The Case of Being Reincarnated as a Noble in a World with a Skewed Gender Ratio - 42-43

Chapter 42: Three Months of Living on an Uninhabited Island

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90 days passed within the blink of an eye. It had been three months since we were stranded on this island. The hot days continued, but I could feel the season about to change. 

“Why the serious face?”

“I was thinking that we should start preparing for winter soon…”

“It’s still so hot and besides, we’re practically naked everyday?”

“That’s exactly why! Maybe we need to cover up a little bit?”

“It’s okay because it’s El-cchi. (I will make him take responsibility later…)”

“I will pretend I didn’t hear the latter part.”

Anyway, it was clear to see that food would become scarce in winter. It wouldn’t be feasible to have Marlin dive into the cold sea during winter either. To be precise, I didn’t want to make my precious Marlin to go swimming in the cold winter sea in the first place. 

“-?!”

“Hm? What’s wrong?”

“Yo-Your precious you said… You’re making me shy…”

It seemed I accidentally let my inner monologue slip out.

“Well, it’s the truth after all.”

“El… You’re really… You’re really an idiot…”

Calling me an idiot and then averting her face afterward… Wasn’t that a bit too much? A-Anyway… I pulled myself back and continued collecting some clay from a small cliff. It was a good thing we were able to find a spot to gather clay. 

“Are you going to do something new?”

“Yeah… I’m planning to make some earthenware using this clay.”

Knowledge was really important. Good thing I took a liking to history lesson back then. Back in my original world, I could quickly look up anything I was curious about on the internet. 

That’s why… Everyone, if you have an interest in something, look it up on the internet right away!

“Hoo~ El, you really know a lot, huh…”

I mixed the clay I had collected with sand. I kneaded it to remove the air so I could create a uniform material for me to work on. I had failed so many times… This was the result of trial and error. 

Then, to prevent the material from drying out, I prepared layers of leaves on a stone base (this was also to make it easier to rotate the mixture by hand). Next, I shaped the kneaded material into strings. These strings then would be formed together into rings and then the rings would be stacked together to create the earthenware I wanted. It didn’t matter if the shape was a bit weird. I focused on making a jar-like shape. 

Then, finally, I heated the jar in an open fire pit and… It was done. Needless to say, Marin was more skilled at this part than me. 

“It never ceases to amaze me that we can actually do something like this in a stranded island…”

“Well, I  guess? But Marin, you’re amazing! The shape and the looks are perfect! Anyway, we will use this earthenware to extract salt.”

Salt was very important in preserving food, something that we needed to do for the upcoming winter. Besides, salt could also be used for seasoning. 

“How are we going to extract salt from it?”

“First, we need to gather some seaweed.”

We collected eelgrass and sargassum seaweed. A little fun fact! Hijiki was part of the sargassum family. How about that? A nice fun fact, right? Hijiki was so amazing! Ahem… Okay. We piled the gathered seaweed and poured seawater over it repeatedly and then… We burned it until all of the seaweed turned into ash! We put the ash into the large earthenware vessel we had made, poured seawater into it and then boiled it until the seawater evaporated. From this, we would get a concentrated salt solution. We heated it even further to create salt crystals!

“Sa-Salty! Amazing! No, seriously, El, you’re super amazing!”

“We’re not done yet though!”

“We’re still making something else?”

“Of course! The two of us will do everything we can to survive until we can leave this island together!”

“E-Even if you say ‘everything’….”

“That’s not what I meant. I didn’t mean anything perverted!”

“Then… How about eating fresh sashimi off my naked body?”

“……..We’re not doing that either.”

“Why was there a bit of a pause there?”

Eating fresh sashimi off a naked woman… A legend transmitted among brave men… Wait-?! Did I just imagine it for a moment?!

“Were you imagining it?”

“I’m not!!”

“By the way… What exactly do you do when eating fresh sashimi off a naked body?”

“You said that without knowing what it is?!”

“Well, I heard men like it…”

“To be fair, that depends on the person…”

“Do you like it?”

“….Who knows.”

“Did you just dodge the question?! Wait! This conversation isn’t over yet! If it will makes El happy, then I….”

Mo-Moving on!! We had made fishing hooks from the bones of the birds we caught. We then used pottery to make octopus traps. We also dried fish with the salt we had made. We also strengthened the wall of our base. I said ‘wall’, but it was just wooden frames covered with mud and leaves. It was basically a tropical igloo. It took us a few days to do it, but we somehow managed to get everything done.

“Ah.. We finally can take a break.”

“Octopus… It may look a bit weird, but it’s delicious…”

Octopus was really tasty either grilled or boiled. This made me crave for some Takoyaki. I guess I should find a way to make Takoyaki in this world when I get back home.

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Chapter 43: Six Months of Living on an Uninhabited Island

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Eventually, six months had passed. Thin layer of snow started to cover the island. Of course, the temperature was starting to get cold too. I thought I had prepared thoroughly for the winter. I never once underestimated how fearsome nature could be, but.. The weather was colder than I expected. I had prepared everything I could. Adding insulation with grass, leaves, tree bark and feathers from the birds we caught and yet… It still felt cold. In the end, I ended up catching a cold.

“Cough! Ugh…. Cough!! Cough…!!”

Right! I caught a cold, okay?! Tehehe… But, Ugh… I didn’t think I would catch a cold and get a high fever like this…

“El… El… Stay strong, okay…?”

Marin looked so anxious as she nursed me. I actually wanted to avoid spreading the cold to her, but since we only had one place to sleep… It was hard for me to tell her to stay away from me. I could only pray she wouldn’t catch my cold. But still, I felt bad for making her worry about me because I caught a cold. 

Since it has come to this… I don’t have any other choice!

“Don’t worry… I… Uugh-“

Plop.

“El? EL?!?! Pull yourself together!! El!!”

Seeing Marin panicking as if I had died, I suddenly sit up again.

“I’m not going to die from something like this, you know?”

“E-El?!”

It seemed Marin still didn’t understand what was happening. 

Alright, once more…

“Cough! Cough! Ugh-…”

Plop.

“El?! EL?!?!”

Marin shook my body vigorously and then, I sat up nonchalantly as if nothing happened. 

“I’m not going to die from something like this, you know?”

This is that famous skit!

“…What are you trying to do?”

“No, I mean… I just want to cheer you up a bit…”

“How am I supposed to get cheered up like this?! El!! You’re messed up to be doing something like this at a time like this!! You stupid! Even if you were just joking, but I…”

“I’m fine, okay? Look, thanks to Marin, I’m energetic enough to do something like this. That’s why Marin… Won’t you have some rest? You haven’t slept all day long, right? I’m already fine thanks to you! So… Please?”

I didn’t just do all that for no reason! I did it so Marin wouldn’t collapse from exhaustion. I was really fine, okay?

“Mmh… Understood… I guess I will go to sleep… Just for a little bit though.”

After waiting a while, I could hear the sound of Marin’s soft breathing as she slept. Finally, Marin could finally get some rest. I was glad to know that. But still, my head was pounding. My throat was stinging. I felt dizzy. It seemed my fever was pretty high. This… This could be bad. Seriously bad… 

I laid there for a while longer until eventually..

Snap! Crunch! Crunch!

What was that?! I heard noises coming from outside. It sounded like a branch breaking and gravel being stepped on. Someone was here? Was it just my imagination? Anyway, since Marin had just fallen asleep after nursing me all day long, I shouldn’t wake her up. 

Grabbing a nearby wooden spear, I staggered on my feet and headed outside. The island was snowing heavily. My vision was getting blurry, but… I could somehow see a human figure…

“…Who?”

“-?! E-El-sama?!”

“You… You know me?”

“EL-SAMAAAAA!!”

After shouting my name, that unknown person ran up to me and hugged me tightly. This person’s voice sounded familiar though…

“Don’t tell me… Miinya?”

“Yes.. Yes! It’s Miinya! Uuu…. El-sama!! El-sama!! Ah… I’m so glad… I’m so glad you’re safe!”

Crap… I could feel my consciousness fading away. Even though this was our long-awaited reunion, but… Then, at the very least, I needed to tell Miinya…

“Haa… Haa… Miinya, I’m sorry… Before I lose consciousness, I have an important thing to say… Inside that house, there’s someone very important to me. Please… Take care of…”

“El-sama?! Your fever! What a terrible fever!! Letty!! Rinrin!! Leila!! Over here!! Hurry up!!”

And then, my vision faded to black.

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T/N: Wow… How did they find him?!