Father's gaze is dark, his arms crossed over his chest.

"Home. Now!" He says, his voice leaving no room for argument.

Shiro and I swallow hard. Without another word, we follow him out of the guild. The walk home is filled with silence. It feels like a death sentence.

As we step inside the house, Father slams the door shut behind us and turns to face us.

"WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?!" He roars. "Running off, registering as adventurers without my permission?! Have you completely lost your minds?!"

Shiro and I flinch. We've seen Father angry before, but never like this.

"Father, it was my idea!" I blurt out. "I was the one who convinced Shiro to go to the guild. He didn't want to at first, but I pushed him into it!"

Shiro's eyes widen in shock. "No! That's not true!"

Our father glares at us both, his gaze terrifying. Then, he slowly shakes his head. "You're both responsible!" He says. "Sota, you pushed him into it, but Shiro, as the older brother, you should have stopped him!"

"We just wanted to-"

Father cuts me off. "I don't want to hear excuses! You're both under house arrest. Two weeks. No training, no guild, nothing. You'll have plenty of time to think about what you've done. And don't think this is over! We will talk about this again later!"

Shiro and I want to protest, but one look from Father is enough to silence us. We have no choice.

With our heads hanging low, we retreat to our rooms.

I let myself fall onto my bed and stare at the ceiling. We reached our goal. We're officially adventurers. But at what cost?

The day drags on. I stay in bed the entire time until Shiro and I are finally called for dinner.

Slowly, I walk down the hallway toward the dining room.

I take my seat at the table. Shiro and the others are already there.

Dinner is filled with a heavy silence. Only the quiet clinking of cutlery against plates can be heard. Shiro and I sit with our heads down. Father leans back with his arms crossed, his gaze cold and piercing.

Mother lets out a soft sigh and sets down her fork. "You gave us quite a scare." Her voice is calm but full of disappointment. "When your father told me you were gone. I was so afraid."

Slowly, I lift my head and meet my mother's eyes. "I'm sorry, Mother! We never meant to worry you."

Father scoffs quietly. "But that's exactly what you did." His voice is harsh, though not as loud as before. "Do you really think this is just about fighting a few monsters? You were lucky it was only a wild boar. What if it had been a whole pack? Or something far worse, something you couldn't have defeated?"

Shiro clenches his fists. "We just wanted to become stronger." His voice trembles, and he bites his lip.

A heavy silence falls over the table.

"We understand that." Mother says gently. "But you need to understand that you're not alone. You have us. You have a family that worries about you." Her voice wavers slightly. "If something would have happened to you..."

I lower my head. "We're sorry..." I whisper.

Father studies me for a moment, then exhales deeply. "The two-week house arrest stays. After that, we'll see if you truly understand what you did wrong."

We nod slowly. We know that arguing won't change anything.

Mother's expression becomes a bit firmer. "You'll do the dishes tonight. Understood?"

Shiro and I nod.

"Yes." I answer.

After dinner, we clear the table and start washing the dishes. It takes a while since Shiro and I are inexperienced with housework.

Our mother steps into the kitchen with two cloths in her hands. "You can wipe down the table and clean the kitchen as well."

We stare at her with despair in our eyes. "Alright, Mother."

As if that wasn't enough, she adds."And you'll be doing this every evening for the next two weeks."

Finally, we finish. Shiro and I head straight to our rooms. "Good night, Shiro."

For the first time in two years, Shiro and I sleep in separate rooms.

I let myself fall onto the bed and it doesn't take long before I drift off.

The night passes peacefully, until I suddenly wake up in the middle of the night. "I need to go to the toilet..." I whisper to myself.

I leave my room and head toward the toilet. But my eyes catch a light coming from the dining room. Did Mother and Father forget to turn it off?

I step closer and hear voices.

No. They didn't forget the light. They're still in the dining room.

And they're talking about... me?!

"Listen... Sota is different somehow. I don't know what it is, but I feel like he's hiding something from us." Father says.

My mother looks at him, confused. "What do you mean? What kind of secret could Sota have? He's only seven years old."

My father exhales heavily. "Do you remember? Two years ago, during dinner, he asked me if monsters existed. I dodged the question, but he got more specific and asked about demons. As if he already knew they existed."

Mother tries to reassure him. "Oh, that must have been a coincidence."

Father shakes his head. "No. This morning, Sota came to me again and asked about demons. I told him they don't exist, but he didn't believe me. He was absolutely certain they were real."

Mother is shocked. "You told Sota about the demons?!"

"What was I supposed to do? He wouldn't let it go." Father answers, his expression turning more serious. "But that's not the point. What matters is what Sota said when I asked him how he knew about demons."

Mother leans in with curiosity. "What did Sota say?"

Father falls silent for a moment. "At first, he said someone named Elara told him. But then he got nervous and quickly changed his answer. He told me that-"

Mother gasps and drops her teacup in shock. "Did you just say... El- El- Elara?!"

Father looks at her, surprised. "You know this Elara?!"

He stands up and places his hands on the table. "Tell me! Now!"

Mother struggles to find the right words, but eventually, she speaks.

"Daigo... Elara is the name of the goddess worshiped by the church..."