Gökbörü paddled in circles, splashing water on my face from time to time and seemingly very content about his situation. He woke up as soon as the food came to our table, swept everything given to him, slept in my shadow more, and now he was taking a bath with me.

“You are living this life, Gökbörü.”

I tilted my head upwards and watched the vapor rise. I took a deep breath and submerged my head in the water. I rose up again, receiving an angry bark from Gökbörü because of the waves I created. The bathtub we were in was fairly large, making me think that it was meant to be used by multiple people at once. Fortunately, Elandris was kind enough to let me use it just by myself. The last time I used a public bath with Lily didn’t go that well…

The water was coming from the water elementals living in the Mother Tree. Quite useful. Not needing a water source must be nice. Honestly, I get why humans never bothered attacking elves. They had their water source and Mother Tree had its own ecosystem just like a dungeon, meaning they had infinite food sources too. That, coupled with how harsh the wildlife was made invading them incredibly disadvantageous.

Snapping out of my thoughts, I grabbed one of the bottles Elandris gave to me. I popped the lid open and sniffed it. It smelled pretty good. Gökbörü swam closer and I let him sniff it too.

“I am putting it in the water. No complaints?”

He swam away silently. I took it as a yes. As I poured the contents of the bottle into the water, a pleasant fragrance filled the air, mingling with the steam rising from the bath. The scent was soothing, carrying hints of herbs and flowers that seemed to melt away the tension in my muscles and ease the weariness from my bones. Closing my eyes, I leaned back against the edge of the tub, letting the gentle lapping of the water against my skin lull me into a state of calm. Even though Whifur also had baths, I definitely preferred this. I hoped that they would let me use it even after killing Nidhogg.

“Okay, Gökbörü we have baths, coffee, and spices. The only thing I am missing is finding yogurt and I can be fully happy in this world.”

I also would like jelly beans but I guess that was too much to except in a medieval world.

After scrubbing myself clean and washing Gökbörü, I exited out of the bath. Gökbörü put a lot of resistance as he wanted to swim more but I was able to separate him from the tub despite him trying to bind himself by ice.

I carried him like a handbag despite his irritated barks and threw myself to the bed Elandris showed to me. Not long after I found myself in the dreamland.

When I woke up with my own spit covering the pillow, I was quite surprised. I kind of expected someone-most likely Aliera- to enter my dream and give me some cryptic bullshit but I was able to sleep without getting interrupted. I stood up, wiping my face shamefully. Gökbörü was still sleeping with his butt high in the air. How?

I rose from the bed and stretched out my limbs, my joints making cracking noises. I guess even having a Divine Touched body doesn’t make the noises go away. Turning my attention to Gökbörü, who was still curled up in a ball, I poked him in the side. After some hard and deep pokes, he blinked sleepily and stretched out his limbs before rising to his feet with a yawn. However, he fell back down as soon as he got up.

"Time to wake up, Gökbörü. Otherwise, I will be having breakfast without you.”

I said, my voice soft yet firm. He snapped back at me quickly, his ears blanketing his face. He quickly got up and jumped on my back. I hesitated before exiting out of the room. “Rooms” here weren’t physically connected. It functioned more like a dungeon. The door was similar to the dungeon gates. Just like every floor in a dungeon was its own space, every room here was also like that. However, all of it also was inside of the Mother Tree. Confusing but the reason I was hesitating wasn’t that. I wasn’t sure if I could find Elandris or Lily when I exited. I was given directions by Methild before. Elves seemed to either know or somehow manipulate where they could go but I was too tired to ask at that time.

“Nothing ventured, nothing gained.”

I opened the door and stepped to wherever it took me.

“Oh, hey Poyraz. Have you slept well?”

I found myself in front of Methild. She looked at me with a casual expression. And she was naked. I quickly closed my eyes and turned away.

“I am sorry. I just stepped out of the room and I found myself here.”

I took several steps back, hoping that I would go back to the room I exited. However, my back hit the wall. What the hell? Why did the door disappear?

“Oh, yeah. I rigged your room to lead to mine. That way I can talk to you privately.”

I think there were better ways to do that…

“You can open your eyes.”

I opened my eyes but she was still naked. Seeing that she didn’t care I didn’t make a fuss about it. It wasn’t like this was the first time I had seen a woman naked. I look directly at her face. She was quite attractive with pronounced cheekbones, a small nose, and big eyes. Her eyes were different colored, something I didn’t notice yesterday. Probably due to how much I focused on Mother Tree. The left one was a light shade of green while the other one was golden. A deep green cross-shaped mark shone brightly. It reminded me of Larve’s eyes. Her skin had no scarring, quite unusual for someone living in the forest. Her golden hair was unkept unlike yesterday and reached to her shoulders.

This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

“Your friend seemed to be really interested in our bodies unlike you.”

She said with a hint of amusement in her voice.

“Lily is very honest with his desires. Some may say that too honest.”

She tilted her head upwards.

“And you aren’t honest with yours?”

I closed my eyes. Hmm. Considering how much I bitched about having a teenager's body, it was funny to be asked this question. I did get some action in my previous life, of course. I was quite famous and fighting a war was stressful. Unlike some of the supersoldiers who lost their facilities due to the modifications, I kept mine.

But it seemed very far away now. I was alone after all the humanity perished and even before that I was too busy trying to keep what remained of humanity alive. It wasn’t that I couldn’t, it was just that… I threw it away to be a better warrior and commander. Or maybe the idea that me getting closer to someone just so I could lose them scared me?

The idea of holding someone, making love to them felt so… distant.

“Some people feel some desires more than others. My desires are a little bit different.”

She shot me a curious look.

“Whatever suits you. That’s not exactly what I wanted to talk about. I wanted to talk about the potential of a traitor existing among the elves.”

Considering how negatively they reacted yesterday to that idea, it was surprising.

“Do you have some suspicions?”

I carefully watched her expressions to see any kind of hint. Methild's expression remained neutral as she considered my question, her features betraying little of her thoughts or intentions. She seemed to weigh her words carefully before responding, her voice calm and measured.

“You should feel that I also carry the gift of the Mother, just like you do. I am also what you would consider an archmage and I created or oversaw the magical barriers. But I felt no disturbance. No signs of forceful entry. Even Mother couldn’t detect the Nidhogg. Something is wrong.”

Her words echoed my own concerns, and I found myself nodding in agreement.

“What I can do? I am not a mage nor I am familiar with how barriers work.”

Methild's gaze held a hint of contemplation as she considered my question, her expression thoughtful as she weighed her response.

“I lived many years and during my years I absorbed countless arcane and wilderness-related knowledge. However, just like all the elves here, I lack the perspective. Our society is not subject to many chances. You, on the other hand, met and friended two other races. Tell me, in your opinion what can make one betray their kin?”

I nodded, acknowledging the validity of her point. Honestly, I knew a lot about that kind of stuff. It was a topic that had occupied my thoughts many times before, both in my previous life and in the trials and tribulations of my current existence. Drawing upon my experiences and knowledge, I began to formulate a response, my voice calm yet thoughtful.

"Betrayal can stem from many different motivations and circumstances," I began, my words measured as I sought to articulate my thoughts. "It could be driven by greed, ambition, or a desire for power. It could be born out of fear, desperation, or a sense of betrayal or injustice. Sometimes, it's simply a matter of survival, of choosing one's own interests over the greater good."

I took a deep breath.

“We can ignore the reasons born out of survival since Mother Tree is required for elves to survive. But I can’t really talk about other reasons because I don’t really know how your society works and we don’t have the time to investigate, at least not until we kill Nidhogg.”

Methild nodded thoughtfully, clearly, she found merit in my analysis, and I could sense a glimmer of understanding dawning in her eyes.

"Did any radical ideas emerge or were there any disputes over leadership recently?"

I saw a brief flash shine in her eyes but it died as soon as it emerged. I made a mental note about it.

“No. Not that I knew of. Can you explain how they are related to the possibility of betrayal?”

She asked, probably out of curiosity.

“If you are a leader, it is easier if can point to a common enemy. You can blame your own shortcomings for it or justify holding more power longer than it is necessary for the sake of “stability”. Or if you want to become a leader you can show the enemy’s presence for the current leader’s weakness. It is same for the radical ideas. During times of emergencies, harsh laws can be more easily justifiable. Even after emergency passes you can keep that law.”

Methild listened attentively as I explained the potential correlations between radical ideas, disputes over leadership, and the possibility of betrayal. Her expression remained impassive, though I could sense her thoughts turning over the information I provided.

“I must admit that all of this is foreign to me. But I will keep them in my mind. Hopefully, our hunch is nothing but overthinking.”

I nodded. She clapped her hands.

“Okay, let’s go. We still have a parasite to kill!”

She headed towards the door. I cleared my throat.

“Methild, you are still naked.”

She looked down upon her naked body and laughed.

“Oh, right!”