Escape From a Deserted Island With Enemy Female Soldiers

chapter 16



15 – First Escape (2)

The evening of the day we escaped the cave, Valkyrie approached me and picked up the map and the ancient document. She tilted her head, pointing at a line of text on the document.

“What, you know what this means?”

Nod nod.

“Yeah, I know. It’s written in Wheon.”

Wheon. A language that was once called the devil’s tongue.

I never thought monsters could speak Wheon.

It seemed Valkyrie wanted to understand the contents of this document through me.

“While we’re at it, learning your language would probably be useful too.”

It was a good sign. If I learned even a little Ascalian, I could use it to my advantage far into the future.

From that day, we decided to try and communicate properly.

“First, let’s start with a simple greeting.”

I faced Valkyrie and slowly, pronouncing each syllable distinctly, said,

“Hello.”

“……?”

“Repeat after me. Hello.”

“Annyong, hasaeo?”

“Again, hello?”

As I said this, I bowed my head. Whether it was the Holy Nation or the Magic Kingdom, bowing to greet someone was the same everywhere, so if Valkyrie had any sense, she’d understand what this meant immediately.

“Hello.”

“Annyong, hasaeo.”

“That’s right. Hello?”

“Annyong, hasaeo?”

“Good.”

As expected, Valkyrie picked up the expression quickly. Her pronunciation was a little off, but it wasn’t so bad I couldn’t understand, so I decided to let it slide.

“Now, you teach me.”

After that, we exchanged a few simple greetings and other expressions.

“One, two, three.”

“One, two, three.”

“This, that.”

“This, that.”

“Left, right, forward, back.”

“Left, right, forward, back.”

“East, west, south, north.”

“East, west, south, north.”

“Food, water, house, monster.”

“Food, water, house, monster.”

“Over, you copy? Air Force is a real fucking drag, huh?”

“Over. Can barely hear you. But yeah, man, Air Force is a real fucking drag, huh?”

And so, several days passed.

I became able to pronounce the basic Holy Spirit Nation words. Valkyrie, too, had learned them.

Of course, the road ahead was still long and difficult. I couldn’t just smoothly say something like, ‘How about we go hunting this morning?’ If I wanted to express that thought, I could point outside the cave and say something like this:

-Morning, food?

And Valkyrie would usually understand.

Even if she didn’t, it was okay. We had gestures and drawings. We could work out any parts where we didn’t understand through the language of our bodies.

“Ughhh.”

A new morning dawned.

As soon as I woke up, I picked up a piece of charcoal and scratched on the cave wall. Counting them, there were thirty-two. It was the 32nd day since we’d crashed on this island.

“Ughhh.”

The Valkyrie stretched awake, her movements like ink strokes unfurling on paper. Maybe last night had been particularly hot and humid, because her outer uniform was cast off to the side.

“Ahem.”

I cleared my throat, wiggling my fingers. Startled, the Valkyrie scrambled to snatch her military coat, hastily doing up the front.

“Hello. Good morning.”

“G-good mor-ning.”

She hadn’t had any pronunciation correction, so her speech was still like a child’s. Honestly, it was kind of cute though…

“Ah.”

I’m losing it.

Get a grip, Erich. She’s the enemy. The enemy who killed my academy classmates, the ones dear to me.

“Today. Food, water.”

Nod nod.

“Row.”

“Row?”

I pointed to the lifeboat, then made rowing motions. The Valkyrie, who had been wearing a thoughtful look, nodded slightly, as if it dawned on her.

“Ah, right. If there’s a boat, there needs to be an oar.”

We each got up from our spots.

It had been a while since we’d beaten the Siren and left the cave. Since then, we’d started dividing up tasks, united by the common goal of escaping the island.

During the day, the Valkyrie mainly hunted and foraged. She’d occasionally help me make tools, too.

Meanwhile, I purified water with zeolite, re-boiled the discarded purification stones to get some tasteless salt, made containers for storing food and water, built traps, basically, I started making anything and everything. A lot of everything.

The Valkyrie was particularly skilled at catching fish. Using gestures to communicate, she let me know she’d lived in a fishing village as a kid and had done a lot of spear and net fishing.

Alright, so today was the day we made oars. We checked the traps, then snapped some decent-looking trees, dragged them back, and whittled them with our knives.

Wood for oars needs to be light and sturdy. Most of all, the ends need to be wide, but unfortunately, we wouldn’t get that kind without an axe.

As an alternative, I decided to combine two pieces of wood.

“Here, like this, carve a deep, straight groove down the middle of this pole. Then, fit this whittled panel in… it’ll be crude, but it should work somehow.”

“Whoa! You’ve got some skills?”

The flat part seemed a little narrow, but even this was a blessing. Since plant magic wasn’t my major, not knowing anything about it was a real pity. Dammit, if I’d known this was coming, I’d have done a double major.

We spent about two more weeks preparing like this.

Our destination was the closest island on the map. If it had more resources than here, we’d settle down; if not, we’d come back and regroup.

It had been stormy for the last two days straight, so today’s weather was incredibly pleasant. Not a single cloud in the sky – if we were going to escape, now was the perfect time.

“Water.”

“Got it.”

“Food.”

“Enough.”

“Lifeboat status check.”

“All good.”

According to the siren’s diary, escaping this island system right away is impossible. Apparently, there’s some kind of unknown force at play.

But that’s just magic, after all. Even if we run into something like a barrier, we’re going to try our hardest to break it.

“Oars. Got them?”

“Here, take this.”

Valkyrie and I each grabbed an oar and climbed into the lifeboat. We headed west. It was exactly the direction we wanted to go, so we had a tailwind. It was almost like the wind was blessing our departure.

* * *

Splosh.

The lifeboat hit the water.

My chest swelled. It was the first time I’d be leaving the island in a whole month. I’d gorged on fish the day before, and strength was coursing through me. Valkyrie and I fell into sync, rowing hard.

But then.

“Ugh.”

What the hell.

“…You’re not getting seasick, are you?”

* * *

“Colonel Tyria Caston, I sincerely welcome you aboard the Phoenix.”

The captain bowed at a rigid angle. The colonel’s insignia pinned to his shoulder caught Tyria’s eye. She waved a hand dismissively, replying,

“We’re the same rank. There’s no need to stand on such ceremony.”

“No, ma’am. As a believer of the Holy Spirit Church, how could I possibly treat the Saintess as an equal?”

Saintess.

While the power of that title had faded considerably from what it once was, it was still a position of privilege in the Holy Spirit Nation. Those recognized as Saintesses through divine intervention were able to wield holy magic to heal and comfort the souls of the departed.

“Two years ago, my son, a Dragon Knight, passed away at the Battle of Levere Bay. I can’t express how thankful I was for the solace you gave at the time. He surely made it to Heaven. Thank you.”

“I was just doing my duty.”

Tyria, embarrassed, smiled and after greeting the captain, headed to the deck with her aide. Since the Saintess was a holy figure directly blessed by the Goddess, she was assigned an aide despite not being a flag officer.

“Colonel Caston,”

Her aide said.

“That day at the Tatangkuru waters, a combined total of 15,000 from both sides were killed or injured. There’ll probably be a ton of spirits wandering the netherworld.”

“I know. You want me to soothe the good souls of our land and send them to enlightenment, and exorcise the wicked demons, right?”

“Yes.”

“It’s what I always do. It’s not difficult.”

Tiria said this while touching her eyes. Above her dusky eyelids, blue irises were set.

“Thank you…”

The saint mulled over the captain’s greeting.

“…What a cursed thing to say.”

“Pardon?”

“No, I was just wondering when we’ll arrive at the target sea.”

“We’re almost there. We’ll be entering it within an hour.”

Just as the lieutenant had said, after sailing a bit more, the fog thickened and an unidentifiable wailing began to be heard.

aaah!

At the cry, like a shriek, the lieutenant asked in bewilderment.

“What is that sound?”

“They are lost souls. They don’t even know they’re dead and are seeking salvation.”

“Like wraiths?”

“It’s a little different. But, with this many, there’s bound to be some.”

Tiria’s eyes changed to white. She quickly sorted out the Holy Spirit Nation soldiers and the Magic Nation soldiers.

She chanted a prayer and sent the souls of the Holy Spirit Nation up to the heavens first, then took out the Bakulus, intending to deal with the evil spirits of the Magic Nation.

“Hmph. They should have died peacefully.”

Tiria hated the Magocracy. Not just because she was a cleric. They threatened her life when alive, and when dead, they returned as wraiths, gnawing at her sanity.

[“MANA, IZUM REIH MANA.”]

[“Ouuu.”]

They used curses because they were evil spirits. Curses, the language of demons. Proof that a demon had harvested the souls of those who used magic in life.

If she wanted, she could hear what they were saying. But there was no need. It only ever made her feel worse.

“Goddess of Healing, smite them with your wrath.”

[“aaaH!”]

Tiria, having exorcised all the Magocracy soldiers, lowered her staff. She let out a deep sigh.

*KABOOM.*

The sky suddenly darkened. Swathes of dark clouds blocked the sun, adding to the storm.

“Captain, you should go inside now.”

“No.”

Tiria retrieved the Bakulus she had laid down.

“The weather… it’s not good.”

*WHOOSH!*

A gust of wind swept past her cheek. A hot sensation lingered. Tiria touched her cheek, then looked down at her hand. It was covered in blood.

“Captain Caston!”

Something was wrong.

A thick fog enveloped the entire ship, swallowing the Phoenix whole. You couldn’t see an inch ahead. She couldn’t even hear her adjutant’s voice anymore.

Suddenly, a shadow fell over her. Tiria raised her head. And she saw it.

A colossal serpent, risen from the sea, with jade scales and eyes of blue.

“There, gracious goddess.”

Tyria’s eyes shifted to violet.

*

Valkyrie and I rowed for half a day straight. We were worn, exhausted, but giving up wasn’t an option. A fog had appeared halfway, engulfed us for a moment, then land was there, right in front of us.

There was a flicker of unease, sure, but the second we laid eyes on dry land, I couldn’t help but get hyped.

“Hey! Look at that! It’s a sandbar!”

There hadn’t been any sandbar like that on the island we left. This was another island.

Finally, we managed to land without further incident.

*Shh-shh*.

Sand, crushed beneath the soles of my boots, made a soft, sliding sound. My heart pounded in my chest. I tied the dinghy to a nearby rock and just collapsed, completely spent.

And Valkyrie.

“Ughhh…”

She was a mess.

“Hey, you okay?”

“Urrghh.”

“Jeez. Just hang on.”

I grabbed some water from the dinghy and handed it to Valkyrie. I patted her back too. It took a few more minutes for her to recover.

“T-thanks… I feel better now.”

“Let’s rest a bit, then take a look around. We gotta see if there are any other people here.”

From a distance, the island looked bigger than an island usually does. No terraced land formations were visible; instead, a few palm trees waved a welcome. Beyond them lay the dense jungle.

“We should walk along the shore a bit, first. See if we can find anything, like a shipwreck.”

The image of a shattered ship on the sand made Valkyrie nod. We memorized the location of the life raft, then started walking along the white beach.

There might be someone else here. A native, or a survivor.

[‘If it’s a survivor, I really hope they’re from the Magic Nation.’]

David said.

[‘Though, I guess someone from the Holy Spirit Nation wouldn’t be *that* bad.’]

I nodded.

I’d gotten somewhat close to Valkyrie, so even if we bumped into a Holy Spirit Nation soldier, it wouldn’t be a huge problem. We could just offer to cooperate. We’re all stranded here together, no need to fight.

But there was one exception.

Military chaplains were tricky.

Chaplains. Or, to put it another way, priests. I’d heard they were basically narrow-minded. They’re usually at least lieutenant colonels, so even if Major Valkyrie tried to vouch for us, they probably wouldn’t listen.

And some chaplains who hold higher religious positions also act as political officers, and I heard they had the authority to summarily execute mages. They call it God’s right, and even generals apparently can’t touch it.

Of course, those sorts of chaplains would be chilling in operation rooms, spouting nonsense. There’s a near-zero chance of one being dropped here, thankfully.

“Hey, look there!”

“Huh?”

“There’s someone!”

Valkyrie pointed ahead. I focused my eyes, thinking it was a shipwreck, but there was no ship, just a person lying collapsed on the shore.

We picked up the pace and approached.

It was a silver-haired woman.

Holy Kingdom insignia. First and foremost, a soldier. The nun’s habit, modified to look like military garb, meant it was a cleric’s uniform. And cleric’s uniforms are what chaplains wear to distinguish themselves from other officers.

“Ughhh…”

Just then, the woman squirmed and groaned. She was alive.

[‘A real chaplain, huh.’]

“Ah, shit.”

Speak of the devil.

Looks like a bumpy future is in store for me.


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