Escape From a Deserted Island With Enemy Female Soldiers

55 – A Heavy Relationship (4)

As time passed, the combat engineer’s trembling subsided. Her face flushed as she pulled away.

“What do you think you’re doing, touching me like that?”

“You’re the one who latched onto me?”

[“From *our* frame of reference, *you* were the one who came over and hugged him?”]

I’m gonna lose it.

No hiding it now, one way or another.

I told Valkyrie and the Saintess about the sapper sisters’ past. Explained what the mark meant, too.

Valkyrie spoke after hearing everything.

“I, I recognize that.”

“…You do?”

“The robes of the mages who attacked my village, they had a mark like that drawn on them. It’s a memory I don’t want to dredge up, so I’m not entirely sure, but…”

I swallowed hard. Looks like these aren’t your run-of-the-mill b*stards.

The Saintess said,

“One body, two souls… were those mages experimenting here too, maybe?”

“That’s what I’m thinking as well.”

“Wait, there are letters inside the circle!”

“Really?”

It was true, just as the Saintess said. Words, Hyeron, etched on the monster’s back.

“What does it say?”

“Subject 973.”

“…Subject?”

“Recommended feeding with recently deceased human or spirit corpses. Frozen meat has proven ineffective at bearing fruit. Harvest mature fruit periodically. Management of this subject is entrusted to the 3rd Legion?”

3rd Legion.

“What does 3rd Legion mean?”

“It’s not our army.”

“It wouldn’t be us either.”

“Then…”

The Saintess’ face went deathly pale.

“…The Demon Lord’s army.”

“Huh.”

I’d been expecting something like this. Alraunes and Ghouls had let slip bits and pieces every now and then.

The Demon Lord’s army, huh.

“We can’t jump to conclusions yet.”

The Demon Lord’s army was supposed to have been wiped out centuries ago. People usually just laugh off stories about the Demon Lord. That’s how ancient history it is.

“It’s more likely some cultist mages scribbled down those incantations. Profiting off the name of a long-dead Demon Lord to line their own pockets.”

It’s far more logical to think that way.

It was then that the Valkyrie spoke.

“Now that I think about it, something’s strange.”

“What is?”

“On the first island, it was fishmen, on the second, ghosts, and this island has plants. It’s like each island has a theme. Maybe someone’s using each island as a kind of laboratory?”

“The Lieutenant has a point. Maybe this whole archipelago is a base for cultist mages or remnants of the Demon Lord’s army.”

“Remnants of the Demon Lord’s army? Could any remnants even survive for hundreds of years?”

“Judging by the scale of this archipelago, it’s not impossible.”

“Then…”

“We have to get off this island. We need to inform the homeland. And to do that, we have to survive.”

While the two were talking, I sorted out my thoughts.

First, and most important, the mana compass.

I pulled a Source Stone from my pocket and absorbed the nearby mana. Then I picked up a wooden stick and thoroughly searched the wooden puppet’s corpse.

“……”

Nothing.

Not a single magic stone.

[‘Disappointing. How can you wear the skin of a monster and not give out any rewards?’]

[‘Maybe it doesn’t get monster status because it’s a test subject?’]

This just makes my head spin again. Is trying to escape the island again the right decision? Or was that thing not even a boss?

I was thinking all this when…

“……!”

I felt a strange mana.

Faint, but when it comes to mana threads, no mage can match my detection. I instinctively turned my head, focusing my vision on where the mana was disrupted.

For a fleeting moment, something heavy passed by quickly.

[‘What was that just now?’]

[‘Was there something there?’]

The stones didn’t seem to see it. But I did. It was definitely a monster with the upper body of a human and the lower body of a spider.

“Shit.”

It was pretty big. Could *that* have been the boss?

Then why didn’t it attack us? Especially since I’m completely defenseless right now?

[‘Ah, come to think of it, that tree?’]

“……Tree?”

[‘I’m talking about that small tree that was attached to the wooden puppet monster’s head earlier. Where did it go? Why can’t I see it?’]

Huh? Why can’t I see it?

I looked around, but it wasn’t there. Not even the magic stone that tree was holding. Just the charcoal remains of the monster’s corpse and the smell of ash.

The Saintess declared.

“Let’s head back for today.”

I tried to get up, leaving the bitterness behind. It wasn’t easy because of my depleted mana. The Engineer extended a hand.

“Here, Magician. Grab Liyo’s arm and get up.”

The Engineer lent me a shoulder. She giggled. Valkyrie was staring at us with narrowed eyes. I guess she doesn’t like me getting friendly with her comrades.

I’m worried. When will I ever be able to reconcile with Valkyrie?

Shadows were already falling in the forest. The sun was setting.

“We have to walk faster, faster!”

“I’m doing my best…….”

My thighs are stiff. My muscles feel knotted.

[“If you’re a male, then use your strength properly. How can you teach anyone magic with stamina like that? Are you even a first-class mage?”]

“Don’t talk to me, I’m struggling…….”

[“Wee-ak. Out-side. In-side.”]

“Ha, seriously.”

A surge of defiance welled up.

“Prepared to be exhausted tomorrow from walking… Huh?”

The instant I was about to take a big step, a bizarre outline appeared in my vision, now adjusted to the darkness.

Not a rock, nor foliage.

Close to a tree, but not a tree either.

It was breathing mana. The sound was so faint, even a sapper wouldn’t be able to hear it.

The only reason I noticed was because the mana flow felt unnatural.

A monster.

Every monster I’d met so far had scattered magical traces. So, I rarely got ambushed.

If it could intentionally hide its magical traces, it probably wasn’t a normal monster.

I tried to shout.

But a step ahead of me, it sprang up.

“……!”

Aiming for our flank. It flew past the Valkyrie and the Saintess, heading straight for me and the sapper.

It’s targeting the sapper. Its plan seems to be to eliminate her first since she has good night vision, and then kill the Valkyrie, the Saintess, and finally, the powerless me.

“Danger——!”

I shouted and simultaneously pulled the sapper down, throwing myself to the ground.

Thwack!

I felt something sink into my waist.

“……Magician?”

The sapper and her sister’s voices rang out at the same time. Their faces are close. Her gaze went from my face, and then down. My eyes followed hers.

A tree root-like thing was jutting out of his side. His lower back was growing steadily stiff, and a hot sensation flooded in like a tide.

“…Huh.”

What a fucking shitty island.

*

*Swish*

The root that had pierced through Erich slowly slid out. At the same time, a hollow emptiness settled in Lio’s eyes.

A person falls before her very eyes. What’s more, taking an attack meant for her.

An immeasurable confusion soon erupted into words.

“Mage? Mage——!!”

Hearing Lio’s scream, Rachel and Tiria immediately turned around.

It was too late by the time Rachel pulled out her spear. *Whump*, Erich’s body flew towards the two women. He literally tumbled across the ground, as if he’d been thrown.

“…Mage?”

Tiria’s eyes were stained crimson.

And Rachel…

“…Which b*stard is it.”

She burst forward faster than anyone else.

When she threw a lightstone, the monster’s form was revealed. It was a tree with magic stones dangling like fruit instead of actual berries. It had a stout, barrel-like body, with no eyes, nose or ears, only a gaping mouth.

That mouth revealed sharp teeth and uttered a sound.

[“Force Explosion.”]

*Thwack——!!*

A percussion like gunfire shattered against Rachel’s spear shaft. It happened before she could even infuse it with divine power.

*Kwajik!*

Corrosive mana snapped Rachel’s spear like a straw. But Rachel didn’t panic. She rammed the broken halves of the spear into the monster’s maw.

*Not ending it here.*

She then pulled a backup bamboo spear from her back.

Pouring the maximum divine power the weapon could withstand, she plunged it into the monster’s torso.

[“Kurgh!”]

The monster lost its footing and collapsed. Its mouth split wide on both sides. Purple blood splattered in all directions.

“Sergeant Riyo!”

Rachel helped the trembling Riyo to her feet.

“Snap out of it!”

“A m-magician, took it instead of me…”

“Get up, Sergeant! That’s an order!”

Rachel slapped Riyo’s cheeks, pushing her towards Tilia. Riyo was clearly out of it, unable to react quickly.

[“Khakh, ptooey.”]

The monster scrambled to its feet. Rachel gripped the bamboo spear tightly, regaining her stance.

[“…Both of you are beyond my expectations.”]

Rachel couldn’t understand what the monster was saying.

But Tilia and Miyo did. Tilia, who was checking on Erich, pricked up her ears.

[“I was going to kill the night-eyed fox b*tch first, but that damn magician with his power spent managed to figure it out. I was sure I had completely concealed my presence. And even using her quick thinking to make my attack avoid her vitals… For a human, she has surprisingly good reflexes.”]

The monster pointed at Rachel.

[“And you, human b*tch. Your ability to assess the situation, your skill with a spear… everything about you is extraordinary.”]

The tree creature pulled the spearhead from its mouth and immediately adopted a defensive stance. It plucked a fruit from its head and rubbed it against the spear blade.

[“Bloom.”]

Wooom.

Dark, murky mana overlaid the area where holy power had been. Rachel’s eyes narrowed. It knew how to use tools, and it was skilled in magic.

This thing must be the leader.

“Mage, Mage! Erich! Wake up!”

“I’m sorry, it’s my fault. I couldn’t detect it, so you were attacked in my place. It’s all my fault…”

Riyo was young and fragile. Her rank was low. She wasn’t in a combat role, so she probably didn’t know how to handle a situation like this at all. She couldn’t be blamed.

At least Tiria was quickly recognizing the situation and injecting healing holy power into the mage, but it wouldn’t be more than first aid.

[“I injected mana into that attack that inhibits blood clot formation. Even if you stop the bleeding, the blood will just keep seeping out.”]

The monster chuckled low.

Rachel’s golden eyes blazed with fire. In this situation, she was the only one who could deal with the monster in front of them.