Chapter 4: Cannibals
At the same time, deep in the dense forest somewhere on the island.
Here, there is a group of wild people wearing animal skins and decorations made of animal teeth and horns. They are dancing an unknown dance around a fire that blazes high into the sky.
They also put different colored plant extracts on their faces. The ritual of dancing around the fire is a tradition of these wild people.
"It smells terrible..."
In a fenced area at the wild people's camp, two girls in a cage are pinching their noses and fanning the air with their hands and mouths.
Inside the cage, there are more than ten cages. Each cage contains two people.
There are men and women among them, and judging from their tired faces and clothes torn from being hit by tree branches, they are probably the lucky ones who survived the plane crash.
They don't know why they were captured by these people.
"Senpai, what do these people want to do?"
Sora Ginko hears excited roars nearby. She looks at the other girl, who is also trapped in a cage like her. Her face is pale.
"My name is Kasumigaoka Utaha. As for why these people captured us, it might be..."
Kasumigaoka Utaha is a skilled light novel writer. She quickly figures out what the wild people want.
"What is it? Kasumigaoka-senpai knows? And for the seniors, just call me Ginko. My name is Sora Ginko."
Ginko grabs Utaha's sleeve to help calm her down.
The loud, scary screams outside make her feel afraid.
"I know you, Snow White of Naniwa. I saw your photo in a magazine."
Utaha forces a smile on Ginko's face.
"These people, if I'm right, are dancing around the fire as part of a ritual..."
"What kind of ritual is that?"
I'm surprised to find out that Senpai is also interested in shogi.
Sora Ginko pulls at the wooden cage that is holding them both, and she carefully watches the wild figures through the spaces in the cage.
"A ritual before cannibalism."
As soon as Utaha finishes speaking, two wild people open the wooden gate and take a cage away.
"Hey, who are you? Let me out! I can give you a lot of money, or you can get something else from me!"
The two middle-aged men with bulging bellies in the cage start to howl like pigs being slaughtered.
But the savages clearly don't understand what the two middle-aged men are saying.
"Eat people!? Impossible?"
Ginko feels a little shocked, but after seeing the two wild people drag the cage, she starts to believe what Utaha said.
After seeing the savages dragging a cage, everyone else had the same idea.
Those people are definitely going to eat them.
Ginko's eyes follow the two wild figures as they drag the wooden cage.
Here are some notes: Is it made of wood or bamboo?
"Stop looking!"
Utaha quickly closes the eyes of her younger schoolmate. If she keeps looking, she might never forget it.
When the screams suddenly stop, everyone in the cages falls silent.
Some people have already made crosses on their chests, but many just become numb or cry without making a sound.
What they imagined has really happened.
These people really captured them as food.
"Kasumigaoka-senpai, are we also..."
Even though she saw it with her own eyes, Ginko understands what has happened to the people in the cage.
"Don't worry, these people don't seem to like eating women. Our cage is in the back, so we should be the last..."
She doesn't say it directly, but Ginko understands what Utaha means.
"A... I don't want to die..."
Ginko hugs Kasumigaoka Utaha in front of her, her whole body shaking with fear.
"As long as we can survive until the rescue team arrives, we won't die... Don't worry..."
Utaha gently holds Ginko in her arms and makes her feel better.
The other girl is only fourteen years old, and it's already impressive that she's not terrified half to death in such a scary situation.
Sigh... If this were really happening in a novel, there would surely be a "prince" coming to rescue both "princesses."
Utaha sighs.
At this moment, she has a lot of inspiration to write a novel, but she is not happy.
If this continues, they'll be lucky if they die of hunger before the cannibals eat them.
"Senpai is right. As long as we can survive, there's still hope..."
The same is true for shogi.
I don't know where he is now. This time, the school trip was for both middle school and high school students together.
Ginko secretly calls him Katō Jun.
_ _ _
"Great! You finally woke up!"
A girl with a bun in her hair happily supports another girl on the beach.
"This place?"
Kato Megumi opens her eyes, confused.
She still remembers the moment the plane crashed and she and her brother hugged each other.
"This seems to be a deserted island..."
Yuigahama Yui fixes her long, pink hair, which is covering her face, and tries to smile at Kato Megumi.
"Are you someone who was in my older brother's class?"
Megumi briefly recognizes the pink-haired girl who is dressed in a party style. She sat next to her older brother and learned about him.
"Your brother? Could it be Katō Jun-san?"
Yui remembers her classmate. She was good at school and in sports.
"My name is Kato Megumi. Thank you for saving me."
Megumi slowly stands up from the beach and looks around.
From this beach, it looks like a small island, with a bigger island in front of it.
The two islands are close together, but it's impossible to swim between them.
They are currently on the smaller island.
"No... no... We should have been brought to this island together by boat. I just woke up a little earlier than you..."
Yui panics and explains, not wanting the girl to think she's a hero.
"My name is Yuigahama Yui, but you can just call me Yui. It seems that we are the only ones on this island..."
Yui tries to smile, but her face quickly goes from smiling to looking angry.
The school trip should have been fun, but suddenly the plane crashes. After surviving by chance, they are stuck on an empty island.
Her bangs fall down.
"Thank you for taking care of me, Yui-san."
Megumi lifts a strand of hair from her forehead and looks at the sunlight to see if it is morning or evening.
My older brother would really enjoy watching survival shows in the wild. He would know how to take the first steps on a deserted island.
"Kato... Megumi-san is too polite," Yui says, feeling happy but slightly embarrassed after the girl addressed her. "Can I call you Megumi-san?"
"Of course, Yui-san, let's find longer sticks and hit the coconuts down from the trees. I'm a bit thirsty..."
Megumi talks to the girl with the bun, remembering a TV show she once watched with her brother.
It feels like more than just a little thirst. Under the hot sun, Yui feels like her throat is about to burn.
"Mm!"
Luckily, she wasn't alone. Having someone to talk to makes Yui feel hopeful about surviving.
"Once we have more water and energy, we can hope for the rescue team to arrive."
And my older brother...
Megumi repeats her brother's name in her heart, then goes to the forest near the beach with Yui to look for wood.
"That's right, as long as we can survive until the rescue team arrives, we can go back!"
Yui feels full of energy.