My thoughts were still with Ju, my heart aching in my chest, and listening to the dwarf’s grating voice was doing nothing to help. I decided to leave the rest of the interrogation to the others. Drackar, Lynx, and even Alice seemed eager to learn more about the Krawags and their minions, so I didn’t dismiss the ghoul. I just quietly excused myself and went to meet my “boys” - Mike, Hew, Tom, and Michael - who were waiting for me in the library.

  The night had long passed. Through the tall windows, I could already see the soft light of dawn touching the hills beyond the castle walls. Realizing how late - or rather, how early - it was, I felt a sudden wave of exhaustion and hunger.

  “Hey guys,” I greeted as I stepped into the room, then turned to Mike. “How’s Elenia doing?”

  “Hey, Lores! We just arrived! Good to see you.” He smiled. “She’s slowly coming to terms with… well, the whole being-dead-and-now-resurrected thing. She just asked me if she’s like Alice and her orcs now…”

  Alice and her orcs… I sighed, but didn’t have time to respond before the others jumped in.

  “Hi, Lores. You don’t look well - shouldn’t you rest a bit after the journey?” Hew asked, with concern in his voice.

  “Hey! What’s with the stories about servants fainting?” Tom added.

  I glanced his way and sighed again. That had just happened downstairs, on the ground floor.

  “It’s one of the reasons I wanted to talk to you guys,” I began, rubbing my temples. “ people start fainting all around me if I get too agitated or nervous… Long story short: my aura seems to be... dangerous. When I focus too hard on someone or get... ah... overly excited, then... well, things happen. An idiot of an orc ambushed me, and at the same time, a poor maid stumbled behind me. Let’s just say I overreacted. My nerves are all over the place lately, and I lashed out without meaning to. So maybe - for now - we should all keep a bit of distance. Just until I get better at controlling it.”

  Tom chuckled, and Michael raised his hand like he was in class. I arched a brow at him, and he took that as permission to speak.

  “Your aura’s denser. I sensed it already,” he said.

  “But I’ve been trying to keep it as low as possible!” I protested.

  He just shrugged. “It’s still too dense. Most people won’t consciously notice it - they’ll just pass out. It’s a known issue. Same thing happens when low-level adventurers enter high-tier dungeons or come across high-ranking monsters...”

  I shot him a glare at the “monsters” part. Meanwhile, Hew nodded in agreement.

  “Yes, he’s right,” he said.

  I sighed.

  “I know he’s right. The problem is - what more can I do beyond what I already am?” I asked starting to feel a bit exasperated.

  “Besides improving your aura control? I don’t think there’s anything else,” Hew replied with a shrug.

  “Just keep cool and don’t get too excited…” Tom added with a chuckle.

  I sighed and glanced at the sparse selection of food on the table: just some light refreshments and a sad little bowl of nuts and raisins. I pressed the service button.

  A maid appeared almost immediately. Pleased with the prompt response, I looked up. She was new -someone I hadn’t seen before. She curtsied and waited, visibly flustered, her gaze flickering between me and Mike. He gave her an encouraging nod, which seemed to reassure her.

  “Miss, please tell the cook that I’m hungry,” I said. “I need a proper, healthy breakfast - actually, make it a brunch. Not just the usual. Ask him to send something cold first as a starter, then follow up with the main meal. Got it?”

  She nodded quickly and whispered, “Sure, Lady Lores.”

  I turned back to the boys. “Boys, unless you want me to eat alone, feel free to order something too…”

  As Michael, Mike, and Tom moved to surround the maid with their requests, Hew leaned in toward me.

  “Have there been any cases of… you know?” he asked softly. “Deaths? Or just fainting?”

  I shook my head. “Only fainting,” I said. “So far.”

  “Good,” Hew said. “If we take high-tier dungeons as an example, deaths can happen if people are exposed for too long.”

  I nodded. “Yeah… I don’t want to risk anything. So maybe we should keep our sessions short—at least until I’m sure I have things under control.”

  “Nonsense,” Tom cut in, having just finished ordering food. He turned toward us with a grin. “This is the best way to gain levels. Why do you think low-level adventurers force themselves to stay in high-tier dungeons as long as they can? If you’d let me, I’d stay with you all the time - day and night. I’d even sleep in your room. Gladly.”

  I closed my eyes, trying not to lose it, then let out a chuckle. “Very funny, Tom. Are you testing me to see what happens when I get agitated?”

  He blinked, and his furry eyebrows wiggled in amusement.

  I snorted and took a deep breath.

  “Well, just so you know, the outstanding debt you have with a certain house marked by red lanterns is not my problem. You’ll have to pay that off yourself!”

  I shook my head, exasperated. The owner of that establishment had the gall to intercept me on my way here to complain about his tab and was one of the causes for the whole incident downstairs.

  “Ugh, that hurts,” Tom groaned, clutching his chest dramatically. “No need to get personal.”

  I raised an eyebrow. “Proposing to sleep in my room isn’t personal?”

  “Tom, stop playing the buffoon! Tina’s been kidnapped, and we’ve got a serious situation to talk about,” Mike cut in.

  “Oh.” Tom’s face fell. “I didn’t know that! I’m sorry,” he said, then turned back to me. “What happened to Tina?”

  “And what about Alice? She looks… different,” Hew asked, frowning.

  “You don't know?” I wondered

  “We just arrived and met here shortly before you came” Hew explained

  I exhaled slowly. I hadn’t expected to be the one delivering the news.

  I started explaining the attack, Alice’s death, and my resurrection attempt.

  The maid interrupted briefly to bring the aperitif, but once she left, a bit mollified by the food, I continued,

  “Well, as you see… Tina and Ju have been kidnapped.”

  “Wait! Julietta too?” Hew interrupted. “Wasn’t she with you in Dolomar?”

  “That’s where it happened.”

  Hew’s eyes widened.

  “The same bloody dwarves?” he asked, frowning.

  If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

  “No. K’hordock’s orcs,” I corrected.

  “But I just saw her enter the castle,” Michael said, puzzled.

  “That’s not Julietta,” I clarified. “That’s Yolanda pretending to be her.”

  Tom raised an eyebrow. “Who's Yolanda? And why? Who are you trying to fool?”

  I sighed. “It was Ju's idea. We started the deception back in Dolomar to give her the freedom to move undetected.”

  I handed them the message. “Can you try reading this?”

  Mike took it first, then passed it around. They each read the text, but none of them reacted the way I had.

  “I don’t get it,” Tom said, frowning as he scanned the lines again. “She’s just saying everything’s fine, right?”

  “That’s the part you’re missing,” I said. “It’s not in the words, it’s in the emotion. There’s another layer beneath the surface, something only I seem to feel. It’s like the message was crafted only for me. I don't know how she did that.”

  In the silence that followed, I continued.

  “The point is, I’ll get the girls back. There’s no doubt about that. But it won’t be without risk. And that brings me to the second thing I wanted to talk to you about today: I might now have a way to bring us all back to Earth. The question is: should I do it before going to search for the girls? Because if something goes wrong on that side, this might be your only chance to leave.”

  “You mean if something happens to you?” Michael asked.

  I nodded.

  “How certain is it? How fast could you take us, and how would we return?” Mike asked. “You know I wouldn’t go alone if it came to that...” he added.

  “I can’t say for sure if it works until I’ve tried. It’s a spell I learned from White Flower that I think I can cast now. But there are some unknowns. I don’t know how well my magic aligns with the original, or whether I’d need to channel external power to make it work, which brings its own complications. The spell has a cooldown of several hours, and I might only be able to take one person at a time, if it works at all. That’s something we’ll have to test. The return trip would work the same way: one by one, whenever I came back.”

  They looked at each other.

  “I guess we’ll wait until you sort things out with Julietta and Tina,” Tom said, glancing at the others one by one. “I think I’m speaking for all of us?”

  His answer surprised me. I’d expected them to at least want to try the spell first.

  Hew nodded. “Yeah. It’s great news that we might be able to travel soon, but Julietta and Tina come first.”

  Mike nodded as well. I turned to Michael.

  “And you?”

  “Me too,” he said. “You know, I’m angry I was so useless during the fight. I had to run and hide while she got kidnapped! I hope there will come a time when I'll be able to stand my ground. You’ll bring her back, won’t you? Then we can decide what to do.”

  I ruffled his hair, then pulled him into a hug and felt his heart pounding against my chest. I gently pushed him back to look into his eyes.

  “Don’t do anything reckless, okay? It takes time to gain levels. Have you decided whether to train as a mage or a warrior?”

  He grinned. “I think a sword suits me best. I always played a tank with Spartacius, so that’s probably my path.”

  I smiled and took out the sword I’d bought for him in Dolomar.

  “So, Tina was right about this,” I said, handing him the weapon.

  “Oh, wow! A sword for me? Cool!” His eyes lit up. “Did you get something for her too? Her birthday’s tomorrow...”

  He left the question hanging in the air.

  “Yes, I did. A staff. Can you keep it for me until I bring her here, so you can give it to her?”

  He nodded eagerly. “Sure!”

  Just then, shadows began to gather in the center of the room, and a smiling Alice materialized from the darkness.

  “Here’s the map you asked me to find in the library,” she said, then added, “If you’re okay with it, I’ll head off to check in with the lost-wives houses.”

  I nodded and smiled. “Thanks, Alice. Go ahead. What about the dwarf?”

  “He’s waiting for you in the dakta,” she replied.

  As she vanished back into a swirl of shadows, I couldn’t help but chuckle. She really seemed to enjoy her new skill...

  Then a thought struck me: how exactly does she do that? Why does she still have her clothes on after using shadowmeld? She doesn’t know how to cast illusions, and she definitely doesn’t have the annoying problem I do: losing all my clothes every time I shift.

  “Do you think it’s okay for her to go inquire at the lost-wives houses?” Mike asked.

  I shrugged.

  “Because she’s undead? You know she’s the one who dealt with them before. If I sent someone else, they’d start wondering what happened to Alice. Better to let them see her for themselves than to hear rumors. Besides, doesn’t it make sense to keep things as they were?”

  Just then, a long-overdue procession of maids arrived with food. My food!

  As they laid out the dishes under my hungry gaze, Lynx entered the room. I chuckled.

  “Hey, Lyn! Did you smell the food?” I teased, then tilted my head. “Who's guarding the ghoul?”

  He laughed softly and shook his head. “Muherjo’s doing that.”

  I raised a brow. Muherjo? Really? How does that even work?

  “So if not for the food, why are you here?” I asked.

  “I wanted to be around when Drackar shows up,” he said.

  I shrugged. I was going to apologize to the orc anyway, was Lynx here to witness it?

  “By the way, why did you say I should keep the ghoul?” I asked, curious.

  “He’s a blacksmith, level ninety-two, with deep knowledge of mechanics and golems. Could be a valuable asset.”

  “Really?”

  At that moment, a maid entered the room.

  “Lady Lores, Captain Drackar is asking if you could meet with him.”

  I sighed, glancing at my barely touched breakfast - and now I had to talk?

  “You can tell him to come in,” I said, wiping my fingers. Maybe he’d keep it short. I could make an excuse and be done with it.

  Heavy footsteps echoed through the room as the bulky orc entered.

  “Lady Lores,” he greeted with a slight nod.

  He was in full outfit - dark armor gleaming, helmet tucked under one arm, sword strapped at the belt, eyes sharp and watchful.

  “Captain,” I returned the nod, waiting for the servants to close the door behind him. “First, I’d like to apologize for my behavior. I don’t know what was going through my head in that fogged-up moment. Please accept my apologies.”

  His brows rose in surprise.

  “Lady Lores, no harm was done.”

  “But…?” I asked, narrowing my eyes at him.

  He pressed his lips together, then finally spoke.

  “We have a real problem on our hands,” he said with a sigh. “I’m here to end our agreement and ask your permission to withdraw peacefully.”

  I blinked, stunned, then glanced at Lynx. So this was why he was here?

  “Explain,” I said, turning back to Drackar.

  “Lady Lores, we left the tribes because they submitted to K’hordock. The issue was his necromancy. We didn’t want to become tools - our souls ripped from us and bound into servitude. We don’t want to become anyone’s ghouls. We’re free, and we want to stay that way.”

  I sighed, noting his stance and readiness.

  “And is that why your orcs are gathered in the yard - in a loose fighting formation?” I asked, raising a brow.

  Was it coming to this? A battle in my own courtyard?

  He nodded, then shook his head.

  “We don’t want to fight. But we do want to walk away free. Is that a problem for you?”