The Serpent's Brew
“When we come of age, we leave for the city,” Anelia said. “Then we choose one of two paths. Either we accept a man’s culture and abandon the jungle… or we abandon the man and return to the jungle.”
“Why not just bring the man back with you? As a live-in son-in-law!”
“There’s an old rule that no one outside our bloodline may live in the village.”
It was well known that jungle tribes were closed off to outsiders, but I hadn’t realized it worked quite like this. Not that I was any kind of expert on jungle tribes.
“So you chose the latter, then? You left Kenta behind?”
“I did.”
“I don’t understand. You liked him enough to have his child.”
“I liked Kenta, but not as a husband. I didn’t care much for the city either. I always missed the jungle.”
That was the second shock.
“……Wait. So you didn’t come back to the jungle because you had no choice after getting pregnant. From the very beginning……”
“I went out to procure a man.”
That was a rather risqué thing to say.
I’d always suspected this sister of mine was a carnivore in human form, but still……
Suddenly, I felt a little sorry for Kenta. In a way, he’d been used as part of Anelia’s plan for a second generation.
The jungle wins again, Kenta!
“On the other hand, plenty of people choose to abandon the jungle forever. I think Einy might be one of them.”
“You mean your daughter?”
“Yes. Einy is a very timid, gentle child. I worry the jungle doesn’t suit her.”
My head spun for a moment at the revelation that Anelia and Kenta had that kind of relationship, and that Kenta had been discarded along with the city. But in the end, it was someone else’s business. If Anelia was happy now, that was all that mattered. Kenta wasn’t my problem.
I stopped walking and rummaged through my bag for the compass.
“Oh, right. Want to try touching this, Sister?”
While we’d been talking, we’d circled the village and arrived at the square where the feast was beginning.
I needed to register Anelia on the compass before I forgot.
“What an unusual compass. You want me to touch it?”
“Yes, just place your hand on the glass over the screen.”
When Anelia lightly rested her hand on the round glass protecting the needle, it immediately began spinning rapidly, as if it had been waiting for her.
Before long, it stopped, pointing in a different direction than before—apparently having found its next target.
“It looks like a magical tool.”
“It is.”
“What does it do?”
Anelia’s sharp eyes had already noticed it wasn’t an ordinary compass.
“It points to the nearest person who misses me. Strange, isn’t it?”
“What a curious thing. So our meeting wasn’t entirely by chance. I was wondering how you found your way here.”
“I just followed the compass, and there you were.”
“I’ve been thinking about you a lot lately. Einy is about the same age you were back then. She’s nothing like you, though……”
Whenever she spoke of her daughter, Anelia smiled, but there was a trace of bitterness in it.
Quite some time had passed since I entered the village, yet I still hadn’t seen the child.
***
As I stepped into the square, someone placed a crown woven from branches on my head. It was decorated with bird feathers and animal teeth.
“It means you’re welcome here.”
“Thank you. I like it.”
The crown smelled strongly of some unknown herb, and it was surprisingly pleasant.
I adjusted the crown and turned toward the delicious smell wafting through the air. A whole goat was roasting over the fire.
It really was a feast—plenty of people, plenty of food.
The atmosphere was so lively that it was hard to believe this was a tribe known for being closed off to outsiders.
“I thought your tribe didn’t like strangers, Sister.”
“It’s different when the guest is a valuable healer.”
“I’m a Spirit Master, though……”
“I know that. Hehe.”
Would there ever come a day when Spirit Masters were properly respected?
I looked around and settled near one of the campfires.
Immediately, a familiar tribeswoman came running over, acting friendly. It was the woman whose leg I’d treated first—the one who’d fallen from a tree.
“Drink!”
“Hm? What’s this……”
“Alcohol!”
“I’m not very good with alcohol.”
“Alcohol! It’s got alcohol in it!”
The tribespeople seemed to know at least a little of the common tongue. Their grammar was off, but the meaning got across well enough.
“Jeanie, you can just pretend to sip it. They’re all so grateful they want to give you something.”
“Then just a little.”
I’d only meant to touch it to my lips, but the drink was shockingly delicious.
It was sweet yet tart, smooth, with a flavor that lingered pleasantly on the tongue.
“Oh? This is actually good.”
“Right?”
Anelia smiled brightly and poured me more.
I’d never had many chances to drink in either of my lives—first because I’d died young, and this time because I’d been too busy training to even notice I was aging. Sitting by the warm fire, gazing at the moon while sipping the drink, I realized I rather liked it.
For the first time in a long while, I felt at ease.
“Whew…… This is nice. Moments like this.”
The fact that I was an adult now, and that I was alive, hit me all over again, leaving me both weary and strangely content.
When Magi had caught me, I’d been certain I was going to die.
“I’m glad it suits your taste.”
“Though I think I’m getting a little drunk.”
“It’s smooth, but strong. Our tribe’s traditional brew is famous for its taste. Other tribes even come to trade bear pelts for it.”
I see. So it was a local specialty.
Deciding to drink while I had the chance, I nodded and kept sipping.
“Outsider! Eat! Meat!”
“More drink! Pour! Pour!”
The tribespeople brought me well-cooked goat meat and refilled my cup whenever it emptied. They seemed very interested in me.
“Everyone here speaks the common tongue pretty well.”
“I teach them regularly. We can’t live in the jungle forever.”
That made sense.
Anelia spoke the common tongue so fluently that if you didn’t know better, you’d never guess she was from the jungle.
“Now that I think about it, there’s nothing you can’t do, Sister.”
“Oh my, you flatter me.”
“It’s true. Your swordsmanship is excellent, and later I found out that being a high-ranking mercenary is incredibly rare.”
When I was young, I hadn’t understood, but Anelia, Kenta, and Captain Shabel had all been high-ranking mercenaries.
High-ranking mercenaries were an elite group—only three thousand existed across the entire continent. They were not only powerful but also commanded high fees.
Looking back, the Shabel Mercenary Corps, with three such members, had been a small but elite unit.
They’d protected a child like me for free. It was something I should still be grateful for.
“I wrote you a letter once.”
“Did you? Where did you send it?”
“I didn’t know your address, so I asked the Mercenary Central Association. They gave me the address of the Shabel Mercenary Corps headquarters. I addressed it to ‘Anelia of the Shabel Mercenary Corps.’ I thought if I was lucky, it might reach you. But you never got it, did you?”
Talking about something from so long ago over drinks made me feel oddly grown-up.
“Unfortunately, no.”
“I figured as much.”
“I left the mercenary corps less than a month after we parted. Even if the letter had arrived at headquarters, I wouldn’t have been there.”
This world had many inconveniences.
Letters took months to arrive, and the chance of them getting lost was absurdly high.
“But we met again like this. When you think about how extraordinary our connection is, you should thank the gods……”
“Ah, them.”
That damned god.
If any god was attached to me, it had to be the god of misfortune. Or maybe the god of trials!
I openly made a blasphemous face and gulped down my drink.
Downing it in one shot lifted my mood, if only slightly.
“Phew! From my mouth, ‘Thank you, O gods’ will never come out.”
“Did something bad happen to you?”
“Too many things to count.”
Enough to fill a whole book, probably.
“In the first place, I came here to…… Never mind. The one thing I’m sure of is that my faith is weaker than that of the jungle tribespeople here.”
Most nobles were deeply religious, especially those close to power. They were educated to be devout from a young age.
The farther one lived from power or cities, the less likely they were to be deeply faithful.
“The gods can’t watch over everyone.”
Anelia comforted me and refilled my cup.
I’d probably had about five drinks by now. My tolerance seemed to be right around here—my face was growing warm, and I felt pleasantly tipsy.
So this was what being drunk felt like.
My mood was swinging wildly.
“That doesn’t mean they have to pile misfortune on me specifically!”
“My, you seem to have a lot bottled up.”
“If I ever meet them, there are exactly two people whose collars I want to grab. One is the god…… and the other is……”
“The other is?”
“……Someone. A nasty man you don’t know.”
Robenin Pedri.
The only way to erase that bastard’s name from my mind was to beat him in a fight.
Just caring this much about someone was enough to wound my pride.
“More importantly, what’s in this drink? Could I make it in the city?”
“You like it? You could probably make it, but the ratios are a secret. Even if you know the ingredients, it won’t taste the same.”
“What’s the main ingredient?”
“Fruit, antidote grass, and……”
Why was she hesitating?
Anelia stopped talking while I had the cup to my lips.
Only after I lowered it did she smile gently and answer.
“Snake.”
“……”
……
Ppueng! I hate Anelia!