I Saved Too Many Girls and Caused the Apocalypse: Volume 11

by Namekojirushi

  “Stay still, huh...? That’s pretty difficult with the waves.”

  “Just think of yourself as a pebble. A small, dirty pebble rolling along the road, unnoticed by anyone.”

  “I feel like that was more descriptive than it needed to be, but okay. I’ll give it a go.”

  I stood still. Completely unmoving. I was a stone, rolling in the waves. A stone... A stone...

  “Rekka?”

  “...”

  “Reeekka?”

  “...”

  “Rekka, if you want fish, I can use my magic.”

  “...There!”

  Splash!

  There was a brief struggle in the water, but when I lifted my spear, I actually had a small fish on the end of it.

  “Wow! That’s amazing, Rekka. You really caught one.”

  “What an unexpected talent.”

  Satsuki and R both looked at the fish I caught with expressions of surprise. I held my head high on that one.

  “All right! Time to catch as many as I can!”

  I rolled up my sleeves and once again picked up the spear, becoming a stone. R adjusted her hat as she watched me.

  “Let’s just hope it wasn’t beginner’s luck,” she murmured.

  ▽

  I’ll be honest. It was beginner’s luck. I stuck it out for around an hour after that, repeatedly stabbing my spear into the water, but didn’t catch even one more fish. But I tried hard and long enough that I nearly broke the spear.

  “Your base stats are just too average. You’re not bad, but you’re so great, either. People have their expectations. You never go above and beyond, but you never completely fail them.”

  “Please stop.”

  I was about to fall to my knees at R’s flatly delivered harsh criticism. My heart was weaker than the beaten-up spear right now.

  “R-Rekka... Are you all right?”

  Seeing my gloomy mood, Satsuki called out to me worriedly.

  “Ah, yeah... Sorry, for only catching one fish.”

  “It’s fine. If you want more fish, I can... No, one fish is more than enough. We found lots of shellfish, too, so let’s go back to the cave before it gets dark.”

  “Yeah.”

  Satsuki was in the middle of saying something but had stopped herself, instead opting to cheer me up. We started to head for the cave like she suggested... when a rather large wave came crashing at us.

  “Kyah!”

  Losing her balance because of it, Satsuki fell forward.

  “Satsuki! You okay?”

  “Y-Yup, I caught myself, so I’m not hurt, but...”

  Satsuki looked down at herself. Her clothes were completely soaked now. It was hot back home, so she was in a nice, light, and thin outfit. And when that got wet...

  “D-Don’t look this way!”

  “Ah, sorry!”

  Satsuki flushed bright red and shouted, making me whip around in a hurry. I’d be in for a lot of trouble yet on this deserted island.

  ▽

  The noisy campfire sputtered, crackled, and popped in the cave.

  “Are your clothes dry yet?”

  “Um... Not yet,” Satsuki’s dejected voice answered from behind me.

  After we returned to the cave, the first thing we did was make a fire for Satsuki to dry her wet clothes. But in the meantime, there was a problem with privacy. The cave was just one giant open space, so it wasn’t like there was a separate room for her to wait in while her clothes dried. I offered to just wait outside, but Satsuki insisted that I stay, saying it was dangerous to be out alone in the dark at night. And so here we were, sitting back-to-back while we waited.

  “So, uh... That coconut juice was surprisingly good.”

  Bored of the silence, I decided to try striking up a conversation with the first thing that came to mind.

  “We were lucky to end up on an island with sweet ones. There are some types of coconuts that aren’t sweet at all inside.”

  “Huh? There are different types of coconuts?”

  “There are several. Some you can extract oil from, others are used as the raw materials for coconut gel.”

  “Wow, you sure know a lot.”

  “Thanks to the Magic of Omniscience.”

  “I gotta say, it’s really convenient. I’ve been feeling that all the more since arriving on this deserted island. I bet you could use it to get perfect scores on all your tests, too.”

  “I don’t use it to cheat!”

  “I’m joking, I’m joking!”

  I laughed it off as Satsuki lightly slapped my back. “Ow,” I said while laughing, and she broke into a giggle fit, too. Being able to joke around like this was one of the perks of being childhood friends. Even if I was stuck on a deserted island, as long as Satsuki was here with me, I didn’t have anything to be nervous about. It was a nice feeling.

  “Oh, the fire’s dying.”

  “Do we have enough firewood? I could kindle it with magic, but I’ve used my Magic of Omniscience too much today, so I’m running a little low...”

  “Nah, it’ll be fine.”

  I threw another branch onto the fire. We’d collected plenty of them earlier in the day and sorted them by size for exactly this reason.

  “This kind of reminds me of that outdoor class we had with the campfire...”

  “During elementary school?”

  “Yeah, that one.”

  Satsuki and I were in the same class in elementary school, and we ended up in the same group for a special outdoor camping class. As we were reminiscing about that, Satsuki suddenly burst into laughter.

  “I also remember you putting too much water in the curry. Our group was the only one eating what could have passed for soup! Everyone else looked so miffed, heehee...”

  “Ugh! Y-You’re the one that got worn out during orienteering and needed me to carry you back!”

  “That was because you insisted on carrying me even after the teacher said I could go back and rest!”

  “But I thought you’d be lonely if you had to go back by yourself while everyone else was still having fun.”

  “That’s true... But what I’m trying to say is that it was your idea, Rekka!”

  “What is this, a married couple’s comedy routine?” R sighed tiredly from her comfy spot, lounging in the air as she listened to us bicker.

  “Wait... Come to think of it, didn’t something strange happen at the campfire back then?”

  A vague memory suddenly resurfaced in my mind. When I brought it up, Satsuki flinched nervously. I could feel her trembling as she leaned against me.

  “Let’s see... What was it again? I remember the girls in the class were whispering with each other, so I was wondering what the guys were up to... Then these three girls pushed you forward while another girl pulled me by the arm so we were standing next to each other in front of the campfire... Hmm... And then...”

  I tried to recall what happened next, but it was just so long ago... The details were all hazy. Maybe nothing had really happened at all.

  “Huh? Are you sweating, Satsuki? My back feels a little damp...”

  “N-Nowpe, nowt me! I’m t-t-towtally fine!”

  “Why are you so nervous?”

  We were sitting back-to-back, so there was no way for me to see her expression, but I could tell from her voice that something was eating at her.

  “Well, anyway... After that, didn’t the girls make us do something? I didn’t really understand what was happening, but I remember the girls egging you on... Actually, they may have been cheering you on...”

  “R-Rweally now? I don’t rwemember that!”

  “They were shouting things... Stuff like ‘just say it’ and ‘you can do it,’ or something like that.”

  I remember how oddly fidgety Satsuki had gotten. Her face was almost as red as the campfire flames, too.

  “Were you trying to tell me something back then, Satsuki? You never ended up saying anything, though.”

  “R-Rweally?”<
br />
  “What’s up with you?”

  Satsuki had been reacting oddly for a while now. Speaking of which...

  “Ooooohh...”

  Why was R acting weird, too? She had been writhing and groaning ever since this topic came up. I shot her a dubious look, which she thankfully noticed. She pulled herself together with the heaviest sigh of disappointment I think I’ve ever heard.

  “Fine... Rekka, what do boys talk about on overnight camps?”

  “Huh?”

  Why was R asking about that all of a sudden? But overnight camps, huh...? After it was lights out, everyone was always too excited to go to sleep. We’d start talking underneath the blankets with flashlights and stuff... mostly about our crushes.

  “Now, just so you know, Rekka, girls mature earlier than boys, so their elementary school conversations are on par with your middle school ones. You follow?”

  Huh... Satsuki and I were in the same group, but the boys and girls slept in different quarters. The boys would get into super heated pillow fights and end up getting scolded by the teacher, but what were the girls doing? They stayed up all night talking, right? Following what R said... That meant they were talking about their crushes, right?

  If that’s what they were talking about, then that last day at the campfire... The girls pushed me and Satsuki towards each other... They were cheering for her, telling her to say something... And she really did turn red... Um... Er?

  “R-R-Rwekka?! The fwire’s getting weaker, down’t you thwink?!”

  “Hm? Oh, you’re right.”

  Satsuki was still talking oddly, but she was right. The fire had already started to die down, so I threw on another branch. After that, we both fell silent. The cave was perfectly quiet other than the sounds of the fire. But it wasn’t awkward or anything. It was a gentle, comfortable silence.

  “Rekka...” Satsuki eventually stirred.

  “Hm?”

  “Rekka... do you...”

  “What is it?”

  I urged the mumbling Satsuki on. I could feel her fidgeting behind me.

  “What do you... think of me?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Like...” Satsuki trailed off.

  The silence this time felt a little heavier than before... But really, what had she meant just now? As I was wondering, she started stirring again, tickling my shoulders with her squirming.

  “Rekka... you’ve saved a lot of girls ever since your bloodline awakened, right?”

  “Hm? Well, yeah.”

  “Is there... anything that makes me different from those girls?”

  “Different?”

  “Yeah... I sometimes wonder if you just see me as one of them. One of the many girls you’ve saved...”

  “...”

  “The Magic of Omniscience can’t read people’s feelings, after all...”

  She said no more after that.

  The difference between Satsuki and everyone else... I searched within myself for an answer.

  “Satsuki...”

  And just as I opened my mouth, I caught a glimpse of something at the entrance to the cave out of the corner of my eye. It was a hairy beast walking towards us on all fours...

  “!”

  I grabbed the wooden spear I’d left within arm’s reach just in case, then rose to my knees, ready to defend Satsuki. I didn’t want to startle the beast, so I chose not to yell out.

  “...!”

  My movements caught Satsuki’s attention, and she immediately grabbed her nearly dried clothes to cover herself, making sure she was ready to move at a moment’s notice.

  “Satsuki, is that...?”

  I tried to ask using as few words and staying as quiet as possible.

  “Yes, it is. So whatever you do, don’t make the first move. Who knows what will happen if you anger it...” Satsuki explained in short.

  Apparently, this beast was the wild animal Satsuki had warned me about earlier. Looking at it now, its face did kind of resemble a cat’s, but its eyes were filled with apprehension as it stared us down.

  “Aren’t wild animals supposed to be afraid of fire?”

  “Some of them certainly are, but a small campfire like this might draw attention for some...” Satsuki said, biting her lip.

  “I thought the fire was hidden from the outside...”

  “I guess it happened to pass close by and spot it. How unlucky...”

  Well, this was a rather dangerous situation. We were cornered in the cave, which didn’t extend very far inward. We were surrounded by stone walls on all sides, and the beast was blocking our only exit. Satsuki had already used a huge amount of magic today, and it wasn’t like I had anything up my sleeve. No supernatural abilities, no special gadgets. Nothing except for a brittle wooden spear. To win against a wild animal with just that would take a miracle, and I only had one chance...

  “Let’s try giving it our leftover food,” suggested Satsuki. “Maybe it’ll leave then.”

  “Okay.”

  I hesitantly laid my spear on the ground, picked up the food we’d collected for tomorrow, and tossed it towards the beast. But it didn’t even look. It just glared straight at us and let out a screech. This... was bad.

  “Mrowr!”

  “Kuh!”

  I threw my spear out at the leaping beast. To no avail, of course. It hit the ground and snapped right in two.

  “Oh, guardian wind!”

  I started to think I was a goner, but Satsuki summoned a shield of wind to deflect the beast’s claws in the nick of time.

  “Mrowr!”

  The beast lunged at me a second time and was once again deflected by the shield. After that, it backed off a little.

  “Ugh...”

  “Satsuki!”

  Now having used too much magic, Satsuki swayed on her feet. The wind shield protecting us started to waver, too. She really had used too much Omniscient Magic today...!

  “Satsuki... I’m going to draw its attention. You take that chance to run.”

  “No way. You won’t be safe alone. I can’t even cast healing magic on you right now...”

  “That’s exactly why I’m doing this. You can’t heal yourself in this state either, right? And you’ll collapse if you run out of magic. So we have to do something to save at least one of us before that happens.”

  If Satsuki used even one more spell, she was in danger of passing out. Then she wouldn’t be able to run at all. So we had to do something while we still could.

  “But I can’t leave you here, Rekka!”

  “Look, I’m not abandoning you either, but I can’t run away from that thing while carrying your unconscious body.”

  “But... But...”

  She could only repeat that one word. Satsuki was smart. Certainly smart enough to realize that we were out of other options. But she just couldn’t accept what I was saying, and refused to listen to me. I couldn’t blame her, though. If I were in her position, I was sure I’d do the same. I knew that telling her to run despite that was selfish, but...

  “I didn’t need a reason to save you, Satsuki. My bloodline had nothing to do with it. I saved you because you’re you.”

  “...!”

  The day R appeared to me was the day the bloodline of the Namidare awoke within me. I had no resolution back then. I barely even believed the whole bloodline thing myself. If the first story I’d gotten caught up in wasn’t Satsuki’s, but someone else’s... would I have ever jumped in to save them like that? To be honest, I couldn’t say for sure. If it had been anyone else, I would have at least thought things through before agreeing to anything. But with Satsuki... I hadn’t hesitated at all. I’d jumped right in to save her because she was my precious childhood friend. If there was a difference between her and the other girls, that was it.

  “Now, dismiss your shield on my signal. I’ll get its attention.”

  “Okay...”

  After being repelled by the wind wall a couple of times, the beast was cautio
usly approaching again. Its eyes were aglow with hostility, and it looked ready to pounce the moment it got the chance.

  “All right... Three, two—”

  “...!”

  Just as I was about to finish the countdown, a blinding white light suddenly filled the interior of the cave.

  “Sir Rekka!”

  “Rekka, are you all right?”

  From the light stepped Harissa, clutching her staff, and Shirley, who called out in a worried voice.

  “Mrowr!”

  The beast was momentarily stunned by the light, but immediately bared its fangs when it saw the new intruders. However...

  “Oh, my.”

  Shirley suddenly threw a ball into the air. It burst with an ear-splitting, dissonant screech that filled the cave. I reflexively covered my ears. The shock of the sound made the beast drop like a bird shot out of the sky. It flopped to the ground in a trance, its limbs feebly twitching.

  “Shirley, I-I think my eardrums burst...”

  “It has a safety set to just shy of that line where they may or may not burst. You’ll be fine. It’s just a simple device designed to shock through sound.”

  Well, if that was the case, then the beast would probably be fine, too. It may have attacked us, but we were the uninvited guests here. And besides, it was really just a big kitty...

  “Wait, how did the two of you get here?”

  Harissa had probably sought help from Shirley, who lived right across the street. I was sure they’d be able to work together and find us, but I wasn’t expecting them to do it so soon.

  “Well, we considered a lot of options at first. Like using either my or Iris’s spaceship, or even Ellicia’s connection to the organization to borrow a psychic with the power of teleportation... But in the end, we realized a far more simple solution.”

  “I-I remembered that I could easily find you if I used my connection magic, Sir Rekka.”

  “Oh, of course!”

  Thinking about it carefully, the experiment that blew us into this mess was a form of her connection magic... All she needed to do was use one of my personal belongings and follow its connection to me. The answer was right under our noses all along.

  “I should have put it together sooner, but I was in such a fluster... I’m sorry, Sir Rekka, Satsuki.”