Ch.89Adora (3)

The seagulls startled by the gunshot flew up with a flutter.

“Urgh!”

The commander collapsed with a groan. She barely maintained her balance by stabbing her sword into the ground. She painfully raised her head.

Only then did I realize the Holy Maiden had a gun.

“I shot you in the leg. Don’t be so dramatic.”

“You… you speak the Magic Kingdom language…”

“Yes, I understand it. I heard everything you said to Erich. That military clerics and beastkin are to be summarily executed?”

The Holy Maiden gave a hollow laugh. She advanced forward, aiming her gun.

“As both a military cleric and Holy Maiden, I have the same authority. I can shoot a mage anytime. That’s actually the duty I was originally assigned.”

I remember the day I first met the Holy Maiden. If she had been just a little more ruthless that day, I would have been dead. My body tingles with goosebumps, but my heart also races. That same Holy Maiden now smiles when she sees me.

The commander spat out her words.

“You bitch.”

“Don’t move. If you don’t follow instructions, the next one goes in your head.”

Bullets can’t be deflected with a barrier spell. If you really want to block them, you’d need to use another spell indirectly. I thought the commander would surrender at this point.

“Hmph.”

“Put down your sword.”

“And if I refuse?”

“I’ll do the same to your other leg.”

“Such bluster. Just a moment ago you were threatening to kill me…”

Bang!

A bullet lodged in the commander’s other leg.

“Aaaaargh!”

The commander dropped her sword and collapsed. She clutched both legs alternately, convulsing. Bright red blood began to flow.

The Holy Maiden kicked the sword away. The sword passed through my hands and ended up with the Valkyrie.

“Sephiron works well.”

The Valkyrie swung the blade a few times with a satisfied smile.

She had traded a stone spear and axe for a modern sword. And not just any sword, but an Artifact of the Seven Swords. The Stabilizing Blade of the Supreme Leader, said to crush mountains and part seas. For the Valkyrie, skilled in spear and sword techniques, it was a windfall.

“Damn it… to have the sword given to me by the Supreme Leader taken away…”

“Even with stars on your shoulder and exceptional magical skills, you’re still just one person. I hope you learn some manners from this experience.”

The Holy Maiden shrugged.

Riyo brought natural rope and tied up the commander. The commander resisted several times during the binding. Finally, the exasperated Valkyrie took out calipers from Riyo’s toolbox. That made her behave.

Fishing was suspended. We brought the commander back to the base. While the Holy Maiden administered first aid, the Valkyrie and Riyo searched the commander’s body.

All they found were hardtack, bubble gum, a few lollipops, an execution warrant, and an emergency treatment kit containing steroids and a blood donation kit.

And.

“…A gun?”

The commander also had a pistol at her waist.

“Why didn’t she use the gun if she had one?”

“Let me see it for a moment.”

The Valkyrie handed me the gun. I jokingly said:

“Is it okay to hand a gun to an enemy like this?”

“If it’s you.”

The Valkyrie replied in a shy voice.

I took the gun and examined it. It was an old-fashioned revolver. After checking the magazine, I frowned.

“What’s wrong?”

“Look at this.”

There was only one bullet loaded.

***

[“Entrust your life to me. Then I will help you defy the fate given to you.”]

An ominous voice flashed through her mind. Adora’s consciousness gradually returned, like an image coming into focus.

“Ugh.”

Her legs had no strength.

She looked around. The ceiling was closed, and walls existed. Adora was lying on a stone bed. She thought they must have built a house while living on this deserted island.

“Are you awake?”

Tiria sat down beside her, speaking in the Magic Kingdom language. Adora, who had reflexively tried to bolt, hesitated.

“What is this…?”

“We tied you up, anticipating this reaction.”

Adora was dressed in a shirt. All her military uniform except the skirt had been confiscated. She had no weapons. Vines and wood fiber ropes bound her arms and back.

“You’ll have to bear with the discomfort.”

“My legs…”

“I treated them. I removed the bullets and disinfected the wounds. I also applied natural gauze, so they should heal with time.”

“Giving medicine after causing the disease.”

“I can’t just kill people as I please, can I?”

“You were trying to kill me earlier, and now you talk like this.”

Tiria pulled up just the corner of her mouth stiffly. It was her version of a sneer.

“You know why we kept you alive.”

“I don’t.”

“The secret of this island.”

Tiria’s voice became more serious.

“After the naval battle at Tatangkur Waters, I received a message from headquarters. The Magic Kingdom was creating a dimensional barrier for strange experiments. And this archipelago was full of monsters.”

“Monsters? I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Of course, you wouldn’t talk willingly.”

Tiria knew how difficult interrogation could be. Especially with Adora Giford, a member of the Seven Swords. The Seven Swords were the Supreme Leader’s dogs. They followed the Magic Kingdom’s Supreme Leader like a parent and would gladly die if he ordered it.

“Just know this. From now on, you’re a prisoner of the Holy Spirit Kingdom.”

“Who are you supposed to be?”

“Colonel Tiria Kasten.”

Adora fell silent. A famous name. One that was also at the top of the Seven Swords’ blacklist.

The Holy Maiden of the Holy Spirit Order.

The Supreme Leader had repeatedly told her that the Holy Spirit Order and those wretched beastkin must disappear from this world. That was the only way for humanity to advance into the new era. Religion was opium, and beasts were inferior.

But Adora didn’t show hostility. In truth, she didn’t care about the new era. She was just carrying out the orders given to her.

“Where did the others go?”

“To find food. I’m stuck here alone because of you, you know?”

Tiria waved her gun. Bullets from that gun had pierced Adora’s thighs. It hurt more because she had never been shot before.

“I don’t know how much classified information you have. But right now, all we see are monsters and hunger. Every day, without fail, we have to find something to eat.”

And now we have one more mouth to feed, Tiria added.

Adora snickered.

“So you still feed your prisoners.”

“Don’t they in the Magic Kingdom?”

“They feed them gas instead.”

Tiria frowned. It was cheap provocation.

“Are you trying to have a battle of wills with me?”

“How about a real fight instead of a battle of wills? I’m confident in hand-to-hand combat.”

“More provocation. Not worth engaging with.”

Tiria got up and sat by the campfire. Adora repeatedly clenched and unclenched her hands tied behind her back. They tingled slightly, but it was fine. At least better than having her heart squeezed.

“…”

Perhaps, as a prisoner now, she was safe?

No. She still didn’t know.

A while later, Erich and his group returned. They had caught plenty of fish, as well as meat from a wild boar and two snakes. They had also gathered herbs and other fruits.

“Good harvest today!”

Riyo unpacked the load with a bright smile. She began skinning the animals with Erich. They separated the meat for eating and set aside the hides for tanning. The prepared entrails were placed in stone bowls covered with grass.

The wild boar had several large lacerations. Such skin would have no commercial value, Adora was thinking when Rachel approached and whispered to her.

“Hey, your sword was awesome.”

She didn’t understand what that meant. Which made her feel even worse.

Tiria boiled water in a stone pot. Erich crushed rock salt to make salt. Cutting vegetables and meat was Rachel’s job. Meanwhile, Riyo cleaned up and grilled the fish.

Adora thought:

The cooking scene looked almost like a family.

The finished dishes were a hodgepodge stew and grilled fish. Though rustic, they smelled good. A feast rarely seen on the frontlines during war.

Tiria and Riyo sat around the fire to eat. Rachel, who feared flames, sat with Erich on the stone bed, nibbling at her food. Adora found this scene utterly fascinating.

How, just how?

The three female soldiers were from the same country, so that made sense. But Erich Lohnstein blended into this picture too perfectly. As if he had always been a citizen of the Holy Spirit Kingdom.

Look at that.

“I will pray to the Goddess and Jeriem. Thank you for providing our daily bread today.”

Erich joined Tiria in prayer, hands clasped. It was a Holy Spirit Kingdom style prayer. He did this despite knowing that the Holy Spirit religion viewed mages as absolute evil.

It didn’t seem forced. Rather, the Holy Maiden’s eyes grew misty because Erich prayed with her.

Yellow eyes.

Lumina’s eyes turn that color when they feel joy or ecstasy.

She understood being stranded on a deserted island with enemies meant having to cooperate. But this went beyond mere cooperation. Even the word “trust” couldn’t fully explain it.

Like the eyes of a girl in love.

And the Valkyrie and fox beastkin had the same look in their eyes.

“Ha.”

Adora snorted. Indeed, she was beginning to understand the relationship between these people.

Erich turned his head at Adora’s snort.

“Are you hungry?”

“Not at all.”

“We were going to eat first and then feed you.”

“Shouldn’t I be first in the feeding order? I have the highest rank here.”

“You need to be a decent human being before getting treated according to rank.”

“How impudent.”

“Wow, a general acting like trash.”

At the word “trash,” veins popped on Adora’s forehead. She had always been an exemplary officer, receiving numerous awards and medals. And now, to be called trash by a mere major.

“Fine. I won’t eat.”

“But look. Isn’t this similar to Eintopf? As a member of the Seven Swords, shouldn’t you follow the Supreme Leader’s food distribution policy?”

Monthly gratitude stew feast.

It looked too delicious to refuse. She hadn’t eaten properly, having rushed here on her mission. Even the hardtack she had packed as rations had been taken away.

Grrrrrumble.

Her stomach kept protesting loudly.

“I owe a debt to Commander Giford. Just eat without worrying about the situation.”

“…Hmph.”

Indeed. With that face and such behavior, he must have charmed many women.

As she was about to open her mouth with a hollow laugh, suddenly her heart throbbed painfully, and something rose up her throat.

“Ugh!”

Adora vomited blood where she sat.