I woke up to a bright ray of sunlight hitting my eyes. At first, I was a little annoyed, but then, remembering where I was and what had happened the day before, I immediately came to my senses and started looking around.

I was in bed, I didn't have any outerwear on, but my pants, socks, and T-shirt were in place. The bed was big and a bit hard, but hey, it was better than a sleeping bag.

Just in case, I pinched myself.

“Ow!!!”

Yep... the real pain was still real.

Finally, I decided to find my savior, but I didn't have to go far. He was snoring peacefully a little further away on the floor.

At that moment, I was overjoyed that it wasn't all a dream or my fantasy.

“Thank you, Promethea!” I couldn't help but say.

I have never been a religious boy, but now I want to become one, and sincerely thank the Goddess. I wanted to thank her for giving me this beautiful life, for giving me a second chance, and for putting her kindness not only in people but also other intelligent beings that inhabit this universe.

I felt a surge of gratitude for this creature, this man, who had decided to shelter me without asking for anything in return. So when I got up, I wanted to go outside and admire the new day, but involuntarily stopped near Grynoth.

He was sleeping on the floor, with some kind of mattress and a blanket under him. Looking at him up close I noticed a couple more details I hadn't before. Well, besides how defenseless he looked at that moment. On his left wrist was a metal bracelet I'd never seen before, and on his left palm was a black tattoo in the shape of a sea serpent. It looked a little creepy. I'll decide to tell him later that he doesn't have the best taste in things like that.

Regardless, I decided to put it aside for now. Admittedly, however, I felt a strong urge to pet him, but I held back. After all, mutual respect should first and foremost begin concerning personal space. Still, I couldn't resist covering him with the blanket that was slipping a bit.

***

When I left the bedroom, I wondered whether I should go outside or explore the huge cabin. In the end, survival instinct won out, so I spent the next half an hour digging in the precious supplies that Grynoth so kindly prepared for me yesterday. Some of the food was exactly like ours.What wasn't ours I could roughly guess from the looks of it.

The first thing I ate was some kind of flatbread that looked remotely like pizza.

After a while, I heard a long groan in the next room, and after a couple of minutes, I saw Gry’s sleepy face.

“Greetings. Already having breakfast?” he asked.

“Oh, hey, wussup? Um, yeah, I think I forgot to eat dinner yesterday. You know, after being almost dead and all”, I smiled awkwardly.

“Poor kid... okay sit down, I'll cook you something.”

To be honest, I didn't even know if I liked that he was still treating me like a child. On the one hand, it was very wholesome, almost fatherly. On the other hand, my chances of asserting my independence must be infinitely slim right now.

“Oh, no need, I've had enough already.”

“No, no. Your diet has to be healthy. By the way.”

He suddenly looked at my figure from head to toe.

“Ayup?”

“Do you, humans, really suffer from obesity? Because, so far, you're painful to look at. Legs as thin as sticks, arms as limp as twigs. And why is your back so slouchy? I’m honestly impressed you even made it to our kingdom in one piece in a condition like that.”

“Hmm… maybe because I'm tougher than I look?” I smiled slyly, looking at him.

Grynoth, however, remained unimpressed.

“Uh-huh. Yeah, sure”.

***

“Are you watching? Good. Keep it up, you will have to do it yourself soon,” he said with a glance at me before returning to the cooking.

The process was very similar to what I'd seen in the villages I'd stayed in: First, he pulled meat and vegetables... or at least what looked like them. This food was a little different from ours, but there were similarities.

Soon the hut was filled with the noise of slicing and the clinking of knives. These pieces looked so tough and meaty. It was amazing how easily he quartered them.

Then it was business as usual: stoking the hearth, boiling water, adding spices.

There was only one difference: magic. Instead of lighting the fire with matches, Grynoth only needed to utter a few words in gibberish and then everything lit up by itself.

“I wonder if using magic is also on the list of things I'll be doing myself later.”

Anyway, the breakfast was ready rather soon.

“This is snake steak, I assume your equivalent of... turkey?”

“That's quite a breakfast you've got there,” I remarked, ”I can't eat that much!”

“Well, then we'll save it for the afternoon. You better eat it though. You will need strength and energy.”

At first, we ate in uncomfortable silence. I was about to strike up a conversation when Gry did first.

“So. You haven't changed your mind about going on an adventure with me?”

“No-no. As long as you don’t mind, that is.”

“Good. In that case, there are a couple of rules I want you to follow.”

“Yeah, sure. Your house, your rules, yadda yadda. At your command, general.”

“Good. Then you'll be my responsibility, and my priority is that you don't go on a hunger strike. So eat as much as you can. The second thing I want you to know is that you have to take responsibility for the people around you as well. If you are determined to be a proper adult, that is”.

“I mean…”

I know I didn’t make the best impression yesterday, but still…

"Do you think I don't care enough about the people around me?” I asked, almost offended.

On my journey, I had tried not to help everyone I met, but at least not to cause trouble, so it was insulting to hear such a thing.

...But even more hurtful was the realization that maybe he was on to something.

“No, but I suspect you do it very… *selectively*”.

“Oh, come on!” I said, “Do you think I try to help people based on their wealth or social status?”

“Tell me this: when was the last time you were sending any messages to your family and relatives?” he asked sharply.

This sudden question made me flinch a little.

“Well, I write to them every month or so. To everyone except my father, of course. I send them postcards through my... well, it's difficult to explain.”

Suddenly I remembered I had to leave my bag and all my other belongings behind yesterday.

“Though now, it will be a bit of a problem since I had to leave my bag.”

“I'll go get them today. Even if something happened to your belongings, I have an alternative.”

“Ah... thank the goddess...”

I'm suddenly ashamed. So much had happened yesterday and I hadn't remembered to send out a trip report so they wouldn't worry about me.

“So when I go to get your stuff, I'd like you to let them know you're okay... including your dad.”

“Wait, what?”

I couldn’t believe my ears.

“Don’t tell me all of your long-winded explanation was for *this*… and why would you care about him of all people!? He doesn’t even like you guys that much anyway!”

“Before you rebel, I would like you to listen to what I have to say,” he said.

I felt a little of my blood start boiling again, but yesterday had made me realize that if Gynoth wasn't right about everything, he was right about most things. So I gritted my teeth and listened to him.

“As I said, being an adult means not only freedom but also responsibility, which includes several things. Doing what must be done is one of them. Regardless of how he responds to your letter, regardless of what he thinks about us — you owe it to him to at least put his mind at ease. You don't have to return if he asks you to, but you have to write. And that's not all.”

He paused again and continued.

“I still don't fully know what your relationship is like, but from what you've told me, at least he cares about you... even if doesn’t always express it the right way. Though he may not be the best person right now, he can still change... and by the time you realize it, it may be too late, and you'll regret for the rest of your life that you didn't forgive him when you had the chance. And unlike the guilt you felt for zapping me yesterday, this one won't go away for the rest of your life."

I suddenly noticed in the time he was talking, that my resentment had been replaced by fear and unrest.

“Wait... “when it's too late”? What do you mean by all that?”

The continent of humans has long ceased large-scale wars and the standard of living has increased dramatically over the past five centuries, not to mention the fact that my father was such a big shot that nothing threatened not only him but even his distant relatives. And yet... Grynoth's words reawakened my anxiety, and I refused to believe that he was simply projecting their lives onto ours without a good reason.

“Life can be very unpredictable, Gran. No matter how high up the food chain your father is, he is too not immune to the misery and tragedy this life can potentially bring him. No one is safe from a physical or mental illness, much less old age. Who knows, maybe he's starting to blame himself for you running away already.”

I sat there in silence, digesting Grynoth's words. As much as I wanted to argue, to defend my position, I couldn't shake the feeling that he was right. The thought of my father worrying about me, perhaps even blaming himself, stirred something uncomfortable in my chest.

"I... I guess I never thought about it that way," I admitted reluctantly. "Our relationship is… “complicated” doesn’t even begin to describe it. But you are right, I don’t want anything bad to happen to him."

Grynoth nodded slowly, his eyes softening.

“Good. I don't want to unnecessarily alarm you, I just want you to be more aware of some things.”

“Right. Honestly, I haven't thought about these things, even if some of them are so obvious.”

“Then we will do it in the evening.”

After forcing myself to come to my senses, Grynoth continued:

“...On to more pressing matters: have you bathed recently?”

“Oh...uh... haha, I don’t even remember now!”

I tried to turn it into a joke, but it didn't come out well even for a lame one. A few days of non-stop traveling were speaking for themselves, and yesterday's misadventure — even more so.

“Go at once, then. Oh, right.”

Grynoth got up from his seat and rummaged through one of the closets. After a while, he pulled out…

I couldn’t believe it: It was a shower gel. In a fancy bottle, with the human brand on it and all.

“I guess you'll need this” he handed it to me so I could make sure it was, indeed, our brand.

“Stop, where did you get all that?!”

“Well, probably from the same place as those fancy books,” he said cryptically, then added: “Smuggling!”

‘I owe this man a lot but… he will have some explaining to do.’ I thought to myself.