"Ian?"
Hearing someone call his name, Ian looked up to see a somewhat familiar man standing at the tent entrance holding porridge, carefully waving at him.
It was Aike, a young man from their village. They weren't close, but they often saw each other.
In this strange camp, meeting someone he recognized was like encountering an old friend in a foreign land.
"Ian? You survived too!" Aike's tone was much warmer than usual.
He seemed more spirited than Ian had expected, his complexion better too. Though his clothes were somewhat torn, he looked more human than Ian's wolf-like appearance.
"You're here too?" Ian was somewhat surprised.
"Lucky." Aike sat beside him. "I escaped to the mountains earlier and nearly froze to death. If the lords from Crimson Tide Domain hadn't found me, I'd probably be nothing but bones by now."
"The lords from Crimson Tide Domain?" Ian looked at him, eyes full of questions.
