“Ugh, I really want to get off this island quickly…”
“Same here.”
I shook off the blood stuck to my shovel and investigated the traces of destruction. Luckily or unluckily, it didn’t take us long to arrive at the scene of the incident. The island was so small that it was only natural.
I saw several charred monstrosities, but there was no sign of Lewis and his group. Where could they have run off to? I continued to sever the squirming monstrosities’ heads as I searched for any signs of people.
It was around the time I had turned about twenty monster heads into soccer balls that I found a trace of a person.
“Johann! There are footprints here!”
“Are those footprints really it?”
“They’re regular footprints!”
Since the monstrosities had human bodies, they did leave footprints. However, they flopped around when they moved, so their footprints flopped along as well. But human footprints were usually quite orderly, making them easy to distinguish. I moved to the point Sif had mentioned and observed the footprints.
“They seem to match.”
Towards the sea, huh.
That’s a wise choice. We don’t know how many more monsters there might be, so recklessly wandering into the forest would be suicidal. If there’s no way to escape the threat of the monstrosities like I can, it would be better to move towards the open sea where visibility is easier.
“Sif, I’ll head to the southern sea.”
“Wow, even after seeing such a scene, the jerky goes down well.”
“When you have to survive, you’ve got to eat whether you want to or not.”
That was the first lesson I learned on a deserted island. To survive, caloric intake is essential, no matter the situation.
Ah, except for mushrooms.
I quickened my steps southward with jerky in my mouth. The sea should be coming up soon. We arrived at the chaos of the sandy beach, avoiding the dwindling monstrosities.
“Wow, there are corpses everywhere here…”
“Over there.”
There were still footprints that hadn’t been swept away by the waves and a long trail of blood. We searched along the beach, trailing the blood.
…How much longer did we walk?
We spotted the tentacles of a floating monstrosity. The severed tentacle splashed into the water with a splash and created a reddish stain.
“Who are you…? Are you… a knight?”
“I’m an ally. Lower your weapons.”
At my words, Lewis gasped and dropped his sword. He really is the protagonist. Aside from a few scratches, he seems to be fine. Shuri also appeared unscathed, and the unnamed alchemist…
“Johann, that…”
“Don’t say it.”
I pulled out bandages from my backpack and approached them. The owner of the blood streak seemed too preoccupied to notice anything around, groaning as they clutched their wound. I bypassed the seemingly fine Lewis and Shuri and unwrapped the torn clothing around the alchemist’s injury to check the condition.
“This is…”
“B, Viola protected me… from that m, monster…”
Poison? Or some kind of virus? Like a scene from a zombie movie, I handed the alchemist with blue veins exposed in their skin over to Sif and turned to meet the eyes of the protagonist and the heroine, expressions mixed with questions and relief. I glanced at the horde of monstrosities approaching from far away and spoke to both of them.
“You seem to have a lot of questions, but resist for now. First, we need to retreat.”
Everyone nodded at my words.
——————–
“It hurts…”
Having wrapped the wound in bandages, I took out another roll and tightly secured it around my upper arm as I threw a question at a fidgeting Shuri beside me.
“How long has it been since you got hurt?”
“A, about an hour…”
“What did you get hurt by?”
“T, the m, monster bit me…”
Bitten by a monster, huh? It’s really a shame the priest burned to death.
I had packed potions just in case, but they wouldn’t mean anything for this type of injury. It would require something more drastic, like cauterizing with fire or the worst kind of treatment. I turned my gaze to the campfire in the center of the camp and then back to the female student named Viola.
“Hey, can you hear me?”
“I… can hear you…”
“The situation isn’t good. The veins on your arm are starting to creep up—”
“B, Brown…?”
“He’s dead.”
Upon hearing the news of his death, Viola’s face turned even paler. Perhaps it was because she had lost her last hope. Ignoring the despair slowly rising on her face, I continued.
“With the priest dead, we have only two options. We either hold out and pray this injury doesn’t spread until we can return, or…”
…cut off your arm.
Seeing the virus-like thing creeping up your arm, cutting it off is the only solution. Viola squeezed her eyes shut at my words, tears streaming from her swollen eyes.
There are no choices.
I began heating the shovel that I had cleaned with cloth in the campfire.
“Shuri… was it?”
“Y, yes!”
“Hold her down. This will be an unbearable pain—”
I raised the heated shovel above my head, aiming for the shoulder. There’s no worry about missing my aim. I handle a shovel quite well. Viola opened her eyes to look at me, then shut them again. Watching her cut off her arm would be too cruel.
My shovel dropped mercilessly towards Viola’s shoulder like a guillotine. An unpleasant sensation filled my hands as blood sprayed onto my face.
“Aaaah! It hurts!”
A scream filled with agony, hot blood. But there’s no time to hesitate.
I burned the severed area with the heated shovel, quickly covering it with bandages. Fortunately, despite the horrifying pain, Viola managed to endure.
“Shuri. There’s water in the water bottle, so give some to Viola. I have work to do, so if you need anything, ask that cat over there.”
“Eh, what’s going on?”
Sif, who was applying ointment to Lewis’s wound, asked me. I answered without looking at her.
“I’m going to get water.”
With more people around, even if finding food is tough, securing a source of hydration was vital.
———–
“I’m glad there are others besides us in the Rift…”
Lapeirin, who had been sitting with a relaxed expression, suddenly spoke up. At those words, Lewis and Shuri nodded without realizing it.
It was certainly true.
If he hadn’t been there, we would’ve likely become food for the monstrosities by now, or perhaps…
Everyone’s gaze shifted to the twitching arm of Viola, reminiscent of an invertebrate. What could it possibly be? Sif, unfazed, rummaged through her backpack and pulled out a bundle of jerky.
Having brought enough to fill a third of her large backpack, there was still plenty of food. The cat thief, who suddenly had to tend to four patients, sighed inwardly as she tore pieces of jerky and handed them over to Lewis’s group.
“You’re hungry, right? Here, eat this.”
“Thank you…”
“Thanks.”
“I’ll definitely repay this kindness later.”
Lewis’s group chewed on the jerky, having gone the entire day without food. They devoured the salty jerky as if it vanished before their eyes. Sif chuckled softly, tearing more jerky to hand out and passing the water bottle around for them to drink.
“A building in a place like this… how fascinating.”
“I was surprised too. The Rift is truly an extraordinary place…”
After a quick snack, the group, feeling a bit more relaxed, began to look around the camp, expressing their impressions. They marveled like primitive people finding a fire, with Sif observing them with a playful smile.
“Did you make this?”
“Huh?”
“I made this yesterday.”
“What do you mean…?”
Lapeirin looked at Sif with a puzzled expression, unsure if she was joking or serious. Ignoring that, Sif confidently repeated herself.
“Johann was quite skilled at this. He made it right after we fell into the Rift yesterday.”
“Was he a wizard? I almost couldn’t sense any magic…”
“Nope.”
At Lapeirin’s question, Sif shook her head.
“Huh? Then how…”
“I think it’s a skill, but Johann never told me, so I’m not sure.”
“That’s an amazing skill. To create something like this in just one day…”
“Is it really possible to make a house like this with a skill? Shuri, can you build a house like this with a skill?”
Lewis’s voice was laced with skepticism, and the bookworm Shuri hesitated before answering.
“I’ve never heard of that before…”
Though the building looked like it had been molded from clay, it was absurd to think it could have been made in a day. The group gazed at Sif with doubt, still unsettled by her explanation.
‘People’s faces always look like this when they see what Johann did.’
Amidst a grim situation, a cheerful scene emerged, and a small smile spread across her face.
Just then, while they were starting to converse a little, a sudden sound of footsteps caught their attention, and everyone looked toward the stairs. There was a familiar man stepping into the camp.
“Sif. Gather all the water bottles. We’ve secured drinking water, so empty them all.”
“I’ll help too.”
Lewis, who had been resting against the wall, stood up and picked up the water bottles scattered on the floor. As he stood, Shuri hesitated for a moment before speaking up.
“I, I’ll help too!”
“No, Shuri. Take care of Viola.”
“O, okay… Be careful!”
“Don’t worry.”
Shuri and Lewis exchanged heartfelt glances. Watching them, Johann clicked his tongue.
‘Look at them, sweet enough to have honey dripping from their eyes.’
“Then I’ll start…”
“I’ll help too!”
Last to join was the young lady from the Neleid family, participating in the water supply operation.
My site has received a lot of DMCA notices, lol. From now on, I will update the MTL on https://darkmtl.com/.
The site is fast and lightweight because there are no ads yet. However, the theme is different from Cybor-TL, so take some time to familiarize yourself.
Support me by donating at least $10, and you'll have the right to request any novel from Novelpia (excluding 19+ content) using a newly developed tool.