Towards Crusch’s barbed words, Zaryusu wore a look of confusion that showed he was clueless as to what she was saying.
Crusch also wondered just what exactly she was thinking.
“Not afraid of my albino body, I mean.”
“…It’s like the white snow that covers the top of the mountain range.”
“…Eh?”
“…A beautiful colour.”
Of course, she had never heard this line once in her life.
W-What is this male saying!
The internal pressure building up within Crusch reached a point at which it could no longer be contained, and the lid holding it in was blown off with this single phrase. Whilst Crusch was lost in the chaos of her own thoughts, Zaryusu smoothly reached out and stroked her scales. Their bright colour was of a polished beauty… and on those slightly cool scales his hands moved downwards like water in a flowing river.
Hiss! It was a short warning noise, but something else was mixed within her breath as well.
It gave both the chance to regain some of their lost composure.
The two realized what was just done to her and what he just did subconsciously. Their entire bodies trembled. Why did I do that? Why did I let him? Doubt became anxiety, and anxiety led to confusion.
As a result, two tails slammed the floor, violently enough to shake the hut.
Then both of them looked at each other, and confirmed the status of the other’s tail. As if time had stopped, both tails stopped moving.
“……”
“……”
The atmosphere was heavy, or perhaps better described as nervousness. Silence fell upon the two individuals, followed by the two secretly stealing glances at each other. Finally managing to get her thoughts in order, Crusch asked him with an icy gaze, determined to detect any lies in his words.
“…Why did you… all of a sudden?”
Although Crush had trouble expressing her thoughts in words, Zaryusu appeared to have understood as he replied honestly and without hesitation.
“It was love at first sight. Besides, death may result from the war this time, and I do not wish to leave any regrets behind.”
This simple honesty, his words that hid none of his emotions made Crusch momentarily lost for words. However, there was a part that she just could not relate to.
“…Even the wielder of that famous Frost Pain is prepared to die in battle?”
“Correct. The opponent is an incomprehensible enemy, one which cannot be taken lightly… Have you seen the monster that acted as the messenger? The one which came to our settlement had this appearance…”
Crusch accepted the illustration which Zaryusu passed over, and nodded after giving it a cursory glance.
“Yes. It was the exact same monster.”
“Do you know what kind of monster that was?”
“No. Including me, no one in the tribe had any idea.”
“Is that so… actually I have come across that kind of monster once before…” Zaryusu spoke up to this point and paused to observe Crusch’s response as he continued “…and I fled.”
“—Eh?”
“It was impossible to defeat. No, to put it nicely, it was a fifty-fifty chance of dying.”
Crusch then understood that the monster was such a terrifying undead, and heaved a sigh of relief that her decision to stop the warriors back then was the right decision.
“It can emit a scream that causes mental confusion. Not only that, it has an ethereal body therefore it is almost entirely immune towards attacks with weapons which are not magically enchanted. Using numbers will not work.”
“Amongst the magic which our druids use, there is a kind of magic which can temporarily imbue magic on swords…”
“…Is it able to defend against mental attacks?”
“It is able to strengthen the resistance, but protecting everyone’s mental state would be too much and our strength would be insufficient.”
“So it’s like that… are all the druids able to use that magic?”
“If it is strengthening resistance, almost all of the druids are capable of it. But I’m the only one in this tribe who can shield the mind from confusion.”
Crusch noticed that Zaryusu’s breathing had shifted ever so slightly. It seemed that he had already noticed that Crusch’s position was not merely an empty title.
Correct. The lizardman Crusch Lulu was an extremely skilled forest druid. Maybe even above some of the other elder druids amongst the lizardmen.
“…Which number was the Red Eye tribe in order of the tribes that were attacked?”
“The opponent said we are the fourth.”
“I see… then, what are your plans?”
Time passed by.
Crusch was contemplating whether revealing the plans would be beneficial. The Green Claw tribe would certainly choose to go to war, and Zaryusu’s objective in coming here should be to form an alliance, requesting to head to battle together. With that in mind, what should be done for the bests interests of the Red Eye tribe?
Red Eye tribe originally did not intend to form an alliance. Their opinion was to choose to seek refuge. Going to war against people able to use 4th tier magic was an incredibly foolish idea. Moreover, knowing that the undead which were sent out by the opponent possessed such terrifying abilities made it more obvious that there could not be any other verdict.
However, was honestly revealing such thoughts really for the best?
Towards Crusch who was trapped in her own thoughts, Zaryusu narrowed his eyes, and opened his mouth to speak:
“Let me tell you what I truly think.”
Having no idea what Zaryusu was about to say, Crusch looked at him with unblinking eyes.
“What I am worried about is what happens after seeking refuge.”
To Crusch who was unable to understand the meaning of this sentence, Zaryusu calmly continued.
“Do you think that after moving away from a familiar environment which you are used to living in, you will be able to maintain the same lifestyle as the one right now?”
“Impossible… no, it would be rather difficult.”
If they were to leave here and establish a new place of habitat, they would have to fight with their lives on the line — they would have to win the fight for survival. The reality was that lizardmen were actually not the only occupants of this lake, and they had obtained this piece of wetlands after many tiresome years of warring. For this kind of species, it was not possible to easily set up a new habitat in unfamiliar environments.
“There’s also more than enough chance that there wouldn’t be enough food.”
“Probably so.”
Crusch, who was unable to understand what this male lizardman standing in front of her was getting towards, replied with a sharp suspicious voice.
“Then, if the nearby five tribes seek refuge at the same time, what do you think will happen?”
“That…!”
Crusch fell silent, because she already figured out the true meaning behind Zaryusu’s words.
Although the size of the lake was quite vast, when a tribe would choose a certain area to serve as a place of refuge, that area should also be the place that other tribes would want to obtain. Therefore, just moving to a new place could trigger another fight for survival, nearby would also have opponents who would fight for fish as the main source of food supply. Like this, what kind of situation would play out? Finally there would be no guarantee that the most feared result would arise, that being a war just like the one in the past.
“Don’t tell me… the reason you want to fight even though we might not win…”
“…That’s right. With the other tribes combined, I’m considering how many less mouths we can feed.”
“For something like that!”