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Chapter 93
“Can everyone make it across?”
No one answered my question, and silence filled the air.
Kaiden, who had moved ahead to the shaky bridge, carefully examined it.
“Doesn’t it look worse than when I checked a few days ago?”
He asked Diego and Yuanna, who both nodded seriously.
“Yeah. There were no signs of it being broken before, but it’s like someone crossed it after we were here…”
Yuanna frowned and made a meaningful comment, signaling that something was off.
Asdal stepped closer to Kaiden, inspecting the bridge alongside him, and spoke.
“It’s possible that there really is a kidnapper. If the lady Flone is right and they’re keeping us here as an experiment, it would explain why they’re observing us on this island.”
“But that’s still just speculation. To resolve this mystery, we need to go to the place marked with the star,” I said in response to Asdal.
Kaiden then spoke, his face showing unease.
“Wait… observing…?”
“Why?”
Kaiden, who had been ruffling his hair and deep in thought, glanced at me. His expression was complicated.
“When I came to scout this area a few days ago, I saw a monster watching me.”
“What do you mean?”
Enoch’s expression grew serious as he crossed his arms, turning to face Kaiden. Diego and Yuanna also looked at him, puzzled.
“I didn’t see it myself, though.”
Kaiden continued.
“On the first night we discovered the small hut, I went out alone to gather food.”
Yuanna’s curious look prompted Kaiden to explain, and she finally let out a small gasp, nodding.
“Somehow I kept feeling watched. So I looked around, and in the darkness, I saw glowing eyes!”
Kaiden made a sparkling gesture with his hands to mimic the glint of the eyes.
“It looked like a wolf-type monster. Usually, those creatures attack immediately when they see us, but it just stared for a while and then left. It was like it was monitoring what I was doing.”
“A scout? Maybe it was checking on us before attacking?”
I laughed lightly, making it sound like a joke—but surprisingly, everyone listened seriously.
“They don’t seem smart enough for that, but if someone is controlling them, it’s definitely possible,” Enoch replied quietly.
Asdal, who had been silent, sighed and added,
“Whether it’s an experiment or something else, it’s almost certain that someone is on this island watching us.”
“The place marked with a star on the map seems suspicious,” I said.
“Well, there might really be a kidnapper there,” Asdal responded.
Yuanna nodded in agreement.
We all fell silent for a while, lost in thought.
To break the heavy silence, Yuanna spoke up.
“Anyway, we have to cross the bridge. Who goes first?”
At her question, Enoch drew his sword.
“I’ll cover from here along with Asdal. Go first.”
“What? No way. I want to go first!”
Asdal looked at Enoch, puzzled, but Enoch didn’t respond.
With a sigh, Asdal took the arrows off his shoulder.
“Okay, one of us is melee, the other ranged. Balance is perfect.”
Despite complaining, Asdal followed Enoch’s lead. Honestly, Asdal seemed to genuinely like Enoch.
Kaiden then asked me,
“Margaret, still can’t use your magic? It would be nice if I could warp everyone.”
But unfortunately, my recently used mana hadn’t fully recovered.
“I need more time to recharge.”
Everyone seemed to hope for a positive answer, and their disappointed expressions showed it.
Kaiden stepped onto the shaky bridge.
“Well, no choice. Then I’ll go first. Margaret, you follow right after me. Give me Enji, I’ll take him first.”
He looked at me and held out his hand. I handed Enji over, and he clung to Kaiden’s arm after a sidelong glance at me.
Kaiden set off and safely crossed the bridge.
Though it looked unstable, it seemed capable of supporting one person at a time.
“Margaret.”
Just as I was about to follow Kaiden, Enoch called me. I turned around, puzzled.
He reached me and looked down at me gently.
“…Be careful. I’ll follow right after you.”
I smiled lightly.
“You sound like we’re going to be separated. Go ahead and wait, I’ll be right behind.”
He nodded slowly and softly stroked my head. It felt like a long time since we had a private moment like this.
But of course, we had to have this conversation while everyone was watching.
“If you’re not going, I’ll go first,” Rusef grumbled and stepped onto the bridge, passing me. I felt embarrassed and stepped back.
Enoch carefully took my hand, kissed the back of it, then pressed his lips lightly to my wrist.
“Do you remember I promised to protect you? My feelings haven’t changed. I’ll cross soon, so go on ahead and wait.”
I tried to keep calm despite feeling my cheeks warm.
Enoch quietly watched me, then nodded.
“Enough, now go ahead.”
Asdal appeared between us, separating us.
I watched Kaiden, Rusef, and Diego cross first, then stepped onto the shaky bridge myself.
It felt even more unstable than before, as if it could break at any moment.
Even moving very slowly, I could hear the ropes snapping—snap, snap.
“This is really dangerous…”
With about a third of the bridge left, I stopped briefly as it swayed violently.
“Lady Flone!”
Yuanna’s voice shouted. I turned slowly to see what she was pointing at.
On the southern island, Asdal and Enoch were facing a huge group of orangutan-type monsters.
Some were attempting to cross the bridge.
“Run, Lady Flone!” Yuanna shouted in alarm.
Two orangutan monsters climbed onto the bridge. One that was crossing fell into the river.
‘X, X—!’
I realized what was happening only when the bridge was halfway tilted. The orangutans were breaking the bridge.
The north island, where Kaiden and the others were, was just ahead.
‘Just a little more…!’
But as always, my bad premonitions were correct. Misfortune always started with me. I fell into the river before reaching the north island.
After that, I don’t remember exactly what happened.
I was carried away by the strong current, swallowed a lot of water, and vaguely remember someone pulling me out.
Then everything went completely black.
