Mezin cast a disdainful look at the shattered remnants of what had once been a park bench.

  “These nobles, they are good for nothing! Always abusing and destroying. Why would they do this?”

  Tartera only shrugged. It was just another mess for them to clean.

  “Quit complaining and start working. If Madam Resa comes back and sees we haven’t made progress, we’ll be punished. Kargath help us if our lady sees it! This was her favorite place to sit in the garden!”

  “Exactly! It was a lovely spot, peaceful and beautiful. So why did they wreck it? I tell you, the nobles are vicious! Let her see it, so she understands the kind of filth she’s invited! They come to visit, eat, enjoy the show, then break things just for the fun of it. Beasts, all of them. We artisans and skilled folk, we should unite, cast these leeches out of our society! We’d live happy lives without them! And what would they do without us? Nothing, they’re useless!”

  Tartera sighed and looked over at him.

  “Stop parroting Mazon’s rants. That talk won’t get you anywhere. You saw the bottle, didn’t you? They drank too much and broke the bench. Every idiot in the village does the same. At least they didn’t beat their wives. Now, will you pick up that shovel, or should I call Madam Resa and ask for someone who’ll actually work?”

  *

  The cavalcade halted at a fork in the road. We were now accompanied by an escort of some twenty riders, a couple of knights among them, and had been making fast, steady progress. The coaches had been repaired as best as we could manage, but more dust was seeping in than before, making me all the more eager to take to the skies.

  As we stopped, the viscount’s coach pulled up alongside ours. The slit in the side opened, revealing his smiling face.

  “So,” Zachary asked, “are you sure you don’t want to come pay us a visit?”

  I sighed, but before I could reply, Yolanda jumped in.

  “Another time! I hope we’ll have another opportunity soon, but this girl’s tired and wants to reach her castle today,” she said, pointing at me.

  She was still a bit miffed that I’d flatly refused to go visit the viscount. Reaching his estate would’ve meant a detour of several hours, which gave me an easy excuse to decline without causing offense. Not that I particularly cared if I did.

  I was eager to see my friends and tell them I could now teleport back to Earth. But maybe I should test it first, to make sure it actually worked. The spell was already there; I could feel it, ready to cast. And when I focused, I could see Flo’s shimmering lightfires hovering in the air, markers she had placed.

  Even more intriguing was the sense that I could place my own. That definitely needed testing. Flo had cast nine. I had the distinct impression I could cast at least three times that number: twenty-seven. For each of her lightfires I saw, I sensed two empty slots beside them, waiting for my own. But was that real, or was I misreading the spell?

  “Thanks again for helping repair the carriages, and for the healing!” Zachary said, nodding first at me, then at Yolanda. He turned back to me with a bright smile. “Baroness, you’re a real talent. I’ve never seen such effective repair magic!”

  I waved it off, trying not to look too pleased, though they both seemed genuinely impressed. For some reason, repair magic seemed far rarer than healing.

  “Hopefully it won’t decay before you get home,” I muttered, thinking of what had happened to magically created items before. Still, I had paid closer attention this time. Maybe it would hold longer.

  He shrugged.

  “It wouldn’t matter much, we’re practically home already. By the way, Lores, don’t forget you promised to come for the Night of Ear Marking,” Zachary said, then glanced at Yolanda. “Of course, Your Highness, I mean, Julietta, you’re invited as well. I’ll ask the Aertya to send a scout to wait for you at the border and guide you to the place.”

  “Sure,” I replied. “If nothing bad happens, we’ll come.”

  “Nohekta willing, we’ll be there!” Yolanda added, placing responsibility squarely on the elven goddess.

  A moment later, after bidding us farewell, Zachary and his entourage took the left fork in the road, while we continued on the right.

  Shortly after, we stopped for lunch at an inn just a couple of kilometers past the fork in the road, giving the horses a chance to rest. Our coachman, a man in his sixties who answered to the name Quincy, took care of the animals while we headed into the inn’s garden to find something to eat.

  There was only one other traveler dining outside as we seated ourselves at a table. The innkeeper, beaming with joy at having more guests, hurried over with a maid to clean and prepare the space for us. Her cheerfulness was infectious.

  Once we had ordered, I turned to Mike.

  “Mike, I’d like to have a word with you,” I said, pulling him aside to a separate table.

  He followed, and as soon as we sat down, he leaned in and whispered, despite the fact that I had already activated a privacy field.

  “Are you sure it’s okay to talk now? I have a feeling our 'Julietta' is going to be a bit pissed if we do this…”

  I rolled my eyes.

  “I don’t have time for the charade now, Mike. I want to talk to you, just you. So let’s get straight to it: I might have found a way to bring you and the boys back to Earth. What do you think about that?”

  He blinked, visibly surprised.

  “Seriously?” he murmured, then glanced over at Elenia and let out a long sigh.

  “As things stand, I wouldn’t leave without her. Can I take her with us? If you really want to go, we’d follow you - I mean, we’re friends. We should stick together, right? I’m sure I speak for Tom and Hew too. And, well… there’s something going on between Hew and that orc girl, but maybe it’s better if he tells you himself. Anyway, do you really want to leave this place? We were just starting to get used to it, and there’s so much we could do here… Of course, to see our families...” he trailed off.

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  Hew and an orc girl? Which one?

  His response caught me a little off guard, but it also warmed my heart.

  I shook my head.

  “First I need to check if it really works." I said "But, even if I did leave, I’d still want to see this barony project up and running first. So I’d be back... at least for a while. But you see, I’m… a little different from you and the boys. I’m not sure I could really integrate back on Earth anymore.”

  Then I glanced at him with a slight smirk.

  “Speaking of Elenia, what are your plans with the girl?”

  He gave me a bright smile.

  “We want to get married. Her family is on their way to the barony. Would you accept them?”

  I shrugged.

  “I’ve got no issue with that. But they’ll need to find a way to be useful. Same as everyone else.”

  He nodded without hesitation.

  “I don’t think that’ll be a problem. They’re an enterprising bunch, ready to do all kinds of work.”

  With that clarified, I raised my eyes to the three ladies chatting at the other table.

  “What do you think of Miranda?” I asked.

  It was his turn to shrug.

  “She seems like a good girl. I had her swear allegiance to your house; and she meant it. You can feel these things.”

  “Allegiance to my house?” I echoed, raising a brow. “You do that sort of thing?”

  “It’s common practice in noble households to have the staff swear loyalty. I’ve started doing it with everyone who works for us.”

  “You can do that?” I asked, genuinely surprised. I scanned him. “Butler, level twelve! Wow. You’ve evolved ridiculously fast!”

  He huffed, half-proud, half-embarrassed.

  “It was that or fail. Somehow it worked. Honestly, I don’t even know how. I never imagined I’d gain levels so quickly without fighting, but… here I am!” he finished with a broad grin.

  I chuckled and shook my head.

  “By the way, when you showed up, did I dream that, or were there two of you?”

  He gave me a confused look.

  “I saw two birds,” I clarified. “So… what was that?”

  “Oh, that? It happened after I hit level ten. My transformation turns me into two swallows. I think I might’ve made some wrong assumptions. I think I had the option to become a bigger bird, or multiple ones, and I might have chosen the wrong option. This system is garbage. There was no menu or options to click through. I had to just intuit what was happening and lean in the right direction. So here I am: splitting into two birds whenever I want to fly!”

  I laughed at his rant.

  “How does it work? Are you one of the birds, and the other just follows?”

  “No,” he said, shaking his head. “That’s the weird part. The first time, I thought I was losing my mind. I am both of them. At the same time. With some practice, I got used to it. It’s kind of like having two hands, you don’t need to consciously think about every muscle when you grab something, right?”

  “Can you fly in two different directions?”

  “Yes, but only up to a point. The farther apart they go, the harder it gets. Eventually, I start feeling awful and can barely control them. I’ve never pushed it past that threshold.”

  Then he raised his eyes to me and smiled.

  “And you? What did you do? You look different today!”

  “Ahm. Like I said, I got my levels back… and maybe a bit more.”

  He chuckled. “You didn’t say that, but I’m glad for you. Is that why your veins look… a little black?”

  I chuckled at this, then let out a sigh. “Not sure. But maybe. What do you see when you scan me?”

  “Ahm… Half-human, warrior, level nineteen,” he said while rising a brow.

  “And now?” I asked, slipping the ring off my finger.

  He focused on me, met my eyes, then scanned again.

  “Ahm… well, some eldritch signs. And a skull. Your level was too high for me before, back then, I saw two question marks. Now I just see a skull.”

  “Not three question marks?” I asked, frowning.

  He shook his head. “No, just a skull.”

  “A skull?” That was different from how I saw myself. “And the rest? Gibberish?”

  He shrugged again.

  “I wouldn’t call it gibberish. More like eldritch signs. But sure, call it gibberish if you want.”

  He raised his hand, reaching toward my cheek. “You look a bit pale…”

  Only when his hand was already in the air did he seem to realize the gesture was crossing a line. He started to pull back, but I caught his hand and held it.

  “What will your Elenia say now, Mr. Butler?” I teased, pressing his hand to my cheek with a giggle.

  He gave a helpless shrug.

  “It’s a breach of etiquette. I shouldn’t have done this, especially not as a butler, you know… nobility and all. Sorry.” He sighed. “It’s just… seeing you now reminded me of that day we found you asleep in Hew’s cabin, with your undershirt hanging from your horn.”

  He chuckled, and I snorted at the memory, but he went on.

  “Remember? We rode your bike to that little cafeteria afterward. If we ever go back to Earth, I’ll have to take Elenia there, it had such a beautiful view.”

  Then he looked into my eyes.

  “I wonder what Matt’s doing now,” he said softly.

  I let out a deep sigh, gave his hand a small squeeze, then let go.

  “So… shall we go back to our table? Looks like the food’s on its way.”

  He grinned. “Yes, I’m starving!”

  As we returned, I noticed our coachman coming out of the barn. I handed him a silver coin and told him to get himself something to eat. The way his eyes lit up when he saw the money made me smile. He’d already been paid for the transport, but a small bonus, from time to time, never went unappreciated.

  *

  It was evening when we finally reached the border of my domain. The orcs on guard made us stop to check who was inside the coach. They stood tensely behind a makeshift barricade, with only one nervous soldier approaching while I heard others behind him readying their weapons.

  “What’s going on?” I asked, poking my head out of the carriage. “Haven’t you seen the flag?”

  “Lady Lores! Thank Kargath you’re here!” the orc exclaimed. “The domain is under attack!”

  “What?” My heartbeat shot from sixty to two hundred in less than a second.

  What the hell is it this time?

  My aura flared to full strength, shadows curling violently around me like smoke.

  A startled yell came from the carriage, and the coachman toppled from his perch as if diving into a pool. One of the horses reared, jerked to the side and fell, nearly tipping the coach again. The other tried to brace, but it was already faltering.

  I leapt from the carriage, eyes scanning the roadside in alarm. The orc guards scattered, reacting instantly, weapons drawn, gazes darting around.

  But then a wave of déjà vu hit me.

  “Elenia!” Mike’s voice rang out from inside, strained. I saw him catch the collapsing girl in his arms, but barely steady himself. Miranda was visibly trying hard not to collapse near a shocked Yolanda who was glancing fearful around.

  Oh, fucking fuck. Was this me? Am I doing it again?

  I pulled my aura back, forcing myself to calm my pounding heart. Gradually, everything began to stabilize. The fallen horse stirred, the other wavered but managed to stay upright. The coachman groaned and began to move.

  Mike’s head emerged from the coach, his expression dazed.

  “Lores? Are we under attack?”

  I took a deep breath and looked at the fallen horse, just as it lifted its head.

  “Sorry,” I muttered, focusing my aura on it again.

  The horse gave a soft whinny, then let its head drop once more.

  I exhaled slowly and raised my voice.

  "Calm down, everyone! There’s no attack... I... I think it may have been me…”

  Then I turned to the orc. He’d spoken of an attack before all this happened.