It was a bit abrupt how I left them, but I was too tired.

What happens now? Will I sleep with the dream interface on my head? It seems I have no other solution. Lola must have returned from her shopping tour, must have seen me in my bed and... probably went to her room, angry that I am still playing. How can she know I cannot exit the game?

I had to pee. It is not the first time today. Did they implement this into the game? Why would somebody implement this body function into a game? No, it must be that I already did it in my bed. If I had already done it, I could do it again. OK, then why do I really pee here in the game, it is not only that I feel the need!?

Confusing shit. I went to the toilet. Yes, I did it... I physically... ok gamelically did it... again. Uh.

I left the headquarters.

Outside it was still dark, but a brighter sky to the east announced the rising sun. The smaller sun will rise at first, then the bigger. Even if I think the one that looks bigger is, in reality, the smaller of the two stars but looks bigger being closer to the planet. I mean, the other way around, the planet is closer to it. I read it somewhere in a blog about the world setup. The planet orbits the smaller star, which orbits the bigger one. Sometimes the suns appear almost synchronous, as is the case now, and sometimes the planet has almost only daytime, one sun chasing the other when it is between the two stars. That's the time of the great harvest and the great drought.

My brain is wandering. I need to go to bed.

“Lynx? Where are you?”

“Here!”

The voice just behind me scared me.

“Why do you always do this?”

“Sorry, I slept.”

“Just behind me?” - I sighed. I had no energy to argue - “Can you take me to the camp, please?”

“To Alice? Of course, come on, climb. I'll find her. Do you have five gold?”

That almost woke me up.

"What? You want to tax me?"

He helped me up.

"I've eaten a cow; just throw the gold through the window when we pass the house to the right. The family is gathered there, crying for their beloved Matilda but not daring to say something."

Several peasant houses were in the fields around the town, and he was talking about the nearest one about a couple of hundred meters away.

I suppose Matilda was the cow's name. Five gold should generously cover the price. I sighed; I was literally throwing away the money. Couldn't he have... OK, he was as hungry as I was and had to wait there for me. I did not leave him a lot of options.

He made the small detour towards the house, and I leaned to the side and put the gold in a pile on the window's ledge as we passed by. I saw with the corner of an eye a hand from inside the house picking it up. Maybe I heard thanks or something like this.

I think I fell asleep a couple of times in his back. The blanket still hanging from my shoulder spikes was very useful now as I felt warm under it.

We arrived much too soon at the camp.

A worried Alice came.

“Is she wounded? Is it something that cannot be healed?”

The Lynx tried to deposit me slowly to the ground.

“She sleeps.”

“Oh!”

Alice came to help me, but I'd just woken up and readied myself to dismount. Something went wrong as my foot was caught in the blanket, but Alice was there to help me avoid a crash landing. Since when do I need help to jump down from my mount?

“I do not sleep. I am just a little bit tired. Can you help me to get rid of these scraps, Alice?”

“Oh, you have been really bad scorched. Are you ok?”

“I am just sleepy.”

She sighed, helping me to navigate. I felt as if drunk. Probably it is only the accumulated tiredness, but at least I'll sleep well. The Lynx yawned, looking for a good place.

“I'm going to close my eyes.”

Next moment he was already snoring lightly near the campfire.

“I'm OK, Alice, I'm OK!”

“Yes, sure, just let me help you!”

I saw Spartacius sleeping near the fire. Then... He was not alone? Somebody was sleeping next to him?

“Oh, the ghost is here!”

Funny to see a ghost sleeping. I thought they never slept.

Alice put a finger over my mouth.

“Shhh! Not so loud. Come by the river!”

She pulled me a couple of meters further away and made me sit down, then started to undress my scraps. My mind wandered, remembering the last day.

“What do you know about Noviel?”

Alice raised her head to look into my the eyes, smiled, then continued her work:

“She will be alright. I talked with a couple of soldiers who are still friends with me, and they told me that her recovery is progressing well.”

“What will she do now?”

“As she broke the contract with Spartacius, I do not think it makes sense for her to come back to him.”

I nodded. She continued.

“She will go back to the camp. I put some money in her purse so that she cannot be forced into another contract. I hope she will rest for some time.”

“Good. You did well!”

My head was falling. Alice had finished her work on my right arm and was now doing my left arm. All those small leather belts from the spiked shoulder piece to undo. It is good when somebody else does it for you. She grinned:

“The conversation the ghost had with Spartacius was interesting!”

“What did they say?”

“Well, first, the ghost was very scared. It seems some kind of shadows were chasing him.”

“Shadows?”

“Yes, shadows. I kept an eye open for them, but I hadn't seen any creature like those he described. It seems shadows are ghostlike creatures that avoid the living but attack ghosts. You need very good eyes to be able to see them. About the same as for ghosts. That is about all that he told about them.”

“Oh!”

“I've seen some too!”

The voice behind me scared me. It was the Lynx again. He was lying down there as if sleeping. He opened an eye, looked at me, and closed it again.

“What are you doing here?”

“Sleeping and listening to Alice...”

“You can't do both?”

“Sure I can. I can also talk to you and sleep!”

He said that with a huge yawn. Oh gosh, he has many sharp teeth!

Alice started to wash my body with a wet towel. She had water warmed in a magic cauldron. It felt good. It has been so long since anybody did take care of me like this. Since I was a little girl. I smiled at the memory.

“And what about the shadows you saw?”

The Lynx's shoulders raised a little. That must have been a minimalistic shrug.

“Nothing more. I only saw them. You know I've killed a couple of raids before, and lately, I saw shadows chasing the ghosts. That was unusual... That's all.”

I sighed. Not much info, but at least it confirmed the ghost's story. Alice continued:

“This ghost here, his name is Ivar!”

“Ivar?”

“Yes. He has a castle near the Silver Town!”

“A castle?”

“Yes. He must have been a very important person to own a castle near Silver City. He said there was heavy fighting in the lands that he visited. What he calls Chapter 1 lands.”

“Oh!”

“There was also a part that I did not understand. He talked about a dream interface. Do you know about such?”

I decided to be frank with her:

“Yes. The dream interface is the tool with which we come here. What did he say about it?”

“That there is feedback built in the dream interface. Something that is half experimental, half official?”

“Oh, I hate those things."

Feedback built-in? What feedback? To where? To my brain?

“He says it helps you learn what you did when you were not here. Does this make sense to you?”

Yes, it did. I nodded. Truly, feedback to my brain.

“In a weird way, it does...”

“Well, they also said that Mephisto is stronger than any possible opponent, so he must be stronger than Grackak.”

“Uh, really?”

"That's specieist. Why is Mephisto stronger than any possible opponent and I not?"

Alice rolled her eyes and ignored the Lynx's blabber:

“Well, that's about all they talked. Are you hungry? Spartacius made a lot of sausages and other food for when you two come back!”

“No, I can't now. Just let me lie down here.”

“Now, come to the fire. I've prepared a couple of blankets for you.”

The Lynx was suddenly very helpful:

“I'll take care of the food.”

"You can't be hungry again; you just ate a cow?"

"Phah, this is just the dessert."

Alice had prepared a pseudo bed for me, so I could lie down, and she covered me with a couple of blankets. A couple of moments later, the Lynx added some fur comfort to my bed, lying down near me with a satisfied grin. I think he teleported those sausages directly into his stomach.

That was my last conscious thought before falling asleep.