Ch.29The Ghoul’s Altar (2)

A mysterious man appeared.

I didn’t even hear him approaching. He appeared naturally, as if he had been here from the beginning.

[“It’s been almost half a month? I came to see how you’ve been doing.”]

The man’s appearance was exactly the same as two weeks ago. Black and elongated. His entire body was wrapped in black bandages, leaving no visible skin.

Though I still found his appearance suspicious, I didn’t show it. I responded to his greeting with a calm tone.

[“What brings you here?”]

[“What brings me here? I was just passing by.”]

The man sat down casually on the sandy ground. For a while, we engaged in small talk. What have you been doing, have you made many tools, do you have plans for escape?

I only gave standard answers. The man seemed to have an itchy mouth, as he kept talking.

[“You look quite tired. By the way, did you visit that stream well?”]

[“You mean the lake?”]

[“Same thing, really. Anyway.”]

[“I almost got dragged to my death by a water ghost. Why didn’t you warn me beforehand?”]

[“Huh? Water ghost?”]

The man responded with a tone of confusion.

[“There’s no water ghost in the lake. I’ve never experienced such a thing.”]

[“This island is crawling with monsters. Look. This is a monster I caught this morning. It was just bones but still moved and attacked me!”]

[“It’s the wilderness, so of course there are ghouls. I thought you were cautious enough to be prepared, so I didn’t bother to mention it.”]

The more we talked, the more suspicious it became.

After looking around the base, the man said:

[“It seems you have two more companions.”]

[“How did you know?”]

[“I guessed from the number of dishes.”]

[“Couldn’t I be using all three myself?”]

[“Magicians like us always pursue rationality. There’s no need to make three identical things.”]

Suspicious. The more we talked, the more dubious things became.

I had been thinking from the beginning that the man might actually be a monster. There was already the precedent with the siren, wasn’t there?

But I didn’t show it.

With neither the Valkyrie nor the Holy Maiden present, it would be too dangerous to show open hostility.

No, even if they were here, I shouldn’t fight recklessly. With so many things requiring my energy, avoiding combat when possible is the best strategy.

[“So, what kind of people are your companions?”]

[“There’s nothing special about them. We just met.”]

I gradually revealed information about the Valkyrie and the Holy Maiden while watching the man’s reactions. I wanted to gauge how much he knew about us.

[“I see. So you’re enemies forced to cooperate.”]

I couldn’t tell if he genuinely didn’t know or was just pretending.

But the next moment, I was certain from what the man said.

[“Can you trust them?”]

This was clearly an attempt to sow discord.

***

Tiria and Rachel went to the stream to check the fish trap first. All they caught was a single minnow.

“Essentially a wasted trip.”

“It happens sometimes. We’ll just have to focus on fishing today.”

Rachel and Tiria entered the lake with the net made by the man. There was a risk of being dragged away by the water ghost, but there were also many large fish.

The net the mage made was very useful. They just had to lower it below their waists and wait, then lift it when fish passed over it. It required less effort and saved a lot of time.

“Wow! Today is amazing! Look at this!”

“…Colonel?”

“Ah, ahem.”

Tiria’s eyes turned pink. She had just acted too much like a child.

It couldn’t be helped, as she had spent most of her life in a cathedral in a big city. Fishing was quite an extraordinary experience for her.

“Anyway, this should be enough for us to eat well.”

“You need to think about stockpiling too. We don’t know how long it will take to reach another island.”

Rachel skillfully placed the caught fish in the basket. Tiria tried to do the same, but the fish kept slipping from her hands.

“Ah!”

The fish escaped.

“…”

“S-sorry.”

In the wilderness, food is the most important thing.

An extraordinary situation unfolded where a major was giving her colonel a disapproving look.

“It’s fine. We can catch more tomorrow.”

After fishing, it was time to gather edible plants. Although Rachel had lived in the countryside, she had no knowledge in this area, so Tiria, who had studied herbology, took the lead.

There were still no land animals in sight. No birds either. The forest was quiet.

It was somewhat eerie, so the two quickly left the forest with their gathered wild vegetables.

Perhaps because they were walking quickly, the shoreline soon came into view despite the sun still being high. Relieved, Tiria hurried ahead with small steps.

“Mage, we’re ba—!”

[“Can you trust them?”]

Tiria’s breath stopped.

Rachel, who was following behind, couldn’t stop in time and bumped into Tiria’s back.

“Colonel? Why did you suddenly stop…”

“Shh.”

The two women hid in the bushes, quickly assessing the situation.

It didn’t take long to understand what was happening. An unidentified man was talking with the Magic Kingdom’s mage. And they were using incantations.

“Who is that person?”

“Must be that mysterious man the mage mentioned before.”

“I sense evil magical energy.”

“Demon or monster. It’s likely one of the two. Or…”

Tiria trailed off. Surely it couldn’t be them. She had heard repeatedly that the church had completely eradicated them, if not monsters.

As a vessel of the divine will, Tiria had studied incantations to some extent to distinguish between the word of God and demonic imitations.

Therefore, she could hear and understand the conversation between the Magic Kingdom’s mage and the mysterious man.

[“It seems you’ve built enough trust.”]

[“Not yet.”]

[“You’re too cautious for your own good. If they don’t kill you in your sleep, that’s enough trust.”]

[“Is that what people normally call trust?”]

[“Haha, my friend. Didn’t I tell you last time? A mage must be cunning.”]

The Magic Kingdom’s mage didn’t respond. It was a signal that the conversation was over.

[“I’ll be going now. I’ll come again.”]

The malevolent energy quickly faded away. Tiria’s stiffened legs gave way.

She almost fell over, but Rachel quickly caught her. Rachel asked what was wrong, if she was sick, what conversation had she heard to make her like this, but Tiria had no strength to answer. She felt dizzy.

What… did I just hear?

“…Major.”

“Yes, yes, Colonel.”

For now, I don’t know. I still don’t know.

“Tomorrow, let’s go hunting again, just the two of us. We’ll leave that mage here.”

***

The mysterious man was at least not on my side. I felt that from the moment he told me not to maintain the virtues of a mage and a human.

But that doesn’t mean I could say “You’re our enemy?” to his face.

I know nothing about that man.

He appears and disappears like a ghost, and if I fight him and lose, I’m dead.

Even if he is a monster, if he has no intention to fight, I should let him go. My goal is escape, not extermination.

So I just humored him and kept my words minimal. Seeing my serious expression, the man seemed quite satisfied and left.

Of course, I have no intention of betraying my enemies.

It sounds a bit strange to say I won’t betray my enemies… but anyway, the reason I treat the Valkyrie and the Holy Maiden well is simple.

To prepare for when we’re rescued by the Holy Spirit Kingdom.

This policy is unlikely to change. Killing the Valkyrie’s comrades in the last battle was an act of self-defense because my life was threatened, and it was the first time I had directly killed someone.

Murder… honestly, I don’t want to do it again.

“Mage. We, back.”

“…”

Shortly after, the Valkyrie and the Holy Maiden appeared with lots of fish. They really caught a lot.

“The net seems to have worked well.”

“…Yes.”

The Holy Maiden responded weakly. She must have used all her energy catching fish.

I owed the Holy Maiden this morning. Thanks to her, the pain in my hand that would have lasted for days was completely gone in less than half a day.

“I’ll cook by myself today. Ms. Kasten, please rest.”

“Ah, yes. Thank you.”

She must be really tired.

After a late lunch, we decided to repair our sleeping quarters. Looking at the clouds, it seemed like heavy rain was coming, so I gathered more broad leaves and made the ceiling above where the two women slept more dense.

After making various things, the sunset was approaching.

Anyway, another day seemed to have passed safely.