While Tina had won her little dispute with Ju and had gotten us into the city unexpectedly quickly, I was completely exhausted. It wasn't just the physical effort of running all day, though that was certainly part of it. The dust and the stress of running behind a cavalry company had taken a toll on my lungs and my animal instincts.

The stress came from my position: either I should have been running behind them to chase them, which would have made sense, or in front of them as the leader of the pack. I could have run much faster without significantly more effort, but running behind as if I were a lowly member of the herd was simply too stressful.

I continued to sneeze all the way to Alice's Inn, much to the amusement of the occasional passerby. Fortunately, Alice's message had reached us on the way, so we knew where to go. It was the Gladiator's Pit, a huge inn in the artisan's district, built over an old gladiator arena.

Alice had reserved rooms for us, as well as an isolated barn filled with hay for our mounts. There was even enough hay for me to make a comfortable nest, which helped soothe my stressed self. I drank a lot of water and settled into the hay, refusing to budge, even when Alice and the boys came to visit. Not used to running for hours, I needed my rest and soon fell asleep.

When I woke up, it was night outside, and I wondered where Lynx was. My domain wasn't as evolved as Lynx's, making it difficult to easily pinpoint everything around me. Additionally, the inn's security measures caused numerous distortions. Judging by the stars, it was still early in the night. Curiosity won over laziness, and I floated as a shadow to inspect the surroundings.

I soon found our rooms, just as Alice had described, across the yard. I recognized Alice's mantle in one of the rooms and materialized there to dress myself. Looking into the mirror, I realized why transforming into a shadow had required more effort than usual: I was back in my demon form. Annoyed, I sighed at this new discovery. When I had previously tested the shadow melding spell, it hadn't disabled my 'Veil of Inscrutability,' but it seemed to revert me to my demon form. Perhaps I needed to learn a new shadow-walking spell for my half-human form.

I switched back to my half-human form and was just about to put on a dress when Alice entered the room.

"Oh! Here you are! I was just looking for you!" she said, quickly closing the door and coming over to help me. "Actually, this is my room and Tina's. Ju prepared your bed in her room."

"Why am I with Ju?" I wondered aloud. I didn't mind sharing a room with her, but I was curious about the arrangement. The barn had a certain appeal, but it was probably better for me to sleep in a bed.

"She said it would be good to keep an eye on your health and be nearby in case you need urgent healing after one of your 'sudden trips'," she explained. "We do have another bigger room, which was actually reserved for you, but we're using it now as a meeting room."

"Why did you reserve a bigger room for me?" I wondered.

Once I was dressed, she gave me a hug and then shrugged at my question.

"Mike said, 'noblesse oblige,' or something like that when he reserved it for you. The room has a special array to ensure privacy. Everyone is gathered there now. Do you want to meet them before going to bed, or should we talk in the morning? By the way, there's a relaxing bath being prepared for you if you want to refresh."

A relaxing bath sounded tempting, but for the moment, I opted to join them and followed her.

As Alice opened the door, an appetizing wave of smells hit my nostrils, and I heard a heated conversation that had been completely blocked before. Not even my keen ears had picked up anything! That was an impressive isolation array!

Everyone was there, including Lynx, who was explaining something to Tom while Tina placed a saucer with roast beef in front of him. At first, I was surprised by the multitude of food spread across the table, but Alice quickly clarified that they had Spartacius' food bag. I had completely forgotten about it. She explained that it had stopped working in the other world, but Tina had tested it and found it functional again.

I received a warm welcome that touched my heart. After being embraced by everyone as if we’d been separated for ages, I was given the place of honor in the middle of the table. Mike placed a plate with roasted beef in front of me, its scent making my mouth water, and a glass with some liquid, that I discovered to be apple juice.

With the problem of food and drink solved, I started listening to the conversation.

"Uldaman is about one thousand six hundred kilometers south of here, which means almost one hundred posts for the running coaches to change horses. Each post is about fifteen to twenty kilometers. The entire journey takes about eighty hours per coach, depending on luck and weather. Typically, this is done in eight days and costs around fifty silver per person, not including lodging, food, and drink," Ju explained.

Oh, well, money and traveling—one of the eternal problems in Mephisto's World!

"Why not use a portal?" I wondered.

"Portals are too expensive!" Hew countered.

"I just checked the portal shops," Alice said. "A portal scroll to Uldaman costs about five hundred gold."

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Yeah, I remembered from the game, portals were expensive because they required costly reagents in addition to a skilled mage to cast them.

"Umpf. Can we afford one?" I asked, turning to Ju. But Hew answered from the other side of the table, deflating me.

"No," he said bluntly, then added, "We have two hundred forty-seven gold and fifty-five silver."

I raised an eyebrow. "We?" I asked.

"It's Ju's and Alice's money that we've pooled together," he explained.

The conversation about money and various ingenious ways to save on transportation continued, but I focused on the cake and fruit salad Tina had placed under my nose. Both had exquisite tastes that I couldn't quite define, so I had to ask her about the ingredients she used.

I never imagined that one could use Spartacius' food bag so ingeniously to create new culinary haute cuisine.

Meanwhile, the team decided that the most cost-effective option would be to use the regular zeppelin line connecting Guaranga to Uldaman. I agreed with their proposal. The zeppelin flight would take about eight to ten hours, but the ride is very smooth and silent, with exquisite onboard service.

I yawned, feeling full and tired. Would it be okay to take that bath now, after dinner? I turned towards Alice.

"You mentioned something about a soothing bath?"

She grinned at me. "Follow me!"

*

The bath and subsequent massage had been incredibly soothing, allowing me a long and restful sleep.

The next day, though a bit stressful, involved the kind of stress I was accustomed to handling: a trip to the hairdresser, a shopping spree, and a visit to a tailor for evening and travel attire. The spider silk lingerie that came with the evening outfit was the epitome of luxury, but its price was equally extravagant.

While Ju and I handled the shopping, Alice took the boys and Tina to the adventurer's guild to register them. Though we didn't plan on taking quests immediately, registration allowed them access to the messaging system. Unfortunately for Hew, his magic wasn't developed enough to create his own flair, so the system didn't work for him. However, it worked fine for Tom, Tina, and Mike.

Alice also bought Vinayan language scrolls. Although we were in Guarava, the majority of people spoke Vinayan. Once the boys had a strong enough magic foundation, they could start using the scrolls to learn the language. Guarava was an excellent place to acquire these valuable learning tools.

Returning to the inn, I was surprised to see Elenia waiting for me. I knew she had met Mike in the morning, but her presence now was unexpected. As soon as we entered the ground floor, she stood up from her table and hurried towards me.

"Lady Lores, would you have a moment for me, please?"

That was unusual. What could she possibly want from me? I sighed.

"Yes, sure, what is it, Elenia?"

She looked around nervously.

"Can we go somewhere less public? The matter is rather confidential..."

I glanced at Ju, to seek her opinion.

"Sure," she said, "we can go into our lady's room."

We headed to 'my' room, which had been tidied up.

As we entered, Elenia was visibly awed by the space. I invited her to sit, but she hesitated, initially wanting to remain standing. After some insistence, she finally took a seat. Ju then asked if we wanted refreshments. Though Elenia initially declined, Ju persisted, and eventually, we found ourselves seated with glasses of some exotic beverage in front of us.

"So, what is it you wanted to discuss?" I asked, taking a sip from my glass. It tasted like a fine Bordeaux, though Ju hadn't introduced it as wine.

Elenia glanced nervously at Ju, but I assured her it was fine to speak in front of her. She sighed and then began, "Lady Lores, my aunt Marsa is very sensitive to magic, especially dark magic and fortune telling."

I raised an eyebrow at this unexpected introduction.

"She was against me talking to and meeting with Mike," Elenia continued, gauging my reaction. When I didn't say anything, she went on, "But once I did, she insisted we carry a lucky charm to avoid bad luck. She believes Mike is cursed, but now she says his curse is much too strong for her charms. As you know, he barely escaped with his life yesterday!"

That surprised me; I didn't know. I turned to Ju, and seeing my surprise, she explained.

"During a break, Mike was almost crushed by a couple of huge logs that suddenly started rolling. Only Alice's quick reaction saved his life."

"Why did nobody tell me?" I wondered aloud.

"But they talked about it," Ju began to explain. "Remember when Tom said that the laws of physics don't properly work here? How was it possible for Alice to just put her shoulder into those logs and break them before they steamrolled Mike? And I told them they were forgetting to factor in magic?"

I sighed. I had totally missed that part of the conversation.

"My God, they should have just told me he was nearly crushed!" I almost exploded but then calmed down. It wasn’t Ju’s fault; it was nobody’s fault. I turned back to Elenia.

"Was this what you wanted to tell me?"

"Well, that he needs that curse removed. Maybe your ladyship could enable him to visit a high priest specialized in curse removal?"

I turned towards Ju, then back to Elenia. "How sure are you of this?"

She sighed and shrugged. "Aunt Marsa has identified many curses in the past, and she’s always been right. I trust her sight."

"Is there anything she can do?" I asked, curious to see if this might be a way to siphon money from me.

She shook her head. "She's already done what she can. As I said, her lucky charms are too weak for the curse. They may work once, but that's it."