While the original plan had been to fly directly to the elven capital without stopping, reality quickly imposed itself on the plan.

The druid had already gone more than a week without properly sleeping. The trip from the capital to the village had cost him seven days of continuous flight, staying awake purely by willpower, and asking him to make the return trip without rest first was neither reasonable nor safe for anyone riding on top of him.

Mark wasn’t in any condition to endure a flight of several consecutive days either. His body still felt heavy from the week of unconsciousness, his joints ached, and the constant wind at that altitude had worsened the headache he’d been carrying since he woke up.

So when the druid said he needed to land to rest, Mark was the first to agree.

The hippogriff descended into a somewhat wooded area that the armored elf pointed to from above, a small clearing between the trees that was open enough for them to set up a basic camp.

The druid landed with a heavy motion that shook the ground, and as soon as everyone got off his back, the creature shrank and returned to his elven form, leaving the druid on his knees on the ground with his eyes closed and his breathing heavy.

"Don’t wake me until tomorrow..." was all the druid said before lying down directly on the grass and falling asleep in less than five seconds.

The rest of the group organized quickly.

Alice and Ely improvised a couple of campfires with the wood they found around them. The bow elf positioned herself on a high branch of one of the nearby trees without saying anything, apparently standing guard. And the armored elf sat against the trunk of a tree with his sword across his legs, staring at the fire with a tired expression.

Mark sat by one of the campfires with a piece of meat that Alice had prepared, and while he didn’t know what animal it was from, he didn’t ask either.

He took a bite and chewed in silence.

Then the armored elf approached and sat across from him on the other side of the fire.

The two stood looking at the flames for a moment without saying anything.

"Hey," said the elf, breaking the silence.

Mark looked up.

"So... you have that kind of relationship with them," said the elf, vaguely gesturing with his head toward where Mark’s subordinates were. "You even have a beast-woman."

It wasn’t a question. It was a statement made in a tone that mixed curiosity with something Mark couldn’t quite identify.

Mark took another bite of meat and nodded while chewing.

"And how did you end up in that situation?" asked the elf, looking at him with a raised eyebrow. "Six women following a single man"

Mark chewed a bit more meat, swallowed, and shrugged.

"Things just happened on their own," he responded calmly. "It wasn’t something I planned."

"Really?"

"Yeah..."

The elf looked at him silently for a second.

"I didn’t know humans were like that..." he said in a tone that wasn’t exactly judgmental but wasn’t approving either.

"We’re not. Well, I don’t think we are," said Mark with a slight laugh. "I’m a rather peculiar case."

"I see..."

Then a voice came from behind Mark.

"Of course the Master is special!" said Ely, appearing at his side with a proud expression. "He’s the most incredible man that exists!"

Mark looked at her out of the corner of his eye while chewing his food.

"Ely—"

"And all of us are with him because we love him!" Ely continued without letting him speak. "Each of us chose to be by his side of our own free will!"

"That’s right!" Aria confirmed enthusiastically as she joined the conversation.

But before they could both continue praising their master, Alice spoke from the other side of the campfire.

"My lord, it’s already quite late," she said. "It would be best to rest. Tomorrow will be a long day."

"I agree," backed up the armored elf, standing up. "We need to rest as much as we can if we want to prevent the journey from dragging on."

The elf said goodbye with a nod toward Mark and walked to a nearby tree where he dropped himself against the trunk, crossed his arms over his chest, closed his eyes, and in less than a minute his breathing had become slow and deep.

Mark watched him fall asleep and then spoke through the mental link.

"Listen to me, all of you."

The five subordinates paid attention instantly.

"While we’re with the elves, I need you to act like normal humans," Mark said mentally. "None of them can suspect what you really are."

"What exactly do you mean, Master?" asked Ely through the link.

"I mean you need to pretend to sleep," Mark explained. "If the elves see that none of you close your eyes all night, they’re going to start asking questions we don’t want to answer."

"Understood, Master," they all responded in unison.

"Good," said Mark, closing the mental communication. "Then get some sleep."

After that, the group settled around the campfires. Ely lay down near Mark with her eyes closed and deliberately slow breathing. Alice leaned against a tree with her arms crossed and her head tilted forward. Aria curled up on the grass like a cat and closed her eyes. Rose sat against a log and closed her eyes too. And Yuki went to talk with the pink-haired elf to take over the watch and now be the one to keep an eye on the surroundings.

Zilu was the last to lie down, choosing a spot next to Mark where she rested on the grass with her ears relaxed.

Mark closed his eyes and fell asleep almost instantly due to accumulated exhaustion. He didn’t know how many hours passed but at some point in the early morning, his bladder woke him up.

He opened his eyes slowly to find the campfire had reduced to coals that still emitted a little light and heat. Around him, all his subordinates were asleep or pretending to be.

’What time is it...?’ Mark thought sleepily.

He could hear the slow breathing of the druid a few meters away, the soft snores of the armored elf against his tree, and he saw the pink-haired elf was now also lying on the grass asleep.

Mark got up slowly, trying not to make noise, and walked away from the camp, moving between the trees until he found a discreet spot.

When he finally found it, he stopped in front of a bush and started to urinate.

’I’m a little tired of spending all my time in forests,’ Mark thought, looking up through the branches of the trees while doing his business. ’I’ve been sleeping outdoors, in tents, in borrowed houses for longer than I’d like...’

The stream of urine hit the leaves of the bush with a constant sound that was the only thing breaking the silence of the night.

’And as comfortable as my dungeon is, I’d like a real house...’

Mark was about to finish when he heard a barely perceptible sound behind him.

A branch cracking.

He turned his head slightly while finishing urinating, looking over his shoulder into the darkness of the forest.

But he found nothing, just trees and shadows.

’It was probably the wind...’ he thought, adjusting his clothes and turning to go back to the others to sleep.

However, when he turned around, he found Yuki standing in front of him. Upon seeing her, Mark was startled.

"Yuki," he said, bringing a hand to his chest. "What are you doing here?"

She didn’t answer and quickly threw herself at him, trapping him in a passionate, tongue-filled kiss.