>>5600418The forest with the waterfall, near Nectar Droplet
Within the eerie forest is Sira, sitting against a tree and petting Warin’s head while they talk about the things they had to deal with. He occasionally feeds her fillets of raw fish he took from the buckets.
「.. the fishes kept falling out of its hand.」
「When the Preta dropped them, the fillets just exploded on the ground. It got everywhere. Chunks of it were just flying.」
“Ah man. I should’ve been there.”
「Yeah. I’m sure you could’ve talked to that thing much better than me.」
“.. hey. You got any more of those fillets?”
「Nope. That was the last one. You can have the dried fruits, though. I still have a few in my pockets.」
Sira places her head on the ground and opens up a packet of his emergency rations.
Such an act reminds him of their first meeting, a long time ago.
Way back when Red Winter and Catcher Crops had to contend with competitors. Back when Cris and Zeal’s abortifacients and contraceptive concoctions weren’t produced in large numbers.
When he was just an associate of Red Winter that shoveled dirt and buried corpses. Someone had to bury the unwanted children of the brothel.
He first saw her then, a floating head that lurks in this forest at night, perpetually hungry and drifting. With his help, she found some semblance of 'family' in the Red Winter.
A black magic user cursed to be a Krasue and a crow who had nothing. They got along pretty well.
