Escape From a Deserted Island With Enemy Female Soldiers

25 – Mutual Sympathy (3)

1 second. The time it took for the water that had been up to my waist to rise over my head.

Opening my eyes underwater wasn’t something I was used to. Still, I had to. The thought that I might die if I stayed still forced my eyelids up.

Something appears through the blurry vision.

Smoke?

Whether it was smoke or fog, a hazy fluid wrapped around my ankle. The exact outline was unclear due to the water, but it looked like a monster of some kind. A ghost-type, at that.

What is it?

Seriously, what is it? I definitely couldn’t see ghosts until yesterday.

[“Mana, give me mana.”]

What the hell?

[“If you trade mana, you can do anything. Lead yourself to salvation. Hurry.”]

I kicked at the smoke. It passed right through me, powerless.

Indeed, there was a reason the aetherstone hadn’t detected it. How could it sense something without a physical form?

Since physical force didn’t work, it wasn’t human. Using the spoken word, the likelihood of it being a monster leans towards it.

But wait, do we usually consider something that’s formless a monster?

[“I said give me mana, now.”]

My breath is coming up short. It’s not just from being underwater.

This pressure. This coldness.

Even the way it keeps threatening to get my mana.

Damn it.

This b*stard, it’s a demon.

I hastily shut my eyes and plugged my ears. I emptied my mind of complex thoughts. Only instinct remained. I struggled desperately, flailing to reach the surface.

It was a pointless effort.

The force pulling me down was far stronger than my swimming. I was clearly trying to go up, but my body was getting further and further from the surface.

[“Mana. Mana.”]

I couldn’t breathe. My lungs felt like they were going to tear apart.

[“Give me your mana now. Then, I will spare your life.”]

It was a sweet whisper.

I remembered the mage’s oath.

Never, under any circumstance, make a deal with a demon.

There was a line that any mage must not cross. I mustn’t succumb to temptation for the sake of a moment’s worth of oxygen.

[“If you do not pay the price, I will simply take your life instead.”]

It was showing its true colors. Now that simple coaxing didn’t work, it was resorting to threatening my life.

[“Will you give me your mana and sell your soul? Or will you surrender your pathetic life as it is and face a death less than that of a roadside dog?”]

It was a devil’s choice. With each passing second, the need for breath grew so desperate that the urge to choose the former exploded within me.

But still, I couldn’t do it.

Yesterday, I had urged the vengeful spirits of the mage kingdom so vehemently to abide by their oaths. What would become of me, the very person who said those words, if I tried to make a pact with a demon? Even if I survived, it wouldn’t be living.

Of course, it’s not that I didn’t want to live. How many people willingly seek death?

But for one who sold their soul to a demon, only horror would await them, even if they survived.

[“You stubborn b*stard.”]

The speed at which I was being pulled increased further. The depths below were all murky, and I couldn’t see the bottom. Even though I was clearly in a lake, it felt like I was in the middle of the ocean.

Fear clamped down, limits closing in. I’d thrown a few spells at the demon, but it was like watering a fish.

This is bad. No answers.

Is this how I die?

Short but good… no, honestly, it was a fucking shitty life. That whole ‘70% luck, 30% effort’ saying is bullshit. Feels more like 90% luck and less than 10% effort. Let this be my last lesson. I closed my eyes.

Just when everything was about to drown in despair,

“—————!!”

Don’t give up.

It sounded like the goddess’ voice, from up above.

*

The man was sinking fast. It was the exact same situation Tyria and Rachel had faced yesterday afternoon.

A mage was still just a man after all. Being dragged underwater like this, there was seemingly nothing he could do. Magic didn’t seem to be working either.

Even though he was the enemy, he needed help. He owed her a debt.

She would leave all decisions to her conscience. Tyria, pulling out the Goddess’ staff, descended at full speed. As a high-ranking officer and a saintess, her numerous experiences had taught her to react quickly.

*Krr-boom!*

Holy flames struck the water spirit’s head.

Tyria’s divine magic dealt significant damage to souls. The closer the target was to the spirit (靈) and evil (惡) alignment, the greater the power.

It was more powerful against monsters than living things, more powerful against vengeful spirits than monsters, and even more powerful against demons than vengeful spirits, making it a devastating attack to those with raw, evil souls.

[“kkyaaah!”]

The ghost screamed and scattered. Tyria didn’t stop. To deliver the Goddess’ wrath, she recited the incantation to expel the demon.

“———.”

The Sefiron expanded in a sphere. The water ghost, exposed to overwhelming divine power, was scorched white.

[“aaah.”]

Finally, the water ghost vanished without a trace.

Tiria swam towards the man. She grabbed his arm, then slipped her own arm under his armpit, supporting him firmly. She felt his taut muscles and clear warmth directly.

Shame or not, saving a life came first. Tiria used her legs and one arm to cleave through the currents, now more than twice as heavy, and ascended.

“Puh-haaa!”

She barely made it to land. Her lungs burned.

“Mage! Mage? Are you alright?”

“Cough, cough!”

The man coughed violently.

“…Hah, I almost died.”

“Yes. It’s fortunate I was nearby and reacted quickly; if you were alone, you wouldn’t be in this world right now.”

Tiria added.

“Does this even out the debt from the dawn?”

“Of course, let’s say it does. Anyway…”

Regardless of the process, it was clear that the man had no direct connection to the secrets of this island. He hadn’t even noticed Tiria approach, too engrossed in his bath.

Now it was truly time to worry about survival. She needed to gather things to drink and eat, and catch some bugs to use as bait for fishing before heading back. Tiria was lost in these thoughts when…

“Shouldn’t we put our clothes on first?”

“…Eh? aaahkyaaak?!”

*

Having finished our baths, the Saintess and I refilled our water skins and ventured deeper into the forest. Our goals were hunting, gathering, and reconnaissance.

Even so, being a sizable island, I hadn’t given up hope that there might be people living somewhere. As a side note, I also intended to look for that man.

Quite some time had passed like that.

I marked a nearby tree with an X and turned back.

“Let’s call it a day and head back.”

“……”

I hadn’t exchanged a single word with the Saintess since earlier. Or rather, I had kept trying to talk to her, but she wouldn’t respond. Her pupils had been pink ever since.

It wasn’t that I didn’t know why. In fact, I knew very well, which made my own face burn.

I scratched the back of my neck and said,

“Ms. Caston, now that I think of it, I forgot to say this. Thank you for saving me earlier.”

The Saintess lifted her head.

“When I was dragged away by that water spirit, you rushed right in to save me, not even caring that your just-dried vestments would get wet again. If you had been even a little late, I would have died in the devil’s grasp.”

“……!”

“I’ve lived with nothing but a bad impression of the Holy Light Church, but meeting you has changed my thinking a little.”

The Saintess seemed to grasp the meaning of my words immediately. The color of her irises shifted constantly, finally settling on yellow at the very end.

Lumina’s yellow eyes signify positive emotions in general. Joy, gratitude, relief. This was the first time she had shown that color in front of me.

“……No. It was for my own sake. I need your abilities if we’re going to make it off this island alive. There’s no need for either of us to be concerned.”

Yes. Our plan, to put it simply, was this.

Can we just pretend it didn’t happen?

After all, things had just happened out of nowhere, and it was a situation where lives had to be saved. As far as the Saintess was concerned, it was unavoidable.

It’s akin to sleeping embraced with a Valkyrie, both of you just in your underwear. Unintentional, but a necessary action for survival.

Finally, the Saintess seemed to have composed her emotions. The proof was in her pupils, returned to the neutral black.

“You said that water ghost from earlier was actually a demon, right?”

“Judging by its pathological need for mana, it’s a sure thing.”

“A demon on this island, and why in the bottom of that lake, though?”

“It’s undoubtedly a newly born, lower-tier demon.”

The principles behind a demon’s birth are still unknown, but their growth process is somewhat understood through research.

“Lower-tier demons feed on the surrounding environment or the mana of their host. Then, when the time is right, they begin to molt and achieve rapid growth. A demon that has molted twice becomes a higher-tier demon and grows very cunning.”

“Are mages just being taken advantage of? By higher-tier demons, I mean?”

“Pretty much. They’re good with smooth talk, you know? To put it simply, they’re like opium. Even mages who were steadfast at first reach a point where they fall for it, so the advice is to not even listen to what demons say.”

“And you were almost killed by a lower-tier demon like that?”

“It’s the first time I’ve been attacked by a demon. I looked at that thing and it seemed like there wasn’t any way to deal with it.”

“But you’re a first-class mage.”

“You think National Mage qualifications are like some old adventurer ranks?”

“Still…”

“Bad match-up.”

The Saintess chuckled.

Chatting about nonsense as we walked, the incident by the lake slowly began to fade. The Saintess and I found a ton of berries in the bushes and put them in a basket, and we peeled apart tree bark, taking out the larvae inside and putting them in another container.

Why aren’t we hunting animals instead?

“The forest is strange. I don’t hear a single bird singing.”

Finally, the spear I’d brought to maybe catch a squirrel was just being used as a walking stick. Still, I managed to find some fern leaves and *sakekonil*, a type of stonecrop, and picked them.

Woo-oo-oo.

“……Did you hear that just now?”

I immediately went on high alert. Even though the sun hadn’t set yet, there was no telling what could be nearby. Monsters weren’t confined to only appearing at night, after all.

The sound was coming from over there, from deep within the thicket. My eyes narrowed. A pale, smoky mass was taking the shape of a person.

“It’s a spirit.”

The Saintess said.

What, so I suddenly started seeing ghosts?

“He was a soldier of the Holy Spirit Nation. He says he died at the Battle of Tatangkul. Hmm.”

The Saintess sighed after talking to the spirit.

“I’m sorry. I can’t kill this man.”