Tirsday, 7th of Juno, 470th Year of the Fifth Era

Josias' practically sole victory against the Hutaraja created shockwaves throughout the entirety of Matanitao. It was astoundingly absurd how a single man could best an entire team on his own. Either he was a legendarily skilled fighter or his opponents were legendarily crap at fighting. Or a mixture of both.

Josias didn't really think of himself as anything all that special. He was a warrior just like the rest of his companions and he was sure they could do what he had done. The Hutaraja were just easily baited and he enjoyed exploiting weaknesses within the enemy's formation. Had the Hutaraja kept a cooler head and a more defensive stance, things would've turned out much differently. But, Josias was never one to turn away praise and the roaring cheers of the crowd were something to behold indeed.

Josias' companions had congratulated him on the victory to which some jokingly remarked that he was being a show off. His father had rushed into the tourney field and gave him a bear hug before lifting him off his feet and carrying him on his shoulders like when he was a child. All of Goria and even their christian allies were celebrating the victory. It was joy felt like no other. King Parhal was greatly pleased and announced another feast to be held that night in honor of the victory.

As it stands now, the Hutaraja were completely and utterly humiliated. The Blood King Pirma of Hutaraja couldn't even say anything in the wake of this disastrous humiliation. All he had to show for were beaten grandchildren and a twisted expression on his face. If the team they had sent were the culmination of the prowess of Hutaraja's younger generation, they were in great trouble. All that hubris dashed like a candle blown out by the morning dew.

Many people had come to congratulate Josias on his victory from among his friends and allies. A few warriors from the eliminated teams or other competing teams also had come to pay him a few words of praises. Even Silua Nabolga couldn't help but express his admiration to him. Josias laughed off Silua's praise, saying that he'd made a mistake showing the young strategist the breadth of his abilities. Josias left off by commenting on how excited he was to face the Nabolga in the finals.

Silua laughed at such comments. They were still in the quarterfinals and Josias' comments were far too optimistic. But given his landslide victory over the Hutaraja, such confidence was understandable.

Most of the Gorians had left the tournament grounds as they felt no need to watch the afternoon match between Tanohisar and Tanjung Naria. Josias also still had a promise he had to keep towards his younger siblings. They were promised treats and so Josias had taken them to walk around the festival grounds adjacent to the tourney fields. As always, his beloved Serena had accompanied him on the little outing.

Besides her, Timotheus, Maria, and Johannes – along with the younger Sinatua siblings – decided to tag along the little outing. Hesekiel, Sadrach, and Mateus had their own matters to attend to, mostly involving meetings with distant relatives from the other realms.

There were a limited number of clans that descended from the Sigumogo clan, One of those branch clans – the Sihujur – were even hostile to the main Gorian branch. The only other close relatives Josias could think of would be his grandfather's aunt who married into the Sinaria. But that would mean having to interact with Alvaro and his ilk. Josias would rather kick Alvaro's sorry head into the sand than converse civilly with him.

There were numerous stands of food and all manner of small and fun games available to be played. Many children were playing around with the Sigalegale puppets in their stands and there was also a place where musicians would teach some children how to play their instruments for a fee.

Janus had tugged on Josias' pants and pointed towards a stand that was roasting large skewered meat. "Abang, I want it!" Janus said as he looked at Josias with expectant eyes.

"Didn't you just eat your breakfast, anggi?" Josias shook his head but Janus was still determined.

"But I hungry now too! That smells good!!" Janus said. Josias was at a loss when facing his younger siblings. However it had seemed he was a tad too slow as the young Reverend Timotheus had swooped in and bought a dozen sticks of skewered meat. He then handed them to the small children who cheered in excitement.

"Thank you, Bang Timo!!" Janus said excitedly as he started stuffing his face with the meat.

"Don't mention it, little brother." Timo ruffled Janus' hair "Not all of your abangs are cheapskates like Josi."

"Pffft. Oh sure, make fun of the man without a steady income, bang." Josias feigned annoyance "Not everyone can have a stable salary paid from the donations of thousands of congregants."

"I am living and breathing by the will of God alone." Timotheus smiled as he clasped his hands simulating a prayer before he pointed away to sets of tables with chessboards on them. "Also, I feel like God is willing me to scam a few scammers out of their money. These meat skewers don't come cheap and I have siblings to provide for."

"Pffft… hahahahah! Alright you go do that, bang!" Josias laughed as he saw Timotheus immediately make way to sit and challenge one of the chess hustlers. As Timo had left, Josias continued to stroll around the festival grounds with the rest of the group.

"Abang look! There's a place to shoot bows and arrows!" Julia pointed towards a stand where the store owner was busy stringing some small bows. The bows looked like they were small enough to be strung by even children. Josias nodded and they went to the stand.

The stand owner seemed jovial enough for a man of old age. He had welcomed the children to try and play to claim a prize from a set prize list. The old man had started explaining the rules to them as he pointed towards a wall with three target signs and numbers painted on them. The owner explained that each person could pay for five arrows and try to shoot the targets. The total score from five shots would then be tallied and an appropriate prize – or lack of one in the case of a lacking score – would be given. The catch was that only small children were allowed to take part in the game.

Josias laughed as he nodded. The man had to make money somehow. If even the tons of aura warriors could compete in these stand games, he'd run out of business. Josias paid the man a number of copper kepengs tied to a string before he handed over the bows and arrows to his younger siblings to try.

Julia, Janus, and Tigor had wanted to try and shoot the small bow. Josias had checked the quality of the bows and the string and it had seemed to hold up – especially as a toy made for fun. It was good to pass the time and Josias wanted to have fun with his younger siblings anyways.

There were about three target signs placed several feet away. From three stands, the children would try and shoot the targets. Josias had asked permission for a free shot each to teach the little ones the basic form of how to string and the owner graciously granted the permission. After adjusting a little bit of his younger siblings' form and stance, he had let them shoot their bows afterwards.

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As expected of a bunch of toddlers, Janus and Tigor couldn't really shoot straight and scored abysmally. Some of the arrows even somehow managed to land on completely different places or on their neighbouring targets. It was an adorable disaster but they still began to sulk from it. Janus' eyes became teary and Tigor looked just about ready to rage. Josias and Serena tried their best to calm the little children down.

The old man only laughed heartily at what he considered and adorable scene. He had opened a drawer and given the boys some sweets as a consolation prize. Josias had expected Julia to fail as badly and was prepared to take them to another stand. However, no one had expected what would happen next.

The first arrow that Julia loosed hit her target a little far from the center, but still very close considering she was barely six years old. Just as Josias clapped his hands to cheer for her, Julia had made four consecutive shots. Each shot getting closer and closer to the center until the last two shots hit the bullseye. She hit the bullseye. Twice.

Josias' jaw stood ajar as he saw his little six year old sister put the bow down and shook her hand. She had blistered her hand a bit from stringing the bow.

"Kak Sere, can you help…?" Julia held up her hand and Serena immediately used her powers to stop the inflammation on her hands and to repair the peeled off layers of skin. "Thank you, kakak!"

Josias still stood dumbfounded and apparently so was the stand owner. It didn't take long before the old man laughed heartily before he gave Julia a thumbs up.

"You're a remarkably talented young lady! May I have the pleasure to know your name?" The old man asked.

Julia nodded as she answered politely, "My name is Julia Cornelia Ulina Sigumogo! Pleased to meet you, ompung!"

The old man widened his eyes as he heard the girl introduce herself. "Sigumogo? Oh my, it is an honour for this old man to meet with you! And so that means you're of the brood of the Hulubalang…" The old man looked to Josias who could only give him a sheepish smile.

"Ah yes, my name is Josias, and these are my younger siblings, Jakobus, Julia, Tigor, Tiur and Janus. We are the grandchildren of the Hulubalang. May I have the pleasure of knowing your name, amang?" Josias returned the courtesy.

"How rude of me. My marga is Sipistar of the fourth branch…" The old man smiled.

"Sipistar…?"

"...I was born and raised in Lumbanpistar in Goria. I fought under Lord Parmonang as an archer during Haumarara… I moved here a few years ago because our only daughter married a local Siparmalim man…"

"It's an honour to meet with a great warrior of the Sipistar! I thank you for the service you had rendered towards Goria, amang."

"Oh, please, the pleasure is mine! It was my honour to be able to witness the Hulubalang at his peak in battle…! Oh right! And the reward for the beautiful little lady!" The old shopkeeper had fumbled a little as he went to one of the shelves and took a rather large tiger doll made with adorably exaggerated figures "Forgive me if my humble stand can't provide anything of more value to the family of the Hulubalang!"

Julia had accepted the toy tiger – which was almost half her own size and immediately started hugging it. She was still a child after all.

"Amang, perhaps I should pay a little more for the toy, it seems a little more precious than what I had given…" Josias said with an uneasy smile as he saw the craftsmanship of the toy to be of quite a high quality. He immediately started rustling his coin pouch for a few more silver coins but the old man gently swatted Josias' hand away with a smile.

"Don't worry about it, young master! It makes this old man happy to see the smiles of the young children! And is it not written that 'each one should give what he has decided in his heart to give'?"

Josias' eyes widened once more as he exchanged glances with Serena hearing the man quote scripture. The old man laughed before he pulled out his cross necklace from under his shirt.The old man continued to speak to them, "...The Lord Ephorus' words still ring within me on kindness, mercy, and forgiveness… Me and my wife still do our best to try and make it to the nearest church in Goria for the big occassions. We have the dates written down and everything. There are a few other christians here beside me, young lord, but… we do our best not to draw too much attention to ourselves."

Josias nodded in understanding. It wasn't everyday he would meet a christian Halak man outside of Goria and her allied realms. After exchanging a few more pleasantries with the old man, Josias and Serena finally took their leave of the stand. The little children followed in tow with Julia still hugging her toy tiger. Tiur had looked at the toy with her eyes shining and Julia had freely shared it with her younger cousin.

Josias and Serena smiled at the adorableness of the little girls. They had soon made it back to the main square of the festival grounds. Josias was surprised to see Timotheus was still at it with the chess hustlers and judging from the thicker pouch of coins next to the reverend, he was winning by a good margin.

What was even more surprising was Josias' father Parulian was also having fun there watching Timotheus' match along with his mother. The children had immediately ran towards their mother excitedly. Hotma was surprised seeing the large toy Julia was carrying and immediately gave Josias a chilly stare.

"How much money did you waste buying this?" Hotma asked with a death stare.

"Oh come now, dear, let your son treat his younger siblings good every once in a while…" Parulian chimed in.

However, before Josias could explain himself, Julia had already started talking her head off about what had happened at the stand. Hotma and Parulian almost couldn't believe their young daughter's story about her archery skills but when Josias, Serena, and Jakobus confirmed it to their father, he couldn't be more ecstatic.

"HAHAHAHAH! My baby girl! A Master Archer!!" Parulian exclaimed happily as he lifted Julia and spun her around, kissing her cheeks. "Can you imagine that, Hotma? Our house is blessed by such talented children!! You must take me to this stand later and show me your skills, princess!"

"Oh dear God, why can't I be blessed with at least one peaceful and calm child…" Hotma groaned as she started rubbing the bridge of her nose. She only turned her head when she saw Janus tugging at her clothskirt before she picked him up. "And what do you want, my youngest son?"

"...Mama I'm hungry!" Janus said innocently.

"Janus, you're always hungry. We'll have a proper lunch soon. Be patient."

"...Inangtua!!" This time it was Tiur who had walked up to Hotma. "They're having a… puppet show over there… can we watch it?"

"Oh I want to watch too!" Tigor jumped up and down in excitement as well.

"Oh me too!" Janus nodded.

"Me three!!" Julia had heard her cousin's proposal and immediately jumped off from her father's hold.

Hotma could only sigh exasperatedly at the always excitable children. She looked half a mind to just refuse the children but Serena and Maria had volunteered to accompany her to take the children to watch the puppet show. Hotma finally relented as the women and children headed over to the puppet show.

Josias stayed with his father as they saw Timotheus engage in a so-called rapid round. They were using some very quick hourglasses for each turn of the chess match but Timotheus wasn't letting up. Eventually, Timotheus won once more. Josias exchanged looks with his father and Johannes before he nodded as he wanted to take part in a chess match.

However, as Josias was about to sit, he heard someone call out to him. As he turned to see who, he saw his uncle Partogi standing there with a smile. Josias let out a sigh. Something mentally exhausting was about to take place.

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