A star-and-moon night sky shrouded the vast camp. Dots of bonfires sent up invisible cooking smoke. All across every corner of Red Crow "City," the savory aroma of food drifted. That scent, spreading everywhere and mingling together, was like an entire street of open-air barbecue.
"Snff... smells so good!... What kind of chieftain is this? Doesn't even take care of dinner..."
Old Militia Chiwako sniffed, swallowed his saliva, and rubbed his hunger-flattened belly. As he muttered and walked toward Chipawa's thatch hut, he called to Priest Mekat, who stood beside him in a daze.
"Mekat... Mekat!"
"Ah! Uh?"
Priest Mekat looked around nervously, as if he had just startled awake from a dream. Only when he turned his head and saw the old Militia's wrinkled face leaning in to peer at him did he let out a breath.
"Main God! Captain Chi... it was you..."
"What were you thinking about just now?"
"Nothing!... I wasn't thinking..."
At that, the old Militia lifted an eyebrow. He glanced at Mekat's pale face and said nothing more, merely asking about the conversation from not long before.
"What nonsense were you spouting just now? Something about a dagger, a name, His Majesty?... That masked female chieftain's eyes went red afterward, like a mother leopard about to bite someone..."
"I didn't, it wasn't me!... Uh..."
"Go on! There's no one else here. I'll think it through for you..."
"Mm..."
Priest Mekat, in a rare gesture, tugged at his hair and yanked out a whole handful. Confusion on his face, he laid bare his worries in distress.
"Main God! It really is strange... This female chieftain of the wasteland seems to have known His Majesty ten years ago... She also has a dagger, carved with His Majesty's name, and it seems His Majesty gave it to