4
Released from the cell, Subaru and Abel were neither blindfolded nor bound as they were led out of the village surrounded by the Shudrak people.
Traveling in the deep, dense jungle was like fumbling in the darkness, and Subaru’s steps were unsteady at several points. Each time, he was helped by a Shudrak near him.
“Gah, sorry for making you help me again…”
“It’s fine. I’m strong, so it’s no trouble.”
The woman who’d caught him when he’d stumbled had dyed-yellow hair.
Her expression and the way she spoke were gentle, and she had a plump, well-rounded figure. She seemed like an outlier among the Shudrak, who mostly had lean, muscular bodies. She gave off the impression that she was easy to get along with.
“Are your wounds all right? I was the one who took care of them.”
“Ah, you did that? Yeah, they’re fine. They do still hurt a little. Somewhat. Well, a lot, actually. But it’s better.”
“Ah-ha-ha. An honest man.”
Her attitude and the way she laughed so easily were a relief. And she had actually done something for his wounds, too, so she had been a relief in more than one sense of the word.
Serene and kind. That was how she felt. And Subaru’s heart naturally softened. But he was really curious about the hunk of meat on a bone she had been carrying in her hand the whole time.
“Hmm? Hungry? Want to eat some meat?”
“Ah, no, I’m fine. It’s not that I’m not hungry, but if I ate, I wouldn’t be able to move.”
“Ah-ha-ha, true. And if your stomach is full, it will hurt when you die.”
“Ha-ha…”
She had a gentle feel about her as she munched on the meat, but she was still a Shudrak.
Either way, he couldn’t really sense any animosity from the tribe as they guided him and Abel to wherever they were going.
As with Mizelda, from the moment Abeel and Subaru declared they would undergo the ritual of blood, the Shudrak no longer seemed to be dwelling on his initial failed negotiations.
Meaning whatever the results of the ritual, he had succeeded in improving their impression of him.
Even if the ritual doesn’t look like it will be successful, we might be able to get them to sit down at the negotiation table.
“—Judging by your expression, you seem to be indulging in convenient delusion.”
“Don’t go reading people’s minds from their eyes or face. Is everyone in the empire like that?”
“I know not the source of your complaint, and I’ve no interest in being compared to others. However, the people of Volakia learn to carefully observe others over the course of their life. That is different from Lugunicans.”
“Carefully observe, huh…?”
Subaru sensed something lying behind Abel’s words.
“Incidentally, have you not thought of trying to escape in this moment?”
“…Can you stop with those vague sorts of temptations? It’s not like I haven’t considered it, but I’m not going to.”
“Hoh. Why? There are more opportunities to escape now than there were in that cell. By making a diversion, you might be able to escape their sight.”
“When I lost my cool, I might have tried recklessly running for it, but…”
Subaru looked around them again.
The jungle’s darkness was deep. He couldn’t see more than a few yards ahead of him. And he only had a vague sense of the bearing and distance to the camp he needed to reach. There was no hope of running away.
And to top it off, the Shudrak around them were all far more dexterous than Subaru, especially with his injuries.
“—? What is it?”
The woman beside him noticed his gaze.
“He’s in love with you, Hoo,” Utakata whispered. “Since you’re the prettiest in the village.”
“Wah, how embarrassiiing.”
The way she shook her head as her cheeks flushed was totally adorable, but she never once let her guard down. If Subaru tried to run, she would pin him down in an instant.
“Plus, what would happen to you if I did run?”
“…I see. So you are one of those. With contemptible, heroic aspirations,” Abel said with disgust as he looked away.
“Say what?”
Subaru was annoyed by that evaluation and began to fire back at the man who was hiding behind a mask, but before he could get around to asking what Abel had meant by that, Mizelda, who was up at the head of the line, stopped.
“Here.”
“Even if you say that, I don’t really see anything…”
Even with the torches lighting their surroundings, the range of what they could see was still just a few yards. It all just looked like the same jungle expanse to him.
What is there here…?
“You will understand once you go.”
“Daoo…ahhh?!”
Subaru leaned forward, peering into the darkness, and as he did so, Talitta moved behind him and gave him a shove on the back. Stepping forward once, and then a second time, his foot stepped out into space.
He lost his footing, proving he had no ground to stand on.
“This is… Not again?!”
Raising his voice, Subaru stepped out into the void—or rather, down onto an extreme slope. Catching his foot on the incline, he slid down while doing his best not to fall over.
Having rushed down the slope, he somehow managed to catch his breath at the bottom of it.
“That was dangerous… Even though I couldn’t use my hands, that waaaaas—?!”
“Out of the way.”
There was a thud against his back; Subaru barely managed to stay on his feet, only to end up knocked over for real by someone slamming into his back. Looking back reproachfully, he saw Abel. Apparently, Abel had been pushed down the slope just like Subaru had.
“It doesn’t look like the bottom of a hole… Is this where the ritual will happen?”
“Presumably. Now then, what shall come? ‘Elgina’ is what they said.”
“You wouldn’t happen to have an idea what that is, would you?”
“‘El’ means big or large, but… Mrgh.”
As they were talking, something was thrown down to them.
A cloth bag landed at Abel’s feet. He peered into it, and…
“My baggage. And your trash.”
“My stuff isn’t trash!”
It was the gear that the Shudrak had taken from Subaru and Abel.
Subaru’s Guilty Whip was there, of course, but also, the knife that had been stuck in his back—the one Abel had given him—had made its way back into his hands.
Abel picked up his sword and cloak, and quickly put them on.
Following Abel’s lead, Subaru picked up his things, but…
“What is this…?”
“We’re watching! Do your best!”
His question was met by a shrill voice. Looking up, he saw the girl, Utakata, waving her hands from atop the slope, having just thrown their stuff down to them.
Mizelda and Talitta did not say anything about what Utakata had just done.
So this much help won’t mess up the ritual, I guess.
“Do your best.”
“…Seriously…?”
He saw the girl with the dyed-yellow hair from earlier smiling nonchalantly as she casually blocked the way back up the slope with a giant boulder.
She had a monstrous sort of strength that was hard to believe—but it explained how the Shudrak had made such a sturdy cage, even if it had seemingly been thrown together on the spot.
With the entrance closed off, they were stuck in a valley that extended maybe twenty yards to the left and right.
On the opposite side of the closed entrance, in front of them, there was darkness, but Subaru had no illusions that they would let him cut through it and escape.
“Subaru Natsuki, how much can you use your hands?”
“Hmm? …Well, as you can see, I can’t raise my right arm, and I can’t put much strength into my left hand. Delicate work is definitely out, and…whoa?!”
Abel pulled a ring out of his bag and tossed it to Subaru.
“Put that on the better hand! We have no time.”
Pressured by Abel’s overbearing tone, Subaru quickly caught the ring and put it on the middle finger of his left hand.
In addition to the black gemstone in the setting, it had a high-class feel and an odd, intimidating sort of aura.
“It is a ring with sealed magic. Put it to your lips before using it. It will expel fire, though there is a limit to how much.”
“Huh? Magic? Lips? What are you…?”
“It’s coming.”
Abel drew his sword, leaving Subaru behind as Subaru struggled to catch up to what was going on around him. Drawn by the masked man’s sharpened gaze, Subaru quickly grabbed his whip, too.
With that, he had prepared his gear as best as he could, when…
“…Hey, come on, you’re kidding, right?”
As he lined up beside Abel, both their backs to the sealed entrance, Subaru was dumbfounded by what had appeared before him.
Slithering slowly across the ground, it suddenly appeared from the darkness. A lustrous, green, scaly body that looked almost dripping wet—a giant snake.
It was the same sort of demon beast he had encountered twice before already in the Badheim Jungle.
“This is an elgina…?”
“ Tsss!!!”
With a hard, dry gulp, Subaru cautiously asked for confirmation just as the giant snake opened its mouth wide and let out a roar, as if to answer his question. Subaru froze, feeling the force of that roar wash over him.
“Elgina” meant big snake. And the ritual of blood meant facing the greatest challenge.
So the wall that Subaru and Abel had to clear was…
“Fight and prove yourselves true warriors! The eyes of the Shudrak are watching!”
“Gaaaah! I knew it!!!”
Mizelda’s spirited voice called out to them from atop the cliff, and the other Shudrak broke into cheers.
As those voices that were not quite support or encouragement rained down around them, the snake readied itself—
“It’s coming, Subaru Natsuki!”
“I can see that! Damn it! It’s been one trial after another lately!”
The snake growled, drowning out Subaru’s complaints as the ritual of blood began.
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