Ch.28The Ghoul’s Altar (1)

Just as on the previous island where I had fought alongside the Valkyrie, I was certain there would be monsters here too. Not ghosts, but literal physical creatures.

I had no idea what kind of monster might appear. Sea creatures could emerge from the water like on that island, or werewolves might appear from the forest. We maintained vigilant night watches.

My prediction was correct.

“Mage, over there.”

I narrowed my eyes in the direction the Valkyrie pointed. Something was beyond the bushes. Though difficult to see in the darkness, its presence was unmistakable.

When I illuminated the area with a sap-covered branch as a torch, a grayish-white figure revealed itself in the darkness.

Damn. What is that?

It wasn’t a ghost. It had feet planted on the ground. Like those fish-human monsters, its form resembled a human.

No, it was human. Just not a living one.

No skin, no muscles, no organs. Only a skeleton remained. Where eyes should have been, there was nothing but empty sockets.

Despite being nothing but bones, it stubbornly defied heaven’s will by continuing to exist.

“…So the creatures here are skeletons.”

“Horrifying things.”

Skeleton monsters are famous enough to appear in countless heroic tales and even children’s stories. The dark lord’s army. The epitome of undead. People of old called them skulls.

I never thought I’d see them with my own eyes.

Five or six skeletons quickly surrounded us. Clearly, they had no intention of letting us pass.

We prepared for battle. The Valkyrie infused her spear with holy power, while I drew up magical energy to charge my Origin Stone.

Clatter.

The skeletons approached. The Valkyrie charged to meet them. As she thrust her spear into the skeletons ahead, I fired magic at those trying to flank us.

It had been a month since I started coordinating with the Valkyrie. We didn’t get in each other’s way. We efficiently dispatched the monsters.

Some occasionally rose again, but we simply shattered their bones to pieces.

“Mage. Look.”

The Valkyrie, kicking away bones, pointed at the ground.

“A stone.”

“Indeed. A stone.”

It was exactly like with the fish-people. We found a magic stone in the skull. It glowed with a dark red light—a type I’d never seen before.

Even if skeleton monsters could somehow occur naturally, there’s no reason for stones to be embedded in their skulls.

“It seems these were being controlled…”

Examining the magic stone carefully, I discovered that each stone served as some kind of conduit. This raised another question: who was behind this?

No amount of pondering would yield answers. I needed to research these stones further, including the one we got from the siren.

“Phew.”

“Good work today.”

I offered my fist to the Valkyrie.

She blinked, then smiled slightly. Our fists briefly touched and separated.

“You helped me out of a tight spot earlier. Pretty good instincts, huh?”

If only this woman had been an ally from the beginning. Then I could have trusted and relied on her more than I do now. I’ve been thinking that lately… but it’s foolish.

A month has passed, but that day’s experience remains vivid. The sight of the Valkyrie burning my comrades with her holy spear. I can never forget it. It haunts me even when I close my eyes.

Almost every night when I go to bed, the Valkyrie appears in my dreams. She comes as an enemy dragon rider to kill me. But when I wake from these unpleasant nightmares, there’s Rachel, rubbing her sleepy eyes as she stands guard to protect me.

This disconnect is confusing.

My head understands, but my heart can’t accept it. We’re enemies, cooperating only out of necessity. When we return to our units, we’ll have to point our weapons at each other…

Yet fighting together like this, sharing hard-earned food, struggling together to survive—it becomes difficult to distinguish between enemy and ally.

That’s why.

More than the monsters that visit every night, I feared the smile the Valkyrie occasionally gave me.

***

“Good work. Go in and rest now.”

Rachel switched places with Tiria and lay down in the lifeboat.

“Haah…”

It had been over a month since they were stranded on this uninhabited island. That’s how long she’d been coexisting with a man who had once been her enemy.

A month.

Short in some ways, long in others.

But time has density. The volume of time spent with the man might be small, but its weight was certainly significant.

Thinking back, the memory of that day was still vivid.

The day she lost two friends she’d known since the orphanage right before her eyes, and she herself fell into the cold sea after being hit by the mage’s attack.

It was all because of him. So when Rachel reunited with the man on this remote island, she resolved to maintain her anger toward him until the end.

That’s why she felt confused.

Her head understood, but her heart couldn’t accept it. They were enemies, cooperating only out of necessity. She knew that all the kindness this man showed her was calculated…

Fighting together like this, sharing hard-earned food, struggling to keep each other alive—she feared she might forget that he was the enemy who killed Daisy and Olivia.

That’s why.

More than the monsters that visited every night, Rachel feared the casual demeanor the mage occasionally showed.

***

How many days had passed?

[‘About two weeks.’]

We had explored the island thoroughly. We learned what monsters lived here, how to prepare for their attacks, and their weaknesses.

This island only had undead monsters. They couldn’t be killed no matter how much we attacked them, but we could neutralize them by cutting off and crushing their limbs. They were vulnerable to fire, and sunlight was their natural enemy. Unlike the fish-people who remained active even in the morning, these creatures lost all power at dawn.

This was fortunate. It meant guaranteed safety during daylight hours.

But there was one problem.

[“Please avenge us by killing the military chaplain and the Valkyrie!”]

There were too many spirits on the island.

All the spirits were fallen soldiers. They complained whenever we encountered them. Sometimes they even attacked us. They came both day and night.

[“Life is fleeting, I have no regrets. But for some reason, I cannot leave this island. I haven’t seen Kainri and Hans since yesterday. Did you help them, Major?”]

The spirits couldn’t find peace, whether by choice or not. To give them rest, they needed both the holy maiden’s prayers and my comfort.

“At this rate, I’ll run out of magic stones for building cairns.”

“This is a first for me too. Using so much holy power.”

The holy maiden sighed and sat on a rock. It was late at night. I sat beside her and continued the work I’d been doing yesterday.

I was making a net. Since we hadn’t seen any animals for days, I’d been working day and night on tools for catching fish.

To get enough food, fish traps and fishing rods wouldn’t be sufficient. That’s why I thought of this net. Once completed, I planned to set it up at a stream passage to catch fish.

The method itself was simple. Twist palm leaves or tree bark into two-strand cords, then make two more cords and place them in a cross. Tie the intersection with a third cord, and that’s one step.

Then repeat this process over and over. Simple but tedious, and I’d had trouble because each cord had different material and strength.

“Ah, damn.”

“What’s wrong? Not working out?”

“This part won’t tie properly…”

“Let me see.”

The holy maiden took the cord and tied the knot in less than a minute. Wow, and I’d been struggling with it for over 10 minutes.

“I thought you were good at crafting. Seems you have weaknesses too.”

“It’s because I’ve been doing this alone.”

“Is that an excuse?”

“It’s not. Look at this. My palms are all torn up.”

In the firelight, my hands were red and raw. Deep horizontal lines covered my palms where the skin creases. These were marks from constantly twisting cords and tying knots to make the net. Ah, it stings.

“Oh my.”

The holy maiden covered her mouth.

“You worked until your hands got like this?”

“What else could I do? We divided the work. The Valkyrie hunts, you gather and heal… In good conscience, I should handle the water and tools, right?”

“Still, I could have helped you.”

Her hand, which had been hovering in the air, moved. She took my chapped hands in hers. It happened so suddenly that I had no time to react.

Her eyes, illuminated by the campfire, flashed pink for a moment before returning to black.

“Um…”

“Stay still. I’ll heal you.”

The holy maiden’s cherry-like lips moved as she recited a divine word. A gentle light rose from her hands with a warm sensation. It was comfortably warm, calming my mind. The stinging sensation gradually subsided.

“How is it?”

“Much better.”

The holy maiden smiled softly. Her eyes were a mix of yellow and blue. Two emotions coexisting—sadness and joy. Even looking at her eye color, I couldn’t tell what she was feeling.

I could only think one thing.

Her smile was truly beautiful.

Near dawn, I handed the completed net to the Valkyrie who had just woken up. Today, she and the holy maiden were going to the stream together. They whispered to each other, then looked at me.

“Major Brokenheart says thank you for your hard work, and to get some rest this morning.”

I answered with a smile. The holy maiden shrugged and turned to leave with the Valkyrie.

I couldn’t just rest.

I looked up toward the forest. There was a small mountain beyond it. It wasn’t too high, so it seemed possible to climb up and down in a day.

Today, I would check the route to the mountain and make a new spear for the Valkyrie.

It was around that time.

[“It’s been a while, friend.”]

The mysterious man appeared again.