Escape From a Deserted Island With Enemy Female Soldiers

37 – Not a Dog, But a Fox (1)

The conversation between Tetman and Adora continued.

Adora rarely talked about personal matters. Most of the conversation was propelled by Tetman pouring out his heart.

“Don’t know where Ditz went, and the Magic Stone Officer unit is on the verge of disbanding…”

This was why Tetman couldn’t quit smoking.

“Yeah. Must’ve been real tough on you.”

“Especially losing Battalion Commander Ronstein, that’s a real shame. He was a man as popular as the Admiral himself within the unit.”

“Battalion Commander? At best, he’d be a Major or Lieutenant Colonel, right?”

“Hey, you little brat, you went to the same school as him, and you don’t know Erich Ronstein? That guy became a Class 1 Magician years before you!”

Adora shut her mouth.

“He was a fine-looking friend. Tall, handsome, good student, good character too. You know what Admiral Dietz kept saying to me? He said he wanted to introduce his daughter to him someday.”

“And then?”

“I told him I’d snatch him first.”

“Dad.”

“When the war’s over, you should start looking for a partner and get married, shouldn’t you?”

Adora’s brow furrowed hard.

“Yes, I’ve said it before. I don’t have time to meet men. If I *had* to say, it would be the Führer. My body and soul already belong to him.”

“Don’t say things like that for no reason. It’ll cause misunderstandings.”

With that, their conversation came to a temporary end. Adora glanced at the quartz clock on the wall, gave a brief nod of respect, and turned to leave.

“I might be back here soon.”

“For what?”

“That’s classified for now.”

“So classified you can’t even give your own father a hint?”

“Yes.”

Adora pressed a hand to her chest and let out a shallow breath.

“Are you feeling any better?”

“I have no problem moving around. This too is the Führer’s grace, I suppose. Yes. Then, I’ll be going now.”

“Alright, take care.”

*Click.*

After Adora left, Tetman released a long sigh, like a flock of sheep.

Long ago, Adora Giffold had a heart ailment of unknown origin.

Adora, given a death sentence.

But thanks to the Chancellor’s arcane medical arts, she’s now recovered enough to live without much disruption, aside from the occasional pain.

After the Chancellor seized power, Adora became his fervent follower, and when war broke out, she was promoted to the youngest General in the Magocracy.

Looking at his successful daughter, a father can’t help but smile, but he also worries.

It’s like the radiant daughter he knew turned cold one day.

She still shows him affection, but even that feels artificial, and he can’t shake that feeling.

“Hoo-oo-oo.”

No sooner had Tetman exhaled his cigar smoke than his aide entered.

“The Brigadier-General said she forgot after she came out, and asked me to deliver this.”

“What did she say?”

“A personal message. To make sure this operation is a success, repay the humiliation from the Battle of Tatankur, push the front line and uphold the Great Chancellor’s prestige…”

“Just the important part, the important part.”

“…to uphold the honor of the army, she said.”

“Is that all?”

“Yes.”

Tetman stroked his beard and rose from his seat.

“Summon the officers, quickly.”

*

The Phoenix, dispatched to the Tatankur Sea to search for the missing and to investigate abnormal mana phenomena.

When the Phoenix ship flipped in the storm, so did the Holy Spirit Kingdom’s headquarters.

“The Saintess… she’s passed?”

“It’s not confirmed yet! If there’s another landmass inside the barrier, she could be there!”

“…That’s the Magic Kingdom’s territory, isn’t it? Wouldn’t that be even worse?”

The Holy Spirit Kingdom, having mobilized all its intelligence and observation technology, had already grasped the Magic Kingdom’s ominous movements. And that they were plotting something within the ‘barrier’ space as well.

“No matter what, the Saintess must be rescued.”

At the very least, her body must be recovered. Otherwise, the very foundation of the Holy Spirit Kingdom, where church and state are one, would be severely shaken.

A shaken foundation means a wavering public. A wavering public means a crumbling military. A crumbling military means losing the war, ultimately.

“We assigned her so much protection, and yet…”

“If only we hadn’t sent her in the first place.”

“It couldn’t be helped. Only the Saintess and the Pope are capable of both exorcism and barrier dissolution at the same time… and we can’t send the Pope.”

“Now that it’s come to this, we have to dissolve the barrier.”

Break the barrier and deploy the troops inside. So that, no matter what, they have to find the Saintess and the other missing persons.

That was the judgment of the Holy Spirit Kingdom’s command.

And so, the group that was assembled was none other than a certain engineering corps, blessed by the Goddess of Craftsmanship.

“Alright, kids, it’s showtime!”

Directly under the command of the Holy Spirit Kingdom’s High Command.

The Divine Engineering Corps.

“It’s our turn, furries!”

The Divine Engineering Corps was different from ordinary engineers. A significant number of its members were beastkin.

The blessed beastkin, touched by the goddess, accomplished feats no human could manage with ease. Their animalistic senses allowed them to erect fortifications in a flash, bridge treacherous terrain, and they were adept at dismantling the artifacts of the magic kingdom.

An elite force, not unlike the Valkyries.

Riyo was a fox beastkin belonging to that unit.

“Hey! Wake up! Get up, I said!”

Five in the morning.

A barrage of shouts from an officer suddenly invaded Riyo’s slumbering unit.

While the cat beastkin leaped up and the dog beastkin smoothed out his blanket while staring blankly, the fox, she, just pulled the covers over herself with eyes only half open.

“Heeheeheehing.”

“Don’t be lazy, get up now! One! Two!”

Short purple hair and eyes nearly black, a dark shade of amethyst.

Normal enough, but unlike her other kin, she possessed two tails.

“Gather your gear and move! We’ll begin work immediately when we reach the barrier!”

Riyo was the last to comply with the officer’s orders. Two versatile axes, a tool set, and a holy-mark plate for dismantling the barrier were all she needed.

“Everyone, assemble on deck!”

The weather was clear, and the magic kingdom’s forces were nowhere to be seen. Since the Battle of Tatangkur, the Holy Spirit Kingdom had secured this sea area. There was no chance of the enemy appearing.

“Fuuuaaahhhehehehehe.”

“Sleepy?”

“Maybe.”

“So lazy.”

Before long, Riyo’s ship was approaching the problematic sea.

“Huh.”

*Thwack,* a water droplet landed on Liyo’s ear.

One drop, then two.

What started as a mere drizzle rapidly morphed into a downpour.

“Why is it raining?”

“It was supposed to be clear today, wasn’t it?”

“This is depressing. I’m going inside.”

“Woof! Woof! Rain! Rain!”

The officers were breaking a sweat trying to control the full-fledged beastmen, their wild instincts running high. In comparison, Liyo was an incomplete beastman, identical to a human save for his ears and tail, allowing him to control his instincts.

“Haaam.”

Of course, he was also a little sleepy.

Just when he was thinking about finishing up quickly, going back, eating some cherry pie, and going to sleep…

“Enemy attack!”

Liyo’s eyes widened.

The appearance of the Magic Air Force from the southeast.

Hundreds of unmanned suicide drones, loaded with white phosphorus and turquoise stone, were swarming in without losing their balance, even in the storm.

“Where the hell did they come from!”

“They appeared out of nowhere! They didn’t even show up on radar!”

“Don’t tell me, are they from behind the barrier! You b*stards from the Magic Nation…!”

An unexpected engagement.

Of course, the Holy Spirit Kingdom had anticipated this, so they’d attached a escort fleet to assist the Divine Engineering Corps.

But sustained naval battles had pushed the Holy Spirit Kingdom’s ship numbers to their limit, and more importantly, the main fleet was all deployed up front, holding back the enemy.

Relatively inferior force.

A hopeless weather situation where anti-air guns were useless.

Even a swarm of murderous gnats flying staunchly through the downpour, as if to show the essence of magical engineering.

“Delay the barrier release! Retreat! Retreat!”

Even as the officers screamed until their throats were raw, the situation escalated to its extreme.

When he came to his senses, Riyo was in the sea.

“…Huh?”

Why is the ship I was on sinking?

[‘Run.’]

This wasn’t the time to think about other things.

Whether you were a beastkin or not, the survival instinct certainly existed.

He had to escape from this place as far as possible.

Riyo began to swim across the vast ocean with all his might.

*

While moving on a lifeboat, I and the enemy nation’s female soldiers ran into an obstacle.

A squall, to be precise.

The sudden powerful wind and rain were impossible to deal with with oars. In the face of nature’s treachery, we could only cling to each other and pray that the boat wouldn’t capsize.

“Hold on tight!”

“Haul the water, quick!”

“Oh, oh Holy Lord. Grant us the strength to overcome this trial…”

“Stop praying and haul the water!”

How much time passed like that, I couldn’t say.

The wind and rain ceased, the fog cleared, and then the sun returned.

Only then did we breathe a sigh of relief. It was a blessing it was just a temporary downpour, otherwise, had it been a long-lasting storm, the three of us would’ve become fish food.

“Wow, soaked to the bone.”

“The firewood’s all wet too.”

“We have to start a fire right away. Magician, is that the island?”

An island was visible in the direction the Saintess pointed.

The place we were originally headed for was a pair of twin islands, shaped like a dumbbell.

But that…

“It seems we’ve lost our bearings.”

It appeared we’d been blown completely off course due to the storm. As expected, checking the origin stone, it was pointing in a completely different direction.

“There’s nothing to be done. Let’s rest there for a bit. We’ll regroup and set off again.”

The Valkyrie and I nodded at the Saintess’s words.

And so, the moment we landed, we took off our clothes… yes, we took them all off.

Soaked to the bone as we were, it was an unavoidable choice.

“Ah, not, not once, not twice, but three times now, I’ve become naked before the Magician… it’s hopeless. Marriage is completely out of the question for me now!”

“Three times…? Captain?”

“Ah.”

Completely naked, needing to dry even my underwear.

I hastily started a campfire and laid the clothes nearby. Thankfully, dried branches were easy to find on the island.

Next, I braided leaves with string to make grass skirts. Three, since there were three of us.

“Phew, that’s a little better. Don’t look over here!”

“Enough, let’s figure out what to do after we dry off.”

Looking at it, this island seems pretty decent. The terrain’s manageable, animal noises can be heard, and the forest, while present, isn’t quite a jungle.

Maybe this is actually a good thing?

I was thinking that when it happened.

Splash, splash, splash.

“……?”

My head and the female soldiers’ heads turned at the same time.

A purple blob was doggy-paddling towards us.

“hhhgk, natives! Help! Help!”

“……Beastkin?”

What the hell is *that.*