Hreijinda flew down towards the ground, the blurs taking shape. She saw them, shells of metal and gss carrying people inside. Or, rather, the people inside were driving them. What kind of carriage are those ?

  What it cked in horses, it made up for in speed. She turned her eyes back to the buildings, her vision almost going double. Each of those buildings contained more people than her sickhouse ever did. And there was so many of them !

  She followed one of the carriages, driven by pure instinct, squaring a turn and travelling through a gss door. How would you even make a gss door without it breaking ? And then Hreijinda saw it slide open as someone left.

  There were three people in the building. Hreijinda couldn't make them out very well. A short, stocky person, maybe a woman, someone else wearing a wristband. Blue, pink, white, pink, blue.

  Hreijinda wondered what it meant.

  Her view of the third figure was less clouded. A man, middle-aged. Bck hair, messy and short. Something about him felt troubled. It was not unfamiliar to her, somehow. She turned her head, looking around. Stacks of ptops and consoles adorned the shelves. A shop ? Hreijinda shook her head. She couldn't afford to stay too long. She needed to see more !

  Hreijinda flew back out of the building, racing one of the metal carriages in her ghostly state. She observed with her magic the churning in the front compartment. These things are powered by explosions ? This might well be the single most over-the-top method to move oneself around Hreijinda ever did see.

  Some of them weren't. A rger one with a odd-looking blue roof stored... something in its front compartment. Another carriage caught her attention. It was longer, with many windows, and painted white. Its sides were painted with words, advertising something called a transit pass.

  Hreijinda wondered how many people here could even read the side. It followed a route, stopped at one point. The door opened. Some people went in, some people came out, and back it went. This is a transport ship on nd ? It was definitely inspired by the same principle. When it's not broken...

  Hreijinda kicked the ground hard, going higher into flight. She wondered how high she could go.

  Xajymzia observed. She was smiling, despite herself. The dreaming young student had done Xajymzia an enormous favor without even realizing, at least as much as her teacher did.

  She watched while sitting in her b, her magical eyes seeing connections and weaving that gave Xajymzia ideas and optimizations for her portal. It was good. All pieces of information she could get and reuse would help in making the portal.

  Xajymzia would have to repay the girl for that somehow. It had already been a rge boon she had been given for minimal effort assisting with Yuulvan's and his student's research, and now she was getting even more out of it that she had anticipated.

  Hreijinda looked at the town under her. It was sprawling. She wondered how many souls lived in there. Probably more than in the entirety of the Northnds, if she was sincere. It was an absurd amount of people. How did they even manage that ?

  She dashed towards a pce. Houses dotted around a sideroad. Quiet, yet not far from town. Hreijinda sensed a presence in one of the houses. A burgundy sun, clouded and absent, as if eclipsed by a missing moon.

  Hreijinda shrugged, and went on her way. Children were pying in their yards, running around or throwing sticks for dogs. Some of them were in their rooms, pying on their ptops. Hreijinda wondered what games they were pying.

  She could sense the connections. Forum posts written, theories and builds considered and discarded. One of them was not even pying, simply watching. It was a thousand stories going on all at once, and Hreijinda found it fascinating.

  Hreijinda leaped backwards, looking towards the sky. A rge, white vehicle soared through the sky, she wondered what is was made of as it left a white trail through a slightly cloudy sky. Hreijinda wasn't quite sure of the season. Early spring ?

  She dashed in that direction further, before finding herself in front of a rge metal gate. Fuck this pce, a voice not her own resonated within her mind. It was less of someone talking to her, and more of an echo of a thought.

  She flew higher. Is this a prison ? Hreijinda asked herself for a short second before she took a glimpse inside with her magic. Her eyes opened wide. This seems to be a school... How strange.

  There were countless people in there, many of them slightly younger than her, a few exceptions for some older figures with a clear authority role. She was uncertain whether it was truly optimal method of instruction. It did not seem built to handle the sheer variety of students.

  Considering how many there were, though, she wasn't certain if there was a better way. At the very least, it expined why the ad had been written. If everyone knew how to read, it would likely have a lot of reach. Hreijinda shook her head. Something about this pce resonated ill with her, and she had far more to see.

  She kept flying through the sky, as countless people lived their lives under her. She wondered, if she was visible, how many of them would even notice. The sheer scale of it all was mindboggling.

  Hreijinda looked at the strange panels jutting out of the ground. Each spoke of something new. New food, new recipes, new offers. They really like advertising here ! She floated above the ground, once again, this time a rge amount of carriages were stopped, each in a little white area.

  People came and left the rge building with gss-mounted doors, its name written in rge letter on the facade. Hreijinda lowered herself and entered the strange building. People waited in lines in front of things rolling, as Hreijinda took a bit to process what she was seeing. Is this another shop ?

  She wandered, floating above the people. The air felt colder, but not freezing, and she looked around at the items on sale, before shock hit her.

  So... so much food ! What ! How ? It was mindboggling. How many people had they to produce that much food ? And this is in a single town, right ? If every big town has that kind of building... Hreijinda shivered.

  Their food production must be through the roof. She had no idea how they even managed to have enough people to produce that much food. Maybe the dungeon had the answer ? Sir Yuulvan had implied something among those lines at one point yesterday.

  Hreijinda folded her arms as she followed among the rows of goods for sale. It was a little mindbending if she was honest. The strangest part of all was that, as far as Hreijinda could tell, there was no magic involved at all in any of what she saw.

  Hreijinda woke up, feeling more refreshed than she ever had. She was, however, hungry, so she left the comfortable bed reluctantly and shook her head.

  That had been a strange dream... but she had enjoyed it despite everything. Flying had been liberating, and this other... pce fascinating. She had never seen anything quite like it before.

  Hreijinda wandered to the catering hall, opening the door and finding it empty save for Xajymzia, who turned her head towards her and smiled. "Did you sleep well ?", she asked Hreijinda with no malice or sarcasm in her voice.

  "Yes. I had a very strange dream.", Hreijinda said. "It was a good one, though.", she continued, smiling.

  "Gd to hear it.", Xajymzia said as food appeared on the table, and Hreijinda dug in. She had a lot of work to do today. Sir Yuulvan came from the side door. He looked his usual calm self.

  "Hey, miss Xajymzia.", Hreijinda started asking. "Do you have anything here that can help with food production ?", she continued.

  "I started working on it.", Sir Yuulvan answered in her stead. "But this will take much time to bear fruit, likely. For now, our priorities are elsewhere."

  "Indeed ! I was curious is all.", Hreijinda confirmed, and teleported herself to the sickhouse.

  Zoemie mumbled as she woke up. Wow, that's early, she thought, looking at the time. She was a bit tired still, and only left because she needed to grab water and eat her breakfast, starting by doing the first thing through teleporting to the bathroom. Urgh... She shook her head, trying to dispel her brain fog.

  She then teleported to the kitchen, using her magic to observe what was going on in the hospital wing. The old man, the student girl and Xaj were working on a young man who looked rather sheepish. Zoemie shrugged and ignored it.

  She had better things to do anyway, like eat her breakfast, which she proceeded to do. The st evening had been enjoyable, but she wasn't quite sure what she was going to do now.

  Guess the best thing to do is probably to just let them work. She decided to wait in the catering hall in case her assistance was needed, just like yesterday, so with that in mind she finished her breakfast and routine before taking her bath.

  She then teleported to the catering hall, and id down on the couch, still sleepy. "What to py ?", Zoemie considered, but before she could make up her mind, she fell asleep.

  Zoemie grumbled as she dreamed. She was watching... something. A prison cell ? It looked like it, with dark green walls and a "door" made of metal bars. It was empty, save for a message on the desk, and a voice started talking.

  It wasn't the annoying, creepy voice she was used to. Rather, it was a female voice. It sounded vaguely familiar to Zoemie, but it wasn't someone she knew well.

  "So, this is it. It's an odd feeling.

  I had to do it. When he of all peoples, somehow became the king, I knew that something had to be done. That someone had to do something about it.

  A man like him couldn't be left in a position of this level of power. Even if I shall pay for it with my life.

  If you are reading this, know this : I have no regrets.

  Save for not doing it before."

  Zoemie shivered, folding her arms. She had no idea what any of it meant... and she wasn't really bothered by it ? She expected the creepy mechanical voice to talk again... but there was naught but a deafening silence, this time, save for a strange feeling of gratitude.

  Zoemie shrugged as the dream ended. She woke up, rubbing tiredness out of her eyes.

  She was still in the couch and was still on her own. A quick scanning confirmed that the trio was still working in the hospital rooms, this time working on a not quite middle aged dude who looked rather grumpy.

  Hope things are going well. As long as things didn't get physical or her assistance wasn't needed, Zoemie didn't mind staying out of it. She picked up her ptop, and finally decided on a game to py.

  Hreijinda wiped her forehead, exhausted as she woke up. "And... here we go.", she said, and Xajymzia nodded in quiet agreement. She seemed completely unperturbed. Sir Yuulvan's wrinkles appeared slightly darker, betraying his tiredness, but he otherwise looked normal.

  They had finished using the procedure on her, as well. Sir Yuulvan's idea. "The dead can save no lives.", he had said yet again. Hreijinda smiled, happy. Contentedness flooded her entire being. "The sickhouse... is empty, and I'll be alright too." It felt like a dream for a short minute.

  It was a titanic weight off her back. It had never been her primary worry, but... it was still here in the back of her mind. Her vigil wasn't done, but it would be significantly easier. There was only one thing remaining. She looked at Xajymzia, taking a deep breath. "I... have a request."

  "Yes ?", the woman asked her, turning her head to face Hreijinda, an indecipherable expression on her face.

  "Would it be possible to install a few such rooms in the sickhouse ?" After all, while no more people required treatment, the next she would rescue would. It would pay to be prepared, here.

  "Hmm... I am not sure.", she answered after some internal deliberation. "The issue would be powering them, as I am dubious the sickhouse has the required infrastructure. There might be ways around it, but I haven't really looked into those.", Xajymzia expined. "But for now, mandatory break time."

  Hreijinda giggled as she left the room moving towards the catering hall, Sir Yuulvan and Xajymzia following suit.

  Xajymzia stared at the scene as Hreijinda and Zoemie talked about games. She turned her head, Yuulvan answering her gaze. There was a look on his face, an unmistakable mix of pride and affection for his student. "She did well.", Xajymzia said.

  "That she did.", Yuulvan answered quietly with a nod. And indeed, Yuulvan's desire to bring his student in for her assistance had been wise.

  Hreijinda invited her to approach with a gesture, and Xajymzia did. "So, yeah, about my request..." Zoemie turned her head, emitting a grunt of confusion. "Oh, right. I'd like to know if it would be possible to get some of the... amenities from the hospital into the sickhouse."

  "Oh. Why ?", Zoemie asked, more confused than anything else. "Do you need them for something ?"

  "Well, the thing is that while currently the sickhouse is now empty, more people will likely enter the Cursed Ground while I'm cleansing them and I want to be ready for that.", Hreijinda expined.

  "Oh, uh, okay, uh, shit, I don't know here.", Zoemie started, stumbling a bit on her words. "So, the thing you need to understand here is that I genuinely don't know if the devices are going to work out of the dungeon. Like, I get where you're coming from, and don't get me wrong, you are making sense, but I don't know."

  "I can likely figure something out, but it would take some time.", Xajymzia said, and Zoemie nodded.

  "Well, it's your call.", Zoemie answered. "Sor panels, maybe ?", she continued, shrugging while looking at Xaj. "Simplest idea I have that, one, doesn't require hard to get stuff to keep working, two, doesn't emit a ton of pollution, or three, both."

  "It's worth keeping in mind, if nothing else.", Xajymzia answered with a neutral tone. "But for now, let's focus on less complicated things.", she continued, and Zoemie nodded.

  Hreijinda, meanwhile, was talking to Zoemie. "I had a really interesting and nice dream during the night.", she said, and Zoemie's mouth twisted a bit.

  "Dreams, huh ? ...I just get creepy and annoying nightmares.", Zoemie answered. Xajymzia had sensed it while Zoemie slept in the couch. She had teleported some snacks for Hreijinda to ensure Zoemie didn't get waken up.

  It was evident by now that those nightmares were clearly linked to those gods. Reminiscing about their presence still gave Xajymzia mild but persistent shivers. She shook her head slightly, clearing her mind and refocusing on the conversation.

  "So, what are you going to do now ?", Zoemie asked.

  "Hmm, that's a good question.", Hreijinda answered. "For today, probably nothing more. Breaks are important too. But in the longer term... I want to cleanse the Cursed Grounds. I'll probably need to hire some help, though."

  "Want me to help ?", Zoemie said, Xajymzia raising an eyebrow. Shield and decontamination spells obtained, but still... If that's what Zoemie wanted to do, Xajymzia would probably just have to let her. And besides, it was for a good cause.

  Hreijinda tapped her chin for a bit. "Okay. Yes, that can work. That way instead of needing to have the amenities in the sickhouse I can just teleport them here."

  "And we can talk about games meanwhile.", Zoemie said, sounding slightly hopeful.

  "That sounds lovely.", Hreijinda answered.

  Xajymzia couldn't suppress a smile as Zoemie started showing to Hreijinda her computer games.