Escape From a Deserted Island With Enemy Female Soldiers

22 – An Island Filled With Ghosts (5)

The Valkyrie and I were shipwrecked in the waters near Tatangkur. So, where did the souls of the soldiers who died there that day go?

They literally sank. Down to the cold abyss of the deep sea.

Their bodies, never even found, weren’t even worthy of a proper funeral. And so, their vengeful spirits, like buoys with severed lines, drifted aimlessly until they settled on this island.

[“We died unjustly that day. Kill that saint and that dragon knight to release our rage. Then, we won’t harm you, Commander.”]

The spirits’ voices held a desperate plea. Their will was unanimous.

To hear my fallen subordinates asking me to avenge them…

[“Even if the Valkyrie is your enemy, why is the saint?”]

[“That chaplain dragged our souls down to hell. It’s all the Holy Kingdom’s fault that we’re like this, and yet that woman tried to exorcise us, calling us corrupted! She didn’t offer comfort, showed distrust, lacked fairness, and we could only feel anger because she couldn’t understand us.”]

As soon as the monologue of one voice ended, the rest of the voices screamed in unison.

[“If we sacrifice two people, the souls of two of us can be saved.”]

[“Sacrifice? Salvation?”]

[“Major, we spoke with a demon.”]

I, who was feeling a twinge of pity, frowned at those words.

[“He said he’d bring back one of us for every officer of the Holy Spirit Nation who died on this island. Since that day, we’ve been waiting for castaways on this island for a month now.”]

I turned my head. In the darkness, the Saintess’s eyes flickered with a red light. In a tone that seemed to suppress hatred, she spoke decisively.

“In the end, your souls were sold, weren’t they? To a demon. You became evil spirits harming the living, yet you seek salvation? Don’t you think you’re being shameless? Cursed things.”

“Enough.”

I tried to stop the Saintess, but she instead lashed out at me.

“Magician, what are you going to do now? Kill me and the Valkyrie? You might be able to. If you get help from this monster.”

So that’s why the Saintess was being so venomous. It was easy to tell by observing her eyes. A pattern of purple mixed into a red base. The Saintess was furious and afraid at the same time.

Fear of death is something everyone has. The Saintess was no exception. Her acting so composed was probably because she was the face of the Order.

“I am a vessel descended from the Goddess of Healing. I can also act as a doctor. If you kill me, you won’t be healed. Even if you get hurt, or sick. You won’t be able to do anything.”

[“Major.”]

“But it seems we don’t have a choice.”

Clang!

Sparks flew.

The Saintess, having raised her staff, was thrown backward. The ghost had attacked. Though its form was unseen, the distance the Saintess was pushed indicated a terrifying physical force. The purple in the Saintess’s eyes became even more dominant.

“Ugh!”

[“Now, kill her while we hold her down. There is no time. She is a woman whose divine power recovers so quickly, you must take her out now while she’s weakened.”]

I don’t know much about the ghosts here.

Nor do I know how strong or great the Saint is.

The only thing I know is that the injustice my subordinates and comrades suffered has surpassed the Saint’s divine power.

However.

Despite my lack of information.

[“No. I won’t kill them.”]

My course of action hasn’t changed from a month ago.

[“I’m sorry. I don’t think I can grant your request.”]

[“What do you mean?”]

[“I don’t know how many dangers lie ahead of us on the way out of this island. I can’t handle it all alone. I’m already in the same boat as these women, so to speak. Therefore, I cannot agree to your request, soldiers, to kill the Valkyrie and the Saint.”]

The spirits murmured. Some voices immediately began to protest or antagonize me. The buzzing sound was like something massaging my brain.

[“…Major.”]

Amidst it all, one calm voice stood out clearly. It was the voice of a soldier named Alan who had died at Tatankur that day.

[“Major, you always spoke respectfully to subordinates like us and took on the difficult tasks yourself, even though you were of higher rank. Your name was famous in the Eighth Fleet. Many soldiers respected you. So, we, the dead, are shamelessly asking for just one more favor.”]

[“You want me, a living person, to end your enemies?”]

The spirits answered with silence.

[“If you know it’s shameless, then you shouldn’t even ask. All of you.”]

[“We died so unjustly. Our whole lives we’ve only lived under the gaze of others, obeying the orders of our superiors. Even when we were alive, we couldn’t do what we wanted, and now even after death, do we have to be mocked and manipulated by others?”]

[“Hey.”]

[“Now we’ll live for ourselves. We’ll obtain new bodies with the lives of two Holy Nation officers. And in our second lives, we’ll live however we want, doing whatever we please….”]

[“The Oath of Jeriem.”]

The moment I uttered that phrase, the voices fell silent all at once.

[“Have you forgotten?”]

[“……”]

[“One, to use magic only for good.”]

The Oath of Jeriem. Or the Oath of the Magi.

That oath was, the greatest incantation a great archmage made, even sacrificing his life, to improve the perception of mages. And the constitution above all constitutions that every mage in the magic kingdom had to abide by.

I recited the clauses one by one, ones they should have known themselves.

[“One, to not harm others with magic without a just cause. One, to never converse, contract, or deal with demons. One, to prioritize morality above any other value.”]

[“It’s all meaningless now! By offering these women as sacrifices, we will reclaim what we’ve lost…!”]

[“One, to never use a blood sacrifice, under any circumstances.”]

I raised my voice, jabbing a finger into the air.

[“The moment you tried to offer sacrifices to a demon, you all violated the oath! It’s a capital crime under the law! No matter how aggrieved or resentful you are, if you want to be remembered as human, there are things you cannot do!”]

[“What does it matter if we’re human or a demon’s lackey! No one will remember us anyway after time passes!”]

Whoosh.

A chilling wind brushed past my cheek.

“Ah…!”

The saint let out a short sigh. In that brief moment, her pupils turned orange. It seems the souls did something without my knowing. There wasn’t any change in my body, though.

Either way, the answer I had was set.

[“Hey, guys.”]

War spawns as many mental cases as physical wounds. Because of that, I often called in soldiers struggling outside of work hours for counseling.

I’ve comforted plenty of the living; why not the dead souls?

[“I was born and raised in an orphanage. The director would beat us every chance he got, so my body was always covered in bruises. Despite that, I studied hard and even got into graduate school, but just before my thesis defense, my mentor, who I thought of as family, passed away from diabetes, almost delaying my graduation.”]

I continued.

[“After finally finishing my studies, I spent two years in the army to fulfill my military duty. Even as a senior sergeant, I thought the hardships were all behind me. But I was wrong. War broke out, and because I didn’t want to die, I reenlisted as an officer, only to be deployed to the front lines…”]

The path I’d walked. The life I’d lived. I spilled it all out, one thing after another.

Not to make them feel sorry for me.

[“…And now, after losing even you guys, who I thought of as brothers, to the enemy, and being stuck on this island going through all this shit, how could I not want to do as you ask?”]

Everything for this one sentence.

[“It’s about enduring. Just like I’ve always done, just living while enduring.”]

[“……”]

[“This is my choice.”]

When has life ever been easy? Who lives a life without regrets, without feeling any injustice? No matter how steadfastly you live, a single car accident can wipe you out, or you can be struck by an incurable disease and die young.

It’s a waste, but I think there’s no helping it. Still.

[“Even if a wizard uses spells, you absolutely cannot offer a burnt offering to a demon. That is a path to self-destruction. If life has been difficult, then at least your soul should be saved. Follow the oath, you guys.”]

[“Salvation?”]

One soul spoke with a discontented voice, and then the other souls started to chime in.

[“We’re too late. That woman dragged us into hell!”]

[“Even the soul of my friend of ten years disappeared because of that b*tch!”]

[“Is not believing in the Holy Church such a big sin? They killed people too, yet they go to heaven, while we get dropped into hell?!”]

[“If a Valkyrie’s destiny is to kill the body, and a Saint’s to kill the soul, it’s better to lean on a demon.”]

[“We had no choice either.”]

[“There’s no comfort. No memory. No one understands. If only there was even a tower made of mana….”]

[“I will.”]

The resentments stopped as I moved my hand. I took out the mana stones I’d made earlier from my pocket and started walking.

[“I will pray for your souls.”]

The spirits fell silent.

[“I’ll give you shelter from the rain and pour you wine every year.”]

I don’t believe in God’s grace or the existence of Heaven, but there’s no doubt the innocents sacrificed in war deserve to be mourned.

[“I want you to know that there are those who understand your bitterness, as much as you feel it. So forget the world, and let’s meet again in the distant future. Let’s be reborn in an era without war, and live doing what we truly want to do then.”]

Ah. I don’t know anymore. What am I even blabbering about?

This place will be good.

I found a sunny spot and sat down. And then I started stacking stones, one by one, to make a small tower.

*

Tiria, having heard the man and the wraiths’ conversation without missing a word, couldn’t hide her bewilderment. These spirits weren’t ancient demons. They were the souls of the Magic Kingdom’s soldiers who died in the Tatankul naval battle.

The man said he wouldn’t kill them.

Disappointed, the spirits threw heavy punches at the man, but he didn’t even blink, taking their attacks head-on.

No, to be precise, the wraiths’ punches did no damage to the man and simply passed right through him.

“This is impossible.”

Humans can’t see wraiths, but they can’t ignore their attacks. At least, that’s how it is in the scriptures. The scripture’s contents are infallible, so how could something like this be happening?

And so, faithful Tyria arrived at a different answer.

These spirits, they don’t see the man as a target of their resentment.

Tyria, who had received brainwashing-level coercive education from the Holy Spirit Church, even had this thought cross her mind for a moment. Then, is this man in league with the vengeful spirits? Could this situation be a pre-planned setup?

Her thoughts reached that point, then she shook her head.

No. It can’t be seen that way. If this mage had been acting the whole time, he should have turned on them when Rachel was asleep and Tyria was in a disadvantageous position, crushed by resentment.

Rather, the man was preparing to help the vengeful spirits find peace, in order to save Tyria.

The mage carefully stacked stones, into which he had personally infused mana, in a geometric pattern. He was quite skilled at it.

“…Ah.”

Come to think of it, she had heard that in the Mage Kingdom they built stone towers as a way to remember the dead. Because stones, even if they are cut and broken, never die or disappear.

Clack.

The man, having placed the last stone, rose from his spot and opened his mouth.

[“Everyone.”]

His voice was gentle, as if he really was their superior.

[“Come out one by one and report your discharge.”]

At those words, the spirits, who had been so sharp and on edge just moments before, began to sob in unison.