"Am I dead?"
Danitz's eyelids fluttered a few times, and a yellowed ceiling emerged in his blurry vision. He instinctively moved his fingers, only to suck in a sharp breath as pain shot through his entire body.
"I'm still alive..." he muttered hoarsely.
"Meow." A cat's cry caught Danitz's attention.
"You're awake?" A familiar voice came from beside him.
He turned his head with difficulty and saw Lorne sitting cross-legged on a chair, toying with an empty bottle. Orange Cat lay in his lap, looking curiously at Danitz.
"Where... is this?" Danitz pressed his forehead. "It hurts like hell."
He tried to push himself up, but the pain stopped him.
"A Small Inn. The most inconspicuous kind." Lorne stood up, poured a glass of water, and handed it to Danitz.
"Getting a room with someone covered in wounds wasn't easy."
To avoid the pirates pursuing them, Lorne hadn't dared take Danitz to a proper clinic. Instead, he had carried him on his back, taking a roundabout route to this Small Inn in an out-of-the-way neighborhood.
Heaven knew how nervous Lorne had been when he brought Danitz inside this Small Inn.
For one thing, Danitz was a famous pirate whose identity couldn't be exposed. For another, Lorne didn't have any valid identification himself.
Perhaps because Lorne looked like a typical Loen native, however, the local proprietor hadn't asked any questions and had respectfully arranged a room for him.
His fawning manner had surprised even Lorne. Somehow, he had gotten a taste of being one of his "betters."
"Tch..."
As Danitz took the glass, he felt a slight tug on his body. Looking down, he discovered that his bandages looked as if an octopus had wrapped them haphazardly around him. Some places were tied in knots, while others were so loose they