Chapter 112
Perhaps everyone thinks I'm dead and won't even look for me.
Actually, it's a miracle I'm alive at all.
'Well, Kaiden and I survived falling off a cliff.'
But when we fell off the cliff, it was a vertical drop into a place where the water was calm. It wasn't even a big river flowing through the center of the island.
'This time, the suspension bridge broke and I fell into a big river, and it was definitely a fast-flowing area, so how am I still alive?'
Well, there are more than one or two strange things about this island. So many inexplicable things have happened that it's impossible to even deduce them.
I was reminded again that Zenas had lived for a thousand years. Surely I don't have to endure a thousand years from now, do I?
"You've suffered for a thousand years not going crazy."
I encouraged Zenas, keeping my eyes fixed on the fireplace. Zenas's gaze reached the side of my face.
He stared at me for a while before asking.
"...Does it look like it?"
I nodded.
"Yeah. I don't know what it's like inside, but I think it's amazing that it looks that way."
There's even Kaiden, who just looks crazy. I turned my head slightly and looked up at him lying in the hammock.
The still expressionless pretty boy was blankly looking back at me.
"What have you been doing on this island for a thousand years?"
At my question, Zenas looked up at the sky as if contemplating.
"There was no time to be bored."
It seems he has no intention of saying what he did. I tried hard to swallow the ominous assumptions about Zenas that kept popping up.
"Did you find out anything about the island? If you've been here for a thousand years, you must have found out something. Why we were kidnapped here, whether there's really no way to escape."
"No."
"What?"
I frowned in surprise at Zenas's firm answer.
"Nothing? Not even one thing?"
Zenas calmly nods at my question.
"No. Don't get your hopes up."
I didn't quite understand what he meant. Wasn't there an escape Gate that opened every year on this island?
But I couldn't directly bring up that story to a stranger.
I sighed with a slightly frustrated feeling and said to him.
"There must be a cause for every result. If there was a way in, there must be a way out. We just haven't found it yet."
As I said that, I became a little emotional without realizing it. So I started to question Zenas one by one.
"It's too stupid to give up without knowing how to escape or why we woke up on this island. Did you spend a thousand years so complacently?"
As I spoke, my voice rose slightly because I was overwhelmed. But Zenas, looking at me, was still calm. He said to me in a very calm voice.
"You don't know how I spent a thousand years."
I couldn't accept his words.
"Yeah, I don't know. It's not like I've lived for a thousand years, so how would I know? It might sound funny to you, but I'm not going to give up."
I said that, gritting my teeth. And I said again to Zenas, who was looking at me like a strange creature.
"I want to live."
Zenas tilted his head at my words.
"You're alive now."
"As long as I'm trapped on this island, I'm putting my life on hold, not living."
He looked at me with wide eyes, as if surprised. Soon, something that could be called an expression appeared on his face.
His eyes curved beautifully. He smiled at me.
Perhaps because he was a gorgeous pretty boy, his smiling face seemed to shine.
"That's an interesting thing to say."
Zenas murmured slowly and smiled again. I blankly watched his smile before coming to my senses.
"I have to go find my party. I'm leaving tomorrow. Everyone must be looking for me."
"Do you really have to go? You're hurt."
"Yeah. I really have to go. Do you want to come with me?"
"No."
Zenas tilted his head back, looked at the ceiling, and lay down leisurely. I stared at him and suddenly thought of the Bunker map.
The reason I didn't tell Enoch's party about the Bunker was because I wanted to leave it as a kind of Plan B for myself in case the story unfolded as in the original.
But now that I've met Zenas, I didn't think that mattered. If he's lived on this island for a thousand years, he must know about the Bunker.
That means I'm not the only one who knows about the existence of the Bunker.
"You, then you must know the geography of this island well?"
Then, Zenas raised his head again and looked at me. He nodded obediently.
"Yeah."
"Then..."
I carefully started.
"Do you also know if there's something like a Bunker on this island?"
Zenas nods once more, as if he had received an unimportant question.
"Yeah."
Okay, he should know that much. That's a relief. At least I can get some useful information.
I took out the Bunker map from my wet crossbody bag. Then I remembered the date written on the edge of the map.
'Huh? Wait, come to think of it...'
Ingram Kingdom Era, 666.
I stared at the year written on the edge of the Bunker map.
A Bunker map that seems to have been made a thousand years ago. And a Wizard of the Ingram Kingdom who says he has lived for a thousand years.
'What...? This ominous feeling.'
Then, Zenas said, glancing at the Bunker map in my hand.
"You picked it up. I haven't seen that."
'What?'
I swallowed the question that came up for a moment. I felt like I shouldn't hear his answer that would follow the question right now.
'It was like he had been watching me all along.'
I woke up with a jolt, as if I had been doused with cold water. And I remembered what Kaiden had said.
"When I went out on patrol a few days ago, I saw a Monster watching me."
"It looked like a Wolf-type Monster. Usually, those guys attack us right away when they see us. But it just stared at me for a long time and then left. It was like it was watching what I was doing."
Could it be. Was Zenas the one who was watching us?
I decided that I shouldn't reveal as much information as possible for now. And I have to get as much information as possible from him.
I had a bad feeling.
I pretended not to have heard his words because I was concentrating and asked him casually.
"I'm going to the Bunker."
I spread the map on the floor and looked up at Zenas.
"Do you know where this is on the island?"
At my question, Zenas slowly came down from the hammock. It took a long time because he was small and slow.
Ah, right. It's not right to call him a child.
Zenas knelt down in front of the map and stared intently at it.
"Here."
Then he pointed to a spot with his small finger. It was on the northwestern end of the island. It was far beyond the mountains to the west of the Bunker.
"I did cross over to the North Island."
It was also the spot with the star mark that I had seen on Yuanna's map.
I don't really know what the star mark on the map means yet.
So I don't know if Zenas is a kidnapper, an accomplice, or really a victim like us, but I had a feeling that he was related to the secrets of the island.
"Yeah. Here. It's North Island."
Zenas nodded and said to me. I raised my head and looked up at Zenas.
"Have you been to the Bunker?"
"I made that map."
I expected it to some extent. So I calmly accepted the fact without being surprised.
I stared at the map with a slightly frustrated feeling. Actually, I've been suspicious of him since I met him, but he doesn't seem to have any intention of doing anything to me...
I reminded myself that trying to directly ask him if he was a kidnapper might be a way to provoke him.
"What's in the Bunker?"
"Food and necessities...?"
"Are they still edible? Wouldn't they be spoiled?"
"I think you can eat them? I don't need food, so I left them alone."
At Zenas's words, I put my chin on my hand and nodded. In the original story, there was mention of the Bunker being full of food and supply boxes.
Zenas wasn't lying.
He said he didn't know about the escape method, so there's no point in asking.
Then what else should I ask? Something I can ask without giving him the impression that I'm suspecting him as much as possible...
Koo-roo-roo-roo.
Then, my stomach announced its hunger with a tremendous sound. I was so surprised that I grabbed my stomach.
Zenas widened his red eyes and looked at me, then burst into laughter.
"Ahahaha! Koo-roo-roo! Haha!"
I don't know what's so good, but he laughed like a child with a bright face, making people embarrassed.
It's the first time he's shown such strong emotions since I met him.