Chapter 54
“If I had planned this, I wouldn’t be here. Why would I go through near-death experiences and suffer with you all?”
Asdal retorted with a face that said he couldn’t believe my words.
“Are you sure you actually went through near-death experiences? Aren’t you exaggerating? We were really on the verge of life and death here. I guess the young lady hasn’t suffered enough.”
I was speechless. How could he say such a thing, knowing whether we had suffered or not?
Moreover, I couldn’t hide my astonishment at his incredibly condescending mindset, assuming that whatever happened, it couldn’t be as much suffering as he had endured.
“Exaggerating? I almost died several times!”
Kaiden’s chillingly low voice came from beside me.
I had only seen his smiling face for a while, but after a long time, he had a look of madness in his eyes.
He had gone through life-and-death situations with me and nearly died, so he seemed quite angry at Asdal’s remarks as well.
Asdal frowned and glared at Kaiden as if he couldn’t believe it.
“Are you talking to me right now? You seem overly sensitive, Lord. And did I say anything wrong?”
“Sensitive? Did you just say sensitive? It seems to me that Your Highness has had a very comfortable life so far. Shall I let you experience a near-death experience?”
Kaiden kicked off his seat and grabbed Asdal by the collar.
In an instant, it became a chaotic scene. Thanks to that, I forgot the timing to get angry at Asdal and was busy hugging him and trying to stop Kaiden with all my might.
Of course, that soon ended when Enoch grabbed Kaiden by the scruff of his neck and pushed him aside.
Kaiden sat on the dirt floor, roughly sweeping back his hair, and glared at Asdal as if he wanted to kill him.
Asdal crumpled the collar of his shirt that Kaiden had grabbed, muttering annoyedly.
“Lord seems to be out of his mind. Does he not know who I am?”
“In a situation where survival is at stake, status is useless.”
It was no use talking about status, authority, and etiquette to Kaiden now. I understood him.
In situations where survival is threatened, there are often times when you have no choice but to break social rules. If you continue to go through such processes, it becomes meaningless to discuss social status and class.
Luzef, who had been quietly observing, intervened appropriately and took our side.
“I also went through near-death experiences with them. Your Highness should have seen it. Those Anacondas were truly…”
Luzef shuddered again, recalling the experience with a pale face.
“That’s right. If it weren’t for Margaret, we all wouldn’t have made it.”
Enoch praised me with some exaggeration.
“Well, we almost died too. We were attacked by Monsters that looked like spiders.”
This time, Diego and Yuanna, who had been sitting quietly and watching the situation, stood up for Asdal. Asdal crossed his arms and arrogantly raised his chin towards us as if to show off.
Then, Yuanna, who glanced at him, put down the coconut bowl she was holding and spoke again.
“Anyway, everyone is just making assumptions based on the circumstances, and we haven’t been able to narrow down the culprit. We don’t even know if there is a culprit or if we’ve all been caught up in some incident.”
Asdal glanced at Yuanna’s words and quietly shut his mouth. It was really amazing to see her shut up that arrogant Asdal in an instant, no matter how many times I saw it.
“So, instead of arguing about how each of us survived, I think it would be better to discuss whether there is a way to escape from this island.”
Oh. I thought she was just a strange person, but she speaks very logically and persuasively. She was a more rational person than I thought.
Above all, I quite liked the fact that she had no interest in the male leads and only thought about ‘survival.’
At that moment, Kaiden opened his mouth.
“This is also just a guess, but I think there might be an Escape Gate on the island. A certain amount of Mana is consumed to Warp. If this island is in another space-time, and that’s why we all consumed a considerable amount of Mana, it explains to some extent why we can’t use Mana now.”
“It’s suspicious that we suddenly woke up in a place like this… It seems like we Warped, but if not, there might be something like an Escape Gate. So, I’m going to search the entire island.”
Kaiden had said something similar when I first met him. Now, he seemed to be making more specific guesses and hypotheses.
Kaiden stroked his chin and continued, with a thoughtful look on his face.
“Considering that Monsters exist, it can’t be an island without Mana, but isn’t it strange that none of us can use Mana? In any case, circumstantially, I can only think that we Warped. It seems like they Warped us and arbitrarily blocked Mana release… I don’t know why.”
“Warped through a Gate… That seems to be the most plausible guess I’ve heard so far.”
Diego, who had been quietly listening to the conversation, supported Kaiden’s guess, but Enoch immediately retorted.
“But if we Warped through a Gate, how do you explain the Key that The Saintess has?”
At those words, everyone’s attention focused on Yuanna.
“The Key that The Saintess has says ‘Exit Key,’ but can we be sure that it’s really the Key to a Gate that can get us off this island?”
Yuanna nodded at my question.
“That’s why we’re going to look around the entire island. We need to find out what this Key is from now on.”
I had a headache from using my head so much. I pressed my temples and asked Yuanna again.
“Isn’t there a possibility that it’s a trap? If someone kidnapped us with intention and purpose, that Key could be a trap.”
“A trap for what?”
“We don’t know. But I think we should always keep that possibility in mind and be careful.”
“Hmm. That’s a good point. The young lady becomes more desirable the more I see her. Are you really not going to be my ‘subordinate’?”
Yuanna said with a smile. Judging from the way she emphasized ‘subordinate’ in the last sentence, it seemed like a joke that wasn’t really a joke.
“I’m not going to be your subordinate, so shut up. Unless you want to be tied up with a rope again.”
Yuanna burst into laughter at my answer, finding it amusing.
I take back what I said about liking her. She seems like a female version of Kaiden no matter how I look at it.
If it were Yuanna in the Empire, she probably wouldn’t have talked about ‘subordinate’ or ‘attendant’ to me.
It seemed certain that everyone was gradually breaking the social norms and order they had been protecting and going crazy. Of course, that included me as well.
“Escaping doesn’t necessarily mean finding a Gate or a Gate that fits the Key.”
Enoch said at that moment.
“There’s also the option of requesting rescue or building a ship and leaving.”
“Build a ship? Us? Without Magic?”
Kaiden retorted as if it were absurd. Enoch raised his eyebrows and shrugged without caring.
“I just gave an example because everyone seems to be only discussing 1 and 2. If we’re given time, there’s nothing we can’t do on this island where we have nothing to do.”
“That’s true. Actually, it feels like the options are too broad, so we can’t narrow them down.”
I answered Enoch’s words, propped my chin, and pondered.
When I thought about it, it wasn’t just the Key that we needed to discuss now. We also needed to figure out why modern objects were here.
“By the way, those Magical Artifacts that the young lady picked up. They’re really unique objects that I’ve never seen in the Empire. Why are those things on this island?”
At that moment, as if she had read my mind, Yuanna mentioned the modern objects I had picked up.
I took out the Flares from my pocket and showed them.
“I don’t know the reason for the existence of these objects either. The name ‘Alea’ is engraved here. I suspect that this Alea person is the culprit.”
“Alea? Does anyone know who Alea is?”
After hearing my story, Yuanna looked around the group and asked. However, everyone looked at each other with blank faces, not knowing what was going on.
Asdal chimed in as if he had been waiting for it.
“Perhaps it’s the person who built this hut. There are really so many questions.”
The more we talk, the more confusing it becomes. It feels like we’re falling deeper and deeper into a swamp and getting lost.
At that moment, Asdal asked Enoch.
“Hey, Banhwang. If it’s not something someone did out of resentment, could it be related to the Romallizan Battle?”
