Alderamin on the Sky

Volume 1 Chapter 2

All Quiet on the Eastern Front

  It felt like she was being swallowed by cold, black, bottomless darkness.

There was no way to resist it. Being tossed about by the raging current with no sense of up or down, her eardrums screeching and shrieking with the pressure of the water- but more than that, the pressure of despair crushed her heart. Staring down the terror of death before your eyes for the first time since birth is not something you could possibly face with the power of reason.

The strength of her floundering arms and legs quickly exhausted. --As that happened, a light shone.

She could vaguely see that something was coming, traveling along a straight path that pierced through the darkness. At first, her arm was grasped- from there, her body embraced. She could hear the sound of a heart extremely close by. She could only think that it seemed the two of their pulses, passing through their touching skin, were synchronizing.

Inside her fading consciousness, she could tell that Death was clicking his tongue and growing distant from her as she was wrapped in light and warmth--

"...Nnn..."

Crackle, crackle--with the sound of sparks popping, the young girl opened her eyes.

Her view was dark. With a small open fire as the sole light source, in the center of the orange light, human silhouettes emerged. A handsome young man anxiously gazing at the fire together with a plump youth whose teeth were chattering. As she turned even more, there was an imposing female with hair the same color as flames sitting on the left end. She was closely hugging her partner, a spirit, whom everyone was sharing to warm themselves.

"...Ah! Were you woken up?"

With a gentle voice close to her ear, she gradually noticed that she was being held upright. There was a feeling of soft breasts on her back, and warmth was being distributed from the skin in contact with hers across thin undergarments.

"...You, are...?"

At her voice, before anything the red-haired female--Yatori rose and immediately knelt reverently.

"You were able to awaken, Your Highness, the Princess. ...Please allow me nothing but the privilege worshiping you like this."

Except Haro, who was embracing the young girl, the others followed Yatori's example and lowered their heads. Being shown respect from them, the young girl as well remembered, once more, her own rightful position.

"...You, raise your heads. You may eliminate etiquette- Under what circumstances..."

"Ah, as you wish. ...If I may explain concisely, during a boat trip headed to the venue for the High Grade Military Officer Exam, the Hirgano Archipelago, the boat which we happened to ride together encountered a storm and sunk. The only ones to narrowly escaped on lifeboat, were the six of us, including Your Highness. More importantly, after approximately two days of drifting, we drifted ashore a beach somewhere...thus, we are now living in an underground cave."

Receiving Yatori's report, the young girl widened her large eyes and sank into silence...after that, she took a full several minutes and organized her memories, making up for the gaps with the information she heard a moment ago.

"...I see, the ship... So that really wasn't a dream?"

The unpleasant memory of being swallowed up by the pitch black ocean surface was brought back, and her shoulders suddenly trembled. Inside the layered outer garments she wore, Haro, embracing her small body, anxiously looked at her face from the side.

"During the two days of drifting, since the body of Your Highness, continuously struck by rain, became completely cold...this Haroma Bekkel and I, Yatorishino Igsem, had the honor of warming your body with our body warmth in turn. We were aware of our impoliteness, but for the lack of other methods, kindly pardon this much..."