Zaryusu looked at Crusch quietly, and Crusch was looking at him too, their reflection could be seen in each other’s eyes.
Zaryusu uttered something softly. No, it wasn’t words, but a cry. That was the cry he uttered when he first met Crusch.
— A mating call.
Zaryusu didn’t do anything after the cry. No, he couldn’t do anything except letting his heart beat intensely.
Moments later, Crusch made the same sound— a cry. The same emotional cry while shaking her tail, that was— the cry to accept the mating call.
An indescribably seductive expression appeared on Crusch’s face, Zaryusu could no longer pull his eyes away from Crusch. Crusch pushed herself onto Zaryusu, the position was similar to the one they had while sleeping.
There was almost no distance between their faces, their warm breathing mixed together, their heartbeat synchronized through their chests that were touching, and two of them became one—
“Oh! Getting busy!?”
The door was opened strongly and Zenberu charged in.
Crusch and Zaryusu froze like ice sculptures.
Zenberu looked at the two of them in confusion— at Crusch who was riding on Zaryusu. He tilted his head and asked.
“What, you haven’t started yet?”
They understood what Zenberu was saying and silently moved away from each other and stood up, approaching Zenberu without a word.
Zenberu looked down at the two of them confusedly and leaned forward.
“—Gahhhh!”
He took two punches to the stomach. After exhaling, Zenberu’s giant body collapsed onto the floor.
“Wooo… What powerful punches… especially Crusch… Gahh… that really hurts…”
Leaving Zaryusu aside, the punch of wrath from the female lizardman could even win against Zenberu. That wasn’t enough to vent their anger, but no matter how much they beat Zenberu up, that atmosphere would never come back.
They held each other’s hand— It was a strange substitute for beating Zenberu up. Zaryusu asked Zenberu one thing to ease his worries.
“Forget about that for now, I have questions for you. I heard some of it from Crusch, but could you tell me what is the situation right now?”
Zenberu didn’t care about the two of them holding hands and answered:
“Don’t you know? All the tribes are having a victory party.”
“My older brother is hosting the party?”
“That’s right. Anyway, the hunters scouted the region and did not find any signs of the enemy, and no traces of reinforcement or ambush. It would be difficult to hide such a large army. We are still on alert, but your brother has already declared victory. I am here on your brother’s orders.”
“My brother’s orders?”
“Yes, your brother said —’Shahaha, just let the two of them sleep together. They might already be getting it on, shahaha. It’s a bit embarrassing to interrupt, but I am curious, shahaha’.”
“Don’t bullshit! What’s with the shahaha?”
“Oh… There wasn’t any shahaha…”
“There’s no way my brother will laugh like that, really…”
“I am just expressing it more vividly…”
“— You are the worst.”
A chill that could match 'Icy Burst' came out from Crusch’s mouth along with these words. That frightening voice even gave Zaryusu goosebumps. Zenberu who was being lectured shivered and stiffened.
“So, why are you here?”
“Ermm, I am here to disrupt…”
“If you dare say you are here to be the third wheel, I will let you taste all the magic that you can think of.”
Zaryusu and Zenberu were pretty sure that Crusch wasn’t joking.
“Eh… I am here to invite you guys to join the party. We are the key figures in this victory, right? We can’t miss the party. And we need to discuss about the future of the lizardmen too…”
“I see…”
After hearing Zenberu’s roundabout explanation, Zaryusu smiled wryly after catching on what he wanted to say. Zenberu meant to say: There might be another battle, now was the time to display their strength.
“I got it, are you going too, Crusch?”
The unhappy Crusch puffed her cheeks, looking just like a Delmas frog residing in the wetlands. But Zaryusu thought she was much cuter.
“So, are we going?”
Zenberu casually asked Zaryusu and Crusch who were looking into each other's eyes.
“Ah… Yeah, you are right, let’s go.”
After the two of them acknowledged, the trio walked out together. When they walked down the stairs and stepped into the wetlands, Zaryusu suddenly disappeared from Crusch and Zenberu’s view. Something large suddenly knocked Zaryusu down.
— Bang voom voom splash.
That’s roughly how it sounded like.
Zaryusu disappeared from their view, and was replaced by Rororo’s figure. Its four heads twisted around energetically, pushing their noses at Zaryusu who had fell into the wetlands.
“Rororo! You are alright!”
Zaryusu who was covered in mud stood up and walked up to Rororo, gently caressing its body and observed it. It seemed to have received magical treatment, all its burn wounds from before had been healed, it was as if it was never hurt in the first place.
Rororo whimpered as it entangled Zaryusu with all of its heads, almost covering Zaryusu completely in its tight embrace.
“Hey hey hey, stop that, Rororo.”
Zaryusu laughed as he restrained Rororo with his voice. Rororo only cried happily, but didn’t let go.
Splash splash splash.
Zaryusu suddenly heard this rhythmic sound of water splashes, and was baffled when he found the source.
It was Crusch. She was watching Zaryusu and Rororo with a gentle smile, but her tail was hitting the wetlands with a fixed rhythm.
Zenberu who was standing beside Crusch shuffled away slowly with a stiff expression.
Rororo stopped moving too. It probably sensed that something was wrong.
“What is it?”
“No, it’s nothing…”
Zaryusu looked at Crusch who asked him the question and was confused. No matter how he looked at it, Crusch was smiling and happy that Zaryusu and Rororo were reunited. But somehow, it gave him a chilling feeling.
“How strange—“
Crusch smiled again.
Rororo released Zaryusu and he regained his freedom. Zenberu seemed to be fearful of something. Zenberu probably couldn’t stand this strange atmosphere anymore and changed the topic in a hurry.
“Alright Rororo, you and I will move on ahead.”
Of course, Rororo couldn’t understand the language of the lizardmen, but it obediently allowed Zenberu to mount it and ran off with amazing speed.
After those two had left, a strange atmosphere fell between Zaryusu and Crusch.
Crusch hugged her head as she shaked it.
“Ah~ really, what am I doing. It feels like my heart isn’t my own. Even though it is irrational, I couldn’t help myself. This is like a curse.”
Zaryusu understood how she felt. Because he felt the same way when he met Crusch for the first time too.
“To be honest, Crusch— I am very happy.”
“— What!?”
Splash, a loud sound of water erupted. Zaryusu then moved to Crusch’s side.
“Listen, can you hear it?”
“Hmmm?”
“The things we successfully defended are also the things we have to protect from now on.”
Sounds of rowdy laughter were carried here with the wind, they should be holding a banquet right now. The banquet was meant to bid farewell to the ancestors, celebrate their victory and to mourn the dead.
Wine was originally an expensive luxury. But they managed to have several banquets thanks to Zenberu’s tribe bringing one of the four treasures that supplied unlimited wine. And because all of the tribes were gathered here, they could enjoy this unbelievably joyous atmosphere.