North x Northwest

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Epilogue Chapter 365

Epilogue 2: Sawa

Having said that, M’jasiri shouted something toward the still-gathered warriors. Whereas the warriors generally opposed one by one, there was one among them who wore a crown similar to M’jasiri’s and held a decorative staff like a sceptre. He stepped forward. He appeared to be of at least equal prominence, for M’jasiri seemed unable to ignore his words too carelessly, and her voice even softened.

Lil and Ed cautiously lifted their heads and observed the situation.

“…There seems to be a disagreement because of the Chief’s impulsive decision to invite you in…”

“…You said the pioneering squadron was wiped out in the past, then why is she keeping us alive when she knows we’re of the same race?…”

“…She wasn’t the chief at that time. The variable seems to be you… I suppose I can have a rational conversation with her…”

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Lil just rolled her eyes and looked at Ed.

“…Rational? Even when she looked at you like that?..”

He squinted his eyes and frowned as he gauged her expression.

“…Do you really think I’ll be dragged into the Chief’s bedroom or something?..”

“…Didn’t you notice something when she looked at you earlier? I was so worried for you…”

“…I have no desire to protect our peace in that way…”

“…Yeah, right…”

“…You’re the first one the Chief snatched, and I only followed through climbing onto another bird. There were no women in the pioneering squadron… Who knows, maybe they have a tradition or custom here that is friendly to women…”

After a long standoff with the warriors, M’jasiri eventually raised her hand with a sigh and declared something while looking around at the crowd. The people nodded. The man holding the sceptre also remained silent in agreement.

Ed naturally translated M’jasiri’s words.

“First, we need to prepare for your coming-of-age ceremony.”

Lil responded by speaking to Ed.

“What is she talking about? Both you and I have already lived for more than 30 years.*”

M’jasiri turned her gaze towards them once again. Ed conveyed Lil’s words, but the man next to M’jasiri shook his head firmly. He wore a necklace and a belt as ornate as M’jasiri’s, yet he bore no weapons at all. Lil assumed that he was their priest.

Ed re-laid the words spoken by the priest.

“Thirty-year-olds who have not had a coming-of-age ceremony are dirty, shameful, and should therefore die.”

‘Then… there’s no choice…’

Lil, wanting to live no matter what, asked earnestly.

“What do we need to do?”

Ed, who had been listening carefully to the priest, frowned and said.

“The unclean body… that has been brought into the water dragon’s territory, must be washed. You must quickly unite and capture the soul so that it does not wander…”

***

The following morning, when the sun rose without fail and gently caressed everything in the grassland, in the midst of the quietly sleeping life that slowly awoke, Lil clung to a monster’s claws and screamed.

“Aaaahhh!”

‘Is their coming-of-age ceremony about flying while hanging from the monster’s claws? Perhaps washing my body meant being swept away by the wind?’

Ed, who had taken flight with another beast, couldn’t be seen from her position. As the ground receded again, all her senses lost their touch with reality. Only the huge claws gripping her back, like a predator fishing for prey, felt vividly alive. The sound of wings flapping was as grand as the flapping sails of a sailing ship.

Lil clamped her lips together in an attempt to stifle her screams.

The wind rushed past her body. The speed was so fast that a heavy resistance was felt against her torso and the air was as cold as when she climbed a high mountain. By the time she entered the clouds and her vision became blurry, she could barely breathe.

Clouds floated beneath her feet as they cast a clear shadow on the ground. She lifted her head, forgetting her fear for that moment. The horizon holding up the sun in the distance looked like a curve.

The moment she was being sucked into the mysteries of heaven and earth, Lil’s body fell vertically.

“…Aaaaaahhh!”

Even though she didn’t want to open her mouth, it opened naturally.

Being in freefall, her stomach dropped and fluttered in the most miserable way, it was so bad that she, for a moment, feared that her intestines were truly being forced out from her body. Looking at her feet, she let out another long scream. It was difficult for her to keep her eyes open due to the speed at which she was being pulled by gravity, but fortunately or rather unfortunately, the Leonard River was already approaching below. Fighting against the heavy resistance, Lil tucked her head down. She filled her lungs to the fullest and held her breath. Droplets of water splashed down her face as soon as she entered the area beneath ??a cliff, and water soon hit her face like a shower of rain.

– Wooosh! –

The whirlpool under the waterfall struck Lil’s body from all sides. As if they were going to explode, pain filled her ears. Her arms and legs flailed, but she couldn’t raise herself to the surface properly. Lil alternated her arms and teased her legs frantically. If she slowed down even a little and got caught up in the current, death was bound to happen.

But the water’s power, which seemed to have been adamant about holding her down, was suddenly shaken off and Lil soared to the surface with all her might. She was in a panic, trying to catch the breath she had been holding. In her field of vision, a towering red terrain appeared in the middle of the river, a stream of waves leading up to it. At the same time, her body was sucked underwater again. Lil hastily struggled and popped her head back up. The moment she opened her eyes, she searched for that red. On closer inspection, it turned out to be an island crowded with people in the middle of the rough current.

Lil had to once more urgently hold her breath, as the current was so strong that she had to fight for her head to rise to the surface before being submerged so easily. With great effort, she eventually escaped the area of ??the falls and caught the current going midstream. The island she was approaching now looked more like an altar than an island. With an artificially created staircase and a flat surface above it.

She wasn’t far, and she could reach it quickly just by adjusting her direction while being pushed by the flow of water. Still, Lil was constantly pulled under the surface.

Her body, which had been quenched again and again, finally reached the altar. Lil grabbed the bottom of the stairs, panting for breath, while the waves that hit the stairs were shattered into white pieces. She raised her legs with difficulty before her body could float away. At the top were countless people standing at the altar, but no one approached her to help.

She instinctively knew that even this was part of the ritual. Washing the body really meant washing the body of the outsider in the river. As she crawled to her feet, streams of water poured down from every inch of her body. The island-like altar was a perfect sphere, such that after climbing a few steps, a round and spacious site emerged. Lil managed to force her knees to climb the remaining steps. The few flights of stairs were exhausting, as if she was conquering a distantly high mountain instead.

Ed had already arrived at the safety of the site. Which was a great comfort to Lil. She shifted her heavy steps so that she stood braced next to him. Both drenched, Lil and Ed’s appearance was nothing short of a complete mess.

With waterfalls pouring from all sides of the altar, Ed asked quietly.

“…Are you okay?…”

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Footnote:

“What is she talking about? Both you and I have already lived for more than 30 years.” = Based on this piece of information, it’s safe to say we had a time skip of about 5 years from the main story. And if Lil is 30, that would make Ed 35.

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