By all accounts, Marcus should have been reasonably happy right now.

For starters, he was finally under a real roof in his house in Stonebarrow, sleeping on an actual bed and even having multiple warm baths per day. He didn't have to rush making drones to fight some terrible enemy either, and he could get away with lazing off for most of the day while his drones took care of his every need. He still had to lay an egg or two every other day, since that was biologically required of him, but that much was manageable and besides he could use that occasion to make new drone prototypes based on the project he was making with Golam. And finally, despite currently being alone in Stonebarrow, he wasn't really wanting for company since he could interact with his friends in Brettholz through his copy drone.

All in all, his life was pretty good right now, which made it all the more annoying that he wasn’t able to actually enjoy it.

Sadly, his conscience didn’t really allow him to relax when someone else was dying.

Even if that someone was Tiny Sneaky.

Upon his arrival in Stonebarrow Marcus had put the ogress inside of a mold-wax pit that he had his drones prepare in advance. He had also tried to make it as comfortable as possible, digging a few rooms and even bringing some furniture, pillows and blankets. But despite this, as soon as she had been locked up in there, the ogress had stopped eating entirely. She still drank water from time to time, but she refused to touch her food, even if Marcus went out of his way to provide her with fresh venison and other meals that should have been really appetizing for orcs. She didn’t even scream anymore, and she just blankly stared into space all day long. Now, three days later, she was almost skeletally thin, and the Vex Queen was afraid that she could die from starvation at any moment.

This situation weighed heavily on Marcus's conscience. After all, Tiny’s suffering was technically his fault since he had chosen to spare her life, and by now he was starting to wonder if killing her immediately would have been the more merciful choice.

What was done was done, however, and so the Vex Queen had decided to try to help her before it was too late. He couldn’t really release her, as that would have been a death sentence due to her inability to defend herself —courtesy of the brainwashing Marcus had performed on her— so he had to find an alternative way.

He had tried to talk to her through a newly hatched copy drone, but sadly she was completely unresponsive to words, and the Vex Queen was actually afraid to use his mental powers on her again, since that was what had caused this mess to begin with. So, without any way to solve this problem on his own, he had seeked help in Brettholz.

Sadly, as he had quickly discovered, there wasn't exactly an abundance of therapists in this world. The closest thing were clerics, and the ones Marcus had spoken with were either unwilling or unable to help him —apparently treating depression, while possible, was a difficult magic that only high ranking clerics could perform, and they refused to waste their skills on the ogress.

The Vex Queen had then tried to ask for help from Golam and Hoggs, but once again this had proven fruitless. The taxidermist had an almost encyclopedic knowledge of the physiology of the fauna of the Caligare Forest but sadly was almost completely ignorant about their psychology. Meanwhile the telemancer knew of a few remedies for mental conditions but they essentially boiled down to keeping the ogress magically drugged indefinitely, something Marcus was unwilling to do even as a last resort, because if it came to that then it would be better to just end Tiny’s suffering once and for all.

By now he was at a standstill. On one hand he still didn’t want to give up, but on the other he had no clue about what he could do, something which made him feel incredibly frustrated. He had tried to distract himself a bit, either by talking with his friends or trying to renovate his hive, but nothing really seemed to make him relax. Even now, as he tried to focus on his copy drone, who was accompanying Klara while the girl was visiting the market in Brettholz, he was still silently seething inside.

Such was his irritation that apparently some of it managed to show on his drone’s normally unflappable face, something which Klara immediately picked up.

“Is everything alright, Marcus?” She asked as they walked through the stalls. “You look kinda angry, which is rather remarkable considering that you usually struggle to show emotions in this copy drone body of yours.”

“I am more annoyed than angry.” The Vex Queen corrected her. “But no, everything's not alright. Tiny Sneaky is dying and I don't know what to do to save her.” He grimaced in his real body, this expression copied by his drone. “I even tried asking some clerics for help, but they all refused. Told me they don't have time and energy to waste on an orc, if you can believe that!”

“Oh, I can easily believe that.” The girl replied. “In fact, I didn't think you could have expected anything different. After all, it's an ogre we are talking about. No responsible cleric would waste their miracles on such a creature, not when there are actual people that may need their help.”

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“Actual people?” The Vex Queen echoed her. “Do you mean to tell me that orcs are not people?”

“I do.” The girl replied, checking some pots on display on a nearby stall. “They are animals. Dangerous animals, like snakes on scorpions. And the fact that you took the stinger from a scorpion and tried to domesticate it doesn't change the fact that it's still a scorpion.”

In his real body, Marcus winced at those words. He could understand negative sentiments towards the orcs, since he had witnessed first hand the atrocities they had brought on Medelan, but even so he thought that his friend was going a bit too far.

“Isn't that a bit too harsh?” He asked. “I mean, as awful as the orcs are, they can talk, think and feel like we do.”

“Being sentient and sapient is not enough to be a person. There are plenty of species who are both but still can't really be considered people.” Klara said in a casual tone, as if explaining things that were just common sense. “Some, like the orcs, are driven almost exclusively by their instincts, to the point that they are little better than wild animals. Others are just too alien to relate to anyone else in any meaningful way. And others still are not even living beings to begin with.”

The Vex Queen remained silent for a few seconds, struggling to come up with a response. Back on Earth, the girl's arguments would have been considered prejudiced and foolish —and would have caused no shortage of outrage in most people— but in this world he wasn’t so sure. After all, there was a veritable host of different species inhabiting Aos, and for all Marcus knew a few of those could indeed be strange enough to challenge the definition of people he was familiar with.

However, this didn't mean that Klara was completely right either, at least as far as Tiny Sneaky was concerned. Having read her mind, Marcus knew that the ogress was at least as complex as any human being and that dismissing her as a simple, instinct-driven animal was a mistake.

“I still think that Tiny is a person.” He finally said. “A pretty awful person given her actions, but a person nonetheless. And I don't feel comfortable watching her die without doing anything.”

Klara turned towards him, giving him a level look for a few seconds before her lips parted in a sardonic smile.

“I suppose that's to be expected from you.” She said. “After all, that's how a good person should feel.”

It took a brief moment for Marcus to realize that Klara had just paid him a compliment. Before he could answer, however, the girl resumed talking.

“Well, since you won't give up on the ogre, then I should help you keep it alive then. You told me you are searching for an expert on orcs, right? Someone who knows how they think and behave?”

“Yes.” The Vex Queen confirmed. “Do you know someone like that?”

“Maybe.” The girl replied. “I think that General Trakk would probably fit the bill.”

“Trakk?” Marcus asked, a bit surprised. “Why would you recommend him?”

“Because according to what he told us he spent years fighting orcs in the forest and he probably gathered a lot of knowledge on them along the way.” She explained. “It works like that for hunters, you see. We got to know our prey, how it moves, how it behaves and even how it thinks if we want to be able to catch it. If a military commander does the same to defeat their enemies, then Trakk is definitely the best person to ask about orcs.”

“I see.” Marcus nodded, considering that suggestion.

What Klara just said made a lot of sense. From both his personal experience in this new world and the history he had studied in his previous one, he knew that good commanders always tried to know all they could about their enemies, and Trakk had amply demonstrated that he was nothing if not competent in the art of war. So if he had fought against the orcs it was certain that he knew a great deal about them.

Granted, his knowledge was probably more about hurting orcs than healing them, but with a bit of luck he may have had some notion that Marcus could use to help Tiny.

“I guess I'll have a talk with Trakk then.” The Vex Queen said. “Do you know where I can find him? I haven't seen him lately.”

“Oh, he went back to his territory yesterday morning.” Klara said. “Together with the rest of his army. Apparently, they wanted to reach Goblinia before the weather could get worse.”

“Not a problem. I'll send another copy-drone to meet him there.” Marcus said. “Might be an occasion to see what the goblins are doing in their town as well. From what I can see from my territory, they have made a lot of changes.”

Klara gave him a quizzical look.

“Don't you know already?” She asked. “It's well within range of your flyers, so you should be able to see whatever they are doing there.”

“I could, but we agreed to stay out of each other's lands unless invited.” The Vex Queen replied. “I stationed several sentries on my side of the border to keep an eye on them of course, but I never actually sent any drone over their territories.”

Klara looked at him for a few moments, and then she chuckled.

“I don't know why I expected anything else from you.” She said in an amused tone. “Straight as an arrow as always.”

“I try my best to be like that.” Marcus said, quite pleased by that remark. “Besides, the goblins kept their word too. Never saw one on my land ever since we arrived.”

“That doesn’t necessarily mean that no goblin entered your territory. Just that they were good enough not to get caught.”

“Eh, if they did manage to enter without being found out, then they deserve to have gotten away with it.” The Vex Queen replied with confidence. “I put so many drones to watch my lands that I was even able to spot every single bird that tried to enter.” He paused for a moment and added: “Not that there were many, now that I think about it. Or any other animal for that matter. Maybe the mold-wax works as a repellent or something.”

“Maybe.” Klara shrugged. “It would explain why it feels so unsettling even for us humans.”

“Oh.” Marcus muttered as a sudden realization hit him. “Maybe then that’s the reason why Tiny has been so depressed. I mean, she’s locked in a pit made entirely of mold-wax, after all.”

“That’s a possibility.” Klara agreed. “But I’m not an expert on orcs, so I can’t be sure.”

“Right. I’ll prepare a more suitable space to keep Tiny in just in case.” The Vex Queen said. “I’ll just have to convert one of the warehouses in Stonebarrow into some sort of prison. It shouldn’t take more than a day or two. And in the meantime, I’ll go speak with Trakk.”