Escape From a Deserted Island With Enemy Female Soldiers

10 – A Little Trust (2)

The barnacle monster spoke. And it was in Hyern.

“Did…did I just hear that?”

[“For the La-Lady’s, e-eternal beauty.”]

I wasn’t imagining it.

“What the hell are you babbling about?”

[“Humans, fresh humans, must be offered.”]

The barnacle thing lifted the life raft. I braced myself to dodge, thinking it would throw it, but I miscalculated. It placed the raft on its head and began to back away.

“Shit, it’s escaping!”

“Stop it!”

Valkyrie bolted ahead. I took down the last straggler of a pedestrian and followed.

“If there’s no escape pod, we’re screwed!”

“Who the hell doesn’t know that, you idiot!”

Valkyrie and I pursued with everything we had. The barnacle monster was faster than I’d imagined. If we slowed down even a little, we’d lose it. That speed for that size.

*Whizz!*

The monster went down the slope. It was a gravelly area. The chase became even more difficult. Still, there was no choice. We had to keep going.

The monster, fleeing along the sea cliff, rounded a corner. David advised.

[‘Use the Engram Stone.’]

“Hey!”

Valkyrie glanced back, still running. I gestured.

“Move!”

She swerved aside. I pulled out a dark-ink-colored stone from my pocket, muttering.

[“Bind it.”]

The magic stone, responding to my utterance, emitted an ominous light and began to decay. And then.

*Kugugugugu!*

The gravel on the ground resonated all at once.

*Thwack!*

The gravel that had been flung up struck the monster running ahead. The monster tumbled, accompanied by a dull thud.

As it fell, the gravel around it swarmed in like rats. Those stones weren’t magic stones. But they were acting like them, under the direction of the Engram Stone. A phenomenon called the ‘Quake’.

[“aaahhh!”]

A monster, surrounded by rocks, wailed.

[“Pierce it.”]

I, having bound its legs, shot a lapis lazuli stone. *Crack!* The lapis lazuli pierced through the monster’s shell without incident. No matter how tough its shell was, a barnacle was still a barnacle.

But the next moment, something unexpected happened.

[“For, the, lady.”]

With its last struggle, the monster threw a lifeboat.

“Aah!”

The Valkyrie gasped. I, too, couldn’t help but stiffen my face as I looked at the direction the monster threw the boat.

The direction the lifeboat was thrown was a cave. A near-vertical cave at that.

[“aaah!”]

After completely cutting the windpipe of the beast that knew how to speak, Valkyrie and I examined the inside of the cave. Because it didn’t receive sunlight, it was dark and gloomy. I took out a luminescent stone I had brought and infused it with magic.

“Ah, goddamn it.”

“Ah, goddamn it.”

The lifeboat was lying down there at the bottom.

“How are we going to get that?”

“Wait a minute. I’ll make a levitation stone and bring it up.”

Things had gotten complicated, but it wasn’t anything we couldn’t solve. I gave Valkyrie a hand signal and started rummaging through the gravel. Let’s see. Something that would be suitable as material for a levitation stone…

“Mage!”

“Yeah?”

“Something’s wrong! Come quick! Right now!!”

The Valkyrie gestured frantically. A signal to come immediately. I knew something was wrong, a gut feeling, and I rushed over.

Koo-ooh-ooh!

The sound of rushing water. Echoing from deep within the cave.

Could it be? No way.

“…Ah, for fuck’s sake.”

Water was rising. Fast. Very fast.

“No time. If we’re getting it out, we gotta move now.”

The distance to the cave floor wasn’t too deep. If Valkyrie and I worked well together, we could pull the raft out before the water rose. Our eyes met and we moved.

Valkyrie quickly descended. I kept the glowstone bright, making sure she could see clearly inside. Finally, her feet landed fully on the ground.

“Got it! Pull it up now!”

I took the raft from Valkyrie and dragged it out of the cave. All of that took less than three minutes. The first hurdle was cleared.

Now all that was left was getting her out.

The sound of the water grew louder, more violent. Valkyrie’s eyes were shaking. Despite that, she calmly climbed, stepping on protruding rocks on the slope.

When she finally reached the halfway point, I lay flat on the ground and extended my hand.

“Grab on!”

I caught Valkyrie’s struggling fingertips. Just as she seemed relieved, a surge of water burst out like a dam breaking, slamming into her legs and waist.

“Kuh!”

I felt an enormous resistance in Valkyrie’s grasp. The water was pulling her back. Valkyrie’s face turned deathly pale.

“Hurry! Pull me up, hurry!”

“I’m, I’m doing my best…!””

“You little shit! Put some muscle into it!”

I tried my best, but it was hopeless. The current was insatiable, rising up to Valkyrie’s chest. My arm felt like it was going to pop out of its socket.

In that instant, I knew.

Ah, this. This is absolutely not going to work.

But I didn’t give up. Abandoning her was never an option in my plan. Even though she’s my enemy, if I let her go like this, I’ll spend the rest of my life in regret.

My stubborn pride resulted in a wretched outcome. In the end, I couldn’t resist the current and was pulled under too. *Whoosh*, my body rose then began to fall helplessly.

“Ugh!”

“aaah!”

And just like that, we were swept away deeper into the cave by the raging torrent.

Valkyrie and I clung tight to each other, letting the current carry us. At this point, it was the best we could do.

How many minutes passed? After being tossed around through the long tunnel, we were washed into a lake inside the cave.

“Haa, haa.”

I swam out of the lake. Valkyrie followed right behind. I reached out a hand.

“…Grab it.”

Valkyrie, who was about to take my hand, flinched for a moment. She hesitated, but pulled herself up on her own without my help. Feeling foolish, I scratched my head.

“Phew, what a dog’s life.”

The clothes I had tried so hard to dry were soaked again. I hope I don’t catch another cold, damn it.

Valkyrie blinked her eyelashes and squeezed the water out of her side hair. She glanced at me and said in a low voice.

“Sorry. Because of me.”

“Whatever. Let’s just find a way out of here.”

I looked around.

The cave was wide, and paths branched off in many directions.

“Guess we can’t go back the way we came.”

I immediately recognized that the water flow that had led me and Valkyrie here wasn’t a simple natural phenomenon. The physics of it just didn’t allow for waves to appear like that.

“Well, looks like there’s some kind of boss living here.”

The leader of those fish monsters. If what that barnacle creature said was true, a being called ‘Miss’ might rule this island and cave.

That’d be a bit of a problem.

First, we need to make weapons. Because we were barehanded when hauling the lifeboat earlier, neither Valkyrie nor I have anything to speak of in the way of tools. The mana stones in my pocket are our only means of attack for now.

[“Fruit, ripen.”]

I cut off a stalagmite growing nearby, smoothed it out, and handed it to Valkyrie. Then I gathered stones from around us and turned them into mana stones.

I glanced at the surroundings and Valkyrie, then gestured.

“Let’s go. Find an exit.”

*

Rachel replayed the series of actions she’d witnessed the man perform a moment ago.

Even when his life was in danger, he hadn’t let go of her wrist, and despite being dragged into this place with her, he hadn’t reproached her at all.

He was different than she’d thought.

Up until now, Rachel had believed the man could discard her at any time. She had been certain that his true nature would surface, especially if a situation arose like that one, where his life was directly threatened.

But in reality, the opposite had happened. He hadn’t acted selfishly. Instead of prioritizing his own safety, he’d chosen to be swept along with her in the treacherous current. He must have known the risks. That fact was all that mattered.

Just what kind of person is he?

She’d always thought all mages were wicked and eccentric, so was this man different?

No, even so, killing precious comrades right before my eyes isn’t something I can just forgive.

Still, maybe his true nature really is that of a good person…

My head spun with all sorts of useless thoughts. Rachel shook her head. Dwelling on it here would only give her a headache.

Survival.

For now, focus on survival. Returning safely to the Holy Kingdom is her only goal right now.

“If you’re not coming, I’m going on ahead.”

“Hey, wait! Hold on!”

Rachel’s pace quickened accordingly.

*

The cave where Valkyrie and I fell was larger than I could have imagined. The paths were intricate and there were plenty of fish-like monsters around.

The monsters often popped up from the lakes scattered here and there. At first, I was flustered by the ambushes, but I soon figured out the rules to their movements and was able to respond.

“This is the path we already took.”

I don’t need to look this way anymore. I scratched an ‘X’ on the wall with a whetstone.

After wandering around for hours searching for an exit, I finally came across a massive stone gate, easily five times the size of a person.

“Huh.”

It was the first sign of civilization I’d encountered since falling onto this island.