Chapter 112
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Chapter 112
"He's probably with Diego. Since the Crown Prince and the Holy Maiden remain on the South Island, he'd most likely be heading there to meet them."
Kaiden nodded at Enoch's words and continued the thought.
"Or he could be heading to one of the marked locations on the map. I suspect that cabin we've been searching for is the one marked with a star on the map."
I'd personally confirmed that Jenas's Cabin was indeed located at the starred location on the map.
"What if our paths diverge?"
"What can we do about it? We go our own way. Besides, he was never part of our group from the start anyway."
Kaiden spoke with remarkable composure.
"By that logic, Rodban wasn't part of our group either."
Enoch, who had been leading the way in silence, spoke in a low voice. At that, Kaiden bristled and insisted he was part of the group, and another round of tension between the two men began.
I decided to treat their bickering as nothing more than annoying background music.
'Stopping them would just be more troublesome.'
After walking for quite some time, my stamina depleted significantly and hunger set in.
Now that I thought about it, I hadn't eaten properly since leaving Jenas's Cabin. There hadn't been any rivers nearby wherever we went, so I'd been filling my stomach with berries as a temporary measure.
"Kaiden, aren't you hungry?"
"Huh? Oh, yeah. I'm starving. It's getting pretty rough."
Kaiden probably hadn't eaten anything all day while trapped in the mist. That's when Enoch stopped walking.
"There seems to be something over there."
I looked in the direction Enoch was pointing. Beneath a low hill, I could see a massive pile of leaves as tall as a person. It looked as though something important was deliberately hidden beneath it.
Enoch blocked my attempt to move forward and shook his head firmly.
"Margaret, you stay here. Rodban?"
"Of course, I'll keep Margaret safe."
Kaiden wrapped his arms around my waist from behind and rested his chin on my shoulder.
Seeing this, Enoch's expression darkened with displeasure, but he drew his longsword and turned away as if resigned to it.
Both men had become noticeably overprotective since I'd disappeared after falling into the River. But since it hadn't been inconvenient so far, I obediently stood with Kaiden as Enoch had instructed.
Enoch slowly approached and cleared away the leaves. Beneath them lay a small cave.
"Oh?"
"What is it? Looks like someone lived here."
At my exclamation of surprise, Kaiden also lifted his head and murmured.
Someone had lived here. The fact that traces of habitation remained scattered throughout the Island made me uncertain whether that was fortunate or unfortunate. There was no way to know if they'd escaped or perished.
'Or perhaps Jenath moved between different dwellings over the course of a thousand years.'
Enoch completely cleared away the leaves and bent slightly to peer inside.
The small cave, hollowed out beneath the hill, wasn't very deep, and its width was just large enough for about four adults to lie down inside.
"Given the severe stamina depletion from hunger, it would be wise to recover here today."
After surveying the interior, Enoch emerged and spoke to us.
"If we set up a Barrier and sleep inside, it should be fine."
Both men nodded simultaneously at my suggestion. And so we decided to make camp here for the day.
"Margaret, it's dirty, so wait a moment."
Just as I was about to enter the cave, Enoch stopped me. Then he and Kaiden began earnestly cleaning the cave.
I watched the scene with some curiosity. While Margaret was certainly of noble birth, Enoch was the Crown Prince of the Empire and Kaiden was a Tower Master, after all.
'They're quite good at cleaning.'
It wasn't a joke—the two men truly excelled at tidying. Whether it was simply their fastidious nature, I couldn't say for certain.
They swept away the dust and soil scattered throughout the cave, created a space suitable for sleeping, and were now laying down leaves and moss to fashion a comfortable bed.
"Margaret, are you feeling alright? Come sit here."
Kaiden tended to me with meticulous care, ushering me inside. Anyone watching would think I'd sustained an injury.
"I'll go hunting. Rodban, I think it's best if you stay here and watch over Margaret."
Enoch stood at the cave entrance with his sword drawn and spoke. Kaiden grasped my hand and traced a magic circle in the air, nodding in agreement. I gazed at Enoch with a worried expression.
"Please be careful. Monsters appear even during the day."
At my words, Enoch offered a faint smile and nodded.
"There's no need to worry."
"Right, that monster of a man doesn't seem like he needs worrying over."
Kaiden completed the magic circle in an instant, infused it with mana, and spoke to me. Enoch glanced at him briefly before departing in search of prey.
We lowered the large leaves that had been concealing the cave entrance, then stepped inside and settled ourselves. The Silver Earthworm that had been coiled around my shoulder crawled down and curled into a ball on the ground.
"I wonder who lived here before?"
Only then did I look around the cave thoughtfully and speak. Kaiden was beneath a nearby coconut palm, splitting open a coconut with his dagger. He glanced at me and opened his mouth.
"Could it have been Jenath? Before he built that cabin."
I accepted the coconut from him and drank while nodding.
"That's possible. Or perhaps there were other survivors before us. If this island truly is for experimentation, we might not be the first test subjects brought here. The island has existed for a thousand years, after all."
At my words, Kaiden paused mid-sip of the coconut water. His expression grew unsettled as he turned to face me. I shrugged and continued speaking.
"The cabin on South Island, the traces of human habitation like this—they could all have been created by people kidnapped to this island just like us."
"That's plausible enough to give me chills."
Kaiden answered with his brow deeply furrowed.
After those words, we fell silent for a moment. Each of us lost in thought.
'What kind of experiment is this, anyway? What's the purpose?'
While entertaining such thoughts, I heard Kaiden's voice and turned to look at him.
"You know, Margaret. What I said last night wasn't a joke."
His expression was unusually calm and composed.
"If we escape the island... will we still be the same as we are now?"
And unexpectedly, he posed a rather sentimental question. It was the very question I'd always wanted to ask him.
Once the Suspension Bridge effect fades and we return to ordinary life, regaining our rationality, everything might change.
So I answered while deliberately excluding emotion.
"My answer is the same. We won't know until we try, will we?"
I am Margaret, and yet I am not Margaret.
If we escape the island, causality might apply and I could die. I cannot predict what will happen to us on this island going forward.
But if I could truly become Margaret...
"Still, I hope we remain the same. That nothing changes about any of us."
At my words, Kaiden stared at my face with briefly widened eyes. Soon after, he let out a laugh that seemed to deflate, then turned away.
"I'd like that too. To be with you unchanged. Just like now."
Kaiden smiled at me with a grin. Those words felt good to hear. Simply that. Somehow, they were deeply comforting.
* * *
Enoch had caught two large birds, which meant we could enjoy a satisfying evening meal. With Silver Earthworm lighting the fire, we didn't even need a lighter—it was remarkably convenient.
"Margaret, rest yourself."
As I finished eating and began tidying up, Enoch suddenly stopped me.
"That's right, Margaret. Get some rest."
Kaiden pushed me away as if agreeing with Enoch's words.
I hadn't done anything—not cleaned the cave, not prepared bedding, not made meals—yet Enoch and Kaiden were considerate enough to ensure I exerted myself as little as possible and took proper rest.
Despite the fact that they were the ones who had fought monsters all day and suffered through the mist, they showed no sign of complaint.
'I feel terrible about this.'
I wondered if there was anything I could do to help, but then I thought that truly resting and recovering my strength was itself a way of helping them. With that, I emptied my mind and lay down in the cave.
CRASH--!
In the dead of night, a tremendous sound from somewhere jolted me awake. Enoch and Kaiden, who had been busily cleaning in front of the cave, also seemed startled as they peered into the forest.
"What was that? A monster?"
At my alarmed murmur, Enoch and Kaiden quickly drew their swords. They positioned themselves in front of me and watched the forest warily.
Just in case, I found my crossbody bag and retrieved a flare. Silver Earthworm quietly crawled toward me and coiled around my arm.
"The barrier is still intact, isn't it?"
At my question, Kaiden glanced at the ground and nodded.
"Don't worry, it won't break easily."
That was somewhat reassuring. We all held our breath and peered into the dark forest.
AAAAHHH!
A man's scream echoed from very far away. The faint cry grew steadily closer.
"What is that? The voice sounds familiar somehow."
Kaiden tilted his head with a puzzled murmur.
And soon we discovered the identity of that familiar voice.
Between the moonlight piercing through the darkness, what appeared to be water-blue hair fluttered briefly into view.
A man in a filthy archbishop's robes, caked with dirt, emerged from the shadows.
It was Rujeep.
He was running toward us with all his might. Behind him, Diego followed, then stopped to fight off the swarm of monsters, then ran after Rujeep again, fighting monsters as he went.
"Isn't that the lackey?"
"Seems like it."
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