Chapter 98

“Aren’t you laughing too loud?”

“Sorry.”

Jenas apologized to me, wiping away his tears. At least he has manners.

“But there is nothing to eat in the cabin.”

“It seems so. You said you can live without eating.”

“Yes. I’ll save you tomorrow.”

“You will save me?”

Jenas nodded. “Yes. With fish.”

Then he tilted his head in wonder. He looked so lovely, but I came to my senses once again recalling his age.

“Don’t you like fish?” he asked.

I was sure when I heard it. That Jenas had been watching me all along.

“It’s too late now, so go to bed first.”

Jenas approached me with a very harmless face and patted me on the shoulder.

“I’ll get you something to eat tomorrow.”

It was an expressionless face, but it was quite friendly. For some reason, he seemed very interested in me.

‘It’s difficult to deal with a child like him.’

In the end, I decided to get fish for breakfast tomorrow and then go to sleep first.

Of course, I’m not going to sleep at all. I opened my eyes and struggled against drowsiness. I’m not stupid enough to fall asleep with a suspicious person.

So this is how Enoch felt when he first met me; he stayed up all night on high alert and watched me sleep.

Jenas, who lay on the hammock, was sleeping soundly like an angel. He looks really handsome and cute. I quietly looked up at Jenas’ face and then looked out the window. Dawn is breaking.

I rubbed my tired eyelids and let out a small yawn.

‘I’m so tired.’

I have to leave soon and find everyone. I want to tell them this news quickly and have a meeting together.

I think it’s better to be with my group than alone.

***

Margaret fell into the river.

At the same time, Kayden on the North Island and Enoch on the South Island jumped into the river.

Arthdal shouted at Enoch, “Hey!! Ban– Enoch!!”

Then, Ruzef’s desperate shout on the North Island was also heard. “Lord!! Where are you!”

Unfortunately, the two men disappeared into the water with Margaret.

“Crazy. Everyone is crazy.”

Arthdal rubbed his face in disbelief. The river is wide and the current is very swift, as if the water was artificially made to flow fast.

Ruzef and Diego sat stunned on the North Island and looked at the place where they disappeared, while Arthdal and Yuanna stood on the South Island and stared blankly at the flowing river.

They waited for such a long time, but even after time passed, the three did not return.

***

When Kayden came to his senses, Enoch was grabbing him by the collar and pulling him out of the water.

“Ugh!”

He let out a rough breath and spat out water, and Enoch pulled him completely out of the river before finally letting him go.

“Ugh, ugh.”

Enoch let out a heavy breath and wiped the water from the tip of his chin. Then he squeezed the hem of his shirt with his trembling hands and drained it.

“Ugh. Huh. Ma- Margaret……”

Kayden lowered his head and spat out some more water.

Eunji, who had been wrapped around his forearm, slithered down to the ground and spit out water after him in the same way, then looked back and forth between him and Enoch.

Soon after, he raised his head and looked around as if looking for something.

Kayden looked at Eunji with a puzzled face, then he started to slither quickly somewhere.

“Huh? Hey……!”

When Kayden reached out his hand, Eunji had already slithered out of his sight.

Enoch also stared blankly at the sight with a puzzled face.

Kayden shook his head. “Ha……”

You won’t be able to follow Eunji. Because he’s faster than most grown men. There is no choice but to wait for him to return by himself.

‘If something is wrong with him, I’ll have nothing to say to Margaret.’

While rubbing his face, Kayden muttered a curse inwardly.

Enoch’s chest rose and fell violently. He shook his head, breathing heavily. Then he sat down and swept his hair with a troubled face.

Enoch gritted his teeth, muttering abuse, “God damn it.”

He missed Margaret. He definitely saw her drifting in sight, but at some point he missed her.

“I, I obviously saw her,” said Kayden to Enoch, exhaling more frequently than before.

Enoch glanced at him. Kayden sighed as he slowly got up and swept his wet hair back.

“I certainly saw Margaret. I thought I could catch her…… then, the current suddenly got faster. Wasn’t that strange? It wasn’t the point where the current would flow quickly.”

Enoch nodded at Kayden’s muttering. It was definitely strange. However, there isn’t just a thing or two that is strange about this island.

Enoch narrowed his brows in annoyance, looking at the calm river again.

“Judging by the direction of the current, I think she drifted northwest.”

“But I have no idea where we are now. Do you know, Your Highness?”

“I drifted west along with Margaret. It was definitely in the North Island direction that I pulled you out.”

“The problem is that we don’t know if Margaret is on the North Island or the South Island……”

They talked with confidence that Margaret had not drifted out to sea. Plus, they’re pretty sure she’s not dead.

“I will find her at all costs. Even if I have to search the whole island.”

Enoch calmly rose from his seat. Kayden followed him up with a nod. He took off the wet robe, squeezing out the water.

“Of course, we have to find her. Wherever Margaret is, I have to chase her to the ends of hell. I can’t just let her go.”

Kayden took out a dagger from its scabbard.

-slash.

Enoch also drew his sword and aimed it toward the forest with Kayden.

They were surrounded by monsters whose appearances were somewhat grotesquely transformed.

Kayden quietly looked up at the sky. It was a warm afternoon with the midday sun beating down.

It seems that the monsters, which were only active from sunset to midnight, have now expanded their range of action.

You were able to walk around safely during the day, but now you can’t.

The exception to being careful only at the night has disappeared, and the time has come to prepare for a war against monsters all day long.

“Fuxk, it seems these motherfuxkers have evolved again,” Kayden muttered.

“I can wipe them out right away.”

Kayden smiled at Enoch’s words. Then he ran along with Enoch toward the monsters and swung his dagger.

“Obviously.”

It was the first time Enoch and Kayden agreed.

***

After one night, the wound was less painful than yesterday. Of course it still hurts when I move, so I have to be careful.

‘But I can’t give up just because I’m injured. I have to climb a mountain to figure out the geography of the North Island……’

I decided to make socks and put them on before going on a climb. Because boots just seem better than a pair of white sneakers.

Among the piles of clothes Jenas brought me, I picked out some usable clothes and tore them. Then, I wrapped them around my feet like socks, tied them tightly, and put on boots. After getting up and walking around a few times, I also checked my abdominal wound once again.

“Ugh.”

As I slowly removed the gauze, the soreness was great. Fortunately, it was disinfected well with modern medicine, so there was no inflammation.

“I hope it doesn’t get worse.”

I looked down at my stomach, sighed, took the medicine bottle, disinfected the wound again, and put gauze on it.

I checked to see if my crossbody bag was dry and checked its contents. My notebook is safe and intact, but the pen is unusable. The same goes for the flare gun and regular medicine.

These are unusable items but still keep well in the bag. Do I have a strange obsession? Somehow I don’t want to throw them away.

Jenas is out hunting fish. I stood up and looked around the cabin.

I don’t want to stay quiet in the cabin to have a friendly breakfast with him.

While he was away, I decided to inspect this suspicious cabin.

‘First, I will go up to the third floor that I didn’t see yesterday.’

I stood in front of the stairs going up to the second floor with a crossbody bag slung over my shoulder and a wooden knife in my hand.

But then, I saw something strange on the side of the stairs leading to the second floor. It looks like the cupboard door under the stairs much like the place where Harry Potter lives.

I touched it and gently pushed it. Suddenly, a door opened, revealing a staircase leading down.

It was dark, so I couldn’t really see what was underneath.

I swallowed dry saliva and pondered for a while. Is it okay to go down?

‘Die like this or die like that, it’s better to find out something.’

In order to escape from here with everyone else, I need to find a clue, whatever that might be.

Jenas didn’t seem interested in giving me details, so I had no choice but to find out for myself.