Chapter 55
Enoch nodded with an indifferent expression.
“That would be one of the possible causes. But there are so many other things to consider, making it difficult to deduce.”
In the end, it was back to square one. Luzef, who had been watching for the right moment to speak, raised his hand.
“Then, it would be best if we all aimed to find the Escape Gate together.”
Everyone nodded in agreement with Luzef's words. They all looked tired and weary.
Before they knew it, their vision had become dim. More time had passed than they thought.
“Additionally, we should periodically go to the beach to see if there are any passing ships.”
Asdal added the last words.
Knowing that a request for rescue was useless, I desperately wanted to dissuade them. But everyone else, unaware of this, nodded in agreement.
Awoooo-
Just then, a wolf's howl was heard from a very distant place.
A chilling silence fell. Everyone tensed up, looking at each other's faces and gauging the situation.
“Let's talk more about it after sunrise. It's best to wrap things up for today.”
Everyone nodded in agreement with Yuanna's words.
Even if the Monsters didn't come near the cabin, it was dangerous to light a fire at night.
In the end, everyone quickly tidied up and went inside the cabin.
\ \ *
We decided to take turns standing guard.
Here, ‘we’ refers to me, Enoch, Kaiden, and Luzef.
The reason we were standing guard was not only to prepare for Monster attacks but also to prevent Yuanna and her group from provoking us.
We were preparing to sleep, spreading fallen leaves on the wooden floor of the cabin's first floor. Kaiden, who was coming down the stairs from the second floor, looked at me and pointed upwards.
“I heard that the Saintess uses one of the two rooms on the second floor?”
Luzef, who was helping me spread the fallen leaves, sighed irritably at Kaiden's words.
“The Crown Prince said he would use the other one.”
At his words, Kaiden approached us, frowning.
“What about our Margaret, then?”
Diego and Enoch, who had been talking some distance away, looked at us with puzzled expressions.
I didn't want to cause a commotion in the middle of the night, and in the first place, the rooms on the second floor had nothing special other than hard wooden beds.
I shrugged and calmed Kaiden down.
“It's okay. I think it's safer to sleep here. You and Enoch are here, and Bishop Ruzef too.”
Kaiden's eyebrows rose, and a smile spread across his face. My words didn't sound too bad to him.
I don't know if Diego and Enoch heard our conversation. They soon turned their heads again and seemed busy discussing something.
I spread all the fallen leaves and sat on them, staring silently at the two of them. What are they talking about so intently?
“It seems like they're sharing information about the Monsters.”
Kaiden, who was resting his chin on his hand and sitting next to me, watching Enoch, said.
“Information about the Monsters?”
“It seems like the two of them made some kind of deal.”
Bishop Ruzef, who was sitting in front of the fireplace poking at the firewood with a branch, also turned to Kaiden with a curious expression.
Kaiden narrowed his brows and listened to Enoch and Diego's conversation.
They were whispering at least a dozen steps away, but how could Kaiden hear them? Is he the Bionic Man?
“It seems Diego is reporting what he learned while living with those people to the Crown Prince.”
Kaiden clicked his tongue after saying that.
“Right, I almost forgot. Diego is one of Enoch Crown Prince's people.”
I sighed and replied.
‘I have to get revenge on that woodcutter…….’
How can I get revenge in a way that makes it known I did a good job?
Kaiden chuckled and crossed his arms, glancing at Diego.
“He's a knight who's not loyal to his duty. Looking at him, he seems to be deeply infatuated with the Saintess. He says he'll stay by the Saintess's side instead of following the Crown Prince. Isn't that bastard completely crazy? What's he going to do when he goes back to the Empire?”
It didn't seem like Kaiden, who was freely calling the Crown Prince a son of a bitch, was in a position to say that. I sighed, shook my head, and settled down to lie down.
Kaiden grumbled for a while and then lay down on my left.
Just as Luzef, who had been cautiously watching, was about to lie down on my right, Enoch appeared.
“Move, Bishop. That's my spot.”
Luzef frowned in annoyance at Enoch's sharp voice. But he sighed and obediently moved to the next spot.
I turned over and looked up at Enoch. He was standing there, unbuttoning his shirt sleeves, looking down at me.
Wow, he's so handsome even when I look up at him from this angle.
He slowly sat down next to me and stared at me intently.
“It seems you have something to say to me.”
I sat up and faced him.
“What did you talk about with Sir Diego?”
At my question, even Kaiden, who had been lying behind me, rustled and turned over.
Enoch sighed, rolled up the sleeves of his shirt, and shrugged.
“We exchanged information about the Monsters we've encountered so far.”
Just as Kaiden said.
“The Monsters that attacked us were mainly Wolf-type Monsters and Anaconda Monsters, weren't they? But the Monsters they encountered over there are different.”
At Enoch's words, Kaiden got up and leaned closer to me with an interested expression. Luzef also came closer to Enoch and listened to his words.
It seemed that Diego, who was standing far away, had heard all of our conversation, but this level of conversation was not top secret, so there was no problem even if it was shared.
Whether they did or not, Enoch didn't care and rested his chin on his hand with a serious expression.
“Diego said that they encountered Giant Tarantula-type Monsters and Beast-type Monsters in the form of humans.”
Beast-type Monsters in the form of humans…….
At those words, I suddenly remembered the Monster I had encountered a few weeks ago while being chased by Kaiden. A beast that stood on two legs like a human and was covered in fur.
“Rather than in the form of a human, it looked more like…… a giant orangutan. That Monster that I encountered while being chased by Kaiden. That seems like the human-shaped Monster that Sir Diego mentioned.”
Kaiden clapped his knee and agreed with my words.
“Ah, I know about that one. I was attacked by it. This is what that bastard did.”
He suddenly lifted his shirt and showed the wound on his chest.
As he said, a deep scar remained where I had treated him. Since I can't use Mana, it will probably be difficult to erase the scar.
“……It seems the Monsters are evolving.”
Enoch added after a brief silence.
I agreed with those words.
The Wolf-type Monsters that Enoch had torn apart last time were definitely evolving.
-It's already been four days since I came into the underground warehouse alone.
I still couldn't understand the situation that had unfolded just before I entered the warehouse.
Just before entering the warehouse, I encountered a Monster. I barely managed to escape, but what surprised me more than the fact that a Monster had appeared was the time of day when the Monster appeared.
The sun was setting, but it was definitely still daylight.
And the giant Tarantula I encountered just before entering the warehouse didn't seem to be affected by the sun.
It seems,
That they are evolving.-
It wasn't exact, but there was definitely something like that.
In the novel, it says that the phenomenon started around the end of the first volume. That was also just before Yuanna went into the Bunker.
But we witnessed the phenomenon as soon as we arrived on the island. On the first day we woke up on the island, Enoch and I encountered a Monster during sunset.
As I suddenly realized that fact, I couldn't help but get goosebumps.
What if Monsters start appearing in broad daylight?
“We need more weapons.”
Kaiden narrowed his brows and muttered with a serious expression. When attention was focused on him, he shrugged and said.
“If the Monsters really evolve, there will be a limit to what we can do with the weapons we have now.”
That's right. What we have now is not enough. The Flares and Grenades are consumables, so the number is limited.
“It's also urgent to find the ‘Gate’ that fits the Key before the Monsters become too much to handle.”
At the same time as Enoch finished speaking, we all turned our heads towards the top of the stairs on the second floor as if we had agreed to do so.
Yuanna will be sleeping up there with the Key.
“We must unlock the secret of the Key.”
“And the secret of the island.”
Bishop Ruzef nodded and replied to my words.
What on earth is the identity of this strange island? It feels like only unsolved mysteries are piling up.
