3
“What’s the ritual of blood?”
“It is a custom that a people who value their pride and their agreements above all else cannot ignore. They will discuss it in more detail themselves. More importantly…”
Only answering Subaru’s question in the vaguest terms, Abel then glanced at him sharply.
The Shudrak girl had gone to inform their chief Mizelda of Abel’s request, leaving the two of them alone.
Which meant the time they could talk privately was limited.
“Allow me to ask. You said you were held prisoner at the camp outside the jungle. How were you treated?”
“…The wounds on my shoulder and back are from them. Also, I had to do chores.”
It would have been more accurate to say the chores and the injuries had been from separate loops, but Abel was so intense that Subaru simply answered reflexively.
“Hmm.” Abel’s eyes narrowed, and then he glanced at Subaru’s left hand. “Judging by the fact that you did not mention your fingers, that was a separate incident? Done by the woman you were pursuing?”
“Ugh… What does that have to do with anything?”
“It is proof that you are the sort of idiot who falls for a woman who would break your fingers.”
Subaru couldn’t really say that was an accurate picture of his relationship with Rem. But he did not have the time or any obligation to get into the details trying to explain it at length.
“In the process of doing those chores, you must have seen the interior of the camp. How was it laid out, approximately? Put that empty head of yours to work and pull from your memory all that you are able.”
Subaru grimaced as Abel peppered him with questions.
“There were dozens of tents, and as for the number of people… Hey, what are you talking about?”
“Do you not understand?” Abel sneered. “It is self-evident. Tell me what you—”
But before he could finish, several sets of footsteps approached the cage.
It was Mizelda, who’d been dragged out by the girl, and…
“I heard from Utakata that you said you will undergo the ritual of blood.”
Putting her hand on the head of the girl clinging to her leg—Utakata—Mizelda fixed them with a grave look.
It was a gaze as sharp as the spirit she had shown when Subaru had besmirched their warrior pride.
“Where did you learn of the ritual of blood? It is a ritual passed down among us Shudrak.”
“Do not make me laugh, young Shudrak chief. Do you seriously believe that your traditions are unknown to everyone in this world? A secret need only be known by but two people, and it shall spread. You would do well not to imagine that your people are a monolith.”
Mizelda’s eyes grew grim, while Abel’s speech grew more intense.
Subaru gulped as the looks on the faces of Mizelda and all her fellow Shudrak around her suddenly stiffened.
At the moment, Subaru was the only one who did not know what the ritual of blood entailed. However, it was clear that the ritual was important to them, and that Abel’s seemingly disrespectful thoughts were not welcome.
And so, in order to avoid any further confusion…
“Umm!” Subaru raised his voice. “Sorry to interrupt while you’re all getting fired up, but could someone tell me what this ritual of blood is about? Since it probably has something to do with me.”
“…What makes you think that?”
“I mean, earlier this masked jerk threatened me. Asking me if I could sacrifice anything and everything. Of course not, was my answer.”
“Then…”
“All I can gamble is myself. Anything more would be to exaggerate my influence on things.”
The idea of sacrificing anything and everything was something only people with a certain level of strength could say. And unfortunately, Subaru and Abel, who had been captured by the Shudrak without any recourse, did not have that sort of right.
So all they could bring to the table was what they had on them. In Subaru’s case, all he had to gamble was Subaru Natsuki.
“But Abel is right. I need to get you to listen to me. I’m just going to repeat what I said before, but I’ll say it as many times as I have to. In the worst case, I at least need to convince you to let me out so I can protect what’s precious to me,” Subaru pleaded desperately.
“…I see,” Mizelda murmured softly. “It seems you do indeed meet the requirements to undergo the ritual of blood.”
Subaru’s eyes widened, and Abel made a small sound. However, there was one person who had a major reaction to Mizelda’s murmured words.
A woman in the group beside Mizelda, whose short hair was dyed blue.
“Sister! Are you serious? Taking what these men say seri—”
“I haven’t accepted it at face value, Talitta. I simply thought it a waste to cast them aside.”
“Sister…”
At Mizelda’s explanation, the woman called Talitta looked down.
Apparently the two were sisters, and looking closer, Subaru realized that they did look similar—especially their faces and the intensity of their eyes.
Mizelda looked at Subaru again.
“You asked about the ritual of blood. It is a ritual maintained since ancient times, to have the tribe acknowledge someone. A rite of passage into adulthood.”
“Adulthood… Ah, something like that? But we…”
“…are not Shudrak. Everyone knows as much without you saying anything. Do not waste time on pointless things. What matters is the nature of the ritual.”
Abel was exasperated at Subaru’s shock upon learning it was a ritual to be treated as an adult among the Shudrak. Subaru’s expression twitched at the way Abel had said this, but he understood what Abel wanted to say.
The true nature of the ritual was having the group recognize the challenger as an adult. Meaning it was…
“…a rite of passage to have the Shudrak people listen to us on equal terms…”
“Indeed.”
Answering Subaru, Abel then looked at Mizelda, whose arms were crossed. Mizelda nodded.
“If you would face the ritual of blood, then you must prepare yourselves no matter what happens.”
“As if you would release us if we stopped short now? Unfortunately, I am not so naïve that I would expect such a convenient turn of events. Nor is Subaru Natsuki.”
“Ugh?!”
While they got fired up, Subaru was shocked to find himself paired with someone who seemed to be brimming with enthusiasm, but Abel did not pay him any heed.
“What will you do?” Mizelda asked.
Subaru was already along for the ride, so he simply said, “…I’ll do it. If there’s no other way, then I’ll face the ritual and get you to listen to me. But if it’s something that takes days to do, that’ll be a problem.”
“Indeed. We do not want that, either. In which case…”
“Sister, in that case, what of the elgina?”
Talitta offered a proposal, and Mizelda nodded deeply at it.
“That is good. The ritual of blood is carried out with the greatest hardship that can be found at the time.”
“The greatest hardship… That’s…”
“Elgina.”
Subaru gulped as Mizelda repeated that word.
Utakata’s shoulders twitched, and she shrank back at the sound of the word. Several other Shudrak women grew visibly nervous.
Seeing that reaction in these warriors was more than enough to give Subaru a sense of unease, too.
But…
“There is no going back for you or me. Are you ready?”
“That’s pretty crazy of you to say, after setting this all up without my input. Even if I do owe you, you’re too irresponsible…”
Subaru owed Abel for the knife, but what was happening here blew all those modest feelings of gratitude out of the water. Though he was of course grateful to Abel for helping him recover from his mistakes and creating an opportunity where the Shudrak might be willing to listen to him.
The two challengers seemed surprisingly nonchalant, but Mizelda ignored them and gave instructions to her fellow Shudrak.
“Abel and Subaru Natsuki. You will be taken to the elgina. Prove to us that you can accomplish the ritual of blood!”
With those words, the cell was opened, and the two of them were led outside.
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