Escape From a Deserted Island With Enemy Female Soldiers

8 – Sleeping with the Enemy (5)

David asked,

[‘Didn’t you bring the mana stones you got from the monsters?’]

“Ah.”

I rummaged through my pockets.

There they were.

Even if my head’s a mess, I never forget to pocket a rock or two.

[‘These are mana stones that haven’t been reported to the academy. Try a quick analysis. There might be one that produces fire or heat.’]

A reasonable idea.

I spread out the mana stones I’d taken from the monsters and calmly observed them.

I was pretty much out of mana after all the fighting, but that was okay. The stones were loaded with it. I could use that to cast magic.

“By the way, those fish guys, they were really monsters, huh?”

[‘Probably.’]

I tapped a mana stone, and one by one they started to change.

Some glowed, some grew darker. Some cycled the mana within them, some released power, and others even converted mana into ekirel.

“Can’t just use ’em like this.”

I chanted a word of power.

[“Spin.”]

At the same instant, the Valkyrie flinched. She tried to move away from me.

“What are you doing?”

“Starting a fire.”

The Valkyrie narrowed her eyes.

“Wait, I’ll warm you up soon.”

The process of combining mana stones to create new functions is similar to mapping circuits on a scroll. The ability of the person handling them is crucial, far beyond the raw materials themselves.

I quickly figured out which mana stone did what.

[‘It would be good to try creating a heat source using the heat produced when mana converts to ekirel.’]

“You had the same idea as me?”

“What?”

“Not you. I was talking to the rocks.”

The conclusion is, I can’t make a fire with the mana stones I have now.

But a lantern, that I can manage.

I gathered the dark gray mana stones I’d gotten from the walker and made the magic within them circulate. The mana cycled, gradually disappearing. What filled that space instead was light, heat, and ekirel. The stone glowed brightly.

“Not bad at all.”

I can feel the temperature rising noticeably. Not as much as a campfire, but this much is warm enough.

The surroundings brightened, revealing the cave’s interior more clearly.

[‘Seems like this cave goes pretty deep.’]

I reached my arm further in and felt a chill. A cold breeze seemed to be flowing out from the depths.

“Let’s hold out with this for today.”

“Huuuh.”

Valkyrie exhaled.

“Cold.”

I held the lantern closer. Maybe it was just me, but the cave’s temperature seemed to be dropping.

“Hey, stop fidgeting.”

Valkyrie pulled her body back. Then, shuddering at a gust of wind, she pressed her shoulder back against me. Her eyes wandered, lost.

“Ughhh.”

Unable to decide, Valkyrie finally chose to bury her face.

Uncomfortable.

Not just the position, but the psychological discomfort was immense. And the overall situation was just endlessly unpleasant.

Shelter, life raft, water and food. All lost.

Could anything better express the word ‘despair’?

“Ha, fucking military.”

“Air Force is really fucked…”

Air Force, what a goddamn joke. My situation is more like a honeybee getting stung by a hornet.

Still, it’s a relief I’m not alone. It’s a small comfort knowing that this pain I’m experiencing is being shared by a woman from the enemy’s side.

I know. It’s a pathetic thought. But if I don’t rationalize it like this, I’ll fall apart.

The rain got even worse. At least today, there was nothing I could do.

Until I go back and defeat the monsters and get some proper defenses, rest is the only answer. I have to hunker down here and recover.

Besides, I’m starting to get chills. Looks like I’m coming down with something. Goddamn it, it sure is fast.

Yeah, whatever. Come what may.

If I’m gonna get sick, I might as well get a little warmer.

I shifted my position. Put the lantern behind Valkyrie and I hugged her from the front.

“Hic.”

“Get closer. So no wind gets in.”

“Wait, it’s, it’s too close.”

“Whoa, it’s cold.”

“Move away a little, please. Ah, ugh. No, never mind. Better to just stick together.”

Valkyrie’s hair smelled like lotus.

I wrapped my arms around her and leaned my head against the cave wall. Then I closed my eyes.

Ah.

I’m really at my limit now.

*

Rachel curled up even tighter. The man’s body heat bothered her more than the cold air.

His breathing was close. She could feel his heartbeat too. Rachel, without realizing it, lowered her gaze.

“This is, humiliating……”

The reason was, her clothes were completely soaked. If it hadn’t been for the downpour, she wouldn’t have been pressed against the man, skin to skin. She didn’t show it in front of him, but for Rachel, it was incredibly stimulating.

And to top it off, it wasn’t just any man, but a soldier from the enemy nation.

Even if she was cold, how could she end up in the arms of the mage who killed her friends? This was a disgrace beyond measure. If Daisy and Olivia in heaven saw this, they’d throw stones at her, for sure.

Rachel bit down hard on her lower lip.

Time passed like that. Little by little, the strength in the man’s arms around her was fading.

“…Asleep?”

Rachel poked his thigh with her finger. There was no response.

“Cough, he fell asleep already.”

Rachel slowly tried to pull away.

Hooosh.

That was when a strong wind blew from the depths of the cave.

And it just so happened to wedge itself between Rachel and the man. A chilling coldness hit her front and back. Instinctively, Rachel pressed herself back against him.

Her survival instinct was speaking. If she wanted to live, she had to share warmth with the man.

“Why, why am I with this kind of man…”

Rachel’s eyebrows trembled minutely. She felt humiliated, disgusted. It wasn’t just the man, but she felt more pathetic than anything.

Because, she was relieved.

Even though the situation was hopeless, she wasn’t alone.

This mage was loathsome, yet, at the same time, she found herself thinking she was glad he was there with her. Subconsciously. Such duplicity filled Rachel with guilt.

“Ah.”

The warmth on her back felt strangely new all of a sudden.

A man-made stone lantern, crafted from obsidian, cast a soft glow, pushing back the darkness a little.

The man’s warmth in front, the magic lantern behind, kept Rachel’s temperature stable.

It was strange. If this mage had held her with the lantern to his back, he could have been warm front and back. Yet, he’d chosen this arrangement.

Was it intentional? Or not?

Simply a consideration for a sick body, or had the thought not even occurred to him?

She’d almost prefer the latter.

“hhh.”

Soon, Rachel’s strength gave out. She closed her eyes, fighting the stifling ache in her chest and the throbbing, nagging headache.

And so, she shared her bed with her enemy for the first time.

Perhaps because she wasn’t alone, the night was more bearable than she expected.

*

I and Valkyrie, using the cave as a temporary shelter, decided to stick close to the forest for the time being. And, when it rained, we wouldn’t go outside under any circumstances, opting for rest instead.

The downpour didn’t cease, and sometimes we could hear the sounds of monsters prowling nearby. Each time, Valkyrie and I turned off the glowing stone and held each other, holding our breath.

There was fear of our location being exposed to the monsters, but the bigger issue was the gnawing hunger.

Braving the rain to find food was akin to suicide. The only thing I could do was collect rainwater and purify it.

And so, we starved for three days straight. All because the rain continued.

“Ughhh.”

The cave itself was already seeping cold, and with the downpour still coming down, we were on the verge of succumbing to the chill. Because of this, Valkyrie and I stuck close to each other, even when we weren’t sleeping.

As the physical distance shrank, the psychological resistance that had been so firm at the beginning also started to wane. A week after being stranded, the boundaries between us were slowly but surely breaking down.

And, the end result for someone who had been in close contact with a sick person for so long was disastrous.

“Cough, cough!”

I ended up getting sick. Goddamn it.

Valkyrie glanced over here, looking flustered.

Her cheeks, illuminated by the glowstone, were as red as carrots. It wasn’t just the cold, either. I didn’t particularly want to recall how we’d woken up this morning.

“Cough, you. How are you feeling?”

“Guess I caught your cold.”

“Looks like I’m just getting started.”

“I really didn’t mean to get you sick.”

“I feel like I’m gonna die because I can’t eat anything.”

My stomach had been growling for dozens of hours. Valkyrie wasn’t in any better shape. We chugged the remaining water instead of eating.

It was a small mercy that our clothes had dried. Valkyrie and I pulled on our musty uniforms and straightened our fronts. We didn’t have to stay in just our underwear anymore.

After getting ourselves together, Valkyrie and I sat down side by side. Valkyrie hugged her legs, burying her head in her knees. She muttered something.

“…Sorry.”

From that afternoon, I started to run a serious fever.

*

Five days after getting sick, Rachel had pretty much recovered her health. But now, the mage was starting to get a fever instead.

The man was lying there like a corpse. He had a lantern next to him, a rock in each hand. There was even a rock by his head.

Rachel sighed and looked out of the cave. When the hell was the rain going to stop…?

“Huh?”

Sunlight was breaking through.