levels of Augmentation when his son started his training. There were six Levels of Augmentation, with the First Level being the weakest. Each Level was further divided into the early-stage, mid-stage, late-stage, and the peak-stage. This meant that the difference between Levels was extremely large.

“Er, sorry, I'm not saying you're weak or anything. What's a Third Augmenter even doing in a small town like this?” Terric asked.

“They have their reasons, son.”

As Terric focused on the fight again, he noticed that there was a change. Ralf was struggling to at least block Jannik during the earlier bouts, but now, he was slowly adapting. He was now able to block most of Jannik's strikes successfully and was even making a counter-attack now and then. Ralf was slowly incorporating the Ritual's forms into his movements, making them more efficient.

Jannik noticed the change in his son's movements and smiled. “Looks like you finally realized that the Ritual isn't only some simple dance used in ceremonies. Good.”

Then Jannik started moving faster and hitting harder, causing Ralf to go back on the defensive. But unlike earlier, Ralf was managing to hold himself against his father.

“Wow, that kid is extremely talented, huh?” Carson commented.

“What made you say that?” Terric asked.

“From what I can observe, your friend has never used the Gravekeeper's Ritual in combat before but only performed it as a dancing ritual.”

“Yeah, that's right. Ralf always told me that Uncle Jannik always made him practice the Ritual every day and made him master the movements.”

“Then that means he only learned a few minutes ago that the Gravekeeper's Ritual could be used in combat, and yet he's already incorporating it in the way he fights.”

Terric realized what his father was saying and agreed. Ralf's ability to immediately adapt was impressive and Terric could only imagine what kind of powerful warrior Ralf would become in the future. As much as he wanted to feel happy for his friend, though, Terric instead felt frustrated that he was being left behind.

Terric knew that Ralf started his training way earlier than him. Terric only began his training at fourteen years old when his father came back from the capital. On the other hand, Ralf had been practicing the Gravekeeper's Ritual ever since he was six. Since Terric and Ralf were of the same age, that meant Ralf had been training for twelve years while Terric had only been training for four. But this didn't stop Terric from feeling like he was being left behind.

“Feeling jealous?” Carson teased from the side.

“W-What do you mean jealous?! I'm not feeling jealous! Maybe you're the one being jealous of Uncle Jannik,” Terric answered back.

Carson didn't expect his son's words and flinched with a guilty look. “O-Of course I'm not jealous. You think your father is jealous of a Third Augmenter?!”

Terric stared at him with a blank look.

“Y-You know what, just start doing your push-ups. While you're at it, I'll be meditating over there…”

There was one final clang before Jannik retreated. When Ralf saw that the spar was over, he almost collapsed right on the ground, but he used his shovel to prop himself up and keep on standing. The young man was breathing hard as sweat dripped down his body and his already pale face looked even paler than usual.

“That… How did… I do… father?” Ralf said, his breaths coming out as mists in the cold air.

Jannik, who didn't even look the slightest bit tired and his clothes still clean and neat, answered his son with pride in his voice. “You did well, son. It looks like you have truly mastered the movements of the Gravekeeper's Ritual that you have been training for since you were young.”

Ralf's back stood straighter after hearing his father's praise. Jannik rarely complimented him, so his words today were the highest praise he had ever heard from his father. “Although I learned a lot from this surprise lesson, I would have appreciated it if you had given me a heads-up, father.”

“The undead will never give you any warning once you begin work as a Gravekeeper, Ralufior,” Jannik answered. There was a slight pause before both men's faces suddenly twisted into a terrifying snarl— it was their version of a smile.

“Although I've known Jannik for years, that is something I'll never get used to…” Carson whispered beneath his breath.

The door to the house opened with a creak and two women walked out.

“Terric, one of your friends came by!” Nola, Terric's mother, called out to her son doing push-ups in one of the corners of the yard. “Go and greet him, sweetie.”

“Really? Heck yeah!” Terric shouted, happy that he won't have to do his punishment right now.

“Hey, you're not escaping your punishment, young man!” Carson called out to the fleeing Terric. Terric just laughed in triumph. He didn't object to doing the punishment later since his muscles would have recovered a bit by then, making it less painful.

“Why don't you go and meet up with him too, Ralfy,” Thelma said to her son.

“Thelma, when are you ever going to call our son by his real name?” Jannik asked with exasperation. “He is already of age and will become a Gravekeeper in a few years' time. He is already an adult!”

“Shush, honey. Ralfy is my Ralfy, no matter how old he is,” Thelma said with a wag of her finger. Jannik could only sigh, but a corner of his lips was raised.

“Go heed your mother's instructions, Ralufior,” Jannik said to his son.

“Yes, father,” Ralf answered with an embarrassed look.

●●●

When Terric and Ralf entered the living room, their eyes widened into saucers when they saw me seated on the couch. I did not expect that Ralf's eyes that were always half-closed could open that wide.

“Brogen?! What are you doing here?” Terric asked with shock in his voice.

“Er, am I unwelcome here?” I asked sheepishly as I stood.

“What? Of course not! Sit, sit! I was just shocked,” Terric said quickly.

“I am shocked as well,” Ralf said beside Terric. “I did not expect that you would seek us out yourselves after you disappeared for more than two weeks.”

“Yeah, about that. I actually came to apologize for disappearing like that, stuff just happened back at our house that got me and Mom occupied for a long time.”

“What happened anyway?” Terric asked as he sat down on one of the couches opposite me. “The nuns told us that you and Aunt Helen were quarantined after your mother contracted a disease or something.”

I froze for a second, not knowing that the nuns at the chapel had covered for me and Mom during our mysterious absence. I could only blame myself since I hadn't even talked to the Sisters after reconciling with Mom yesterday.

When I activated my fabric sense again, I always knew where they were since I was familiar with their clothing, but I didn't try to approach them yet. I intended to ask Mother Betha regarding the excuse I should say to the nuns, but it looked like the pastor already handled it.

“Y-Yeah, Mom got sick with some weird illness. We didn't know if I also contracted it, so Mother Betha told me to isolate myself, haha…” I said, my voice slightly quivering nervously.

I dearly wished that my lie was believable, but I knew that I couldn't lie for shit. When I peeked at my friends in front of me, their faces only held blank expressions. Yeah… I'm pretty sure I'd have the same expression if somebody lied to my face so obviously.

“Come on, Brogen, it's obvious that you're lying,” Terric said with a frown. “When Sister Lina told us the same thing, she acted all weird and suspicious. What really happened?”

I felt my face flush from guilt. The reason I lied to my friends was to protect myself and Mom, but it didn't mean that I liked doing it. Terric and Ralf didn't look like they took the fact that I lied too seriously, but that's because I was just a ten-year-old kid in their eyes.

I paused for a second, thinking about what I should say, but I decided that lying again would be a big insult to my friends. So I decided to be blunt with them.

“Sorry, but I can't say,” I said, my eyes looking straight into Terric's.

“What do you mean you can't say? Come on, we won't tell anybody!”

I was about to tell Terric the same thing again when Ralf put his hand on Terric's shoulder to stop him.

“I think it is Brogen's right to keep his secret, yes?”

“But we're his friends!” Terric exclaimed.

“Friends respect each other's privacy, Terric. If Brogen doesn't want to tell us, then I'm sure he has a pretty good reason.” Ralf gave me a nod as he sat down on the couch beside Terric.

Terric sighed as he relaxed on the couch. “Yeah, I guess you're right. Sorry about trying to force you, Brogen.”

“I-It's okay, I'm sorry too for lying in the first place,” I replied as I gave Ralf an appreciative nod for what he did.

“So, why did you come over?” Terric asked curiously.

“Oh, right, I almost forgot why I came here for. I wanted to tell you guys that Mom and I will be opening a clothing shop sometime in the future. Since you're my friends, Mom wanted to give you guys a shirt for free.”

After Mom and I reconciled, we decided to continue with the clothing shop that we were supposed to establish before the incident. Using my power still bothered me sometimes, especially with the vast increase in strength after that dreadful Awakening, but I was coping with it.

“Really? Then I'll take you up on that offer!” Terric said cheerfully. “Your mom's the one who's gonna make the shirt right?”

Oh, so that was why Terric was so excited. He thinks that he'll receive a handmade gift from Mom. I looked at Ralf and saw that he was also eager to receive a gift from Mom judging from how his foot tapped the floor whenever he got excited. Aren't there any other young women in this town they can date? Why do they always focus their attention on Mom?!

“Sorry to burst your bubbles, but I'll be the one making the shirts for the boys. Mom will only do the dresses for the girls,” I told them, grinning at their falling faces.

With that out of the way, I proceeded to take their measurements with my trusty measuring tape, all while listening to their grumbling.