An Island Full of Ghosts (1)
The Valkyrie and I divided the labor so we could survive on the fish-people’s island.
The Valkyrie would handle hunting and gathering.
I would handle water purification, cooking, and tool-making.
Huh?
It felt like I was doing a lot more.
Hunting was no ordinary task, though, so I let it go. Start nitpicking every little thing and there’d be no end to it. If someone else could do what I couldn’t, the least I could do was respect that.
Anyway.
“Let’s divide the work.”
The Valkyrie spoke through the Saintess’s mouth.
“We don’t know this island. There might be danger. Only two of us go into the forest. At the very least, someone has to make sure no one steals the lifeboat. One person stays here and guards it.”
“So the two of you will go, then?”
“Yes.”
From the Saintess’s perspective—having only just met me today—it was the most natural decision in the world. Sticking close to the Valkyrie would be safest. If I were her, I would have done the exact same thing.
“You need to be back before the sun goes down. The monsters all seem to appear at night.”
“I know.”
“Ah, and while you’re at it, if you find any food, please bring some back. We’ve got more mouths to feed now, and the fish I stockpiled are going to run out fast.”
“I know that too.”
The Saintess waved her hand as if she found the whole conversation tiresome.
“One last request, if that’s all right?”
“What is it?”
“Let me use your stockings.”
“Use? Use what?”
“Your stockings.”
In that instant the Saintess’s expression hardened at lightning speed. Her irises flashed orange, then shifted just as quickly to pink.
“W-what are you talking about? All of a sudden!”
“I’m trying to make fish traps and fishing rods—tools for catching fish. I need tough fiber. If you give me permission, I’ll have as many ready as I can by the time you get back.”
“……Ah.”
The Saintess’s face, which had been about to flare up, settled. Separately from that, her irises kept growing deeper. Moments ago they had been a soft pink; now they were a rich, saturated rose.
I had never seen a Lumina before, and those eyes were even more fascinating than I’d imagined. Did the neurotransmitters released by specific emotions somehow link directly to the visual cells?
“What about other thread?”
“Nylon is best.”
“Um… the leaves?”
The Saintess pointed at a palm tree.
“Those won’t work?”
“They would, but it would take several times longer to make anything. We didn’t exactly drop into a full primitive state. We should use every tool we can. Why the hesitation?”
“I-I, um…”
The Saintess fumbled for words.
“I was going to wear them. The stockings.”
“In this heat? Are you trying to die?”
“Then don’t look! At my legs!”
“I wasn’t looking.”
“Even if you don’t look directly, it’s still uncomfortable! High-ranking clergy of our order must never show bare skin to anyone but their spouse—except for the face and hands! Especially someone like me, a Saintess!”
Had this Saintess gotten heatstroke? The very idea of putting on stockings in this sweltering weather was absurd.
“Clothes need to serve a practical purpose. Cling to the rules even out here and we’ll end up with neither porridge nor rice. Once we make it back alive, you can outfit yourself with something nicer.”
“Haaaah.”
The Saintess let out a long, deep sigh. The Valkyrie whispered something beside her. Before long the Saintess nodded as if she had accepted it.
“Goddesses of Ascalia, please forgive this irreverence of mine. Though I must break the precepts for now, this girl’s faith remains unshaken.”
As the Saintess began her prayer, the Valkyrie clasped her hands as well. Atonement for baring her skin before a man who was not her husband, maybe. The whole thing was kind of funny.
I gripped a raw stone and pretended to join them in prayer while secretly chanting under my breath.
"Indwell."
Might as well keep making mana stones.
Tiria and Rachel walked through the forest. There was nothing that could even be called a path, so they had to cut through the undergrowth with every step.
“I’ll climb this tree, look around, and come right back down.”
Rachel scaled the trunk with practiced ease. There was no hesitation in her movements. In a little over a minute she reached the top, scanned the surroundings, and descended again.
“You’re good at climbing trees.”
“Valkyrie training includes scaling high places. We have to tame and ride dragons that are far larger than people, after all.”
“I see. What’s it like up there?”
“To be honest, not great. Forest in every direction. The only real landmark is a single mountain over that way.”
“Easy to get lost, then.”
“We’ve been clearing a trail as we came, so as long as we don’t stray from the route there shouldn’t be a major problem.”
“It seems fairly large. Are we sure this is even an island?”
“I confirmed the horizon beyond. It’s an island, at least. Just one of decent size…”
“No signs of civilization?”
“None so far.”
The absence of civilization was a double-edged sword. Without other variables, Tiria and Rachel would hold a numerical advantage over that man. At the same time, their isolation became absolute.
Slash. Swish.
Rachel kept cutting branches and opening a path.
“Aren’t you tired?”
“I’m simply doing what needs to be done.”
“Let me help a little.”
Tiria murmured the words. Rachel couldn’t hear them directly, but she could see the bright motes of light drifting around her.
“I’ve cast a blessing of physical enhancement on you. How does it feel?”
“My body feels much lighter. Thank you.”
“I only did what needed to be done.”
“Having you with us is reassuring, Saintess. At least the risk of dying from injury or infection has dropped considerably.”
“Healing holy power isn’t omnipotent. The most important thing is never getting hurt in the first place.”
The two women kept checking the sun’s position as they moved. Searching was one thing, but food and water mattered more than anything.
Yet something was wrong.
No matter where they looked, there was not a single sign of land animals—not even the chirp of a bird.
In terrain this close to jungle, they should have at least seen a snake. There was nothing.
“It’s eerie. Like the forest itself has died.”
“There are still fruits and insects, though. How about we gather what we can and head back?”
“Fruit is one thing, but… insects? Ugh.”
“Only as a last resort.”
Rachel was already prepared. Caterpillars, maggots—whatever it took, as long as she lived. She had gone hungry for more than half of every month. Her stomach was ready to accept anything.
The Saintess was not. As the living symbol of the order she had always worn fine clothes and eaten fine food; everything here was alien to her.
“If we could at least catch some fish…”
“Hold on, Colonel.”
Rachel, who had been walking ahead, stopped. She raised a finger to her lips and made a soft shushing sound.
“Do you hear that?”
“Hear what?”
“There’s a stream nearby.”
Tiria held her breath and strained her ears as well. Her pointed ears were not quite as sharp as a full elf’s, but when she focused she could indeed hear the gentle burble of running water not far off.
“Let’s go.”
Their steps quickened.
What they found was a clean freshwater stream. Through the clear water like glass, schools of tiny minnows darted and played.
“There are fish.”
“If we can catch them, at least we won’t starve right away. But they’re so small…”
“Can’t you use the spear we brought?”
“With this I’d be better off fishing in the ocean. These little ones are too small to spear.”
“Let’s try downstream.”
After drinking their fill, Tiria and Rachel followed the current lower.
And then they saw something astonishing.
“Good heavens.”
“To think a place like this existed here.”
They had arrived at a lake. It did not look especially large, yet it was more than adequate for decent-sized freshwater fish to live.
“The water is clean. No salt either. We could even bathe here.”
Rachel glanced at Tiria, gauging her reaction.
“Shall we go in together?”
“What? All of a sudden?”
“I haven’t washed properly in a whole month. Everything itches. Honestly, I want to dive in right now.”
“But… this is completely open…”
“You need to rinse off the seawater too, Colonel.”
“That’s true, but…”
“On an uninhabited island, no one’s going to see us anyway.”
“F-fine. We’ll wash. We’ll just wash.”
Rachel stripped quickly. Tiria, more hesitantly, folded her outer clothes and set them on a nearby rock. Looking at the neatly arranged military uniform made her face burn.
Splash.
“Colonel, hurry up and get in.”
“Just a moment.”
Not a single thread of clothing.
Tiria’s mind was already overloaded. Every sexual taboo she had been taught was collapsing in real time.
Or rather, it had already been half-collapsed for a long time.
As a teenager, Tiria had once asked a fellow Saintess how babies were made and received an erotic novel as a gift. She had read every filthy description in it.
It was vulgar. It was dirty. She had been certain of that—yet her hands had kept turning the pages without pause.
She had thought that was the most shameful, sinful experience of her life.
Today it had been surpassed.
An outdoor bath!
“I’m coming.”
Right. Finish quickly and get out.
Tiria took a deep breath and stepped into the water.
What even is life?
Two years ago I finished my service only for war to break out immediately, forcing me to re-enlist. Until a month ago I was working as a mana-stone officer, then I got thrown into a massive operation and shipwrecked on an uninhabited island with enemy female soldiers…
And now I was making fish traps out of a Saintess’s stockings and sticks. If this was what life looked like, just how many sins had I committed in my previous existence?
“Haaah.”
Hot. Humid. The weather was absolute garbage.
The Valkyrie and the Saintess were probably suffering just as much right now. They would want to wash just as badly, so I couldn’t very well complain alone.
Even so.
Going a whole month without a proper rinse was a bit much, wasn’t it?
“I want a bath so damn bad…”