Isekai Nonbiri Nouka Chapter 1053: Yame’s Life on the Uninhabited Island III

I’m Yame.

Now that I’ve got my cave shelter, I’m finally not dying all the time.

Thank goodness.

-0-

On a shelf… well, more like a wooden plank inside the cave, I’ve lined up the seashells and stones I use as dishes.

My collection has been growing little by little.

Today, I’m relaxing with a cup of tea in my favorite seashell.

The tea is made by chopping up the grass I’ve gathered, drying it, and boiling it.

It doesn’t taste good.

But I’m sure it’s healthy.

Probably.

I don’t really know, though.

…….

Ah.

Today’s tea is a failure.

I can’t drink it.

My throat refuses to swallow it.

I’m feeling nauseous too……

Maybe trying that unfamiliar grass was a bad idea.

-0-

I’ve finally reached the point where I can secure food consistently.

Grass is still my staple, but now I’ve added river fish to my diet.

Unlike sea fish, river fish aren’t poisonous.

Well, there might be poisonous river fish somewhere, but I haven’t run into any yet.

So it’s fine.

There’s no way to catch river fish with my bare hands.

They’re too fast.

So I set traps instead.

The ocean is vast, but rivers are narrow.

I’m pretty clever.

That said, my traps didn’t work right away.

Some were completely useless.

Some got washed away.

Others broke apart.

It took a lot of trial and error.

But the taste of the first river fish I caught with one of my traps…

It was unforgettable.

My next thought was that it’d be even better with a little salt.

-0-

Salt.

You can get it by collecting seawater and letting the sun evaporate it.

Simple.

It’d be a lot of work if I needed large amounts, but I only need enough for myself.

Every morning, I fill a large seashell with seawater and leave it somewhere sunny.

Before sunset, I collect the salt.

That’s become part of my daily routine.

Rain ruins everything, of course.

But there’s no point letting the weather control my mood.

-0-

I made peace with the bird.

One day I heard it chirping strangely in the distance, so I went to investigate.

It had found some hard-shelled nuts that it couldn’t crack open.

I smashed them with a rock.

The bird took half of the kernels.

The other half was apparently my share.

They were delicious.

Ever since then, the bird has shown me where to find the hard-shelled nuts, and I crack them open for us.

-0-

Something sweet.

The longer I lived on the island, the more I craved sweets.

Desperately.

Well, there were plenty of other things I wanted too.

But sweets were different.

Unfortunately, sweet things weren’t easy to find.

Most berries were either sour or bitter.

I wanted to try flower nectar, but…

I’d already died several times from eating flowers, so I was too scared.

As I stood there wondering what to do, absentmindedly chewing on a vine because my mouth felt lonely, I realized…

It was sweet.

The vine was sweet!

Well, not every vine.

But the one in front of me was.

I actually cried a little.

It was a shame I couldn’t find much of it, but I’d definitely remember where that sweet vine grew.

-0-

Living alone on an island makes you want someone to talk to.

The bird?

No.

That one’s hopeless.

It always looks down on me.

Whenever I try talking to it, it just stares at me with those cold eyes.

Despite having such cute little eyes.

So instead, I carved a wooden doll to keep me company.

It turned out pretty well.

I named him Ivan.

We have wonderful conversations.

Ivan’s a man of few words, though.

Ah…

If I still had my original power, I could’ve brought Ivan to life.

…….

That’s it.

Just surviving isn’t enough.

My power.

I’m going to regain the power I lost!

And if possible…

I’ll become even stronger than I was before!

I made that vow to Ivan.

The bird watched me with a thoroughly unimpressed look.

Despite those cute little eyes.

-0-

Even if I wanted my power back, I had no idea how to do it.

I didn’t even know why I’d lost it in the first place.

Hmm…

I’d been a devil since birth.

Magic power had always been a part of me.

I’d never had to train my body or my magic power before.

For now, I tried throwing a few practice punches into the air.

Like this?

Is this what I’m supposed to do?

Maybe I just need to keep repeating it?

After about ten punches, I got bored.

-0-

Rainy days.

The visibility is poor, and if I force myself to go outside, I’m likely to slip.

So I stay inside my shelter.

Whenever the bird comes to take shelter with me, I know it’s going to be a long stretch of rain.

At least two days.

The longest lasted five, I think.

It’s a little depressing.

I remember running low on food more than once.

And then there’s the bathroom.

I couldn’t exactly build a toilet inside my cave.

So I built one outside.

Which means that on rainy days, I have to get soaked just to use it.

It’s enough to ruin my mood.

-0-

I found a branch that was just the right shape, so I started carving it to see if I could make something useful.

I ended up with a wooden sword.

Don’t call it just a stick.

I carved the grip so it fits comfortably in my hand, and I even balanced the weight properly.

It’s a fine weapon.

…Though I accidentally struck a rock while swinging it around, and it snapped clean in half.

-0-

A wooden sword alone wasn’t enough.

Just in case something happened, I made myself a wooden shield.

I bundled several branches together and tied them with the vines that weren’t sweet.

A proper wooden shield.

It felt surprisingly natural in my hands.

There’s something reassuring about being protected by a shield.

I’m going to treasure this one.

-0-

Every now and then, dead sea fish wash up on the beach.

I never touch them.

I’ve learned my lesson.

I’m a devil who learns.

I don’t make the same mistake twice…

Or three times…

No, four?

Let’s play it safe and say five.

I only make the same mistake about five times.

The real reason I walk along the beach is to watch for passing ships and collect driftwood.

Actually, I did spot a ship once.

But back then, I had no way to let them know I was on the island.

I tried using magic, but all I managed was a tiny little flash of light.

The ship sailed away.

I was so frustrated.

That’s why I’m prepared now.

If another ship passes, I’ll make sure they know I’m here.

I’ve already built a signal fire.

Naturally, I stacked it mostly with green wood so it’d produce plenty of smoke.

I’ve thought of everything.

I even replace the fresh wood regularly.

As for lighting it, I can use magic, so that’s not a problem.

The problem is…

I haven’t seen another ship since.

W-Well, there’s no point getting discouraged.

That ship was proof that other people are still alive somewhere.

And since I can’t stay dead, I’m pretty good at waiting people out.

I’ll just have to be patient.

-0-

I missed the ship!

Nooooooo!

By the time I noticed it, it was already sailing away.

I lit the signal fire and filled the sky with smoke, but…

There’s no way they saw it.

Grrrrrrrr!

I shouldn’t have slept until noon.

If I’d gotten up at my usual time, I never would’ve missed it.

Ughhhhhhh!

As punishment for myself, I ate the mushrooms I’d been saving.

They were delicious.

And…

I didn’t die.

Feeling overconfident, I ate a whole bunch more mushrooms.

Then I died.

Yeah…

Mushrooms are definitely bad news.

-0-

Next time: Yame meets Ursa.