Escape From a Deserted Island With Enemy Female Soldiers

3 – Stranded (3)

Daylight is breaking.

I fell asleep later and woke up earlier than the Valkyrie. I hadn’t slept much, having to keep watch the whole time.

“Hah.”

Thanks to that, I was incredibly exhausted.

Luckily, the monsters vanished like shadows as soon as dawn broke. Looks like they’re only active from early evening till morning.

But, that didn’t mean I could just go to sleep now.

Because.

“Ugh.”

Valkyrie was starting to wake up.

The woman rubbed her eyes and sat up. She scratched at her tangled hair, then looked around. Golden eyes locked onto me. That gaze filled with hostility in just a few seconds.

“You up?”

“……”

Valkyrie, about to go on the defensive, realized the blanket she was covered with was a Magocracy military uniform and instantly let out a bloodcurdling scream.

She straight-up hurled my clothes away. My uniform flew in an arc and disappeared into the bushes.

“Hey!”

Whether I yelled or not, Valkyrie didn’t even acknowledge me. She was too busy adjusting her clothes, her face pale.

Valkyrie let out a relieved sigh. Then she started fumbling around on the ground.

“Looking for your weapon? I put it over here.”

I’d secretly taken away her spear last night, in case she tried to kill me as soon as she woke up. I’d gripped it so tightly, I almost had a heart attack when I tossed and turned during the night.

“Oh, holy goddess.”

“Don’t pray, how about you go pick up what you threw instead?”

“Tch.”

“Tsk, clicking your tongue, are we?”

So damn cocky. Wouldn’t you know who’s responsible for that sweet sleep of yours?

“Why didn’t you kill me yesterday? You had plenty of chances to finish me.”

“No, haa…”

I nearly raised my voice to meet her, but stopped myself. This is draining. No point arguing with someone who doesn’t get it. What’s the use?

More than that, I can’t forget my original goal.

Survival, and escape.

To do that, I can’t fight the woman in front of me. I have to persuade her.

“Hey.”

I pointed to the monster corpses scattered everywhere. And that was enough. The Valkyrie’s face hardened, and she muttered.

“…It wasn’t a dream.”

The Valkyrie didn’t move. She seemed lost in thought. While she was, I grabbed the wooden spear and club, and headed for the bushes. I picked up my clothes and shook the dirt off them.

*Whoosh.*

The Valkyrie turned her head. I touched a large rock at that exact moment.

[“Bring it forth.”]

No sooner had the words fallen, than the change began.

For the first time, the surface of the rock, which had until then only been carved and cut by nature, began to be etched with artificial engravings.

The monster’s face, the coastline, the lifeboat, and even the figures of the two of us. Everything emerged like a masterpiece painting.

The picture wasn’t just still; it changed with the flow of time.

The first things to move were the monsters we’d seen yesterday.

Those things that crawled ashore roamed the island, attacking people. One died, and another was dragged back to their lair, never to return.

This is the first ending.

[“Turn the page.”]

This time, the island’s scenery was drawn in focus.

A lifeboat is visible. Two people are inside. It was me and Valkyrie.

In the picture, we were heading out to sea in the lifeboat.

But we never made it to another island. We either starved, withered, died of heatstroke, were attacked by sea predators or monsters, or the boat capsized in a storm before we could arrive.

This is the second ending.

“It seems like this isn’t a normal island. Seeing the monsters, it’s at least somewhere cut off from the outside world. I can estimate directions with the sun… but I don’t know how far we have to go to reach another inhabited island.”

I spoke calmly. It didn’t matter if Valkyrie understood. The important thing was the para-linguistic expression. Tone, intonation, emphasis, length of sounds. If I could just convey that I’m not hostile.

“So, I think we need thorough preparations before trying to escape.”

“…….”

Valkyrie had become silent. She seemed conflicted.

Next, I sculpted plants and animals.

It was a figure of a swan holding a peace lily. Because swans and lilies symbolize peace worldwide, they were also widely used as symbols of truce or anti-war.

Even with different languages, there was no way the other person could misunderstand the meaning.

“Let’s cooperate. Until we leave this island.”

*

I couldn’t understand the man’s language.

But it was easy to grasp what he was trying to convey.

The woman bit down hard on her lower lip.

“……”

Last night, she’d collapsed into sleep, utterly drained. And yet, the man before her hadn’t killed or touched her. There had clearly been opportunities.

From that, she deduced he possessed at least a shred of morality.

Yes, even if he was a ‘magician.’

“Kuh.”

She swallowed a groan at the sudden pain.

Her side was throbbing. The spot where that monster had struck her yesterday was still stinging. She couldn’t push herself.

And that wasn’t all. She was shivering, whether from spending the night soaking wet, or something else. Overall, her physical condition was poor.

If she went all out, she might be able to kill this man. The problem was what came after.

Realistically, she had no confidence she could survive alone on this bizarre island.

It was highly likely this was an uninhabited island, untouched by civilization. Otherwise, the existence of those monsters couldn’t be explained.

Her thoughts became somewhat clearer.

“……Oh Goddess, please grant me a reprieve.”

The woman offered a brief prayer, then lowered her hands.

*

I offered the Valkyrie my spear. A gesture of truce.

The only thing left was whether or not she would accept.

If she accepted, that would be incredibly fortunate. But if she refused, she would try to stab me with the very spear I’d just given her. Considering the obsession the Valkyries had shown toward killing mages, it was a very plausible turn of events.

If that happened, I wouldn’t have a choice. I’d have to be prepared to die and deal with this woman……

It was while I was thinking that.

*Thwack!*

The Valkyrie slammed her spear into the floor and crossed her arms. Her gaze, now considerably calmer, settled on me.

“Alright, seems like there aren’t any other options.”

A subdued tone. I was certain.

I’d done it, I’d succeeded in convincing the Valkyrie.

“Good thinking.”

“Only until we leave this island. Once I’m back with my squadron, you’re a dead man.”

Her cold, sunken gaze remained, but the raw fury from yesterday was gone. She understood, as well, that in this situation, cooperating, leaving emotions aside, was paramount.

“Fine. Since it’s come to this, let’s at least learn each other’s names.”

We can’t keep relying on drawings to communicate. There’s a definite limit to that. So, I need to learn the Spirit Kingdom language as soon as possible, to actually communicate. And as a first step, it’d be good to exchange names.

I pointed at myself, and spoke slowly, clearly.

“Erich, Erich Ronstein.”

“Erich Ronstein…? You?”

“Yes, that’s my name.”

The Valkyrie looked at me, startled. And the next moment, the murderous intent, which had begun to recede, flooded her voice once more.

“Don’t lie. Really?”

I had no trouble reading the resentment buried beneath the frost-like chill of her words.

What is this? This wasn’t the reaction I expected?

“I’ve seen that name on our unit’s kill list. Erich Ronstein, First-Class Magician, Magic Stone Officer. Do you know how many of our comrades were killed by the magic stones you created? Yeah, at a rough estimate, about 200.”

I’ve never seen a Valkyrie talk this long before.

Judging by the vibe, she knew my name already, and seems to hate it pretty intensely.

Shit, am I already marked over there?

“Command’s been gunning for you for months. Orders were to kill you on sight.”

Her face contorted and relaxed repeatedly. She seemed to be trying to control her emotions. Guess she’s pretty upfront, if she can’t hide her expressions at all.

I waved a hand before the Valkyrie’s anger could completely fry her brain.

“What’s your name?”

“Me?”

The Valkyrie pointed at herself with a blank look. Yeah, you.

“……Rachel.”

“What?”

“Rachel. Rachel Brokenheart.”

Now the pronunciation was clearer.

Rachel Brokenheart, huh.

The instant I heard that name, a strange feeling washed over me.

What should I call this? Discomfort? Déjà vu? I feel like I’ve heard that name somewhere, but I can’t quite place it…

Ah.

I got it.

“Wait, are you ‘Black Cat’ Rachel?”

Since the start of the war, there are a few Stellar Empire pilots who’ve become nightmares to the Magocracy’s Air Force.

One of them was none other than ‘Black Cat.’ A platinum ace of the Holy Spirit Air Force who, for the past two years, had flown 600 sorties alone and racked up over 200 kills.

A big shot, a heavy hitter, who’d shown their face in all sorts of messy battles, and even in several decisive engagements that had turned the tide of the war. And *that* was the nickname attached to this person…

“…That’s, uh, you?”

I’d expected someone with a few wrinkles etched onto their face, but.

This guy’s so damn young and green?

No, that’s not the point.

Black Cat is the pilot who’s single-handedly killed more of my comrades than any other dragon knight out there.

Of course, I knew the infamous name, and if anything, even revered it. I’d even lost sleep worrying that I’d be the next target.

And the resentment built up just as much. I’d seen the after-action report before. It was this woman who had killed my superior officer and a senior from the academy.

I narrowed my eyes, studying her.

Black hair, yellow eyes.

Now that I see it, she’s a perfect spitting image of the black cat.

Maybe it’s because I’d only known her by her nickname, not her real name, that I didn’t realize it right away. Looking again, it’s so obvious.

That aside, can I really trust her?

Not just any Valkyrie, but this woman who killed people who were so close to me?

“……”

“……”

It was a simple introduction, meant to break the ice, but now that we knew each other’s names, both her and I clammed up. It felt like our wariness towards each other had only deepened.

Even so, what we had to do was clear.

“Location check, food, water.”

Location check is priority number one.

Just in case. There’s a slim chance, a very slim one, there might be a native village around here.

“Let’s head over there first.”

“The hill?”

We kept our distance and made for the hill.

“Why are you behind me? Walk ahead.”

“Don’t stand behind me.”

“Come on, ladies first.”

“Keep your distance. Unless you want to die.”

“I’m gonna lose it, seriously.”

Can’t turn your back on the enemy, so Valkyrie and I ended up walking side-by-side, a little ways apart. A kind of compromise.

And so, we made it to the top of the hill.

The island was smaller than I’d expected from this vantage point. A simple structure; a small forest in the center, surrounded by reverse beach. Mostly just grass and gravel.

The weather was clear, so we had a full view of the whole island. But we didn’t see any sign of civilization anywhere.

“We should check out that forest.”

“There might be people there. Like, a primitive tribe.”

Looks like Valkyrie was thinking the same thing.

We spent two hours searching the forest, just in case there was anyone else, but no luck. Everywhere you looked, it was just green and bright. Not even a trace of human life, much less human presence.

And, of course, my damn prediction wasn’t wrong.

“Ah.”

“Ah.”

Valkyrie and I were back at the forest entrance. Walking had somehow marked the end of our exploration. We both wiped our faces at the same time.

“Shit.”

“Shit.”

It was the moment our desert island castaway status became undeniable.