Escape From a Deserted Island With Enemy Female Soldiers

14 – First Escape (1)

The Valkyrie pointed to where the mermaid monster had emerged.

“Let’s try and find a way out of here.”

That’s what the mermaid said. That the only path to an exit was this way.

If we just get past *that*, we might be able to get out.

“Hold on.”

There’s something I need to do first.

I approached the mermaid.

“Completely dead, huh.”

The Valkyrie had crushed it very thoroughly.

“My body’s all stiffened up, too.”

The mermaid-monster’s corpse was vastly different from other monsters. For one, the moment it died, its entire body crystallized and broke into pieces.

I picked up a few fragments and examined them.

“Just as I thought.”

Magic stones.

Even though the Valkyrie had hammered so much holy power into them that most of the mana had been converted into Echirel, it didn’t matter. I could always re-infuse them with magic.

Anyway, they were all new creatures, so my curiosity was piqued. And this confirmed that monsters leave magic stones behind when they die.

“Let’s go.”

I gave the monster corpses one last look and then moved on.

Following the narrow, winding path, I came to a small room.

In the center of the room was a structure that looked like an altar, and on either side of it, headless skeletons were displayed like museum exhibits. I roughly counted about a hundred.

“No way. This is insane. These are all people? What the hell was that monster doing?”

“Tsk.”

That mermaid, she said she was originally human, right?

Is this truly something a human would do?

No. It’s not enough that she used illusion magic that’s practically forbidden, or that she made a pact with a demon, but she also cruelly killed dozens of people who came to this island and displayed them like this.

“You’ve really gone and done it now.”

In the Magic Kingdom, there’s only one punishment for such villains.

Death.

Whether that merman was originally human was irrelevant. I’m not soft enough to feel sympathy for a monster that’s lost its humanity.

I sighed, and Valkyrie looked my way. Her expression was complicated.

I wanted to build a memorial for the sacrificed, but there wasn’t time. We decided to only grab what seemed important.

And we got exactly two things.

One was an old map.

The other, an ancient text written in Hwigeon.

After checking the map, Valkyrie opened her mouth with an excited tone.

“This is definitely a map of this area. With this, we might be able to escape!”

Well, I don’t know whether to be happy about that.

I know the waters around here to some extent. But I’ve never seen a place with such a dense cluster of islands. Especially near the Tatangkur Sea where Valkyrie and I fought.

I need more information. Next, I looked at the ancient text written in Hwigeon.

[This place is shrouded in fog. Cut off from the outside. You can swim until you reach the edge of the world, but you will only return to the same place. You can enter as you please, but leaving is another matter.]

Was this written by a mermaid?

Thinking there might be something more, I turned to the next page, and sure enough, there was something like a diary.

[Occasionally, I’ve spotted other islands in the distance and tried to approach them, but I couldn’t reach the land in any way. When I got close, a mysterious fog would appear, and I would return to the original island.]

[I’ve been completely exiled to a small island, but it was okay. Because I have the family members who came with me. The kids have gotten a bit dull, but they’re not so dull that they’re boring to talk to.]

[I made a contract with a demon to offer the bone dust of a hundred people. Instead of going outside, I devoted myself to guarding the altar and preparing the sacrifices. It was the servants’ job to capture the humans who happened to be swept onto this island.]

I’m starting to get a grasp of things.

There were two things I could gather.

First, there are more islands around here, but it’s difficult to land on them due to some unknown force.

Second, the entire cluster of islands is cut off from the outside world by an unknown barrier, metaphorically referred to as ‘fog.’

“Shit.”

If that’s the truth, then Valkyrie and I are completely screwed.

This isn’t something you can just escape with a lifeboat.

I glared at Valkyrie. Valkyrie looked back at me.

It seemed like I’d be stuck with this woman for a lot longer.

*

Rachel and the man, having gathered what they could, headed down the path beyond the boss’s room. Hungry and thirsty, they had to push harder.

One hour, two hours, three hours.

They lost track of how long they’d been walking, and their stamina was nearing its limit, when…

They began to see light.

The man and Rachel quickened their pace. Light. Dawn. Just get through there, and they could say goodbye to this godforsaken place.

And so, they exited the long tunnel, and a familiar place unfolded before them.

“Huh?”

There were remnants of a campfire and mana lamps. Scraps of leaves they’d laid down were scattered on the floor. It was the forest cave they’d been relying on for so long.

“So, it connects here.”

A shiver went down his spine. If monsters had come out this way, Rachel and the man would have been dead that day. The fact that the exit was so difficult was more a blessing than a curse.

No, none of that mattered now.

They were out of the cave. That was all that mattered.

The longer they stayed in the cave with scarce food and no way to make fire, their chance of survival dropped exponentially. They’d made it through before the day was over, and that meant they had survived.

“We’re out. We’re out!”

“Whoa, seriously. Thought I was gonna die back there.”

*Clap!*

Rachel, so relieved, slapped a high-five with the guy without even realizing it.

“Ah.”

“Ahem.”

Only belatedly did she realize what she’d done, and she quickly pulled her hand away. The guy, also embarrassed, cleared his throat and looked away.

Judging by the sunrise, they must have walked for at least a dozen hours. Her legs were completely shot, but they still had to keep going.

“We gotta get the boat.”

Rachel and the guy immediately headed for the shore.

Thankfully, the life raft was still there. The two of them dragged the raft up to the hill where they had first met.

The sun’s coming up.

Not a single monster in sight.

“Let’s just rest a bit.”

Rachel sat down on a rock, enjoying the cool breeze.

“Haaa.”

They’d cleared a major hurdle.

Even so, it wasn’t completely over yet.

Far from feeling refreshed, her head was a mess. It was subtly uncomfortable. Probably because of the mage resting next to her.

Erich Ronstein, a mage from Hazkayl Magocracy.

He killed Daisy and Olivia. Right in front of her. Using those fire-spitting magic stones. She still couldn’t forgive him for that.

But.

At the same time, he was the one who saved Rachel from the brink of death countless times.

The first day she lost consciousness, and when she fell ill, he protected her from the monsters and freed her from the illusion magic.

Enemy and benefactor.

A sorcerer from the enemy nation, and her only ally on this island.

A guy she wants to kill, and yet, someone she needs to move forward with to survive.

Could there be a more complicated relationship?

One thing, though, was certain.

“I don’t want to be on this island any longer. Let’s prepare well and leave.”

She needed to learn at least a little of the magic kingdom’s language.

Until now, Rachel hadn’t paid much attention to what the man said. She believed that the truly necessary communication could be done well enough with gestures and tone.

But after that first moment of communication with him in the illusion, she had a different thought.

It would be good if she could have more detailed, more advanced conversations with this man.

This is, yes. This is solely for survival. The better the communication, the better the synergy, and the higher the chances of returning alive, wouldn’t it be?

It was absolutely not because she wanted to talk with this man that she wanted to learn his language.

“Let’s go back now.”

They had defeated the monster leader, but who knew? Another monster might appear. And now that they had a map of the surrounding sea, it was time to start preparing in earnest to escape this island.

“There’s a lot to do. Let’s move quic… AAH!”

Rachel, trying to climb down from the rock, slipped. She had mistakenly stepped on a mossy slope. In the end, she fell in an unseemly heap in front of the man.

“Ughh…”

What a goddamn mess. Right in front of the enemy.

“Tsk, tsk.”

The man clicked his tongue. He reached out his hand.

“Here, take my hand.”

Thinking about it, this wizard had always offered his hand whenever she fell. Even knowing he’d be rejected. Must be a calculated kindness.

But now, there was no reason not to take it. A calculated kindness was still kindness, after all.

Rachel grabbed his hand and slowly stood up. The man tilted his head as if surprised.

After returning to the cave, dragging the life raft, the two went out to scavenge for food until afternoon, and then came back. There was nothing to hunt today, so they just chewed on some leaves they knew for sure what they were – like ferredine and spearmint.

“A day of hunger won’t kill us… Ugh, bitter.”

After their excuse for a meal, the man began to build a trap using rocks and wood. His hands didn’t falter, even though his stomach kept growling.

By the time they finished setting the trap and returned, the sun was setting. The hour when monsters might reappear.

Swishhh.

A drizzle started to fall.

Even in the tropics, the rain always brought a shiver.

Rachel went and sat next to the man. He was playing with the magic stone from the siren, and jumped slightly, looking at her.

“…I’m just, you know, getting close because I’m cold.”

Absolutely no other meaning.

“Ahem. But, um…”

*

“…But, um, Saint, or, I mean, Colonel, you know a bit of the magic kingdom’s language, right?”

“Yeah, a little. Why all of a sudden?”

“It’s about the missing persons search. The higher-ups at the church sent over this additional analysis.”

The document handed over read: *There is a possibility of encountering survivors from the Magocracy during the search.*

“This ‘fog’ that was discovered isn’t your average strange phenomenon. It’s possible that Magocracy soldiers who survived that naval battle are trapped inside. There’s a manual prepared in case we come face-to-face with them. Here you go.”

She continued to read.

*Capture ordinary soldiers or officers. Mages are to be summarily executed depending on the situation.*

“Here.”

The silver-haired woman received a small pistol. It would be her only weapon, as she, a Saint, had no holy powers to attack others.

“Orders from the top. Mages, especially the ones dressed all fancy, are to be eliminated without question.”

“Well, I was planning on it anyway.”

The woman grinned. Her pupils flashed yellow.