When someone told you to clean up your room, wasn't it often the case that instead, you started reading a book you haven't touched in years, played with toys you completely forgot about and similar things? Basically, you didn't progress. At all.

"Hey, Yumi, look what I found!"
"Nn? Oh... The crossbow. That was still here?"

We actually didn't have many belongings here, and yet we still found things we had kind of forgotten about. Like this crossbow.

"But there are no bolts..."
"Well..."

Not sure if I should be relieved by there being no bolts or worried that Karen seemed kind of sad about it. Maybe both.

"Mh, there's some more stuff here... Ah."
"Nn?"

Karen froze as she was looking into the small box in front of her. Then, it slowly turned into a scowl.

"What's there? Let me see... Ah."

Right... This one I really had all forgotten about.

"Yumi. Let's get rid of this."
"Wait, Sis. We were told to keep it, weren't we?"
"I don't care."
"Well, but I do."

Karen froze once more, then slowly turned around to face me.

"... Yumi?"
"Ahhh... Ehhh... Not like that, I mean, it'd be bad if we threw it away even though we were told to keep it, right?"
"... Then I'll talk to the Captain and tell him we're going to throw it away."
You're not even giving him the option?

Anyway, I had to calm down Karen. Otherwise, this purely innocent collar had to suffer her wrath.
Okay, it probably wasn't as innocent as I made it out to be, yes.

"There might still be a situation which warrants it, right? What if there was another weird sensor like this city has? We might need it then."
"... We can just borrow one when the time for it comes."

Right. Of course. That was the logical conclusion.

"And if we aren't in a situation to borrow one?"
"I believe that to be highly unlikely."

Karen's eyes narrowed as she stared at me.

"Yumi. Do you... want to keep this thing?"
"... Eh?"

Did I... want to keep it?
That... Did I?

"Uhhh... Not... necessarily?"

I just felt bad about it. Really. There were no hidden motives here.

"Karen... I didn't know you two liked that kind of play..."
"Lily?!"
"Lily, why does Big Sis have that collar?"
"It's something you don't need to know, Rina. Let's keep things normal. Normal is best. We got all our things, right? Let's leave the two perverts alone."
"..."

The two girls, each holding a small sack filled with... correction, Rina holding a small sack and Lily heaving some huge sack filled with her stuff. Just what the heck did she even store here?
The two of them left, Rina throwing a few confused glances back at us as Lily gently pushed her outside.

"..."
"..."
"I'm... a pervert?"

Karen was completely shell-shocked from the revelation.

"Yumi... Am I a pervert? I'm not, right?!"
"Ehhh..."
"I'm not, right?!"

Okay, let's recollect things a little. Think back on the stuff Karen did in the past, stuff like... playing with my feet while I was sleeping. That alone was already quite...
And it wasn't even all... She did quite like the idea of the tentacles and all so...

"You are."
"... No way."

Fairly sure I had called her perverted before already. Maybe it was because it was Lily who called her a pervert this time? Or because it was in front of Rina? Whichever the case... Karen didn't take it well.
A blank stare was directed at me, then at the collar in her hands and back to me.

"... Let's keep it."

And with those words, she threw it back into the box. The collar made a splendid landing inside, hitting the back with a loud clank.
My feelings about watching this? Complicated. Very complicated.

On one hand I kind of... like the thought of doing that kind of play with Sis. Not like I got any dignity left anymore that I could lose. But on the other hand, I don't want to make Karen do things she doesn't want to...

We would probably need to have a long, good talk about this stuff. Maybe Karen had a few things she wanted to do as well. I once heard somewhere that it was better to come clean with these things.
Nobody ever told me how to start this kind of conversation though...

"Ah."
"Nn?"

Karen's sudden gasp returned me to reality. Ignoring the previous incident, she had gone back to packing. And now, in her hands, there were a few sheets of paper that I knew quite well.

"Those are... The pictures the dolls drew."
"You kept them?"
"Nn. Look, these are of Emily, Maya and Sele. We each kept one when we asked them to draw us. Ah, and here is one with all four of us."
"Huh..."

Karen seemed absorbed in the pictures now. A welcome distraction from the previous topic. Seriously.
Time to get back to packing my stuff as well. Then again, I was basically done now, wasn't I? No, wait, where were the ribbons?

"Sis, Sis, where did you leave the ribbons earlier?"
"Mh?"
"The ribbons. When you played around with my hair."
"Yumi..."

With an exasperated sigh, she pointed at me.

"You're wearing them."
"Eh?"

I grabbed behind my head and... Right... I was sporting a ponytail right now. Or rather, a low ponytail? That's what it was called, wasn't it? Probably... But now that I thought about it... She hadn't undone the ponytail back then, so it was only a matter of course...

Wait, then... I was wearing a ponytail since then but nobody even bothered mentioning it? That's a little disheartening.

It's not like I especially wanted someone to comment on it. After all, I had forgotten about it anyway... But still...
Oh well, nothing I could do about now... Time to get back to reality.

"Nn, then I think I have everything. Only need to put the pictures in the box, I think?"
"Are you sure?"
"Nn."

As the lost ribbons had been found now, I was done now. Clothes, bags, the knife, the crossbow, the collar, all those things were stuffed in that box. Looking at it, I really didn't have many belongings... Well, neither did Karen or Rina. Lily owning so much stuff actually surprised me a little. That sack must've been more than all three of us combined.

"..."
"Sis?"

Karen started to flip through the pictures instead of putting them in the box.

"... I'm a little jealous. Those dolls made quite a few pictures of you four."
"Nn, well... Wait, I don't know those."

Peeking at the pictures in Karen's hands, I spotted an unfamiliar picture drawn by the dolls. It featured me as well as Emily, Maya and Sele. In a familiar scene. That was the time when I had wrapped them all up in my hair and we had rolled around on the floor. Seeing it on a picture... was a little embarrassing. Embarrassing, but also cute.

"You don't know these? But weren't these the ones you kept for yourself?"
"Nn... Weird..."

Karen flipped through a few more sheets and sure enough, quite a few of them were unfamiliar. Now that I was taking a good look at the stack of paper in Karen's hands, it was significantly thicker than it should have been. The pictures I kept should have been barely a dozen.

"There's a lot... Did they secretly draw this?"
"... They might have."

Apparently, my dolls had taken up drawing as a hobby. And they were damn good at it. Wished they gave me a little of that skill. I probably could barely draw a stick figure.

"Ah."
"Nn?"

Karen's hands stopped at one certain picture. It was the first one that was featuring her.

"Yumi, who is this?"
"... Sis. That's you."
"Eh? Me?"

Maybe the lack of colour made her fail to recognise it, but it sure was her. I'd always recognise that face of hers.

"..."

A little more slowly, Karen flipped through the images with herself. Many of them were together with me. When I was sitting in her lap, when we were holding hands, and such. And... such...

"..."
"..."
The heck are you frigging dolls drawing?!

They had drawn a multitude of scenes... including those where Karen and I were kissing or... well...

There's no way I can let anyone see these!

Scenes of Karen and I making out.
Not saying another word, Karen moved the stack of the previous pictures back on top of these, then silently placed them into the box.

"Today is not my day..."
"Ahaha..."

---

After we had packed everything, we moved our few belongings to the tent where the three girls were staying at. The three in question hadn't been told before that we were invading their tent, so they had to clean up in a hurry when Lily and Rina appeared. They were still at it, in fact.

"Ohh, looks better than I expected."

Karen put down her belongings and took a look at the surroundings.

"Oh! Yumi! Big Sis Karen!"
"Emily... No running..."
"First we clean up, Emily. Come on."

There was no tackling Emily this time. Poor girl nearly toppled over when Maya and Sele grabbed her by the scruff to prevent her from running to us and subsequently abandoning her task.

"Yumi. Karen."
"Nn, Lily. Have they been tidying up for long already?"

We sat down next to Lily and Rina, joining them in watching the three girls. Sheets of papers lied around, full of awkwardly written notes or random scribbles as well as small wooden toys, pebbles and random... stuff. I didn't want to call it junk, but it was junk. Stuff like rusted clasps, small metal plates, wooden sticks and so...

"Not that long, no. It went pretty fast until now cause your dolls were helping. Didn't they come back with you?"
"... The dolls were here?"
"Yeah. The three took care of the dolls while you two were out but they suddenly stopped and stormed out a few minutes before you two came."
"... I see."

Was this a coincidence? I wanted to have a serious talk with the dolls in regards to those pictures. I didn't mind that they... continued with their hobby, you know. But I'd like my privacy to be respected.
That they ran away just before we came couldn't be a coincidence, could it?

"So you didn't see them?"
"No, we haven't seen them."
"Weird..."

Lily scratched the back of her head in wonder.

"Lily! We're done!"
"Ohh? Ohh, looks already a lot better, doesn't it? Good work, kids."

Lily gave Maya a strong rub on the head, praising her. With three people, it really went pretty quick, huh. Made me wonder how it looked originally here. Then again, where children were, chaos ensued with certainty. Although, in the vague memories I had, I didn't really remember my own room or my sisters' rooms being that chaotic... Hopefully, they were doing fine.

"Ehehe! We did our best!"
"Our best..."
"You sure did."

Emily and Sele ran up to Lily as well, waiting for their turn to get a rub on their head.

"You sure get along well..."
"Mh? Well, we had some time to get along better, right?"
"Yes! Yumi, Big Sis Lily is an amazing teacher!" Maya said, with a smug grin.
"... Amazing!"
"She is, she is!"

A teacher?

"Was it Lily who was teaching you three?" Karen asked her.
"She was! She's really good. At calculations, at writing and reading and at many other things!"
"Ehh? I'm not good at all, though... I just remember a lot of things and I used to have a good teacher myself..."
"But you are great, Big Sis Lily!"
"... Great!"

Huh...
So it had been Lily who was teaching them? That surprised me a bit, I had thought it was Ria or one of the other magicians who did the teaching.

"Anyway! It's getting late so let's go to sleep! Rina already dozed off!"

Maybe to hide her embarrassment, Lily stood up and carried Rina—who was indeed sleeping already—to their makeshift bed.

"Come on, off to bed with you all."

Lily lied down next to Rina, her back turned to us. How cute, she was getting embarrassed from being praised so bluntly.

"Well, I guess it is a good idea to sleep."
"Nn."
"Yumi! Big Sis Karen! Let's sleep together!"
"Together! Let's sleep together!"
"..."

Karen gave the three a small smile in response.

"Let Yumi and me first get our things stowed away okay? You three can get ready in the meantime."
"Okay!"
"Yay!"
"..."

They dashed off to their corner, pulling out the blanket and stuff.

"Yumi, let's put our things away."
"Nn."

There wasn't much to do in that regard, so we basically just put the box and other things into a free corner. Except for the blanket we had brought along. We'd need that one now, of course.
By the time we finished, the three girls were... Well, changing into their sleepwear. Just simple shirts...

Ahhh... Give them a few years and they will surely turn into quite some pretty girls. Yeah. I'm sure of that.

With that said, I shouldn't stare at them. Not like there was much to stare at.

A smile on our faces, we lied down together with them, all huddled up together, talking a little, before finally falling asleep.
Not in that egg, that cocoon-like thing. No, but together with these girls, hugging each other and feeling each other's warmth. I was happy as long as Karen was with me. But I was even happier if everyone was together like this.

---

".. mi... Yumi..."
"... Nngh... Mm..."
"... Yumi... Wake up..."
"Mmmgh?"

Someone was gently rattling me... Forcing me to wake up...

"... Awake?"
"Mmm... Ri... a?"

After forcing my eyes open, a familiar face was right in front of me.

"... I came to... wake you up..."
"Mm? Why...?"
"I told you... There is work..."
"Work... Ah..."

I remembered. The Captain said there was something to do and that I'd have to wake up early... Thank god that Ria decided to wake me up. I would've completely overslept.

"Mm... One moment... Nn? I can't move..."
"It is... impressive... How do you... get into such... situations..."
"... Nn?"

Craning my neck around, I saw what was restraining me. On one side, Karen was hugging me. On the other side, was Emily. Sele was hugging Karen's back, much to my surprise, and Maya was... Ehh... Not in my field of view. Probably somewhere else. As for Ria's astonishment? Well... The arm that Emily was hugging was... Bending in a slightly nightmarish way. As for my other arm...

"... Seriously?"

The arm that Karen was hugging... had turned into the tentacle arms... My leg on that side as well... I retrieved them cautiously, making sure not to wake Karen up, and turned them back. Then I gently moved Emily away and stood up. Keeping quiet, Ria and I left the tent.

"Mm... Do things... like that... happen often?"
"... That I transform in my sleep? That's a first..."

And it was troublesome. Troublesome and a bit of a shock. This had never happened before. To add on that...
The three girls didn't know what exactly I was. And to be honest, I didn't want to tell them either. The vague idea they probably had was enough. But... if things like this were going to happen...

"Mm... Uwahhh..."

Despite my worries, I couldn't stiffle a yawn. It was still quite dark, though the sun could already be vaguely seen at the horizon. Nonetheless, it was still way too early...

"Mm... You should... be careful..."
"Nn..."
"... Come."
"Nn..."

Still considerable groggy from just waking up, I followed Ria to the Captain's tent. It was so early, yet, many mercenaries were already up and about. Many of them had very serious expressions...

"Ria... Just what does the Captain intend to do? Everyone looks so serious."
"... He'll tell you... in a bit..."
"Haa..."
"But first..."
"Nn?"

I had thought we were on our way to Korwen's tent but... We weren't. This was... someone's tent. Yeah. Someone who wasn't the Captain.

"Konno... Are you... here?"
"Who is there?"

The young male voice echoed from within the tent and shortly after, Konno's head popped through the entrance.

"Oh, Miss Ria and Miss Yumi. Good Morning. Come in, come in."
"Mm... Morning."
"Good Morning, Konno."

The inside of his tent was... basically the same as his wagon. A large desk, a table in the corner, pieces of leather and animal skin in the other corner. Unknown tools and other stuff as well.

"Ehhh... Where did I leave it... Ah, there it is, there it is."
"Nn?"

Konno dug through a pile of... clothes and similar, revealing a big, black piece of clothing.

"We still need some time before we can make anything out of the hair, so today you'll have to go with this again, okay?"
"Ahhh..."

Yeah, it was the black armour dress I had worn before. On one side was the embroidery done by Greyward, on the other was the metal emblem I had gotten from Korwen before.

"Okay, but... I still don't know why... Just what is going on?"
"Mh? Did nobody tell her, Miss Ria?"
"The Captain... intended to..."
"I see, I see. Well, it's basically your formal wear as a mercenary for now, right? So, if you act in your position as a mercenary, it's better to wear it, yes?"
"Haa..."

That still didn't tell me what was going on. Except that it was apparently pretty important. Well, couldn't be helped.
We chased Konno out of his own tent and Ria helped me put on the dress again. After a quick check by Konno, I was good to go.

And this time, I'm properly wearing underwear!

After our stop at Konno's, we walked towards the large tent where Korwen was right now. Curiously, it was surrounded by even more mercenaries. It was the usual kind of to and fro with crates, equipment and other things. Just, before the sun had even risen.
As I was watching this, we entered the tent. Inside, Korwen sat at his usual spot at the table, accompanied by quite a few others. The other magicians were sitting at the table too, as well as Fenna, Mrs Korwen, and a few other faces I didn't know.

"... Captain."
"Oh, Ria, Yumi. Good morning, good morning."
"Morning..."
"Good Morning, Captain."

I threw a glance at the others that were seated around the table. Fenna and Mrs Korwen both nodded towards me and gave me a small wave, Wendl only threw a glance at me. Everyone else was mostly ignoring us, outside of a few glances in my direction.

"Ria, take your seat over there. Yumi, you sit down there."

Korwen pointed at an empty seat close to him. After I sat down, I turned back to Korwen.

"Uhm... Captain... What exactly is going on?" I asked quietly.
"Ahh, I didn't tell you yet... Right... Let's see. Where do I even begin... I already told you about the current... problems. Right?"
"Nn. You mean the stuff with the Allena family, right? And that some angered a few merchants."
"Right, right, exactly that. Well, we are here to deal with this, in a way."
"Haaa..."

At that moment, the front of the tent opened and more people streamed inside. Once again, for the most part, people I didn't know of, except for Konno and Wormaz. They gave their greetings to Korwen and all sat down as well. Every single seat at the table was now occupied. A good two dozen people. And outside of Ria, Fenna, Mrs Korwen and me, only men.
Also, while Konno, Wormaz, Wendl and some others from the Black Guards were here too, Greyward wasn't for some reason.

"Mm... Seems everyone is here then."

With those words, Korwen stood up from his seat.

"Good Morning to all of you. I hope you had a good night's sleep. Most of you already know why I called this meeting together but a few of you don't. With that in mind, I'd like to sum up what happened over the past few days."

So I wasn't the only one who had no idea what was going on? That was a relief, somehow.

"Around a week ago, we had the clash with the Akkian army at the Hollow Fort. Due to the urgent job request of Commander Ruben, we provided workforces and armed men, as well as medical and logistical support. The final outcome was rather unexpected but it nonetheless doesn't undermine the hostile action the Empire has taken towards the Kingdom."

A few murmurs and sighs could be heard. Sighs of relief or sighs of disappointment, I honestly couldn't make out.

"After this incident, we travelled towards the Lafrian Capital of Larfas, accompanied by the elves, and made a stop here, with the intention of fulfilling our contract with the Lafrian Academy. Several days after our arrival, though, the army sent an envoy to us, declaring us a suspect in angering the Empire. We are currently restricted from leaving the Capital until further notice."

Someone spat out loudly. Another clicked his tongue.
Ria and Fenna silently listened. Wendl was wearing a grumpy expression.

"Under usual circumstances, this wouldn't pose a problem for us. It is by far not the first time this has happened. Unfortunately, a certain noble family has put their dirty fingers into this issue. The Allena family is attempting to turn us into a scapegoat. If they succeed at this, Lafria would join the list of countries we cannot frequent.  Due to their relations with other countries, it is likely that Krohmea and Aldreigh would prevent us from entering as well."

So, Lafria had probably favourable relations with those two countries, huh? Interesting.

"As that would be a severe hit to our income, I'd like to prevent this at all costs. The Karker family has agreed to cooperate with us, which is very reassuring. Our relation with the royal family is also good, but they have not given me a reply yet when I requested an audience. It is doubtful whether we can count on them. The political climate seems to have grown... problematic, in the time we haven't come here. But as we are barred from even entering the city right now, it is not possible to investigate either. Our only source of information right now comes from Lady Karker."

We couldn't enter the city anymore? That... Wasn't that bad?

"Any questions so far?"

Korwen paused and looked through the round.

"Captain."
"Taddick, yes?"
"How long are our supplies going to last currently, assuming we cannot replenish them anymore?"
"For food, if we ration everything, about two months at best. If we don't, less than one. We were unable to restock completely. Maintenance supplies, weapons and other things should be fine for at least half a year."
"Two months on rations..."

The bulky man named Taddick leaned back on his chair, staring at the tent ceiling.

"Any other questions?"

Nobody reacted.

"None. Good, then I'll continue."

Korwen nodded to himself once after affirming that nobody had a question.

"We are currently unable to ascertain the state of the investigations among other things. As such, there's not much we can currently talk about in this regard except waiting. If we were to do anything, we might only worsen our position. Should the worst come by, we will leave the capital on the double. As such, I hope that everyone can spread around this information: Be prepared to leave at a moments notice."

At a moment's notice... That did sound pretty serious.

"Now, to the things that we can do... First would usually be our contract with the Lafrian Academy. Their request finally came to us yesterday, so we can move out to fulfil... most of it."

For some reason, Korwen paused there. A few men started to snicker and then someone shouted into the room.

"Captain, is it true some idiot there wants us to capture a fucking ogre?"
"Haaa... Yes, yes, it is."

An ogre? Those huge... wait, why did I have the feeling I heard this before?

Ah! The weird professor from the Academy! He wanted an ogre... He really went and asked for it, wow...
"An ogre? Seriously? What kind of idiot would request such a thing? They'd never let such a monster into the city."
"Yeah, bet they'd just fuck up keeping it contained when it gets a boner."

... Why a boner? Why was that relevant? This... wasn't an attempt at a lewd joke. Nobody was laughing...
Ahh... Maybe they were getting uncontrollable when they got aroused? Like those goblins? That... Yeah, that wasn't good. Definitely no good.

"Captain, ya can't tell me we gonna do that, are ya?"
"We are."

The room went silent.

"The military school will keep it contained outside the city. This has already been worked out inside the Academy. As for capturing it... We'll have to figure something out, but it should be possible."

Possible, huh...

"Back on topic, the request with the Academy is mostly around the usual outside of the issue with the ogre. Exterminating the monsters in the immediate surroundings, collection of certain materials and so on. You know the drill. As for the ones who will work on this... Let's see."

Korwen scratched his chin, looking through the room.

"Fenna, Taddick, I want both of your squads to work on them except for the ogre capture. Take Yumi with you, I'll give her the list of the assignments."
""Understood, Captain!""
"..."
Eh? Me?

While I was still confused at being called out, Korwen threw a quick glare at me. He was waiting.

"Understood, Captain!"

With a satisfied nod, he turned frontwards again and begun distributing a few other tasks. Ria and Wendl were going to help with the ogre capture apparently.

"Captain."
"Fenna? What is it?"
"If my squad is working on the stuff for the Academy, what about our current assignment, the guard work for the girlfriend of Lady Karker's granddaughter?"
"That assignment will continue. Lady Karker requested that her granddaughter, as well as her girlfriend, join you."
"... May I inquire as to why? Isn't this exactly the opposite of what we should be doing? Even if most of the tasks are simple, they are still dangerous. And we're talking about the Karker family's only heir."

Those two were supposed to join us? Yeah, I could only agree with Fenna there. That didn't seem right.

"... That is exactly why. Lady Karker deemed the current situation to be more dangerous inside the city. Protecting the two girls from monsters should be easier than protecting them inside the city from unknown assailants. A city you can't enter right now, if you remember."
"... I see. Understood, Captain. We'll protect the two of them."
"Mm. Good reply."

Easier, huh.

"Now then, with the tasks regarding the Academy assigned... I'd like to ask for everyone's opinions here. Especially from those who have interacted with the elves. What is your impression of them after several days?"

The elves? The Elder and her kin, huh... I was actually quite curious about this as well.

"Dear," Mrs Korwen called out to her husband.
"Yes?"
"Those elves, you know, they're really good kids. Several of them are currently helping us with our regular duties. They also know a lot about household chores. So much, that even I'm learning many new things! If possible, I'd wish they would stay with us, they are a huge help to have around. They're all really shy but also really friendly after they warm up a little."

Mrs Korwen put her hand on her cheek and smiled as she told us this.

"They are that much of a help, huh... But how are they getting along with others?"
"Getting along... Mm... They mostly avoid the people they don't know so... Ahh, but I've seen a few of the elf girls getting along quite well with some men, hohoho."
"... Well?"

Korwen furrowed his eyebrows and looked once more into the round. A few men were awkwardly avoiding their gazes...
You weren't doing a good job at hiding... You knew that, right?
To their fortune, though, someone else was raising his hand.

"Captain, may I?"
"Balt. Go ahead."
"Some of my men got... pretty close to the elven girls. Or rather, they got quite intimate. The language barrier is a little troublesome, but the elves are learning our language incredibly fast. Also, I heard a few of the elven girls were, in fact, considering to stay with us, while some of my men said they might want to stay with the elves."
"... I see. This is honestly rather unexpected. It's better than the other way round, though."

The elves were getting intimate with some of the mercenaries? I was... quite speechless, that's how much of a surprise it was. They seemed really secluded at first but... Maybe they really were a lot more tolerant than they might seem at first. Even the Elder was a lot more likeable than I had thought initially.
But to get that close in a matter of a few days...

"Then, judging from your reactions, the others are experiencing similar things?"

The men who were initially avoiding his gaze nodded awkwardly.

"I see. I'll take this as good news for now. Unexpected, but certainly good news. I'll have a talk with the Elder of the elves about what to do in regards to those who want to stay and vice versa."

Korwen finally sat down in his seat again and leaned back, letting out a sigh.

"That's overall good news. Good news. Haaa..." Korwen murmured so quietly that I could barely hear it.

Then, he sat up again, hitting the table and drawing all the attention back to him.

"Good. The situation with the elves is great news overall. The jobs are distributed as well. With those out of the way, there is one last thing we have to discuss. That we, unfortunately, cannot avoid anymore at this."

Korwen took a deep breath.

"Cutting off the troublesome families."