The next morning, Bob's torment began.
It started with the smell of bacon.
He reached for the stack of breakfast meat piled on the table—only for the plate to slide just out of reach.
The doll, sitting cross-legged on a salt shaker, gave him a deadpan look.
"Restraint."
Bob groaned. "But I'm hungry."
"You're always hungry," the doll replied. "Gluttony feeds off desire. But if you keep feeding it without control, eventually, it'll stop whispering and start taking over."
Bob blinked. "Taking over me?"
The doll nodded. "Yes. You'll stop being the vessel. You'll become the host. A walking embodiment of endless consumption."
Bob swallowed. "That sounds bad."
"It is."
The doll crossed his arms like a tiny, angry monk. "Gluttony's counter is temperance. Moderation. Self-control. You don't win this by eating more. You win this by eating just enough."
Bob slumped in his seat. "This is gonna suck."
"It already does," Marcus muttered from behind his book.
By midday, Kain came to the mansion.
He stepped through the front doors, cloak dusty, staff resting on his shoulder.
The group gathered quickly.
"Where'd you disappear to?" Derek asked.
"After returning the Eye to the mayor," Kain said, "I decided to investigate the nearby regions. With the seal broken, I wanted to make sure nothing else had been disturbed."
He leaned on his staff. "And I found something."
"What kind of something?" Bam asked.
"There's a village east of the forest ridge," Kain explained. "It used to be full of energetic people—hunters, builders, farmers. Productive, active. But now… they're just lying around."
The group blinked.
"Like, sick?" Marcus asked.
"No," Kain said. "Not sick. Just… lazy. Totally unmotivated. Like all their drive just vanished."
The doll's eyes sharpened.
"Sloth," he said.
Kain raised an eyebrow. "Sloth?"
"One of the Sins," Derek confirmed. "We sealed Gluttony already."
Kain stared. "Wait—what?"
Everyone looked at Bob.
Bob gave him the saddest, most exhausted look imaginable.
Kain squinted. "Why is he looking at me like that?"
Bam sighed. "Because while you were out doing recon, Bob became the vessel of Gluttony."
"Through food," Marcus added.
"Accidentally," Bob whined.
"I'd argue it was inevitable," the doll muttered.
Kain blinked twice.
The group explained Kain what had happened.
Then Kain noticed someone he didn't recognize, leaning against a bookshelf, sipping tea with elegant indifference.
He pointed. "Who's she?"
The group tensed. Bob stepped forward awkwardly. "That's uh… Anna."
"I have never seen her," Kain asked.
"She is a very talented mage," Marcus said quickly.
"Brilliant, precise, dangerous," Bam added, without blinking.
"She's been training me in fire magic," Bam continued. "Don't anger her."
Kain raised an eyebrow. "Okay… talented mage. Got it."
Anna, smiling faintly, looked up. "Nice to meet you, ice boy."
"Charmed," Kain said slowly.
The others let out a quiet breath of relief.
No one mentioned the word dragon.
Later that evening, they gathered their gear.
Weapons, supplies, enchanted gear, and now—the Seeker's Compass, gently pulsing again, faint and slow.
It hadn't locked on yet, but it was stirring.
"Sloth won't fight us head-on," the doll warned. "It'll hide. Drain our energy. Crush motivation."
"How do we beat that?" Bob asked.
"By moving forward. When the whole world starts slowing down, we push through. That's how you beat Sloth."
Derek tightened his sword strap. "Then let's get moving."
The hunt had begun again.
And Sloth was waiting.