Departure

The onlookers who had seemed to be attending a funeral finally left.

Gawain breathed a sigh of relief. He glanced at Amber, who was resting with her eyes closed in a nearby armchair, then at Tir, who was coiled in the corner of the room waiting for her "mental nourishment." Steadying himself slightly, he once again focused his mind, settled his thoughts, and entered the Sleeper's Mind Network.

Glan Territory, Cracked Stone Fortress, Patty's bedroom.

The Giant Sun's radiance had completely sunk beyond the mountains, and faint starlight had appeared at the far end of the horizon on The Other Side. Bright Magic Crystal Lamps lit up the room, joining the courtyard lamps and streetlights within and beyond the castle to drive back the deepening night. Under that bright illumination, Patty sat at the desk made especially for her, carefully reading a beautifully printed, simply bound textbook.

The textbook's contents were not difficult; at the Imperial General Education Academy, they would only have counted as elementary-level material. Yet Patty had missed far too much schooling, so much so that she was only now beginning to read these basic texts.

But she was still very happy, because being able to sit securely in a chair and read like this, without unending pain and convulsions, was already a blessing she had never imagined during the many years of her past.

A current of air blew in through the vent in the corner of the room, stirring the hair beside Patty's cheek. Sensing something, the girl looked up, only to find no one beside her.

Patty lowered her eyes and pursed her lips in disappointment.

She had not had that incredible dream in a long time. She had not seen kind "Sister Serina," the hot-tempered red-haired uncle, or the big uncle who