The wagon rumbled and shook as Clip and Clop pulled it on the road that led back to my cave. I had them going at a moderately fast pace to make the trip quicker. The sun had already set and the dark was fast approaching. Soon, the monsters that hunted in the night would come out, and I didn't want to deal with them if I didn't have to.

But the approaching darkness was the least of my worries. Right now, I was sitting on a small pillow inside the wagon as I stared at Taloress right in front of me. She was seated on the floor as well, her hands placed primly on her lap as she stared back. A minute ago, I relinquished my control over her, which should have made her slump to the floor just like a lifeless doll should. But a minute had already passed and she was still sitting on the floor across from me with a straight back.

The wagon jolted from a pothole and I was shaken out of my reverie. I was remotely controlling Mr. Marion on the driver's seat to keep Clip and Clop from straying off the road, but I knew it was risky to drive a wagon when the real driver was inside and can't even see the road, so I reminded myself to get back to Mr. Marion as soon as possible. But before that…

“Taloress,” I spoke softly. My voice wavered as I hesitated to ask my question, but I needed to ask it sooner or later. This was something I could no longer chalk up to my imagination. “Are you… a-alive..?”

There was only silence for a few seconds before Taloress nodded her head. I double-checked myself and made sure my Authority wasn't taking control of my puppet. It wasn't.

It was just one question, but Taloress' nod was enough for me to realize many things at once. One of the most glaring ones is the fact that I was never actually alone during my travels. I could interpret that as something heartwarming or creepy, but that fact was overwhelmed by another morbid realization.

“Are you saying,” I said with a choke, “that I've been controlling you all this time while you were conscious and thinking?”

Taloress nodded again and I felt sick. I've been controlling a living creature's every action all this time while she was conscious.

I imagined myself being controlled by somebody else. I could see, hear, and feel everything around me, but my actions were not my own. I was forced to fight monsters, get my body ravaged and repaired repeatedly, and even my interactions with my first friend were controlled. What the fuck had I been doing?

Before I could feel any more guilty, Taloress suddenly scooted over beside me. I thought she was going to strangle me now that she was free, but instead, she wrapped her arms around me in a tight hug. I wished it was a comforting experience, but I realized first-hand how rough her body was. The Grisly Bear's fur was tough, but it was not smooth and soft like cotton.

“Aren't you angry at me?” I asked Taloress as I tried to wiggle out of her embrace. “I took control of your body ever since you were made— no, born. I took away your freedom!”

Taloress shook her head frantically and hugged me tighter. I stared at her in dumb shock. Is this a case of Stockholm Syndrome?!

But if I thought harder about it, it couldn't be Stockholm Syndrome. That condition develops over time, and since I lose control of my puppets every time I sleep, Taloress would have killed me in anger on the first night I created her. The thought of my puppets moving on their own while I was asleep sent a shiver down my spine.

“Wait, is Mr. Marion alive as well?!” I asked in shock. In my fabric sense, I felt Mr. Marion turn around in his seat to face my direction and wave at me despite the wall separating us. Holy shit, then that means…

I turned to the other side of the wagon where Tedd was seated on the floor. He waved his cute little arm at me.

I was silent for a whole minute as I took everything in. Taloress didn't seem to mind the silence as she continued hugging me. After a while, I finally found my voice again.

“Do you guys really not hate me?” I asked out loud. Taloress shook her head vehemently, Tedd crossed his arms in an “X,” and I felt Mr. Marion outside shake his head as well.

The fear and guilt I had been feeling earlier slowly receded and were replaced with contentment. All this time, I thought I was alone. As much as I try to tell myself that I made my puppets for their usefulness, the real reason was that I didn't want to be alone. That was why I talked to them like real people. Because I wanted them to be real.

And now that they were actually real, the first thing I felt was guilt. After all, I always thought of them as family even when I still had no idea they were alive. If it turned out that they hated the fact that I took their freedom away from them, I would have been devastated. But that wasn't the case.

I've already had my fair share of loneliness in my past life, and I didn't want to experience it here as well. Now that my earlier fear and guilt were gone, I found myself smiling in happiness as tears slid down my cheek. I'll never be alone again.

Despite the rough and uncomfortable sensation, I hugged Taloress back tightly. Tedd came over as well, his arms outstretched as if asking for a hug, so I picked him up and included him in our embrace. I felt Mr. Marion squirm uncomfortably in the driver's seat as he sent glances in our direction, so I quickly made a threadtacle from the old threads that Mr. Marion ejected when I upgraded him and used it to caress his head. That seemed to make him happy.

“I love you guys,” I muttered as the wagon trundled off into the night.

●●●

When I woke up the next morning, I panicked. When I usually went to sleep, I always placed my puppets around me, but my small room at the end of the cavern was empty of other people except for me. My first panicked thought was that my puppets left me, but I breathed more easily when I felt them in my fabric sense. Right, they can move on their own already.

It still felt a bit odd to me that my puppets were now alive. Or rather, they already were, but I just didn't realize it. A part of me was still a bit creeped out by them, especially when I try to imagine what my puppets did when I was asleep, but I mostly felt happy. I was always hungry for human interaction ever since I began my travels, and now I had it. Although my puppets couldn't really be called ‘humans.’

I got up from my bed (a simple but comfy mattress on the floor) and wobbled a bit as I did so. My legs felt weak. Oh shit, when was the last time I walked on my own?

The only times I remember walking on my own two feet were the times when I needed to relieve myself, but other than that, I was always safely cocooned inside Mr. Marion or Spider. I looked at my legs and realized they looked so thin.

While I was at it, I examined the rest of my body as well and realized that I looked like a malnourished child. The fit body I once had back in Erfeld was gone, replaced with thin arms and legs and a flat stomach. I could still see some remnants of my former body, but nothing else. And was I always this pale..?

But the most notable thing was the stitches. Strings of thread ran throughout my body in erratic stitching patterns, making me look like a patchwork doll. I haven't actually seen myself in a mirror yet, but I wasn't looking forward to it. What the hell is happening to my body?

Ever since that day, my body had sported these weird stitches. They didn't really hurt or anything, and when I tried cutting them once, I felt nothing. Unfortunately, even when I did cut them, they'd pop right back the next day. Good thing they didn't do anything bad to my body, or else I'd be freaking out about it.

“I think it's time for me to get some proper exercise again,” I muttered as I slowly walked to the entrance of my cave, which took me five entire minutes. Work it, you damn noodle legs!

When I arrived outside, I made my usual greetings to Mom and began to tell her some stories about what happened in the village yesterday, but my attention was caught by what my puppets were doing nearby. They had built a small fire and put the large rabbit I had Mr. Marion hunt yesterday on a spit. The smell of cooking meat was very enticing, but my hunger was the least of my worries as I saw Taloress curiously lean towards the fire to get a closer look at the roasting rabbit.

Before I could exert my Authority and forcefully move Taloress away from the fire, Mr. Marion pulled her away and bonked her on the head with his knuckles in reprimand. Tedd followed by thumping his paw at her leg while Spider wiggled his tentacles in dismay. Taloress looked miserable.

I couldn't help but chuckle at their antics. I wanted to reprimand Taloress as well, but I think she's already had enough of that. “You cooking that for me?” I asked as I approached them.

At the sound of my voice, my puppets perked up like little children seeing their favorite teacher. Spider even approached me and opened up his body, gesturing for me to ride inside him.

“Later, Spider, I'm going to try moving around by myself for now. I sorely need the exercise,” I said. Spider's tentacles turned limp in dismay, so I hurriedly reassured him. “Don't worry, I'll ride you later when we go out on an excursion in the forest.”

Spider perked up once again, his tentacles wiggling in the air, before pulling me towards a log near the fire and signaling for me to sit. Taloress sat behind me, a large piece of cloth in her hand, and tied it by my neck so that it covered my chest. What is she doing…

When Mr. Marion removed the large rabbit from the fire and started chopping it into neat little pieces using the broken blade of the enchanted sword before placing them on a small plate made of interwoven grass, I realized my puppets were serving me a meal. I looked down at the cloth covering my chest and realized Taloress just made me wear a bib. Hey, I'm not a baby!

Before I could complain to Taloress, Mr. Marion finished preparing and approached me like a professional waiter, one hand behind his back as he held the plate with his right. When he arrived in front of me, he made a dramatic bow before placing the plate on my lap.

“W-Wow, thank you very much, everyone. You guys didn't have to do all this,” I said awkwardly as I scratched my head. Now that I wasn't riding Mr. Marion, I realized that I didn't have to be so dramatic and smug, which made me confused for a moment about how I should act like.

Since I had no utensils to eat with, I just used my bare hands to eat. After making sure the meat was cool enough, I picked up a small piece and popped it into my mouth. Unlike the meat I usually cooked with Metabolize, the rabbit meat was succulent. It was a bit tough and very bland for my liking, but that was a given since we didn't have any seasonings or spices.

When I emptied my plate, I handed it to Mr. Marion for a refill before digging in again. This happened two more times until only half of the entire rabbit was left. Mind you, the rabbit was as tall as Mr. Marion's hip. I forgot that I didn't eat dinner last night.

“Thank you for the delicious meal, guys, although I'd like it if you woke me up first before you started cooking,” I said as I wiped my mouth with my bib. As much as I wanted breakfast ready and waiting for me every time I woke in the morning, I didn't want to leave my puppets to themselves while they try to make a fire. Knowing how childish Taloress can get, I can imagine her sticking her hand into a fire just to see how it felt.

As if to prove her childishness, Taloress clapped ecstatically at my words and hugged me while rubbing her face on mine. The rough fabric scraped at my skin. “Agh! Taloress, stop it! You're literally skinning me!”

By the time Mr. Marion pulled the sulking Taloress away from me, the skin on my face stung. If I had a mirror, I was sure it was already red. Note to self: never use Grisly Bear fur to make towels and napkins.

“Alright, it's time to get on with this week's objectives,” I announced as I rubbed my burning cheek. “Our goal for today is acquiring materials for me to spin into thread. Since the villagers ransacked my wagon yesterday, we are officially out of clothes to sell, so our primary objective for this week is to gather materials. Our second objective is to map out our territory. The monsters in the Wild Woods are avoiding our home since this used to be the territory of the Grisly Bear, but I'm sure they'll come eventually, so we'll need to assess the local monster population in the area. And lastly, we'll need to start building a proper home. We can't live in a cave forever.”

At the end of my speech, my puppets gave me a round of applause, although in Spider's case, he just wiggled his tentacles. I had no idea what was so impressive with what I just said, but it feels reassuring to know that they agreed with my objectives. Since they were now sentient, I could no longer just force my decisions upon them. I guess I can, but it doesn't mean I should. I'd like to always consider their opinions before I made a decision that would affect us all.

As for forcefully controlling them with my Authority, I decided that I should ask their permission first before I started hijacking their movements unless it was an emergency. The fact that I can no longer control them willy-nilly had some minor disadvantages, but I didn't mind them since their sentience gave me an overwhelming advantage where I can now hand out jobs and responsibilities to them without having to literally control and supervise their every move.

“Since we have a lot of things to do, I'll be assigning each of you with a job,” I said, which prompted excited reactions from my puppets. Why they were so happy for being given a job, I will never know. “For Mr. Marion and Taloress, the two of you will be responsible for gathering the materials I need for making thread. Hunt down any monster with fur and bring them back here so I could pluck their hair when I get back.”

Mr. Marion bowed elegantly while Taloress gave a mock salute at my orders.

“Spider, as promised, you shall be my personal ride for today,” I said as I turned to the arachnid-tentacle monstrosity, much to the said monstrosity's joy as he wiggled his tentacles. “Our task will be mapping out our territory. I don't really know how far out our territory goes, but for today, we'll just be looking for potential threats, setting up defenses, and creating demarcations for our territory. And as for you, Tedd.”

At the mention of his name, Tedd perked up. “You shall be staying here to guard our home,” I said.

Tedd was still for a moment before deflating in disappointment, kicking a small pebble with his foot.

“Aw, don't be so glum. Watching over our new home is no simple feat,” I said while patting his head. Tedd slapped my hand away, although it was more like a tap. “Oh don't be such a baby. Don't worry, I promise I'll bring you with us next time.”

Tedd's shoulders rose and fell as if he sighed in exasperation, before signaling for me to go on. “Here, I want you to take this,” I said as I handed him three spools of thread. “What I want you to do is to watch out for any intruder. If a monster trespasses, I want you to unwind one spool of thread and then hide. If it's an especially strong monster or if they come in a group, I want you to unwind two spools of thread. And if you see humans come, you unwind all three. Do you understand?”

Tedd waved his hand as if to say “yeah, yeah, I get it.”

“All right. If nobody has no objections, let's get started!”

●●●

Several hours had already passed since we all split up to go do our jobs, and I was starting to regret choosing scouting duty. Why the heck did I even think scouting duty was fun?

Right now, Spider and I were currently scouting the area around our home in a two-hundred-meter radius at a moderately slow pace. We were looking around for any signs of monster presence, but my fabric sense, which was currently set at a radius of a hundred meters around me, couldn't detect anything near our home. I could sense some creatures at the edges of my fabric sense, but they were pretty far away from our home, and they didn't seem to be the dangerous types.

Since there were no nearby threats, I just decided to start assessing the terrain to get myself familiar with it and begin setting up an alarm network around my territory. I did this by tying threads in between trees so that if something I couldn't detect with my fabric sense passed through and snapped them, I'd be immediately informed of the intruder.

The alarm network was going to be a valuable asset in warning me against possible threats that my fabric sense couldn't detect, but that didn't mean I liked the process of doing it. For the past few hours, the only thing Spider and I did was walk several paces forward, stop so I could tie some threads in between trees, move forward again, rinse and repeat. It was an extremely monotonous job. The only one who wasn't complaining was Spider, who looked extremely happy as he carried me about. What's so special about carrying me anyway?

As I lamented the boredom of tying threads while Spider walked while wriggling his tentacles about happily, I felt the three spools of thread I gave to Tedd unravel in my fabric sense.

●●●

Tedd sat on the ground beside Helen's grave with his arms crossed grumpily. He didn't like the fact that everybody else was out and about in the forest having fun while he was stuck here with nothing to do but watch the quiet forest for intruders that would never come. But alas, he could not go against the word of the Master. Not like he wanted to. Whatever the Master wanted, then he will provide. If he had to stand guard here until his threads frayed and his button eyes fell off, then he shall do so. But hopefully, the Master would never give him that order. That would suck.

The only saving grace in his boring assignment was that he could spend some time with Helen. Like the Master, Tedd missed the sweet woman dearly. The Master did not know, but back then, Helen would occasionally talk to him and Cuddles about her thoughts regarding her son. How she was so proud of the Master and how she wished she could provide more for her son. It would have been very endearing to hear if Helen was still alive, but now that she was dead, the memory only felt bitter.

Recalling bitter memories made Tedd's mood plunge even further. That was why he didn't like being left alone. Time alone with nothing to do meant time spent reminiscing and thinking about what had been lost. Despite having no heart, Tedd felt his chest hurt when he recalled the past.

His thoughts were interrupted when he heard the rustling of leaves by the edge of the clearing. Tedd's cotton ears perked up as he thanked the gods for breaking the boredom. He may be a teddy bear, but that didn't mean he could sit still all day like one.

Tedd wondered what kind of monster would step out from the line of trees. He hoped it would be a different kind of monster than the usual. Tedd was tired of the same old wolves, boars, and whatever they encountered during their trips. He wanted something new.

But the gods seemed to be mocking Tedd today because what stepped out of the line of trees was not a monster, but a human. Or rather, humans. There were two of them, and they were heading for the cave.

Tedd was familiar with the humans in Wildpost, and he was positively sure that these two didn't belong there. The intruders wore pure black cloaks that didn't reflect a single ray from the sun and their hoods covered their faces, leaving no clue as to what they looked like.

But Tedd could tell that the first one was a man, judging by the tall height and broad shoulders, although not as broad as Belka's. That monster of a woman had neck muscles larger than a grown man's thighs.

The second was a bit harder to tell if they were male or female, but Tedd was willing to bet it was the latter. He may be a teddy bear, but he had a lot of life experience seen through the button eyes of a stuffed toy. And based on his experience, human men loved women for some reason. So chances are high that this man loves women as well, so his companion must surely be a woman. Tedd nodded in satisfaction. He was such a smart teddy bear.

Then Tedd remembered that he was supposed to unwind the three spools of thread when he saw humans. So he reached for the spools of thread the Master placed beside him before they left, but Tedd must have been a really smart teddy bear because he immediately realized he didn't have fingers. How was he going to unwind a spool of thread if he had no fingers? Does that mean the Master was wrong for giving him such an order?

No! It was unthinkable that the Master might be wrong. Tedd must be the one that must be stupid for not being able to accomplish such a simple task given to him by the Master! He was a failure!

Tedd lamented as he fell to his knees dramatically, but his movement must have alarmed the humans, who were now close.

“What was that?!” the cloaked man cried in surprise as he drew his sword and slashed in Tedd's direction, a blade of air shooting out. The blade of air hit Tedd directly and sliced him in half.

As Tedd's upper half flew through the air, he lamented his failure to do the simple task given to him by his Master. But as he slammed into the cliff wall and fell to the ground, he saw the three spools of thread were cut as well. They must have been caught up in the attack since Tedd was standing over them when the human attacked. Didn't that mean Tedd accomplished his task? He was a smart teddy bear after all!

The moment the three spools of thread were cut, Tedd felt the instinctual but familiar sensation of a great being gazing at him from somewhere in the distance. The Master was looking at him! As a puppet created by the Master, Tedd could tell when he was being watched by the Master, and aside from being directly controlled by his Authority, it was one of the best sensations he ever felt in his entire life!

And as a puppet created by the Master, Tedd could also feel some of the Master's emotions. And the Master was not happy.

●●●

“What the hell are you doing, Kazimir?” the young woman hissed at her companion.

“I swear I saw something move!” Kazimir whispered in panic as he moved to see what he hit with his attack. When he saw his target, he blushed in embarrassment. It turned out it was just a stuffed toy.

“Stop playing around! We're supposed to be hunting for a rumored necromancer. One mistake could kill us,” the young woman whispered harshly.

“You worry too much, Samantia. The reports say that the necromancer only has one thrall. Between the two of us, this job should be easy,” Kazimir said as he inspected the area where his attack struck. “Hey, look! There seems to be a grave right where my attack hit. This must be where the necromancer is keeping his thrall!”

Samantia wanted to reprimand Kazimir for underestimating their enemy, but she decided it was useless to argue with her partner and decided to look at what he was pointing at. True to his words, Kazimir was gesturing towards what looked like a small shrine of stones which was now nothing but a pile of rubble and debris after taking Kazimir's strike. In front of the small shrine was a rectangular plot of dirt devoid of grass, which was a telltale sign that the ground was recently dug.

“It looks like the necromancer isn't home yet. Let's dispose of his thrall before he comes back from wherever he is,” Kazimir said.

“How are you going to do it if you don't have a shovel to dig up the corpse with?” Samantia asked with a flat tone.

“I don't need a shovel when I can just dig with my hands,” Kazimir said smugly. “I just broke through the third level of augmentation, Samantia. I have enough strength to dig up this entire clearing in an hour!”

Samantia wanted to tell him that his arrogance was going to be the death of him when she felt an intense chill run down her back that almost paralyzed her. Before they started any job, Samantia made it a habit to cast the Premonition spell on herself, which warned her if there was an impending danger to her life. And right now, it was screaming at Samantia to get the hell out of there.

“Kazimir!” Samantia cried in panic as she pulled her partner's shoulder to get them moving. “We have to get out of here! The necromancer's here, and we underestimated him!”

“Shit, did your magic tell you that?” Kazimir asked as he frantically stood up and readied his sword. “Don't worry, I'll be able to handle him as long as you—”

“Stop being arrogant for a minute and listen to me, you oaf!” Samantia cried. “We can't take on this necromancer. We need to get out of here as soon as possible and get this news to the Captain!”

Kazimir shook off Samantia's grip from his shoulder as he scowled. “Stop being such a scaredy-cat, Samantia. We can't just keep running away from threats just because your magic is warning us of danger. Our jobs are supposed to be dangerous, and if you're so afraid of it, then you shouldn't have become a Night Warden in the first place.”

Samantia wanted to shout her head off that it was just his inflated ego talking, but before she could, her Premonition spell slammed into her mind to tell her that the threat was here. She had to deactivate the spell or else she'd be throwing up all over the place, but the disappearance of the warning bells that had been screaming in her mind for the past minute didn't ease her tension at all.

Shit, we're going to die, Samantia thought as she started preparing herself for battle. She muttered soft incantations as she sprinkled salt around her in a circle and slashed her palm with a knife, spreading her blood on the salt circle. She sprinkled some of her blood on Kazimir as well, who nodded to her.

When all her preparations were done, they waited. The clearing was quiet save for the rustling of the trees and the soft howling of the wind. The sun was high up in the sky, but despite its radiance, Samantia couldn't help but feel a foreboding darkness.

When a minute had passed with nothing happening, Kazimir looked back at Samantia. “Are you sure he's coming?”

“Yes, I'm sure,” Samantia replied in a sharp tone. She was still bitter about Kazimir's decision to stay and fight. “Now stop the chatter and focus—”

Samantia was interrupted as a small pebble dropped on her head. She looked up to see a large monstrosity with many limbs clinging to the cliff right above her before it sent all its tentacles hurtling towards them.