Chapter 125: Deserted Island
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 125: Deserted Island
Though Yohan slept with countless witches, if he had to pick the most difficult one of them all, it would undoubtedly be Regina.
He had even had sex with Hekaterina, who had been after his life, yet there was a very good reason he had never been intimate with Regina.
‘Honestly, she’s not an easy person to like…’
Their first meeting had been the absolute worst.
All he was left with was the impression that she was a garbage witch who used other people’s lives for her own ends.
She was also the first one to make him have sex publicly in front of others.
Seeing that Yohan was awake, Regina gave a slight bow of her head.
“You’re awake.”
“…Yeah. Where are the others?”
“I don’t see them. I suspect we were all scattered to different locations…”
Hearing her words, Yohan recalled what had happened just before they were separated.
Beatrice had suddenly rushed toward him to warn him of something, and at that same moment, a massive monster had appeared in the skies above the Empire and launched an attack.
Margaret had quickly used magic to try and evacuate him, but just as her spell activated, the monster’s attack had struck right above their heads.
“What the hell was that thing…?”
“The <Sun Eater>.”
“What?”
“The Sun Eater. It is a monster from the legends, said to be capable of swallowing the sun itself.”
As befitting the Witch of Records, Regina knew about the giant monster that had appeared before them.
Realizing she had known about it, Yohan let out a cold sneer and rebuked her.
“If you knew so much, why didn’t you say something sooner?”
“There was no time, but—if you wish to find fault, then I apologize.”
As Regina bowed her head, Yohan glared at her, dumbfounded. If her goal was to make him feel awkward, she’d succeeded.
Yohan clicked his tongue in annoyance and pushed himself up, looking around. He realized they were on some unknown island.
‘How far did we get blown away…?’
Hoping that the Witch of Records might know where they were, Yohan asked Regina for the name of the place.
As if it were the most natural thing in the world, Regina knew the island’s name and answered his question with a placid expression.
“This is a little-known island called Blood Moon.”
“Blood Moon?”
“Yes. It was named so because at night, the island, bathed in moonlight, is said to look like a blood-red moon.”
The fact that it had a name was a very good sign. It increased the probability that someone lived here, and it meant that vacationers or travelers were more likely to visit.
However, as if reading his thoughts, Regina shook her head and began to explain further.
“It is not a very popular destination. It’s the kind of place that might see one or two visitors a year… and it is fundamentally a deserted island.”
“…But people do come, right?”
“People who visit islands like this usually come in the summer. And right now, it is winter.”
Unlike the resorts Yohan had visited, islands like this were seasonal. It certainly wasn’t a place anyone would visit in the middle of winter.
Finally understanding why the island was so unpopular, Yohan scratched his head and told her to think of a way to get off this rock.
“So? How are we getting out of here? Start thinking.”
“If I use the record-paper containing Margaret’s power…”
“Sorry, but I left that back in the hotel room. It’s probably impossible to find it now.”
“In that case, we have no choice but to hold out until the next passenger ship arrives—”
“Wait until summer? Are you planning on starving to death? Besides, with a monster like that on the loose, the Empire and the Kingdom are probably in chaos. You think anyone’s going to come to an island like this for leisure?”
He had a point. Hearing Yohan’s words, Regina nodded, admitting it was a factor she hadn’t considered.
This was the problem with bookworms who lived their lives in books. There was some information you could only learn by getting your hands dirty in the field, but they tried to understand the entire world through a few lines of text.
“Can’t you… make another one of those?”
“To create a record-paper containing another witch’s magic, I need that witch to be present.”
“You’re useless.”
“I apologize.”
With that, Yohan headed straight into the forest. Though it was an island, a small ecosystem had formed.
Tiny footprints caught his eye, suggesting there were at least some animals here. He also began to spot a few clumps of what looked like edible plants.
“You cannot eat that.”
“…I know that.”
“My apologies. The poison transfers on contact, and I thought you were about to touch it.”
Unfortunately, the plant wasn’t edible. With Regina’s help, Yohan distinguished between edible and inedible plants and mushrooms, gathering ingredients. He then returned to the shore and started to build a fire.
He gathered completely dry branches, placed tinder like straw and leaves on top, and began rubbing two sticks together to create friction.
It was the most primitive method: starting a fire using friction heat.
Even the Witch of Records wouldn’t think of something like this, and even if she did, she wouldn’t be able to execute it.
Thinking this, Yohan grinned and looked up at Regina.
“Fire.”
Regina, who had been watching him silently, pulled a piece of paper from her clothes and infused it with magic power.
The paper, activating a pre-stored formula, burst into flames and ignited the kindling Yohan had piled up.
“…If you had something like this, you should have said so.”
“It would have been a waste of time to explain, so I simply used the magic.”
“Oh, is that so.”
She wasn’t wrong. It was more rational to cast the spell in the time it would have taken to explain that she had it.
She had gathered all the food, and she had provided the fire to cook it. In reality, he had left everything to her, but… for some reason, Yohan just didn’t like her.
‘She just has a way of getting on my nerves.’
First impressions were just that important. Look at this. Even when she did something helpful, she got no praise for it. Yohan had a gut feeling that no words of praise for her would ever leave his lips.
“Listen while you eat.”
“What is it?”
Yohan, who had carved a piece of wood he’d found somewhere with magic and washed it to make a bowl, stirred the bubbling vegetable porridge inside and looked at Regina.
She usually wore a blank expression, so it wasn’t obvious, but her face now looked quite serious.
“I am currently using my ability to collect stories from all over the world.”
“Mm. So?”
“It means that information from the entire world is flowing into me in real-time.”
The ability to grasp the state of the entire world while sitting in one place. That was the true nature of the magic of records.
It was an ability she rarely used due to the combination of her inherently introverted personality and her curse, but even she could see the gravity of the situation.
“The Malyong has awakened.”
“Malyong? What’s that?”
“An ancient dragon that was sealed in the Kingdom… To put it simply, it is an incredibly powerful monster.”
“My teacher will probably beat it, whatever it is.”
Yohan trusted his teacher. He couldn’t even imagine her losing. A teacher that strong couldn’t possibly be defeated.
So whether it was a Malyong or an invisible dragon, it was a problem that would solve itself as long as he trusted his teacher.
That’s what he thought.
“—That is not the case.”
“…Why?”
“If the Malyong were to attack alone, then as you say, Yohan, Evangeline and the other witches could combine their strength to defeat it. Yes. But the Malyong is not some mindless lizard. It is a cunning being that can think and strike at weaknesses…”
She said that the Sun Eater that attacked them was also one of the monsters awakened by the Malyong. The Malyong was currently flying across the world, awakening monsters that were either sleeping or sealed.
The Kingdom’s forces, weakened from dealing only with witches, were powerless to stop them.
“…Tell the Imperial army to handle it.”
“That would be impossible. It might be different for other beings, but the Malyong possesses a magic that makes it immune to being killed by humans.”
“How is that even possible?”
“From my perspective, your magic, Yohan, which nullifies the magic of others, is the most absurd of all.”
No matter how powerful Evangeline was, she would be in danger if attacked by multiple monsters at once.
This was especially true if those monsters were legendary beasts from scripture, sealed long ago by god-like beings.
“Then shouldn’t we get out of here quickly and find my teacher?”
“That’s right. We must leave this place.”
“How do we do that?”
“I don’t know.”
“…What?”
Regina ladled some vegetable porridge into her own bowl and spoke calmly.
“A way to escape this place? I do not know. As you said, I am merely a witch who records.”
“What, are you still holding on to what I said back then?”
“That’s not it. …There is a way, but I do not know how to achieve that way.”
As if playing with words, Regina continued to spout cryptic nonsense. Just as he was about to lose his temper, Regina suddenly tackled Yohan, forcing him down.
“What are you do—.”
“Well now, there are people even in a place like this.”
A chilling voice came from behind Regina.
Yohan cautiously shifted his gaze and saw a man floating in the air, looking down at them.
Pale skin, as if devoid of blood; long canines like fangs; and countless bats flying around him, obscuring the sun.
“Greetings, humans. Allow me to introduce myself—.”
“A vampire…”
“…Isn’t it a bit rude to steal my introduction?”
The man, a self-proclaimed vampire, grinned and held out his hand. Streaks of blood began to gather around his fingers.
“It was a pleasure to meet you. Now, die.”