Chapter 31
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Chapter 31
Rujeep looked so pitiful wandering about starving that I decided to give him two more uncooked fish to take back and eat.
After finishing his meal with evident satisfaction, he finally seemed to regain his senses, regarding me with an embarrassed expression.
Before eating, he'd looked at me with such contempt, calling me a witch and other such things, but now he'd clearly realized the hypocrisy of his own behavior—scorning me while unable to refuse my compassion.
"I... have been quite rude to you, Young Lady."
"That's not it."
Enoch, who had been watching Rujeep with crossed arms and a skeptical expression, interjected with a single remark. Though he offered no further explanation, the intensity in Enoch's gaze as he stared at Rujeep was decidedly menacing.
Rujeep glanced at Enoch and then offered me a proper apology.
"Please forgive my discourtesy. I sincerely apologize, Young Lady."
His apology was clean and straightforward.
"Very well. Safe travels."
As I bid him farewell, Rujeep nodded and disappeared, cradling the fish I'd given him as though it were something precious.
It would certainly smell fishy...
I wondered if Yuanna was doing well. That was truly the question I'd most wanted to ask.
But I couldn't suddenly ask, "There's a woman in your group, isn't there?" and by the time I'd hesitated, the moment had passed and I never asked.
After watching Rujeep disappear, I suddenly felt exhausted and retired early for the night.
* * *
The next day, I leisurely hunted fish while swimming along the river bank.
"What is that?"
While wading through the water, I discovered a mysterious scrap of cloth wedged between the cliff faces.
To my astonishment, it was a map.
A map marking the location of the Bunker I'd been searching for so desperately.
"Good heavens!"
I pulled the Bunker map from the cliff crevice and emerged from the water, then hurried straight back to the Cabin.
The modest Cabin was empty. Enoch had gone hunting, and Kaiden was out on patrol around our shelter.
I sat alone in the Cabin and spread the Bunker map across the floor.
"...What is this?"
The map was carelessly drawn. A large Island contained three mountain peaks, and between them flowed an enormous River.
Beside the mountain peak located on the North Island was an X mark and the word "bunker" written in English...
And that was all.
"Seriously? This is supposed to help me find it?"
Exasperated, I sighed while studying the map.
Still, considering how lost I'd felt when I'd climbed the mountain summit and tried to gauge the Island's size, this was better than knowing nothing at all.
Now that I had a rough sense of the location, I'd need to conduct regular reconnaissance expeditions.
We were currently positioned near the center of the South Island. That meant I'd need to find a way to cross the massive River that flowed through the Island's center.
...But why was the Bunker map wedged between the cliff faces?
"Is this a date?"
I read the numbers written at the edge of the Bunker map.
"Year 666 of the Ingram Kingdom calendar."
Wait—the Ingram Kingdom calendar?
The Western and Eastern Continents, including the Landrig Empire where Margaret hailed from, used the Winea Calendar—a unified dating system established a thousand years ago.
The Ingram Kingdom, by contrast, was a dynasty that predated the founding of the Langrid Empire.
In other words, this map bore the year markings used in the Ingram Kingdom a thousand years ago.
"What the... How unsettling. This map is a thousand years old?"
Who on earth could have created something like this?
The questions piled up endlessly, but since I couldn't possibly answer them now, I eventually folded the map away.
"Right, let's head to the Bunker first. We'll figure something out once we get there."
I placed the map into the bag Kaiden had made for me.
"But once we find the Bunker... what about Enoch and Kaiden?"
I was torn between bringing them along or proceeding to the Bunker alone as originally planned. After all, the Bunker would surely be designed for one person.
After pondering this for some time, I exhaled a weary sigh.
Could I really abandon them after we'd walked through life and death together, after bonds had formed between us?
I still didn't know whether they would change once they met Yuanna.
Besides, both Enoch and Kaiden seemed to need my help right now.
"Perhaps I'll think it over as we spend more time together?"
Since this wasn't a decision to make lightly, I ultimately postponed my choice.
And before Kaiden and Enoch arrived, I didn't forget to begin my tasks.
The wooden twine Kaiden had made appeared to be running low, so I gathered willow bark and branches—the finest material for cutting thin strips and twisting into cordage.
I was collecting branches near the shelter when it happened.
Voices drifted from somewhere, and I hastily concealed myself within the undergrowth.
Before long, a man and a woman appeared.
My eyes first caught the man's short, dark chestnut hair and green eyes.
Upon seeing the Imperial Guard uniform he wore, I immediately recognized him as Diego Sebastian Biltherheim.
'That bastard who stole my clothes?'
Diego was carrying a woman on his back, and he gently set her down on a fallen log. Her khaki-toned, light tan hair cascaded around her neck.
The physical description of Yuanna from the original work and the image of the Saint from Margaret's memories aligned perfectly.
So this woman was the Great Saint Yuanna Lucia.
I was startled to see that her holy vestments looked in worse condition than my own filthy dress.
Her robes were torn beyond repair, and the wounds beneath them suggested she'd been clawed by beasts or attacked by Monsters.
Her clothes were in tatters, and covered in wounds as she was, she appeared utterly exhausted.
"Your Holiness."
Diego knelt on one knee before Yuanna.
She looked profoundly weary, and Diego gazed at her with unmistakable pity.
"I understand that the forceful demands of Prince Asdal are what burden you so."
Oh. So he was bad-mouthing the other male lead while promoting himself? Diego's earnest words suddenly made the scene feel absurdly comedic.
"Please place your trust and reliance upon me."
Then he bowed deeply and pressed a kiss to the back of Yuanna's hand, as though performing some sacred ritual.
Throughout this, Yuanna's expression remained unmoved, regarding Diego with utter indifference—or rather, as though she found him tedious.
Or perhaps she simply looked bored with everything?
She appeared profoundly apathetic.
She seemed completely uninterested in Diego, which struck me as oddly different from the original story.
From what I could observe, there wasn't a shred of romantic feeling between them.
"Sigh... Well, yes. Thank you."
Yuanna replied in an utterly lifeless voice.
Yet Diego, oblivious to her tone, wore an expression of profound gratitude.
Observing him with a critical eye, Diego appeared burdened by guilt toward Yuanna—as though he carried some sense of duty to protect her.
Since Diego was a knight, the image suited his knightly ideals perfectly.
I stood there watching them until Diego lifted Yuanna again and disappeared from sight.
'How peculiar.'
"You scolded me for prying into others' affairs, yet you seem no different, Young Lady."
"Good heavens!"
I gasped and cried out at the sudden voice.
Turning around, I found Rujeep standing there with a fish fastened to his waist.
Not a sword, but a fish at his belt. And it looked like the very fish I'd given him yesterday.
"What are you doing here?"
I pinched my nose for a moment. The stench of fish was wafting from Rujeep.
"I merely happened to see you passing by and thought I'd speak with you."
His usual sharp demeanor had softened noticeably compared to last time.
I recalled the conversation I'd just witnessed between Yuanna and Diego.
Searching my memory, there had been an episode in the original story where Rujeep, angered by Prince Asdal's tyranny, had separated from the group for several weeks.
"Do you know who those people are?"
I asked, pointing toward where Yuanna and Diego had vanished. Rujeep nodded slowly.
"They're my companions."
Rujeep offered nothing more. He stood there frowning deeply, glaring at the spot where they'd disappeared.
"Didn't you go back yesterday?"
At my question, Rujeep glanced at me briefly before nodding quietly.
"Why not?"
"There were... circumstances..."
He trailed off as though the explanation was difficult.
But since I already understood his situation well enough, I didn't press further. Besides, I couldn't be bothered to hear all the details.
"Why haven't you eaten that fish?"
The fishy smell continued to assault my senses, so I finally held my nose openly and narrowed my eyes at him.
"You don't know how to make a fire?"
At my question, Rujeep clamped his mouth shut and studied my expression. It was clear he had no idea how to start one.
Which meant he'd gone hungry all day...
"Do you eat regularly?"
Again, Rujeep didn't answer.
Grrrrrowl.
His stomach answered my question for him.
Rujeep's face flushed crimson with shame, and he hung his head low.
I exhaled a weary sigh at the sight before me.
Did a person really need to look so pitiable?
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