Escape From a Deserted Island With Enemy Female Soldiers

0 – The Sea, It Breathes

The war broke out the day after my discharge.

A preemptive strike by the Holy Kingdom. I don’t know the specifics. What mattered was our country’s response. Instead of humanitarian protests or negotiations, the Magic Nation government declared merciless retaliation.

There wasn’t even time to catch my breath. Less than half a day later, the conscription notice arrived.

“Ah.”

Re-drafted just a day after becoming a reservist.

I’d rather go through grad school twice.

What good does complaining do? I sighed and checked the notice. Front lines, of course. If I just stayed put, I’d be dragged off and end up as cannon fodder.

But, it wasn’t like there were absolutely no ways out.

[Those wishing to be commissioned as NCOs or officers are to visit the nearest military affairs office.]

I grabbed my coat immediately and headed out.

“Officer demand rises during wartime, you see. If you meet the requirements, getting commissioned as an officer would be better.”

“Is it possible to change my branch?”

“Yes, of course.”

Air Force.

To survive, I had to get into the Air Force no matter what.

I received a booklet listing military specializations and opened it. The self-loathing hit as I browsed re-enlistment routes like they were a restaurant menu, but there was no other way. My life depended on it.

[(Specialty) Mana Stone Officer]

A position that involves creating and maintaining artifacts, including military mana stones.

I vaguely knew of their existence. I had looked into it during my deliberations between enlisted and officer ranks. In the end, I chose enlisted because of the service term… Dammit, who could’ve known things would turn out like this.

“Is it possible to apply with this specialty?”

“You’re referring to Air Force Mana Stone Officer, right? Just a moment.”

The clerk left their spot, returning shortly with a verification tablet.

“Mana Stone Officers are specialized positions, so you can’t apply if you don’t meet the requirements. You need at least a Master’s degree in Mana Stone Studies and a Level 2 National Magician qualification. Do you have those?”

“Yes, I do.”

“I’ll confirm your personal information. Could you please place your hand on the stone tablet?”

Following the instructions, I placed my hand, and my personal information scrolled onto the screen linked to the mana stone tablet. A few dozen seconds passed.

“Confirmed. You’re eligible for specialized officer enlistment.”

A smile spread across my face.

Whether it was a smile of relief, a self-deprecating smirk, or just a crazy grin, I honestly couldn’t tell.

Regardless, the fact that I had to go to the military twice was unchanged.

“Kids, Daddy’s going to be gone for a bit.”

I said my goodbyes to the pet rocks I kept carefully at home, then reenlisted.

Skipping the temporary enlistment and soldiering-up phases, I went straight into the officer training. I studied and mastered tactics, logistics, and cartography over two months, and my specialty training was practically a walk in the park, given my major.

“You’re way better than the others? Are you an experienced hire?”

“I did a few defense industry projects while getting my degree.”

“Hey, we’ve got an ace here. Look after him.”

Anyway, those two months felt incredibly rewarding. Above all, living near the capital while training was pure bliss.

Up until this point, I genuinely thought I would serve out my time at a safe, rear-echelon post with no hardship at all.

But who could have possibly foreseen…

Against the odds, I’d been assigned to the front lines.

“Welcome to the 8th Fleet.”

A small archipelago far from the mainland, down south.

My duty station was a flight wing under the joint naval-air command located here.

Out of all the Air Force units, I’d ended up in the one closest to enemy territory.

Just my rotten luck.

Things looked grim, but I decided to think positively. Yeah, at least my rank jumped up, that’s something.

Anyways.

“I am Admiral Abraham Dietz, Supreme Commander of the Southern Joint Command.”

A navy admiral coming out to greet a mere lieutenant’s unit transfer?

Something felt off, but I just brushed it aside. He must be the type who really takes care of his subordinates, right? Maybe I’m just being too sensitive.

“Air Force Lieutenant Erich Ronstein, reporting for duty. It is an honor to meet you, sir.”

“I hear you are a First-Class Mage.”

“That is correct.”

“Such an achievement at such a young age is truly impressive. I have high hopes for your performance.”

So far, so good.

Yeah, up to this point, it was alright.

“Air raid!”

“Everyone, to the bomb shelters!”

Not even an hour after arriving, we were under attack by enemy air forces.

I ended up fleeing with Admiral Deetz in a daze.

Barely calming my trembling heart, I looked up at the sky through a small gap in the bunker. Several dragons were flying over the base, dropping bombs.

The blast hit my ears hard. Even as the soldiers covered their heads and staggered, the Admiral stood stiffly, staring ahead.

“Lieutenant, do you happen to know what those are?”

“Looks like dragon riders, sir.”

“You have good eyes. You’re right. Very swift and wicked b*stards.”

Our anti-aircraft guns spat fire, but we couldn’t expect more than a check. The dragon riders calmly slipped away, avoiding the barrage.

A little later, they returned, carrying new packages.

A second explosion ripped through everywhere.

Our interceptors scrambled too. It looked like they were gaining on them, but the dragons spewed fire, creating a smokescreen, and then vanished far away. Only a few were shot down.

“Dragons can’t carry that many bombs, which is why they keep going back and forth. Like gnats. Better than bombers, I’ll give them that, but the fact they do this periodically, tsk.”

The air raid only ended three hours later.

Smoke was rising from all over the base. A squall started to fall just in time, preventing the fires from spreading too much, but it didn’t spare us from casualties.

“If you have a free hand, come help quickly!”

“Anyone here know how to use telekinesis? There are people trapped here!”

“Ughhh.”

Seeing the medics moving frantically in the downpour, I couldn’t just stand there. I hastily made floating stones on the spot and started to shovel away the collapsed debris.

A medical officer was triaging the injured. The triage was all black. I felt like I saw more corpses that day than I would in my whole life.

And this was just a containment-level air raid.

As the situation was being brought under control, the emotion I felt wasn’t fear. It was rage. Most of the dead and injured were my age. What crime had the young committed?

“You’ve worked hard.”

Admiral Deetz set down a cup of coffee, freshly brewed. He was, like me, a drowned rat.

“Did you also participate in the operation, sir?”

“You too. It’s not wise for a precious arcane engineer to push themselves like that.”

“I believe saving lives is above rank or position.”

“Hmm.”

The admiral chuckled wryly, taking a sip of his coffee.

“Position, and what else? Rank, it’s the same.”

“Sir, you command the entire fleet. If something happened to you, the military would descend into chaos.”

“What army isn’t chaotic in the midst of war?”

That ended the conversation for a moment. I needed time to collect my thoughts.

“Lieutenant.”

“Yes, sir.”

“You saw the dragon knights’ evasive maneuvers today, I presume? Can you create a mana stone that will effectively subdue them?”

“I’ll do my best, sir.”

“Answer only with ‘can’ or ‘cannot’.”

“I can.”

“A half-assed mana stone won’t be enough. Especially with those troublesome units, if we’re going to deal with them… the thought alone makes my head hurt.”

“Have they already established a notable unit, sir?”

“Indeed they have.”

The admiral adjusted his cap, sighing.

“Valkyrie, a fully female armored dragon attack force.”

“Valkyrie, you say?”

“The elite of the Holy Spirit Kingdom’s Air Force, and particularly hostile to mages. To reclaim air superiority, we’ll have to fight them eventually.”

A force particularly hostile to mages.

“An execution squad, then.”

“That’s right.”

A chill ran down my spine. Execution squads don’t take prisoners. Encountering them meant certain death.

“From what I’ve gathered, there seems to be a strategic element too. Most of the mages they’ve taken down were high-ranking, 2nd grade or above.”

“That’s fascinating. How do they find mages?”

“Thanks to the dragons’ pit organs. They can sense not only heat but also mana. Especially the armored dragons we just mentioned. They’re smart enough to inform their masters about mana flows, apparently.”

“I can’t go around leaking mana then.”

“Easier said than done. Especially for a soft-hearted soul like you, maintaining composure is crucial.”

I calmed my mind. And I realized what I had to do.

As soon as I settled in, I began working on the development of a new mana stone.

To shoot down more Holy Spirit Kingdom dragon knights, to kill more enemies. Believing that was the only way to survive.

A month later, with the successful synthesis of ‘Red Garnet’, a variant of garnet, the tide of the war began to turn. The yttrium and aluminum employed in Red Garnet greatly enhanced the speed of projectiles.

With the help of optical mages, a technology was born that used guided beams to chase down enemies, and I called this magi-bullet technology a guided missile.

In the battles that ensued soon after, Red Garnet played a pivotal role. The Holy Spirit Kingdom Air Force was utterly crushed.

“To achieve this much in just a month after your commission, a 1st-grade mage is indeed different.”

“That’s too kind, sir.”

“Continue to give your best effort in the future.”

I was promoted to lieutenant for my contributions in developing the mana stone. And it was from then that I began to catch the eye of Admiral Dietz.

One year, two years, passed like that.

I made more mana stones and artifacts.

Our forces advanced along the map. Corpses piled up as much as the front lines were pushed forward.

For every enemy killed, our side’s losses grew worse.

I saw my comrades die, heard the tragic news of my friends.

I faced seniors buried in acrid smoke, poured drinks for my swollen-faced classmates being recovered, and built monuments for my juniors who fell ill with some unknown plague and became cadavers.

By the time my immediate superior fell in battle by the Valkyries, I was once again promoted, this time to major. I was to fill his empty position.

“We will seize air superiority in this upcoming battle.”

Finally, a large-scale operation was planned. Command pulled together all the main fleets and personnel they could muster. That included me.

I was assigned to the flagship where the admiral would be, as head of reinforcing the anti-air guns, working with the mana stones required.

I wanted to run. I didn’t want to fight.

But what could I do? The military is a place where you do as you’re told. There was no other choice.

“I suddenly want to see my daughter’s face.”

The admiral lamented.

“She’s about the same age as you, if you just go by age, and it’s been too long since I’ve seen her. She must be a proper lady by now…”

“You’ll be able to see her as soon as the war is over.”

“I hope so.”

The chatter ended there.

We were closing in on the operational zone. The Admiral adjusted his baton and spoke.

“From this moment, your life and mine are intertwined. If you die, so do I, and if I survive, you will too.”

I exchanged a salute with the Admiral, then stepped out onto the deck and gathered my battalion. I barked the order at them, the rain like thick bullets hammering down.

“Everyone survive. If we hold out today, we’ll be home by the end of the year!”

The men roared back, full of fight.

But that fight was crushed like dry straw as soon as the battle began.

It wasn’t just ordinary dragon knights, it was Valkyries that appeared right from the start.

“It’s the White Lotus Battalion!”

The White Lotus Battalion was the Holy Empire Air Force’s elite, made up of ace Valkyries with twenty or more kills each.

They weaved through the barrage with an almost supernatural sense, setting the fleet ablaze. Water geysers erupted all around us.

Everyone fought their hardest, but there was no stopping the Valkyries, bitter and fueled by repeated victories.

Finally, the anti-air defenses were breached.

“Port side hit! Port side hit!”

The flagship took a torpedo and started to sink.

“Kill the mages first!”

Three ironclad dragons landed on the warship. They used holy spears to shoot down the mages trying to fight back, and incinerated those trying to leap into the sea.

It was inefficient to descend onto a sinking ship just to kill people. The Valkyries were acting out of religious conviction.

“There’s one over there!”

Three dragons are staring at me. My mouth goes bone-dry.

That’s when it happened. The ship lurched hard, making the dragon riders lose their footing for a moment.

At the same instant, I saw a corpse, soaked in blood, slide down the slope and fall into the sea.

David.

One of my squad, and a friend, a junior from the academy.

The moment I confirmed it was him, I lost it and ran to the anti-aircraft gun.

I saw the anti-aircraft gunner, collapsed with blood pouring from his ears. I wished him peace, and then I grabbed the controls.

[“Sea, breathe.”]

I’d reinforced the shells with white phosphorus a few days before. And then I gave a taste of their own medicine to those two b*tches pointing their holy lances at me.

Tu-du-du-du!

The bullets, like thorns, blazed furiously even in the downpour.

Both Valkyries screamed, throwing off their safety gear, and ended up falling from their dragons, their necks snapped. They were probably dead instantly.

“Daisy, Olivia! No!!”

The remaining Valkyrie glared at me, charging in like she wanted to kill me.

“You, a mage, how dare you—!!”

In that split second, her golden eyes flickered through my goggles. Burning like the sun, filled with rage.

Who the hell do you think you are playing the victim, you b*tch.

I riddled the dragon’s neck and wings with magic bullets.

The ironclad dragon roared and thrashed. Thanks to the other side acting on emotion, I was able to exploit an opening.

I was about to aim for her head, hellbent on avenging my men.

A huge wave crashed, separating me from her.

I was able to hold onto the controls tightly, so I wasn’t swept away, but the woman, along with the severely injured dragon, tumbled down below the warship.

“……Ha.”

My whole body was soaked. My shoulders slump.

I’d gotten past the immediate crisis. But the situation wasn’t good. There was no saving the flagship from sinking. Escape was the only solution.

“Your Excellency! Where are you! Your Excellency!”

Shouting at the top of my lungs just got buried by the rain. The rain had gotten so intense, I couldn’t see an inch ahead. I couldn’t even guess where the command room was, or which end was the bow and which was the stern.

That’s why finding a small lifeboat was like a miracle.

I could hear the frenzied flapping of the dragons’ wings. If I stayed here any longer, I’d either drown or die in battle, one way or another.

My deliberation didn’t last long.

I lowered the lifeboat and jumped into the sea.