A week had passed and the journey toward the Denian Kingdom continued. Elene chewed on a piece of jerky, her face gaunt and tired.0

The jerky, so dried and shriveled that it was hard to tell whether it was meat or stone, was tough enough to make her jaw ache with every bite. She placed it in her mouth and slowly let it soften with saliva, trying to make it easier to consume.0

While she gnawed on the jerky, an enticing aroma wafted through the air. Ketal was cooking again. The smell was so tantalizing it was difficult to resist. Unable to bear it, Elene staggered to her feet.0

“I am going to go somewhere for a bit. It might take a while,” she said.0

“Are you going to the bathroom?” Ketal asked nonchalantly.0

Elene’s face flushed bright red at his bluntness. “H-how rude!”0

“Oh, my apologies. Now that I think about it, that wasn’t something I should have said to a young lady,” Ketal said, surprisingly offering a sincere apology.0

His unexpected attitude left Elene momentarily flustered. “No, it’s fine.”0

An apology? He certainly isn’t an ordinary barbarian, Elene thought, but that it didn’t make it any more trustworthy.0

She made her way to a nearby stream. She soaked the jerky in the flowing water until it became damp and soft enough to chew. Only then did it become slightly more palatable.1

Squatting by the stream like a squirrel, she gnawed at the softened jerky. At some point, a faint whimper escaped her lips. “I’m so hungry…”0

She had been...0