Escape From a Deserted Island With Enemy Female Soldiers

39 – Let’s Make It (1)

I got information about the beastman from the saintess.

His name is Riyo, no surname.

He’s a staff sergeant in the Holy Engineering Corps.

An engineer, just like it sounds. But an elite engineer.

[‘The Holy Engineering Corps only takes those blessed by the Goddess of Creation, right?’]

[‘Yeah, and they say there’s a high ratio of beastmen there.’]

There’s a saying that’s always followed beastmen.

[‘If it’s beastmen, it’s crafting, and if it’s crafting, it’s beastmen.’]

[‘And he’s a fox beastman, so his dexterity must be incredible.’]

Foxes are highly intelligent, and their eyesight and hearing are excellent. Their eyes can immediately spot flaws in fabric, and their ears can discern the carbon content just by hearing the sound of metal being forged.

This fox is likely the same.

Knowing how to make something is a vital ability for survival in the wild. I might have a distaste for beastmen, but their animalistic senses will be useful.

At the very least, I need to treat him without prejudice.

“Look at this.”

The engineer took out a small tool kit and showed it to me.

“Do you know how much trouble I had swimming with this?”

Screwdrivers, wrenches, compass, small calipers, etc. Lots of useful stuff.

[‘Looks heavy, doesn’t it?’]

[‘He managed to swim with all that?’]

[‘It must be important to him. I’ve heard that some beastmen treat their tools like idols of the goddess. Maybe that’s why.’]

[‘So, idol worship is your thing. Does the Holy Spirit Church even allow that?’]

[‘Totemism’s part of the beastkin’s native culture, what can we do? As long as it’s not too extreme, the church seems to let it slide.’]

The beastkin engineer didn’t just show me that.

An axe.

Actually, two of them.

Not massive battle axes, though. Just hand axes, sized perfectly for chopping down small trees.

The engineer, with a bouncy step, came closer and poked my side with an axe handle.

“If you do anything weird to Black Cat or the Saintess, I swear I’ll chop you with this. You got it?”

Hostile tone, as expected.

Just because this engineer is low-ranking doesn’t mean I can relax. They might look human right now, but their wild instincts could burst out any second.

Meaning, I need to be careful when I’m alone with her.

“Behave yourself.”

I’d better behave myself.

*

“Keeaaak!”

My arm throbbed. It burned like it was on fire.

“How dare you, how dare you step on my tail?”

The engineer was huffing and puffing.

The story behind it was like this.

During the exploration, we found a narrow, tree-lined path. Only one person could pass at a time, so the axe-wielding engineer went first.

I went right after it, but the damn fox’s tail was so long I accidentally stepped on it.

The result? A bite on my left shoulder.

The pain was so intense, my vision blurred.

“You goddamn…!”

“Not a dog? A fox?”

What the hell did the saint teach you? A canned response?

“How dare you step on a fox’s most precious tail! Don’t you dare touch it unless you’re going to be my man!”

“Like I wanted to step on it!”

I slowly loosened my grip on my shoulder. There was a little blood.

[‘Holy shit. It bit you pretty hard.’]

[‘You’re gonna get rabies, aren’t you?’]

[‘Don’t jinx it.’]

The fox, axe now drawn, was on guard.

Oh, goddamn. How am I supposed to talk this out? It’s not like this one can have a conversation like the saint.

Luckily or unluckily, my standoff with the beast didn’t last long.

Thud thud thud.

The tree right behind the fox was uprooted, standing tall.

“Huh?”

This was not good.

It had a mouth and nose on its trunk. Its branches looked like human arms and legs. It was definitely not like the other trees around here.

A monster.

Out of nowhere, a tree monster, having broken its ambush, lashed its vines like whips.

“Whoa!”

The combat engineer dodged quickly. His animal instincts hadn’t gone anywhere, moving faster than me despite the ambush.

[‘Fishmen, ghosts, and now trees, huh.’]

I pulled out the azure stone, as always.

With a *shhick* sound, the stones flew, drawing forth rays of light. One into the tree trunk. One into a branch. Direct hits.

But it wasn’t enough.

Azure stones are magic stones specialized for piercing. Excellent at hitting an animal’s vital spot, but plants are different. It didn’t seem like it would collapse from just one or two hits.

*Thud-thud-thud!*

The tree monster didn’t stop, launching another vine. The sound of it cutting through the air sent a chill down my spine.

“aaargh! What is this! Why is a piece of wood so cocky as to attack?!”

Dodging the vines, I thought.

Piercing magic stones don’t work. I don’t know where its vital spot is. Setting it on fire is one option, but if I start a forest fire, me and the engineer will be the ones trapped.

There’s only one thing left.

Disable its attack, and cut it at its base.

“Hey, beastman!”

The engineer’s ears perked up.

“Axe!”

“What?”

“Gimme an axe! An axe!”

The engineer, who’d been wearing a blank expression, suddenly nodded with an “Aha!” look. She pulled out a hatchet, handed it over, and darted away again.

I gauged the tree’s diameter.

Definitely not thin. Still, if we hacked at it from both sides, we could chop it down easily enough.

The engineer couldn’t possibly not know that.

Luckily, based on my last three months with the Valkyries, I understood the Holy Spirit Army’s hand signals to some extent. Normal conversation would be difficult, but for combat, we could manage to coordinate.

I immediately signaled the engineer, and she grabbed her hatchet and ran to the other side.

*Thwack!*

One strike landed in an instant. The monster’s attention focused on the beastkin. While she was being attacked, I rushed in and struck the other side.

*Thunk!*

The blade bit in, quite sharp.

Now that I looked, it contained Sephiron.

[‘It seems the physical damage is exceeding your swinging force. Good.’]

[‘The fact that it contains Sephiron means it can be converted to mana. Erich, aren’t you the expert on this theory? Give it a try.’]

I was going to do it anyway, even without your coaching, Calon, *sunbae*.

I poured mana into the axe blade.

[‘The speaker is attempting to induce a mana-Sephiron neutralization reaction by channeling mana into the location of the Sephiron.’]

[‘Now we’ll get Ekirel, which can be manipulated by both mages and Holy Spirit Church followers.’]

[‘If you empty the Ekirel and fill it with pure mana, you can create a battle axe capable of manifesting magic. In the Magic Kingdom, they call these military artifacts.’]

[‘The Magic Kingdom’s famous military artifacts include the ‘Jintou (Calming Blade)’ of the Seven Swords, all displaying unrivaled power.’]

[‘Problem. Choose the option that doesn’t fit the current topic.’]

“Both of you, just be quiet already! Heh!”

I barely blocked the vines and then launched a follow-up attack. This time for real, with a chant attached.

[“Swing it.”]

*Whump!*

The tree, already tottering from a few axe blows, finally gave way. Because I’d infused it with mana, the destructive force vibrated through its length, rippling from root to leaf.

*Thump!*

The tree finally fell.

“Heh-heh, now you be good firewood!”

Leaping up, the fox engineer climbed onto the fallen trunk.

If this had been a normal situation, fighting and winning against some monster, I wouldn’t have thought twice about it.

The problem was, our clothes were completely soaked, so both me and the fox engineer were currently sporting makeshift grass skirts, only covering the important bits.

“Huh.”

The moment I saw her skirt come undone, I turned away.

Even if she has beast ears and a tail, her body itself is still basically human. Gotta show some consideration.

There was a rustling sound behind me, then another presence.

[“An interesting mage, aren’t you.”]

A woman’s voice.

I turned around immediately.

“Huh?”

A skirt hitched up, the engineer tilted her head.

What was that just now? An auditory hallucination?

“I was doubtful, but there really was a monster like the Saint said. It’s definitely no ordinary island. We might get wrecked if we’re not careful.”

The hostility from having her tail stepped on seemed to have dissipated.

Or she forgot. The latter seems more likely, though.

After exploring, the engineer and I gathered fruit and insects. The fruit, we’d just take and the Saint would sort out what’s edible. The insects are either for fishing bait or emergency rations.

Besides that, we collected some firewood and stones we could use as mana stones. The soil was different from the previous island, igneous rock was common.

Igneous rock.

A general term for rock solidified from magma.

After countless studies, the mages discovered how to revert the time of igneous rock, reaching a stage where they could wield not just fire but even lava.

If we combine these well, we might be able to make something that will keep the Valkyrie warm without a campfire. Or maybe we could figure out a way to neutralize the tree monsters without starting a fire.

There’s a lot we can try.

Before the sun went down, the beastkin and I returned to base.

*

We ate a meager dinner and decided on the night watch. Since the Valkyrie wasn’t feeling well, only the engineer, Saint, and I would take turns keeping guard during the night.

A full moon hung in the sky.

“Awooo-!”

What a load of crap.

Regardless of my aversion to beastkin, my gaze was constantly drawn to the engineer. She’d been working on something since early evening.

“Make something~ Make something!”

She combined the wood and leaves this way and that, and in an instant, finished a hammock.

Gong-byeong climbed onto the hammock and shook her body.

In the darkness, her ears and tail swayed. Her irises met the moonlight in the darkness and sparkled like pearls.

“I’ll sleep here. Saintess and Black Cat, you guys sleep comfortably in the lifeboat.”

She’d prepared her own sleeping spot in less than half a day.

Amazing.

I thought a beastkin would just lie down on the ground to sleep.

*Hop,* Gong-byeong hopped down and poked her head in.

“So, mage, what were *you* making?”

The sudden lack of distance was startling.

No, there was still distance. A lot of it. It’s just that her curiosity was overwhelming enough to offset that distance.

[‘They say fox beastkin are as fickle as they are cunning. They often seem distant but suddenly come across as friendly.’]

So, it’s a body of a dog but a head of a cat, is that what you’re saying?

“Mage? What were you making, I asked?”

Gong-byeong’s eyes were sparkling. She seemed curious about what I was making.

Well, it’s common knowledge that beastkin have a lot of interest in crafting.

I answered nonchalantly.

“A stone bed.”