CH 5

Monia swears to God, she never had such a terrible sleep in her life.

Firstly, the air and ground, which had been so hot, when the sun was up, instantly became as cold as ice because of the sea breeze, after the sun went down.

If Chester hadn’t started a bonfire, she would have frozen to death.

Second, on this floor full of sand and dirt, 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 deadly to such baby skin.

Because of her soft skin, she felt the grains of sand and dirt touching her skin clearly, and even felt the pain.

She was tired and sleepy, and she wanted to lie down and sleep at peace, but she couldn’t.

Third the forest.

Whether it is the wind or the creatures, there is a constant noise in the forest.

The forest she saw at night had a completely different atmosphere from when it was day, and she felt the fear of being sucked into darkness when she looked at it.

In a situation where the body, unable to overcome fatigue after trembling with fear, falls asleep as if fainting, and then wakes up again with even the slightest stimulation and trembles with fear.

The only things Monia could rely on to calm her down were the light of the bonfire and the sound of Chester’s breathing nearby.

“…”

Wasn’t the night scary?

The nights that Monia knew were something like that, where lanterns made of magic stones lit up the streets and nobles enjoyed a party soaked in pleasure.

There was not even the slightest hints of fear.

But this night, away from civilization and without any lights except for the light of the bonfire, feel so, so long and frightening.

In the terror of the night, Monia had to endure.

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 endure.

She fell asleep, and when she woke up, she looked at him in fear to see if Chester had disappeared, and she fell asleep again listening to Chester’s quiet breathing and the soft sound of the waves.

And then she woke up again.

How many times did she repeat it?

The morning sun rose from the horizon far beyond before she knew it, signaling the end of the dreadful night.

And shortly after the sun rose, Chester woke up too.

“Whoah~.”

After she saw him woke up she relaxed and yawn, when he saw that his anger rose, but Monia let out a sigh of relief before that.

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 glad.

“Aww, my body is heavy.”

Chester woke up and stretched.

Yesterday’s fatigue didn’t go away all at once, so his body was heavy, but that doesn’t mean he can rest.

‘Today is the time to find a stable water source.’

No matter how he survived the day before today, life on this island is 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 the pain in her ankle, and Chester, who saw that, picked her up and laid her down in his shelter.

“I don’t think I slept well, but here 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 face, his expression of gratitude immediately changing to a hateful one, and then he threw some 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 stony area over the sandy beach, Chester strode across the rocks and looked between them.

“…”

Upon discovering the crab, Chester caught it then 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 stone.

‘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 it poisonous?’

He was able to discover many things by walking along the shore, but his lack of knowledge prevented him from using what he 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 stone and fish swimming 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 stones.

‘Is it safe to eat grilled fish? Is there anything else worth taking?’

After looking around a bit more, Chester found just the right thing.

‘My lucky day. What creature’s bones are these?’

What Chester found was a large, wide shell, larger than even 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 nutritious in the morning.

Returning to the shelter, then quickly building a bonfire, Chester grilled the fishes.

‘This reminds me of the old days.’

His friends and he 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.

‘ Now, where did this snake come from?’

It is a snake from a foreign kingdom that Chester didn’t know about, but in the end it was a snake.

‘As long as you don’t eat the head, it will be safe.’

Chester carefully lifted the thick branch he had picked up earlier, and aimed at the snake, then swung it.

With a dull sound, the snake fell over, and Chester quickly grabbed the snake’s head and held it down.

Then, the hurt snake wraps itself around Chester’s arm.

‘Oh, what is it? Aren’t you dead? He didn’t even pass out.’

The snake tightened Chester with quite a strong force, and where the strength came from in its slender body no one knows.

Chester picked up a sharp-edged stone, which he had been using since yesterday, and pounded and cut the snake’s neck.

‘It seems that I’ll have to make a knife as well.’

After a long time of pounding, 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 problem if Monia stepped on the snake’s head while walking.

After disposing the snake’s head, Chester put the snake still wrapped around his arm in his mouth.

When you put the snake in your mouth and chew it hard, you can hear the satisfying sound of scales and bones breaking.

Chester twisted and turned his torso to tear it apart, chewed the snake in his mouth, and swallowed it.

Chester, who ate the entire snake in an instant, seems to be somewhat full, so he moved with an emphasis on searching rather than hunting.

Various sounds came from the forest.

The floating island is very humid, so the air was full of moisture, which is a medium for sound transmission, so the sounds were especially loud.

Early in the morning, the sound of an animal dying could be heard from somewhere, whether their hunt was as successful as Chester’s.

Or the cries of insects that could be heard little by little nearby, or the singing of birds resounding from somewhere.

He 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 making a satisfying sound as the wind brush against them.

Among those various sounds, Chester heard the one he was looking for the most.

‘It’s the sound of water.’

It was faintly audible, but it is unmistakably the sound of water.

Chester moved by chasing the water through his ears.

Hearing the sound of the water, Chester’s steps became faster without realizing it.

How hard did he run?

“Oooh!”

Chester cheered when he found a fairly large river flowing.

“It’s water!”

Having discovered his source of life, Chester cheered as he approached the river, but froze when he saw a shadow.

“…”

Feeling 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.