Chapter 2: Gathering, Lizardmen
Part 1
The sun was high in the sky after half a day’s ride on Rororo. Zaryusu reached his destination without encountering any of the enemies he had been worried about.
There were several houses here which resembled those of the Green Claw tribe, surrounded by barricades of sharpened stakes pointing out on all sides. The gaps between the stakes were fairly large, but they were enough to keep away monsters like Rororo. There were fewer structures here than in the Green Claw tribe, but each of them was larger.
Therefore, he could not determine which tribe had more people.
Each building flew a flag which waved in the wind. Said flag was emblazoned with the Lizardman symbol for “Red Eye.”
Indeed, this was the first destination Zaryusu had picked — the tribal dwelling place of the Red Eye tribe.
After looking around, Zaryusu breathed a sigh of relief.
Fortunately, they still lived where his past information had told him they would be. He had feared that they had migrated after the previous war, and he would have to start by finding their tribe.
Looking back at the direction from which he came, Zaryusu saw his own village at the limits of his vision. They must surely be preparing an ample welcome for their incoming guests. While he had felt uneasy when he had left his village, he was quite certain now that they would not be attacked.
The best proof of that was Zaryusu’s safe arrival here.
While he was not sure if that was an oversight by that so-called Supreme One or if this development fell within the predicted scope of events, it would seem the enemy did not intend to go back on their word, and neither did they intend to stop the Lizardmen from preparing themselves.
Of course, even if the forces of that Supreme Whatever did show up, Zaryusu had no choice but to follow through with all his might.
Zaryusu dismounted from Rororo and stretched lazily.
Although riding Rororo for long periods of time made his muscles stiff, stretching like that filled him with comfort.
After that, Zaryusu indicated that Rororo should stay where he was and wait. Then, he took out some dried fish from his saddlebags and fed them to Rororo for brunch.
Originally, he had intended to have his people bring their rations here, but he could not give that order because it might have damaged the Red Eyes’ hunting grounds.
After patting all of Rororo’s heads, Zaryusu set forth by himself.
If he had kept Rororo by his side, the presence of the Hydra might leave the other side too wary to come out and speak. Since Zaryusu had come to propose an alliance, he did not want to pressure them unduly.
Water splashed around his feet as he advanced.
From the corner of his eye, Zaryusu noticed several warriors of the Red Eye tribe following his movements from within the barricade. Much like the warriors of the Green Claw tribe, they wore no armor and carried long spears, each of which was essentially a long stick tipped with a sharpened head of bone. Others carried slings, but the fact that none of them had discharged projectiles at him suggested that they had no intention of attacking right away.
Zaryusu did not wish to agitate them either, so he slowly drew closer until he reached their main gate. Then, he turned to the Lizardmen watching him warily, and shouted at the top of his voice:
“I am Zaryusu Shasha of the Green Claw tribe! I seek an audience with your chief!”
After some time, an old Lizardman holding a gnarled staff arrived. He was trailed by five strapping members of his tribe. The old Lizardman’s body was painted with white designs.
Is he their High Priest?
Zaryusu cut an impressive figure even as he stood there waiting.
Currently, they were equals. Thus, he could not show any sign of weakness. Zaryusu remained still even as the priest inspected the brand upon his chest.
“I am Zaryusu Shasha of the Green Claw. There is something I must discuss with you.”
“…Though I do not wish to welcome you, our leader has decided to grant you an audience. Come with me.”
This roundabout reply left Zaryusu somewhat confused.
What baffled him was why he did not call their leader “chief.” In addition, they had not asked him for any proof of his identity. That said, it would be troublesome if he spoke too much and upset them. With a vague sense that something was wrong, Zaryusu followed behind the group of Lizardmen.
♦ ♦ ♦
He was taken to a well-appointed little house.
It was easily larger than Zaryusu’s brother’s house, back in his village. The walls were decorated with designs drawn with rare paints, implying the high status of its occupant.
Curiously enough, this house lacked windows, though it had ventilation holes scattered throughout its walls. Like any other Lizardman, Zaryusu could see just fine in the dark. However, that did not imply they enjoyed living in darkness.
That being the case, why did this leader live in a dark little hut like this?
Questions like that popped up in Zaryusu’s mind, but nobody would answer them for him.
Looking back, he saw that the priest and the warriors who had led him here were nowhere to be found.
When he had first heard the people leading him tell everyone else to leave, he had thought they were being too careless, and he had almost asked why they had done this.
However, once Zaryusu learned that the request came from the village’s leader — its acting chief — his respect towards the person within the hut only grew.
Zaryusu had promised his elder brother that he would return safely, but that did not imply he had to come back unharmed. Surrounding him with armed warriors to apply pressure would do no good. Rather, if they had done that, he would have been disappointed at their lack of insight.
However, if the opposition had already anticipated that, and put on this great show for him…
Does that mean I’ll be dealing with a skilled negotiator…
Zaryusu purposely ignored the people watching him from afar. He marched up to the door and loudly shouted:
“I am Zaryusu Shasha of the Green Claw tribe! I was told that this tribe’s leader was here! May I request an audience?”
A faint voice came back, granting him entry. It was a female voice.
Zaryusu entered without a moment’s hesitation.
As expected, the interior was pitch-dark.
While he possessed darkvision, the dramatic change in light levels made Zaryusu blink.
An acrid odour hung in the air, possibly from some kind of herbal concoction. Zaryusu had expected an aged female, but the voice easily shattered that preconception of his.
“I bid you welcome.”
The voice had come through a door from the interior of the dark room, so he had assumed that it must have belonged to someone old. But now, he realised that her voice was young and full of vigor.
As Zaryusu’s eyes finally adjusted to the ambient light, the form of a Lizardman resolved itself within his field of vision.
Snow white.
That was the first thing Zaryusu thought when he saw her.
Her scales were as white as snow and bright as day, clean and free of imperfections.
Her round, shiny eyes were crimson, glowing like rubies. Her slender body was not masculine, but feminine.
Her body was covered in red and black tribal designs indicating that she was an adult, that she knew many spells…
…And that she was unmarried.
Dear reader, have you been stabbed by a lance before?
Zaryusu had. It was a searing pain that made him feel that something hot had been forcefully pressed against his body, an agony that pulsed through his body in time with the beating of his heart. Zaryusu experienced something like that.
Only, it did not hurt, but—
Zaryusu stood silently in his original position.
His counterpart’s reaction to his silence was unreadable. With a mocking smile, she asked:
“It would seem even the bearer of Frost Pain — one of the Four Treasures — regards me as an aberration as well.”
In the wild, albinism was a very rare condition. That was because albinos were very obvious and they had a hard time surviving the rigors of life.
The same applied to the Lizardmen, who possessed some degree of civilization. That was because they lacked the technology to enable people who feared the sun and had poor eyesight to survive. As a result, there were very few adult albino Lizardmen, and some were even killed at birth.
Among the Lizardmen, being considered a mere nuisance was already quite good. In the worst-case scenario, some were even regarded as monsters. That was the meaning of the mockery in her smile.
However, none of that applied to Zaryusu.
“—What’s wrong with you?” the surprised female inquired of Zaryusu, who was frozen solid at her doorstep.
Zaryusu’s answer was a cry that grew high-pitched near the end, with some warbling in the middle.
The Lizardwoman’s eyes went wide and her jaw dropped slightly. It encompassed her surprise, confusion, and embarrassment.
That sound was known as a mating call.
After realizing the foolish act he had unconsciously performed, his tail swished back and forth; the Lizardman equivalent of a human blush. It thrashed so violently that it seemed as though the house would be torn down.
“Er, ah, no. No, that’s not it. I didn’t mean that, I—”
Zaryusu’s panicked reaction seemed to calm the female down. Her teeth ground against each other in a creaking laugh, and then she tried to comfort him in an exasperated tone.
“Please calm down. It’ll be quite troublesome for me if you lose control here.”
“Ah! Sorry.”
After apologizing, Zaryusu entered the hut. By now, the Lizardwoman’s tail lay flat on the ground. It would seem she had finally managed to regain her composure. Still, its tip twitched and shuddered, which hinted that she had not completely calmed herself down yet.
“This way, please.”
“—Thank you.”
The female ushered Zaryusu to what looked like a seat on the ground that looked like it had been woven from plant fibers. She took a place opposite him once he sat down.
“Pleased to meet you. This one is a traveller from the Green Claw tribe, Zaryusu Shasha.”
“Thank you for your formal introduction. I am the acting chief of the Red Eye tribe, Crusch Lulu.”
After introducing themselves, the two of them studied each other, as though conducting an appraisal of their counterpart.
The brief silence filled the hut, but it could not last. Zaryusu was a guest, so it fell to Crusch — as the host — to speak first.
“Then, Your Excellency, let’s not stand on ceremony. I would like us to be able to speak freely, so it’ll be all right to relax.”
Zaryusu nodded in response to the request for openness.
“I’m grateful for that. The fact is, I’m not used to speaking formally myself.”
♦ ♦ ♦
“Now then, why have you come here?”
Crusch had an idea already, despite her question.
The mysterious undead being had appeared in the center of their village, and it would seem someone else had used cloud-controlling magic of the fourth tier — 「Control Clouds」. In addition, the visitor was a Lizardman hero from another tribe.
Thus, there could only be one answer. Just as Crusch was wondering how to react to Zaryusu, she heard an answer which completely exceeded her expectations.
“—Please marry me.”
—
—?
—!
“Ah—?”