Ricard guides the rescued Miners alongside Zanrit back to the caverns serving as the resistance base. All the while, the injured and sickly are carried along by the remaining able-bodied with the sun setting high overhead. Zanrit keeps a close eye over the unconscious Glyn, Mila, and Tisha as he keeps an eye out for any attackers or bandits after their makeshift caravan as they go over the mountains.

“Hey, your band looks pretty bad. Are you sure they’ll wake up?” Ricard asks Zanrit as they move into the caverns.

Zanrit ducks and nods. “I’m sure of it. They’ll awaken, hopefully, sooner rather than later.”

“Right, your war and all that.”

“And we still have to push Fenwick off of this island. We’ve taken three of his pieces and occupied two. But a cornered beast is dangerous.”

Ricard nods along. “Then we’ll need something to give us an edge.”

“You have ideas?”

“Yeah. I have some ideas and with all these guys here, I might just have the free time and manpower to make it work.”

“Oh?”

Hours later, Tisha opens her eyes, finding herself in a cavern on a makeshift bed against a stone wall. She checks her wounds and then takes a sigh of relief before looking for her equipment. As she turns her head, she sees Glyn sitting beside her, his head in a book, before turning to meet her gaze. She blushes and then covers her face to hide from his gaze.

“What’re you doing here!?” She yells out.

“Making sure you don’t die. You took in a lot of miasma. I have to make sure you’re still able to fight and if not, then I’ll need you to sit the rest of this mission out.”

She scowls and leaps up, grabbing her bow and holding out to Glyn’s head. “Don’t underestimate an Elvan warrior!”

“I wasn’t underestimating you. I was just worried.”

She blushes. “You were worried about me?”

“I’m the King of our group. Anything bad that happens to you guys is my fault. I have to do my best to keep you alive.” He stands up and looks down at her, drawing in close. “Even if you find me distasteful, I’m going to have to watch you closely.”

She stares into his eyes and her mind races, turning her head away. “Stop doing that, you idiot!”

“Sorry to close. I was making sure there were no signs of poisoning.”

“Did you examine my body?”

“I didn’t. I left a woman to do that. I don’t know Elven customs too, but I figured it was a safe bet to have a woman do it.”

She nods. “We often bathe in a communal bath, so there’s nothing wrong with someone of the opposite sex seeing me naked.”

“Oh?”

“But… I’d still find it embarrassing if you did it.”

“Why? Is it because I’m a Half-Elf?”

This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

“No. Because it’s embarrassing to imagine you looking at my naked body. I can’t explain it too well.”

Glyn sighs. “Whatever. You're fine, so rest up. We’re going to come up with the next phase of our plan and make our move when the sun’s up.”

“Alright. But…. Make sure you rest as well, okay?”

“Huh?”

“You’re the type to stress yourself out and overwork yourself. You can’t put everything on yourself, okay? You may be the King but we’re your fighters. We’re here to help you in the fight, after all.” Tisha flashes a smile.

Glyn turns his head away, blushing.

“Huh? What’s wrong, embarrassed?”

“No. It's just what you said reminded me of someone from a long time ago?”

“What, an old girlfriend or something?”

“Or something is more accurate.”

She pauses for a moment and nods. “Alright then. Maybe you’ll tell me about her one day?”

Glyn laughs. “Suddenly curious about Half-Elves?”

“Not entirely. I just want to know a little more about this King of mine.”

He nods. “Alright. Maybe one day.”

As Glyn leaves the room, Tisha sighs, sitting back on her bed and leans against the cold stone walls. “So, you had a girlfriend? He is a noble, so it is to be expected. But why does this feel so irritating?”

Glyn walks through the cavern, leaving Tisha’s room as Mila rushes down the cavern towards his side. He collapses into her, taking a deep breath as she holds him close. After a moment, the two walk down the hall, with Mila helping Glyn walk before they enter another room.

“Glyn, you’re pushing yourself too much,” Mila says.

He laughs. “Sorry, you had to see me like this. It’s just the miasma is affecting me more than I expected.”

“You were lying about your curse stopping it, weren’t you?”

“I was.”

Mila shakes her head and grabs his hand. “Why?”

“I have a lot of built Mana built up inside of my body. If I hadn’t lied, who would watch over you in the mines?”

“We can take care of ourselves.”

“I have to be there. If anything happened to any of you and I could’ve prevented it….”

Mila leaps in, hugging Glyn and wrapping her tails around him. “It’ll be okay.”

“Miller and the others….”

“Big Brother will be okay. I believe in him and everyone else on Jubert Island. They can and will take care of it.” She says, reassuring him as she whispers something into his ear.

“Mila?”

“Just relax. Rest for now. Don’t do anything else, just rest.” She says calmly.

Glyn’s eyes close and Mila lets him go, laying him down on a bed as she stands over him. She takes a breath and turns to the door and nodding along.

Zanrit sits outside of the cavern, keeping watch as Mila walks up behind him. She joins him sitting over a cliff as the two look out into the distance.

“Tisha’s fine, and I used a sleeping spell to put Glyn to sleep,” Mila says.

“I’m surprised you know such a spell.”

“Grandma taught it to me. She used it on Big Brother and me when we were being fussy children sometimes.” She laughs.

Zanrit nods. “While the methods are dubious, I do agree with the reasoning. Glyn needs to rest for now.”

“It’s only been a day and we’ve already done so much,” Mila says. “I’m sure we can pull this off!”

Zanrit nods. “I like your optimism. But we still have to find a way to either bring down Fenwick’s barrier or force him out.”

“I know Glyn can come up with something!”

“Your faith in him is impressive.”

“Glyn saved me before. And I know he can do anything he puts his mind to.”

Zanrit nods. “Yes. I imagine if it were anyone else who encountered me in the dungeon, they would’ve slain me without a second thought.”

“Probably, but it’s good to have you with us.”

“It’s good to be alongside you all. Let’s finish this fight and return to Jubert Island.”

Mila nods. “Yeah. Let’s beat the bad guys and save this island, too. This’ll be the first fight of many, so even if we win, we can’t afford to let our guard down yet.”

“Exactly. We must always keep our eyes forward to the future.”

Elsewhere deeper in the mountain caverns, Ricard sits down in a dark cavern looking over a pile of metal and stones. He nods, looking through the scrap as various men come in behind him.

“Alright men. We owe those guys our lives. And we’re going to put in a rush order to get this crap done!”

“Are you sure it’s a good idea? If we let them know about this….”

“You want that asshole off the island, then we’ve got to do this. Come on, where’s your smithing spirit!? I know it’s a pain in the ass, but we’ve got to get this done before sunrise!”

“Sunrise! That only gives us a few hours!”

“Yeah. We’ve got to get to work now! So, let’s move!” Ricard yells, spurring the men into action.