It was a declaration that they will not allow only the Red Eyes to flee to a new land with their members intact.

That was the correct, reasonable judgement.

If a tribe with reduced numbers fled to a refuge where the Red Eyes, with their full strength undiminished, had settled, the only thing that awaited them there would be doom. Considering the danger, the only measure would be a preemptive attack. It was an obvious choice for one responsible for an entire tribe. If she herself had been in that position, she would also have made the same decision.

“Even if we lose the war, I believe that allying with us will lower the chance of there being bloodshed between our tribes in the new habitat.”

Crusch, unable to understand what he meant, showed an honest, confused expression on her face. Zaryusu explained himself so that his real intentions would become clear.

“It will plant a sense of camaraderie. Rather than as different tribes, we will be able to recognize one another as allies who fought together.”

That’s right.

Crusch chewed Zaryusu’s words in her mouth.

He was claiming the possibility that tribes that spilled blood together will not be so quick to war against each other if food becomes scarce. But her own ideas and experience caused her to doubt. With her face slightly lowered, as soon as she was about to fall into deep thought, Zaryusu posed a question.

“By the way, how did the Red Eyes overcome that period?”

It felt like being stabbed by a needle. Before she herself realized it, Crusch jumped up. Seeing his face straight on, she could see the surprise on Zaryusu’s face, the one who had asked the question.

Ah, he asked because he really didn’t know.

Although she had known him only for a short time, Crusch had grasped the basics of his personality, of the male named Zaryusu. She intuitively realized that it was not a question to threaten them.

Crusch narrowed her eyes and stared at Zaryusu. Her gaze was so sharp that it seemed like it would pierce a hole through him. Unable to understand the reason for her glare, she saw how it made him feel helpless. But even so, Crusch could not control herself.

“—Is there a reason that I need to tell you?”

She spat out her words, tone brimming with loathing. The change in Crusch made him doubt whether he was talking to the same person.

But Zaryusu could not back down. It might contain the answer that will let everyone survive.

“I would like to hear it. Was it a druid power? Or was there another method? Therein could be our salvation…”

Zaryusu stopped there and closed his mouth.

If it really did hold the answer, there was no way that Crusch would look as pained as she did now.

As if she read his mind, Crusch snorted like she was ridiculing everything, including herself.

“You’re right. That is no salvation.”

After a pause, she wore an exhausted smile and continued.

“What we did was a war of fratricide— we ate our dead.”

Zaryusu was unable to open his mouth from the shock that overcame him. Killing the weak— reducing the mouths to feed was not taboo. But eating your own was a foul act and a taboo amongst taboos.

Why is she telling me this willingly? This is something that should be taken to the grave. Why did she reveal it to an outsider, an envoy? Does she intend to not let me leave alive? No, this isn’t that sort of atmosphere.

Crusch herself could not understand why she told him.

She knew well how much scorn this would invite from the other tribes. So why—

Her mouth moved smoothly, as if it was not her own.

“That day, when a different tribe started the war, our tribe also had serious food shortages and were in a dangerous situation. But the reason our tribe did not participate in the war was because we were composed of many druids and few warriors. Our druids were able to create food through magic.”

Crusch’s mouth did not show any signs of stopping, as if it was being controlled by a different consciousness.

“But the food our druids made just weren’t enough, not if you were to compare it with the size of the tribe as a whole. The only choice left to us was to walk the path of gradual destruction. Then one day, our tribe chief brought back food. Bright red meat.”

—Maybe I wanted him to listen… to my sin.

Crusch grinded her teeth together. The male in front of her listened quietly. Even if he was disgusted, he hid it and listened.

For that, Crusch was grateful.

“Everyone vaguely knew what kind of meat that was. For the moment, we made strict laws and anyone who broke them were banished. The only time the tribe chief would bring back meat was after someone had been banished. Even so, we all closed our eyes and ate in order to survive. But something like that could never last very long. The grievances that piled up suddenly all exploded one day and took the form of a revolt.”

With her eyes closed, she remembered their chief.

“We ate… we knew and still ate. That makes us accomplices and yet… looking back on it now, it’s laughable.”

Crusch finished a silent prayer and stared straight at Zaryusu’s face. She looked into his quiet eyes and saw that they harbored no disgust. She felt surprised from the joy that sprouted from somewhere in her heart.

Why did she feel happy?

Crusch too, vaguely knew the answer to that question.

“... Look at me. Once in a while, someone like me is born in the Red Eye tribe. Since ancient times, they will display a power. In my case, it was the power of a druid. This leads to us having authority that almost rivals that of the tribe chief… And I was the center of the rebellion that split the tribe in half. We won because we had the greater numbers.”

“And in the end, the food was divided up evenly amongst those who were left?”

“Yes… as a result our tribe managed to survive. During the rebellion— that time, the tribe chief never surrendered. He died with countless injuries. And when he received the final blow, he smiled at me.”

As if she was coughing up blood, Crusch continued to speak.

It was the pus that slowly coalesced in her heart, ever since she killed the tribe chief.

The pus that she could never reveal to the members of the tribe who trusted her and fought against their chief, Crusch was just barely able to confess it to the one named Zaryusu. That was why her words did not stop, like water emptying out at the bottom.