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When Clara left the sanctuary, she found herself surrounded by more worshippers of the Goddess of the Stars, all gathered to see her, the heroine the goddess had sent.

The girl couldn't help but feel uncomfortable and a little embarrassed. Although she walked with confidence and her back straight, she gradually hunched over, driven by the protective instinct to make herself less noticeable.

The corridor she walked through was long and continued the same architecture as the sanctuary, except that every three meters there was a large window overlooking an inner garden.

"Where am I?" she asked again, hoping to make sense of everything.

"At the Sanctuary of the Stars," Vash replied, appearing beside her.

Clara gave a small start when she saw him.

"Did you meet the Goddess of the Stars in person? What is she like?" he continued.

"Vash! I ordered you to leave. You're bothering the heroine," Aster scolded him.

The young man with glasses let out a sigh and prepared to walk away again, but Clara intervened:

"You're not bothering me. I like him. Besides, he was the first person to find me."

The elderly woman stopped, looked at Vash with narrowed eyes, and said:

"Very well, you may stay, but be respectful."

The boy nodded with a smile and then, as the group started walking again, whispered to Clara:

"Thank you."

"Don't worry, but in return, I want you to explain the situation to me a little," she replied, also in a whisper. "By the way, if I did meet the goddess, she's exactly like the statue."

The boy looked at her in awe, delighted to meet someone who had interacted directly with his goddess.

"So... we're in the sanctuary, yes, but where is this sanctuary?"

"The Sanctuary of the Stars," the boy quickly corrected her. "There are many sanctuaries in the city, one for each god who guides our world."

«Everything is "of the Stars",» Clara thought again.

"So this place is inside a city... other gods..." she thought aloud. "Will my friends wake up in other sanctuaries?"

"You mean the other Heroes? If so, then yes."

Vash looked at her curiously as he adjusted his glasses. The boy had long eyelashes that framed emerald-green eyes.

"You don't know anything about the gods or this world?" he asked, intrigued.

"Nothing at all."

"Wow, that's strange. I thought Heroes would know something about their mission," he admitted. "How old are you?"

At that moment, they passed in front of one of the windows, and the faint light of a setting sun shone directly into her eyes.

Clara squinted as she gazed at the perfectly green grass of the courtyard and flowers that glowed with tiny flashes of light like fireflies.

"I'm twenty-one," she replied.

Vash seemed surprised, his eyes widening. Even the older woman, who had been listening to their conversation while walking ahead of them, turned her head in surprise.

"What?" Clara blurted out, somewhat embarrassed. "Do I look older?"

"No, no," Vash quickly replied. "Quite the opposite. You're very young."

"How am I young?" the girl asked. "You're younger than me... I think... How old are you?"

Vash bit his lip and finally said:

"I'm eighty-nine."

"Don't lie to me. I'm asking seriously," the girl replied.

"He's telling the truth," Aster interrupted, clearing her throat. "I am one thousand and twenty-four years old."

Clara could do nothing but stare in surprise. Seeing the serious expressions on both their faces, she knew neither of them was joking with her.

"So I'm like a child to you?"

"Something like that, but you don't look like a twenty-year-old," Vash said. "You look like you're ninety or a hundred years old."

Although Clara understood that the logic of Earth couldn't entirely be applied here, she couldn't help but feel like they were playing a prank on her.

"The Sanctuary of Time preserves the primordial history of the world," Brion said, stroking his long beard.

He had also been accompanying them, listening attentively to the conversation.

"One of the earliest stories, from long before the Pact of the Gods, tells that the Goddess of Life used her gift to create mortals because the loneliness of the world made her sad," Brion recounted. "But the life the goddess bestowed was claimed by the God of Death. This made her even sadder. It was then that the God of Time, who deeply loved the goddess, granted mortals the blessing of Perpetuity so they could live for many years and his beloved would not suffer."

"Wow, I didn't know that story," Vash said, fascinated.

The elderly woman gave him a pointed look and said:

"You should know it."

Vash shrugged sheepishly and lowered his head in apology.

Despite the boy's appearance of being a know-it-all, he was more absent-minded and rebellious than he seemed.

Clara listened to everything cautiously. If her reality was going to become tied to this world, it was better to learn as much as possible about it.

"So does that mean your world wasn't blessed by the God of Time?" Vash asked.

"Apparently not."

"Saint of the Stars!" a female voice shouted from far away.

A girl who didn't look any older than twelve came running down the corridor. She wore the same robe as the rest of the apostles.

"Saint! Heroes are arriving at the other sanctuaries!" she shouted when she reached the group.

The girl, who had messy black hair, was panting from exhaustion.

"We know, Fei," Aster told her. "Our Heroine arrived a while ago."

"What? Where is she?"

Clara peeked out from behind the older woman and waved at her.

"Hello."

"You... You... Are you...?" the girl stammered.

Immediately afterward, Fei collapsed to the floor, fainting from excitement. Her large forehead hit the floor with a dull thud.

"May the goddess help us with this girl," the elderly woman grumbled, then looked at Vash. "May she help us with this entire new generation."

"Vash, take care of Fei," Brion ordered.

"But..."

"Obey!"

"Yes, sir," he reluctantly accepted.

Without much effort, he lifted the girl and placed her over his shoulder like a sack.

"See you," he told the girl again before leaving through another corridor.

"Please excuse the inconvenience, Heroine Clara," Aster said. "Let us continue. There isn't much time. The emperor will want to see all the Heroes as soon as possible."

She nodded. There was a lot she wanted to know, but everything indicated that she wasn't going to get any more explanations for the moment.

The three of them walked in silence until they reached a room.

Aster opened the door and motioned for Clara to enter. Meanwhile, Brion took his position at the entrance as a guard.

The room was small but cozy. A large wardrobe occupied an entire wall, along with a Victorian-style folding screen. In front of the wardrobe was a red velvet sofa beside a small round table with tableware decorated with floral motifs.

What impressed Clara the most wasn't inside the room but rather the view beyond the window.

"Wow! This is incredible!" she exclaimed excitedly.

Beyond the thin glass lay the realm of an unknown world. A wonderful world that made her feel like a princess.

Clara smiled for the first time, excited at the prospect of having a great adventure.

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