Early morning, just after dawn broke. Zero was still lying on the bench with his head on my laps. I was still busy practicing Spells. Besides [Light], I also tried several Spells. And after practicing the whole night, I had some improvement. If previously my [Light] was almost similar to candlelight amidst the howling wind, now, it was similar to the candle in a room without wind. It was more stable and didn’t sway much, also, I could use it longer.

My fear of the open sky was still there, but it was not as bad as before. If it were not for the sleeping Zero, I should be able to stand up and walk for a bit, but hopping and jumping were still too much for me, I was sure of it. Also, running wouldn’t be an option either.

Now then, should I wake this guy up?

By the way, if he didn’t talk, he was kind of cute, huh? If he talked, however, he became the most annoying person. I wished I had a permanent marker with me so I could draw his face... just as I traced my finger on his face, wondering what kind of doodle I wanted to draw, he opened his eyes abruptly.

“...morning.” I greeted him. Dispirited and tired.

“Mm, morning.” He yawned but didn’t immediately get up. What was he doing? Here I was getting tired while he was sleeping soundly, and even after he woke up, he didn’t immediately get up and just lied on my laps and stared at my face absentmindedly.

“Why are you staring at my face?” He asked innocently. Geh, he was the one who was staring at my face! Such audacity! Should I use [Firebolt] right at his head?

“...I am trying to imagine what kind of face you will make when I burn all your hair off.” I muttered.

Zero choked and chuckled. “Please don’t do that, I’m not really good looking when I’m bald.” He said.

“If you don’t want to be bald, I recommend you to get up immediately.” I glared at him.

“Can I stay like this for a while?” He begged. Naturally, I smiled at him. He had been taking advantage of me for the whole night, what a while meant to me, right?

“[Firebolt].” I conjured a small fire at the tip of my finger, but before I could toss it to his hair, he got up and raised his hands to protect his head. I let the fire flew to the sky and dissipated into nothingness harmlessly.

“You sure are not cute.” He grumbled at me.

“For your information, I don’t try to be cute for you, alright? Also, you should be grateful that I didn’t burn your hair while you were sleeping.” I sighed. “Well, anyway, I think it’s time for me to have a rest. And you should go with the other Players to the Dungeon, shouldn’t you?”

“Mm, that is reasonable. Alright, let’s return to the Adventure Guild. Do you need a hand?” He stretched out his hand and grinned. I snorted and tried to stand up, but suddenly, the world swayed in my vision and I lost my balance. It seemed I still couldn’t stand up even though sitting while staring at the sky was not a problem for me now, huh?

Zero caught me before I fell down to the ground. He smiled mirthlessly and helped me without words. I reluctantly leaned on him while he led me back to the Adventure Guild. It was mortifying, needing his help, but fortunately, it was still early in the morning so no one, at least no Players saw us. When we reached the Adventure Guild, I regained my usual strength and my vision was finally clear again.

“Should I say, good night?” Zero asked mischievously.

I shrugged casually. “Mm, and you, be careful. Don’t forget that Goblins with a leader are not as idiot as the Goblins without one.”

A leader could increase the Goblins' overall ability after all. And usually, the leader wouldn’t be as stupid as the typical Goblins. Not to mention if there were Hobgoblins or even Goblin General. So, I hoped the Players wouldn’t underestimate the Goblins because of it.

After that, I went to the inn connected with the Adventure Guild. Yeah, I wanted to say that it was a part of the Adventure Guild, but it was not. It was a different building, only connected by a short corridor. Well, the inn was sponsored by the Adventure Guild, so it was not wrong to say it was a part of the Adventure Guild. For Adventurers, they would get a discount if they slept in this inn. I was not an Adventurer though, so I didn’t get any discount. Should I register myself as an Adventurer? No?

Well, since they knew I had vital information about the Golems, they let me stay in the inn for free though. I was thankful for that, and after getting my room, I decided to sleep immediately. Yeah, it was tiring, practicing like that. But I should try it again later.

...

It was afternoon. At least, I thought it was afternoon. I could see the sun shone through the gaps of my windows. Also, it was quite noisy outside. Yes, it must be afternoon.

I was in my room, but even when I was sleeping peacefully in my room, death still approached me. Noisily. And the bringer of the death was hugging me tightly and buried my head in her breast, that somehow, had grown quite a bit.

“Fey! Wuaah, I’m so happy to see you again! I thought I would be a goner for sure! I heard you are the one who contributes the most to save me! I’m really happy! Fey!”

How...? They had already saved the silly Goddess? Also, if you are grateful, don’t kill me like this! I hate asphyxiation play, you know!? Wait, not that I liked any of those plays, alright?

Also, how did she enter my room? Not that I locked the door, but didn’t she know something called privacy? No? Well, she always came to my Dungeon even when I was at the peak of my power, without considering my privacy at all. So, she really didn’t know what privacy meant, huh?

I tried to push her away, but the silly Goddess was proven to be stronger than me. My weak arms failed to even push her even when I was almost dead. I really shouldn’t save this silly Goddess, seriously.

I glanced around and saw several people that I knew in the room. There were the silent God, Donald, Zero, and the Knight party. They were watching me with an envious smile. Annoying. If you wanted to die by breast that much, you should take my place at this moment!

Seemingly to know my thought, Zero coughed. “I think Fey will die soon if you keep hugging her like that, Briana.”

“Ah, you are right! I’m so sorry Fey, it’s just, I never expected you to save me, so I’m really happy now!” The silly Goddess stopped hugging me, but this time, she gripped my hands tightly. It was painful, but since I was still in the state of just woken up, I didn’t say anything at her. I was more concerned with the other people seeing my woken-up state. I wished I wasn’t drooling...

But I had a headache. I felt like someone was pounding my head hard. Also, I didn’t feel good. Why? Ah, it must be because I missed my breakfast.

“Fey, are you alright?” The silly Goddess grabbed my cheeks abruptly. I could see her eyes widened in surprise. “Oh no! You have a fever! You should say you are sick, idiot! Uh, what to do, what to do, what to do?”

“...indeed, what to do...? I think... you all should get out and let me have my rest... don’t worry, I’ll be fine once I wake up later...” I told her but my voice was not as steady as usual. Even talking like that caused me out of breath. Did I really catch a cold? Yeah, it must be because I still hadn’t had my breakfast. Or lunch.

“Uh, you are right. Um, anyway, thank you for saving me. We, uh, we’ll let you rest, so, see you later?” The silly Goddess awkwardly said goodbye. I nodded and after making sure they closed the door, I lied on my bed again. I wondered how they saved that silly Goddess so fast. Also, I was hungry. Or rather, I was starving. Uh, I should ask them to bring me something to eat rather than to chase them away for good.

Oh well, I couldn’t think while my head didn’t want to cooperate with me, so perhaps it would be better if I slept again. Thinking like that, I closed my eyes and after a few seconds, I slept again.

...

It was a dream. I know it was a dream. Because I was dreaming of Earth. Of my life when I was living on Earth. It was a nostalgic dream. It must be because I talked about Earth with Zero.

I dreamt of my past life. I was still a high school student. There were a lot of silly kids in my classroom, mostly boys. I wondered how the boys could live longer than girls when they did idiot things. Like doing silly challenges. Maybe because there was not enough excitement on Earth. I meant life-threatening excitement, unlike here.

In my dream, I saw a memory of me going to school. The school was exactly as I remembered. I remembered everything. Well, I knew I had good memories. Or I should have good memories.

But in my dreams, I couldn’t see my friends’ faces. In my dream, all of them were faceless. It scared me and so, I returned home. But to my surprise, my mother was faceless as well. I couldn’t believe it, but I forgot how my mother looked like...

I screamed. I closed my ears and my eyes. I didn’t want to admit it, but I forgot my mother’s face. I had a big sister, but I forgot her face too. I didn’t remember my friends’ faces as well. And I couldn't even remember my own face. I didn’t want to admit it, but it was true. I forgot them all. And my mother tried to soothe me. She hugged me and patted my head gently. And all I could do was apologize as I couldn’t remember her face, I couldn’t remember her at all...

And then I woke up. Someone was holding my hand and gently rubbed my head. It was warm. Like my mother’s.

“...mom, is that you?” I groggily asked, hoping that I was still dreaming.

“...I’m sorry, but I’m not your mother, Fey.” It was a male’s voice, so I abruptly opened my eyes and saw him. Zero was smiling bitterly at me. He looked away when he noticed I had woken up.

“Zero? Why are you here?” I asked.

Zero shrugged. “Well, I thought you are sick because of me, you know, I feel guilty, so, well, I brought you some food and, cough, it seems you have a nightmare. Anyway, you must be hungry, right? Let’s eat first.”

Zero awkwardly spoke. Was he worried about me? But for him, I was an NPC, right? I never saw a person worried about an NPC, or rather, a fictional character. No, perhaps he was that type, huh? Yeah, even in the past, there were a lot of people who loved anime character and said this character was his waifu or that character was his waifu, and I heard that some really married 2D characters. Was Zero that type of person as well?

Zero abruptly flicked my forehead, but this time, he controlled his strength quite well. It was still painful though...

“Don’t think unnecessary things, I’m just worried because you have to stay all night because of me, alright? I just feel guilty, so stop thinking unnecessary things like that. Now, let me help you sit and feed you, alright?” Zero said abashedly.

Mm, so, he was a tsundere... ouch, he flicked me again. I forgot that people could read my thought easily... This world was really unfair to me, right?

Zero smiled bitterly as he helped me sit on my bed. After that, he also fed me porridge from the ex-Adventurer cook. The porridge was delicious. As expected of that cook that could cook delicious cuisine... but let’s not talk about the size of the bowl, alright? I didn’t want to cry again after all...