Sadly, just because I dealt with the old man's annoying presence didn't rid me of the other island dwellers. Namely, the moment I was seen just outside of my temporary residence, a smallish crowd of tanned fellows and ladies approached me, all showing a pretty modest clothing trend. Then again, I'm probably just the weird one for wearing long sleeves in a tropical climate such as this one, but to have your people's day to day clothes be the equivalent of swimwear is pretty weird in my Eyes.
"Miss, miss!" The rowdy crowd hollered, "Help us till the fields today, you're a guest, but it doesn't excuse you from earning your stay!"
"Eh? Did you hit your head?" I cocked my head back, "I'm not here of my own volition. If you don't like the current conditions of my stay, you're free to discuss it with the old man."
"What's she talking about?" A lady from the crowd turned to the others.
"She's making up excuses." An annoyed grunt replied, "Just like she's been doing ever since she got here."
"Look, miss, we can understand you are quite favoured by the leader, but we simply must all pitch in while it's the season." A sympathetic voice could be heard from the crowd, "Please, find it in your heart to help us."
Again, I didn't choose to be here, so there's no reason for me to work for you guys. Besides, the old man's treating me nice with or without any manual labor on my part, so who cares? I don't owe these guys anything!
"How about you find it in your heart to get this damned ankle bracelet off of me?" I pointed to my foot, "Only then can we talk about me helping you."
"Forget it, she's not budging." The guy groaned, "A lazy bum like her wouldn't be of much help anyways."
Hey now, who're you calling a lazy bum!? I'm a 4.76 GPA student in one of the most prestigious mathematical institutes in the world, you know!? There isn't a single person more hardworking than me! Grrr, these buffoons...! They're out here working their butts off under the scorching Sun, and they don't even realize how bad their situation is! They're so ignorant that they actually think I'm worse than them! The nerve!
"Then why is she still here?" A rather quiet yet ominous voice asked from the crowd.
"Hm?"
"She just took one of our most luxurious residences on the island, eats our food and drinks our water—Meanwhile she hasn't done anything at all! If she wasn't favoured by the leader, I would have her kicked out ages ago!"
"Hey, there's an idea." Another one agreed, "Why DON'T we kick her off the island?"
"Yeah, it'd at least decrease the strain on the food supply." A female from the crowd agreed, "And we might be able to take the vacant house for ourselves!"
"I call dibs!" A fourth guy raised his hand before all hell broke loose.
"Hey, no fair! Why should you get the house for yourself!"
"Because, that's how calling dibs works!"
"You two, calm down! We can just share it."
"Are you insane!?" They shouted, "We can't all fit in there, you idiot!"
They kept bickering amongst themselves about how they'll divide my current condo between them, but for whatever reason they just glossed over that whole "kicking me out" part. I don't know why they think it's already a done deal that I'll be getting kicked out, but they've got another thing coming if they're gonna be thinking like that!
"Guys, guys!" I shut everyone up, "I can't leave, the old man put this thing over my ankle."
"So?" They raised a scary point.
"What? What do you mean So? It'll chop my foot off if I leave with it still on." I explained.
"We don't care." They grinned, "You don't seem to care all too much about our situation, so why should we care about yours?"
Ahhhh, I get it now. I'm in danger, aren't I? And all this over some untilled fields—Do these guys really value some crops this much? How can they even suggest cutting my foot off without any remorse? Are they even human? I should probably go report this to Olya. Though I'd hate to have to rely on him, the fact is that this group of 10 or so people definitely outnumbers me. I'd like to leave the island eventually, but if possible, I'd rather keep my legs intact.
"Nuh uh~!" One of the man stopped me from leaving, "The old man would be furious if he were to find out about this, so we're not gonna be letting you go anywhere."
"Let go!" I shouted, "I'm not leaving this place until my ankle is freed!"
Scary! This guy actually put his filthy paws on me! Even the girls in the group are snickering, are these people actually for real!? Dammit, not like this...!
"H-Hey!" I spotted the familiar face of the muscular man in the crowd, "You! You called out to me last night, didn't you? Yeah, now I remember—Back when I was going back home from the hospital! Help me out here!"
"...Tie her up and gag her." He said unapologetically, "She might try and squirm about or shout for the leader, so we need to be careful."
Dammit, what is this!? The old man was just here, everything was pretty peaceful, so why is everyone showing so much animosity towards me all of a sudden!? Ngh, no! Lem, old man, someone—HELP!
----------------------------------------
***
----------------------------------------
As I was carried away closer and closer to the edge of the island, I felt the ankle bracelet's grip tighten around my leg. I felt this before, back on the first day of my arrival. Back then, I had naively tried to run away on my own, and the only thing that had stopped me was that very ankle bracelet slowly digging its blades into my skin. Of course, I completely opted to wait for Lem when Olya showed me where he was being kept, but I didn't know he was with us back then. Never mind that though, I need to get away somehow, and quick!
You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
"Hey." A stern looking yet beautiful lady stood in our path, "What do you think you're doing to our guest?"
"Get out of the way, Showa." The men shouted back, "We're just taking out the trash."
"I happen to remember very vividly what that old piece of crap said to us when she was first brought to the island." She valiantly stood up to them, "If anyone tries to harm her, they'll be publicly hung in front of everyone that very day."
"Eh!? He said that!?" They all lost their confidence all of a sudden, "No way, you're lying!"
"I saw you guys at the assembly that day, there's no way you didn't hear him." She glanced at me, "Let her go, and return to your job sites. The fields aren't gonna till themselves."
"What do we do?" Another guy from the group asked the person subduing me, "Showa saw us, she's definitely gonna report this to the leader now!"
"Just throw her into the ocean with this one, then!" The livid man shot back.
"I'm fast, none of you have the stamina to catch up to me if I start running now." The girl named Showa crossed her arms confidently, "Actually, at the pace you're going, I might have already informed the geezer before you even got to the edge of the island. Don't do this."
"...Tch." They tossed me to the ground in front of her, "Fine, we'll let her be for today. But if word gets out about this, Showa...!"
"Stop lazing about and get moving, you lazy bums." She still remained firm in her stance, "You don't have the free time to be terrorising a young girl, so if you don't want this getting out, you better till double the fields as everyone else!"
With a defeated spit on the ground, the man and his entourage begrudgingly fled the scene. Geez, if it wasn't for this lady, I might've never stood on both feet again! Hell, if I was thrown into the ocean, I highly doubt I would've survived to even stand on anything again either!
"T-Thank you..." I could hardly speak after she untied me and took the gag off.
"Those idiots, they cause trouble for everyone, not just you." She sighed, "Thankfully they're easy to deal with, and no one really likes them anyways. Really, I should be the one thanking you for letting me get a chance to shout at them."
In front of me stood a hero, nay—A queen. She had a kind, motherly smile on her that could apparently switch on a dime into a disgusted and stern frown. An officer-like battle-maiden is the best way to describe her, in my Eyes. Ah, speaking of Eyes, her Iro is Red, which really clashes with her pure White hair. With that description, you'd think she resembles Meil, but the facial structure is just way too different for that to be the case. She's a lot cuter, whereas he's a lot more square.
"Why were they attacking you?" She helped me up.
"They at first asked me to help them with their work, but they got hostile when I declined." I fixed my clothes up.
"Why would you work for the guy that kidnapped you?" She cocked her head back.
"That's what I'm saying! Wait..." I stopped, "How come you know I was kidnapped and not simply brought here?"
"I overheard you two talking in the hospital the other night." She explained, "All of the others here think you're just a guest, but I felt something was off about how you treated us and the old fart, so I thought to investigate a bit."
"Hold on, you... listened in on us?" I distanced myself from her, "Why were you so close to Lem? It's forbidden for anyone to enter but me and the old man!"
"That's just what you told us during the initial assembly." She shook her head, "I'm not gonna follow those rules imposed by an outsider, hostage or not. This is my island, and I need to protect it."
And here I thought she was good. Just like the others, she doesn't listen at all to what I have to say! Dammit, I told Olya to not let anyone get near Lem's room, since I don't want them tampering with the equipment keeping him alive, yet she still came!
"I apologize for breaking your trust on this, but I had no other choice with you two being so distant and secretive about that guy." She shrugged, "Regardless, I got my answers, and I know you're not a threat."
"...I'm going to go check up on Lem." I gulped.
"I'll come too-"
"Stay away!" I shouted, "I don't want anyone else visiting him, I made sure Olya enforced that rule! I don't trust anyone here, so don't you dare follow me!"
With an annoyed, deadpanned face, she stood in place without moving a millimeter. It was bone-chilling, the way she just obediently heeded my commands like a well-trained dog. Still, it was better than having to argue about this with her or worse yet, have to fight her next. I feel like anyone here could snap my neck in an instant if they felt inclined to do it, so I really need to be on edge for every second I'm here. I got a bit complacent with the lifestyle, but it seems no matter how long I stay here, I'll always be an untrustworthy outsider to them. It was my fault for not being more wary.
"For your sake, I hope he wakes up soon." She simply stated with a wave.
"What's that supposed to mean? Are you threatening me?"
"...See you later." She turned around and left.
Gods, if Lem doesn't wake up like, right now—I'm seriously gonna be in trouble! I thought I was safe with the old man around, but this encounter really proved to me how little his protection really means for the rest of the island dwellers. We need to find a way to get out of here, and fast!