Escape From a Deserted Island With Enemy Female Soldiers - Chapter 95



94 – The Truth Revealed (2)

A day to be careful about your relationships, huh.

That’s stating the obvious. Aren’t you supposed to always be careful about relationships if you’re a person? That’s why I don’t take fortune-telling as anything more than entertainment.

“Huh?”

“Did something just glow?”

It seems they noticed the light coming from the letters. They noticed it even though it wasn’t that bright. I quickly crumpled the wrapper and closed my eyes.

“Erich, are you asleep?”

Pretending to be.

“Hmm, maybe I imagined it.”

“Maybe it was just some tropical firefly?”

The female soldiers were peering around me. Because my eyes were closed, the rustling sounds came through even clearer. They were whispering in very low voices.

“Giefold is from a prestigious family in the Magic Kingdom. When the war is over, they might find some pretext to take Erich away.”

“Can’t we take Erich to the Holy Spirit Nation?”

“It’ll be difficult unless we take him as a prisoner. He’s from the Magic Kingdom, why would he follow us when he could stay there?”

What kind of discussion are they having in the middle of the night?

“Haa…”

As much as I don’t understand women’s hearts, there was one thing I’d been vaguely sensing lately.

My relationship with Valkyrie, with the Saintess, and even with the fox sisters. The atmosphere with the Holy Spirit Nation’s female soldiers was better than I imagined.

Something natural, something instinctual, was starting to dawn on me. The enemy female soldiers might be feeling something more than camaraderie for me.

[‘You’re really dense, aren’t you? You’re only just now realizing that.’]

[‘Exactly. We’ve been fervently debating who you’ll end up with for a while now.’]

[‘Don’t be so hard on him. He’s been single all this time, he has a right to be cautious.’]

[‘Right. He’s way better than those guys who think you like them just because you’re nice, and then they come running like horny dogs. Of course, it’s insane that a guy with his specs is still a virgin…’]

The pebbles each chipped in with a word. Listening to their bitter remarks, regardless of whether they were friend or foe, made my head spin.

[‘So, Ronstein magician. Is there anyone you have feelings for?’]

[‘The Saintess is the best option.’]

[‘Fox! Fox! Fox!’]

[‘You’re not looking after Rachel? You’re throwing away your wife who survived with you, sharing even fish bones when things were at their worst?’]

The voices of the rocks are driving me insane.

Honestly, being loved by beauties is a good thing. I am a man, after all. If the mood were right, I could probably answer the Saintess and the Fox sisters’ confessions right away.

Valkyrie, I still don’t know. She was the woman I relied on more than anyone else, but paradoxically, she’s the person I’m most afraid of getting close to.

[‘Ah.’]

[‘Are you really going to do this?’]

[‘Okay, eliminated one.’]

[‘Daisy, Olivia, ladies. Preliminary round elimination. Farewell. Adidas.’]

But that’s also why I’m most concerned about her. Because we hated each other more than anyone else. And yet, we tried to save each other more than anyone else.

At least, the feelings I have for Valkyrie are too complicated to be described as mere love-hate.

[‘Senior?’]

[‘Look at the way this b*stard’s thinking?’]

[‘Oh.’]

[‘You scared me. I still have a chance, right?’]

But I can’t say that the memories with the Saintess or the Fox sisters are any less significant than those with Valkyrie. I’ve faced death countless times since then.

If it weren’t for the Saintess, if it weren’t for the Fox sisters… if even one of them wasn’t there, I’d be nothing but bones by now.

[‘Look at this?’]

[‘oooh, oh, you crazy son of a b*tch. How can you walk around with the skin of a human being in this admirable modern society and attempt to tread such a horrific path? You can’t. You must stop immediately.’]

[‘Did you forget the fortune written on the gum wrapper today?’]

[‘That’s right. You better watch yourself. Or someone’s gonna get a knife in their back.’]

These people, no, these rocks? Can’t I even think?

Either way, until we escape this deserted island, I’m stuck. My survival is still top priority. I won’t be showing my hand to anyone before then.

[‘For someone who puts self-preservation first, you sure engage in a lot of suicidal behavior…….’]

[‘Our Erich is usually not like this. He grew up well, but he loses it sometimes.’]

And then a voice tickling my ear.

“Major Ronstein.”

It was Major General Adora Giffold.

“Why aren’t you sleeping?”

“…….”

“I can hear the rocks’ voices too, you know.”

“Ah.”

Right. The rocks speak in Hueon. If you have even a little mana manipulation ability, you can hear their thoughts. And Major General Adora is a Class 1 Magician like me.

“I see.”

The Major General nodded, lying on her side. Her face was like she understood everything. Without another word, she pulled my hand.

Something was placed in it.

A bubble gum wrapper.

As soon as the Major General turned her back, I unfolded the wrapper. And the fortune she pulled for today read, as follows:

[A day when new relationships and good luck are expected. Fighting!]

*

The moment dawn broke, the thing I’d feared happened.

“Erich, I’ve completely healed this woman’s gunshot wound today.”

The Saintess gasped, wiping sweat. She’d pushed her divine healing power to its limit to heal the Major’s leg.

“…Impressive.”

The Major, who had been sitting on the stone bed swinging her leg, stood up.

“Ugh.”

And then fell again.

In my direction.

“Haa, I’m still not used to standing straight. Major Ronstein will have to help me up.”

“……”

The Saintess’s expression soured.

This. This was the real problem.

Even though I was inexperienced with romance, I’d met enough people. It wasn’t hard to sense the power struggle rising to the surface between the Major and the Holy Nation’s female soldiers.

And even that I was the cause.

[‘Now that things have come to this, we need to sort this out quickly.’]

[‘Right. Just confess to one of them and it’ll all be over.’]

Calon and Olivia had said that. David and Daisy, meanwhile, seemed to think differently.

[‘Confessing now is like detonating a time bomb after coming all this way.’]

[‘We have fate to consider, so shouldn’t we play it safe, at least for today?’]

For the record, Major Adora held these two. The Major, able to hear the voices of the stones, grinned thinly, rolling the two pebbles around.

[‘Oh, oh, ohhh.’]

[‘Oh my, gor-, oh my my god.’]

A scratchy sound filled the air.

[‘Oh, god damn it. It’s all over now. There’s no way I’m getting married like this.’]

[‘My, my purity…! To vanish so absurdly like this!’]

The Warden, who’d been fiddling with two stones in her hands, gave them back to me, saying they were hot. While I examined the state of the stones, she spoke to everyone.

“I don’t want to start a fight even in this barren environment. I’ll actively cooperate until we escape.”

“Not cooperate, *have* to cooperate. Do you know how hard it was the first day you got here?”

“I know. I plan to earn my keep accordingly.”

Grrrr.

Lucky or unlucky, spore monsters appeared from the morning. Similar composition to yesterday. Seemed like a reconnaissance party from another boss on this island.

“Perfect timing.”

The Warden flicked her hand, looking at Valkyrie.

“Hand over Jindo.”

“…This?”

“I hate repeating myself.”

Valkyrie’s eyes were filled with conflict. She seemed to be thinking she couldn’t trust the woman in front of her… But her actions were quick. Valkyrie gave the Warden the sword with a faint smile as soon as she looked at me.

[“Inhabit.”]

Holding Jindo, the Warden swiftly infused it with mana.

Her mana manipulation couldn’t compare to me, but it was at the level of an average Class 1 Mage, and her mana reserves were overwhelmingly large.

[‘Impressive right out of the gate.’]

[‘My performance on the first day wasn’t my true ability.’]

Naturally. Subduing an opponent requires controlled strength. Now, Commander Adora had drawn her sword to eradicate the monsters before her.

Drip, drip.

Oversaturated mana coursed down the blade and flowed off in a liquid state.

Correcting the alignment of the black-stained blade, the Commander lowered her stance.

“Grrrrk.”

“Squeak, skreek.”

“Ughhh.”

There were quite a few monsters. It would take some work to deal with them all at once. I, and of course Valkyrie and Liyo, finished our preparations to fight, just in case.

The mushroom monsters’ weakness was fire. And if that didn’t work, severing their limbs.

I was planning to use magic when the opportunity arose.

But, it looked like that wouldn’t be necessary.

[“Fire Path.”]

Whoosh!

Flames flowed from the blade.

Adopting her stance, the Commander charged headfirst into the oncoming mushroom-human’s embrace. *Thwack!* She swung horizontally. Sparks scattered and fell like flowers.

Cauterizing with flame and slicing off limbs with her strikes.

The Commander accomplished both with ease.

The same was true in the fights that followed. In an instant, more than ten monsters were sent flying. Her movement speed was slightly less than Valkyrie’s, but she was far more skilled.

[‘So, the army *is* different, huh.’]

[‘Seven Swords Unit – they’re also the President’s personal guard. In a close-quarters situation like this, they’re bound to have an edge over Valkyries who mainly train for aerial combat.’]

*Shing.*

The Major slid his katana back into its scabbard. Not even a hint of strain on his face.

“What, something like that?”

“…….”

“Praise me. Now.”

“Psh, I can do that much, too.”

The Valkyrie scoffed, crossing her arms. Riyo, beside her, chimed in agreement, turning her head away. The Saintess remained silent, but wore the same petulant expression.

“Impressive, Major.”

I was the only one who said something nice. The Major’s face fell.

“So, is this still not enough?”

“Given time, they’ll all warm up to you, Major. You have no idea how hard I had to work to get close to those people.”

“You think so?”

The Major chuckled. I was a little taken aback.

From noble mtl dot com

“Major, can I ask you a question?”

“Yeah, what is it?”

“Do you have any idea why the Holy Nation’s female soldiers are so wary of you?”

“Don’t even need to think about it.”

The Major replied, beaming with self-confidence.

“Wouldn’t you say that’s because I’m part of Chiljadan and Palyounghoe? It’s only natural that those Holy Spirit Church believers hate me.”

“No, not that, sir.”

“What else is there?”

“You really don’t know?”

The Major nodded. She looked like a guileless girl for once.

Just in case, I tossed out a follow-up question.

“About the conversation Dol-i and I had yesterday, from what part did you hear it, sir?”

“The part about how you have a clear sense of self-sacrifice. Probably almost the very end. Why, was there some other conversation before that?”

I fell silent. The Major asked if something was wrong, but I said it was nothing.

The Major, chewing her bubblegum with a *shwuk shwuk* sound, tapped my shoulder, leaving a strawberry scent behind.

“So, there was another reason you saved me. You’re a good soldier *and* a good man, Major Ronstein. You even saved my life, so when the war’s over, I’d like to invite you to my family home…”

“…Thank you for the thought, sir.”

Scratch that. My fortune was turning out to be pretty damn accurate.

I’ll have to pay more attention to the Holy Spirit Nation female soldiers for the time being.

*

A forest thick with mushroom trees.

A gaunt demon, his entire body covered in spores, cackled.

[“…Found you.”]

There’s a direction the scouting party hasn’t returned from. Sending spores and seeds in that direction, he sensed the presence of living humans.

Eliminating intruders is common sense.

“This old coot better whip up a present.”

Niemi, the Calamity Witch.

She leaned on her staff and entered the deep forest.