<Episode 17>
“What is it?”
“Eve. You have to listen to me carefully.”
“Yes.”
He seemed to be hesitating as if he was about to say something he shouldn’t. He pursed his lips as if trying to speak but couldn’t. Then, as if his throat was blocked, he couldn’t utter a word, only making gasping and choking sounds.
He kept trying to speak, but only wheezing and choking sounds came from his throat, as if it were tightly blocked.
He seemed confused as he wrapped his hand around his own neck, not holding my hand.
“You’re trying to tease me again.”
Then he raised his head again, tears welling up in his eyes once more.
Not feeling angry at being teased, as it could be a prank out of anxiety, I said, “It was funnier than I expected, so let’s start a fire now.”
“I can’t speak.”
“What?”
“I can’t talk.”
“But you are talking now, Brother.”
I looked at him intently for a moment, not understanding his intention. Then his expression changed to one of sadness.
So I gently stroked his pink hair.
It reminded me of when Elkais had done this when we first arrived on the deserted island and I was confused.
“Eve…”
“Yes?”
“I can’t talk, Eve.”
“Yes.”
In the original story, Elkais seemed to stop crying when comforted, but now thick tears streamed down his cheeks.
“I’m going to faint.”
Even though stroking didn’t seem to have any effect, he didn’t cry out loud.
His lips kept moving as if he wanted to say something, but he couldn’t seem to get the words out.
Maybe he was in shock from something.
“Brother.”
“…Yes.”
“You don’t have to speak until we both calm down.”
He bowed his head as if defeated, then nodded slightly.
“Abel.”
“Yes!”
Calling him by his nickname seemed to help.
“Let’s make a fire for now.”
“Yes.”
Looking around, I saw branches and roots that might have grown inside the cave.
“I should have brought flint.”
I remembered the three flints Elkais had made last time. With just one of those, making a fire would be easy.
But it was troublesome. Should I shoot with the gun? Would the heat from the barrel ignite something?
But can I use such a precious gun for that?
“If it’s a fire, I can start it.”
“How?”
“If you gather them, I’ll ignite the fire.”
“Okay.”
I collected some branches, and Abellard closed the eyes of the dead jaguar.
Then I came to the area where I had collected the branches.
He focused his divine power on a very small area and shot it.
At first, sparks flew onto the branches.
“It’s amazing.”
“Can I use it?”
“Yes.”
But since the fire was small, it needed to be nurtured.
Come to think of it, Elkais had brought back some crude oil from nearby, so there might be oil flowing somewhere. Although we couldn’t drill oil with our abilities, there could be oil flowing up to the surface.
As I thought about it, a red note and a small bottle appeared in the palm of my hand.
Just moments ago, there was nothing.
[Trust no one.]
That’s what was written on the note. The bottle in my hand was clearly gasoline. When I opened the lid, I could smell it.
I recognized the smell easily, having smelled it several times during previous arson investigations.
“Why is that?”
“Because Brother is so admirable.”
“Hehehe.”
Seeing him genuinely happy, I tucked the paper away and gestured for him to step back.
Without a hint of suspicion, he stepped back.
He dropped a few drops of gasoline onto the fire he had made. As the gasoline ignited, the fire burned better. He threw the red paper onto it.
“Eve, you’ve really become a magician.”
“No, it’s just luck.”
“It’s amazing.”
He said so and came back nearby.
“Brother.”
“Yes.”
“Take off your clothes.”
“Yes!”
He took off his pants as I suggested. However, when he tried to take off more, I grabbed his hand to stop him.
“It’s better if you just take off your pants.”
“Why? But to imprint…”
“…”
“…You said you didn’t like imprinting…”
“Yes.”
He understood from my silence. Perhaps it was because the restraint he had shown when we first met and got caught in the rain had disappeared.
“Let’s dry our clothes a bit. We might both catch a cold if we don’t.”
“I can heal a cold.”
“That’s only possible when Brother’s energy is infinite.”
Unfortunately, Abellard’s divine power was not infinite. If he was sick or exhausted, his energy wouldn’t come out until he recovered.
So when he treated my wounds after being bitten by the jaguar earlier, it was quite remarkable.
“Where are we exactly?”
Abellard seemed like he wanted to say something again, but he only pursed his lips and didn’t say anything. So I decided to give up.
I was holding a gun, inhabiting someone else’s body, and Abellard had turned into an alpha. There was no need to complicate my mind with more unanswered questions when there were already enough things I couldn’t explain.
What mattered was surviving.
We would be rescued from this island in a year anyway.
“Eve.”
“I’ll cancel the question I just asked. Come here and sit, Brother.”
“Okay…”
When he sat by the fire, I also took off the coat Elkais had given me to dry it.
Splash!
It started raining again.
I placed the coat Elkais gave me on the rock and took off the Neglige that was underneath. I couldn’t take off the briefs and the thin sleeveless shirt inside, so I left them on. Then I moved closer to the fire to feel its warmth.
“Eve.”
“Yes.”
“Why are you still holding onto that?”
Abellard continued to stick close to me, so I was holding onto the gun.
“Well, why do you think?”
“…Because of what happened back then, when I was in the rain for so long… I’m sorry for acting so recklessly.”
“Yes.”
The fire was quite warm. It made me feel like melting. However, my back was not touched by the fire, and I could feel goosebumps forming.
“How long does it take for you to come back to your senses after being in the rain?”
“About half a day?”
“Even Brother’s divine power couldn’t bring you back to your senses?”
“Yeah.”
I couldn’t help but think that getting caught in the rain was inevitable.
If only the two of us were stranded on this island as in the original story, it would have been a blissful deserted island romance. Why did I have to come and suffer through this ordeal?
If I hadn’t come in the first place, Abellard would have become an omega… No, even if he had turned into an alpha, wouldn’t he have been fine with Elkais?
Then I would have planned my own life with the betas.
After the omegas disappeared, the betas gradually regained their social status.
Maybe, like in my previous life when I became a police officer, I would have learned swordsmanship and joined the knighthood. Swordsmanship wasn’t exactly my forte, but I wasn’t bad at it either.
“Eve.”
“Yes?”
“I’m feeling really cold and in pain.”
“Yes. Hang in there.”
He snuggled up next to me and then lay down, cutting into my thigh. His hair was damp, but his body heat was quite warm.
“Brother.”
“I’m in too much pain.”
“I’m not going to tell you to move, but lie down a little higher. You’re going to break your neck.”
“Okay.”
He was lying in a strange position, so I said that.
“Eve.”
“Yes?”
“Could you stroke my head?”
“It’s uncomfortable because it’s wet.”
“Then will you do it when it dries?”
“No.”
“That’s mean.”
Thinking that the pointless conversation might drag on, I crossed my arms and closed my eyes. But I still held the gun in my left hand.
Then, thinking that I needed to reload the bullets, I opened the magazine.
“This is ridiculous.”
The bullets were all filled with grass. Even though I had fired several shots.
“What on earth?”
“Why are you like that?”
“…”
Something seemed off. Even the spare bullets I had were still soaked in the pocket of my coat.
Could it be that they appear when needed? Then please change it to a machine gun! Or a K7!
But nothing appeared before my eyes.
“Hmm…”
“Eve?”
“Brother.”
“Yeah?”
“…I’m tired.”
It felt strange, as if I had asked Santa Claus for a gun.
“So, this time, would you like to rest on my leg, Eve?”
T/N: I’ve got a surprise for you guys😉
6 new chapters??😍😍😍 Is it early Christmas?🥰🥰