It was Hwee-Seo who first felt that the warmth in the tent was fading, but Hwee-Seo just endured the cold air.

The fire was dying.

Lakrak looked at the dying fire. He broke a few of the dry branches next to him and crushed them in his palms before throwing them into the fire, thus reviving it. The fire began to spread and burn the thicker branches that weren’t burning before.

Lakrak then said, “Diplomacy and reputation aside, everything about this is simple, isn’t it?”

Hwee-Seo’s silence implied disagreement.

“You just have to choose between one or the other. Salkait, or me. Gnolls, or Lizardmen. The Angry Teeth God, I think they called it, or the Blue Insect God.”

“No. It’s not that simple.”

Hwee-Seo put both of his hands on his knees and fixed his posture.

“It’s not just simply choosing between the two. Others would think you’re asking me to choose between two precious gifts. I think it’s rather a question of which would hurt less if a sabertooth tiger and Cockatoo appeared and I had to put my head into one of their mouths.”

“Hm. It’s a pity you think that way, but wouldn’t it be better to put your head into the Cockatoo’s mouth?”

“Salkait also said that the sabertooth tiger would be better.”

Lakrak decided to think from Hwee-Seo’s perspective. Hwee-Seo wouldn’t believe any of the sweet words that Salkait and Lakrak said anyways. And his...