Lagoon 19

Chapter 19 The Woman Behind the Veil 

I told Jean to get dressed, then asked her in detail about Elsa’s plan. 

Jean explained to me, “Elsa told me to put this mushroom in your food. She said the mushroom would make you go crazy, and then you’d assault the other girls… Once Miss Lily and the others kicked you out, Elsa would come back and invite you to form a new survivor team with her.” 

Jean told me that if she didn’t follow Elsa’s orders, Elsa would reveal the brand on her body and expose that she’d been lying. 

Elsa also told Jean she had made contact with powerful people and might be able to leave the island. 

If Jean behaved and followed orders, they’d take her with them when they left. 

I nodded, roughly understanding the situation. 

Jean was a timid, insecure girl. Elsa had lured her in with all kinds of promises, convincing her to secretly slip the mushroom into our food. 

But judging from what I’d seen, Jean didn’t have the nerve to go through with poisoning us. 

I felt a deep disgust at Jean’s weakness, but I didn’t make things harder for this pitiful girl. 

Still, none of that mattered now. 

What mattered was that I had to find Elsa and eliminate the threat. 

According to Jean, Elsa always came from the southwest side of the cave. 

I told Jean to go back to the cave, then gripped my multi–tool camping knife tightly. 

I was going to take Elsa out. 

This time, no one would be begging for Elsa’s life. 

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I headed southwest from the cave. 

Wherever Elsa had passed through, there would be traces. 

Grass on the ground would be bent, or there’d be faint footprints left in the sand. 

Relying on my mercenary tracking skills, I found signs of Elsa’s trail within half an hour. 

Elsa was crouched in front of a crude shelter made of branches, working on two shellfish. 

The shells had been opened, and she was using a sharp shard of stone to scoop out 

the meat. 

But she didn’t eat it. Instead, she cleaned the shells and used them as bowls, handing the meat–filled shells to someone else. 

That someone was fully covered in black gauze, only showing a pair of eyes. From the figure, it was clearly a woman. 

It was obvious Elsa feared her. 

Next to the mysterious veiled woman was another female with delicate features. 

Judging by her face, she looked like a Korean woman. 

Elsa handed the shells to the two women, then sat down with her head hung low, watching them eat. 

After they finished, the Korean woman kicked Elsa and scolded her with a few words. 

Elsa looked miserable as she got up and went toward the shore to search for more food. 

Hiding behind a bush, I watched her misfortune with no small amount of satisfaction. 

So even the proud Elsa could–be this scared. 

After Elsa had walked far enough away, the veiled woman stood up and said 

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toward me, “Mr. Leon, please come out. We’ve already seen you.” 

Her voice was soft and gentle, sounding very young. 

I stood up from behind the bush and curiously examined the two women. 

The pretty woman said, “Mr. Leon, allow me to introduce you. This is Miss Faye, owner of the yacht and a noble princess. I’m her assistant. My name is Ginnie.” 

Princess? 

Heh. That title might terrify Elsa, but it didn’t mean anything to me. 

In the distant land of Mordovia, there were plenty of tiny countries. The kings and chieftains there had many wives. 

They had dozens of children, and all of them carried the title of prince or princess. 

Faye was a common foreign female name. It meant “pure girl.” 

Her being a princess didn’t scare me. But since she was the yacht’s owner, I couldn’t help but ask, “Will there be a rescue team coming?” 

Faye’s voice carried a trace of disappointment. “I’m afraid no rescue team will come… Even if one does, it won’t be for a few months–maybe half a year at best.” 

I frowned. “Why?” 

Faye said helplessly, “We don’t know why, but the yacht went over two hundred kilometers off course and sailed into a reef–filled area. According to David, we’ve entered the waters around Shadow Island. Communications were badly disrupted, and we couldn’t send a distress signal.” 

I said with a scowl, “Off course? That must’ve been deliberate. Someone set you up.” 

Faye nodded. “Exactly… When I ordered David and the navigator to find the proper heading, the yacht suddenly shook violently. At first, I thought we’d hit a reef, but the damage control officer said over the internal line that there had been an explosion. Brave David had Ginnie and me put on life vests and lowered a lifeboat for us. He’d just finished when the yacht exploded again, this time much more violently.” 

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Faye’s voice was weary. “The waves from the explosion swept our lifeboat away. Then the current brought us to this island. That’s why we arrived even later than Elsa.” 

I wasn’t especially interested in Faye’s misfortune. I urgently asked what really mattered to me: “Is the lifeboat still intact? Does it have any usable supplies on it?” 

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