chapter 5
5 – Second day of living on a deserted island (1)
Monia swears to God, she has never felt such a terrible and terrible sleep in her life.
First of all, the air and land, which had been so hot, were instantly cooled by the sea breeze just after the sun went down, and they became as cold as ice.
If Chester hadn’t slept with a campfire, she would have frozen to death.
Next, on this floor full of sand and soil, maggotonia grew very nicely.
Her skin had been thoroughly taken care of since she was a child, and even as an adult, she maintained the sweet skin of her baby days, and this floor was fatal to such baby skin.
Because of my sharp nerves, I felt the grains of sand and soil touching my skin clearly, and even felt that it hurt.
I was tired and sleepy, and I wanted to lie down, but I couldn’t.
Next the forest.
Whether it was the wind or really the creatures, there was a constant noise in the forest.
The forest I saw at night had a completely different feel from when it was bright, and I felt the fear of being sucked into darkness when I looked at it.
A situation in which the body, unable to overcome fatigue after trembling with fear, falls asleep as if fainting, and then wakes up again with the slightest stimulation and trembles with fear.
The only things Monia could rely on were the light of the campfire and the sound of Chester’s breathing nearby.
‘… … .’
Wasn’t it scary at night?
The night that Monia knew was something like that, when lanterns made of magic stones lit up the streets and nobles enjoyed a party soaked in pleasure.
There was not the slightest fear.
But the night, away from civilization and without lights, felt so, so long and frightening.
In the terror of the night, Monia endured.
It would have been impossible to hold on if she had been alone, but the sound of Chester’s breathing made it possible for her to hold on.
I fell asleep, and when I woke up, I looked at him in fear to see if Chester had disappeared, and I fell asleep again listening to Chester’s quiet breathing and the soft sound of the waves, and then I woke up again.
How many times did you repeat it?
The morning sun rose from the horizon beyond before I knew it, signaling the end of the dreadful night.
And shortly after the sun rose, Chester awoke too.
“Whoah~.”
When he saw himself trembling with fear and other languid yawns, his anger rose, but Monia let out a sigh of relief before that.
Maybe, maybe I did.
What if Chester goes to sleep and doesn’t wake up, and dies as he does?
To the extent that she even thought of such a thing, Monia was unknowingly crowded.
“Aww, my body is heavy.”
Chester woke up and stretched.
Yesterday’s fatigue didn’t go away, so my body was heavy, but that doesn’t mean I can’t rest.
‘Today is the time to find a stable water source.’
No matter how I spent the day yesterday, life on this island was not yet stable.
Chester warmed up with a stretch and went to the beach.
“Oh, where are you going? Ugh!”
Monia, who inadvertently tried to follow Chester, collapsed from pain in her ankle, and Chester, who saw that, picked her up and laid her down in his house.
“I don’t think I slept well, but there you are.”
“… … huh. I guess I’ve come to a realization now. Please continue to serve me like this.”
“What did you say.”
Chester, seeing Monia’s expression of gratitude and immediately changing to a hateful one, sprinkled sand in her face and headed to the beach.
“Kyaaak! What are you doing?!”
“Be quiet.”
Chester walked around the beach and looked at the sea.
‘Shall I catch a fish? When I was young, I used to hit the river with a wooden stick to catch a fainting fish. Would the sea be the same?’
Arriving at the rocky area over the sandy beach, Chester strode across the rocks and looked between them.
‘… … .’
Upon discovering the crab, Chester caught it and observed it.
‘I ate crab dishes in the coastal city that Monia wanted to go to five years ago. It was delicious.’
Chester came from a mountain valley and had little knowledge of the sea.
‘Is a crab a creature that can be eaten raw?’
After releasing the crab out of anxiety, Chester walked a little further and found seaweed on a rock.
‘It’s grass. is it the solution? Does the sea grow grass? Can I eat it?’
Chester lightly rubbed the seaweed with the tip of his shoe.
‘Is there any poison?’
I was able to discover many things by walking along the shore, but my lack of knowledge prevented me from using what I found.
The only useful thing Chester knew about the sea was that you shouldn’t drink it.
“Five.”
In front of Chester, there was water between the rocks and fish bobbing in it.
‘It’s a fish.’
It was a weak and small fish that did not even know how to get out of the shallow puddle that dried up on the rocks.
‘Is it safe to eat grilled fish? Is there anything worth taking?’
After looking around a bit more, Chester found just the right thing.
‘You’re lucky. What creature’s bones are these?’
What Chester found was a large, wide shell, larger than Chester’s face.
Packing the fish in the shell, Chester looked around a bit more and found two more fish in similar circumstances.
They were all the size of a finger, but it was nice to be able to eat something in the morning.
Returning home and quickly building a campfire, Chester grilled fish.
‘It reminds me of the old days.’
My friends and I often caught fish, frogs, and crayfish from the river and grilled them.
Chester took the fish, whose eyes had turned white from the heat, out of the fire and hesitated as to where to begin.
Chew carefully and thoroughly to avoid accidentally chewing the bone.
“… … It’s delicious.”
Chester chewed and ate three small fish.
* * *
Chester looked at the snake crawling in front of him.
It was a small snake the thickness of Chester’s finger that crawled leisurely, not even feeling Chester’s gaze looking at him.
‘Where is this snake from?’
It was a snake from a foreign country that Chester didn’t know about, but in the end it was a snake.
‘If you don’t eat the head, it will be safe.’
Chester carefully lifted the thick twig he had picked up earlier, aimed at the snake, and swung it.
With a dull sound, the snake fell over, and Chester quickly grabbed the snake’s head and held it down.
Then, the stumbling snake wraps itself around Chester’s arm.
‘Oh, what is it? aren’t you dead? I didn’t even pass out.’
The snake tightened Chester with quite strong force, as if from where the strength came from in its slender body.
Chester picked up a sharp-edged stone, which he had been using since yesterday, and pounded and sawed the snake’s neck.
‘I have to make a knife as well.’
After a long time of pounding and rubbing, the snake’s head finally fell off the body.
Chester tossed the still-animated head of the snake under the roots of a tree, and placed a large stone over it to hide it completely.
Chester was wearing shoes, so he wouldn’t be accidentally bitten by that snake’s head, but it would be a big deal if Monia stepped on the snake’s head while walking.
After disposing of the snake’s head, Chester put the snake still coiled around his arm in his mouth.
When you put the snake in your mouth and chew it hard, you can hear the cheerful sound of breaking scales and bones.
Chester twisted and turned his torso to tear it apart, chewed the snake in his mouth, and swallowed it.
Chester, who ate all the snakes in an instant, seemed to be somewhat full, so he moved with an emphasis on searching rather than hunting.
Several sounds came from the forest.
The floating island was very humid, so the air was full of moisture, which is a medium for sound transmission, so the sound was especially audible.
Early in the morning, the sound of an animal dying could be heard from somewhere, whether there was a successful hunt like Chester.
Or the cries of insects that could be heard little by little nearby, or the song of birds resounding from somewhere.
I could hear the sound of branches breaking, and the sound of something dull falling to the ground.
When the wind blows, you can hear the faint sound of waves from the distant sea, and the tree branches play cool songs as they brush.
Among those various sounds, Chester heard the one he was looking for.
‘It’s the sound of water.’
It was faintly audible, but it was unmistakably the sound of water.
Chester moved by chasing the water through his ears.
Hearing the sound of the water, Chester’s steps became impatient without realizing it.
how hard did you run
“Oooh!”
Chester cheered when he found a fairly large river flowing.
“It’s water!”
Having discovered the source of life, Chester cheered as he approached the river, but stopped when he saw a shadow.
“… … .”
Feeling a cold sweat starting to flow, regardless of the heat or humidity, Chester carefully looked away.
There, a small bear the size of a child stopped drinking water from the river and looked at an uninvited guest.