Ch.16First Escape (2)

On the evening we escaped from the cave, the Valkyrie approached me, picking up the map and ancient document. She tilted her head curiously while pointing at the lines of text on the document.

“What, you’re asking if I know what this means?”

She nodded repeatedly.

“I do know. It’s written in Incantation.”

Incantation. A language once called the devil’s tongue.

I never expected monsters would communicate using Incantation.

The Valkyrie seemed to want to understand the document’s contents through me.

“While we’re at it, learning your language would be helpful too.”

This was a good sign. If I could learn even a little Ascalian through this opportunity, it would be useful far into the future.

From that day on, we decided to try proper communication.

“Let’s start with simple greetings.”

I faced the Valkyrie and pronounced each syllable slowly and clearly.

“Hello.”

“…?”

“Try repeating it. Hello.”

“Hewwo?”

“Again. Hello?”

I bowed my head while saying this. Whether in the Holy Spirit Kingdom or Magic Kingdom, bowing when greeting was the same, so if she was perceptive, the Valkyrie would immediately understand the meaning.

“Hello.”

“Hewwo.”

“That’s right. Hello?”

“Hello?”

“Good.”

As expected, the Valkyrie quickly picked up the expression. Her pronunciation was slightly lacking, but not bad enough to be unintelligible, so I decided to let it pass.

“Now you teach me.”

After that, we exchanged several expressions including simple greetings.

“One, two, three.”

“One, two, three.”

“This, that.”

“This, that.”

“Left, right, forward, backward.”

“Left, right, forward, backward.”

“East, west, south, north.”

“East, west, south, north.”

“Food, water, house, monster.”

“Food, water, house, monster.”

“Over, do you copy? Isn’t the Air Force fucking awful?”

“Over. I can’t hear well. But hey, isn’t the Air Force fucking awful?”

Several days passed like this.

I became able to pronounce basic Holy Spirit Kingdom words. The same was true for the Valkyrie.

Of course, we still had a long and difficult road ahead. I couldn’t fluently say “How about going hunting this morning?” right away. If I wanted to express that intention, I could point outside the cave and say:

-Morning, food?

The Valkyrie would generally understand.

Even if she didn’t understand, it was fine. We had gestures and drawings. We could resolve any misunderstandings through body language.

“Grrrr.”

A new morning dawned.

As soon as I woke up, I picked up a piece of chalk and made marks on the outer wall of the cave. Counting them, there were thirty-two. Today marked the 32nd day since I landed on this island.

“Mmmmm.”

The Valkyrie stretched and got up. Her smooth curves extended like brush strokes. Perhaps because last night was particularly hot and humid, her outer garment had come off.

“Ahem.”

I cleared my throat and fidgeted with my fingers. The startled Valkyrie hurriedly picked up her military jacket and fastened the front.

“Hello. Good morning.”

“G-good morning.”

Without pronunciation correction, her speech sounded completely childlike. Honestly, it was kind of cute…

“Ah.”

What am I thinking?

Get a grip, Erich. She’s the enemy. The enemy who killed my academy classmates, my precious people.

“Today. Food, water.”

She nodded.

“Oar.”

“Oar?”

I pointed to the lifeboat and mimicked rowing. The Valkyrie, who had been wearing a meaningful expression, nodded slightly as if she understood.

“Ah, right. If we have a boat, we need oars.”

We each got up from our places.

Quite some time had passed since we defeated the Siren and left the cave. During that time, we began dividing tasks with the common goal of escaping this island.

The Valkyrie mainly hunted and gathered during the day. Sometimes she helped me make tools.

Meanwhile, I purified water with zeolite, boiled used purifying stones to obtain tasteless salt, made containers to store food and water, made traps, started making all sorts of things, and just made a lot of things.

The Valkyrie was particularly skilled at catching fish. Communicating through gestures, she said she lived in a fishing village as a child and had much experience with spear and net fishing.

Anyway, today was our turn to make oars. We checked the traps, broke off suitably shaped branches, brought them back, and shaped them with knives.

Wood for oars needs to be light and sturdy. Above all, the end part should be wide, but unfortunately, without an axe, we couldn’t get such wood.

As an alternative, I decided to combine two pieces of wood.

“Here, you carve a deep straight groove in the middle of the pole like this. Then insert this knife-trimmed board… It’s crude, but it should work somehow.”

“Wow! You’re pretty skilled, aren’t you?”

The flat surface area looked a bit narrow, but I was grateful for even this much. Since plant magic wasn’t my specialty, I knew nothing about it. Damn, if I’d known this would happen, I would have double-majored.

We continued preparing like this for about two more weeks.

Our destination was the nearest island shown on the map. If resources were more abundant there than here, we’d stay; if not, we’d return and regroup.

After two straight days of storms, today’s weather was exceptionally pleasant. With not a cloud in sight, now was the perfect time to escape.

“Water.”

“Check.”

“Food.”

“Sufficient.”

“Lifeboat status check.”

“No problems.”

According to the diary left by the Siren, leaving this archipelago directly was impossible. She mentioned some unknown force.

But that too must ultimately be a form of magic. We decided to try our best even if we encountered something like a barrier.

“The oars. Did you bring them?”

“Here, take one.”

The Valkyrie and I each gripped an oar and boarded the lifeboat. Our direction was west. Since it matched the direction we wanted to go, we had a tailwind. It was as if blessing our departure.

Splash.

We launched the lifeboat into the water.

My heart swelled. We were leaving the island for the first time in a month. Having eaten plenty of meat the previous day, we had energy to spare. The Valkyrie and I rowed hard in unison.

But then.

“Urgh.”

What the…

“Don’t tell me you get seasick?”

***

“Colonel Tiria Kasten, we sincerely welcome you aboard the Phoenix.”

The captain bowed at a right angle. Tiria noticed the colonel rank insignia on his shoulder. She waved her hand dismissively and replied.

“We’re the same rank. There’s no need for such formality.”

“Not at all. As a believer in the Holy Spirit, how could I treat a Saint as an equal?”

Saint.

Though the prestige of that title had diminished compared to the past, it was still a position that received favorable treatment in the Holy Spirit Kingdom. Those recognized as Saints through divine revelation could use holy magic to heal others and comfort spirits.

“Two years ago, my son, who was a Dragon Rider, passed away in the Battle of Rever Bay. I’m so grateful for the comfort you provided his spirit then. He surely went to heaven. Thank you.”

“I was only doing my duty.”

Tiria smiled awkwardly, exchanged greetings with the captain, and went out on deck with her assigned aide. Since a Saint is a sacred being who directly receives the goddess’s blessing, she is assigned an aide despite not being a general officer.

“Colonel Kasten.”

The aide said.

“That day in the Tatangkur Waters, a total of 15,000 people from both countries died or were injured. There must be plenty of wandering souls.”

“I know. You want me to soothe and help our country’s virtuous souls find peace, while exorcising the wicked spirits, right?”

“Yes.”

“It’s what I’ve always done. Not difficult.”

As Tiria said this, she touched her eyes. Dark blue irises sat above her dusky eyelids.

“Thanking me…”

The Saint pondered the captain’s greeting.

“…such cursed words.”

“Pardon?”

“Nothing, I was just wondering when we’ll arrive at the target waters.”

“We’re almost there. We’ll enter within an hour.”

True to the aide’s words, after sailing a bit further, thick fog appeared and mysterious wailing sounds began to be heard.

Aaaah!

Startled by the anguished sound, the aide asked.

“What is that noise?”

“Lost souls. Those who don’t even know they’re dead and are seeking salvation.”

“Like vengeful spirits?”

“A bit different. But with this many, there must be some among them.”

Tiria’s pupils turned white. She quickly sorted out the Holy Spirit Kingdom soldiers from the Magic Kingdom soldiers.

First, she sent the Holy Spirit Kingdom souls to heaven by reciting prayers, then took out her baculus to deal with the Magic Kingdom’s evil spirits.

“Sigh. You should have died peacefully.”

Tiria disliked the Magic Kingdom. Not just because she was a clergy member. They threatened her life while alive, and as vengeful spirits after death, they tried to gnaw at her mind.

[“MANA, IZUM REIH MANA.”]

[“OUUUU.”]

Being evil spirits, they used Incantation. Incantation is the devil’s language. It’s evidence that demons collected the souls of those who used magic when they died.

If she wanted, she could hear what they were saying. But there was no need to do so. It only made her feel dirty each time she listened.

“Goddess of healing, bring divine punishment upon these souls.”

[“AAAAAAAAH!”]

After exorcising all the Magic Kingdom soldiers, Tiria put down her staff. She heaved a deep sigh.

Rumble.

The sky suddenly darkened. Numerous storm clouds blocked the sunlight and intensified the waves.

“Colonel. I think you should go inside now.”

“No.”

Tiria picked up the baculus she had put down.

“The weather… doesn’t look good.”

Whoosh!

A gust of wind brushed against her cheek. She felt a warm sensation. Tiria touched her cheek and looked at her hand. It was stained with blood.

“Colonel Kasten!”

Something was wrong.

The hazy fog enveloped the entire ship, then swallowed the Phoenix whole. It was so thick that nothing was visible even a foot ahead. The aide’s voice could no longer be heard.

Suddenly, a shadow fell over her head. Tiria looked up. And she saw it.

A massive serpent rising from the sea, with jade scales and blue eyes.

“M-merciful goddess.”

Tiria’s eyes turned purple.

***

The Valkyrie and I rowed for half a day. Though tired and exhausted, we couldn’t give up. Fog appeared midway and enveloped us briefly, then land came into view.

It was momentarily unsettling, but we couldn’t help feeling excited upon visually confirming the shore.

“Hey! Look at that! It’s a sandy beach!”

It was a sandy terrain that didn’t exist on the island we departed from. A different island.

Finally, we were able to land without any unusual incidents.

Crunch.

The sand made a soft sound as it slid beneath our military boots. My heart pounded. As soon as I tied the lifeboat to a nearby rock, I collapsed from exhaustion.

And the Valkyrie.

“Urrrgh.”

She was in terrible shape.

“Hey, are you okay?”

“Bleurgh.”

“Oh dear. Wait a moment.”

I took out water from the lifeboat and handed it to the Valkyrie. I also patted her back. It took a few more minutes for her condition to improve.

“Th-thank you. I’m feeling better now.”

“Let’s rest a bit and then look around. We need to see if there are other people here.”

From a distance, this island appeared larger than the previous one. There didn’t seem to be any terrace formations, but instead, a few palm trees welcomed us. Beyond them was dense jungle.

“First, let’s walk along the coast a bit. Let’s look for something like a shipwreck.”

After I drew a broken ship in the sand, the Valkyrie nodded. We memorized the lifeboat’s location and walked along the white beach.

There might be other people here. Whether natives or castaways.

[‘If they’re castaways, I hope they’re from the Magic Kingdom.’]

David said.

[‘Though I suppose it wouldn’t matter if they were from the Holy Spirit Kingdom either.’]

I nodded.

Since I had become somewhat friendly with the Valkyrie, there wouldn’t be much of a problem even if we encountered Holy Spirit Kingdom soldiers. I could simply propose cooperation. We’re all castaways here, so why fight?

However, there was one exception.

Military chaplains were ambiguous.

I’d heard that military chaplain officers, or clergy, were basically close-minded. Since they usually held ranks of lieutenant colonel or higher, there was a high possibility they wouldn’t listen even if the Valkyrie, a major, vouched for me.

Moreover, some high-ranking clergy who doubled as political officers reportedly had the authority to summarily execute Mages. They said it was a divine right that even generals couldn’t interfere with.

Of course, such chaplains would likely be gossiping in operation rooms. Fortunately, the chances of them ending up in a place like this approached zero.

“Hey, over there!”

“Huh?”

“There’s a person!”

The Valkyrie pointed ahead. I focused my gaze expecting a shipwreck, but instead of a ship, there was someone collapsed on the shore.

We quickened our pace and approached.

It was a silver-haired woman.

Holy Spirit Kingdom rank insignia. She was definitely military. Judging by her nun’s habit modified to resemble a uniform, it was a clerical robe. And clerical robes were worn by military chaplain officers to distinguish themselves from other officers.

“Mmmmm.”

Just then, the woman groaned and stirred. She was alive.

[‘It really is a military chaplain.’]

“Ah, damn it.”

Speak of the devil and he shall appear.

It seems a less than smooth future awaits us.