"Marked... You mean, marked in the way animals mark their territory?"
"Ohh... Yes... Surprised that... you know that..."

Thank you for having so little faith in me. Even I knew about some common animal behaviour.

"So... What exactly does that mean?"
"... I don't know?"
"... Okay."

Okay, so, there was mana inside the floor for some rea— Okay, not some reason, I knew the likely reason very well.
Anyway, there was my mana inside the floor, probably from... when I was stuck on there.

"... So what do we do about this?"

Yes, there was mana inside the floor. Great. Awesome. Now what?
Were we just going to leave it? Were we going to get rid of it?

"Mm..."

Ria stared at me for a while, not answering.

"I..."

She started, paused, then stared at my feet, at the spot where the mana was.

"I want to know... What this is..."
"... I see."
"So... Tell me... Why is there... mana inside?"
"Ahhh..."

Okay. I didn't mind telling her but... How was I supposed to explain this even? How was one supposed to explain that you somehow transformed into some kind of tentacle flower that was rooted on the floor?
... Probably just like that, huh.

"Yumi bloomed on the floor."
"Sis?!"

Karen was faster me... Although it didn't quite seem to get through.
Ria tilted her head, not saying anything. Then she lifted her hand... and cleaned her ear with her little finger.

"I'm sorry... Could you... Say it again?"
"Yumi was stuck on the floor, sitting there like a flower."
"..."

Ria turned her head towards me, then back to Karen.

"... A flower?"

A flower was probably not even remotely accurate... Well, whatever, probably the closest we could get...

"Possibly..."

She started to say something again... but stopped...
Just once, I hoped she would talk in full sentences.

"Mm... I'll come back... In a little..."

With those words, Ria promptly left the wagon, leaving us behind.

"... She left."
"Nn. She left."
"Haa..."

She could've at least told us why she left. Judging from her reaction she was probably going to look for something, bring something or maybe call for someone... Either way, now we had to wait for her...

"Yumi."
"Nn?"
"What do you think that mana means?"
"... No idea? For all I know, it could mean nothing. Or it could be something important..."

I squatted down again, touching the floor.

"Nn... I should probably wait for Ria before I try to do something. She might notice something."
"What would you even try?"
"I don't know... I could try moving that mana. Or absorb it again?  Mhm... Can't think of anything else right now. Any other ideas?"
"No, not really."

Well, maybe Ria had some other idea. Or maybe we could figure something out when I actually went and did one of those two options?

"But... I didn't notice at all when we were still here..."
"Nn... I'm surprised Ria noticed this."

Even when I stood right above it, I just barely managed to notice the mana. How had Ria even found this? From outside, even.
She... had been outside, right? No, let's not suspect her of entering the wagon without anyone here. Yeah.
In the meantime, Karen sat down on the chair in the back and pat her lap.

"Yumi, come here."
"Nn."

With quick steps, I made myself comfortable in her lap once again. Even though we were doing this all the time, I still hadn't grown tired of it. Hopefully, I never would.

"Oh, there they are."
"Nn?"
"The ribbons."
"Oh."
"... Hold still for a moment."

Karen grabbed the ribbons of the table and then lifted my hair up. I couldn't quite see what she was doing, though it wasn't hard to guess.

"Hmhmhmmm... Hmmhmmmm..."

Humming to herself, she lifted my hair up in one bundle and tied the ribbon around it.

"This is... Ah..."
"Sis?"
"Uhh... Let me try again."

Apparently, she had some difficulty tying the ribbon... Well, we got some time until Ria returned, so whatever.

"This is actually a little... Yumi, could you stand up for a moment?"
"Ehhh? Do I have to?"
"You are sitting on your hair and I can't tie it like that."

Where there's a will, there's a way, my dear sister.
Although I had the subtle feeling that saying that would earn me a glare, at the least.
With that in mind, I—regrettably—forced myself to stand up again, freeing my hair from my own weight. What a short-lived paradise.

"Ah, now it works. Hold still."

After a little bit of pulling and tying, she finished.

"Mhm, this is quite nice."
"Is it?"

I looked back, where a really long ponytail went down my back.

"Yeah, it's cute."
"Nn..."

Karen walked around me a little, scrutinising me from every direction, nodding along the way with an approving expression.

"I'm back..."

At that moment, the lethargic voice of Ria was heard from just outside the door. The next moment, it opened and Ria entered again, holding a small bag in her arm.
Not even sparing us a glance, she walked to the desk where we sat at and put down the bag.

"Mhm... Here it... is..."
"Nn?"

She revealed the insides of the back. A thick book, similar to those monster encyclopedias I read through before, as well as a small box. Ria opened the book and flipped through the pages.

"What kind of book is that?"

I tried to peek past Ria but... It was written in a different language from the one we spoke here. I couldn't read anything.

"This is... A book about flowers..."
"... Flowers?"

That... sure wasn't what I had expected. Karen had said that I bloomed like a flower but... it wasn't like I was literally a flower.

"Ah."

Ria found something, judging from her gasp.

"It knew it... It's... similar..."

Seemed like she had found whatever she was looking for.

"Yumi..."
"Nn?"
"Can you... do something... with that mana?"
"Do something... Uhm... I could try to move it, I guess? Or to absorb it?"
"Mmm... Try... moving it..."
"Haa... Okay."

following her directions, I squatted down at the spot with the mana and put my hand right above it. The sensation of the mana was still quite weak, barely noticeable. Still, it was more than enough to get ahold of it.

"Nn... Then, here it co— GYAAAHHH?!"

Something nearly jumped into my face, causing me to scream out and fall onto my back, facing the ceiling.

"Yumi?! Are you alright?!"
"Hooo..."

Karen ran over to me, worried.

"Haaa... That... That surprised me..."

I thought I'd get a heart attack.
With Karen's help, I sat up again, facing the... result of the mana.

"What is that..."

Something long and thin lied on the ground. It reminded me of a dried-up plant. Thin, long, and crumply. And brown.

Don't tell me it was really a flower...

Why was there something like that inside the floor? And why did it come out when I moved that mana?

"Hooo... This is... quite interesting..."
"Ria? What the heck is that?"
"Mm... Yumi."
"Nn?"

She turned her attention to me.

"I want to see."
"See? See what?"
"Everything."
"Huh?"
"Everything. The tentacles, your appearance as a monster. Everything."
"... Ehhhhh?"

---

There had been no escape.
None at all.
Okay, I admit, I hadn't tried to escape anyway, but... Yeah, it was still embarrassing.

"Hooo... This is... Do you feel this?"
"... Nn. I do."
"This... as well?
"Nn."

As transforming entirely in front of Ria was still a little too much for me, we settled on just my arm. Whatever Ria wanted to see, it was apparently enough for her. Even though she demanded to see everything just a minute prior.

"Mh... As expected."
"Nn? Did you figure something out?"
"... Not... quite..."

Ria stopped groping the tentacles that had replaced my arm and walked back to the dried up... tentacles. Apparently, those things on the floor were tentacles. Or rather, had been. Because they immediately died.

"Yumi..."
"Nn?"
"Could you... try to give... those tentacles... mana?"
"Those dried-up things? I can try I guess."

Not like that was particularly hard to do.
Like that, I sent some mana into those dried-up things that were apparently tentacles.

"Oh? Ohhh?"
"They're... recovering?"

A small mana injection later, the formerly dried-up tentacles regained their pinkish colour and now squirmed around on the floor, rooted firmly on the spot where they had emerged from.

"No way."

I cautiously poked the tentacles. They were squirmy and soft. Every poke caused them to shudder a little.

"Mmm... "
"Ria... Do you know what this is?"
"... No."
"..."

Well, great.
Although, I guess I couldn't expect her to know everything.

"It's like... it is some... kind of offshoot..."
"Offshoot?"
"Mm... Can you... order them... to do something? Or... control them?"
"Nn... Let's see..."

The dolls somehow reacted to commands. Maybe these did as well?

"Lie flat on the ground."
"..."

No reaction.
They were still squirming left and right.

"Guess not... Then, maybe like this?"

If it was similar to my usual tentacles, maybe I could control them with mana?

"Oh? Ohhh? It works."

A little unexpected, yes, but they moved. How odd.
The moment I stopped the mana they started moving on their own again. But when I took hold of their mana, they stiffened up and only moved how I wanted. This was... actually quite interesting.

"Mh..."

Ria watched while I was playing around with those tentacles, not saying a word. On the other hand, Karen sat down next to me, poking the tentacles as well.

"They're just like yours."
"Nn... It's a bit wei— Ah?"

The tentacles suddenly stopped moving, falling down to the ground. And drying up. Just like before.

"Did they... die again?"

Judging from the fact that they revived with mana, maybe they ran out again? Should I just throw some mana at them again.

"Whopp..."
"Eh?"

Something black flew past my eyes.

"Let's see... if that... works..."
"Nn?"

There was a small ball of mana in the midst of the tentacles now. Ria had thrown mana crystal at them.

"Mm... Nothing?"
"Nn..."

There was no reaction from the tentacles.

"Yumi... Wake them... up..."
"Wake... Nn, okay."

Waking them up was probably better than saying reviving. Albeit, looking at those dried up tentacles, reviving really sounded more accurate.
Regardless, I gave the tentacles some mana to get them moving again. And lo and behold... They immediately grabbed the mana crystal and sucked the mana out of it.

"Mm... Mmm..."

With a lethargic expression, she stared at the once again moving tentacles.

"Are they... some kind... of predator?"
"Predator?"
"Mm... They feast... on mana..."
"Haa..."

Apparently they did, yes. But did that make them a predator? Either way, what even were these? Did they... belong to me still? Or were they their own kind of being? If so, were they some kind of monster? Or an animal or a magic beast, as they lacked a mana crystal of their own?

"Yumi..."
"Nn? Yes, Ria?"
"This... Is interesting..."
"... I see?"

Yes, it was, I agreed on that. But that didn't help, right now.

"Can you... make more of them?"
"Ehh... More? I honestly don't know... I don't even know exactly how they stayed behind here."
"Mm... Then... let's feed them..."
"Eh? Ah."

Ria walked over to the tentacles, held up the small wooden box she brought along, and... dumped the contents on the tentacles.

"Eh? Wait, isn't that mine?"

Dozens of small mana crystals poured onto the tentacles. Including a pink one that I knew very well. Where did she get that one from? From the dolls? Or was it one of the ones I had made some other time? I didn't remember giving one to her, after all.
Either way, now it was among the dozens of mana crystals that were dumped onto tentacles.
With quick movements, the tentacles reached out to all the crystals and dragged them closer before feasting on the mana. And then... It slowly grew.

"They're increasing..."
"Nn... Hey, Ria. Isn't this a little bad?"
"Mm... Why?"
"Well, this is our wagon... What are we going to do if they all increase in number?"

The few tentacles were slowly multiplying, splitting. The same way we had watched the monsters split back at the Academy. A dozen became two. Two dozen became three dozen. And so on... It barely took time until they covered a sizeable area...

"... Look at them... They... kept the pink one..."
"Eh?"

Ria completely ignored my question and instead pointed at the ping mana egg. It had embedded itself into the largest tentacle of the bunch, but it was still visible. In fact... You could feel it subtly absorbing the mana from the surroundings. It was... active.

"Hooo... Interesting..."
"Sis. What are we going to do about this?"
"..."
"Sis?"

I turned around, towards Karen, as she hadn't answered me. She was sitting on the ground, patting a few tentacles that had come close. The tentacles wrapped themselves around her hands.

"Ohh... Yumi... Look! Look! Aren't they cute?"
"... Cute?"

Well, I guess... They were cute like a pet was, in a way... Were they?

"They feel exactly like yours."

Karen was completely absorbed in patting and playing with them. Apparently, I was the only one worried right now.

Then, if nobody else cares, I won't either! It's just Lily and Rina anyway who might run into this...

Hopefully, they wouldn't be too surprised...

Well, back to the problem at hand for now: The pink mana egg had completely disappeared into the tentacle, but I could still feel the subtle absorption of mana. Contrary to the other mana crystals, it hadn't been entirely absorbed. They were using it just like a monster would use their own mana crystal. Albeit that made me wonder... The professor at the Academy said a mana crystal was like a materialised soul. Was it fine to just... take the crystal of something else?
In addition, the tentacles had spread quite a bit on the ground. I had to be careful not to step on them by accident.

"It's like I'm infesting the wagon..."
"Mm... That... might be quite... accurate..."
"... Really?"
"Yes..."

I threw a doubtful glance towards Ria.

"There are... a few monsters... doing similar things... Infesting their nest... with roots... and similar... Their domain... Is very dangerous... The entire nest... Can attack you..."
"Nn... But I don't think these are that dangerous... are they?"

They were on the level where Karen was leisurely playing around with them. For all I knew, they could've actually tried to attack her, instead of playing around... Although, I surely wouldn't like that.

"Mm..."

Ria stared at the tentacles, not answering. Probably lost in thought.

"We might... have to try... a few things..."
"Well, about what I expected..."
"Also... We should... Tell the Captain... This... Depending on... what you can do... Might be very... very useful..."
"Useful, huh... I guess it is..."

Disregarding the rather grotesque appearance... If they were able to capture something, they might make a good trap...

"You should... Grow these..."
"Eh... But this is our wagon... I can't exactly cover the whole wagon with them, can I? Actually, these alone are already a problem."
"Mmm... Let's talk... with the Captain..."
"... Nn."

At that moment, with fitting timing, someone knocked on the door.

"You all, are you soon done?"
"Greyward... Is something... the matter?"
"Something the matter? It's dinner time. If you don't want to miss out on it, you should finish up. Whatever it is you're doing."
"Mm... Dinner... Is not necessary... For us..."
"That so?"

Wait, wait, wait! WAIT!
Dinner was not necessary? Please, that was something I'd like to decide for myself. And I was hungry. Really hungry. Seriously hungry!

"Miss Ria... Neither Yumi nor I have eaten anything yet... I'd really like to have dinner..."
"Nn... So do I..."
"You... Haven't eaten?"
"Nn."

Ria stopped, then stared at me and then at Karen, tilting her head a little.

"Both... of you?"
"Nn."
"Since... when?"
"Before we... got stuck inside there."
"... And you're just hungry?"
"Nn?"

Just hungry? Wasn't hungry bad enough already?

"Both... of you?"
"Yes? I'm hungry too."
"... Curious."

And why was that curious again?
Maybe she noticed my confusion as she went on to explain it.

"If you... haven't eaten for so... long... There's probably... more than... just hunger... Hunger... Thirst... The body... requires food... and water... If those aren't... Supplied... The body... stops working..."
"..."

Three days.
We had been stuck inside there three days...
I finally realised what she was implying there. We hadn't eaten nor drunk anything for that long and we were merely hungry... Nevermind me, I kind of expected something like that... but...

"Sis... Are you... just hungry?"
"Well... Yes... And thirsty too, I guess?"
"..."

Karen was the same. And that, at least in my opinion, was definitely not normal.

"Mm... That shell... I wonder... If it nourished... you... Or... if you are... already..."

With quick, firm steps, Ria hurried over to Karen.

"Eh? Miss Ria? Ah?! What are you doing?!"

With slightly hurried movements, Ria was parting Karen's hair, looking at the pink strand, then she followed it along to the root, traced with her fingers down the back of her head and neck.

"Miss Karen..."
"Ye, Yes?"
"You should... observe closely... What happens..."
"..."
"You have to... decide... You should... decide soon..."
"... I know. The Elder already told me."
"I see..."

Decide? And... what the Elder had told her? In that case... It was without a doubt about Karen's slowly body changing...

"But I already decided. I'll stay with Yumi, no matter what happens."
"... I see. Then... forget what I said..."

Ria took a step back, smiling wryly.

"I... envy your strength..."
"Huh?"
"The resolution... to face such a future... The strength... to step forward... It is... It is truly... Respectable... I can... only envy... you..."
"..."
"I wish you... all the best... on this path..."
"... Thank you, Miss Ria."

Ria nodded, then walked towards the door and stopped right there.

"Miss Yumi... You found... a good partner."
"... Nn. I really am blessed with her."

---

The four of us, including Greyward, made our way towards dinner. There was no large bonfire or anything this time, but many tables were set up. Dozens over dozens of burly men sat down, eating dinner and laughing.

"It's lively like always."
"Nn... But isn't that a good thing?"

I had kind of come to enjoy this liveliness. They were enjoying their life with all they could. Watching them laugh was... nice. It made you want to laugh as well.

"It is. There would never be such an easy-going atmosphere back in the slums."
"Well... People probably had different worries there..."

Like, securing your next meal. I was quite glad I didn't have to eat that jerky and the stale bread anymore. It was only a short time, but I sure didn't miss the bad parts of it.

"Mh? Mr Greyward, what is that?"

A large pot was sitting on a stone... or rather, a stove. My first thought was stew or soup, but watching the plates of the mercenaries, it didn't seem to be either. There was a slightly black, jelly-like mass on the plates.

"... That is... Oh..."
"Oh?"
"That's blood stew."
"... Blood... Stew?"
"If I recall correctly... It's a stew made from the boar blood and a plant called Jell Herb... It has a pretty weird texture... Tastes pretty weird too... Still better than the flat cakes, I guess."

Flat cakes? Weren't cakes quite delicious? Also, why flat?

"What are flat cakes?" Karen asked.
"Mh? It's a flat cake... A cake that's flat. Well, the ones I mean are actually called blood cakes, though. They're round and thin and, personally speaking, quite disgusting."

He grimaced, probably recalling it.

"I know some folks like them but I just can't understand it... I don't like blood stew a lot either, but still more than the blood cakes."

Blood stew... Blood cakes...
I understood that nothing got wasted, but... Even the blood? Seriously?

"Well, I'll go to my men now. See you later."

Greyward waved his hand and left, joining the other Black Guards who had put their table to the side. There weren't that many of them so they actually all fit on one of these long tables. Seeing a few dozen black-clothed men together was a bit creepy though.

"Miss Ria, what about yo— Wait, where is Miss Ria?"
"Nn?"

Without us noticing... Ria had disappeared...
She had been with us until just now... Of that I was sure... But now she wasn't...

"Nn... Well... She'll probably get around on her own..."
"I think so too but... Still..."
"... Let's find a place to sit at for now."
"... Okay."

Standing around wouldn't help us. Ria was more than old enough to take care of herself. Probably.

"Nn, do you see Lily and Rina somewhere?"
"No... Ah, there's the Captain."
"Oh, you're right. Wait... He's waving..."

He had spotted us and was waving us over now... Guess that decided where we'd sit.

"Captain."
"Hello, Mr Captain."
"Hey. Good you're here, I need you two for a moment."

He... needed us?
Korwen moved a little to the side, motioning us to sit down next to him.

"Yumi. You're... actually quite smart, aren't you?"
"'Actually'... Well, I don't know if I should really call myself smart or anything..."
"Disregarding that you got your head in the clouds, you are quite smart."
"..."

Why did you even ask then? Only to rub more salt into the wounds? I already realised that myself, I was doing my best to get better.

"But that's not important right now. I already know you are pretty good at calculating things. And the way you work with documents is also very neat and orderly. So..."

He stopped for a second... Then took a deep breath...

"Please do something about that."
"Nn?"

With the knife in his hand, he pointed into the distance. Well, not quite the distance, it was still quite close. A familiar group of girls sat there. Nearly a dozen of them. Though I said girls, not all of them were young enough anymore to be called that.

"That's... quite the group."
"It is."

Lily and Rina as well as the three little girls, Emily, Maya and Sele sat there, talking fervently with Mrs Korwen, Fenna and... Miss Karker.
Apparently Miss Karker was telling them a story or something...

"... then he came back crying, hugging his mother's waist. Oh, that was such an adorable view. Of course, his mother then scolded the other children. 'You shouldn't do things like that!' she shouted at them, giving them an earful."
"To think he was so different then..."
"Really, he grew up to be such a fine man. He really got it together now. But, now, you won't believe it but... I heard from his mother that he is still acting quite spoiled whenever he visits. Isn't that right, Mrs Korwen?"
"It is. But not only with his mother, when the others don't see him... Hohoho..."
"Is that so, is that so. My, such a naughty boy."

I glanced to my side, to Korwen. I was currently unable to see his face. Most likely because he was burying his head in his arms. Now... What to say here...

"I'm sorry Captain, but I cannot stop that."
"... Ahhhh."

Shouldn't mention that I also didn't want to stop it. Stories like that were interesting. Even if the party involved didn't even remotely believe it to be interesting, but surely everyone had to go through that once in their life. I admit, I probably didn't want it to happen at Korwen's age. That was... torture.

"Uhm... Mr Captain... I don't think there's anything wrong... with that..."
"Nn. Nn. It's quite normal."
"Stop, you two. Please. Don't comment on it. If you can't stop that, just... just don't say anything."
""... Okay.""

Now, what to do about this... Oh?

"Sis, Lily is waving."
"You're right. I think she wants us to come over."
"Nn, looks like it."
"Mr Captain... Is there anything else you need?"
"..."

He didn't answer. If there was no answer, that meant there wasn't anything.

"Then, we'll go over to Lily."
"Nn. Until later, Captain."

He'd survive the whole thing, surely. He was strong. And the surrounding mercenaries were directing warm smiles towards him. They'd surely comfort him.

"Really?! Merim did that? How unexpected..."
"Right? I couldn't believe it when I saw that... From head to the toes drenched. And not to mention, the smell."

Wait, they already moved onto the next one? You should wait for us! I wanted to hear those stories as well!

"Yumi."
"Nn, let's go."

Karen took my hand and we moved towards Lily and the group.

"Yumi! Karen! Come here."

Lily moved to the side, making space for us.

"Eh? Yumi?! Yumi! Yumi!"

Hearing my name, a certain trio all perked up and turned around. With one of them jumping up to her feet and... Yeah... We all knew where this was going.
Time to catch her.

"Yumi!"
"Woah! Be careful, Emily."
"Yumi! You're back!"
"Nn. I am. Guess we haven't seen each other for a few days!"

I gently pat Emily's head, who was hugging me.

"Yumi."
"Yumi..."

Maya and Sele also joined in on hugging me. Not with a jump like Emily, thankfully.

"Yumi... you're as popular as ever..."
"Ahaha..."

Well, couldn't quite argue against that when I was being hugged by cute girls. If they were still doing this in a few years... That might not be too bad.

"Yumi... You're grinning..."
"Ah."

Not good, my thoughts leaked.
Well, for now... Rather than Korwen's and Merim's embarrassing pasts... I should probably calm down these three first.
With a smile, I pat their heads, taking a good look at each of them.

"Emily, Maya, Sele. I'm back."