Chapter 95
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Chapter 95
There were more people here? Had they arrived before us, or after? Were they from the Empire as well?
I had so many questions, yet I couldn't bring myself to ask them. I couldn't fathom the anguish Jenath must be feeling, speaking of companions who had perished.
I paused, choosing my words carefully.
But before I could offer any words of comfort, Jenath spoke first.
"I don't even know how much time has passed."
"I see..."
"At first, I think I was counting the days, but at some point, I lost track."
Jenath answered in a calm, measured tone, cradling several coconuts in his arms.
"I understand."
Then it would be difficult to cross-reference exactly when he arrived with the date we awoke.
"Did you come alone too?"
"I had companions as well. But the river current swept us away, and we were separated. Like you, when I opened my eyes, I found myself on this island."
"What's your name?"
"Oh, I apologize for the late introduction. I'm Margaret Rose Flone—you can call me Margaret. I'm from the Langrid Empire, a noble of the Floné Duchy."
"A noble..."
Jenath stared at my face with an expression of fascination. Was this his first time seeing a noble? I felt flustered under his intense gaze.
'He'd faint if he saw the Crown Prince and the other princes.'
With that thought, I briefly recalled my other companions.
'I hope they're all safe. They have to be.'
The island seemed quite vast. What if our paths crossed without us meeting? Perhaps I should head toward the Suspension Bridge area?
Here I was, worried about others when I didn't even know if I'd survive. I let out a sigh.
It appeared Jenath had no real weapons either. First, I needed to find a safe place to assess the situation, then figure out how to find Kaiden and Enoch.
"I have a cabin where I've been staying. Would you like to come?"
"There's a cabin here?"
"Yes."
Jenath nodded vigorously.
I had thought the only cabin on this island was the one we'd been using on the South Island.
'Can I trust him?'
But if this young boy had some connection to the island's secrets, I needed to find out what it was.
Besides, once the sun set, nowhere was safe.
"Your wounds. I can treat them."
The boy pointed to my injuries and added.
"There's medicine at the cabin."
"Medicine? Really? You actually have medicine for treating wounds?"
At my question, he quietly nodded and looked at me. He seemed to have no intention of elaborating further.
"...All right, let's go."
At the mention of medicine, I deliberated for a long moment before making my decision. If I left my wounds untreated, infection could become a serious problem.
While I couldn't judge solely by appearances, this young child didn't seem capable of orchestrating the kidnapping of all of us.
Of course, I still needed to remain vigilant.
I gazed at the items spread across the Gravel Beach to dry, and Jenath, following my gaze, spoke.
"You have quite the collection of strange things."
"That outfit you're wearing is unusual too."
At my words, Jenath lowered his head and absently examined his own clothes.
"Found it at the Cabin. It's comfortable."
So he'd found it at the Cabin—just as I'd discovered a backpack and sneakers there, Jenath's Cabin must have contained similar modern items.
"There are other clothes there too."
After saying that, Jenath openly scrutinized my appearance. I felt a flush of embarrassment wash over me.
The dress with its exposed calves was utterly pathetic. The decorations and lace on the sleeves were torn to shreds, and the ribbon and jewels adorning the neckline had been ripped away.
On top of that, it was soaked and clung uncomfortably to my skin, and though it didn't smell, the dampness was deeply unpleasant.
Jenath pointed at my tattered dress and spoke.
"You should change too."
"Is the Cabin close from here?"
"Just a short walk into the Forest."
At Jenath's words, I bent down to retrieve the crossbag that had fallen to the ground, only to cry out as a wave of pain shot through me.
"Ugh, ah—"
Seeing my condition, Jenath sighed and gathered the items into the crossbag for me, then handed it over.
"...Thank you."
"Sure. Shall we go?"
I quietly followed Jenath into the Island's interior. I tried to get my bearings by looking around, but it was hopeless.
'All the Forest looks the same.'
I'd need to climb a high Mountain at first light to reassess my position. I wished my flare gun had survived intact—I could have fired it skyward to signal my location.
'How am I supposed to signal where I am?'
Lost in such thoughts, I found myself staring at the back of Jenath's head again.
"How did you survive out here? It's incredibly dangerous. There are Monsters."
At my question, Jenath glanced back at me, then looked up at the sky with a thoughtful expression. He scratched his temple before answering.
"I'm good at running away and hiding."
"That's similar to me."
"I didn't need to find food."
"What? Why? Is there a lot of food at the Cabin?"
I asked him with a glimmer of hope. But the answer that came was utterly unexpected.
"I'm a mage. I can survive without eating."
So that's why he was wearing a mage's robe over his hoodie.
But what puzzled me more was what Jenath said after confessing he was a mage.
"How can a person survive without eating? Do all mages do that? The mages I know don't."
"I changed my constitution. Other people wouldn't be able to do it."
Jenath answered with absolute certainty, so firm that his confidence was almost intimidating.
I walked on alert, scanning our surroundings carefully as I pressed him further.
"That doesn't seem to have anything to do with constitution, does it? Is that even possible...? The Archmage I know would rather die than go hungry. Oh, he's one of the most renowned mages on the continent."
Jenath didn't answer my question. It was only after a long pause that he finally spoke.
"Sister, I'm a genius."
Oh, he's quite confident for someone so young.
"He's a genius too."
I countered Jenath's claim and defended Kaiden. After all, he was the youngest Archmage and the youngest Tower Master of the Tower of Magic.
His personality was more than a little strange, but if someone like that wasn't a genius, what would be?
"If he can't even change his constitution, then he's not a genius."
Right, that's true. Even a child like him could manage it, yet Kaiden couldn't.
"Is that so...? But we can't use magic on this Island anyway."
"I already changed my constitution back when I was in the Kingdom, so it doesn't matter."
"Is that how it works?"
Since I knew nothing about magic, I couldn't verify his claim. I'd have to ask Kaiden about this later.
"But you're from the Kingdom? Hestia Kingdom?"
"No, Ingram."
"...What?"
I froze at Jenath's words, then grabbed his shoulder and stopped walking.
The sudden movement strained my abdomen, sending waves of pain through me, but pain wasn't the priority right now.
"Wait, what? The Ingram Kingdom?"
Jenath tilted his head with a puzzled expression.
"Why?"
"The Ingram Dynasty collapsed a thousand years ago. It's been ages since the Ingram Kingdom fell and the Langrid Empire was founded."
"Ah..."
Jenath nodded as understanding dawned on him, his expression still eerily composed.
"You don't mean to say..."
"It's already been a thousand years."
I was left speechless, staring at the beautiful boy before me.
Complex thoughts crashed over me like waves. A thousand years of life.
Could he really be the one who kidnapped us? And he said he was a mage too. A genius mage, no less.
Jenath simply watched me, then shrugged with indifference.
"Your sense of time dulls when you stay here."
"A thousand years can't be explained away as a dulled sense of time, can it? Ugh."
I raised my voice in excitement, and the wound tore open, pain flooding through me. Damn, I needed to treat this wound soon.
"Are you alright?"
Jenath asked in a hollow voice. I nodded without conviction, but truthfully, I was far from alright.
Between the physical pain and the mental shock, my thoughts felt paralyzed.
Then I recalled the absurd hypothesis I'd formed before meeting Jenath—the bound spirit theory.
A spirit unaware of its own death, endlessly repeating the same time in the same place for eternity—a bound spirit.
"Could it be...?"
I clutched my head in shock.
Dying from hitting a signboard was ridiculous enough, but did I die again in Margaret's body? When on earth did that happen?
"I'm dead...?"
I was aware that this was an absurd line of thinking, yet I found it difficult to escape from such despair.
As I wallowed in hopelessness, Jenath spoke to me in a calm voice.
"What are you talking about? My sister didn't die."
I stopped tearing at my hair and slowly lifted my head. Jenath stood with his arms crossed, regarding me with a look of utter exasperation.
"I didn't die either."
"But you said you've lived here for a thousand years."
"That may be true, but I didn't die."
"How can you be so certain of that?"
"Because I've never died."
Jenath, speaking with such conviction, stared at me intently and asked.
"You don't remember how you died either, right? That's because you didn't die."
"Bound spirits are supposed to not remember their own death even after dying."
"Bound... what?"
Jenath furrowed his brow in confusion and asked me to clarify.
I sighed and set aside the theory of bound spirits, asking him instead.
"If you didn't die, then you simply couldn't escape?"
At my question, Jenath seemed to ponder for a moment, his gaze drifting away, before he slowly nodded.
"Yeah, well. That's right."
"What kind of vague answer is that?"
To my question, Jenath merely stared at me blankly without responding. He seemed unwilling to offer any further explanation.
I stood up with an awkward expression, when suddenly his age came to mind.
"Wait... that means you're over a thousand years old."
Brought to you by Valir Scans! To support our team and enjoy the latest releases, please read directly on our official site: valirscans.org