Chapter 6
“Surely… you haven’t been awake the whole time, have you?”
Enoch didn’t answer. It seemed he really hadn’t slept a wink.
“You can’t use up your stamina like that. We don’t know how long we’ll be starving, so how can you waste calories?”
Enoch didn’t budge at my realistic advice.
“I’m not sure yet if I can trust you, Young Lady.”
His tone was indifferent, but the look he gave me was sharp.
And then he takes off his jacket and covers me with it. I’ve never seen someone whose words and actions were so inconsistent.
We woke up around sunrise.
However, Enoch didn’t yet know that the Monster only appeared in the dark. Perhaps that was why he was still tense and his shoulders were tight even now that the sun had risen.
Of course, it wasn’t like I wasn’t nervous. But Monsters would appear frequently in the future, and I couldn’t afford to be scared and shrink back every time.
Growl.
While I was thinking that, a loud noise suddenly came from my stomach.
Enoch stopped tidying up and turned to look at me. I smiled awkwardly.
Feeling nervous made me feel even hungrier. I had managed to solve the thirst problem with the coconut, but the problem was hunger.
“Shall we go look for something to eat?”
I felt like I was going to starve to death.
“Are you suggesting we hunt?”
“We don’t have time to hunt. Let’s gather fruit.”
“Fruit…?”
Enoch asked back with a bewildered expression. It seemed he had never gathered fruit before.
I pointed to the palm tree right behind our temporary shelter.
“Do you see those small fruits on that palm tree? Those are Acai Palm, an edible fruit. I was thinking of gathering those.”
Acai Palm has a lot of hard seeds and only a small edible portion, so it’s hardly enough to meet our caloric needs.
But there wasn’t much else to eat that we could get right away. I should be grateful that we found Acai Palm, which bears fruit all year round.
If we went a little further in, we might be able to gather blackberries or raspberries, but to do that, we’d have to spend a lot of time searching for where the fruit grows, so it was impossible right now.
“Is that really an edible fruit? I don’t know if I can trust you, Young Lady.”
“Then starve. I’m going to eat.”
I replied simply, preparing to climb the tree. Enoch looked flustered again. He stopped me when he saw me gathering up my dress and tying it.
“What are you doing?”
“I have to climb the tree. To pick the fruit.”
I said, looking up at the palm tree. Enoch looked up, following my gaze, with a puzzled expression.
“If you just hit the tree, they’ll fall. Do you really have to climb? It looks dangerous.”
“How strong do you think a palm tree is that you can just hit it and make the fruit fall? And how small do you think Acai Palm are…”
I shook my head and prepared to climb the tree.
“We can’t just collect the fallen fruit like ants, can we? I’ll just go up! I’ll break off the whole branch of fruit and bring it down.”
Enoch still looked like he couldn’t understand me, and he gently pushed me aside. Then, he lightly shook his fist and struck the palm tree.
A huge roar echoed. The tree, and even the ground, vibrated.
I stared blankly at the sight of the fruit falling from the sky. Enoch turned to me with a light expression.
“Is this how you do it?”
I nodded like an idiot and clapped. At this rate, we could just sweep up the fruit.
“Amazing, I admit it. More efficient than an ant.”
I gave him a thumbs up and praised him. Enoch looked secretly proud.
Enoch, who had said he couldn’t trust me just a moment ago, sat down next to me and obediently ate the fruit.
But after chewing on the fruit, he frowned with a disappointed look.
“It doesn’t taste good. And there’s not much to eat.”
Was there anything that would suit Enoch’s taste? The juice itself wasn’t bad. It was just that, as he said, there wasn’t much to eat.
“This is all we can get right now, what can we do?”
I said as if telling him not to complain about the food, and Enoch blushed as if he was embarrassed and shut his mouth.
I guess we’ll have to go to the mountain and hunt for fish.
After eating the fruit, we cleaned up and prepared to climb the high mountain.
The closest mountain looked very high and rugged, so we had to prepare thoroughly.
In fact, all we had to do was tidy up our clothes and find a sturdy branch that could be used for various purposes.
To think that I had to make my way through this jungle forest wearing a flowing dress and flat shoes… This is ridiculous.
Enoch seemed to be thinking the same thing, as he put his hand on his hip and looked at me with a troubled expression.
“I think it would be better for the Young Lady to just wait here.”
He was right, it might be better that way. But…
“How can I trust you, Your Highness? Even if the situation were reversed, you would have gone with me, wouldn’t you?”
Enoch was speechless at my words and closed his mouth.
I wasn’t sure if I would be helpful to him or not. But even if Enoch had fought on many battlefields, this would be his first time being stranded.
Besides, even though he was born a commoner, he was a noble member of the imperial family, so he would never have explored such a remote area.
I wouldn’t call myself a survival expert, but at least I’m more familiar with this kind of situation than Enoch, right?
“Alright. But I can’t guarantee that I’ll be able to save you if a dangerous situation arises.”
“I know.”
Enoch stared at me silently, then nodded and turned away.
First, Enoch would lead the way and I would follow behind him. I walked, looking at Enoch’s back.
It was a little difficult to gather the flowing hem of my dress in my hands to keep my bare legs from showing as much as possible.
Should I not have come along?
But it was also very important for me to make my own judgments.
Enoch suspected Margaret, so he probably wouldn’t share all the information he knew. And I couldn’t be sure that he would really guarantee my life.
‘Okay. Let’s just follow along. I can do it!’
As we went deeper into the forest, it became a jungle with lush vegetation.
On top of that, it was full of all kinds of bushes and thickets, making it somewhat difficult to clear a path.
Enoch used the wooden stick he had brought to clear the grass as he walked, but inevitably, his movements became slower.
“Are you alright?”
Enoch turned to look at me with a somewhat tired face.
I nodded, panting.
“I can handle it.”
Like me, Enoch wasn’t sweating much either. And there was no musty smell of sweat or wet clothes.
Was it because they were characters in a novel? Or was it because of the nature of the island where time doesn’t flow?
Or was it because the island didn’t allow the use of Mana or Divine Power?
Whatever the reason, it was a relief that there was no smell coming from my body.
“Good attitude.”
Enoch sighed with relief.
Even an ordinary adult male would have a hard time surviving in this situation. And the person I possessed was Margaret. A noble young lady who had never lifted a finger. Enoch had every reason to worry.
He seemed to be sure that Margaret had changed, but he didn’t suspect that she was a completely different person.
“If it weren’t for this dress and these flat shoes, I would have done more than my share.”
Enoch didn’t answer and walked on in silence.
Finally, we reached the entrance to the mountain trail. Looking at the direction of the sun, it seemed to be morning.
Looking at the height of the mountain, it looked like Bukhansan Mountain. We should be able to reach the summit around noon. I’ve never climbed Bukhansan Mountain in these clothes.
Enoch seemed to be amazed that I was following him silently without complaining, and he kept looking back to check on me.
It was just like a dog owner checking to see if their dog was following them well, so I couldn’t tell if it was a good reaction or not.
What was really fortunate was that we hadn’t encountered anything that could threaten our lives, like wild animals or Monsters. Yeah, it would be too hard to have our lives threatened on the second day of being stranded.
Anyway, we arrived safely at the top of the mountain, but the problem was somewhere else.
