An Island Full of Ghosts (2)
Splash.
Tyria's slender naked body sank to her waist. Her cheeks flushed a deep rose. Her irises were a soft pink already, so the difference was hardly striking.
Rachel scrubbed herself with crisp, disciplined efficiency. After a full month without a proper wash, the stream water felt almost blissfully welcome. Watching her, Tyria cupped water over herself with hands as delicate as young ferns.
"Hooo, it's cold."
Compared to Rachel's brisk rinsing, Tyria's shower was timid. Seeing her wash her hair with those hesitant little motions, Rachel spoke up.
"Colonel?"
"What is it?"
"Are you embarrassed, by any chance?"
Tyria swallowed a sharp breath.
"...A little."
In truth, it was more than a little.
They were in an open place, wearing nothing at all. Someone might see them.
Somewhere on this island, the Magic Kingdom's army was surely watching them. If they were broadcasting this scene in real time—
"Heup!"
Tyria scrubbed her face hard. This girl was out of her mind. Her imagination was running way too wild. It was all because of those sensual novels.
"Aren't you embarrassed, Major?"
"It's not like anyone's watching."
"Have you washed in a river before?"
"Yes. I did it often as a child."
An unexpected answer.
Tyria nearly toppled over backward.
"I'm from a remote fishing village, so plumbing was lacking in every way. Unless you were a rich household or a government office, clean water indoors was hard to come by. So outside of winter, we'd go down to the stream to wash."
"I-is that so?"
A childhood utterly different from Tyria's.
At the cathedral where Tyria had lived, warm water ran year-round. She'd had a private bathroom. She'd bathe with every kind of luxurious bath salt and flower petal, then care for her skin with cold cream made of almond oil and rosewater.
Back then she had found the whole process tedious. Looking back now, it had been an extravagantly luxurious life.
"Then... did you ever end up showing your bare body to others, and... things like that?"
"No."
Rachel answered evenly.
"Women and men washed at different times. There was something like a partition set up on one side of the stream, too. A booth where you could take the current as it was, wash your body, and put your clothes back on."
As Tyria listened carefully to Rachel's words, her thoughts drifted naturally — from washing to partitions, from partitions back to clothes.
"...Ah."
"What is it, ma'am?"
"What if that man does something weird with my clothes?"
"Didn't he say he was only going to make a fishing rod and a trap?"
"That's true, but... you never know. He might be secretly doing something filthy and disgusting with my clothes right now."
Rachel was briefly at a loss for words.
Why is this Saintess acting like this? Does she secretly have a hobby of reading dirty novels?
"Colonel, he may be a mage, but he's not that perverse. He's someone who at least knows where to draw the line."
"That's because you don't understand men, Major. Do you know how thoroughly men are steeped in desire?"
"Not every man is incapable of self-restraint."
"No, far more of them are. I know that well."
"Have you been in a relationship with a man?"
"Have you, Major?"
Rachel's lips twitched for an instant. There was plenty she wanted to say, but with the other party being a colonel and a Saintess, she hesitated to speak bluntly.
"No."
"Faith is not far away. Trust my intuition."
That was the end of the talk about men. They had only met for the first time today. It was too awkward to go deep into lewd conversation.
"Done washing?"
"Yes."
"I've gotten all the salt off, too."
Just as the two women were about to leave the stream—
"OUUUU."
A whirlpool rose from the surface of the water.
It swelled in an instant and spread all the way to where Tyria and Rachel stood. The moment the ripples touched them, both women's legs were yanked downward.
"Kyaaak!"
Something unknown dragged Tyria under. Water closed over her head. She had no time to draw a breath. Her lungs locked shut.
"Colonel! Ugh—!"
Rachel was sucked under right after her.
Tyria cracked her eyes open and looked down.
Through the blurred afterimage she saw a pale, smoky presence, thin as cigarette haze. It had a human shape. The smoke seized both of Tyria's legs and pulled her deeper.
The smoke was speaking.
The demon's tongue. Whieon.
The purple that had tinted Tyria's eyes bled away, returning them to their natural black.
As a Saintess, Tyria's knowledge of scripture was exhaustive. The holy texts were packed not only with religious teaching but with historical records as well — and among them, the forms and traits of monsters were carefully set down.
This ash-gray shape was unmistakable. It was one of the water wraiths described in the scriptures.
She thrashed her legs, but the resistance was meaningless. Her kicks passed straight through the smoke and came out the other side, limp and useless.
As expected.
And, in a way, that was fortunate.
Putting an end to a formless specter that physical force could not touch — that was precisely her specialty.
Tyria recited a prayer inwardly and summoned her Baculus. The Baculus was a staff of faith the goddess granted only to high-ranking clergy of archbishop rank and above.
Its purpose: to guide pitiful souls onto the proper path, and to cast wicked vengeful spirits down into hell.
Whoosh—!
Tyria brought the Baculus down in a sweeping arc.
The water wraith screamed. The watery smoke scattered like diluted paint.
Tyria immediately scanned her surroundings.
Rachel was sinking farther below.
Her lungs felt ready to rot, but she could not abandon an ally. Tyria swam down toward the deeper water.
Seizing Rachel, she finished off the remaining water wraith without much difficulty, then hauled the major upward as fast as she could. She was a breath away from blacking out from lack of air.
Just when she thought she had reached her limit—
"Puhahhh!"
The two of them broke the surface of the lake in a dramatic rush.
"Hah, hah... Are you all right?"
"Cough— I thought I was going to die..."
They caught their breath thoroughly before speaking again.
"No matter how hard I kicked and thrashed my arms, it only clung tighter... Thank you for saving me."
"That's how water wraiths are. You can't hit a monster that has no form."
"The sun hasn't even set. Why are there monsters already?"
"I don't know either. Maybe because we were in the water."
"Anyway, I never want to come back to this lake again."
"Agreed."
Rachel and Tyria pulled on their clothes without even the leisure to dry off. They covered only what needed covering and left. Their bodies were clean, but their hearts felt thoroughly unsettled.
Even as the two women made their way out of the forest, they kept an eye out for anything edible. All they found were a few berries in the underbrush; not a single animal sound reached them.
Rachel and Tyria felt the same eerie chill at once. Just as on the way in, the forest remained utterly silent.
I finished the outer shell of the fish trap by twisting together cord made from branches and bark. Next I shaped a smaller funnel-like structure and fitted it into the outer cylinder.
Finally, I covered the outside of the tube with one of the Saintess's stockings — and it was done.
"O Goddess, thank you for granting me my daily nylon."
I don't believe in the Holy Church, but a little prayer never hurt anyone, right?
"The fish are finished."
From the look of things, this island was fairly large. With a mountain visible up that way, there was a good chance of a water source. Today or tomorrow, I needed to find a riverside spot where I could set the trap.
I was turning over what to make next when a voice spoke from beside me.
A deep, resonant voice came from my side. I turned my head on reflex.
I could understand the words. It was Whieon.
When I turned, a figure stood there, wrapped head to toe in black cloth. Rail-thin, and taller than I was.
In outline alone it looked human enough. But after the swarm of monsters I had seen on the last island, I was not inclined to trust appearances.
My hand went reflexively to the pouch holding my magic stones.
"Now, now. No need to be so wary."
"Who are you?"
"Just a traveler passing through."
He had no intention of revealing his identity. Since conversation was possible, I would have to dig for information indirectly for now.
"Isn't this an uninhabited island?"
"I thought so myself until a few seconds ago. Seems I was wrong."
"Why are you speaking Whieon?"
"Mages all use Whieon."
The man gave a lazy shake of his head.
"If you and I came from different countries, our languages might differ, no? But if we are both mages, there is no need to trouble ourselves over communication. Where else will you find a common tongue so convenient?"
"So you're not from Hazkail."
The man sat down beside me without the slightest hesitation.
"My turn to ask. How long have you been on this island?"
"Five days at most."
"Don't lie. Longer than that, isn't it?"
"Sorry for the deception. It's actually been ten days."
"My instincts are sharp. Look at that beard of yours. How many days does it take to grow that long? Five? Ten? Laughable."
"...A month."
The man laughed with a little cluck of the tongue, as if to say, There, you see? I was right.
"Concealment and deception are virtues among mages. But even allowing for that, your wariness runs far too deep. How do you manage to tell two lies in a row with such a straight face?"
Before I could open my mouth, he pressed on.
"Never mind. Tell me how you've been getting by."
"I sleep in the lifeboat and scrape by on saltwater fish and tree bark. A rescue ship might come, so I keep watching the horizon from here."
The man clicked his tongue.
"Young ones these days have no drive. If you have a boat, your first thought should be to put out to sea. Why waste precious time stuck in a backwater like this?"
"You're telling me."
I let it slide lightly.
Even after that, the man stayed at my side and chattered on for quite a while. I could understand if he had gone a long time without meeting anyone — but he had no sense of distance at all.
"Have you gone deep into the forest?"
"I've only loitered around the edge, at most. I can't leave the lifeboat and go far."
"Fair enough. Even so, it would be well worth exploring at least once."
"What's in there?"
"I used to be the only one who knew. Heh heh heh. But I can hardly refuse to tell a conversation partner I've finally managed to meet."
The man grinned, showing a flash of pure white teeth.
"Whichever way you go into the forest, you'll come upon a clean lake. You have no idea how refreshing it is to wash there. Be sure to go once, douse yourself thoroughly, and come back."