The First Escape (2)

On the evening of the day we escaped the cave, Valkyrie came over to me and picked up the map and the ancient document. She pointed at a line of text in the manuscript and tilted her head.

"What, you want to know what it means?"

She nodded.

"Sure, I know. It's written in Whieon."

Whieon. The language once called the Demon's Tongue.

I never imagined the monsters would converse in Whieon.

Valkyrie clearly wanted to understand the document's contents through me.

"Might as well learn your language while we're at it. Could come in handy."

It was a good sign. If I could pick up even a little Ascalian through this, it would serve me well far into the future.

From that day on, we decided to try communicating properly.

"Let's start simple. Greetings first."

I faced Valkyrie and pronounced each syllable slowly, clearly, one by one.

"Annyeonghaseyo."

"……?"

"Try repeating after me. Annyeonghaseyo."

"Annyong… hasaeo?"

"Again. Annyeonghaseyo?"

As I said it, I bowed my head. Whether you were from the Holy Kingdom or the Magic Kingdom, bowing at the waist when greeting someone was the same. If she had any sense, Valkyrie would catch the meaning right away.

"Annyeonghaseyo."

"Annyong… hasaeo."

"That's it. Annyeonghaseyo?"

"Annyeonghasaeo?"

"Good."

Just as expected, Valkyrie picked up the expression quickly. Her pronunciation was a little rough, but not so bad that you couldn't understand her, so I let it slide.

"Your turn. Teach me something."

After that, we traded a handful of simple greetings and a few basic expressions.

"One, two, three."

"One, two, three."

"This, that."

"This, that."

"Left, right, forward, back."

"Left, right, forward, back."

"East, west, south, north."

"East, west, south, north."

"Food, water, house, monster."

"Food, water, house, monster."

"Over. Do you copy? The air force is pretty fucking shitty, right?"

"Over. Can't hear you well. But hey — the air force is pretty fucking shitty, right?"

And so several days passed.

I became able to pronounce basic Holy Kingdom words. Valkyrie did the same.

Of course, we still had a long, hard road ahead. I couldn't fluently say something like, How about we go hunting this morning? If I wanted to express that idea, I just pointed outside the cave and said:

— Morning. Food?

And Valkyrie would usually get it.

Even if she didn't, it was fine. We had gestures and drawings. Whatever we couldn't understand in words, we could work out through the language of the body.

"Nnngh…"

A new morning dawned.

The moment I woke, I grabbed a piece of charcoal and scratched another mark into the cave's outer wall. Counting them up: thirty-two. Today marked our thirty-second day on this island.

"Mmmph…"

Valkyrie stretched and rose. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠The curves of her body unfurled as smoothly as brushstrokes of orchid leaves on paper. Whether last night had been especially hot and humid or not, her outer clothes had come off.

"Ahem."

I cleared my throat and rolled my fingers. Valkyrie flinched and hurriedly snatched up her military coat, fastening the front.

"Hello. Good morning."

"G-good morning."

I hadn't corrected her pronunciation, so she still talked like a little kid. Honestly, it was kind of cute, but…

"Ah."

I've lost my mind.

Get a grip, Erihi. She's the enemy. The enemy who killed my academy classmates — people I cared about.

"Today. Food, water."

She nodded.

"Oar."

"Oar?"

I pointed at the lifeboat, then mimed the motion of rowing. Valkyrie's expression turned thoughtful, then she gave a small nod of understanding.

"Ah, right. If you've got a boat, you need oars."

We both got to our feet.

Quite some time had passed since we'd defeated the siren and left the cave. In the days since, we'd begun dividing labor under a shared goal: escape this island.

Valkyrie spent her days mostly hunting and foraging. Sometimes she helped me make tools.

Meanwhile, I purified water with zeolite, reboiled spent purification stones to scrape out tasteless salt, fashioned containers for food and water, built traps, and just… made things. A lot of things.

Valkyrie was especially skilled at catching fish. Through gestures, she'd managed to convey that she'd grown up in a fishing village as a child and had plenty of experience with spears and net fishing.

Anyway, today was oar-making day. We checked the traps, then broke off suitably shaped branches, brought them back, and shaped them with our knives.

Wood for oars needed to be light and hard. More than anything, the blade end had to be broad — and unfortunately, without an axe, trees like that were impossible to come by.

As a workaround, I decided to join two pieces of wood together.

"Here — you cut a deep, straight groove down the middle of the shaft like this. Then you slot in a board you've shaped with the knife… It's crude, but it'll work somehow."

"Ooh! You've got some skill, huh?"

The flat surface looked a little narrow, but I'd take what I could get. Plant-manipulation magic wasn't my specialty — I didn't know a single spell for it, and that was a lifelong regret. Damn it. If I'd known it would come to this, I would have double-majored.

We spent about two more weeks preparing this way.

Our destination was the nearest island marked on the map. If it had richer resources than here, we'd settle in. If not, we'd come back and reorganize.

A storm had battered us for the past two days straight, so today's weather was wonderfully clear. Not a cloud in the sky — if we were going to escape, now was the time.

"Water."

"Got it."

"Food."

"Enough."

"Lifeboat check."

"No problems."

According to the diary the siren had left behind, leaving this archipelago outright was impossible. Some unknown force compelled you to stay.

But that, in the end, was just another form of magic. Even if we ran into some kind of barrier, we resolved to break through it as ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠best we could.

"Oars. You packed them?"

"Here. Catch."

Valkyrie and I each took an oar and climbed into the lifeboat. Our heading was west — the same direction as the wind, so we had a tailwind. It felt almost like a blessing on our departure.

Splash.

We set the lifeboat on the water.

My chest swelled. For the first time in over a month, we were leaving the island. We'd eaten our fill of meat the night before, and strength was surplus. Valkyrie and I fell into rhythm and rowed hard.

And then—

"Urgh."

What.

"……Don't tell me you're seasick."

"Colonel Tiria Caston, it is my sincere honor to welcome you ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠aboard the Phoenix."

The captain bowed at a perfect right angle. The colonel's rank insignia on his shoulder boards caught Tiria's eye. She waved a hand dismissively as she answered.

"We're the same rank. There's no need for such formality."

"Not at all. As a believer of the Holy Spirit Church, how could I possibly treat the Saint as an equal?"

Saint.

The prestige of that title had weakened considerably compared to the past, but it was still a position that commanded excellent treatment in the Holy Kingdom. Those recognized as Saints through divine possession could wield holy arts — healing others and guiding the departed.

"Two years ago, my son — a dragon knight — fell in the Battle of Revere Bay. Thanks to the memorial rites you performed for him, Colonel, I cannot tell you how grateful I was. He is surely in heaven now. Thank you."

"I only did what was required of me."

Tiria smiled awkwardly, exchanged parting words with the captain, and stepped out onto the deck with her assigned aide. A Saint was a sacred being who had received the Goddess's blessing directly, and so even without being a general officer, she was assigned an aide.

"Colonel Caston."

The aide spoke.

"That day in the Tatangcour Sea, fifteen thousand from both nations were killed or wounded. The lost souls drifting through the nine heavens must be countless."

"I know. Soothe our virtuous nation's souls and guide them to salvation, and exorcise the wicked evil spirits — is that it?"

"Yes."

"It's work I've always done. It isn't difficult."

As she spoke, Tiria touched the corner of her eye. Above the dark hollows of her lids sat irises of clear blue.

"Grateful, he says…"

The Saint turned the captain's greeting over in her mind.

"…What a cursed thing to say."

"Pardon?"

"Nothing. I was just wondering when we'll reach the target waters."

"We're nearly there. We'll enter within the hour."

Just as the aide said, after a little more sailing the fog thickened, and an unidentifiable wailing began to rise.

Aaaahhh!

At the scream-like tone, the aide asked in alarm,

"What is that sound?"

"Lost souls. Ones who don't even know they're dead, still hoping for salvation."

"Like vengeful spirits?"

"A little different. Though with this many of them, there are bound to be some of those as well."

Tiria's pupils shifted to pure white. She swiftly sorted the Holy Kingdom soldiers from the Magic Kingdom ones.

She recited a prayer to send the Holy Kingdom's souls skyward first, then drew her baculus to confront the Magic Kingdom's evil spirits.

"Hah. Couldn't you just die cleanly."

Tiria hated the Magic Kingdom. Not merely because she was a cleric. In life they tried to take her life; ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠in death they returned as vengeful spirits to gnaw at her mind.

Because they were evil spirits, they used Whieon. Whieon was the Demon's Tongue — proof that a demon had claimed the soul of one who had used magic in life.

If she wished, she could hear what they were saying. But there was no need. Every time she listened, it only soured her mood further.

Having exorcised every last Magic Kingdom soldier, Tiria set down her staff and drew a deep breath.

Rumble.

The sky suddenly darkened. Massive black clouds blotted out the sun and whipped the waves higher.

"Colonel. I think you should go inside."

"No."

Tiria picked up the baculus she had set down.

"This weather… doesn't feel right."

Whoooosh!

A gust of wind skimmed across her cheek. She felt a hot, stinging heat. Tiria touched her face and looked down at her hand. Blood was smeared across her fingers.

"Colonel Caston!"

Something was wrong.

A murky fog enveloped the entire ship, then swallowed the Phoenix whole. Visibility dropped to nothing. She could no longer even hear her aide's voice.

Suddenly a shadow fell over her head. Tiria looked up. And she saw it.

A colossal serpent rising from the sea, clad in jade-green scales, with eyes of pure blue.

"M-Merciful Goddess…"

Tiria's eyes turned violet.

Valkyrie and I rowed for half a day straight. We were exhausted, but quitting wasn't an option. Fog had appeared midway and wrapped around us once — and right after it cleared, land came into view.

For a moment I felt uneasy, but the second I confirmed solid ground with my own eyes, I couldn't help getting excited.

"Hey! Look at that! A sandy beach!"

A sand-flat terrain that hadn't existed on the island we'd left. This was a different island.

In the end, we made landfall without any further incidents.

Shff.

Sand grains slipped under my combat boots with a soft sound. My heart hammered. The moment I tied the lifeboat to a nearby rock, all the strength drained out of me and I collapsed flat on my back.

And Valkyrie—

"Uuuugh."

—was a complete mess.

"Hey, you okay?"

"Urgh."

"Geez. Hang on."

I pulled water from the lifeboat and handed it to her, patting her back. It took a few more minutes before her condition improved.

"Th-thanks. I'm okay now."

"Let's rest a bit, then look around. We should check if anyone else is here."

From a distance, this island had looked larger than the first one. There were no cliff faces in sight; instead, a few palm trees welcomed us. Beyond them lay a dense jungle.

"We should walk the coastline a little first. Let's see if there's a shipwreck or anything."

I sketched a broken ship in the sand, and Valkyrie nodded. We memorized the lifeboat's position and set off along the white beach.

There might be other people here. Natives, or shipwreck survivors.

I nodded.

I'd grown a little closer to Valkyrie, so even if we ran into a Holy Kingdom soldier, it wouldn't be a major problem. I'd just propose we cooperate. We were all shipwrecked — what was the point of fighting?

There was just one exception.

Chaplains were a different story.

Chaplain officers — in other words, clergy — were, from what I'd heard, fundamentally closed-minded. They usually held the rank of lieutenant colonel or higher, so even if Major Valkyrie tried to speak for me, they probably wouldn't listen.

On top of that, some high-ranking chaplains who also served as senior clergy doubled as political officers, with summary execution authority over mages specifically. That was considered a divine right — even general officers supposedly couldn't touch it lightly.

Of course, those kinds of chaplains spent their time hanging around operations rooms shooting the breeze. The odds of one ending up somewhere like this converged on zero, which was a relief.

"Hey, over there!"

"Huh?"

"There's a person!"

Valkyrie pointed ahead. I'd focused my gaze expecting a shipwreck, but there was no boat — just someone collapsed on the shore.

We picked up our pace and approached.

A silver-haired woman.

Holy Kingdom rank insignia. A soldier, at least. Looking at the way her habit had been modified into something like a military uniform, it was clerical vestments. And clerical vestments were what chaplain officers wore to distinguish themselves from other officers.

"Nnngh…"

Right then, the woman stirred and groaned. She was alive.

"Ah, damn it."

Speak of the devil.

It looked like anything but a smooth future was waiting for us.