‘No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no…’
I can’t understand a thing.
Perinne could do nothing but be dragged toward the burning stake that devoured her comrades in a panic.
‘I don’t want to die…’
She did not want to die.
But what awaited her was the sight of Brown, a party member and priest, engulfed in flames, surrounded by bizarre creatures praying around the pyre. Perinne sensed that she would follow Brown’s path soon.
‘I don’t want to die.’
You can’t escape.
Someone whispered. Perinne wanted to block her ears from the inner whispering, but with her arms bound, all she could do was struggle. As death drew closer, tickling her ears, Perinne felt her lower body grow damp.
But she felt no shame.
Before she could recall such two-dimensional emotions, the heat of her skin warned her that her demise was imminent.
“P-please…”
The smell of burning flesh invaded her nostrils. Perinne instinctively held her breath. To deny the approaching future. Even if it was a meaningless struggle, she wanted to live. Even though her tears had dried up long ago, still.
‘Please, anyone, just save me…’
Countless names flashed through her mind like a panorama.
The vassals of the Nereid family. Her father. The knights who guarded her. And… the party members who had fallen into the crack with her.
“!&@*!#(!”
With a beastly roar, a feeling of floating washed over her. The fire grew nearer. Perinne shut her eyes tightly, avoiding the grim fate she did not want.
‘…It’s not hot.’
The girl with blue hair opened her eyes to the sensation of skin against skin. As she cautiously opened her eyes, they widened in shock at the unexpected figure’s arrival.
“W-who are you?”
“Questions later. Right now, we need to run!”
Sif, carrying Perinne, dashed with all her might. Her employer, Johann, had demanded, “Get Perinne as far away as possible.”
Though she wondered how to deal with those monsters, Sif shelved that thought for the moment. There was a whole horde of bizarre creatures approaching to grab her.
“Ugh, what the heck did this island do to unleash these things? Ah, what about the others?”
“…I… I don’t know… I fell in the crack with Brown…”
“Is that corpse over there Brown?”
Perinne managed to nod weakly. With a complex expression, Sif dropped Perinne at the top of the ruins surrounding the pyre. Well, they had run far enough, she thought.
Johann’s presence in front of the stake attracted all the creatures’ attention. Sif looked around, checking for the presence of any approaching monsters, then sighed. With her physical abilities, it was nearly impossible to keep fleeing while carrying Perinne.
After all, she was just a slightly agile cat person.
“That person is…”
“My employer. I got caught up when I was supposed to hide you, but what the heck was he thinking—”
Before Sif could finish her complaint, a loud explosion engulfed them. Perinne and Sif gasped, covering their ears and staring at the source of the sound.
The bizarre creatures were burning. The fire that had caught onto their bodies roasted them, twisting their forms. But once the fire spread, extinguishing it was tricky. Watching the pyre and surroundings ignite, Sif clicked her tongue.
‘Now I get why he told us to run.’
If they had been nearby, they would’ve danced the ultimate dance of life and death with the creatures. Sif was relieved not to end up in such a delightful mess and spoke to the trembling Perinne.
“Can you get up?”
It was a rude tone, but Perinne didn’t mind. She was too shocked by what she had just experienced to care. Turning her gaze away from the smell of burning flesh, she looked up at Sif.
“Y-yes…”
It felt unpleasant and damp. Perinne only realized that after she staggered to her feet. In a situation where death was imminent, she hadn’t recognized it, but the uncomfortable sensation of her skirt and underwear being soaked was undeniable.
Naturally, her face flushed red. Sif, unfazed, watched Johann walk out of the inferno.
Having turned all the monsters into firewood, Johann brushed off the dirt and ash from his shoulders.
“I’ll need to make it thicker next time.”
Blowing up his pre-mixed gunpowder to wipe out the monsters was nice, but even though he had burrowed through the wall with his skill, he couldn’t block all the noise and shock. The impact was greater than he had anticipated.
‘But it’s not bad performance. I was a bit worried when I bought the smuggled gunpowder from the black market, but this is worthy of research.’
Simply relying on his crafting skill wouldn’t compensate for the firepower needed in situations like this. His crafting skill was heavily influenced by nearby materials, and if he couldn’t process the material himself, he couldn’t use it.
Satisfied with a pretty decent outcome, Sif waved at Johann as he approached.
“Johann! What are we going to do now?”
“For now, we’ll return to the camp!”
Johann looked at the surviving heroine with a complex expression.
——————–
“This is…”
“It’s a camp. At least in here, you don’t have to worry about being attacked, so rest easy.”
“Is there… any place to wash?”
“No.”
Would there be such a place here? Though it looked decent, there couldn’t be any facilities like that. They’d have enough trouble just setting up a device to draw groundwater.
“Sif. Lend me your clothes. It must be uncomfortable to stay like that.”
“Will they fit?”
“If they don’t, I’ll just cover up with mine.”
With the extras she brought, lending a set wouldn’t be an issue. I turned my gaze from Sif rummaging through her backpack to Perinne, who was still trembling.
“Perinne.”
“How do you know my name…?”
“It’s hard not to know the daughter of the Nereid family.”
“I-is that so…?”
Perinne’s voice was heavily hoarse. After crying, screaming, and shouting so much, it was only natural. I pulled out a water bottle and set it in front of her as I continued my inquiry.
“I have many questions. Did the entire party get caught in the crack?”
“Y-yes. Everyone got tangled up… on this island…”
“Where’s everyone except for the burnt one? Are they dead?”
“I don’t know… The only one who fell with me was… Brown…”
Brown? That priest.
“So you don’t know the location of the other team members?”
Perinne could barely answer, nodding instead.
I guess I need to adjust my objective. If Lewis’s party is in the crack, searching for the party members should be the priority. I’d blown up the monster’s dwelling in the north, so their numbers should decrease for a bit. I have to search the surrounding areas, excluding north, to gather as many living people as possible.
“Perinne. While you’re here, I expect you to follow my orders.”
“Y-yes…”
A noble lady wouldn’t say one thing and mean another. I took out a telescope from my backpack and stood up, heading to the roof of the camp building. I intentionally designed it to have three floors, giving me a good view over a considerable distance.
The blue horizon at the edge of my sight sparkled under the sunlight. Moments ago I was fighting bizarre creatures, yet now I stood in a safe place looking at the sea, feeling a strange sensation. What on earth is this island, that I have to live through a hell comparable to the deserted island I used to know?
“…It’s within a dimensional crack, so this might indeed be a dungeon…”
A dungeon of this size. What if I’m not in a dungeon but rather warped to an island outside it? That possibility couldn’t be ruled out. There was a cave that outright resembled a dungeon right in the middle of the island. Concealed by dense trees, the camp couldn’t observe inside, but if there’s something there, it’s surely the cave.
…Forget about the cave for now.
For now, finding Lewis’s party on the island takes priority.
“Nothing unusual…”
Just as I was about to lower the telescope, faint explosions echoed in the distance.
It wasn’t as loud as when I scattered gunpowder around the pyre for a massive explosion, but it was still a pretty significant sound. I quickly turned to the direction of the noise and saw a faint column of smoke rising from the south.
“Next destination identified.”
South it is.
I quickly headed down to the second floor where Sif and Perinne were resting and said.
“Sif, get ready. There’s an explosion from the south, so we’re going that way.”
“I-I…”
“Just rest here. You won’t be attacked, at least not in here.”
Busy, busy.
Shouldering my shovel as usual, I leapt over the banister on the second floor.
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