Escape From a Deserted Island With Enemy Female Soldiers - Chapter 72



71 – Just a Little Bit of Love (2)

The transfer was successful. In a split second, we moved from the stone tower to the entrance of the thornbush forest.

Kugugugung!

The stone pagoda was collapsing.

Documents? Maps?

Don’t need them. It’s a miracle we even made it out alive.

The only thing even worth thinking about is the mana compass, but there’s no need to worry much about that. I recorded the location the moment we entered the stone pagoda.

“Everyone looks exhausted. I’ll escort you to where the lifeboat is.”

“Going all out against the demons in the early stages was a good choice. A little risky, sure… But since it’s come to this, we’ll stand watch starting today. Everyone else, go back and sleep.”

The female soldiers and I rode on the golems’ backs.

David and Calon were the aces of this battle. Could we have even broken through without those two?

“Getting help from the dead, I see.”

“Don’t mind it. We’re all from the same academy. Senior and junior.”

More than anyone else, Valkyrie’s condition worried me. I strained to turn my head.

“Passed out.”

Valkyrie had been face down and unconscious for a while now. She was clutching the magic stones she’d pulled from the scorpion golem, completely out of it. There were thick tear stains on her face.

“Looking at them, the magic stones are completely cracked.”

“I know.”

Valkyrie only suffered a wound to her heart in this battle. The comrades she’d been searching so desperately for… she reunited with them in the worst possible way. The shock of that must be beyond words.

“Valkyrie can’t break down.”

“For your survival?”

“Yes.”

“So stiff.”

Kalon clicked his tongue.

“Don’t be like that, just be honest with your feelings. Admiral Dietz pointed it out often enough, didn’t he?”

“Are you saying I have too much sentiment?”

“Yeah. How many years have I been watching you? You see everything when you’re side-by-side. The truth is, you’re someone who wants Valkyrie to be happy. Am I wrong?”

“How can I wish happiness on the woman who killed Senior and David?”

“I wonder about that myself?”

He was speechless.

“Erich, I’m saying this again, us dying is already done. No one can bring back the dead. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t have any regrets, but regretting it won’t change a thing. So, at least you, who is still alive, should be happy.”

“Senior.”

“Don’t feel guilty thinking about me or David. There’s no need to shackle yourself. If you really can’t, then just focus on escaping for now. But you still gotta treat that girl right, okay?”

“……Yes.”

First, he had to fix the magic stone. Repair the cracked parts, find the souls of Valkyrie’s comrades, and resettle them.

Easier said than done, a difficult task.

But he had to do it.

While lost in thought, they arrived at the lifeboat.

“Now, we have to worry about water and food.”

The Saintess said.

“Let’s rest today and look for food starting tomorrow. Tell me if you’re hungry. I have a few dried fruits left.”

I nodded. I had to stay on this island for a few more days until my wounds healed.

I disinfected my right hand with the remaining water, then wrapped my wrist with the herbs and natural gauze the Saintess had prepared. She cast a healing spell. The stinging pain faded a little.

“Aren’t you tired?”

“I felt better on the way here.”

“As expected of the Saintess. Even after using your divine power to the limit, it seems to replenish quickly.”

“……”

The Saintess hadn’t lifted her head since earlier. She wouldn’t meet my eyes.

“Um, Magician…”

“Ah, speaking of which, I have something to tell you.”

The Saintess hiccuped.

“Wh-what is it?”

“Could you lend your strength to repairing these magic stones?”

“Repair the magic stones? Me?”

I explained the general idea to the Saintess.

The fox sisters and I would physically repair the magic stones. Then, the Saintess would find and summon the Valkyrie companions’ souls.

Theoretically, it wasn’t impossible. If the spirits named Daisy and Olivia were still left on this island, that is.

But it might also be impossible, so we decided not to tell Valkyrie until we succeeded. If we gave her false hope in her current state and then failed, she might really break.

“I understand. And also…”

“Do you have something else?”

The Saintess sighed repeatedly.

Actually, I knew why she was acting like this. I smiled nonchalantly and raised a finger to my lips.

“I almost died back there. Didn’t I?”

“Huh? Oh, yeah!”

“I’m tired, so I’m going to lie down. Come join me if you’re not busy.”

I flopped down in the lifeboat. Riyo and Valkyrie were already passed out. Probably everyone except the Saintess would be bedridden for days, just like last time.

The Saintess lay down beside me. The lifeboat was full. Her eyes were a pale pink. We’ve slept side-by-side a couple of times now, but she still seems so shy. To be honest, so am I.

“Mr. Carsten.”

“Yes? What, what is it?”

“The thing you said earlier about liking me, was it true?”

“No.”

The Saintess stated firmly and closed her eyes.

Clumsy.

The Saintess is Luminada. Luminada is a type of half-elf. Meaning, not quite as long as an elf’s, but still significantly long ears. A characteristic of elves and their sub-species is that they can convey their emotional state with their ears.

The Saintess’s ears twitched vigorously. They don’t provide information as specific as her eye color, but this much was certain:

The Saintess is excited right now.

I yawned, loud enough for the Saintess to hear, and then closed my eyes.

Then 1 second, 2 seconds, 3 seconds.

Exactly 4 seconds passed before I snapped my eyes open.

“Ah.”

“Caught red-handed with a surprise inspection.”

The Saintess had secretly opened her eyes to check on me.

Her pupils, blah blah blah.

“I have a lot to say, but I won’t.”

“Ugh, hngh, ah, ah.”

“You must be tired, get some sleep. I hope you dream of the one you love tonight.”

“Ah, I won’t dream! I don’t have anyone like that!”

“Really?”

“Yes!”

“I hope the girl I like appears in my dreams tonight.”

“…You like someone? Who is it?”

“My future wife.”

“Is she perhaps among us?”

“I’m not sure about that part.”

The saint breathed a sigh of what seemed like relief.

Now it was truly time to sleep.

“Sniff, sob.”

The Valkyrie’s sobbing was annoying, but there was nothing he could say.

*

Watching the mage, who had already fallen asleep, Tiria fell into thought.

They say people become honest when death approaches. She understood that statement in her head. But she never thought she’d confess to the mage in that situation.

Only today did Tiria look back on her own feelings.

Loved him, I said I loved him.

Why the hell did I say that? So embarrassing!

“Ughhh!”

Tiria squirmed. She wanted to thrash around and bang on the boat, but there wasn’t enough room.

Erich Ronstein.

I liked him, sure. It’s true he felt dependable as a man.

But could I call it love? If you asked me that, I’d hesitate.

Because Tiria had always been the one giving love as a saint, never the one experiencing love as a woman.

I don’t know it, so it’s hard to accept.

“He’s messing with me…”

Tiria’s eyes sparkled like stars in the night sky. Her heart was slowly, subtly, being dyed with some emotion.

The name of that emotion, I don’t know yet.

Maybe it’s love.

*

A few days passed.

Thanks to the Saint’s help, my body recovered a lot. The burn on my hand was healing, too.

Since we ran out of food, we started fishing by the sea.

Using a net, we managed to catch some fish. Not exactly plentiful for four people. Our stomachs would start growling again after just a little while.

Today was the same. Clutching my empty stomach, I just kept staring at the sea. Goddamn it, we need to set sail soon.

“Got one!”

Riyo giggled and shouted,

“This is Erich’s!”

A question pops up here. Since when did she start calling me by my name?

It was a pretty decent day for harvesting. We grilled all the fish we caught directly over the fire. If only we had some palm leaves, but this island was lacking in everything but fire.

I grabbed a branch skewered with fish and headed toward the lifeboat. Valkyrie was huddled inside the boat.

I sighed.

“You at it again?”

“……”

“Here, eat this.”

“……I don’t have an appetite.”

“Still, you gotta fill your stomach, right?”

“I don’t want to.”

“Don’t act like a kid. You gotta eat and get your strength back to escape, right?”

“I said I don’t want to.”

“What?”

“I don’t… want to live.”

Valkyrie lifted her head. Her face was covered in tears.

“What’s going to change if we escape? Are my family and friends going to come back? They’re not, are they? So what reason do I have to leave?”

Her yellow eyes, which used to shine like the sun, had lost their luster a long time ago. She’d been like this ever since the day after we took down the boss.

No matter how much the Saint and Riyo tried to comfort her, it was the same. Felt like a nail had been driven straight into her heart.

“I came all this way to find my dead comrades. Wanted to see them again, just to talk. But, but…!”

He was the one who found those comrades and stabbed them.

Valkyrie bit her lip, and blood trickled out. Tears were on the verge of spilling.

A pretty damn dangerous sign.

“…Go.”

“Don’t do that.”

“Go! I want to be alone!”

I sighed and sat down beside her. Valkyrie struggled, trying to push me away. Then, she gripped my right hand tight. A groan slipped out without me meaning to.

“Ugh.”

“Ah…”

Valkyrie slowly let go of my hand.

Yeah, this is what happened trying to protect you. What a damn idiot I am.

“Who in the world wants to be alone? It’s tough because you’re lonely.”

“……”

“Do you even understand what I’m saying?”

She probably doesn’t. I don’t understand everything Valkyrie says either.

In that sense, I have a present.

“I just managed to fix it today.”

I pulled a stone out of my pocket.

“Do you know what this is?”

“……!”

Valkyrie’s eyes widened, like lanterns about to burst into flame. Because in my hands were two stones, shimmering with all the colors of the rainbow.

“See these? They’re the mana stones your comrades were trapped in. Took a while to restore them. The Saintess and Riyo helped whenever they had a spare moment.”

While Riyo and I physically reconstructed the mana stones, the Saintess went to find the lost souls. Erecting crosses and stone cairns, we waited, and those who’d lost their way appeared, drawn to the landmarks.

Wooo.

The stones in my hands vibrated.

“Found your friends last night and put them in here. They’re a little…wonky with their words now, but…you understand, right?”

It was a risky move, a gamble. Even if we found the souls, there was a chance the mana stones wouldn’t hold, that they’d shatter. We’d considered that.

But, ta-da!

We didn’t fail.

I called David and Kalon. Removed the mana stones from their golem mana circuits.

[‘Tyuuu…….’]

[‘Tyaa…….’]

David and Kalon wouldn’t be able to speak again. It’s alright. Later, when I have time, I’ll build them signal towers, or a machine to mimic golem vocal cords.

Anyway, only one task left now.

Click.

The power stones locked precisely into the circuit, and at the same moment, the two golems began to rise.