Ch.59Heavy Relationship (7)

When I came to my senses, Rachel was carrying an additional pack. The name of that pack was “enemy.”

Rachel thought to herself.

Why did this person choose me?

***

“Who would you feel most comfortable being supported by?”

The Holy Maiden asked. Without hesitation, I chose the Valkyrie.

There were three reasons.

First, because the height difference between the Valkyrie and me was the least noticeable.

Second, because from experience, the Valkyrie’s body temperature was the highest.

And third, because I was the most awkward with the Valkyrie.

The last reason was my true motivation. Since communication with the Valkyrie was difficult, our relationship developed slowly. I needed to engage in conversation bit by bit whenever the opportunity arose.

I only mentioned the first reason to the Holy Maiden and the Engineer. That alone seemed enough for them to understand. If anything, it was the Valkyrie who appeared uncomfortable.

Supporting the enemy commander when it wasn’t even an emergency?

Her expression seemed to say exactly that.

Still, the Valkyrie offered her shoulder without complaint. Trying to hold her weapon while supporting me looked quite difficult for her.

“Is it hard?”

“No.”

“If it’s difficult, I can walk on my own.”

“It’s fine.”

As I exchanged words with the Valkyrie, we reached the deepest part of the forest.

“…Let go now.”

The Valkyrie set me down as if pushing me away. The force wasn’t particularly strong, but it was still embarrassing. I scratched my head and turned my gaze toward the Holy Maiden.

“How about we split into groups to explore?”

“Wouldn’t that be dangerous?”

“It would be difficult to camp here. We need to return before sunset.”

The Holy Maiden nodded.

“That’s true. Then don’t stray beyond a distance where we can confirm each other’s positions.”

“Understood.”

While I had received support from the Valkyrie, forming groups was another matter. I needed to consider the balance of combat power and communication.

In the end, the Engineer and I formed one group, while the Valkyrie and the Holy Maiden formed another. This was the expected arrangement.

“Hehe.”

The Engineer giggled. She tapped my waist with her tail.

[“Here we go again.”]

[“What, don’t you like it?”]

[“Why do you keep putting your tail on me? Do you like me?”]

[“Maybe?”]

[“I told you I don’t like beating around the bush.”]

[“You’re so clueless.”]

Miyo swished her left tail. That tail was gradually rising.

[“You know, liking someone is a very broad term. It could be family affection, friendship between friends, respect between teacher and student, or love between lovers, right?”]

[“So? What about you?”]

[“I don’t know.”]

[“You don’t know?”]

[“I’ve only known you for two months. There’s a lot I don’t know about you. I can’t give you a definite answer about whether I like you.”]

[“…”]

[“But it’s also true that you’ve made quite an impression on me in that short time. Mages see us beastkin as animals because of their beliefs, right? You didn’t. You treated me as a person from the beginning.”]

Miyo continued.

[“And that’s not all. You empathized with my past and shared my anger. You said you’d destroy those mages’ symbols that ruined our lives if you saw them. And you actually followed through. You quickly defeated that tree giant we encountered a few days ago. And in the end, you even saved my life…”]

Thinking back, I had done quite significant things for the Engineer.

I did those things to increase my chances of survival, but ironically, those very actions put my life in danger.

Let me think.

Was I reckless?

Was I a foolish pushover who would throw away my life even for an enemy in crisis?

[“Because you’re that kind of person, I’m contemplating.”]

Miyo, no.

The fox sister said.

[“Whether it would be right to become somewhat special to each other.”]

The fox shrugged with her eyes half-closed.

[“Well, if you don’t like it, there’s nothing I can do. Shall we continue?”]

She turned around. Her steps were smaller than usual, and her tail swayed elegantly. But her walking posture itself seemed somewhat weak.

It was time to make a decision.

I approached the Engineer from behind as she walked. And carefully placed my hand on her left tail.

With a start, Miyo’s shoulders trembled. She slowly turned toward me.

[“…What is it?”]

Despite her surprised tone, her mouth was smiling.

[“We’re enemies, is this okay?”]

[“I decide who’s an enemy and who’s an ally.”]

[“Hmm.”]

Riyo extended her other tail as well.

“Then this one too.”

[“Show me your resolve.”]

I caressed both tails as if bundling them together. The softness was enough to shatter any prejudice I had about beastkin.

This feeling isn’t bad at all.

The foxes smiled.

[“I told you that touching tails is courtship, right?”]

[“In the narrow sense, yes.”]

[“You know? That’s right, in the narrow sense. But the essence is a sign of intimacy. If you don’t disappoint me in the future, I won’t disappoint you either.”]

That meant she wouldn’t turn her back on me if I were in danger.

Good. This is enough. Now I can deal with the fox sisters with peace of mind.

At that moment, Miyo lowered her top. Her white, smooth shoulder was revealed.

[“Do you know that even serious relationships have stages?”]

[“Stages?”]

[“Allowing someone to touch your tail is something that can be done between siblings or friends. But relationships between people are diverse, and sometimes it’s not enough to define them in just one way. If you truly want a special relationship, we’ll need more time.”]

A special relationship? I don’t understand what she means.

No, actually, I vaguely do. I just want to pretend I don’t.

I didn’t want to hear what would come next. If I did, I would surely be shaken.

[“Here, on this shoulder.”]

The fox sisters stroked their forearm with a seductive smile.

[“I hope the day comes when your teeth will mark it.”]

***

The exploration ended before sunset.

After rejoining, my group and the Valkyrie’s group organized and checked what we had gathered.

“There were corpses of soldiers from both countries. And these magic stones were around them.”

“Did the corpses look unusual?”

“Yes, they were strange. Each one had two heads, and… they seemed to be of different nationalities.”

We occasionally found corpses where a Magic Kingdom soldier’s head had been attached to a Holy Spirit Kingdom soldier’s body, creating a twin-like appearance.

The Holy Maiden shuddered.

“It’s horrific. Only a demon would do such a thing.”

“It seems the island is backed by the Demon King’s army and heretical mages.”

Heretics, remnants of the Demon King’s army, leaders of each island, and experiments on souls.

The secrets of this archipelago were starting to become clear.

“Is there anything else?”

“Here are some ancient documents and maps.”

“That’s quite a lot. Where did you find them?”

“Over there, in that old tree covered with spider webs. They were in a bundle underneath.”

“Good. Let’s read them when we get back.”

Today’s exploration ended here. We had obtained pretty much everything we could. This investigation would likely be our last adventure on this island.

We returned to the base.

Since the Valkyrie had been sick for a while, our food supply was lacking. Fortunately, we caught fish in the trap and shared them with some berries.

Right after the meal, I interpreted the ancient documents for the Holy Maiden.

“The technique to weave multiple souls into one body is necessary. Under the protection of the Legion, I began research on possession. I drew up plans and continued experiments. The Leviathan brought the necessary test subjects.”

“Leviathan?”

“Based on my research so far, the most promising approach was ‘fruit-bearing.’ A tree has one trunk, but it bears dozens to hundreds of fruits. When those fruits fall, new life grows. I was inspired by this.”

“Fruit… Does that refer to magic stones?”

“Finally, I succeeded. The method of containing human souls in inanimate objects, of sprouting life again from inanimate objects. I informed the Three Armies of this method. However, most of these reconstructed bodies unfortunately collapsed quickly.”

“…”

“…That’s all that’s written here. Below is a reversed cross-ring seal.”

“So there is something going on, as we suspected.”

My theory is this:

Heretical mages were conducting experiments. Experiments to forcibly insert souls into bodies. It seems they were trying to possess something through these experiments.

In this process, connections to the remnants of the Demon King’s army are also visible.

Could it be that the Demon King’s army, thought to be extinct, created this island in collusion with some mage organization?

I examined other materials as well.

The more I looked, the more confident I became in my theory.

Some documents were in letter format. The writer was named Ledof, and the recipient was named Binyol.

[-Message from the General Staff. Reporting contact with the Eight Shadows. Two discussions took place. First, a promise to cooperate in the maintenance of Paradise. Second, the granting of territory after homeland recovery.]

No date was written. This seems to be all the information we can gather for now.

“Does the Magic Kingdom know about this?”

“I hope not. Anyway, we’re dealing with complete lunatics. What era do they think this is…”

I closed the documents and unfolded the map. I compared it with maps obtained from previous islands to identify what islands were in the nearby waters.

The magical compass seemed well-recorded too. The Origin Stone was pointing to the twin islands we had originally intended to go to. So this was indeed the exit direction.

It was then that Riyo spoke up.

“Oh right, I have a good idea. How about making a signal beacon?”

“A signal beacon?”

“Yes!”

She switched to Miyo to continue.

[“We might have to return due to lack of resources or get stranded due to an accident. But this island is very abundant. Lots of fruits, meat, water, and the climate is moderate. We might be able to use this as an intermediate base. We could make a remote signal station on the island that operates with mana and sephiron.”]

It was a reasonable suggestion.

Monster-inhabited islands vary. Wherever we go, we need to be able to obtain basic necessities to survive.

What if our next destination is a barren place covered only with rocks and gravel?

[‘Gasp.’]

[‘Huff.’]

Just imagining it makes my mouth wat— no, if there’s no sign of food and water, we shouldn’t dock and should quickly return.

The mana compass only points to the exit. To identify the points we’ve passed through, we need to navigate by looking at the sea chart.

In that sense, Riyo and I worked hard on making the signal station before departure.

The method of making a signal station is simple. We can use the synchronization property of the Origin Stone.

Sharpen the end of the stone to make it like a lightning rod, and stick it pointing to the sky. Surround it with Warning Stones and then deposit Resonance Stones on top to act as transceivers.

It sounds easy, but without the fox sisters’ help, it would have taken much longer. Without advanced equipment, we had to carve and assemble it using primitive methods, making it look quite crude.

Anyway, the resulting signal station was a two-way communication device with two channels. It was designed to work with either sephiron or mana.

“Great! Let’s test it once?”

Riyo, grinning from ear to ear, infused divine power into the Resonance Stone.

Woong woong woong.

As the sephiron channel activated, the signal spread out.

“I wonder if there are any signals to pick up?”

“Who knows.”

The Engineer and I leaned our ears toward the signal station. And then.

[“Please, someone help me! I’m trapped in stone and can’t move! Captain Rachel!”]

[“That mage, how dare they do this to me and Olivia… I’ll never forgive them. If I find them, I’ll definitely kill them.”]

The incantations of the Ascalians were caught in the signal.