Hours remained, or perhaps days. There was no way to tell. That’s what Silvana had said.

So Max decided that, first of all, he needed to take a bath. He’d gutted a lot of orcs—a feat he was immensely proud of, of course. He’d fought the great white serpent in the sea, bled out in a pool of his own blood, and later, in that forest, had made those two-bit thugs pay for their stupid mistake.

Hlen was the only person he’d been around for the last few days, and the girl would never complain, but Max knew perfectly well he must reek like a damn dumpster.

So when he found out that the elves had hot springs at this secret—not-so-secret—base, Max jumped at the chance. Alone. He had to go alone, of course. Not that he’d expected to bathe with sexy elf women or anything. But not a single elf showed up. They didn’t want to share the bath with him.

They’d allowed him to use the place, but it had been temporarily vacated. Max clicked his tongue; it was a little annoying. But in the end, it didn’t matter that much. Soon, once the job was done, he and Helen would leave without looking back. A little richer than before. Nothing more. Or so he hoped.

It was a bit scary, but Max removed his armor and laid down his weapons. There was no other choice if he wanted to bathe properly. Yet, he was painfully aware that this was the perfect opportunity to kill him. Sure, Silvana was the boss here and luckily wanted him alive. But not everyone would agree. No way.

There was too much hatred. Too much suspicion in their gazes. Like they were saying: Alright, this one seems like a somewhat normal human. He even seems civilized, not a wild animal. But any moment now, he’ll show his claws. Reveal his true nature.

Every single look he’d received so far had carried the same message. Without exception.

Lorian hadn’t been hostile at all in comparison. At least that elf had good reasons.

Max submerged himself in the warm water. So much hatred, so much exaggerated racism—it made him wonder why Silvana was so willing to trust him and let him be here. The easy answer was that, well, it was convenient for her. She’d seen him as strong and useful, but Max didn’t want it to be just that.

He took a deep breath, ducked his head underwater, held it there as long as he could, and then resurfaced. He inhaled deeply, feeling the water droplets sliding down his cheeks, his forehead, his hair, and his neck. Everywhere.

Well, he thought, I can keep wondering all I want, but I doubt she’d tell me. If hatred for humanity is the norm for her kind—or at least her tribe—Silvana being so different must come from something very personal. Something you wouldn’t share with a stranger.

“You sound like a damn psychologist,” Max muttered quietly, almost inaudibly.

He couldn’t help it. Before the hospital, he was pretty sure he hadn’t been any more or less self-aware than an average person. But after, long after, when his role in life had been reduced to observing... Well, people started to make more sense to him. Understanding them, how they worked, why they acted as they did. Figuring out what he did wrong and what he could never do right, no matter what.

He took another deep breath. He was here to bathe, after all. For practical reasons, yes, but also to relieve his weariness, to take a moment to relax. And he wasn’t even letting himself do that, thinking about nonsense.

Helen had insisted on coming along. Now he wished he’d let her. He didn’t have any bad intentions toward the girl. Of course, he wanted to take care of her. But the fact was, they weren’t really a family; they were barely acquaintances. Bathing with her probably would have been too strange, but now he wished he’d just set all that aside and given her what she wanted, holding her hand. At least he’d have had a distraction.

Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

He wondered if the girl had ever bathed in hot springs, if she’d experienced that supposed sense of relaxation everyone talked about. He didn’t know. But he also didn’t think he ever would.

“There’s no way to relax,” Max sighed. “No matter where I go or what I do.”

He couldn’t help it. His brain was always running at a hundred miles an hour, always. But it spent most of its energy on useless, circular thoughts like these. So it wasn’t much use.

To his surprise, nothing interrupted his bath.

No mission popped up. No elves appeared. No such nonsense. He simply got to finish his bath in peace, dress, and leave the establishment.

Not exactly more relaxed, but at least feeling clean and a bit more ready to face the day. That had to be enough.

The first thing he did, naturally, was head back to the small cabin they’d been given—Helen and him. He couldn’t call it home, not when they’d be gone by the end of the month at the latest.

Sure, this was an elven tribe, and so Helen should be safe. But people harmed their own kind all the time, and any intelligent animal found endless ways to justify hatred and prejudice. He knew that very well.

Elves weren’t any different in that regard. They couldn’t be, no matter how long they lived or how pointy their ears were. For example, some might say Helen was just a half-breed.

Leaving her alone for too long wasn’t a good idea. Of course, he’d taken certain precautions. Just like at the hotel in Ethos, he’d told her to lock the doors and windows, to build a barricade.

And now he’d added that, in the worst-case scenario, she should first try to hide—on the roof, under the bed, or even in the ground—before fighting, because she didn’t stand a chance. He told her to focus on buying time so he could find her and get her to safety, rather than trying to handle it all alone.

That was more than just being cautious. It had to be, in a world like this.

It was easy to say, “What a tragedy,” even though most people didn’t take obvious measures to prevent such tragedies. If he thought there was a high chance of something like that happening, he wouldn’t have left the cabin in the first place. Either that or he’d have dragged her along to the hot springs.

One or the other, definitely.

He arrived at the cabin and knocked on the door.

“Who is it?”

Max smiled.

“It’s me.”

“Are you okay?”

“Perfectly fine, sweetheart. You can open the door.”

That was a simple signal they’d agreed upon to show he wasn’t being coerced, that he didn’t, metaphorically, have a knife to his throat. Just in case. You had to be cautious.

Anything could happen.

Gerón opened the door and immediately flung herself at him, hugging him tightly and pressing her head against his chest.

“I missed you,” she whispered.

“Yeah, me too, kid.”

The funniest part was, it was true, even though they hadn’t been apart long.

They went back inside.

“We’ll be here maybe a few weeks. Let’s try to relax, to feel like we’re at home.”

Helen bit her lip and nodded slowly.

Max looked around. It was going to be hard, but they had to try.

——

“You know what worries me?” Silvana asked.

“Your people?” Max said.

“That worries me every hour of every day, no matter what. I’m talking about this situation. Though it should be obvious.”

Max thought about it, mostly out of fear of looking like an idiot. But he couldn’t come up with a clear answer.

“You tell me. I have no idea.”

“Orcs are usually lazy creatures, Max. They prefer to stay in their caves, doing their thing and taking whatever’s nearby. Not going out looking for it.”

“So, the fact that there are so many attractive elf women in your tribe isn’t enough of a reason for them to come here?”

“No. Despite what can happen or how it might seem, even with that, they prefer to stay behind, watching and waiting. If an elf woman comes near, they obviously pounce on her right away. But they don’t go hunting for them, thankfully.”

“So what’s driving them?”

Silvana crossed her arms.

“That’s precisely what worries me.”

Max slumped onto the couch, sighing. How was he supposed to have ideas when everything he knew about orcs—and almost everything about this world—came from myths, legends, and other fantasy stories?

Orcs. Why could they be mobilizing?

Maybe they’d lost their territory and had to find a new place.

But that was the first thing anyone would think of. Surely Silvana had already ruled that out.

“Maybe... I don’t know,” Max shook his head. “What motivates them besides violence and lust?”

“Nothing,” Silvana replied without a moment’s hesitation.

“Well then, it’s possible that...” Max bit his tongue.

“What? Go on. Even if you’re not spot-on, a new idea might still be helpful.”

“Nothing, forget it. It’s stupid,” he said, lying.

Maybe they’re coming here because of me, he thought.