Game Master in Another World

The next morning, I was violently pulled from my slumber by frantic knocking at the door.

Juliana immediately hopped out of bed and began walking straight toward the entryway. It took my sleep-addled brain a second to realise she hadn't put her druidic robes back on after last night’s ritual.

Oh, no.

I frantically seized control of our body, violently pivoting us away from the door. I scrambled to grab her tunic and trousers from the chair, awkwardly hopping on one foot to pull them on while the knocking grew louder.

Once we were decently covered, I let go. Juliana smoothed her hair, completely unfazed, and pulled open the heavy wooden door.

It was the village elder, Beatrice. She looked like she hadn't slept a wink, her face pale and etched with deep, frantic worry.

“Pray tell,” Beatrice said, her voice trembling slightly. “Could you explain the massive, ancient forest the village now finds itself in?”

Juliana let out a soft, sweet laugh. “Oh, my apologies! I completely forgot to dispel that last night.”

With a casual flick of her wrist and a single, whispered syllable, the dense forest instantly melted away as if it had never existed. The bright morning sunlight, previously blocked by the illusory canopy, flooded the village square and streamed directly into the house.

Beatrice staggered back a step, the blood draining completely from her face. She stared at the empty space where a towering oak tree had been a second ago.

“Oh,” Beatrice squeaked, her eyes wide with fresh terror. “Thank you kindly for your help.”

She turned and hurried away, moving as fast as her limp could possibly carry her.

We retreated back inside, and I took control for a moment, crossing our arms. “You can’t just forget things like that, Juliana. That would have absolutely terrified the villagers when they woke up trapped inside a giant magical forest.”

Juliana took back control, bowing her head deeply. “I am so sorry, Lord Geoff. I will try to be much less careless next time.”

Frankly, I was partly to blame for not reminding her before we went to sleep. But in my defence, my mind had been completely short-circuited by the shock of experiencing a naked moon dance from the inside.

As the morning progressed, I noticed I still felt surprisingly full from yesterday’s meager meal. It was undoubtedly the lingering magic of that single purple berry she had eaten. Since we felt absolutely no need for breakfast, we stayed in the cottage waiting for our escort. To pass the time, Juliana summoned four small, glowing orbs of light, idly juggling them through the air with flickers of her fingers.

After some time, there was another knock at the door. When Juliana opened it, an elderly couple stood before us.

The man spoke first. “I’m Eric, and this is my wife, Clara. We shall be taking you on your journey to Freyton City in our supply wagon.”

Clara kept her eyes firmly fixed on her shoes, nervously wringing her weathered hands.

“Oh, how wonderful to meet you both!” Juliana responded, her unnerving, unblinking smile returning in full force. “I imagine we will have the most delightful journey together.”

Eric shifted uncomfortably under her gaze. “Yes, quite... we will be transporting goods to the city, so it should take a couple of days. We plan to leave within the hour, if that is alright with you?”

Juliana nodded gracefully. “Indeed. I look forward to getting to know you both on this journey of ours.”

Suddenly, Clara looked up, staring directly into Juliana's eyes with a stern, fearful expression. “And would you please keep your clothes on for the journey? We appreciate modesty in this village.”

Juliana’s smile didn't waver a fraction of an inch. “I believe I can accommodate your request. My sacred ritual happens but once a month.”

Looking profoundly relieved, Clara tugged hard on Eric’s sleeve, and the two of them hurried away to prepare their wagon.

Juliana closed the door and spoke sweetly in her mind. Oh, this is going to be so much fun, Lord Geoff. We get to experience a proper mortal journey with this lovely couple.

I winced internally at the thought of spending two whole days trying to keep her from completely terrifying these poor elders. But as I mentally checked her max-level stats, I at least knew this journey was going to be overwhelmingly safe.

We joined Eric and Clara at their wagon. It was a simple, open wooden cart with just enough seating up front for three people, loaded down with sacks of supplies. It was hitched to what looked like an incredibly old draft horse. The poor animal was missing patches of fur, and its mane looked matted and rough.

Without hesitation, Juliana walked right up to Eric. “If you would like, I could change into a strong horse and pull this wagon for you. It would give your beast here a much-needed rest. He can still come along on the journey, but he won’t need to pull the heavy load.”

Eric eyed Juliana suspiciously. “How would that work? I didn’t know people could turn into animals.”

Juliana, her serene smile unwavering, simply stated, “I shall show you, then.”

She didn't even speak an incantation; she simply began to morph. Thick, coarse fur rapidly sprouted across our skin. As she dropped onto all fours, our body violently expanded, muscles bulging and bones shifting as our limbs completely changed shape.

Suddenly, the entire world warped. Our field of vision split drastically to the sides of our head, completely altering my depth perception, and the bizarre, heavy sensation of standing on four hooved legs settled over my mind.

Eric dropped the leather reins, his mouth hanging completely agape. Clara stopped loading a sack of grain and just stared in muted horror.

Juliana let out a cheerful, rumbling neigh.

“Right... if you insist, then,” Eric conceded weakly.

Still looking thoroughly bewildered, Eric carefully hitched Juliana up to the front of the wagon, tying his exhausted old horse to the back.

We set off. The weight of the loaded cart was immense, but in this massive equine form, it somehow wasn't tiring at all. Our powerful muscles worked in perfect, steady harmony. Eric used the leather reins to gently direct us, though thankfully the dirt road was fairly well-defined with very few forks.

The journey was tedious and long, but despite that, the hours seemed to fly by. The rhythmic clopping of our hooves lulled us into a strange, meditative state. Before I knew it, the sky was already beginning to darken, and Eric gently pulled back on the reins to bring us to a halt.

Juliana effortlessly shifted back into her Nhalyri form. Eric and Clara watched in stunned amazement as our body rapidly morphed from a massive beast of burden back into a slender woman. Experiencing a mechanic I used to casually describe at a tabletop game from the inside was absolutely surreal.

We had stopped in a stretch of barren grassland; the only break in the flat terrain was the winding dirt road itself.

Eric pulled a bundle of dry sticks from the cart and crouched to light a fire, while Clara retrieved an iron pot and some simple utensils. Juliana immediately stepped forward to help.

Clara simply waved her away. “No need, dear. You pulled the cart all day. You can be our guest for tonight.”

“Well, I simply cannot sit by and do nothing, now can I?” Juliana replied cheerfully.

Before I could stop her, Juliana began weaving another complex incantation. Oh, no. Instantly, the barren grassland vanished, replaced by the towering, ancient trees and glowing underbrush of the illusory forest she had conjured the night before.

Clara dropped her iron pot with a loud clatter. Eric froze midway through striking his flint.

I violently seized control. Our rigid spine collapsed into an apologetic slouch, and I held up our hands in a frantic, placating gesture. “I am so sorry,” I said, pitching her voice as gently as I could. “Next time I will warn you before I do that. This is just an illusory forest to provide us with some camouflage and safety for the night.”

I released control. Juliana instantly snapped back to her terrifyingly perfect posture, that serene, unblinking smile returning to her lips.

“Yes... please do,” Eric stammered shakily, clutching his unlit firewood.

It took about five minutes for Clara and Eric's heart rates to return to normal, but they eventually acclimatised to their impossible surroundings enough to resume cooking their meager supper.

Once dinner was ready, we all sat quietly around the fire to eat. Once again, the food was relatively tasteless and meager, but Juliana made sure to finish every last drop.

“Thank you very much for the wonderful meal.” Juliana beamed that unnerving smile.

Clara offered a polite, strained smile in return. “You’re very welcome.”

Exhausted from the day, Clara and Eric quickly set out their bedding. They bowed their heads and whispered a quick prayer to Solvarn before settling down for the night.

Juliana just sat there, intensely watching them as they tucked themselves in. She simply stared, unblinking. Eric shifted around aggressively in his bedroll, very obviously trying to ignore the terrifying, overpowered elf looming over their bedtime routine.

Hey, Juliana, I gently reminded her in our shared mind. I think you're making them deeply uncomfortable with your staring.

Thankfully, Juliana broke her intense gaze and looked away toward the illusory trees, finally allowing the poor couple to actually get some sleep.

The next morning was another clear, bright day. After Juliana casually dispelled our magical forest, she once again shifted her form. The bizarre, mind-bending sensation of my perspective dropping onto four hooved legs didn’t get any less strange the second time around, but at least Eric and Clara didn't seem quite as panicked today.

The road remained long and mostly featureless, leaving me to wonder just how empty and desolate this war-torn world had become. Eventually, the thatched roofs of a small village appeared in the distance.

As we approached, something felt deeply wrong. It was far too quiet. There were no people working in the fields, no smoke rising from the chimneys, and no livestock making a sound. Eric and Clara didn’t seem immediately panicked, so perhaps encountering abandoned, ghost-town settlements was just a grim, common reality of this era.

But as our wagon rolled into the center of the village, half a dozen armed men stepped out from between the buildings, entirely blocking the road. My equine ears flicked backward. They were wearing the exact same crimson uniforms as the soldiers who had attacked Beatrice's village.

A large, heavily armored man wielding a massive greatsword stepped forward, pointing his blade at Eric on the driver's bench. “Halt! There is a strict blockade on Freyton City. You are to surrender all your goods at once!”

Eric and Clara froze, pure terror washing over their weathered faces. Looking around at the eerie, deafening silence of the surrounding houses, the grim reality of the situation settled heavily over us. These soldiers didn't just confiscate goods. They clearly didn't take prisoners.

Juliana’s absolute sense of justice took over. Without waiting for my command, she violently shifted back into her Nhalyri form, bursting free of the leather harness with a sharp snap. The sudden shift in perspective and the bright sunlight stung our eyes, but the sheer shock of a draft horse morphing into an elven woman stunned the soldiers just long enough.

Juliana spoke a harsh, guttural incantation.

Thick, thorny vines erupted from the packed earth, twisting around the soldiers' feet and rapidly growing up their bodies. The men panicked, hacking wildly at their plant-like constraints and shouting in terror as they were hoisted up and held firmly in place.

The large leader dropped his greatsword, screaming, “Please don’t! We’ll let you pass, just don’t kill us!”

Juliana’s unsettling smile had completely vanished. Her face was a mask of cold, divine fury. “Where was your mercy for these villagers?”

Before they could stammer a reply, she spoke a second incantation. A line of magical fire ignited at their feet, weaving precisely between the trapped men. Instantly, the flames roared upward, rising over two metres into the air and engulfing them completely.

They began to scream as they burned alive. The sickening smell of roasting flesh permeated our nostrils. Strangely, despite the roaring inferno directly in front of us, I couldn't feel any heat radiating from it. Juliana was effortlessly protecting us from the blast, making the brutal execution feel entirely surreal.

Once the screaming finally stopped, Juliana flicked her wrist, releasing the spell. All that remained were smoking, blackened husks—grotesque statues held aloft by the singed, dying vines.

Eric and Clara were paralyzed with pure, unadulterated fear. Clara was cowering, trying desperately to hide behind her trembling husband.

“Worry not, for I have purged the evil from this village,” Juliana said, her voice eerily calm. She was still not smiling. “We may now pass unmolested to Freyton City.”

Sitting quietly in the back of her mind, I realized then that she truly took no twisted pleasure in taking a life. It was simply the ruthless, mechanical execution of her divine duty.

“Now, I would prefer not to change back into my equine form again,” Juliana announced, her cheerful tone returning as if she hadn't just incinerated six men. “So, unfortunately, I must ask your horse to pull us the rest of the way to Freyton, if you don’t mind.”

Eric nodded silently, not daring to argue. He hopped off the driver's bench, keeping a wide berth from the smoking bodies, and began frantically tying the broken harness straps back onto his exhausted old horse.

Juliana hopped up onto the wooden bench and sat dead in the middle, pressing right up against Clara. Clara immediately tried to shuffle away, but the seat was far too narrow for her to go far. Oblivious to personal space, Juliana simply slid over, following her until Clara was practically pinned to the edge of the cart.

Juliana threw an arm warmly around Clara’s shoulders. I could feel the poor woman instantly go rigid against our side.

“Fear not, my fair Clara,” Juliana declared proudly. “For I will continue to keep you both safe on your journey.”

Staring rigidly straight ahead, Clara nodded her head in quick, terrified jerks.

Once Eric had secured the horse, we finally set off again, the cart's wooden wheels carefully weaving through the macabre sea of charred corpses. The old draft horse was considerably slower than Juliana had been, but I didn't mind in the slightest. Being able to just sit back as a passenger and enjoy the scenery without possessing a four-legged animal was a welcome relief.

As we rolled out of the abandoned village, I spotted a massive pile of dismantled carts and wagons stacked up against a derelict building. It was a grim, sobering sight—the unmistakable fate of countless other villagers who had tried to transport their goods to Freyton City, never to return.

It took the rest of the daylight hours, but the towering gates of Freyton City finally appeared on the horizon. Eric and Clara remained completely tense for the entire duration of the ride, trapped in close quarters with the smiling Nhalyri woman who had just saved their lives.

Juliana, meanwhile, remained utterly oblivious to their terror, spending the remainder of the journey cheerfully belting out elven travel songs.

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