28. Holiday on a Desert Island (2)
28. Holiday on a Desert Island (2)
"Yohan, about what happened earlier..."
"I'll be right back. Just going to hang myself for a bit."
"You can’t do that!"
Just let me.
I had to kill my past self for blurting out something so insane in front of a woman! It was a good thing Karina was kind. If I'd said it in front of Reni, my head and body would probably have been separated by now.
Though she might have just glared at me like I was a crazy bastard.
Of course, she would've barred me from even getting within ten meters of Karina.
...Reni had not noticed, had she?
"People make slips of the tongue, so please don't worry about it too much! I've misspoken a word while reciting prayers in front of people myself, and uh... well, anyway, you don't need to be so embarrassed..."
"Huh? Did something happen, Karina?"
"Ah, it's nothing!"
Don’t look at us like that. Stop staring.
No, before that, when had she gotten here? Had she not said she was going to chop firewood?
"What about the firewood?"
"Firewood? How long could that take... it was done in no time."
I remembered bringing her about five trees’ worth. She had already finished all of it? I needed to check.
Partly to escape the awkward situation, I went to the woodshed and found it filled with stacks of evenly chopped firewood. The shed stood right beside the house, so it wasn't far.
With strength like hers, work like this took no time. Putting her in charge of the heavy labor had clearly been the right decision. I could have done it myself, but I just wanted to take it easy.
Every day, I'd drawn water, chopped firewood, cooked, cleaned, worked, scouted, checked traps, and searched the beach alone until one body hardly felt like enough. This was my chance to divide the chores properly and create even a little more time to rest.
Even after we finished exploring the dungeon, we would have to continue living on the island for a while. Now that Reni had fully recovered, I needed to divide the work and make life a little easier.
The effect was undeniable.
It freed up enough leisure time for me to relax and enjoy fishing.
You could even say my quality of life had gone up.
It was a shame this rest would end soon since we had to enter the dungeon, but...
The dungeon. The dungeon, huh.
What could be inside it?
I'd stepped a little way into the dungeon's entrance before, but getting past that and pushing into the interior would be a first this time.
Maybe some bastard even worse than the Alpha Bear or the Hydra was lurking inside. That was the worst-case assumption. But on an uninhabited island, the worst-case assumption always came true.
Calling it a total shitshow didn't even do it justice.
"...Come to think of it, I don’t know where the Hydra ranked by game standards."
It probably was not on the level of the late-game bosses I could still vaguely remember, but that didn't make it weak. Maybe it was around a midgame boss. It could have been even stronger.
Ah, I could really use X-Wiki.
If I could have just looked at X-Wiki, I might have been able to patch up a few of the holes riddling my memory.
Sigh. There was no point searching for something that didn't exist.
"...Let’s just get back."
It was time to eat.
I went straight from the shed back to the house.
Opening the door and looking toward the hearth, I saw Karina setting a pot down on the wooden table I'd made. Whether it was because her strength was low, or because of that huge chest of hers, she looked strangely precarious holding the pot, but thankfully, the pot landed meekly on the table without spitting out its contents.
"Yohan, it’s time to eat."
I sat down and peered into the pot. A fish head bobbed in the green broth. It looked poisonous, but tasted better than expected. Picky eaters were the first to die on a deserted island, so if someone showed signs of fussiness, all you could do was pray for their soul. They wouldn't last long anyway.
On a deserted island, survival meant chewing down even earthworms if necessary.
I scooped up the soup with a spoon and tasted it.
Mm, the seasoning was just right today.
At first, Karina had struggled to season food properly because she was not used to island cooking, but that no longer happened. It meant she was adapting well enough. As we ate, I stole a glance at her. She slowly brought a spoon to her small lips.
Every time I watched her eat, her tiny mouth made her look like a chick pecking at feed.
Ah, we made eye contact.
We both looked away at the same time. Even after what she had said, it was still awkward. I shifted in my seat without meaning to, and at the edge of my vision, Reni watched us suspiciously.
I glanced toward Reni. She kept looking between Karina and me, shooting suspicious looks at both of us. The situation was uncomfortable enough already, and her stare made it worse. Finally, I spoke to her.
"Reni."
"What?"
"Got something to say to me?"
"No. It's just an occupational hazard, so don't mind it."
Her face looked like it had a ton to say, so what was this "no" business?
It was awkward to continue the conversation there, so I simply lowered my head and finished my bowl.
---------------------------
The afternoon's task was recovering the Hydra's remains with Reni.
We'd already taken plenty of flesh, but the bones and hide were too large to collect all at once, especially when neither Reni nor I had been in good condition after the battle. Karina’s healing magic had repaired our injuries, but it could not erase exhaustion. So we were moving the bones and hide home a little at a time.
"Hey."
I looked at Reni when she called me. Her face clearly said she had something to ask, and I could guess what it was. After a short hesitation, she spoke while carrying the Hydra’s skull overhead.
"You weren’t caught doing something weird to Karina, were you?"
"I'll be right back. Just going to hang myself for a bit."
"No, how the hell does that become the conclusion?!"
Damn, she was ridiculously strong. I couldn't break Reni’s grip on the back of my neck and had no choice but to stop.
That brute strength was downright unfair. There was no hope against it.
"Don’t make me think about that embarrassing memory. I’m suffering enough already."
"No, just explain a little..."
I wouldn't. Absolutely not.
If I told her, only a hopeless future awaited—either a restraining order or “Reni tears Yohan apart.” How could I possibly explain?
"It's nothing much. I just carelessly blurted out that she was pretty."
"If it was nothing, why are you acting like that? You aren’t lying, are you?"
"No. It's really not."
Reni stared at me for a long time, perhaps trying to read my true intentions. To prove my innocence, I met her gaze with pure, guileless eyes. After a while, her eyes dipped downward for an instant before rising again. Maybe I imagined it, but her cheeks looked slightly red.
How long had that lasted? The agonizing stretch seemed to have been pulled out endlessly, but at last Reni looked away and spoke.
"Um... want me to get you off once? I heard men get clearheaded after they come."
How the hell had she reached that conclusion?
Honestly, I was a little tempt... no, but still, that was a bit much.
And that hand gesture. Where had she learned it?
It might have felt good for a moment, but afterward the atmosphere would only become more awkward. I wouldn't be able to deal with the consequences. I was better off jerking off by myself somewhere.
"I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about."
I pretended not to understand and walked on ahead.
For a while, we just walked down the open path without a single word. It seemed Reni, like me, found it pretty awkward to bring anything up. Like monks practicing a vow of silence, we said nothing until we reached the house.
"...Where do I put this?"
"Set it down in front of the workshop."
"Okay."
Reni and I piled the Hydra's hide and bones in front of the workshop. Those bones were going to be used to make new armor and weapons. We had to prepare thoroughly for the dungeon exploration. With that amount, there shouldn't have been any problem making new equipment. Gazing at the pile of bones, I spoke to Reni.
"I'll go for a short walk."
"...Yeah. Take care."
It felt strange to see her try so hard to act as though nothing had happened while seeing me off.
Was this her way of being considerate?
I quietly accepted Reni's consideration and headed for the beach.
-----------
'So men were men after all.'
Normally she would've lost her temper first, but Reni sighed as she watched Yohan's retreating figure hurry away.
"What kind of crazy thing did I just say..."
Thinking back, she really had said something insane. At least, that was Reni’s conclusion. A former colleague had once told her, “Men generally get clearheaded after someone gets them off,” and the words had slipped out before she could think. Reni nearly braced herself against the wall and slammed her head into it.
To be precise, she stopped her head just before it touched the wall. If she had rammed into it, she probably would've put a hole in the wall. She knew full well it would've led to an even bigger headache, which was how she barely managed to stop herself.
'I didn't know how to deal with him.'
Reni was willing to accept anything that made Karina happy, but she still had to follow the proper procedure. As an Escort Knight, she had to judge whether anyone approaching her charge bore ill will or posed a threat, then stop them if necessary.
That was her sole duty as an Escort Knight.
"Well, he’s still better than those damned pig bastards."
The Third Prince had openly licked his lips while staring at Karina’s figure. Nobles had subtly made advances. The least objectionable ones merely treated her as the Saintess. The memories alone disgusted Reni enough to make her shake her head.
That was how most men who approached Karina acted.
But what about him?
Reni thought of Yohan.
A sturdy build that brought northern barbarians to mind. A body covered in the traces of a painful life. A face whose original features could only be glimpsed through the scars. Objectively, he did not make a good first impression.
A man who looked dangerous.
But Yohan wasn't that kind of person.
He was strangely gentlemanly and never tried to cross the distance he had established. Even though living with two women must have been difficult for him, he almost never showed it. Reni found that strangely fascinating.
"He’s definitely not a bad guy. Not a bad guy..."
He'd be better if he just walked around wearing something on top.
Letting out a hollow laugh, Reni lifted her head from the wall she'd been pressing her forehead against.
The fact she was even having these thoughts was absurd.
"Well, we have plenty of time..."
For the first time, she decided to reserve judgment.