Finding a Way to Leave

In the morning, Freyr went out again to find food. This time, it took him longer because they had one more person to feed. He returned with another bundle of plant roots.

This time, the Ice Queen said nothing and took the roots to eat.

Freyr chuckled. "Hey."

"What?!"

"Actually..." Freyr suddenly found this woman not as unbearable as before. Judging by her current behavior, she was merely acting out like a child with an inner turmoil. Stifling a laugh, Freyr said, "Although the food is simple... at least you could wash off the dirt before eating."

"..."

Seeing her face darken again, Freyr quickly changed the subject. "Now that we're all stuck here together, we're comrades on the same boat... I still don't know your name."

Freyr stood up with a smile, performing a standard noble greeting. "I am Freyr Russell, current head of the Russell family, Vice Commander of the Imperial Headquarters, and son of Earl Edward."

The Ice Queen hesitated, clearly reluctant, but finally said, "My name is Naya."

Naya... quite a nice name.

Lilith, noticing that Freyr and her sister were finally not fighting, quickly added, "You can also call her JoJo."

JoJo... what a strange name.

"Shut up, Lilith," Naya snapped coldly, then glared at Freyr. "Only my parents can call me that. If you dare, you're dead."

"Alright," Freyr didn't mind. "Miss Naya, now that we're acquainted, it's time to get to work."

"Work? What work?"

Freyr's smile faded as he became serious. "We need to find a way off this island. I have an idea..."

"What? You're suggesting we make a raft to leave here?" Naya frowned, looking at Freyr with suspicion. "That's your great idea? You plan to sail across the sea on a tiny raft back to the mainland? You must be insane!"

Freyr smiled and slowly explained his reasoning:

"I think it's possible. You and Lilith are both powerful wizards. You can fly long distances using any tool or mount, right? If your magic still worked, you would have used wind magic to fly off this cursed island by now, correct?"

"Of course!" Naya replied coldly. "If I could still fly, I'd be gone already."

"That's the point," Freyr smiled. "You've lost your magic. But I believe the problem isn't with you; it's something on this island. I suspect there's some kind of anti-magic field or barrier here, likely connected to that terrifying beast you saw. So, I wonder, how big is this anti-magic field? Does it just cover this island, or does it extend a bit into the surrounding sea? My guess is that the range isn't very large."

Naya understood quickly, continuing without Freyr needing to explain further. "So, you're not planning to sail all the way to the mainland on a small raft. You just want to get out of the anti-magic field, so Lilith and I can regain our powers and fly back. Right?"

"Exactly," Freyr nodded.

"But what if it doesn't work?" Naya frowned. "What if you're wrong? What if Lilith and I can't recover our magic even after leaving the island? Or it takes days or even months to recover? What then? We'd still die at sea with just a small raft."

"That's just a different way to die," Freyr raised an eyebrow. "I can tell you clearly... if we stay here, we'll starve to death in two or three days. There are many trees on this island, but very few edible plants. I've already found that out while foraging. I can't guarantee I'll find more food tomorrow."

"We can fish!"

"Ha!" Freyr laughed. "Fish? Try it! The huge waves and earthquakes caused by that monster yesterday must have scared away any fish in these waters!"

Although the idea seemed risky, after careful consideration, Naya realized that Freyr made sense. Staying meant certain starvation; it was better to take a chance.

Next, they needed to figure out how to make a raft.

The problem was... they had no tools!

Even to cut down trees for the raft, they'd need an axe. Without an axe, even a knife would do in a pinch.

But Freyr and his companions didn't even have a knife!

Naya, despite being a warrior, used a flute as her weapon!

Without tools, chopping down trees was impossible. Even Naya, as a swordswoman, couldn't break a tree with her bare hands.

Freyr initially thought of using Naya's armor. Since it was metal, they could fashion a piece of iron into a makeshift blade.

Unfortunately, Freyr was quickly disappointed.

Naya wasn't stingy with her magic-infused armor, but it was adorned with intricate designs, lacking any solid pieces big enough to use.

After much thought, Freyr came up with another idea.

Dragon scales!

Despite feeling sorry for her pet, Lilith agreed to let Freyr take a few scales from her dragon.