The next morning, when Sat woke up, what he saw was nothing but Dricea's face, looking at him. He immediately realised that his head was resting on her legs, then... He remembered what had happened the night before. He stiffened, but his eyes trembled. Gio, ve! What had happened to his two friends! To his two best friends!

He began to cry, it had almost become a habit for him, so he quickly wiped his tears away with the right sleeve of his suit, a medieval suit. He didn't want to look weak, or rather, he didn't want to feel weak.

His back ached more than yesterday, so he decided to stay where he was, even though the robot girl's legs were not exactly comfortable, far from it.

Fact was, nothing stopped him from turning his head and looking away. What he saw were trees, bushes... He realised he was in a forest, or a forest. However, there were no animals, no signs of life came from their surroundings. He thought the cause of this might be Dricea. After all, she had saved him, and from a meteorite to boot. Perhaps, unlike him, the animals had immediately realised how strong and dangerous she was.

"Hey, Dricea... Where are we?" he asked her, but she did not answer.

"Dricea? Dricea!" he snapped to his feet, hurting himself in the process. What had happened to her! Why wasn't she answering him! Why wasn't she moving?! He thought.

He shook her, but it had no effect, so, panicked, he knelt down in front of her, grabbing her hand.

"Dricea! Dricea!" he said her name over and over again, what he wanted to do was to connect with her, to look at himself through her eyes. If he succeeded, it would mean she was still alive, wouldn't it?

Finally, after a dozen or so attempts, the robot girl woke up. She straightened her head and looked him straight in the eyes, as moist as just now.

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"Why are you crying, my hero? You are safe and sound, you should be happy."

"Dri... Dricea!" he threw himself into her arms, hugging her as tightly as he could.

She, though not immediately, reciprocated, but said nothing. She merely stroked the back of his head, as if to comfort him. Of course, her expression was expressionless as usual.

After a few minutes hugging each other, Sat realised he didn't need it any more, also because he was almost dying of embarrassment. That is, he certainly couldn't say that he had treated her well up to that point. After that, he sat down on the ground beside her, leaning his shoulders against the trunk of a tree.

"So, you have failed... Summoning us, in the end, did you no good. Because of you and your cronies..." anger began to bubble up in him again "Gio and Ve might be dead. Although... I don't see how they could have survived the impact of a meteorite."

"I was the one who summoned you, so if the first and second heroes were to die, it would only be my fault. Blame me, hate me.... Not the king, or anyone else."

"No, you saved my life, I could never hate you." he pulled the air up through his nostrils, thinking back to the bad end his two best friends might have come to. Then, albeit with some difficulty, he got up from the ground.

Dricea promptly helped him to his feet "Where do you want to go? I'll accompany you."

"I have to go pee, I don't need your help. You stay here, or go find some food, I'm hungry." So, he went and hid behind a bush, where he did his business.

Dricea, meanwhile, had gone to look for something to eat. She returned a few minutes later with fruit in her hands. To Sat it looked like oranges, but as soon as he peeled it he did not see any segments, it was in fact more like an apple inside. The taste was also not too different from an apple, just a little sweeter.

"Thank you. Rather, you do not eat?"

"I feed on ether, that means I only need to be where there is some to 'fill my stomach'."

"Like the five ancestral statues. Well, you have the same creator, all things considered. And is there any here?"

"Of ether?" Sat nodded "Not so much, but don't worry, it's enough for me."

"Just as well, I would have been sorry if I were the only one eating. Although, I'm still a little hungry. Couldn't you go find some more of these fruits?"

"Yeah, sure, no problem," but a moment before she set off, Sat interrupted her.

"Wait, I want to go with you."

"With immense pleasure, my hero."