Ch.42Let’s Make It (3)

Sleeping in the same bed as a beast-folk.

It wasn’t as bad as I’d thought.

[‘Oh my goodness.’]

[‘Heavens above! I’ve lost a junior today!’]

First of all, there was hardly any smell, which had been my biggest concern. The prejudice that beast-folk would have a foul odor turned out to be just that—prejudice.

It was a bit cold, but not unbearably so. All in all, it was a satisfactory sleep.

“Hwaaaaahm.”

The fox engineer hugged her tail as she let out a deep yawn. As soon as she woke up, she rubbed her eyes and started stretching.

Like a cat, she arched her back fully, bending forward once, then backward once. Her two tails swayed like reeds.

“Kyaaaangeuhaaangkihyaaang!”

The nonsensical sounds were just a bonus.

“This bed was really great. I’ll give it 140 points out of 100. By the way, the extra 40 points are a wilderness bonus!”

I had worried that the engineer might have bad sleeping habits, but that was unfounded. Despite appearances, she slept quite peacefully.

The Holy Maiden and the Valkyrie woke up too. Both had messy hair.

“Major Brokenheart, how are you feeling?”

“Much better than yesterday.”

“Let’s keep an eye on you today just to be safe.”

It’s the start of a new day. We loosened up our bodies and decided what to do. Though our tasks were limited to finding food and planning our escape from the island.

“I think this island has a leader too,” the Holy Maiden told me.

“If we defeat the leader, we should be able to move on to the next island.”

I nodded.

The leader.

After defeating the Ghoul on the previous island, we obtained a bundle of ancient documents.

After deciphering those documents, we learned that each island has an entity called a “Guardian.”

Based on experience, defeating the Guardian opens the path to the next island. That’s what happened with the Siren, and with the Ghoul.

[‘I wonder why.’]

[‘It seems intentional.’]

The Holy Maiden, true to her religious nature, interpreted this as karma. Her logic was that defeating the Guardian purges evil energy, which in turn lifts the fog.

It wasn’t something I cared to delve into deeply. All I wanted was escape.

“How should we divide into teams today?”

“The fox and I will move together.”

“Is that really okay?”

“Is there a problem?”

“No, it’s not a problem. It’s just…”

The Holy Maiden hesitated.

“I know what you’re trying to say. Mages hate beast-folk, they see them only as animals, not humans. That’s what you’re thinking because those stories are so widespread.”

“…Yes, that’s right.”

“Truthfully, I do feel some discomfort. But I don’t hate them that much. They’re different, not wrong.”

The Holy Maiden closed her mouth.

“In an environment like this, what does race matter? If we can cooperate, we’re allies and comrades.”

I dusted off my uniform and put it on.

“I’ll go ahead.”

I greeted the Holy Maiden and turned around. Before leaving with the engineer, I caught a final glimpse of her eyes—they were yellow.

Lumina’s yellow represents positive emotions like joy or affection.

The Holy Maiden seems to be in a good mood today.

***

Today, another of Tiria’s preconceptions was shattered.

The Mage showed no signs of discrimination or hatred toward beast-folk. He wasn’t even hiding his true feelings.

He simply had no prejudice. The fact that he shared a stone bed with a beast-folk yesterday was proof of his open-mindedness. Typical discriminators wouldn’t even share a table with beast-folk, let alone sleep beside them.

“He’s a consistent person.”

After the Mage and Riyo departed for the forest, Tiria reflected on what he had said.

“‘If we can cooperate, we’re allies and comrades,’ huh.”

Right now, on this island, there is no Holy Spirit Kingdom or Magic Kingdom.

Which means there’s no need to consider positions for now.

She wasn’t the Holy Maiden of the Holy Spirit Kingdom but Tiria Kasten, and he wasn’t a mage of the Magic Kingdom but Erich Lohnstein.

Similarly, Rachel was just Rachel, and Riyo was just Riyo.

Without a doubt, that’s how the man saw things.

“So what matters isn’t magic itself, but the attitude of the person using it?”

Focusing on the essence.

Believing in things as they are.

Even in the original scriptures, the importance of loving and respecting others for who they are is emphasized dozens of times. Though he wasn’t a believer, he seemed to grasp that essence.

Perhaps he was the true saint, not her.

What washed over her was embarrassment, and willingness.

“Is this… enlightenment?”

Tiria picked up a yellow berry and chewed it slowly. It was one the Mage had gathered yesterday—a berry that could be poisonous if eaten in excess but had pain-relieving properties when consumed in moderation.

A sweetness that follows the sourness.

Like the pain and pleasure that comes from deconstructing and reconstructing the scriptures she had read all this time.

“I owe you my gratitude, Erich.”

It was the moment when a naive girl finally became a true seeker of truth.

***

It’s not surprising, but the beast-folk and I don’t communicate well.

I’ve started to learn a bit of Ascalian, but I’m still at a novice level. I barely speak with the Valkyrie, and with the Holy Maiden, who has the largest share of conversation, I only speak in the Magic Kingdom’s language.

Think about it logically. If you speak your native language with a foreigner, will your foreign language skills improve?

For that reason, I still wasn’t good at speaking the Holy Spirit Kingdom’s language, and when communicating with the fox engineer, I had no choice but to rely on hand gestures and body language.

However.

A hero recognizes another hero.

“Wow, these pebbles will be really useful!”

The engineer took off her top and wrapped it into a bundle. She began collecting stones like a country girl harvesting potatoes.

She wasn’t picking up just any stones either.

Only the good quality ones, those that would be easy to make into Magic Stones.

I was certain.

This one’s an intellectual.

“I’ll make a water purifier with these, and reinforce the stone bed too. Hehe.”

Look at that expression as she fills her bundle with stones instead of potatoes. How innocent is that? If you removed the ears… no, even with the ears, she’s cute.

[‘Senior?’]

[‘Junior?’]

“Ah.”

I slapped both my cheeks.

I also looked around and collected useful rocks. Besides that, we chopped firewood, set traps, and did various other tasks as we slowly headed deeper into the forest.

And then.

“Huh?”

At some point, the atmosphere of the forest changed.

If it had been a deciduous forest until just now, this area was a bamboo forest.

[“How dare you step into our territory.”]

Step, step, step.

Flowers wielding bamboo spears appeared.

Not the kind of flowers from fairy tales. These had ivory-colored, finger-shaped petals. They were dragging their tender roots as they walked.

[“It’s been a while since we’ve seen humans?”]

[“We should inform Lady Alraune.”]

[“She already knows. We just need to eliminate the intruders.”]

The flowers whispered in Incantation.

There was only one reaction the engineer and I could have upon encountering them.

Battle preparation.

[“Catch them!”]

[“Turn the female into nutrients and offer the male as a breeding stud!”]

[“Our bamboo tribe will earn merit after a long time!”]

The flowers threw their spears. We each hid behind different bamboo stalks. First, we needed to confirm the number and placement of enemies. Five on the left, eight on the right.

Unlike the scattered ones on the left, those on the right were clustered together, making them easy targets.

“Fox!”

I gestured to the engineer. She nodded and drew her axe.

Pitter-patter!

The fox beast-folk’s agility was no less impressive than that of the Valkyrie, who had received the blessing of the goddess of battle. Being in the Engineer Corps didn’t mean she lacked combat sense. Foxes are naturally hunting animals.

The engineer’s axe made contact with the first flower. The flower’s receptacle was instantly sliced off.

Keeeeek!

I took a Magic Stone out of my pocket.

A Magic Stone I made yesterday.

Second-level igneous mana resonator, Fire Sea Stone.

Fire Sea Stone is also famous by the nickname “sea fire.” When it ignites a target, it swirls like circulating ocean currents, burning only that specific target.

I had been pondering how to deal with the monsters without setting the forest on fire, so I combined the igneous rocks I collected yesterday to create this Magic Stone.

The effect was better than expected.

When I threw the Fire Sea Stone at the eight clustered creatures, they all burst into flames at once. Despite being flowers, they had mouths and screamed from all directions.

“Phew.”

The burning smell was more foul than garbage. After the flowers had all burned, I stomped on them with my military boots to make sure the fire wouldn’t spread elsewhere.

“I’m done here. How about you?”

“All done!”

The engineer came running like a dog. No, like a fox in this case?

“Yesterday we were attacked by creatures that looked like oak and cork trees, and today it’s bamboo.”

“This island has quite a variety of timber. The soil also seems very nutrient-rich. I wonder if there was volcanic activity here in the past?”

In any case.

Bamboo is an extremely useful material. With it, we can make various weapons and all sorts of tools.

“Hmm, can’t we move a large quantity?”

“Hmm, can’t we transport a lot at once?”

“Making a cart might be helpful in the long run.”

“Even a wheelbarrow wouldn’t be bad.”

The eyes of the engineer and I met as we both muttered to ourselves.

That’s right. A hero recognizes another hero.

Similarly, an engineer recognizes a fellow engineer.

Without a doubt, we had the same thought.