Night had already descended upon the city, yet it remained wide awake.
In the central square, a huge bonfire blazed, with orcs, dwarves, and a few humans sitting around it.
Voices merged into a hum, laughter echoed like thunder, and metal mugs of ale clattered against wooden tables.
It was a typical scene for the orcs—a dinner before an important event.
No one knew if all present would return alive, but that evening, they celebrated.
Lenor didn't want to be there.
He felt like an outsider among these warriors who had accepted his sister—and even more so, that cursed boy who changed everyone around him.
But he stayed.
He needed to see it all with his own eyes.
He sat off to the side, watching.
His gaze stopped on a figure seated closer to the fire.
She looked familiar… but at the same time, completely different.
Naira.
Lenor froze, his eyes widening.
Her body had changed. She was no longer just an orc—now she had become a true high orc.
Her arms seemed stronger, muscles clearly defined beneath her armor, and her posture was confident and proud.
She no longer resembled the Naira who used to stand, doing paperwork for the guild—now she looked like a warrior, an equal among leaders.
His fingers involuntarily clenched into a fist.
He couldn't accept this.
Once, she had been his subordinate. One of the best warriors of the guild, but still just a subordinate.
But now?
Now she sat among the orcs, as though their queen.
Her gaze was filled with power.
He felt as though everything had shifted back into place, and she was standing before him, awaiting his command. As though he were still the same commander, and she—his subordinate, waiting for a new task. But… this time, it was different.
Her eyes no longer searched for instructions. She wasn't waiting for someone to tell her what to do.
Naira didn't acknowledge him now.
She listened calmly to the dwarf, who was saying something.
Her lips occasionally stretched into a mischievous smile, but there was no longer any trace of the old roughness—just confidence.
Lenor felt something inside him tighten.
He was no longer the one giving orders—she had grown.
Suddenly, she turned her head and caught his gaze.
Lenor froze.
Naira looked at him for a moment, then… smiled.
But not like before—without mockery or disdain.
This was the smile of a woman who knew who she was and what decisions she made.
Lenor felt his heart drop into the abyss.
He realized:
Kano hadn't made her a slave, hadn't forced her.
He had made her something greater.
Lenor abruptly stood up, grabbing the mug of ale.
His teeth clenched, and his gaze dropped.
He hated this feeling.
Hated that everything was slipping from his control.
He had come here to save his sister, and now it seemed he was the outsider, and he had lost his subordinate too.
Suddenly, he heard a quiet voice beside him:
—"Hard, isn't it?"
Naira stretched calmly, looking at him.
Her voice was deep, calm.
He swallowed air, tightening his grip on the mug.
Naira smiled:
—"I also couldn't accept the change at first. But then I realized… it was the best thing that ever happened to me."
Lenor sharply raised his head.
His eyes burned with fury:
—"The BEST thing that ever happened to you?! Naira, you were part of the guild! Part of a world that mattered! And now what? You command the orcs?"
Naira shrugged:
—"And you think that's bad?"
Lenor didn't answer.
His heart pounded, his hands trembling.
Naira raised her mug of ale, her lips barely curling into a smile.
She was no longer his subordinate, no longer weak.
Kano had given her something no one else had—true power.
He looked around.
He saw his sister, who no longer needed his protection. He saw Naira, who had become a leader. He saw the city, which should have been a center of chaos, yet had turned into something more.
His lips twitched ever so slightly.
What the hell is going on here?
His eyes darkened.
Slowly, he took a sip, his thoughts clouded by one question:
Who the hell brought Elgot? Who is this Kano Rom?