Chapter 48
I was on the first night watch.
Kaiden and Enoc were asleep on either side of me, and next to Enoc lay Bishop Rujeff.
Diego was curled up a little farther away, asleep. I didn’t know why he was lying there so pitifully.
I sat near the fireplace, staring at the flickering flames, and Diego brought over a few more logs he had chopped to revive the dying embers.
It must be cold upstairs since there’s no fireplace…
Or maybe it’s fine with a bed and blankets.
Sleep was pressing down on me so heavily that I quietly got up from my spot and stepped outside the cabin.
I thought it would help me clear my mind, but it didn’t seem to do much.
Might as well use the compass to draw a map.
From my backpack, I pulled out the small notebook and pen I had in my crossbody bag. Very useful tools.
Stepping outside the cabin, I sat on the stairs at the entrance, laid out the bunker map, my notebook, compass, and pen.
Bunker
I stared intently at the word “Bunker” marked in the north direction of the island.
Like “Alea,” it was written in English. Alea was a Westerner, so was this island some kind of experimental island you’d see in a movie or drama?
But if that were the case, it didn’t make sense for people from another world to be on this island.
If I made one hypothesis, the other didn’t make sense. If I made the other, this one didn’t.
‘This is maddening.’
First, I traced the bunker map into my notebook, marking the compass directions with the compass. I also marked the locations of the bunker and the cabin.
There were two mountains on the southern island. We found the cabin right before climbing the second mountain after passing the one we had been staying near with Enoc and Kaiden. That meant the cabin we were in now was roughly in the middle of the island.
As I studied the bunker map drawn on cloth more carefully, I noticed something unusual.
The eastern tip of the southern island was connected to a path leading to the northern island. Even from the cabin, one would have to climb quite a bit to reach it.
Of course, there was a bridge in between. I squinted at the bridge connecting the northern and southern islands on the map.
“Who built this bridge…”
I put the pen to my chin and pondered.
“Well, it’s good. Going east would take too long otherwise.”
I marked the bridge’s location on my notebook and closed it.
“Wh-what are you doing?”
“XX! You scared me!”
I jumped up in shock, sending the items on my lap tumbling to the ground.
Bishop Rujeff, following my reaction, stared at my face in surprise.
“I’ve wondered before… how a noblewoman like you can swear so much…”
His gaze slowly shifted downward toward the scattered items on the stairs. I hurriedly picked them up and put them back in my crossbody bag.
‘He didn’t see the map, did he?’
I apparently had no talent for acting. I wasn’t skilled at lying either.
At this rate, if everyone suspected me of being the kidnapper, I wouldn’t have any excuse.
“Are you okay?”
I couldn’t tell if he had seen it or not, but Rujeff’s expression didn’t give anything away as he checked my face.
“Yes… yes, I’m fine.”
I mumbled something vague and asked him,
“But what are you doing out here? Why did you come out?”
Rujeff scratched the back of his head awkwardly.
“Well… I can’t sleep when I change my sleeping place.”
Goodness. He’s probably been sleeping in a different place the whole time. Did he ever really sleep properly on this island?
No wonder he looked so haggard. Still, he was as pure and beautiful as a lily.
But Rujeff, acting as if it were nothing, pointed to the stairs I had been sitting on earlier.
“May I sit for a moment?”
I shrugged.
“Go ahead.”
When Rujeff opened his eyes, it was the middle of the night.
He sat up and looked around. The only empty spot was Margaret’s.
It seemed like she had been asleep for a long time, yet the first night watch wasn’t even over.
He washed his face lightly and let out a tired sigh as he glanced at Kaiden and Enoc lying beside him.
Kaiden seemed to be sleeping without a care in the world.
Enoc had his eyes closed but probably wasn’t asleep. He always slept lightly, ready to get up at any moment.
‘Where did Miss Flone go?’
Rujeff took a sip of the purified water and got up.
He checked the cabin’s first floor, then the stairs to the second floor, and finally decided to step outside.
As soon as he opened the door, he spotted Margaret sitting at the entrance.
Moonlight filtering through the massive foliage made her platinum hair shine brightly.
Rujeff approached her, entranced, but she seemed so focused on something that she didn’t even notice him.
Then Rujeff noticed the map in her hands.
He couldn’t tell what was written on it, but it appeared to be a map of the island.
“What are you doing?”
“XX! You scared me!”
She quickly folded what seemed to be a notebook, startled, and stood up.
Rujeff was even more surprised. Her rough swearing startled him again.
“I’ve wondered before… how a noblewoman like you can swear so much…”
He slowly lowered his gaze, noticing the items that had fallen to the stairs.
A compass, notebook, a mysterious stick, and a piece of cloth. Margaret hurriedly picked them up and put them in her small bag, constantly glancing at him.
Why was she trying so hard to hide something? That map from earlier? Why was she hiding it? Rujeff sneaked a glance at the items she clutched.
Certainly, Margaret was just as suspicious as Yuanna. No wonder people occasionally doubted her; he had doubted her himself at first.
Rujeff studied her expression and asked,
“Are you okay?”
“Yes… yes, I’m fine.”
She answered awkwardly. After explaining that she came out because she couldn’t sleep, he pointed to the stairs.
“May I sit for a moment?”
Margaret shrugged.
“Sure.”
Rujeff sat first, and she timidly followed beside him. For a long while, they quietly stared at the forest without saying a word.
After a long silence, Rujeff spoke softly.
“…I don’t know if we can escape from this island.”
Because it was so quiet, even his small, mumbled voice echoed clearly.
Margaret slowly lifted her head. Her bright blue eyes shone in the moonlight.
“Yes. We will escape. So let’s hang in there a little longer.”
Hearing her resolute words, Rujeff couldn’t help but be astonished. How could she be so strong and steadfast?
He knew she was trying to comfort him, yet sometimes he marveled at her mental fortitude.
“I feel at ease when I’m with you, Miss.”
Her face lit up in surprise as she looked up at him.
“…At ease? If we’re alone and monsters appear, we’d ride the express train to the afterlife together, right? I’d feel safer with Enoc or Kaiden.”
“Do you really think so?”
She pondered, resting her chin on her hand, then nodded.
“Both of them are like ticking time bombs. It’s a little scary.”
“And you can handle those ticking time bombs.”
“Hm. You could say that.”
Margaret laughed, as if finding it amusing.
Watching her bright, carefree smile, Rujeff thought that if this had been in the Langrid Empire, he wouldn’t even have known she had this side of herself.
In the strange atmosphere, he quietly revealed thoughts he had never shared with anyone.
“I became a clergyman because I dislike people, actually.”
“Ah… really? But clergymen meet more people, don’t they?”
She looked a little surprised, and he nodded.
“To be precise, I didn’t want deep relationships. Becoming a clergyman meant I didn’t have to deal with troublesome human connections. It was convenient. But the doctrine says otherwise. It says to love humans and show that love.”
After revealing a side of himself he had never told anyone, he somehow felt relieved.
“Honestly, it’s easier here on this island because I don’t have to pretend.”
