Escape From a Deserted Island With Enemy Female Soldiers

113 – Awakening (6)

The three Valkyries were locked in the dungeon.

Their hands and feet were tightly bound, and there wasn’t even a single vent in the walls. The iron bars, the only place air could get through, were triple-locked, and blood demons patrolled right in front.

Escape seemed impossible.

“Hey, you there.”

Rachel tried calling out to the wandering monsters, but they didn’t even turn their heads, let alone answer. The blood demons’ eyes were clouded and blank. It didn’t seem like they possessed any reason at all.

“Looks like low-level Shikigami.”

“Shikigami?”

“I’ve heard that high-ranking vampires can use necromancy. They infuse the souls of people into dead bodies and control them.”

Tiria continued, saying that blood demon shikigami only listen to the commands given by their master.

“So, dead people are watching us?”

At Rachel’s question, Riyo sniffed the air. She smelled formaldehyde. They looked fine on the outside, but they were already dead.

“They’ll probably only react if we try to escape. This is troublesome.”

“Is there no way out?”

“Well…”

Rachel and Riyo glanced sideways at Tiria.

The wraiths were no match for Tiria, really. If only she could break free of her shackles, purifying this entire area would be nothing.

But the vampire surely knew that.

Rachel looked down at the cuffs she wore. There were not only iron rings, but also restraints made of spider silk. Salbira’s handiwork.

Even if she tried to break them with brute force, they were tougher than ordinary thread.

The vampire’s inner thoughts are visible. She clearly suspects that spider woman.

A way to escape this place?

It exists, alright.

Three days ago, Erich handed over mana stones to the four women. Replicas of the translocation stone he’d obtained by catching ghouls. Thankfully, it wasn’t found during the body search before we got here.

The vampire princess doesn’t know about the fox sisters’ abilities. The moment she realizes they can manipulate mana, this level of surveillance won’t be the end of it.

There’s only one chance.

Rachel, Tiria, and even the Riyo-Miyo sisters. The four of them had agreed beforehand to trust Erich. If he makes a move, they will escape this place immediately.

Each of them was reaffirming this to themselves when…

“So, the final sacrifices are here?”

A deep, sonorous male voice. And the sound of heavy boots following after, tightening the tension.

“Yes, sir. Holy Nation prisoners, or so I hear.”

“…Holy Nation prisoners?”

“Apparently, they each worship a different goddess. I overheard them babbling about how that makes them good catalysts or something.”

“The vampire princess is quite resourceful. Bringing in sacrifices again, even now.”

Hazkael.

No doubt about it. Mado Kingdom officers. Tiria, in particular, narrowed her eyes.

The officers appeared soon after, standing directly in front of the three.

“That one’s said to be the squad leader of the White Lotus Unit, the beastkin is from the Divine Engineering Corps, and the last one is…”

“You can tell she’s a Purifying Saint just by looking at her.”

Rachel and Tiria’s eyes were also moving rapidly. A dozen or so field-grade officers and one general. The general, in this case, didn’t have just one or two stars, but a whole five.

“……Enemy?”

“The Saintess speaks the language of the Magic Kingdom. Makes things easier.”

The general, impeccably dressed, took off his hat and chuckled.

“Admiral Abraham Dietz, at your service.”

“Abraham Dietz? Commander-in-chief of the Magic Kingdom’s southern seas? I heard you died at the Battle of Tatankur?”

“Askalia’s intelligence is truly terrible. One shouldn’t jump to conclusions before finding a body, you know.”

“So, the Magic Kingdom *was* preparing dark sorcery. And with ancient monsters, no less.”

Tiria glared at Admiral Dietz. Rachel and Liyo frowned deeply as well. They locked eyes with the officers behind the Admiral, a tense standoff.

Only the Admiral was laughing, a hollow sound.

Tiria asked,

“I heard you’re trying to resurrect the Demon King.”

“That’s the gist of it.”

“It doesn’t make sense. Why has the Magic Kingdom joined hands with an old enemy? Hazkael destroyed Hellier. Have you forgotten the oath Jeriem made?”

Dietz responded to her question with a twist of his lips.

“Such a brazen little girl. A Saintess spouting off about magical pacts. Officers, look at this. The Holy Spirit Order has always been spineless. When we first created and announced the pact, they didn’t even glance at it, but now that their lives are in danger, they’re trying to change their tune. Isn’t that funny? Eh?”

One by one, the officers began to snicker.

“So, which fool taught you to invoke the pact when in danger? The Pope? The High Priest? Or perhaps, your precious goddess?”

“You know him better than anyone.”

“I don’t have any connections in the Holy Spirit Nation. I don’t know who you’re talking about……”

“Erich Ronstein.”

The smile vanished from Admiral Dietz’s face the moment the name was uttered.

“Say that again. Who?”

“Erich Ronstein. He succeeded Johannes Calon as commander of the Mana Stone Supply Battalion. Tall, handsome, too.”

The faces of the officers behind the Admiral also darkened sharply.

Tiria recalled the events on Ghost Isle. Even the vengeful spirits of the Magic Kingdom had hesitated to harm Erich. That’s how deeply respected the man was.

“We had to cooperate with him to survive. It started as an uneasy alliance, but I’ve changed my mind now. Erich is a good man. Looking at those expressions on your faces, you guys feel the same way, don’t you?”

Even as she spoke, Tiria was quite surprised. She hadn’t expected the entire officer corps to be so shaken. How respected must he be to cause this kind of reaction?

No, no. That’s probably why even *she* had fallen for him. Wasn’t he more of a clergyman than she, a Saintess, was?

“Ronstein, eh… according to our records, that friend of yours died at Tatangkur.”

“Hazukail’s intelligence is truly terrible. You shouldn’t jump to conclusions like that before finding a body.”

“Hahahaha!”

Admiral Dietz laughed heartily.

“A more audacious young lady than I thought.”

“I didn’t become a Saintess for show.”

“But having a friendship with Ronstein won’t change whether you live or die. Two weeks… you should use that time to sort out your feelings. If you need it, I’ll provide paper and pen to write a will.”

“I don’t need it.”

The conversation ended there. Admiral Dietz, followed by the Magic Kingdom officers, turned to leave. They retraced their steps, their pace subtly more hurried than when they arrived.

“…We *will* all survive this, together.”

Tiria muttered quietly, watching Admiral Dietz’s retreating back.

*

It was as Salvira had assured. No one could enter the cocoon. Thanks to that, I could focus purely on training.

I was worried about what had happened to the Holy Empire’s female soldiers, but that only made me think I needed to increase my mana even more.

And so, my third week of fasting began.

Just breathing made my breath sickly sweet.

My thoughts weren’t connecting properly. I felt like I’d collapse the moment I lost focus, but even maintaining that focus was difficult. It felt like I was being tested at the limit of my endurance.

I couldn’t take it anymore.

Every time I had that thought, the Lieutenant Commander would feed me water.

The Lieutenant Commander had effectively started fasting too. The first reason was that she couldn’t bear to eat her fill alone beside me, who was starving.

“I’m alright, so at least you should eat something, Lieutenant Commander.”

“I cannot.”

“Father would be saddened if he saw this.”

“You learned in history class how the Magic Kingdom was established, didn’t you? The bonds of Hazkael’s alumni… are bound to be as strong as blood ties. How can I, as a fellow student sharing life and death with you, be comfortable alone?”

Thud. The Lieutenant Commander’s head touched my shoulder. She leaned on me just slightly, not enough to be a burden.

“…So, senior. Just hang in there a little longer.”

That was it. Because of that, even when I wanted to quit immediately, I endured. If it hadn’t been for Lieutenant Commander Adora, I would have given up for good two days ago.

The reward for enduring longer was powerful. My mana had already soared to 50 times what it was on the first day. At this rate, I far exceeded the national average, and I was closing in on the average of Larion Academy freshmen.

Truly, if I just get out of here, my life will bloom.

An hour passed, and the Lieutenant Commander, who had been holding water in her mouth, poked my thigh. As I was creating a mana stone, I reflexively turned my head and opened my mouth.

“Mmph….”

The number of kisses had already exceeded 400. If that old man Tetman found out about this, he would surely kill me like catching a rat. The Gifold family had historically adhered to the principle of premarital chastity.

Guilt washes over me.

But beyond that, I felt lust for the Major.

We’d been together in that cramped room for days, exchanging hundreds of kisses. And not just any kisses, but acts performed to obtain water.

It was something done for training and to survive, but my subconscious was interpreting it differently. It had come to see kissing Major Adora as an act essential to my survival.

The end result of that perception was obvious.

In the end, I couldn’t control the lust that burst forth from me for even a moment.

“…?!”

When I pushed my tongue in, the Major’s eyes widened like a rabbit’s. She gripped my collar, her shoulders trembling slightly. Each time her breath brushed against me, her sweet scent made my head spin.

A lovely strawberry fragrance.

Knowing I shouldn’t be doing this, I traced the Major’s lips and extended my tongue, just to drink another drop of water.

I was out of my mind.

The Major was slowly falling backward. I supported her head with my left hand while wrapping my right arm around her waist. The Major’s convulsing body gradually regained its stability.

Then, she actually entrusted her tongue to me and softly blinked her lips.

The Major’s lips were like an oasis that never ran dry.

[“…Bim-bbee?”]

It was only after hearing the little spider’s voice that I snapped back to my senses.

[“Bim-bbee! Bim-bbee-bbee! Bbyool-bwee-eet!!”]

The Major and I immediately broke our kiss. The Major was looking up at me with a face that was thick with melted desire. On her lower lip, globs of the sinful saliva I’d committed were dripping down, thick and viscous.

The Major breathed heavily and said,

“…Senpai, you pervert.”

I could only slam my head down and apologize. Guess real fasting isn’t something I can do.

Anyway, gotta split again now. Need to get back to training…

“Wondered what you were up to, must be nice.”

A familiar voice rang out.

I turned my head towards the entrance of the cocoon at that voice, and there stood a figure I never expected.

“Made quite a few girlfriends while I wasn’t looking, Lieutenant Colonel Ronstein.”

“…Admiral Dietz?”

“Yeah, it’s me. Thought you were a decent and honest friend, Ronstein…turns out you’re quite the womanizer. How’d you end up laying your hands on Gipold’s precious daughter, huh?”

I was speechless.

Reuniting with the superior officer I’d missed so much since being shipwrecked on this deserted island…it was literally the worst.