A Little Bit of Trust (1)

The rain had stopped and the sun was out, so what Rachel needed to do was obvious.

Find food.

She glanced at the man lying bedridden, then prepared to head out.

"Wait a second."

"Hmm?"

"You'll need to take this."

"Ah, right. Almost forgot the most important thing."

Rachel accepted the spear he handed her. She examined the tip carefully. It was a stone spearhead — one the man had apparently fitted for her anew. The stone portion was fully charged with Ekirel.

Rachel shuddered at the mere thought of Mana, but the neutral essence left after its malevolent components had been filtered out was fine. Ekirel itself could even be converted into divine power, after all.

"For a mage, you sure know how to be considerate."

The coughing man gave a bitter smile.

Enemy or not, he was the one who had watched over her when she was at her worst. She couldn't bring herself to scowl at him. Rachel forced the corners of her mouth upward.

"I'll be back soon."

With that, she left the cave.

As expected, no monsters were in sight. The weather was cool, and the sun had yet to reach ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠its zenith. Neither too hot nor too cold. How long had it been since things felt this pleasant?

Of course, it wasn't entirely pleasant. She hadn't washed in a full week. That stuffy, unclean feeling still clung to her.

Rachel pressed her sleeve to her nose and sniffed.

"...Ah."

It was his scent.

All because she'd slept curled up against the mage to endure the cold. They'd even been bare-skinned while drying their clothes. Nearly seventy hours of skin against skin.

Rachel's face burned hot. Was her fever still not fully gone?

She shook off the idle thoughts. Her stomach let out a loud growl. Not counting water, it had been three days since she'd eaten anything.

Hunting first.

As if on cue, a rodent darted across the underbrush. Rachel reinforced her body with divine power and moved.

"Ugh..."

My body ached as if needles were stabbing every inch of it.

My face was hot, my head spinning. And yet my spine felt ice-cold. That hot-and-cold sensation — a full-body fever, no question.

How long had it been since I'd hurt this badly? These days medicine was good enough that I couldn't remember the last time a minor illness put me through this kind of misery.

"David, if I die, bury me under a mountain of stones."

"Then at least find me a way to get better faster. Cough, cough!"

I'd already drunk boiled water. Rainwater, sure, but still.

That alone wasn't going to cut it, though.

I fashioned a few more glowstones and arranged them in a ring around my sleeping spot. With a simple spell I adjusted their output, checked the temperature, and lay down once it felt just right.

"Uuuugh..."

Warm and snug. I felt like a potted plant in a greenhouse.

"Stones. Give. Me. Your. Strength."

"Shame there aren't more of them. If I had a mountain of glowstones, I'd just bury myself front and back like a blanket."

"Not at all. I only sleep on stone beds anyway."

"I can't stand beastmen, but I'll give stone beds a pass. Oh, and ondol heated floors too."

I was right in the middle of chatting with David when footsteps crunched near the cave mouth, and a shadow fell across me.

It was the Valkyrie, basket and spear in hand. Our eyes met.

"Oh, you're back."

"You're actually insane. You talk to rocks?"

"If you brought food, cook it already. I'm about to starve to death here."

The Valkyrie sighed and set the basket down. I clutched my throbbing head and pushed myself upright. The stones piled on my body clattered to the ground.

I looked over what she'd hunted. One squirrel, something that looked roughly like a rabbit, and a few fish.

"Not bad. For the first real meal in three days, this should hit the spot."

Hungry as I was, raw meat wasn't an option. It needed to be cooked.

I cranked the glowstones to maximum output, then gathered some dried mushrooms and twigs scattered deeper in the cave and built a campfire near the entrance. Meanwhile, the Valkyrie dressed the hides.

"How's your body holding up?"

"Whew — fire's ready."

"Ah, don't get the wrong idea. I honestly don't care one bit about how you're doing. I'm only asking because I figure I'll need you if I want to stay alive."

"I didn't understand a single word of that. Whatever — get over here."

"Huh?"

"Why are you standing there looking blank? A patient needs someone to roast his meat for him, doesn't he?"

I beckoned the Valkyrie over.

"Ugh."

She shook her head hard from side to side.

Oh? Look at this.

"Hey, when you were sick, I did it for you. Fair's fair — your turn this time. Do you have any idea how annoying and exhausting it is to cook meat over a fire?"

"Fire is genuinely too much for me."

"Come. Over. Here."

The Valkyrie took a step back.

What? Wasn't she hungry too? Was this her way of saying she'd done the hunting so I could set the table? Or had she already eaten before coming back? Wait — thinking about it that way was starting to piss me off.

"No, hold on. A few days ago I did everything. I nursed you, I drove off the monsters, I even cooked every meal. Now it's your turn! How is this fair?"

"I — I can't. I really can't. Just being near a fire makes me feel like I'm choking to death. Please..."

The Valkyrie went pale and shook her head even harder.

"Ha."

In the end, cooking fell to me yet again.

As always, I zoned out staring into the flames, turning the skewers this way and that, until cold sweat poured off me like rain. When I glanced back, the Valkyrie was sitting quietly a short distance away.

I'd expected a shameless look on her face, but instead she seemed genuinely apologetic. Honestly, it was that face that kept me from losing it. She probably had her reasons.

"Here."

"I'm fine."

"You just got back from hunting — you have to be starving. You eat first."

"You eat first. You're the one who's starving."

"Just eat. Once you start, I'll eat right after."

Obviously this was a calculated move. I was every bit as ravenous as she was. I swallowed the saliva pooling in my mouth. Hold on, Eriich. Filling your stomach takes a moment — goodwill lasts a lifetime.

"...Thanks."

The Valkyrie took the meat and bit into it. At first she nibbled cautiously, then she dropped the act entirely and her pace exploded. Watching her, I tore into a rabbit haunch of my own.

"Whoa."

This was — unreal. It was so good. Dry, unseasoned, even a little gamey — and somehow the most blissful thing I'd ever tasted.

Eating rice. Eating meat. Under civilization's protection I'd taken it for granted. Back in the service I'd sworn even a dog wouldn't touch the mess-hall slop. Looking at it now, I'd been wrong. Eating rice. Eating meat. What was this feeling? I was on the verge of tears.

"Hic..."

The Valkyrie was outright sniffling. I pretended not to notice. It hit me all over again how helpless people really are — how the smallest things can break us, how even the most trivial things can make us cry.

All that food vanished in an instant. I was full. But tomorrow we'd have to bring more in again.

I couldn't count on luck like this every time. A long stretch of rain could trap us inside, or even on a clear day the hunt could come up empty.

"Cough. Hey."

I caught my breath and spoke to the Valkyrie.

"Once I'm feeling a bit better, let's go find the lifeboat. We'll drag it back here, get everything ready properly, and then make our escape."

Whether we'd escape toward the Holy Kingdom or the Magic Kingdom — I didn't even bring that up. For us right now, even that was a luxury.

Nearly two weeks had passed since we'd been shipwrecked on a monster-infested uninhabited island.

Thanks to the Valkyrie steadily bringing in food over the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠past week, supplies hadn't been a problem. Rain had trapped us in the cave for two full days in the middle of it; those days we'd burned through our stock of fish and slept around the clock to conserve ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠energy.

And yes, when necessary, we'd slept curled up together. That was genuinely, truly unavoidable. The cave got surprisingly cold.

"Alright. At this point, I should be fine to move."

I checked over the magic stones I'd crafted while resting.

"Chamcheongseok, Umbrella Stone, Purewhite Stone, Shadowsense Stone..."

Aside from the Chamcheongseok, every one of them guzzled Mana. They'd taken real technique to make, but I'd managed somehow. Even if a situation like last time hit us again, we should be more than ready now.

"Got everything you need?"

"Yeah. Let's go."

When the sun stood high overhead, we set out for the shore where we'd first met. According to the Valkyrie, a few monsters prowled that area even during the day — which was why she hadn't been able to bring the lifeboat back.

Our objective was simple. Concentrate as much firepower as possible, drop them in short order, and haul the lifeboat back to the cave.

"Look over there."

"They're really there."

Even in broad daylight, several monsters were loitering near the lifeboat. We watched their movements for a while. When one returned to the sea, another climbed up to take its place on watch.

"Doesn't it kind of look like... they're standing guard?"

"They might be smarter than we thought."

"Let's go in carefully."

I chanted in Whieon; the Valkyrie recited a prayer.

Since we couldn't understand each other's words, we linked up through hand signals. Advance, hold, and so on. We standardized the gestures commonly used in the military, then moved out. We'd also agreed that the Valkyrie would take point and I'd cover the rear.

A low hum filled the air.

The offensive magic stones shifted into standby.

"Move."

At my signal, the Valkyrie sprinted forward. In a single instant she cracked open the skull of a Walker standing directly on the path to the lifeboat.

Beside it, an octopus monster — a Spitter — started to take aim with its ink. In that same moment I fired a Chamcheongseok.

CRACK!

The Spitter's head burst apart in a flash.

Without the rain, cleanup was easy. My condition was at its peak. At this rate, we could reclaim the lifeboat without trouble.

That was what I was thinking when it happened.

A new one appeared.

It was a massive creature, its entire body encrusted ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠with barnacles. It was wearing a pair of cotton pants, torn and shredded in places down below.