After parting with Korwen, the four of us made our way to one of the tents near the tentacle door. We couldn’t exactly go into the camp proper, seeing how we were still ‘officially’ at the fort. And we all were rather conspicuous, as it turned out.
Thankfully, some of the tents were empty and Ria only had to fetch a few things from her wagon before she could start her examination here, away from prying eyes.
“And? How does it look, Ria?”
“Mmm…”
A little nervous, I watched on as Ria examined Karen, who was sitting in front of her, her top undressed and with her back turned to us.
“Mm… There is… nothing… out of… ordinary…”
“Then, Sis is fine?”
“Mm… It would… appear so.”
“That’s a relief.”
Hearing that Karen was fine lifted a weight from my shoulders.
“See, Yumi, I told you it’s nothing.”
“But you still felt ill back there. What if it had been something actually serious?”
“You’re overreacting, Yumi. I just felt a little sick.”
“Maybe… I’m just worried, Sis.”
I simply didn’t want something to happen to her. Not to mention, that place was… odd, to say the least.
“Mm… If I may…”
“Ria?”
“... While I… don’t think… there is… anything… wrong with… you… You clearly… felt… something… right? Karen?”
“Ehh? I guess, I did? But, other than feeling sick and uncomfortable, there wasn’t anything…”
“That is… enough… It means… that you… were affected… by something… that we… did not… notice… It is… something… to take note… of…”
“... Is it?”
Ria nodded slowly, her expression surprisingly serious.
“If it… affected you… something else… might similarly… affect you… in the future… Mm… That said… we don’t… have the…. means to… investigate… the cause…”
“Then, what do we do?” I asked her.
“Mm… I will… write a few… letters… to the… High Priest… and a few… acquaintances… to ask… for their… opinion…”
The High Priest and her acquaintances… she said? While I didn’t know about those acquaintances of hers, the High Priest was someone I knew. He treated us before and seemed well-versed in medical matters. He might just know something.
“With that… in mind… there are… a few other… things we should… talk about… Karen.”
“Is something… wrong?”
“Mmm… Your mana… feels a little… different…
“My mana?”
Ria nodded once more.
“Did you… do your… magic practices?”
“Yes, I did. I do them every morning.”
Wait, she did? When did she do those in the morning? I never noticed…
“Mm… Did you… change your… diet recently?”
“Eh? I don’t quite know what to say to that… How recently?”
“The past… few months…”
“I mean, I lived in the slums before so…”
“Oh… I forgot…”
Admittedly, it was easy to forget, considering Karen didn’t exactly fit the image of a slum dweller.
“Mm… Then… that strand… of hair… and those… changes… Mmm… Then.. one more question…”
“Yes?”
“How is… your… nightlife?”
“... Excuse me?”
“...”
My gaze shot towards Ria, more shocked than embarrassed at the rather… personal question. Meanwhile, Karen tilted her head, confused.
“Miss Ria? What did you just ask?”
“Your… nightlife…”
A few seconds passed, until Karen’s cheeks finally flushed red as her mind caught up with everything.
“Wh— Why is that important?!”
“Mm… Such things… can also… impact… your health… so…”
“I— I see?!”
“Don’t worry… I won’t… tell anyone…”
That wasn’t exactly the problem for Karen, obviously… No, it would be a serious problem if she did tell others… Either way, maybe I should help out? Then again, this was a little hard for me, too…
“Uhh… Do… Do you really have to know?”
“Mm… Considering… that both… of you… are not… exactly… the most… normal people… out there… it would… be helpful…”
“I… see…”
“One thing… I am… especially… curious about… You… accidentally… absorbed Yumi’s… mana… once… right?”
“Eh? Ah, yes…”
Huh? Ria knew about that? But we never told anyone, did we? Or did Karen consult her about that without me knowing?
“Did something… similar… happen again…”
“Not… to that extent, no.”
“Mm… Yumi?”
“Me? Well, no, not that I noticed much…”
While Karen could be a little… peculiar at those times, I wasn’t exactly much better, was I? Still, the only time I actually fainted was the first time.
“I see… Mm…”
“Ria? Is something bothering you?”
“Well… Karen… Her life… has rapidly… changed… and I… think that… might have… an effect… on her mana… It feels… livelier… But… with all those… changes… in your… environment… Mm…”
Ria stared at Karen for a few seconds, then her gaze turned over to me.
“Mm… I think… I might… consult with… Miss Yumias…”
“With Yumias? Why her?”
“She knows… a lot…”
“I mean, she does but she’s not very likely to give you answers…”
If anything, she would just smile at you and mess around.
“Mm… Is that… so?”
“Nn.”
“But… she always… answered me?”
“... What?”
I froze, unable to comprehend her words. The sudden shock was too much for me. Yumias was answering Ria’s questions? Without toying around with her? Seriously?
“Mm… By the way… When is… Miss Elder… going to… stop covering… her ears?”
”... What?”
The sudden change in topic perplexed me just as much. I turned around, finding to see the Elder with her eyes closed and her ears covered up. I… completely forgot she was here too. She had kept quiet during the examination, after all…
“Ehh… When did the Elder cover her ears even?”
“Mmm… Around the… time I… asked about… your nightlife?”
“...”
Thank you, Miss Elder, for your incredible consideration!
I was actually moved a little. Still, we couldn’t leave her like that for long…
“Ria, are there any other, err, questions like that you want to ask?”
“I don’t… think so?”
“Good…”
With a wry smile, I tapped on the Elder’s shoulders, signalling her that things were fine now. Her eyes opened and she uncovered her ears.
“I assume the more personal issues in life have been sorted out?”
“I sure hope so… Sorry about that.”
“Do not apologise. It wasn’t much.”
We still bothered her… but, well…
“Mm… Miss Elder…”
“Yes?”
“What do you… think of… her situation?”
“Her situation? Might I ask what… conclusions you came to while I wasn’t listening?”
“Mm… Of course.”
Ria briefly recapped her plans going forward and what she was wondering about… Thankfully, without giving out any of the more personal information.
“To be honest, this is a difficult question for me, too… Let me dwell on this for a moment…”
“Sure.”
The Elder again closed her eyes, though this time because she was deep in thought. We waited for her to come to a conclusion for a good minute or two until she finally opened her eyes again.
“There might be something.”
“Huh? There is?”
“Yes… But it is something from long ago, so I might be misremembering it but back during the time I wandered, I also met several demonkin. Among them, there was a… rather annoying man. He stayed in my memory because he was rather… discourteous towards the Great Spirits, or rather spirits in general. He said that their sight made him feel sick…”
“That’s…”
The Elder chuckled, seeing my hesitation at a proper response.
“Not very detailed, yes? I am aware but alas, it has been far too long for me to remember the details... However, he, too, was a demonkin like Karen. It might be something that is unique to a few demonkin. If that is the case, then wouldn’t the demonkin know of this malady? It is not much, but I believe it better than nothing at all.”
“I guess.”
If it really was something unique to the demonkin, of course.
“It’s a better lead than nothing at all,” commented Karen.
“Nn.”
“Mm… A demonkin… malady… Do we… have other… demonkin… among us?”
“Err… There’s Sele?”
But it was rather doubtful if Sele knew anything about this.
“I believe I have seen a few others among them, though they are very few,” added the Elder.
Surprised me a little, to be honest. Other than Sele and Karen, I wasn’t aware of any other demonkin, so I asked the Elder for confirmation.
“Really?”
“Yes, Yumi.”
“I never noticed any others…”
Most of the band was comprised of humans, followed by beastkin. In fact, I didn’t know if there were any other races even present in the band.
“Little wonder. Demonkin are quite adept at mingling with other races. Their varied characteristics are often easy to miss or easy to hide, too.”
“Easy to hide, huh…”
I glanced towards Karen’s tail. Yeah, she could just stuff it into her clothes and nobody would notice. And while I wasn’t sure if it was because of that, her tail wasn’t very lively. A bit of a shame. Though it had become more expressive, in my opinion.
“Yumi, why are you staring at my tail.”
“Nn? Because it’s an adorable tail, of course.”
“...”
Ah, it stiffened when she heard my words. Was she embarrassed? Well… It was a little hard to tell from just her tail alone, but she probably was. Seeing that just made me want to tease her… Which unfortunately wasn’t something I could do in the presence of others.
I’m going to be so glad when we have our own room and can do all of this flirting in private.
The future was looking bright. Yes, very bright.
“Karen, is she always doing that?”
“Sometimes, yes…”
“Nn? Am I doing what?”
“Staring into space and smiling for no reason.”
“...”
Oops. Bad habit…
“Not doing that on purpose.”
“If you did, that’d worry me even more.”
“Nn… Good point.”
The Elder shook her head in exasperation.
“That aside, I believe it would be good for Karen to stay away from the spirit corpse for now, until we know what the problem is.”
“Nn, that’d be better. Is that okay with you, Sis?”
“Yes. I’m not very fond of the idea of returning there anyway.”
Well, if it made her feel sick, that wasn’t surprising.
“Miss Ria, is that acceptable for you, too?” asked the Elder.
“Mm… That sounds… like it… would be… the best… option… Karen… if anything… else comes up… tell me…”
“Yes, Miss Ria.”
“Yumi… take care… of her…”
“Nn, of course. I’ll make sure she visits you if something is off.”
“Good…”
Karen shot me a confused glance but I pretended not to have seen that.
“In that case, I believe I will take my leave.”
“You are? Do you have something to do, Miss Elder?”
Korwen gave us a break so she should be free now, right?
“Yes. There are a few personal things I wanted to take care of. Now is as good a time as any to do that.”
“Ahh, then, good luck with that.”
“Thank you very much. I will take my leave then.”
The Elder said bye and left. I wondered what kind of things she wanted to take care of… Probably something with her preparing to stay with the mercenaries? Or maybe something else?
Who knows, maybe she’s writing a letter to the High Priest? Somehow… I can imagine that quite well…
Anyway, that wasn’t for me to pry.
“Ria, what will you do?”
“Mm… I will… go take… another look at… the door…”
“Ahh…”
“I feel like… I have… nearly figured… it out…”
“... Figured… it out?”
What could she figure out from that door?
“Yes… How it… works…”
“... Eh? You nearly figured out how it works?”
“Only nearly… There is… still… a lot… that I… don’t quite… understand… Ahh… Right… when I… have come… to a… conclusion… I will… tell you…”
“Ah, please do.”
The whole magic aspect of the tentacle door was utterly beyond me. It was amazing how Ria could understand it already to a degree that she said she ‘nearly’ figured it out. On the other hand… Didn’t we ask her before if she had made any progress with this?
I feel like it’s pointless to think about that… Maybe she thought it wasn’t worth mentioning because she wasn’t sure of anything yet…
I could imagine that well.
I’ll look forward to it, Ria.”
“Mm… What will… you two… do?”
“Good question… Sis?”
“Mm… We’re on break now, right?”
“Nn.”
That’s what Korwen told us and he was our boss. Who were we to go against our boss’ words?
“To be honest, I just want to relax a little…”
“Nn, that’s fine by me… But we can’t go back to our wagon right now… And the fort is…”
Hardly the best place to have a relaxing time. It was half a ruin and half a dust-covered… place that required desperately a cleanup.
“That’s… a bit of a problem.”
“Nn, agreed.”
“... Shall we look around for a place then?”
“Guess we can.”
Worst case, we’d just hijack the shade of a nearby tree. Or we’d retreat into our tent.
“Then, Ria…”
“Mm… Have fun… Oh, wait…”
“Nn?”
“Karen…”
“Yes?”
Right as we turned to leave, Ria stopped us, as if she had just remembered something.
“It’s probably… not good… if you… hold back… too much… We have… magic tools… for soundproofing… if you… need one…”
“...”
Karen’s cheeks immediately became fiery red again, this time without any delay. Though, I could feel my cheeks becoming a little warm, too. Ria was… a little too blunt about this.
“I… I will consider that…”
“Mmm… Just… tell me… when you… require… one…”
“Yes…”
“Have fun…”
“Thank you…”
Karen’s shoulders slumped a little as she turned around and exited the tent, pulling me after her by the hand.
“A sound-proofing tool, huh…”
That… answered a question I wanted to have an answer to for quite a while already… How everyone else dealt with the lack of privacy.
“Want to borrow one, Sis?”
“... Later.”
“Nn.”
She wasn’t saying no… But… If Ria mentioned that Karen was holding back… Had it become bad enough that Ria actually noticed that? Uhhh…
“Hey, Sis.”
“... Yes?”
“Are you holding back?”
“I’m not! It’s just!”
Karen turned around in a panic, stopping midway through her sentence.
“Just?”
“... We barely have much time alone.”
“Nn… We don’t.”
Unfortunately, that wasn’t something I could fix, either. But, well… If we got one of those sound-proofing tools, we’d have way more options open to us.
“When we have our own room, things are going to be much easier.”
“I hope so… Until then, I’ll manage.”
“But if you need something, you just have to tell me, Sis. I’m here for you. And I’m happy… about anything you want to do.”
Especially, if it concerned our ‘nightlife,’ as Ria had called it.
“Then… kiss me.”
“Nn? Right now?”
“Yes.”
Karen averted her gaze, blushing. It was adorable how she was still embarrassed about a request like this.
“With pleasure.”
I stopped, pulling Karen’s hand a little to turn her around. Then, I hugged Karen, holding her close. I could hear Karen’s heart beating quickly in anticipation.
“Sis.”
“Yes?”
I looked up at her. Her silver eyes glanced down at me, darting a little to the side before returning to me with an expectant gaze. I couldn’t help but giggle a little.
“Sis, I love you.”
With those words, I stood on my toes and kissed Karen. A warm moist feeling spread on my lips and warmth filled my chest. When we parted, I smiled at Karen.
“Was that to your satisfaction?” I asked her, teasingly.
“... Yes.”
Karen’s arms went around my waist, returning my hug.
“Yumi.”
“Nn?”
“Thanks.”
“Nn, you’re welcome, Sis.”
I would happily indulge her as much as she wanted.
“Shall we go and look for a place to relax?”
“That’d be nice.”
We parted our hug, returning to just holding each other’s hand.
“Let’s go.”
“Yes.”
We returned through the tentacle door and entered the hall where the mercenaries had brought all the supplies to. Someone had set up a few tables and banks in the back of it, probably for others on break to take a rest. Although, right now it seemed more like everyone was on break, gathering near those tables.
“Did something happen?”
“I wonder… Weren’t they still working?
They were supposed to, yes…
“They look pretty serious…”
“Nn.”
This didn’t look all that good… Did someone get injured?
“Let’s ask what happened.”
We approached the crowd of busy mercenaries.
“Excuse me…”
“Oh, Miss Yumi! How can we help?”
“We were wondering whether something happened with everyone gathering here.”
“Oh, that.”
The mercenary we asked scratched the back of his head.
“Well, guess the rumours would reach you anyway given some time. You see, there were some who overheard the Capt’n earlier. Apparently, Bruven declared war on the Akkians.”
“Huh?”
“Eh?”
Bruven? Bruven… wasn’t that the huge nation to the east of the Akkian Empire?
“Is that true?”
“Eh, as true as rumours usually are. Can’t say for certain but quite a few people saw the Capt’n earlier, looking rather distraught.”
“I see…”
So, Bruven declared war on the Akkian Empire?
“But why would they do that?”
“Well, the spirits know what goes on in the head of those people. The Bruven Federation always had a few screws loose.”
“Ya can say that again. Those dumbasses!” someone added from the side.
A few others joined in, denouncing the Bruven Federation.
“Well, as long as we don’t get caught up in that mess, I don’t care.”
“It’s a little odd to hear that from mercenaries…”
Shouldn’t they rejoice at an opportunity to fight in a war?
“Ha, the empire is probably out for our heads after that stunt in the capital. And Bruven’s a shithole for all kinds of mercenaries. If you ask me, they can bash their heads in for as much as they like. We’ll take whatever’s left over! Hahaha!”
Now they sounded more like bandits than mercenaries…
“But Bruven and the Akkians, huh… So, what happens to that war between the empire and Lafria?” I asked another question.
“Oh, now that you mention it… so little happened after they blew up the Hollow’s bridge that I forgot about that… Probably nothing much? Well, worst case the Akkian’s gonna have to fight on two fronts. Not looking good for them.”
“Greed finally caught up to them!”
“Serves them right!”
“Yeah!”
No love for either side to be found here. Not that I could blame them. I barely knew anything about Bruven but in the case of the Akkian Empire, I sure wasn’t fond of that place.
“Wonder what the Capt’n’s gonna do, though.”
“He’ll figure something out! It’s the Capt’n, after all!”
“Right, he is! Hahaha!”
The other mercenaries joined in the laughter. One of them, however, turned around, pointing to the other end of the hall.
“Hey, look, the Vice-Capt’n’s coming.”
“Oh, Vice-Captain! Is it true that the Bruven bastards declared war on the Akkian scumbags?!”
“Tell us the truth, Vice!”
Behind us, I spotted Merim, already holding his head as if he was having a headache.
“Why the hell do you guys already know about that…”
“So it’s true?”
“Yes. Yes, it is. The Captain got a message that they declared war. Don’t know anything else yet, though. If you want to hear more, the Captain’s going to address everyone at dinner.”
“Hey, we can’t wait until then!”
“Tough luck. Ha! Ha! Ha!”
Merim laughed at the disappointed mercenaries.
“Guys, listen up, the Vice-Captain’s keeping information from us! Get his ass!”
“Gotcha!”
“Catch him!”
“Woah, what the fuck is wrong with you? You aren’t kids!”
Several mercenaries stormed toward Merim, in an attempt to catch him. Merim hurriedly dodged and ran away from his pursuers. Unfortunately for him, he was hopelessly outnumbered and soon enough found himself surrounded.
“Now, Vice-Captain! If you don’t want to get tickled to death, spill it! All of it!”
“The Captain’s going to kill me anyway if I spill it, so no.”
“Tsk, get him!”
“””Woooohhh!!!”””
The mercenaries plunged at Merim… and crashed into each other when Merim jumped up and landed behind them.
“Don’t let him escape! Get him at all costs!”
“How the hell were you guys brought up?! Are you kids?!”
“Men will always be children at heart! That’s what my mom always said!”
That didn’t sound like she meant that as a compliment… No, they really were acting like children. I had this impression before already, but they really were acting like children sometimes. Though, it probably was fine. They had fun after all and Merim didn’t look like he was seriously bothered by it, either.
“Ugh, this is going to take some time, huh…”
“Hahaha, finally acknowledging us, aren’t you, Vice-Captain?”
“I guess I’ll have to show you why I’m the Vice-Captain. Ah, but first, may I finish what I came for?”
Saying that, Merim turned in our direction.
“Yumi, Karen, could you fetch Fenna and Taddick and go to the Captain, with them. They should be both at the fort.”
“Huh, uh, sure?”
“Thanks! I’ll take my leave then.”
Saying that… Merim ran to the tentacle door before the other mercenaries could even react.
“Ah, he tricked us! After him!”
“Don’t let the bastard escape!”
The whole crowd of mercenaries stormed after him… It was a surreal sight for sure.
“Yumi.”
“Nn?”
“Are those people okay?”
“Yes, they are, Sis.”
“I see…”
Karen furrowed her brows, maybe a little confused at the… game of tag they suddenly started.
“Well, if tickling is the only torture they’ll give Merim, I reckon he’ll be fine.”
“Tickling… can be quite cruel.”
“Nn… It can.”
Anyone who was tickled as a child knew that.
“Let’s go fetch Fenna and Taddick. Guess something serious is going to happen.”
“Ahh… Today is really quite…”
“Quite eventful?”
“Yes.”
She sure could say that again. The tentacle door, the spirit corpse and now a declaration of war? Well, the last one didn’t directly have anything to do with us but… Yeah. It was still a pretty serious thing.
“Okay, time to find Fenna and Taddick.”
Merim and the mercenaries were probably running all over the camp right now…
Well, Karen and I went up to the surface, looking for Fenna and Taddick, both of which we found quite quickly at the small camp in the yard. Fenna was the first one to spot us as we approached.
“Yumi and Karen? What are you two doing here.”
“Nn, the captain’s calling. For you and Taddick.”
“Again? Did another thing happen?”
“Well, yes…”
Behind Fenna, Taddick was already sighing.
“Let me ask first, who is going to take command here while we’re away?”
“Uhh… I don’t know?”
“Are you two joining us?”
“Nn, we are.”
“I see… Well, that’s good I guess.”
Ahh, it took me a moment but he was worried we would be left in charge again, huh? Well, I didn’t have much desire for a repeat of that so that was good in my book.
“Give us a moment then so we can put someone in charge.”
“Nn.”
We watched them as they called over some other mercenaries and explained what they had to do now. Interestingly, Taddick’s group contained several elves. The cooperation between the mercenaries and elves went well, it seemed.
“Okay, that’s done with.”
“Nn, then let’s go.”
“Sure.”
With Fenna and Taddick in tow, we made our way back to the camp.
“Hey, Yumi, do you know why we were called?”
“Ahh… Well, it seems the Captain’s got a letter earlier. And some rumours are running around that Bruven declared war on the empire.”
“The Federation did?!”
“Nn. Apparently so. Merim kind of confirmed it earlier, too.”
“Well, fuck me sideways.”
Taddick held his head, clearly not very pleased with the news.
“Bruven, huh… I guess it was only a matter of time.”
“Ahh… Didn’t expect it so soon, though.”
“It might be a reaction to the declaration of war towards Lafria.”
“... You think they’re intending to swoop in while the empire is busy?”
“Would make sense to me, at least.”
“... Wouldn’t put it past them.”
As expected of two people with higher positions, they actually had some clues about what was going on there.
“But still… The declaration of war on Lafria is in the end more of a joke anyway. The empire clearly has no intention of circumventing the Hollow again, do they? In the end, won’t it simply be a war between the Bruven Federation and the Akkian Empire?”
“It’s not that easy, Fenna. As long as they are still at war, the Akkians will be forced to pay attention to what Lafria might be doing. Even if they won’t invade Lafria, the reverse might still happen. After all, they have already given Lafria all the justification they’d need.”
“I see. That’s indeed an issue. Then, doesn’t it look pretty bad for the empire?”
“Mm… I wonder about that. There’s a good reason the two avoided a clash until now. I guess we won’t know until they fought a few battles.”
The two were completely absorbed in their discussion as we walked back to the camp. It was quite amazing listening to them. I had no clue about politics or what those nations might be thinking, so this was all quite astonishing for me.
“Eh, guess we’re going to hear from the cap how things stand.”
“I’d guess so.”
“Let’s listen to what he got to tell us first.”
Rinne
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