When Nol woke up, it was already dawn.
Before even opening his eyes, he reached out beside him. Teest's bed was a bit cold, indicating he had been up for a while. Nol rolled over, and his arm touched something fluffy—
He quickly opened his eyes, only to see the shadow wolf sleeping upside down next to the bed with its tongue hanging out.
It seemed everything was alright last night.
"Good morning, Nol."
Teest emerged from the bathroom with a towel draped around his neck. He sat on the edge of the bed, leaned over, and gave Nol a good morning kiss on the forehead.
Fresh from his shower, Teest's skin was still damp, and his shirt collar was wide open. From this angle, Nol could see his chest. Nol uncomfortably shifted his gaze and went through the motions of his morning routine.
Stay calm, stay calm. Everything is normal this morning too!
"The servants at this inn are too stingy with breakfast."
For some reason, Teest's morning kiss lingered longer than usual. His hands remained on Nol's shoulders, not moving away for a while.
"They only provided bean sauce, stale boiled eggs, and black bread, claiming the good stuff is reserved for noble lords—I tried them, and they're more suited for feeding wolves."
Teest gazed at Nol, enthusiastically sharing these trivial matters. Lately, his urge to share seemed to have increased.
"I've prepared ham sandwiches, jam biscuits, and hot chocolate instead. Do you like them? Your biscuits have monster hair in them."
'…It would have been quite warm without the last part,' Nol thought, choking up a bit.
"Thank you." Nol stood up, casually ruffling Teest's hair. Teest narrowed his eyes, seemingly enjoying it.
It was no wonder Teest was so eager. Since Nol turned his [Bloodline Suppression] into his own [Breath of a False God], his external skill slot only had [To My Compatriot] and [Sniff], with an extra slot still empty.
Teest had ground the bone shards of an undead giant into powder to make pancakes for Nol. It added considerable attributes, but the only skill it granted was [Feign Death].
It seemed unnecessary. Nol sighed, giving it up.
And just yesterday, Nol had swallowed the bone ash of the Undead Serpent King with his tea, only to unfortunately draw the [Laying Eggs] skill. It stayed in the prompt box for only a second before Nol swiftly discarded it.
Clearly, gaining strength didn't improve his luck.
"By the way, whose hair is it?" Nol asked casually while changing clothes.
"The hair of the undead knight," Teest cheerfully said. "I plucked one just now. He didn't mind. He's a monster from a high-level quest, so he must have something good."
Nol: "..."
I knew it!
No wonder then. The undead knight had been very strong in life. But thinking about how he personally turned him into an undead, Nol always felt a peculiar sense of guilt.
Meanwhile, Teest brought over the cold, subpar breakfast. Shadow Wolf Ben rolled over and skillfully returned to the shadows, its large mouth stretching out from under Teest's feet, wide open.
Teest tilted the plate, dumping the vomit-like food into the wolf's mouth.
"By the way, I went out and talked with that knight last night."
Nol paused while putting on his coat. "Talked?"
Intelligence among undead creatures was generally low, with only higher-level beings like liches or undead giants showing semblance of intelligence. Undead knights typically just mutter about their past obsessions, so having a conversation with one was rare.
"Yes, although he's sometimes incoherent, there's still a hint—just a hint of rationality." Teest drawled, pouring another plate of beans. "It's interesting. He's confused whether there was one moon or four in the past."
Nol stopped moving entirely.
That again.
He remembered the unsettling four moons when he first arrived. With so much happening lately, he had pushed this question to the back of his mind.
"What did he say?" Nol asked more seriously.
Teest hummed, "He said his War King brother once took him to see the full moon, and they stood under the same moon. Then his mind got muddled, struggling with whether it was one or four moons."
Nol immediately grabbed Kando, still dozing on the bedside table, and cast five layers of soundproof magic. Teest was startled, almost dropping the plate into the wolf's mouth.
"Lynn, how's the analysis of the underground ruins?" Nol activated the communication doll, getting straight to the point.
In the communication screen, Lynn was eating pan-fried dumplings in her office. Nol's call caught her off guard, causing her to choke on her dumpling, leading to fits of coughs for a while.
"Were you this abrupt when you were working?"
After finally stopping her cough, the witch sighed. "The data analysis is almost done. I'm using magic to build a database. Integrating them… Except for some vague records about gods, everything else is ready. Do you need something urgent?"
"Check the number of moons," Nol said. "Sorry, I want to confirm as soon as possible."
Lynn nodded. She tapped the table, and the dolls in the room busily activated various props and magic circles. Crystals twinkled and gears creaked, making her room resemble the interior of a mechanical clock, separate yet unified.
In less than ten seconds, numerous pale red magic screens lit up.
Lynn picked up a wand resembling a screwdriver, entering several runes into the air. The dolls clicked and clacked with the mechanisms, eventually selecting a representative to bring a screen to Lynn.
"Interesting…" Lynn gasped as she read the results on the screen.
"There are missing records in the Teddy Bear World. The Near Future World has two moons, and the Ancient World has three," Lynn said. "I guess everyone took it for granted, so there's less documentation."
As she wrote more magic runes, her brows furrowed. "There's another point I'm concerned about. The 'protagonists' of the Near Future World and some important figures have questioned the number of moons. In the Ancient World, someone even wrote a poem expressing doubt—they all seem to think there should be only one moon."
"No follow-up?" Teest asked curiously.
"No follow-up." Lynn shook her head. "What concerns me more is something else. The Near Future World seems very developed, yet there are no records related to astronomy."
In Lynn's tone, there was a mix of confusion and surprise—she thought it was strange but, at the same time, didn't see it as a high priority.
Nol could understand her thinking.
People needed to live grounded in reality, prioritizing immediate issues. After all, whether there was one moon or ten in the sky didn't affect their lives, especially since they had already transmigrated.
If he weren't a producer, this issue might have been lightly set aside. But…
"So far, I've encountered situations involving 'only one moon' twice." Nol glanced at Teest and summarized succinctly, "Once was in the Novice Village near the Dragon's Lair, where there was only one moon in the sky; the other time was just now, with an NPC—no—a key character in a quest experiencing an illusion of 'one moon'."
To an outsider, these two incidents might seem unrelated. But for Nol, their commonality was too obvious—
"The Dragon's Lair has Subelbot. In the setting, it's a very ancient silver dragon." Nol explained, "Its lair is right under the moon. In its appearance design, there's a clear scene of 'the silver dragon spreading its wings under the moon'."
"The War King and the Knight Prince in the Age of Strife were also characters we clearly set up 'scene images' for. At the end, the knight's bones rest in the Endless Sea, his spirit concentrated in three treasures—when the quest is completed, Players see snippets of his life."
"Let me guess. There's a scene of 'the brother showing the younger brother a full moon'."
"Yes." Nol nodded. "For them, that was a very important day."
The unruly brother, gazing at the only moon, had a calculating conversation.
The elder brother said, "We will be the sun and moon of this kingdom. My glory will also shine on you. I will lead the brave towards the light, and you will guide the lost."
At that time, they were young, and the younger brother didn't understand his brother's determination for the throne, simply promising happily—
Sounds wonderful. I will be loyal to you, dear brother.
That was just a snippet, appearing amidst a typical, orderly family tragedy, adding a touch of lament.
But it did exist, specifically designed by the production team.
"Wait, let me get this straight." Lynn pressed her temples. "Even though there are clearly four moons in the sky, the characters you designed still remember the setting of 'only one moon'."
"Yes, it's similar to the situation you're concerned about," Nol said.
"This discovery is really great." Teest casually put his hand on Nol's shoulder, excitedly expressing. Nol turned his head in confusion—Teest wasn't the type to give superficial compliments.
Teest leaned in close to Nol's ear, his voice just loud enough for Lynn to hear. "It means this is 100% 'real'. If everything was false, why would the mastermind behind it leave such an obvious loophole?"
"Having traveled through four worlds and still maintaining such a loophole suggests their ability is limited—if the opponent isn't omnipotent, they can be dealt with."
Seeing the two heads getting closer, Lynn looked hesitant.
Finally, she coughed vigorously. "I agree with Teest's view. It's a good discovery. This matter is likely related to the 'truth of the world', and I'll take it as a reference."
Nol let Teest stay close to him and looked at Lynn. "I'll contact you if there's a new discovery."
"Mm, I'm looking forward to it." Lynn sped up her speech as if she was in a hurry. "Remember to leave more surveillance dolls along the way."
With that, she immediately ended the communication.
"I think I need to have a good talk with that knight," Nol sighed.
"Now?"
"No, I need to find a way to increase his intelligence—to perfect a new spell first. Let's have breakfast."
Unfortunately, the breakfast was ultimately left uneaten. Nol had just started on his sandwich when he heard a commotion downstairs.
"We've paid. Why should we leave the room!" Solo shouted from the first floor of the inn.
As a "butler", Nol frowned and grabbed Teest as they left the room—Teest quickly put on his glasses, not forgetting to grab the last piece of the sandwich.
In the lobby, the fat innkeeper's beard kept trembling as he tried to stand upright. "There's only one luxury suite, and I'm a businessman. I can't let the representative of the Alva Merchant Group stay in a servant's room."
"So I deserve to stay in a servant's room? Don't you understand first come, first served?" Solo played the role of the spoiled young master to the hilt that Nol wondered if he was really a bit angry.
The butler Painter and maid Anakin were superficially soothing everyone, each with their own disdain. Abandon and Fischer weren't there, probably busy with other things.
"The Alva Merchant Group again." Teest struggled to swallow half a sandwich and handed the other half to Nol. "I didn't think it could get any busier here."
The representative of the Alva Merchant Group versus an unknown little noble—it was pretty clear which side the owner would choose.
Just as the situation was about to spiral out of control, the so-called "representative of the Alva Merchant Group" walked in.
She was a very beautiful young lady. Her ears dangled with huge pearl earrings, a pearl hairnet held her golden hair, and her eyes were like olivine stones, clear and moist. She was petite and shapely, wearing a dress that was perfectly tailored to her.
Solo immediately shut up. He stared blankly at the beautiful girl, forgetting all about "playing the dissolute", and was moved aside by Painter like a statue.
The girl scanned the room, seemingly guessing the situation. She stepped forward with a smile, approaching Solo.
"Sir," the girl cooed, her eyes pleading. "If you are willing to give up the room, we will compensate you five times the amount. What do you say…"
Solo's face turned red, as if he had lost the ability to speak. "Uh, uh…"
Nol: "..."
Teest: "..."
Both of them stopped chewing simultaneously, retreating two steps.
It wasn't so much that they were stunned by the beauty, but rather, they had seen this "girl" before—
Wasn't this Mr. Barto from the novice village? He seemed to have recovered quite a bit and was up to his old tricks again.
"You go down first," Anakin told the innkeeper. "Look, we'll handle it ourselves."
The innkeeper left with a look of "I knew it", satisfied with himself. For a moment, the hall was left with only the girl and the five members of the "noble tour group".
"And Mr. Pai, could you check on Abandon and the others? You two…" Anakin looked at Nol, desperately signaling with her eyes, "Just find somewhere nearby to stay."
Mr. Painter, of the Light Faction, tactfully retreated. As representatives of the Evil Forces, Nol and Teest exchanged glances, cast an invisibility spell around the corner, and quickly returned to the scene.
"Stop acting," Anakin said with a pinch of her brow. "You're a man, right? A Player?"
Solo and Barto both stiffened, one turning from red to green, the other from white to red.
"Barto, Homeward Saint Guild. From the central city of Old Gemino. Responsible for caravan liaison."
Barto awkwardly stepped back, trying to sound more composed. "Sister, we didn't really meet in the novice village, did we? How did you figure it out?"
Anakin clicked her tongue loudly. "Being a representative of the Alva Merchant Group, a normal person would handle things professionally without needing to 'flatter' like that."
"Besides, with so many of our people inside the inn, you just walked in, showing no caution. Used to it, huh? This level of deception works only on male college students—alright, now that we're clear, let's get down to business."
Solo slowly backed away, looking up at the ceiling as if he wanted to bury himself in a hole.
Barto glanced at Anakin, still a bit upset, but said nothing. He casually pulled up a chair and sat down. "I'm here to find you."
"Hmm."
"Amazon asked me to tell you to drop everything and go to Brick Shadow to support the elite squad—Hot Ash and the others are in trouble."
"What?!" Anakin and Solo almost spoke at the same time.
Barto revealed a slightly satisfied expression at regaining some control. "Eugene and Hot Ash went to Brick Shadow for a quest—something about scouting the Demon King's situation. Recently, they sent a distress signal to Amazon."
"Dude, would you die if you said everything at once?" Solo bared his teeth at him angrily.
Barto glanced at him, dropped a soundproofing charm on the floor, and took out a recording crystal, activating its contents on the spot.
It was a frantic narrative.
They could recognize it as a human voice, but that was all they could discern.
Everyone present had the Player's innate "Language Mastery", but none could understand what the distress call was saying—it was like listening to a mentally ill patient with a language disorder.
"There's no doubt this message came from Hot Ash, and Amazon considers the situation critical." Barto explained, "Communication near Desolation Island is getting worse. They couldn't contact you and had to divine your location to send me. That's the gist of it."
"Tell them I'm on my way to the Desolation Island area and will handle it as soon as possible," Anakin said gravely.
"That's fine. I'm leaving—I've got real work to do." Barto spoke with an annoyingly casual tone. "Continue having fun with your handsome guys. I noticed just now. You've got a nice variety."
Solo's forehead vein throbbed, and he reflexively grabbed a dart, but Anakin held him back.
"Don't mind him." Anakin shook her head lightly.
[I thought Bly would continue following him,] Nol thought.
[You see, emotions are quite fragile,] Teest replied.
Nol sighed inwardly.
"It looks like we need to speed up our journey," Nol said, dispelling the invisibility as Barto left the hall. "I'm going to use a riskier method of travel."
"Like what?" Anakin still looked serious.
"I'll figure out a way to take everyone with me." Nol turned his face uncomfortably. "I have a method to reach the Brick Mountains in one day."
...
"Holy shit—this is like magic—!" That night, Solo stuck his head out of the carriage, shouting down at the clouds.
The ordinary carriage was flying through the night sky. The harnesses for the horses hung empty, looking unsupported. Six people were crammed inside the carriage, with only Nol and Teest missing.
Above the carriage, a huge Dracolich spread his wings, his claws firmly gripping the toy-like carriage. Under the four moons, using the double protection of A Midsummer Night's Dream and Invisibility, Nol flew rapidly towards the Brick Mountains.
Only Teest sat next to Nol's dragon horn, happily swinging his legs—the Death Knight had erected a protective barrier, shielding them from the cold wind and low temperatures.
[You should have used this method earlier.] Teest caressed the flickering blue dragon horn beside him. It was warmer than he had imagined.
[Taking ten thousand steps back, it would have been easier without Painter, but now there's no choice.] Nol expressed with difficulty. [Talk to me more. My claws are a bit numb.]
[Of course, no problem.] Teest relaxed, leaning against the dragon horn. [I have ten thousand thoughts to share…]
The thick clouds, like the sea, floated restlessly, quickly receding beside them. Above the carriage, the silver undead knight looked up at the four moons.
He reached out towards one of the moons, stiffly and carefully closing his fingers, as if trying to grasp something.
In the end, he only managed to catch a wisp of cold wind.
The author has something to say:
Teest, dragon knight status acquired√