Jhed pushed the door open and came inside. He was soaked in sweat, completely worn out.
"Oh, you're back," Nain said.
"I finished all hundred laps," Jhed said.
He was so exhausted he could barely stand. His legs were shaking.
"But he pulled me out of my loneliness. He saved me from the pain that had broken me for eighteen years. He believed in me — he chose me. So whatever it takes, I will protect him." Shine said, looking over at Jhed.
"Rest now, Jhed. Tomorrow you do it all again," Shine said. A smile had found its way onto his face.
"Tomorrow too? Give me a day off. I genuinely cannot move." Jhed lay down flat on the floor.
"Did he die?" Nain said.
She was blunt as ever. Jhed said nothing — he just stretched out on the cool ground and let it hold him.
"I ran a hundred laps today. Which means I can do anything I set my mind to — as long as I don't stop. After today, getting back to my own world feels a little closer. Maybe I'll make it back sooner than I think." Jhed lay there talking to himself.
He still believed he could return to his old world. But the truth was, he'd died in an accident there. His body wouldn't be intact. In fact, fifteen years had passed since he came here — by now, his body had probably turned to bones. That simple reality still hadn't landed for him.
"I want to go home," Jhed said.
He meant his old world.
"Already getting homesick?" Nain said.
"When I left my village during the war, I missed home too. Everyone does at first. But the further you go and the more you see, the feeling fades." Shine said.
"So the longer I stay in this world, the more my memories of my old one will stop hurting. No — that can't happen. If those memories stop pulling at me, I'll lose my reason to go back. And then I never will."
Jhed was thinking too hard.
"No. That can't happen." He sat up suddenly.
"What can't happen?" Nain asked.
Jhed looked up — both of them were staring at him.
"Nothing, never mind... I'm going to go wash up." He scratched his head and walked out.
"Jhed's hiding something." Shine watched him go. Years of experience were telling him — something in the way Jhed moved, the way he caught himself mid-thought — he was keeping something back.
Nain hadn't brought anything with her when she'd left Mariana. All her makeup had worn off by now. And the cut on her hand had been getting larger, day by day.
That's how the next fifteen days passed — Jhed training, pushing himself through every one of them. The food they had was nearly gone. And Shine's two months were almost up — only nineteen days left before his contract ended.
But Jhed's stamina had genuinely grown.
"Your stamina's improved, Jhed. Tomorrow we move out and continue south. The next stage of your training can wait until you rent me again." Shine said.
It was evening. He said it simply and walked away.
Jhed watched him go, wooden sword still in hand.
"But I'm not going to rent you again."