"Ohh? So you're past the house arrest now? That's great."
"Right?! We can finally play with Yumi again!"
"... Play."

Maya sat to my left, a big grin on her face. They had just told me about their ordeal called house arrest that they finally weathered through. Although, it was a lot less severe than I had imagined it to be. They were eating well and most of the time someone was with them.
But, they were also forced to study a little... Well, 'forced 'might be a bit of an overstatement. The three were surprisingly willing, judging from how they told me about it.

"When I'm free, we can do something together, okay?"
"Yay!"
"... Play!"

Oh, the two were happy.
It had been quite a few days since I last saw them so spending some time with them should be fine.

"Then, since you're now free of your house arrest, I guess you are going to the Academy soon? To study."
"... Uncle said we might not go to the Academy to study..."
"Nn? He did? Why?"
"I don't know..."

Maya let her head hang a little.

"Nn... I see."
Probably because of the trouble brewing up... Guess Korwen doesn't want to take any chances. Or maybe it's something else?

I pat Maya's head to cheer her up a little. She immediately snuggled up to my hand, squinting her eyes. Seriously, was she a cat? Oh, she was...
It was cute so it was fine.

"Well, he only said 'might', right? So, with some luck, it can still work out."
"You think so, Yumi?"
"Nn."

Either way, I'd hope the whole thing could get resolved fast.
And with that said, I turned to the person who sat there, opposite of us, calmly drinking her tea with a smile.

"Uhm... Mrs Karker? What exactly are you doing here?"
"Mh? Me? Oh, don't mind me, don't mind me."
"That's... a little hard to do..."

Still wearing a smile on her face, she put down the teacup.

"Let's see... Where do I even begin... A few hours ago I had to deal with various annoying people. Like, messengers from the Allena's, from some nobles, from the king, and the like."
Was it okay to call the king's messenger annoying?!
"Especially the messengers of those stuck up nobles are annoying. And so I ditched them and came here."
"... I see."

Basically, she ran away from her own work. This woman was quite the free-spirit...

"My daughter and her husband can deal with them. It's time they start learning how to anyway. I'm not forever on this world, after all."

Her smile turned a little wry.

"It's time they let me have some fun on my own. And if they mess up, I can still step in.  And with that in mind, I came over."

So, her definition of fun was embarrassing Korwen and Merim by telling everyone stories of their past?
I liked that. She should tell more of them.

"Yumi."
"Nn? Sis?"

From behind, Karen appeared, holding two plates with food in her hands.

"Maya, Sele, You have to let me go now or I can't eat."
"Ehhh..."
"..."

Reluctantly, they gave me some space. And...

"... Here..."
"Oh, thank you, Sele. Are you sure, though?"
"... Yes."

Sele moved to the side and pat the now empty space, gesturing for Karen to sit down. A rather unexpected move. Never would have thought she'd willingly move away.
Thanking her, Karen sat down next to me.

"Nn? What's this food?"
"That? That's a blood cookie."
"... Excuse me?"

I definitely misheard that right now, did I?

"It's a blood cookie. Something wrong? Oh, do you not like them?"

There was a completely different issue at hand, right now. My taste was irrelevant.
A small, round, pancake-like... thing was on the side of the plate, among other things. It was distinctively... dark red. When I poked it, it was rather soft... Not exactly like bread but more like... something between bread and jelly?
This... was completely like that thing I had seen earlier, wasn't it? The blood stew, or what they called it.

"Yumi... Did you maybe never eat it before?"
"... No, I haven't. So, uhm... What exactly is this?"

There was no way it was actually made of blood, was there?

"A blood cookie."
"Well, okay, let me rephrase this. Is this really made of blood as well?"
"Yes. Otherwise, there'd be no blood in the name, would there?"
"..."

And... It really was blood. Was this like some type of blood sausage then? Probably...
Well, it was already here so... I could at least try it. I admitted that I was a little reluctant but... Karen was already eating it...

"Then, here I go!"

I took the blood cookie into my hand and bit into it.

"... It's good."

---

We finished our dinner, consisting of the blood cookies, as well as the blood stew.
Quite the bloody dinner but my stomach was literally euphoric, having finally stuffed itself to the brim. I was kind of used to it that the meat you'd eat was usually the kind of... muscle meat? Could you call it like that? Anyway, I wasn't used to it that intestines and blood were also used in dishes like that blood cookie and that stew.
What I also didn't expect was, that these dishes were surprisingly good. Although I had to say, that intestines were... quite chewy. The stew was full of them and... Wow... Nothing for people with no teeth.

Anyway, my impressions of food were fine and all but there were other things that I was more interested in right now. Namely, the stories Mrs Karker was telling. On that note, Fenna and Mrs Korwen had left as they had already eaten. I didn't really get to talk with them...

"Another story, you say... Let's see... Right, around two decades ago, the Dragon Knights were staying in the capital for a short while. Aldrik was still running the band as a Captain at the time. You see, Aldrik was quite the womaniser. He was always chasing after women and his wife had to forcefully remove him from a brothel more than once. Oh, those occasions were great."

Aldrik was Korwen's father, right? That... I felt a little bad for his wife.

"Ah, him getting beat up by her was always quite a show. Once, she chased him through half the city while he was only wearing his underpants. I will never forget how he ran to our house asking for my husband's help, wearing only those underpants. The red-light district is on the opposite side of the town."

Mrs Karker smiled, reminiscing in the memories.

"My husband, having some pity actually gave him shelter. When Aldrik's wife found the two, she dragged both men to the brothel and lectured them right in front of the women. Both in their underpants."

Wow, that was...

"Uhm, Mrs Karker, is it really fine that your husband was lectured as well?"
"Ohohoho, it was, it was. He wasn't much better than the old Aldrik, really. And after that, they never dared to go to the brothel again. So, it all worked out well."

Well...
I mean, it was their own fault but... That must have been really embarrassing for those two... No wonder they never returned.

"Grandma Arias."
"Yes, yes, dear?"

Maya spoke up. Did she really just call Mrs Karker grandma?

You are a brave girl, Maya.
"What kind of person... was Uncle when he was our age?"
"Uncle... Ah, you mean your dear Captain... When he was your age, huh... Let me think for a moment."

Mrs Karker threw a glance in Korwen's direction, a mean grin on her face. I felt sorry for him but I was interested too.

"He was a rowdy brat but also quite the crybaby. He'd try to fight a grown man with only a wooden stick. Then would run away crying into his mother's arms after he got hit only once. My, he was often playing pranks on everyone, got scolded, then ran back into his mother's arms."
"His mother..."

Maya blankly stared at Mrs Karker, who responded to her with a warm smile.

"Most boys love their mothers. I'm sure that most of those muscle-packed men listening in over there would be unable to go against their mothers, turning back into whimpering boys."

She threw a side-glance to the surrounding men.
They all averted their gazes in a hurry...

"Hohoho... See? They're all embarrassed."

Taking a sip from her tea, she turned back to Maya.

"With that said, he grew up to be a fine man. Time can forge even the hardiest of metals. He got scolded, he got beaten, he cried, he annoyed a great many people. But all those experiences made him the man he is today. I'm not saying one should be a rowdy brat like he was at the time, but you shouldn't fear failure and punishment either. If you got scolded for something, take a step back and think about why you were scolded for it. If you were praised, ask yourself why you were praised for it. The key is to experience many different things."
"Experience..."
"Yes. So, don't worry too much. In the first place, nobody would scold someone they don't care about right?"

Mrs Karker leaned forward and rubbed Maya's head.

"Experience many things and grow up to be a splendid lady. That's a promise, okay?"
"... Yes!"

With a bright smile, like the sun, Maya replied to her.

"Of course, that applies to you girls as well, yes? I expect a lot."

She turned to Sele and Emily.

"Yes! A promise!"
"..."

Emily was energetic as always and Sele gave a silent but also a quite fervent nod.

"Good, good. I'm looking forward to it."

I had to say, I was a little in awe. Did she... do this to cheer the three up?

"Now then, it seems someone wants a talk with me."
"Nn?"

A little to the side stood Greyward, his arms crossed, staring at Mrs Karker. Or more, glaring.

"Papa?"

A little confused, Lily stared at him. She was probably wondering why he seemed rather unhappy about Mrs Karker sitting here with us. I had to admit, so was I.

"Ohohoho, don't worry. I've known him for a long time already."

Mrs Karker stood up from her seat, her teacup and everything having vanished without a trace again. I hadn't even seen it happen.

"I wish you all a good evening. Take care of yourselves."

She took another glance at everyone, then approached Greyward without another word. The two walked off and disappeared into the distance.

"How weird... I wonder what that was about?"
"Nn... I don't know."

She knew Greyward, huh... Actually, she had told me that before, hadn't she? And that she also knew Lily?

"Hey, Lily..."
"Mh?"
"Do you maybe know Mrs Karker?"
"Hm? If you mean outside of sometimes hearing the name, no? First time I met her today... She was quite different from what I expected. She was like a friendly grandmother."
"Nn. She's quite a nice person, I agree."

So Lily hadn't known her before... Mh... What did Mrs Karker say again back then? Something about... Her knowing about Lily but not the other way round, right? Wondered what the reason for that even was but it seemed like that had really been the case. Made me all the more curious why she walked off with Greyward now, though.

"She talked quite a lot with us. It's really surprising how much she knows..." Lily muttered.
"Huh... What kind of things?"
"Mmm... She knew a lot about the mercenaries... not only the Dragon Knights but also various others that are among the more well-known ones. She also told us stories about nobles or merchants. Honestly, I have trouble believing that some are supposed to be true..."
"... Now I'm curious."

Yes, there were frankly more important things to worry about. But that was that and this was this.

"Mm... The one I was surprised about the most... There was apparently a noble who bought up hundreds of baskets on the recommendation of a merchant."
"Baskets?"
"Yes, baskets."
"Why baskets..."
"That's... The merchant said there would be a large need of baskets because of an incoming drought."

What?
What kind of relation did baskets and droughts have with each other?

"Apparently he claimed, the baskets would be necessary to replace the buckets. There would be such a need for water that the wells wouldn't be enough and they would have to bring water in from the distant lake. The existing buckets wouldn't be enough and baskets are cheaper than buckets."
"... And the noble believed that?"
"... He did. Then he bought up every single basket he could find, even from other territories, investing a large sum."

I had to say... I was impressed. No sane person would ever fall for such a thing, right? That just had to be made up.

"So, what happened then?" Karen asked.
"Mh, apparently there really was a drought but it wasn't really a big problem. Cause it was a yearly thing and the people knew about it."
"... So, the guy is sitting on the baskets now?"
"... Yes."

Well then...
Thank you for your support for the economy, dear Mr Noble. It was very welcome.

"See, that's why I say it's hard to believe that... The noble lived there himself, right? He should know about the drought. And, every person that has seen a basket should know that it's... not exactly for transporting water anyway."
"Well, maybe he never had?"

As a noble, it wouldn't surprise me if he had never come into contact with them. Still, even then, others should have warned him about it...
Although...

"Reality is stranger than fiction sometimes... Maybe he really was that stupid?"
"Mm... Maybe... Not like we can ever find out."
"True."

There was no way to verify any of this. The only thing that made me wonder though... Why did the merchant even do that?

"Yumi, Yumi."
"Nn? Emily? What's up?"
"Uhm..."

Emily suddenly called out to me, fidgeting a little.

"Yumi... Would... Would it be alright if we sleep together today?"
"Nn?"

Sleep together? But we were always sleeping together in that wagon, weren't we?

"Uhm... Together... I mean, together together!"
"Together... together?"
"Yumi, she wants to sleep next to each other, not just in the same wagon."
"Ahhh... Thanks, Sis."

So that's what she meant. Well, I didn't really mind that.

"I'm fine with that."
"Ahh! Then, then!"
"Nn?"

Hearing my answer, she beamed up. Seemed like she had a little more to say, though.

"Then, would... would Big Sis Karen sleep together with us too?"
"Eh? Me?"

Karen's eyes widened when she was suddenly brought.

"I don't mind either but..."
"Ahh! Yay! Maya! Sele! They agreed!"
"Well done, Emily."
"..."

Huh?
Did I miss something here?
Karen, similarly confused, leaned over to me and whispered in my ear.

"Yumi, what's going on?"
"I don't know either?"
"Mm... I didn't expect them to invite me too..."

She said that, but there was a happy smile on her lips right now.

"Then, then! Uhm... Uncle told us to go visit Ria after dinner... So... Until later!"
"Haa... Nn, until later."

With big smiles, the three little girls walked off, holding hands.

"The heck was that about..."
"Aren't they just happy that they get to see you two again? I'm a little jealous."
"Lily, I expected that they would do that and invite Yumi but why me as well?"
"It's not like they hate you, you know... They actually really like you as well."
"Is... Is that so..."
"And just for the record, yesterday Rina and I were sleeping with the three..."

Lily let out a sigh...

"Maya's sleeping posture is impressive... And when they stripped Sele... Why is the most energetic girl the only one who sleeps peacefully?"
"I don't think I can answer you that... Maybe she just spends all her energy over the day?"

It was a blessing she was sleeping peacefully though... I didn't want to imagine the mayhem she'd cause otherwise...

"Anyway, I doubt you need to worry. They worked quite hard after the house arrest was lifted. They even asked Ria and Wendl to teach them, voluntarily. I think it's fine to indulge them a little."
"Huh..."

Quite a few things happened in those three days we weren't around... It really stung a little, having lost that time. It really did...

"Uhm... Big Sis, Lil' Sis..."
"Nn?"
"Yes, Rina?"
"Why... Why exactly were you inside that pink ball?"

Rina stared at us, showing a serious expression. I glanced at Karen but she only returned my glance, probably unsure how to answer as well.

"Ah, Rina, we said not to ask at dinner, didn't we?"
"But... Lily... I... I want to know what happened!"
"So do I, but we shouldn't discuss that here."

We watched Lily trying to calm Rina down, who was... very clearly really upset.

"Yumi..."
"Nn."

Karen threw a questioning gaze at me, most likely wanting confirmation from me. But, in my honest opinion, it was fine to tell the two. Really... Maybe I was just bad at keeping secrets... Yeah, at this point I should just admit that I sucked at keeping secrets and that I didn't particularly want to keep secrets either. At least not towards those close to me.

"Rina, Lily, how about we get back to the wagon. We'll tell you. Or at least, what we know."
"... Okay."
"You sure?"
"Nn. Let's go. Ah, but let's bring Ria along as well."

There was a limit to how much we understood by ourselves... And while I did have a decent grasp about things by now, I'd really like to have Ria supplement anything we explained. Also... There was still the question of what those tentacles were...

---

"The heck... are these..."
"They're cute, aren't they?"
"... Eh?"

Lily was staring at Rina with blank eyes.

"... Cute?"
"Yes? They are."
"... They are."
Sorry, Lily, I know it's hard.

I couldn't quite see how they were cute either. At least not from their appearance.
The wriggling tentacles wrapped around Rina's fingers as she continued to play with them. In the meantime, Lily had taken a little distance.

"But really, I knew about the whole monster and tentacle thing but... This is the first time I actually see it..."

Having taken enough distance, Lily once more stretched her arm forwards and poked a tentacle.

"... I'm sorry, Yumi."
"Nn?"
"I don't think they're cute."
"... That's okay."

Not everyone had to like them. Actually, it might be weirder for someone to like them in the first place.

"Ehh, Lily... How can you say that? Look closer!"
"No. Rina. I'm good."
"Lily... You got weird tastes..."
"Karen?! Are you trying to say they're cute as well?"
"Of course they are?"

The only thing Lily could do was blankly staring at Karen, mouth agape. I felt a little sorry for her...

"Karen... Karen of all people said my taste is weird..."
"Hey, Lily? What is that supposed to mean?"

"Yumi, please stay like that. You're a lot cuter like that."
"Ahahahaha... I'll try to."

I couldn't exactly walk around full of tentacles anyway, now, could I?

"Mm... Yumi... Could you... come here... for a moment?"
"Ah, yes, Ria. I'm coming."

Ria, who had thankfully come along—after she forced some assignments on the three little girls—called me over to the table she was sitting at. The tentacles had already spread through a significant part of the wagon and were already coiling around the chair legs, occasionally brushing past Ria's legs. That didn't bother her in the least, though. It was a little odd to watch her, engrossed into the book, all the while tentacles squirmed around her.

"Look... I think... I found something..."
"Nn?"

She pointed at the book, or rather, a certain passage in the book.

"Ria. I can't read that."
"Oh... You can't?"
"No, I can't..."

I was barely able to somehow read the language we were speaking right now... And this was one I had never even heard about before...

"Mm... How unfortunate... Then... Let me summarise... What it says..."
"Okay, I'm listening."
"This passage here... Is about a certain monster... A large flower... Called the... Cave Eater..."
"Cave Eater?"

That... wasn't the name a flower should have...

"Oh, the Cave eaters? They're quite infamous monsters..."
"Nn? Lily, you know about them?"
"Most people do. Cave Eaters are extremely dangerous monsters. Any area where one lives is basically entirely off-limits."
"Huh..."

I turned my attention to the book... Which I still couldn't read, of course.

"Cave Eaters... live in caves... and lure in... and prey on... animals... monsters... and... people... Many monsters... do that... But Cave eaters... infest the... entire cave... with small flowers... that release a... poisonous fog..."

A poisonous fog? That... was definitely not good.

"It's nearly impossible to deal with them... If you get close to the cave, you get charmed and walk straight in. Even if you were to manage to avoid that, all that awaits you is a fog that kills you in a few seconds, turning you into its food. Any area where a Cave Eater lives is absolutely off-limits because of that."
"I see."

But... It was a flower, in the end, right?

"Can't you burn it down?"
"People tried to... But even if you set it aflame, the fire dies after a while and the Cave Eater recovers. Sometimes it is even actively extinguishing the flames with magic."
"That's... quite the troublesome flower."
"It is. But it's not like they are impossible to fight. There exists special equipment to deal with the fog and the charm. Unfortunately... It's extremely expensive. You might have to fill dozens of bags with gold coins and it would still not be enough..."

Dozens... of bags... filled with gold coins? How... Just how ridiculously expensive was that?!

"What is... more interesting... is something else..."
"Nn?"

Right, Ria wanted to tell me something.

"The Cave Eater... infests... the cave... And spreads... its flowers... These flowers... are off-shoots... Born... from its mana... They act... independently... Based on their... instinct..."
"Huh... You mean, they're like those tentacles?"
"Yes... But... There's more... These flowers... They grow... even on stone... This book... Speaks of a sample... From a dead Cave Eater... The flower sample... Was clearly... a monster... But... it did not... have a mana crystal... Yet... It was not... Physically connected... to the main flower."
"Haa..."

Sorry for being stupid, but that meant what?

"Yumi."
"Yes?"
"Let's... grow them..."
"... Excuse me?"

Grow them, she said. Grow them. How many steps did she just go past to arrive at that conclusion?

"These... tentacles... I think... They are... important... Like the... flowers... of the Cave Eater... They... probably serve... a function... I want... to know..."
"I see... Okay, I understand. Let's grow them."

If they served a function, then I definitely wanted to know as well. So far, the only use they seemed to have was being Rina's and Karen's playmate. That surely wasn't their intended use, though. At least, I sincerely hoped so...

"But, Ria... Where do you want to grow them?"
"Mh? Where... Of course... Here..."
"... Eh? But, they're already covering... Uhm... more than half the ground here... Any more and it might be impossible to use this wagon?"

Lily stared at the tentacles coiling around the chair's legs.

"Ah... That is... Okay... Don't worry..."
"Nn?"
"I talked... with the Captain... And with... Wendl... We can use... this wagon... for this... You should... move to another... wagon instead..."
"... Seriously?"

Captain Korwen, was it fine to just give up a wagon for such a purpose? I mean, I did kind of want a personal wagon to share with Karen, but... this wasn't quite how I imagined it to turn out.

"Guess we should pack our things..."
"Nn... But where do we go then?"
"... The Captain... said to... move to the tent... with Emily... and the others... for now..."
"Nn? You mean the one they stayed in for their house arrest?"

The three were in our wagon outside of that time, after all.
Actually, they were in a tent now? That sounded quite nice too.

"Yes... That one..."
"I see..."

So, we'd turn this wagon into a tentacle haven... Seriously? Like, seriously? No joke? I honestly had mixed feelings about this...

"Yumi..."
"Nn?"
"This... ability... You should... Keep quiet... About it... As much as... possible..."
"Nn... I didn't exactly intend to walk around and tell everyone..."
"You don't... understand... This ability... This kind of... infestation... or maybe... a nest... We don't know... yet... Either way... It is... very dangerous... Given time... You could... compromise entire forts... Turn them... into a nest... Entire cities..."

Cities? Forts?
That... Was a lot larger than a wagon, you know?!

"But Ria, no matter how I look at them, they don't look very dangerous. They only look... grotesque..."
"It's only... assumptions... for now... Yes... But the... possibility... Is enough... We should be... careful..."
"... I understand."

Lily nodded in reply. Seemed she agreed with that assessment, huh...
Was it... really that big of a deal? It probably was, huh... Talk of infesting a fort or a city with these was... Worrying, to say the least.
Seeing how Wendl had also told me about ritual magic... If I were to learn more about these things... Honestly, the thought scared me. These things could ruin the lives of not just dozens or hundreds but maybe thousands or tens of thousands of people...
That was way beyond the scope of something I could imagine... I... didn't feel bad about those thugs in Arkesta... But even so... Killing them was... Not pleasant... Not pleasant in the least...

"We should... wrap up things... for today... You all should... Grab your belongings... And move to... the tent..."
"Nn, understood."
"Karen, Rina. Stop playing with... those... Get your things."
"Ehh? We're leaving?"
"Seems so..."

Rina and Karen both... were messing around quite a bit... Did they like those tentacles that much? They were kind of cute in the way a pet was cute when it snuggled up to your hand that was petting them... But... That was it... Right?

"Ah, Yumi..."
"Nn?"
"You should... sleep early... The Captain... needs you... tomorrow morning..."
"The Captain?"
"Yes... There will be... some important... work..."
"I see..."

Important work... Right, when we woke up from that longer-than-necessary slumber, Korwen had said they were kind of in a hurry, didn't he? Maybe it was about that?
Mh... I'd have to find out tomorrow.

"Then, I'll sleep early tonight."
"Mm... I'll come... and wake you..."
"Eh? Is that fine?"
"It'll be... early... so it's... fine..."
"Haa... Then, please do."

It had to be really early if she wanted to wake me up... Saying nothing else, Ria apparently deemed that she had said everything she should have, and got up to leave as well.

"Until... tomorrow..."
"Ah, yes. And, good night."
"Good night..."

And then she left...
Well... For now, I should grab my things and get ready as well, huh...
I had the subtle feeling, tomorrow was going to be a long day...