Chapter 47
Enoch nodded with a calm expression.
“That’s one possible cause we can speculate about. But there are so many other plausible explanations that it’s hard to draw a conclusion.”
In the end, we were back at square one again. Ruzef, who had been watching for the right moment to speak, raised his hand.
“Then I think it would be best for all of us to make finding an escape gate our primary goal.”
Everyone nodded in agreement with Ruzef’s suggestion. Their fatigue was evident on their faces.
By now, the surroundings had grown dim. More time had passed than we’d realized.
“Additionally, it might be wise to regularly check the shoreline to see if any ships pass by,”
Asdal added as a final remark.
Knowing full well that calling for rescue would be pointless, I wanted to stop him badly.
But the others, who had no way of knowing that, all nodded and voiced their agreement.
Awooooo—
At that moment, a wolf’s howl echoed from somewhere far away.
A chilling silence fell.
Everyone stiffened, exchanging wary looks.
“Let’s discuss the details after sunrise. For today, it’d be best to settle down,”
Yuanna said.
Everyone nodded again in agreement.
Even if monsters didn’t usually come near the cabin, lighting a fire at night was dangerous.
In the end, we hurriedly cleaned up and went inside the cabin.
We decided to take turns standing watch.
By “we,” I meant Enoch, Kaiden, Ruzef, and me.
The reason we were on watch wasn’t just to prepare for monster attacks—more than that, it was to prevent provocations from Yuanna’s group.
We were laying leaves across the wooden floor on the first floor of the cabin to prepare for sleep when Kaiden came down the stairs from the second floor and pointed upward at me.
“I hear one of the two rooms upstairs is being used by the Saintess.”
At Kaiden’s words, Ruzef—who had been helping me spread the leaves—let out an irritated sigh.
“The other room will be used by His Highness the Crown Prince.”
Kaiden scowled deeply and walked over.
“What? Then what about our Margaret?”
Diego and Enoch, who had been talking some distance away, turned to look at us with puzzled expressions.
I didn’t want to cause a commotion in the middle of the night, and honestly, the so-called rooms upstairs were nothing more than hard wooden beds.
I understood why everyone was upset, but it wasn’t that I couldn’t go upstairs—I chose not to.
Yuanna had actually suggested we share a room, but her intentions seemed suspicious, so I refused.
More than anything, in a situation like this, it was better to stay close to our group rather than be separated. So I shrugged and tried to calm Kaiden down.
“It’s fine. I think sleeping here is safer. You and Enoch are here, and the Bishop too.”
Kaiden’s eyebrows shot up, and a smile spread across his face. He seemed to like my answer.
I wasn’t sure if Diego and Enoch heard us, but they soon turned away and went back to their discussion.
After finishing spreading the leaves, I sat down and quietly watched the two of them. What were they talking about so intently?
“Looks like they’re sharing information about monsters,”
Kaiden said, resting his chin in his hand as he followed my gaze.
“Monster information?”
“Seems like the two of them made some kind of deal.”
Ruzef, who was poking at the firewood with a stick near the fireplace, turned toward Kaiden with curiosity.
Kaiden narrowed his eyes and focused on Enoch and Diego’s conversation.
They were whispering at least fifteen steps away. How could Kaiden hear that? Was he some kind of super-hearing detective?
“Diego appears to be reporting what he learned while staying with the other group to the Crown Prince.”
Kaiden clicked his tongue after finishing.
“Right. I almost forgot. Diego is one of Prince Enoch’s men.”
I sighed as I replied.
‘I really should get revenge on that lumberjack someday…’
But how do you get revenge in a way that people will talk about afterward?
Kaiden snorted, crossed his arms, and glanced sideways at Diego.
“He’s a knight who’s forgotten his duty. From the looks of it, he’s completely fallen for the Saintess. He’s saying he’ll stay by her side instead of following the Crown Prince. Is he insane? What’s he planning to do when we return to the Empire?”
Coming from someone who once grabbed the Crown Prince by the collar, that wasn’t very convincing.
I sighed, shook my head, and lay down.
After grumbling for a bit, Kaiden lay down to my left.
Ruzef cautiously tried to lie down on my right—but at that moment, Enoch appeared.
“Even if the spot next to Margaret looks empty, it isn’t truly vacant. Are you coveting my place? And are you prepared to bear the consequences if you do?”
That was an unnecessarily complicated way of saying move.
At Enoch’s sharp tone, Ruzef scowled irritably. Still, after letting out a sigh, he awkwardly shuffled over to another spot.
I glanced sympathetically at the curled-up Ruzef, then rolled over to look up at Enoch.
He was standing there, undoing the buttons on his shirt sleeves.
Damn—
Even looking up at him from this angle, he was unfairly handsome.
He slowly sat down beside me, staring intently.
“It seems you have something you wish to ask me.”
I pushed myself up and met his gaze.
“What were you talking about with Sir Diego?”
Behind me, I heard Kaiden rustle as he turned over.
Enoch sighed, rolled up his sleeves, and shrugged.
“We exchanged information about the monsters each of us encountered.”
Just as Kaiden had said.
“The monsters that attacked us were mainly wolves and anaconda-type creatures. But the monsters they encountered were different.”
At Enoch’s words, Kaiden sat up, clearly intrigued, and leaned closer.
Ruzef also moved nearer, listening intently.
Diego, who had been standing some distance away, seemed to have heard everything, but this wasn’t exactly classified information, so it didn’t matter.
Ignoring him, Enoch rested his chin in his hand, his expression grave.
“According to Sir Diego, their group encountered giant tarantula-type monsters and beast-type monsters with humanoid forms.”
Beasts with humanoid forms…
At that, I suddenly recalled the monster I’d run into weeks ago while being chased by Kaiden.
It stood on two legs like a human and was covered entirely in fur.
“Rather than humanoid, it was more like… a giant orangutan. The monster I ran into while being chased by Kaiden. I think that’s the one Sir Diego meant.”
Kaiden slapped his knee in agreement.
“Oh, that thing? Yeah, I know it. I got attacked by it. This scar is from that bastard.”
He abruptly lifted his shirt, showing the wound on his chest.
Just as he said, a deep scar remained where I had treated him. Since he couldn’t use magic, it probably wouldn’t fade easily.
“…The monsters seem to be evolving,”
Enoch said after a brief silence.
I agreed.
The wolf-type monsters Enoch had torn apart last time were clearly different from before.
It’s already been four days since I entered the underground storage alone.
I still can’t understand what happened right before I went inside.
Just before entering the storage, I encountered a monster. I barely managed to escape, but what shocked me more than the monster itself was the time it appeared.
The sun was still up, though it was close to sunset.
And that massive tarantula I saw just before entering the storage didn’t seem affected by sunlight at all.
Somehow…
They seem to be evolving.
I wasn’t completely certain, but I distinctly remembered something like that.
In the novel, that phenomenon was supposed to begin near the end of Volume 1—right before Yuanna entered the bunker.
But we witnessed it the moment we arrived on the island. On our very first day after waking up here, Enoch and I encountered monsters at sunset.
When that realization hit me, a chill ran down my spine.
At this rate, won’t monsters start appearing in broad daylight?
“We need more weapons,”
Kaiden muttered, frowning.
When everyone looked at him, he shrugged.
“If the monsters really are evolving, then what we have now won’t be enough to deal with them.”
He was right. What we had wasn’t sufficient. Flares and grenades were consumables, and their numbers were limited.
“Then finding the ‘door’ that matches the key before the monsters become uncontrollable is urgent,”
Enoch said.
“We must uncover the secret of the key,”
I added.
“And the secret of the island as well,”
Ruzef followed.
What in the world is this bizarre island?
It feels like the mysteries are only piling up, with no answers in sight.
