***
Meanwhile, at the orcs’ mountainous stronghold, Loewe was blankly staring into the void. Her cheeks were a little sunken, her features lacking vigor.
Her men surrounded her with looks of concern. “Um, mistress, aren’t you a bit out of sorts?”
Loewe sluggishly turned her gaze toward them. “I’m fine.”
“Something’s off, though. You haven’t eaten for a week. Not even your favorite rice balls.”
“I’m on a diet.”
“A diet, mistress?” The room buzzed with shock.
“And what’s the problem with that? I’m trying to be a dainty maiden here.”
“What?! Dainty? You, mistress? You may as well become someone else!”
Their honest words hit her like a sack of explosive manastones. “Damn, you guys pull no punches, huh? By the way, I’m really hangry.”
“S-Sorry!” As the henchmen retreated dejectedly, a different orc came in and told Loewe something.
A faint spark returned to her eyes. “I see. And I almost fell for it.”
***
At the same time, in the lizardmen’s lair, Zophia sat cross-legged, deep in thought.
“Hey, sis. What’s going on?”
“Oh, Zonde. You’re back,” Zophia said, narrowing her eyes. She tapped her arm with her index finger and slowly asked, “Say, Zonde. I’m curious about something.”
“What is it?”
“Do you trust our guys?”
“Of course I do, sis. We go way back.”
“What about the werewolves and the orcs?”
Zonde was silent for a moment, then replied, “If you’d asked me that a while back, I’d have said they were our enemies and nothing else, but things are different now. When I got seriously injured, Lynga and Loewe carried me over to the doc. I haven’t forgotten that.”
Zophia was silent for a moment.
“Why? What’s this about, sis?”
“Just thinking about something. But never you mind that,” she said, staring her brother in the eyes. “Did you find anything else about that little matter?”
“Oh, yeah, kinda.”
After hearing Zonde’s story, Zophia slowly stood up and grabbed her jacket. “I see how it is. I’m going out for a bit.”
“Where are you going?”
The lizardwoman turned back to her brother and said, “Where do you think? The doc’s place, obviously.”
***
Meanwhile, in a back alley of the ruined city, Liz—still “out shopping”—conversed with her lackey Gaion, away from view.
“How are things up top?” she asked.
“They’re still saying we need to hurry up or they’ll act,” Gaion replied.
Liz scoffed bitterly. “And to think they had no interest in the surface until recently.”
“Are you all right, Lady Liz?” Gaion asked, concerned. “You don’t look so good.”
“I’ve been having dreadful nightmares lately. I can’t get a good night’s sleep at all.”
For the past few days, she’d been tossing and turning in her sleep, haunted by dreams of a decapitated woman. Makeup could barely hide the dark circles under her eyes, and pressure from the top was the last thing she needed right now. If this kept up, she wouldn’t last much longer.
“How are things on your end?” Gaion asked.
“I managed to keep the demi-humans away, but that elf is proving to be more of a nuisance than anticipated.”
“S-So what now?”
“I thought about it, of course. I have a plan to bring him to my side.”
