Game Master in Another World

Once back in the room, Juliana noticed her adventuring clothing folded in a neat pile at the end of the bed. Her eyes lit up, and she immediately pulled her nightshirt over her head. Sebastian turned crimson and hastily averted his eyes at the sight of Juliana’s sudden nudity.

“Please, Juliana, have some thought to your actions and who is around you,” Archibald admonished, rubbing his temples.

Unfazed, Juliana began pulling on her gear. “For what? Nudity? It is but the natural state of our bodies and nothing to be ashamed of. Animals do not wear clothing and they do not feel shame, so why should we?”

“Because it is our country’s customs,” Archibald responded immediately, his voice strained. “So please respect them and try not to make others uncomfortable.”

I honestly had to agree with him, I thought. Playing a max-level Druid with a strict adherence to 'nature' was one thing, but this was definitely one of her more awkward eccentricities.

Juliana sighed dramatically. “I cannot wait to leave your country, then. Your customs are very strange.”

She finally finished strapping on her familiar armour, a wave of comfort washing over us. It felt infinitely better to be back in our proper gear.

“Now that you are decent,” Archibald sighed, “we need you to come with us to see Lady Evelyn. She has requested an urgent meeting with you.”

Juliana smiled. “Sure, we can see her straight away. But on the way, I would like to get some food.”

Archibald groaned. “But won’t they just try to poison you again?”

“Poison doesn’t work on me, so we will be fine,” Juliana countered brightly. “Plus, I will just use a miracle to ensure Toby's portion is safe.”

“Fine,” Archibald said, sounding entirely resigned to his fate.

We headed out into the bustling streets, making a beeline straight for our familiar vendor of chicken skewers. As soon as the vendor saw us approaching, his eyes went wide and he began frantically waving his arms.

“No! Not you! You are bad for business!” he shouted over the crowd.

Juliana simply continued her approach with a serene smile, completely ignoring his protests, while Toby trailed behind her, looking increasingly nervous at returning to the exact scene of his near-death experience.

Once we were directly in front of the cart, I could see the vendor was practically red in the face with stress.

Juliana casually ignored his obvious rage. “Four skewers, please.”

She pulled two silver coins from her purse and placed them neatly on his cart. It was far more than the street food was worth, and I could see the man's greed violently wrestling with his fear.

“Fine! But if I give you four skewers, you must never come back!”

The vendor snatched the silver and practically threw the four hot skewers at us. “Now begone! I never want to see you around this cart again!”

Juliana smiled radiantly. “Thank you, sir, for your lovely food.”

She turned and walked away, completely unaware of the deep, terrified hatred she had managed to cultivate in the poor man. She murmured a quick druidic blessing, casting a purification miracle over two of the skewers before handing them down to Toby.

Toby stared at the skewers for a long moment, his small hands shaking slightly as the memory of the poison clearly flashed through his mind. Taking a deep breath, he took a tiny, hesitant nibble. The familiar, rich taste of the meat must have dispelled his fears, because he quickly devoured both skewers, licking his fingers to savour the salty, savoury flavour.

As Juliana ate ours, I sat back and enjoyed the taste—a fantastic blend of salt and the savoury fat of some unknown street meat.

We made our way to the Mage Tower, soon finding ourselves back in the grand reception area. The receptionist looked even more harried than usual, with dark, bruised rings under his eyes.

“Ah, Juliana! Lady Evelyn is expecting you. Please, go see her immediately.”

We headed up the now-familiar spiral staircase, accompanied by Toby, Archibald, and Sebastian. We reached Lady Evelyn’s heavy oak door and knocked.

“It is me, Juliana.”

“Please, come in.”

We stepped inside, Toby sticking close to our side while Archibald and Sebastian remained in the hallway to stand guard. Lady Evelyn sat behind her desk, looking incredibly stressed. Her usually immaculate hair was dishevelled, and like the receptionist downstairs, she looked as though she hadn’t slept properly in days.

We took a seat on the comfortable sofa opposite her desk.

“I’m pleased that you behaved yourself in jail, and I am truly sorry for your treatment,” Evelyn began, rubbing her eyes.

Juliana smiled. “It was not a problem. I was treated well enough.”

“Good. Your sudden disappearance in the middle of the night had us quite worried. But to business—it seems the Forlinth army is finally making its move. They are splitting into two massive groups. We expect them to attack the north and south gates of the city simultaneously."

Lady Evelyn pulled out a large, worn map of Freyton City and placed several wooden tokens on it.

“We don’t have nearly enough magic casters to counter a pincer movement of this scale, and I suspect Forlinth knows this. Hence the division of their forces. So, what I need you to do is focus entirely on the southern gate with a very light contingent of guards for backup. I would then like you to summon that pack of wolves again to disrupt their infantry lines, while you eliminate their siege weapons from the sky in your dragon form.”

I could instantly sense Juliana’s deep displeasure. Her serene smile vanished, her posture stiffening. The last time she summoned those wolves, dozens of them had been slaughtered by Forlinth soldiers. To her, they weren't just disposable magical constructs; they were innocent animals being forced to suffer and die in a human war. 

I immediately seized control of her vocal cords to prevent a pious outburst.

“I’m sorry, Evelyn, but I can only cast that spell once every few months,” I lied smoothly, imposing a strict cooldown mechanic on the spot. “So I can summon no more wolves for a while.”

Lady Evelyn stopped and studied my face closely.

“Hmm. I’ve never heard of a temporal restriction like that on any magic,” she mused. “But then again, I had never seen or heard of a spell that powerful before you arrived.”

Evelyn scribbled some notes on a piece of parchment before sitting back in her chair, her brow furrowed in thought.

“Can you obscure part of your battlefield with a heavy blizzard, but leave the other part clear for our archers?”

I relinquished control. Juliana nodded her head, her smile returning now that the wolves were off the table. “Yes. I believe so.”

Evelyn sighed heavily. “Well, fighting without the wolves is going to result in more casualties on our side, but a controlled blizzard should hopefully make the southern front workable.”

Lady Evelyn leaned heavily on her desk, continuing, “As for timing, I believe we will see the actual attack start tomorrow morning. Forlinth simply does not have the supplies to maintain the siege much longer. Please, sleep well tonight, for tomorrow is likely to be... challenging.”

Juliana nodded respectfully.

“With that, you are dismissed,” Evelyn sighed, finally allowing her sheer exhaustion to show. “I will send for you when you are needed. Please stay near your lodgings in the meantime.”

“May my god bless you and our day tomorrow,” Juliana said, offering a deep, graceful bow.

We left Evelyn’s office, the heavy oak door clicking shut behind us. As we descended the grand spiral staircase with Archibald and Sebastian trailing a respectful distance behind, Toby reached out and gripped our hand.

“I’m scared,” he whispered, his voice trembling slightly.

Juliana stopped on the stairs and knelt down to meet his eye. She offered him a warm, genuinely maternal smile, entirely devoid of her usual eccentric intensity.

“Don’t worry, Toby. I won’t let anything happen to you. Worst-case scenario, I can use my magic to whisk you far away from here, to somewhere perfectly safe.”

Toby let out a small, shaky breath and cuddled into our side as we resumed our walk, leaning heavily against our robes as we exited the Mage Tower into the afternoon air.

“Thank you, Juliana. I love you,” Toby said quietly.

Deep within the recesses of our shared mind, my incorporeal heart swelled. I had created Juliana to save this world, but in a way, taking care of this terrified little orphan was doing just as much to save me.

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