Adam woke up, his heart as heavy as lead. He could still hear his happy laughter, thinking everything he experienced as a ghost was just a bad dream.
But reality, using the irritating sound of a crying baby, mercilessly crushed his hopes.
After opening his eyes, the first thing he did was gaze at the annoying toddler with irritation. He didn't feel rested at all, and his thoughts were still chaotic.
With no other choice, he examined the baby, looking at him from the corner of the room he used to sleep.
"Yeah, it's just a baby, one-month-old or something, fat, wrinkly limbs, a big head and an adult's sleep worst enemy. Where is his mother, anyway? How can she leave him alone like that?"
That baby was supposed to be his body. He still didn't understand the details, yet he had to ensure he was healthy.
Unfortunately, he had absolutely no experience with babies, so after floating towards him, he gently poked him with his fingers to attract his attention while speaking in the calmest voice he could use.
"Could you please shut up? You are annoying your neighbors, I mean, mainly me. I would let you know you are not the only one needing rest."
The baby's face softened as he gazed at him, surprised to see the strange man.
Maybe because he felt lonely or instinctively felt no threat, he tried to grab Adam's fingers.
Adam watched him, not knowing what to do about the attempts. He just stood there, waiting to see what would happen next.
The baby seized one of his fingers and slowly, with all the strength a baby could muster guided it into his mouth.
Soon, sucking on the finger, he gradually fell asleep again.
'Did I just become a giant pacifier?' Adam thought, his face painted in bewilderment as he thought about returning to his corner of the room.
However, looking at the peaceful face of the sleeping baby, he hesitated.
'I'm letting him use me as a pacifier only because I don't want him to cry again. There is no other reason.' Convincing himself he was not being taken advantage of by a baby, he pondered what he could do in the future.
After all, thirteen years, especially as a ghost, was a long time...
He had to find something to fill his days with, or he would probably die of boredom before reclaiming his body.
He was also very curious about where this place was. Sadly, a mysterious force barred his attempts to leave. He couldn't even check the house's other rooms.
He pondered for the next few hours about what hobbies he could develop with that strange body of his while standing next to the sleeping baby.
He didn't find anything productive to do when he suddenly heard a click coming from the door as someone unlocked it from outside.
He saw the young woman slowly push it open and took this chance to gaze outside to register as much information as he could.
The first thing he noticed was less than five meters away from the house, a river flowed.
Lowering his gaze, he saw the unpaved ground.
Far in the distance, he could distinguish high trees of different types forming a forest and, further away, a mighty mountain with a snow-covered peak.
Finally, he saw the orange sky. It was dusk, and the moon would replace the sun in an hour at most.
Then, the woman closed the door behind her, cutting his examination, and walked discreetly to the cradle, trying not to wake the baby.
Meanwhile, he pondered everything he had seen. Despite his weird reactions, he was a resourceful man... or ghost.
'There is no way this house is in a city. I'm probably in a village in the countryside. Judging by the temperature at dusk, it should be summer.' He concluded as the woman gently fastened her baby on her back using two long pieces of cloth, still oblivious to Adam's presence.
Then, she walked towards the door.
Finally, having his finger free from the baby's mouth, Adam wondered where she planned to take him.
He sadly tried to imagine the places they would be visiting while he was stuck in the room.
However, as the woman left the house and walked away, he felt something tugging at his being. Gently at first then, increasingly more forcefully.
Before he could understand what he felt, the tugging became so strong that he got pulled out of the house, phasing through the door, as if dragged by a chain.
Confused but happy to finally leave that dirty house, he picked himself up from the ground and floated swiftly to where the tugging sensation was coming from.
Soon, he noticed the woman and the still-sleeping baby.
'It's the baby again! Somehow, I can only interact with him. Others don't see me, and I pass through any object I try to handle.' He thought, understanding his situation a bit more.
After catching up, he observed his surroundings as they walked on the dirt road. The houses were only composed of a ground floor and were in a terrible state, looking dilapidated.
Most of the people he saw looked sick or starved, wore shabby, old clothes and had a dangerous glint in their eyes, as if on the verge of doing something unacceptable.
After half an hour of travel, the houses' conditions improved progressively as they approached the center of the village. He understood they came from the poorest neighbourhood, where the wretched citizens gathered.
The center looked much better. The houses were sturdy, composed of two or even three floors for the most luxurious.
The streets were clean and filled with energetic citizens wearing decent clothes. Pubs welcomed men, here to enjoy their evening after a hard day's work.
After walking to the end of the main street, they reached the circular, bustling village plaza.
Despite the darkness of the night encroaching on the gorgeous orange sky, it was still boisterous and filled with people.
He saw many wooden stalls packed with vegetables, fruits, cheese, milk, meat, fish, soap and other daily products.
The voices of the sellers advertising their products by screaming their prices, of the people bartering, trying to save a few coins and the mix of odours reminded him of the old medieval markets.
This idea was further cemented by the fact he did not see any street lamps in the village, hinting at a more primitive lifestyle.
The woman finally stopped after reaching the tallest building he had seen until now.
However, what he saw inside made him panic. Six strict-looking people, wearing uniforms composed of metal parts and equipped with swords or magic-looking staves, were busy examining babies on their desks.
The parents stood behind with awkward expressions, unsure about what was happening or why the entire village's babies needed to be examined at the guard station.
'They are searching for me! They know a ghost is bound to a baby. If they find me, I'll be doomed!' He thought with a fearful face. Alarmed and forgetting everything he discovered, he tried to float as far away as possible.
Unfortunately, he was still linked by something that felt like a chain to the baby.
He got yanked back, turned his head and looked at the baby, who woke up a while ago and enjoyed the walk in the village with his mother, with resentment.
Depressed and unable to flee, he thought about vicious ways to make them exit the building before the guards could place the woman in one of the queues.
But soon, he abandoned those nefarious ideas, understanding that they would bring more attention to them than anything else.
After taking a few deep breaths to calm down, he analysed the situation with more clarity.
'While journeying through the village, I figured this place was definitely not Earth. It looks more like a medieval European village. I can further confirm this idea since those guards look like knights, and those staves are like magic tools. I had suspicions that the intelligence stat provided by the system was related to something like magic. They are confirmed now.'
Meanwhile, a guard greeted the woman, who, after a short exchange, guided her to one of the five queues.
The examinations were happening quite fast. Each baby stood on a desk before a guard, who gave the parents a few words of explanation.
Then, they had to wait one minute before the guard dismissed them.
Since five guards were examining the babies, and the village didn't have that many citizens, it would be the woman's turn in three to five minutes.
'I can't do anything. I feel like a sheep led to the slaughterhouse.' The following five minutes felt like the longest of his life until It was ultimately their turn.
The woman approached the seated guard, who told her something.
Then, she unwrapped the clothes used to carry her baby and gently placed him on the desk.
The guard once again said something before falling silent. They now had to wait for one minute, maybe his last.
Feeling imaginary cold sweat forming on his transparent forehead, he counted the seconds with bated breath, his hands trembling in fright.
'Fifty-eight, fifty-nine, sixty, sixty-one. I should be safe.' He sighed in relief, feeling he was safe. However, he did not expect the resounding sound of an alarm to ring before they were permitted to leave.
The guard who guided Alina at the entrance closed the door, confining every person present, determined to find which of the five examined babies made the alarm ring.