Chapter of Bottled Love: Tentacle Tunnel

“We’re home.”

After lazily striding into the wagon, I threw myself on the bed. Despite resting at noon already, I still felt pretty exhausted. Maybe we should call it a day…

“Yumi... I guess I should get used to this, huh…”

“Nn? Get used to what?”

“That you immediately dive into the bed.”

“...”

Now that she mentioned it, I did that a lot when we returned, didn’t I? I never really thought about it…

“Nn… The bed has this magical attraction that I simply can’t avoid, I guess?”

“...”

Maybe the bed was actually some kind of magic tool, specifically designed to lure me in?

“Stop spouting nonsense, Yumi.”

“I’m sorry.”

Oh well… That didn’t work out…

“Haa… It’s not like I was going to scold you, you know? I can relate to it a little…”

“Ohh? Then join me.”

“Didn’t we want to check up on those tentacles? And who was it who said they wanted to do some work after dinner?”

“...”

Ah. Yes. Past me.

“Haa… Give me a minute…”

“The longer you stay the harder it’ll be to leave.”

“Then carry me.”

“...”

No response… Guess I really had to get up on my o—Ooohh?

“And there we go. Satisfied?”

Supporting my back in one arm and carrying my legs in her other… Performing a wonderful bridal carry, Karen looked down at me with a mischievous smile.

“Si— Sis…”

“What? Are you embarrassed?”

“...”

Yes, I was. I was seriously embarrassed and just as seriously happy about it.

“And you call me sly…”

“Once in a while, I have to return the favour, don’t I?”

“Uhhh…”

But this was just plain unfair…

“You’re mean,” I muttered.

I hugged Karen from my position in her arms, securing me firmly.

“You really are.”

“Hehe. Shall we?”

“... Nn.”

“Then, hold tight.”

Karen carried me through the room and opened the door skillfully, without loosening her grip on me. What entered our sight was a familiar, pink-coloured room, full of wriggling tentacles.

“I guess they are lively enough.”

“Seems like it.”

The tentacles stirred when we entered the room but soon enough returned to the ground as if saying that they were going back to sleep. What nerve.

“No, Yumi, look at the ceiling!”

“Nn? Huh? What the… They’re dried up?”

My eyes widened at the unexpected view. The tentacles on the ground and the walls were looking healthy but the ones on the ceiling were all dried up. They looked exactly like the ones that were lacking mana. And a quick glance with mana sight confirmed that there didn’t seem to be much mana present. I’d have to confirm directly to make sure but I doubted it’d give a different result.

“Sis, can you lift me up high enough?”

“Sure. This fine?”

“Nn, thank you.”

The way she lifted me by holding my waist reminded me of how people sometimes lifted children up high in the air... That was… Err, anyway, first things first.

I stretched out my hand and touched the nearest mana egg.

“And?”

“... They’re really out of mana. The crystals are still absorbing it but…”

“It’s not enough?”

“Nn.”

Which was quite surprising to me. I didn’t have the impression that the tentacles required a lot of mana, considering how they could feed themselves on those tiny pebbles of mana crystals. And the amount they absorbed from the air was many times that of such a pebble. Yet, here we were, with dried out tentacles.

“Sis, you can let me down again.”

“Okay.”

“...”

A moment later, I was seated back in her arms. Sure, if she didn’t mind I wouldn’t tell her to let me down unless I had to…

“Something wrong?”

“No. Nothing.”

I was happy enough in her arms, so I really shouldn’t complain. Hell, I was sure I’d be disappointed if she let me down. I should just accept it, just like all the other things I had already come to accept. No point in pushing away something I enjoyed.

“Nn, everything’s fine.”

“They don’t look fine to me.”

“I’m fine, though.”

“I don’t think that’s going to help them.”

“It helps me.”

“Stop the nonsense.”

“Ouch!”

She hit me with her forehead… I was scolded.

“So, what are you going to do?”

“I don’t know… They should recover if we feed them mana… But just what used up all that mana...”

Although, that still wouldn’t tell us why they consumed so much mana… Each of the mana eggs absorbed mana from our surroundings in a not negligible quantity… To add to that, the last time I checked the crystals had stored quite a bit of mana away already.

Did I mistake the amount of mana they needed? No, to be honest, I didn’t even pay that much attention to that since it didn’t seem like it would matter…

Apparently, I had miscalculated and it did matter. Nothing I could do about...

“Yumi. Maybe it’s this.”

“Nn?”

As I was thinking to myself, Karen pointed with her chin towards the ground.

“You mean… the pitfall?”

“Yes. Also, the tentacles on the ground had thickened when you fed them mana, right? But they’re all back to normal.”

“... That might be it. Okay, Sis, let me down.”

“Too bad.”

“You can carry me later again if you want.”

At least, I’d love to. And preferably without the layer of cloth in between.

While I was starting to think of completely unrelated stuff, Karen let me down to the ground, right next to the pitfall.

Well, something to think of for later… For now, I have to take care of these.

Snapping back to reality, I turned my attention to the pitfall next to me and then to the mana egg in the centre of the room. First, I’d like to check that mana egg.

“Let’s see… Yeah, there are no mana reserves left…”

All the mana had disappeared into nothing…

“Next is the pitfall… Nn…”

“And?”

“It seems to have enough mana. At least, it’s not starved like the tentacles.”

The amount of mana wasn’t much by all means. But it felt like a little mana was indeed flowing towards the pitfall.

“I think it’s really the pitfall that used up all the mana…”

“Mm… Then, what are you going to do, Yumi?”

“Nn… Good question… For now, can you fetch me the mana orb? It’s on the table.”

“When did you have time to do that…”

I never had… It’s just that the mana orb had been in my armour and that armour was on the table after Karen undressed me at noon. She herself was the one who put the mana orb there… She probably had other things on her mind then. Not that I could blame her. I didn’t think much of it either.

“Here you go.”

“Thanks. Nn?”

“Something wrong with it?”

“I think it’s finally running low on mana…”

It should still have enough to feed the tentacles here for now but it definitely was in need of some refilling.

“Let’s first fill these up again.”

Holding the mana orb in one hand and holding the other over the mana egg in the centre of the room, I began to transfer the mana from one to the other. Seconds later, the tentacles gradually returned to life once more.

“Nn. Good.”

“But like this, it’ll just be a repeat from before.”

“That’s likely the case… But honestly… We don’t need that pitfall, do we?”

“Well…”

It was a pitfall made inside a wagon. Disregarding that usual physics wouldn’t even allow this, it was utterly out of place. There was nobody we’d need to trap here… Although…

“Nobody would expect to fall into a pitfall when they enter a wagon…”

“Neither do you really need a pitfall in your wagon… Yumi, at that point, there are surely better options than trapping your own home.”

“Guess that’s true.”

The thought was a little exciting, for some reason… I enjoyed playing around with the tentacles, didn’t I? Not that it was a bad thing. 

“Anyway, let’s see if I can remove it…”

The pitfall, huh… Would it work if I just wanted those tentacles to return to their previous state? That was how I ended up with this pitfall in the first place, after all.

“Let’s try it.”

I held my hand against the pitfall and focussed on it, telling it in my mind to return back to a mana egg.

“... Yumi?”

“One moment.”

It didn’t work… So much to that…

But it’d be a problem if I couldn’t remove it… in the first place, what would happen if it ran out of mana?

That wasn’t something I should try without consulting Ria. Or maybe the Elder. This was magic that bent space and it scared me to think what kind of horrific results I’d end up with if something went wrong…

Great, now I’m thinking about how dangerous this is again… Haa… Get yourself together, Yumi! Ria said it was safe as long as the tentacles were controlling it! And they clearly refuse to do anything if it doesn’t work.

In the best case, they understood perfectly well what they could and couldn’t do. Not like I could ask them.

“But what can I do to return it back to normal… Sis, any ideas?”

“I don’t even know what you tried.”

“Ah, right… I tried thinking of turning it back into a mana egg again but as you can see…”

“Nothing happened.”

“Nn.”

A grand nothing.

“Shouldn’t you imagine them to just return to tentacles first?”

“Nn… That’s probably the next best one. Okay, let’s do it.”

Once more, I held my hand against the top of the pitfall and imagined the floor to return to a mass of tentacles.

“Ah.”

And obediently turning back into tentacles it did.

“... The mana egg is gone.”

“Is it?”

“Nn…”

Did it consume the mana egg to turn into the pitfall? Apparently so… So that’s why there was no trace of it afterwards…

And I probably can’t just create mana eggs and mana crystals out of nothing…

The Mother Roper, it had created smaller ropers as well, didn’t it? And those ropers also had those see-through mana crystals in them… Those had to come from somewhere.

Well, at least, for now, this worked. It’s not like it’s a problem for now but it’s probably something I should keep in mind.

With that, the out of ordinary mana consumption should be dealt with for now. Hopefully.

“But it’s a problem if they actually use up mana… No, I probably should have expected that after all…”

“Well, you know now…”

“Nn.”

Better late than never.

“Anyway, with that out of the way… What did I want to test again… Err, whether the tentacles can take the form of whatever I want them, right?”

“Right.”

Mm… Well, it’d be hopefully a straightforward issue, right? After all, I just had to do the same as before.

“Let’s fill the mana orb first.”

I immediately intended to stand up… Alas, Karen picked me up first, once more carrying me in her arms.

“... Sis?”

“Yes?”

“... Nothing.”

The way she smiled at me in response to my question and then slightly squeezed me against her body… Well, it made me happy too. I was repeating myself, but there was no way I’d ever say it enough.

“To the crates with the mana crystal.”

“Sure thing.”

She carried me out of the room to the other end of the wagon where we had crates sitting. Two of them were already completely emptied while the other four were left untouched.

“Nn… Sis, should I empty them all?”

“... Are you sure that’s a good idea?”

“Well… I don’t know either....”

They could explode, after all. In theory. On the other hand, they had only exploded when I lost control or wanted them to explode. Outside of that, they just… grew in size. Even this orb, which had now turned a shade darker, had grown from a tiny pebble.

“Let’s do this.”

“You’re pretty daring today.”

“Let’s do it before I change my mind.”

Before I decided that it wasn’t as safe as it looked. I took a deep breath to calm myself. Calm, calm.

“Here I… Sis, I can’t do it like this.”

“Too bad.”

Slightly reluctant, Karen let me down to the ground. I was disappointed as well but some things were just not going to work out.

“Okay, let’s drop the mana orb in there and start.”

Gathering the mana of the surrounding crystals, I steadily poured it into the mana orb. The mana crystals in the crate turned to dust one after another, emptying the crate at a steady pace. Halfway in, I had to lean into the crate to reach the mana orb and the crystals because it had sunk so deep into the crate.

“And that’s it. One empty crate.”

“It’s really quick, isn’t it?”

“Better than taking too long. Sis, next one.”

“Sure. Here you go.”

Karen made space for me so I could reach the other crates. After repeating the process another three times—thankfully without any explosions—the mana orb had once again grown a little in size. Its diameter was maybe around the length of my thumb. Considering my hands were pretty small, it was still not exactly something you could call big. The mana it contained, however, was no joke…

“Nn… See? Nothing happened.”

“Yes…”

Admittedly, this had been just a little nerve-racking. It was like you were working with a ticking time bomb, that would go off the moment you lost concentration. My respect for people who could calmly handle explosives. I wasn’t one of them.

“But now this orb should have plenty of mana again. But, for now, let’s limit it to four crates.”

Considering the enormous difference in space, this should be good enough already.

“Nn… But we also used up all the mana crystals now.”

“Didn’t the captain buy more from a merchant?”

“Now that you mention it, I think he did.”

He had mentioned that he had bought a ton of mana crystals from some merchant who wanted to get rid of them.

“Let’s ask him about it tomorrow.”

It surely would make him happy if we told him we could diminish four crates into this handy size. Although, we probably should leave at least one crate untouched, now that I thought about it. After all, I needed some pebbles to grow the mana eggs and orbs… That was an oversight…

“Okay, let’s get back to the tentacles. Sis, carry me. And let me take that bag with the mana crystals for exploding.”

“With pleasure.”

After she ensured that I was comfortably nestled into her arms, we fetched the small bag on the table and returned to the tentacle room. Once we were inside, Karen suddenly sat down on the ground in front of the mana egg in the corner and placed me on her lap.

“Sis… It’s a little hard to work like this.”

“Do you hate it?”

“You know very well that I don’t. Oh well…”

Maybe we were messing around a little too much but I could manage somehow. I could still lean forward so it wasn’t really that big of an issue.

“Okay, let’s see… Nn… Sis, any ideas on what I should ask them to make?”

“Mh… Good question… Maybe a table and chairs?”

“A table and chairs, huh… That’s a good idea.”

At the very least, those had little potential to backfire.

“Then let’s do that. The table first.”

A table… The easiest would probably be a table with one leg in the centre for now. Yeah…

Then let’s imagine it… A table… A table… Make a table...

Focussing on the mana egg in front of me, I imagined the table.

Come on… A table… Go make a table, tentacles!

A table… A table made of tentacles… Of tenta—

“Woah!”

The moment I specified what it was made of, the mana egg started to absorb mana from the surrounding tentacle growth. I quickly supplied it with more mana from the orb in my hands to prevent the tentacles from drying out again. And several seconds later...

“...”

“It’s a table.”

“Nn, it is.”

It wasn’t exactly how I had imagined it but there was a round table in front of us with a single leg in the centre supporting it. It did look pretty grotesque since you could still make out the form of the tentacles… Albeit the top was completely smooth.

“It really worked.”

“Yumi, now we need some chairs.”

“Ah, right. But I really can’t do that in your lap, Sis...”

“Ehhh…”

Yes, I wanted to cuddle as well but she was the one who had insisted on doing some work. Only one thing was possible… 

“Okay... “

“Nn… Let’s cuddle a lot later, okay, Sis?”

“I won’t let you sleep tonight.”

“Have mercy…”

Even if we were on break, messing up our sleeping schedule even more was probably not the smartest idea.

But we won’t sleep by ourselves tomorrow… We should probably make the most out of it tonight…

While I thought about tonight, I placed two mana crystals next to the table and transformed them into mana eggs. The surrounding tentacles swiftly took hold of them.

“Then, a chair…”

The tentacles hadn’t reacted until iI thought of a chair specifically made of tentacles… Maybe they needed that specific kind of image from me... 

Let’s try it out… First, I’ll think of a wooden chair… A chair, a chair… A chair made of wood…

Just as I had expected, the tentacles didn’t react at all.

Nn… Then, let’s think of a chair made of tentacles… Ahh… But a four-legged chair, would that even work? Uhh…

A single legged chair was basically just a block, though… But it was many times better than making a chair that would collapse beneath us…

A chair… A single chair of tentacles! Ohh!

The tentacles instantly reacted to the image, taking in more mana, growing in mass and forming a single chair. Although, it was really more like a block. Or a stump. Yeah, just like a wooden stump.

“Sis, I did it.”

“Good job, Yumi.”

Karen patted my head in praise, ruffling my hair.

“Hehehe… Now, let’s do the other one and then we can sit down.”

I was curious how it’d feel to sit on these tentacle chairs. Repeating the procedure on the other mana egg resulted in a chair that looked pretty much the same as the previous one.

“Nn. Sis, let’s try them out.”

“Okay.”

A little cautious, we sat down on the chairs, sinking into the soft flesh.

“Oh, ohh… This is… Quite comfortable.”

“You’re right… Mm… These are nice.”

“Now, all they need is a back rest.”

Then they’d be perfect… They really were comfortable to sit on. And just high enough for my feet to still reach the ground.

They’d definitely be too small for Korwen and the others… But for us, they’re the perfect height.

I could get used to this… On the other hand, there was also something charming about higher chairs where my feet couldn’t reach the ground… How troublesome.

“But this confirms that you can turn them into other things as well, Yumi.”

“Nn, it does… But I guess they also use up more mana like this. I… doubt that a table and two chairs are going to use much compared to a pitfall that literally bends space…”

“It’d be nice if we could somehow confirm how much…”

“Yeah.”

Unfortunately, I had no idea how we could do that. We’d likely have to observe it over a longer period of time but considering the lacking space, there was no way we could afford to hold such an experiment.

“Maybe we could once we get the fort and more space… Nn… We should discuss that with the captain.”

“Or we could ask Ria.”

“Or that. Let’s first ask Ria if she has some ideas. If she doesn’t, let’s ask the captain.”

“Sounds like a plan.”

Still, these chairs were really quite comfortable. Even if you were used to a solid chair. It was like you were sitting on a soft pillow.

But it needs a back rest… Let’s see if I can add one.

I leaned forward and touched the chair I was sitting on, earning me a confused stare from Karen.

“Yumi, what are you doing?”

“One moment…”

A backrest… A backrest… Chair with a backrest… A tentacle chair with a nice backrest!

The chair below me started to wobble and squirm, draining mana from the orb again. Tentacles rose up behind me, forming the backrest I had wished for.

“This really is convenient… Yumi, can you do that for me, too?”

“Sure.”

A moment later, Karen and I both leaned back in our chairs, sinking into the back rest. Rather than chairs, they might be closer to a couch.

“This is nice.”

“Nn…”

“I might be fine with this furniture if it’s this comfortable.”

“I agree.”

The biggest problem was the appearance… After all was said and done, they were still pretty grotesque, the tentacles. They definitely weren’t suited for some elegant room interior. But they were just so convenient. If not for their appearance. If not for their appearance!

“Well, technically speaking they do use up mana, though… If we made a lot of these, they’d probably use quite a bit of mana it,” I said.

“The number would make the difference, huh…”

“Exactly.”

“Guess we’ll have to enjoy these on our own then.”

Well, I had my doubts that many people would be interested anyway, so we could probably keep it to people close to us… Although, Lily wasn’t a big fan of the tentacles… But Rina liked them… Oh well, she’d have to live with it if Rina wanted it... Though, I probably shouldn’t decide that now already…

“I wonder what else you could make.”

“Nn… As long as it isn’t anything too complicated, I think it should be fine… Well, we’d have to try. Anything in particular you want me to try, Sis?”

“Mm… I don’t know…”

Karen tilted her head and closed her eyes, lost in thought.

“No idea. The only thing that comes to mind is the Space Magic but…”

“Mh… Ria said it should be safe if the tentacles control it. I don’t know… Should I try it?”

I glanced behind me into the otherwise empty tentacle room. So far, the tentacles had done nothing that would be a danger to us. Maybe it was fine to trust them a little more? Maybe…

“I’ll leave that decision to you, Yumi.”

“Ugh...“

“They are yours, Yumi. And it is your ability by extension.”

“My ability, huh…”

Closing my eyes, I ruminated on Karen’s words for a moment before coming to a decision.

“Okay, let’s try it.”

“You sure?”

“Nn. The tentacles will probably not do anything if it won’t work out, right? I… will trust them. You said it’s my ability by extension, right? So, I’ll try to trust myself a little as well.”

“I feel that’s a little wrong, you know… But, well… If you say so, then let’s do it.”

All of a sudden, Karen chuckled for some reason.

“Sis? What’s wrong?”

“Hehe… Just, you really are quite daring today.”

“... Is that bad?”

“Mm… Not necessarily? I like it either way, I guess. Whether you are a scaredy-cat or daring like this. But I guess, I’m a little proud?”

“Proud…”

Karen smiled at me, happiness written all over her face. I averted my gaze out of embarrassment…

“We— Well, anyway! Let’s, err, see how we do this.”

“Ehehe, yes, let’s do that.”

“Uhh…”

She stood up from her chair and walked over to me.

“Sis? Nn? Wah!”

“Got you.”

“Sis… Ah, well…”

And once more, I found my way into her arms. She really took a liking to carrying me like this now.

“So, how do you plan to do this?”

“Nn… I don’t know… Well, I guess… The captain wanted to connect two spaces, right?”

“He said that, yes.”

“Then… Two places… Two end points… I guess I’d have to make two ‘doors’ or the like? That’d be the simplest solution.”

Two doors… Then I’d have to decide on where to place them. Well, since the room wasn’t exactly large, I should probably just use the opposing walls on either side.

“First, the right one.”

“To the right. This good?”

“Yes. Then, next would be… Nn… How do I imagine this?”

I needed two doors… Thinking of connecting them sounded pretty easy but…

Uhh… Let’s just try it out first… But maybe I should keep it small first… Just in case something goes wrong.

Still a little unsure, I held up one mana egg at the wall and the mana orb close by. I had to admit, I was a bit nervous, after all…

“Here I go!”

A door. A tiny door that connects to other doors! Come on, you tentacles!

Much to my surprise… The mana egg lit up, sinking into the wall… The surrounding tentacles moved to the side, revealing a flat pink surface with a cross cut into it. It was maybe large enough to fit my hand in at most.

“Something actually happened…”

“It did.”

“I’m shocked.”

“Wasn’t it you who wanted to try it and trust them?”

“Sure, but I honestly didn’t expect it to work. Much less on the first try.”

Although, it wasn’t working just yet… There was obviously only one door… Or, opening. This didn’t even qualify as a door.

“Sis, do we have something like a stick here?”

“Err, let’s see…”

We returned to the main room to look for something stick-like. After some deliberation and searching, we decided to use some of our equipment for this. Namely, some metal straps form Karen’s armour. I had the feeling Wormaz would shout at us if he saw that…

“Okay, just poke it for now…”

“Like this?”

“Yes.”

Karen poked the fleshy surface with the leather strap. I was impressed how she managed that while still holding me in her arms.

“... Feels like I’m hitting the wall, to be honest.”

“So, it doesn’t open.”

“It doesn’t.”

“Nn… Guess we won’t have any unfortunate accidents where someone falls into nothingness.”

“That… does sound quite scary.”

“It does.”

Made me wonder if that kind of space actually existed.

“But it’s good to see that won’t happen. Next is the opposite side, Yumi?”

“Nn.”

Time to repeat it on this wall as well.

“First, the mana egg...Okay…”

The moment of truth, you could say… 

“Sis, just in case something happens, get ready…”

“We can still delay it, Yumi.”

“Don’t tempt me…”

Karen giggled in response. That wasn’t amusing, really… But I could forgive her.

Nn… A door, though… Or opening… Connecting… Okay, I think I got it… Time to do this.

I breathed in, and out, calming myself.

“Ready?”

“Ready.”

“Then, here I go.”

Closing my eyes, I conveyed the image of a door to the tentacles. A door with a corridor connecting the other door. A passage through space. A subtle tugging inside me informed me… Something was starting…

“Oh, it’s… Uhh?!”

“Yu— Yumi?!”

“What… What the… Ugh.”

My vision swam. I could feel something draining out of me. Mana. An enormous amount of mana was travelling through me, from the mana orb to the mana egg. And it showed no signs of stopping. The mana orb’s reserves were diminished in an instant, and I could feel it crumbling in my hand. But the mana egg still wanted more. In a hurry, I tried to let go of it but like an electric current it held my hand in place.

“Sis! My hand!”

“Yumi!”

Karen let one arm down, my feet swinging down and hitting the ground with a thump. She held me with only one arm close to her body. Then, with her now free hand, she forced my clenched hand open and pulled it away from the mana egg. In an instant, the feeling of mana being drained vanished, only leaving me with an uncomfortable feeling of dizziness.

“Uhh…”

“Yumi, are you okay?!”

“Si— Sis… Haa… I’m fine… I’m fine... I think… Just… Just a little surprised...”

A moment later, Karen embraced me in her arms, tightly holding me. She squeezed me with her hand on the back of my head.

“Just... give me a moment to catch my breath...”

It took me a few moments to calm down. If I had a heart, it would likely beat like crazy right now. Returning her hug, I tried to calm Karen, who was just embracing me even tighter in response.

“Sis, I’m fine now.”

“... Really?”

“Nn.”

She looked at me, worry in her eyes.

“You idiot… You big, big idiot… Don’t worry me like that.”

“Sorry…”

I hugged her a little tighter, doing my best to comfort her… I was fine, I tried to tell her…

“Yumi… Are you really okay?”

“Yes, Sis… Sorry for worrying you.”

”Really?”

“Really.”

“...”

Her eyes bore into me, trying to discern whether Ireally spoke the truth.

“It was… Uhh, how to say it… Like when you tumble down a slope and then feel all dizzy? I’m still feeling a little rattled but it’s already better now. I think, most of it was just surprise.”

That, and the enormous amount of mana that had travelled from me to the mana egg. That had really been unpleasant.

“... I see.”

She embraced me again, holding m silently.

“...”

I gently pat her back, hoping it would make her feel better.

“Next time, we should probably consult with Ria first. For safety. Is that okay, Sis?”

“Mm.”

A weak nod came in response.

“Hehe…”

“Yumi?”

“Sorry, it’s just… I guess you need to keep it balanced after all… Being cautious and being daring…”

“Definitely. Don’t scare me like that again.”

“Sorry. I’ll try not to.”

“Isn’t this where you should say you won’t and not just try?”

Probably, yes…

“Sis… Should we at least take a lot at it?”

“... Don’t do anything stupid. If you do, I’ll immediately restrain you.”

“Have mercy.”

“I won’t let you out of my arms ever again then. I’ll carry you for the rest of your life.”

“I’ll do my best.”

That might be overdoing things a little, after all… I did want to keep some independence and freedom. Guess I couldn’t afford something like this happening again.

“... I wish I could do it instead of you.”

‘“Ahaha… Well, that’s…”

“Mm… I know… It’s impossible…”

Nn… Is it?

Actually, I wouldn’t be surprised if she could… But if I said that now and it’d turn out to be true, she’d never let me do it again on my own… And we just had this little incident. Even if nothing had happened, it still caught us by surprise. It was a reminder, that not everything was as perfectly safe as we might believe. Better not try anything funny for today.

“Nn… Where’s the mana orb?”

“The mana orb?”

“I want to replenish some mana… I think the mana egg still drained a little out of me…”

I didn’t actually feel that ill but I was still feeling a little dizzy from the experience.

“Uhh… Is that it?”

Karen pointed at the ground, at several black-coloured splinters covering the tentacles… Right, I remembered it crumbling in my hand...

“Are you serious…”

I glanced above us and… The tentacles were wilted again.. In fact, it was even worse than last time… The table and the chairs had also fallen apart into a mass of dried up flesh.

“Sis, I really am glad you got me free.”

“Did it… absorb all that mana?”

“Nn… Seems like it…”

There was a pink-coloured surface on the wall, just like the one behind us. A cross cut into it, dividing it into four equal parts.

“Four crates of mana crystal…”

“All gone.”

But… had it actually succeeded?

“Sis, can you poke it with the strap again?”

“... Okay.”

She picked up the metal strap that had fallen to the ground and prepared to poke the pink surface.

“Here I go.”

“Nn.”

The strap touched the surface and—

“... No way.”

“It opened.”

“No fucking way…”

In response to the poke, the pink surface retracted, opening the view of what was behind us. Peeking through the hole… We saw two girls embracing each other, facing away from us… A slightly taller one with silver hair and a smaller one with pink hair…

“You’re joking… It actually worked? Like… seriously?”

“It did…”

“You gotta be kidding me…”

I seriously couldn’t believe my eyes… The tentacles really had managed to connect space between two points. I saw something I would have disregarded as fiction and utter nonsense a mere two months ago…

“Ah, it’s closing!”

“Wait, don’t touch it, Sis.”

Stopping Karen from trying to open it again, we watched the surface close, our own backs disappearing from view. The moment the surface closed, it dried up…

“... Yumi.”

“Nn, try now.”

“... It’s a wall.”

“A wall, huh…”

The small tunnel through space was gone from sight, leaving behind only a complete mess of dried up tentacles.

“... Where do I get some mana from for now?”

The mana orb was clearly empty. Or rather, there wasn’t even anything left of it.

“You could use the other mana crystals.”

“Ah, right… Praise Sis for the reminder.”

“You’re praising me now?”

“Always. I’ll start the Holy Karen Faith from now on.”

“Stop. Right there. I won’t allow that.”

“Too bad.”

Keeping up the banter, I fished out some mana crystals and took in their mana. After reducing a few of them to empty shells, I started to feel better. A few more and I felt pretty good again.

“I think this is the first time I felt ill since I became like this... “

“In that case, I’ll have to regularly feed you mana, don’t I? Or you’ll feel bad again.”

“I… don’t think that’s how it works… Or maybe it does… Anyway, we don’t have that many mana crystals anymore.”

“Mr Captain is going to scold us.”

“He definitely will.”

I shuddered a little at the thought of it.

“Maybe we can placate him by saying it was a success?”

“I’ll tell him what happened during that.”

“Wait, then I’ll be the only one who’s going to be scolded.”

“I think you deserve a scolding. But don’t worry, I do too. I should have stopped you. We should have consulted with Ria first. Especially since we knew the pitfall used up a lot of mana...”

Karen’s expression fell, her smile disappearing. I didn’t want her smile gone… I understood why but… I didn’t want her to be sad. How could I cheer her up?

Guess I can only do that.

The one surefire way to keep her happy.

“Yumi? What are yo— Mhm?!”

“Nm… Nhm…”

The answer: A kiss.

“Mhg..  Mh… Haa! Yumi!”

“Hehe, feeling better?”

“... Really. You’re impossible.”

“But I don’t want to see you sad. I’ll feel sad too.”

“... Might be a good experience for you once in a while.”

The heck did she mean with that? I wasn’t the happy-go-lucky type, right? I wasn’t… Right? Heck, now I was unsure myself. But I wasn’t! Yeah.

“Seriously…”

“Let’s apologise to the captain together, tomorrow.”

“... Okay.”

“And for the future, let’s consult with Ria.”

“... Yes.”

A wry smile. Definitely better than no smile.

“Just what am I going to do with you, haa…”

“Hehehe, well… How about we wrap up for today?”

“I definitely don’t need another scare today.”

“Neither do I.”

Once was enough. We’d have to think of a countermeasure for the future to prevent something like this happening again. That could have ended in quite an unpleasant result if we had been just a little less careful.

“Then… How about we go to bed?”

“... Sure.”

“Woah.”

My feet left the ground as Karen lifted me up again. But not in a bridal carry this time.Instead, I was facing her as she supported my butt with one arm and my back with the other, putting my waist right at her eye level.

“I guess I’ll have to let you sleep tonight after all.”

“That’d be nice.”

She carried me to the bed and sat down on its edge, placing me right in her lap.

“But I think I’m not quite tired yet. Actually, I’m wide awake now...”

“Hehehe, same for me, Yumi.”

We smiled at each other, followed by a deep and long kiss.

“Yumi.”

“Sis.”

I shelved the incident in the back of my mind and concentrated on the person in front of me. Or maybe I was just trying to ignore what had happened.

“Then, how about we stay up a little longer?”

“Sounds like a plan.”

“Then, let’s do that.”

And so, we kissed once more. A long and deep kiss, that wouldn’t end for a while...

Rinne

Original: Quite the scare they got there... But they got out of it with just a scare, thankfully.

Tomorrow, I'll get my vaccination, the first shot. Hurray! Finally!

This won't matter for most here but my Patreon will likely get no update next week since I'll take the week off.

Also, the Patreon upload day will be moved forward from Sunday to Thursday. Once I made up next week's chapter, patrons will get the new chapters half a week earlier, too.

Thank you for reading!

Stay healthy and safe! And get your vaccinations once you can!