_THE TRADERS_
Day 61.
The cart wheels creaked before anyone saw them.
First cart in 2 months.
Greywater was too poor. Too far. Too dead.
Nobody came here.
Two men. Dusty faces. Scarred hands.
Traders from Riverbend Village, 10km east.
They came for salt.
They came for iron nails.
They did not come for a god.
Day 62. Morning.
They saw Old Man Taro carrying water.
Both buckets.
Last time they came he couldn't stand.
They saw the Miller's wife laughing while she baked.
Last time she was bedridden with fever.
They saw an 8 year old girl with grass in her hair touch a crying baby.
The baby stopped. And slept.
"Who is she?" one trader asked.
"The Little Priestess," a woman answered.
"She serves the God of Lost Children."
The traders laughed.
By nightfall they weren't laughing.
They were kneeling at the altar.
Because their mule had gone lame 3km out.
And Mira touched its leg.
It stood up.
Before they left on Day 64, they bought nothing.
But they took something.
Stories.
_THE FIRST OUTSIDERS_
Day 68.
6 people came from Riverbend.
Walking. No cart.
Sick mother on a stretcher.
Lame son on a stick.
4 others with empty eyes and empty hands.
"We heard," the eldest said.
"Of the Little Priestess."
Mira was terrified.
She had only ever healed people she knew.
People who called her by name.
Now there were strangers.
Watching.
Hoping.
She looked at the altar.
Through the thread, Silas felt her panic.
_"What if I fail? What if God is angry?"_
Silas didn't speak.
He pushed.
Warmth.
Steady.
Like a hand on her back.
Mira took a breath.
She knelt.
She tried.
The mother's fever broke.
The son's leg didn't heal, but the pain dulled enough for him to walk 10 steps.
It wasn't much.
But it was enough.
When they left on Day 71, they left half a bag of rice.
And a promise whispered to the altar.
"We will build a shrine. For the God who listens."
_THE LOAD INCREASES_
Day 72 to Day 78.
Riverbend started praying.
Not many.
10 people at first.
Then 15.
Weak threads. 0.3%. 0.5%.
But they didn't go to Silas.
They went to Mira.
Because the traders said: "Talk to the Little Priestess. She hears."
Suddenly Mira wasn't just listening to Greywater.
She was listening to Riverbend too.
25 voices.
Then 40.
She started making mistakes.
She forgot Old Man Taro's name for one day.
She mixed up two prayers.
That night she threw up.
From exhaustion.
Through the thread, Silas felt it.
Her thread was 8.9%.
But it was fraying.
"Too much," he thought. "She can't do 2 villages alone."
_THE FIRST SOLUTION_
Day 80.
Silas called her in a dream.
Not a god. Not yet.
Just a voice in the dark.
"Child."
Mira knelt in her sleep. "Lord?"
"You are carrying too much," the voice said.
"You need hands. Like I needed you."
"Who?" she whispered.
"Choose. Someone loyal. Someone who believes."
The next morning, Mira chose her mother. 34years old . Thread 4.1%.
Not strong. But she had held Mira when she was born.
Silas saturated her.
Carefully.
Enough for small things.
Enough to stand at the altar when Mira couldn't.
By Day 82, Greywater had 2 people listening.
It helped.
But not enough.
_THE SECOND VILLAGE_
Day 82.
Riverbend built a shrine.
Wood. Stone. Crude.
But an altar in the center.
15 believers now.
Praying every morning.
All of it flowed to Mira first.
`Day 82. Energy Gathering 3 [18%].`
`Domain: 15m. Full power: 4hr now.`
`Step 2: Threading - 8.9% [Mira]. 4.1% [Mother]. 25 believers total.`
Silas felt the difference.
More Divine Energy.
His core was less empty at night.
But Mira was aging.
She looked 10 now. Not 8.
The God of Lost Children had 2 villages.
And one tired little girl trying to hold them both.
He would need more hands soon.
_AFTERMATH_
Silas sat in the basement and counted.
2 villages.
2 listeners.
25 threads.
Naïve.
He thought 3 months to EG9.
But gods don't cultivate in a straight line.
They expand.
And expansion hurts.
The rumor was spreading.
And Silas was starting to understand the price.
_END CHAPTER 7_