Ch.10A Very Small Trust (1)

The rain had stopped and the sun was out, making Rachel’s task clear.

Finding food.

Rachel glanced at the bedridden man and prepared to leave.

“Wait a moment.”

“Hm?”

“You should take this.”

“Ah, right. I almost forgot the most important thing.”

Rachel received the spear. She examined the piercing part carefully. It was a stone spear. The man seemed to have newly attached it. The stone part was fully charged with Ekirel.

Though Rachel normally shuddered at Mana, she was fine with the filtered medium essence. After all, Ekirel itself could be converted to holy power.

“For a Mage, you’re surprisingly considerate.”

The coughing man gave a bitter smile.

Though he was an enemy, he had stayed by her side when she was at her sickest. She couldn’t bring herself to scowl at him. Rachel forced the corners of her mouth to turn upward.

“I’ll be back soon.”

With that, she left the cave.

As expected, no monsters were in sight. The weather was cool, and the sun hadn’t yet reached its zenith. It was neither too hot nor too cold. How long had it been since she’d experienced such pleasant conditions?

Of course, it wasn’t completely comfortable. She hadn’t bathed for a week already. The feeling of discomfort persisted.

Rachel sniffed at her sleeve.

“…Ah.”

It was that man’s scent.

The result of huddling together with the Mage to endure the cold. They’d even been bare-skinned while drying their clothes. They’d been skin-to-skin for nearly 70 hours.

Rachel’s face flushed hot. Perhaps she hadn’t fully recovered from her illness?

Rachel shook off the distracting thoughts. Her stomach growled. It had been three days since she’d eaten anything except water.

First, she needed to hunt.

Just then, she spotted a rodent crossing through the grass. Rachel enhanced her body with holy power and moved forward.

***

“Ughhhh.”

My body ached as if being stabbed with needles.

My face was hot, and my head was dizzy. Yet my spine felt chilly. This feeling of being hot yet cold—definitely a fever.

How long has it been since I felt this sick? These days, medicine is so advanced that I haven’t suffered from minor illnesses like this.

“David, if I die, bury me on the stone mountain.”

[‘You won’t die from this.’]

“Then find me a way to recover quickly. *cough, cough!*”

[‘I suggest keeping your body warm.’]

I’ve already drunk boiled water. Rainwater, but still.

But that alone isn’t enough.

I created a few more luminous stones and placed them around my bed. After adjusting their output with simple magic and checking the temperature, I lay down when it felt just right.

“Ughhhhh.”

Warm and cozy. I feel like a flower in a greenhouse.

“Stones. Give me. Strength.”

[‘I have.’]

“I wish there were more. If I had a mountain of luminous stones, I could cover myself with them like a blanket.”

[‘Wouldn’t that be uncomfortable?’]

“Not at all. I only use stone beds anyway.”

[‘Aren’t stone beds part of beastfolk culture?’]

“I may dislike beastfolk, but I acknowledge stone beds. Oh, and ondol floors too.”

While I was in the middle of conversing with David, I heard footsteps from the cave entrance, and a shadow fell over me.

It was the Valkyrie, holding a basket and a spear. Our eyes met.

“Oh, you’re back.”

“You really are crazy. Can you actually talk to stones?”

“If you brought food, hurry up and cook it. I’m starving to death here.”

The Valkyrie sighed and put down her basket. I raised myself up, holding my throbbing head. The stones that had been placed on my body rolled off with a clatter.

I examined what she had hunted: one squirrel, something resembling a rabbit, and several fish.

“Not bad. This will make a hearty meal after three days of starvation.”

No matter how hungry we were, we couldn’t eat raw meat. It needed to be cooked.

I increased the temperature of the luminous stones to maximum output. Then I gathered some dried mushrooms and branches scattered around the cave and made a fire at the entrance. Meanwhile, the Valkyrie was preparing the animal skins.

“How are you feeling?”

“Phew, the fire’s ready.”

“Oh, don’t misunderstand. I don’t particularly care about your condition. I’m just asking because I need you to survive.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about. Anyway, come over here.”

“Huh?”

“Why are you standing there with that blank expression? Shouldn’t you cook meat for a sick patient?”

I gestured for the Valkyrie to come closer.

“Ugh.”

The Valkyrie shook her head repeatedly.

Well, look at this?

“Hey, I took care of you when you were sick. In all fairness, it’s your turn now. Do you know how troublesome and difficult it is to grill meat?”

“I really can’t handle fire.”

“Come here.”

The Valkyrie stepped backward.

What’s this? Wasn’t she hungry too? Is she expecting me to set the table because she did the hunting? Or did she already eat? Huh? Now that I think about it, I’m getting annoyed.

“Come on, I did everything for you a few days ago. I nursed you, drove away monsters, and even prepared meals. Now it’s your turn! How is this fair?”

“No, I really can’t. Just being near fire makes me feel like I’m suffocating. Please…”

The Valkyrie turned pale and shook her head more vigorously.

“Hah.”

So once again, cooking fell to me.

As always, I stared into the fire while turning the skewers, and sweat poured down like rain. When I looked back, the Valkyrie was sitting demurely at a distance.

Contrary to my expectation that she would look shameless, she appeared apologetic. I’m only tolerating this because of that face. She must have some kind of story.

“Here.”

“It’s fine.”

“You must be hungry after hunting. You eat first.”

“You eat first. You must be hungry.”

“You go first. I’ll eat right after you do.”

Of course, this was a calculated move. I was just as hungry as she was. I swallowed the saliva pooling in my mouth. Yes, be patient, Erich. Filling your stomach takes a moment, but goodwill lasts a lifetime.

“…Thank you.”

The Valkyrie took the meat and took a bite. At first, she nibbled slowly, but soon she cast aside her mask and began eating at an explosive pace. Seeing this, I tore into the rabbit’s hindquarters.

“Wow.”

This is unbelievable. It’s so delicious. It’s dry, unseasoned, and even has a gamey smell. Yet it tastes so exquisite.

Eating food, eating meat. When I was protected by civilization, I took it for granted. I thought military rations were so bad even dogs wouldn’t eat them. But now I see differently. Eating food, eating meat. It’s enough to bring tears to my eyes.

“Sniff.”

The Valkyrie was actually sobbing. I pretended not to notice. I realized that humans are weak creatures who can be reduced to tears by the most trivial things.

All that food was gone in an instant. I was full. But we would need to bring more food tomorrow.

We couldn’t always count on being this lucky. There might be days of heavy rain when we couldn’t go out, or days when hunting failed despite good weather.

“*cough* Listen.”

I caught my breath and spoke to the Valkyrie.

“When I’m feeling better, let’s go find the lifeboat. We’ll bring it here, prepare thoroughly, and then escape.”

Whether we would escape toward the Holy Spirit Kingdom or the Magic Kingdom—I didn’t even mention that part. For us right now, even that was a luxury.

***

It had been almost two weeks since we were stranded on this uninhabited island crawling with monsters.

Thanks to the Valkyrie bringing food consistently over the past week, we had no food problems. It rained for two days in the middle, keeping us confined to the cave all day, but we consumed our stored fish and slept to conserve energy.

Of course, we huddled together when necessary. This was truly, truly unavoidable. The cave was surprisingly cold.

“Good. I should be able to move around now.”

I checked the magic stones I had made while resting.

“Piercing Blue Stone, Umbrella Stone, Pure White Stone, Sensing Stone…”

Except for the Piercing Blue Stone, they all consumed a lot of Mana. They required some skill to make, but I managed somehow. Now we could be adequately prepared if the same situation arose again.

“Got everything you need?”

“Yeah, let’s go.”

When the sun was at its zenith, we headed for the shore where we first met. According to the Valkyrie, several monsters still wandered around there even during the day. That’s why she couldn’t bring the lifeboat.

Our goal was simple: concentrate our firepower to take down the creatures quickly, then bring the lifeboat back to the cave.

“Look over there.”

“They really are there.”

Even in broad daylight, several monsters were prowling around the lifeboat. We observed their movements for a while. When one returned to the sea, another would come ashore to take its place.

“Doesn’t it seem like… they’re standing guard?”

“They might be more intelligent than we thought.”

“Let’s approach carefully.”

I recited an incantation, while the Valkyrie said a prayer.

Since we couldn’t communicate verbally, we used hand signals. Go, wait, and so on. We agreed to use standardized military gestures and decided that the Valkyrie would take the vanguard while I covered the rear.

Woooong.

The attack magic stones entered standby mode.

“Move.”

At my signal, the Valkyrie dashed forward. She instantly decapitated a walker directly in the path to the lifeboat.

Beside it, an octopus monster, a “Spitter,” was preparing to shoot ink. At that moment, I fired the Piercing Blue Stone.

CRACK!

The Spitter’s head exploded instantly.

Without rain, the cleanup was much easier. My physical condition was also at its best. If we continued like this, we could reclaim the lifeboat.

Or so I thought.

[“Ooooh.”]

A new creature appeared.

It was a large monster covered in barnacles. It wore tattered cotton pants on its lower body.

[“Ah, for the lady.”]