"Time to figure out what we are going to do with this wagon and your tentacles."

Korwen stared at the tentacles that covered the ground and the wall behind him. The dolls had all gathered right behind him as well, waiting for... something.

"Now that I see them, there are a few more things I want to talk about. Like the dolls."
"The dolls?"
"Yes. But let's put that for later. First of all..."

He turned back towards us, a serious expression on his face.

"Ria gave me another simple rundown about what happened yesterday evening. To be honest, I am still not sure what to make of this. It could become useful. Or it could turn into a huge pain. These tentacles aren't something you can casually show off, which severely limits their use in the field."

We couldn't show it off... True, this probably wasn't something others should see, if possible... But...

"Mr Captain, isn't that the case for Yumi in general?"
"To a degree, yes. But if it's a single person and a small scale, you can talk your way out of it or worst-case bribe a few people to keep quiet. The use outweighs the risk attached. But for something like this, the risk is on a completely different level. This isn't something you can simply talk your way out of anymore."

He sighed, scratching the back of his head.

"Imagine you could make this useable for a siege. Taking over part of a fortress or at least making it unusable to the enemy. That's a completely different scale at that point. Hundreds of people would see it, if not thousands or even more. And people will remember that 'it came from those mercenaries'. That's impossible to keep a secret anymore. At that point, we'd be questioned what we did... And whether we can talk our way out of it then... The only other option would be to kill everyone who knows."

Impossible to keep a secret...
And if it became known that the Dragon Knights were involved, it would be mostly their reputation that would suffer.

"With that said, the use this might have could still be worth it. Nonetheless, it is imperative that we keep quiet about it and involve as few people as possible. As such, one of the first things we have to talk about... Is the wagon itself."
"The... wagon?" Karen asked, tilting her head a little.
"Yes, the wagon."

Korwen stood up from the chair and walked over to the currently opened window.

"As it is, if someone were to come by and look around the camp, they could—even accidentally—find this. If you were to cover the entire inside of the wagon with... those tentacles, then we can't have anyone looking inside now, can we?"
"Ahh... That's true."
"And if someone were to purposefully look around to get some dirt on us, they might even bring a magician along. Then there's no way they wouldn't find it."

That was... When Ria had initially noticed it, I was surprised by it. But now... I hadn't actually taken a look but it would be surely easy to notice as it was currently. Especially with all this mana. But...

"Captain, is there a way to prevent them from noticing?"
"No, there isn't."
"Ehhh..."

Then, what the heck were we supposed to do?

"Mm... If I... might... Captain..."
"Go ahead, Ria."
"Mm... Yumi... Karen... It might... not be possible... to prevent them... from seeing that... something... is inside... But... we can prevent... them from... knowing what... is inside..."
"What is inside..."

In other words, they knew something was inside but not what?

"It's the same we are doing for the Ria's and the other's workshop. Greyward's magician also has the same. To prevent peeping toms or overly zealous idiots from breaking in as well as to... Ria, what was it again... That mana thing?"
"It's... concealing... mana."
"Nn? Concealing?"

Concealing huh.
So, like a disguise or a camouflage? Or hiding it?

"It scatters... attributed mana... around... the wagon... making it impossible... to determine... what is... what?"
"Ohh... So, like a camouflage?"
"It's... similar..."

Scattering mana around...
That sounded familiar... Wasn't there something in my old world like that? Something scattering around little parts to... to hide something... Yeah, uhh, whatever.

"So, Mr Captain, Miss Ria... What exactly is it you'll be doing? We only heard what it does..."
"Ahh, sorry, Karen... It's a magical tool, a magical tool."
"A magical tool... Aren't those expensive, though?"
"They are hella expensive, so don't you dare break it. Haaa... Luckily, Greyward's group has a spare one for some reason so we'll be using that."

I probably didn't want to know how expensive exactly it was... Better be careful.

"That's not the only thing, though. The wagon needs to be reinforced as well. And we got to prevent unwanted break-ins, so that's two magical tools needed."
"There are tools to prevent break-ins?"
"Kind of. It prevents those who aren't authorised to walk through. It's like a small version of the monster barrier that the Capital uses. Though it would be possible to force your way through this one, but that'd be impossible to hide."

So, such a thing existed even in small...
Something like a magical alarm system, huh. Another thing I didn't want to know how expensive it was.

"We don't have any spares for those, though... We might be able to get one from the Academy if we're lucky, though."
"Nn, the Academy? Do they sell those?"
"No, they don't exactly sell them or make them for that manner. But the Academy owns a great variety of magical tools for their research and many of them are... put aside after they are done with them. A little bit of flattery here and treating someone to a nice meal there and they might give you one of those leftovers."
"For cheap?"
"For free."

For free.
Weren't they expensive as hell?

"Captain, wouldn't they get in trouble for that?"
"If those people had a proper sense for money, maybe. Most of them don't."

They... didn't?
Were they living behind a mountain, or what? I really couldn't claim to be all that knowledgeable but even I already understood the worth of them.

"Most of the researchers come from noble families. They never had to particularly worry about money. Add to that that a lot of the funding for the Academy comes from the royal family and you get a group of people with absolutely no idea how money works."
"... Mr Captain, aren't you scamming them?"
"That's rude, Karen. I am not scamming anyone. They're still happy afterwards."
"..."

That... didn't make it okay. He was still cheating them.
But... Well... It wasn't like those people would suddenly lose their livelihood from that... Time to pretend that I hadn't heard anything.

"... I'll pretend I never heard that, Mr Captain."
"Hahaha, that's fine too, Karen!"

Karen shook her head and sighed, having come to the same conclusion as me, apparently. Behind Korwen, Merim was shaking his head as well.

"Captain... Please keep yourself a little more restrained... What will you do when our reputation turns sour because of things like this?"
"It won't, Merim. It won't. They're happily giving it away after all. There's nothing to complain!"
"... I hope you know what you are doing... Haaa..."

Merim started rubbing his temples as if he had a headache...

"Let's talk about something else before Merim starts a lecture."
"Whose fault do you think that is, Captain?"
"The researchers', obviously!"
"... Ahhh! Whatever! I don't know anything! I haven't heard anything!"

He gave up, huh...
Poor Merim.

"Going back to the things about the wagon... I'll send the craftsmen over and have them work on it. They'll reinforce it so that even if something were to explode—which I hope won't happen—it'll be fine."
"... I don't think anything is going to explode."

The heck was he worrying about?
Those tentacles did a lot of questionable things but... They weren't going to explode, right?

"... Those exact words were once spoken by our esteemed Ria here as well. Around three days later we had to purchase a new wagon."
"..."
"Reinforcing a wagon is a lot cheaper than building a new one. Believe me, I know. I signed off the payment."
"... We'll try to be careful."

Right, I vaguely recalled that the magicians tended to have their wagon away from the main camp because of such incidents... The heck did she do?

"I sure hope you will be. As for the magical tool, you should fetch it later from the Black Guards' magician. He'll also tell you how to install it properly."
"Nn, will do."
"Now... Did I forget anything in regards to the wagon... I think that was all... Ah, wait, wait... Yumi, you've been at the Black Guards' craftsmen. right? What were their names again..."
"Wormaz and Konno?"

The blacksmith Wormaz and the leatherworker Konno.

"Right, those two. I'll leave matters in regards to the wagon to the Black Guards, so you should talk with their blacksmith."
"Okay."
"Nn, got it."

That was fine by me. I already knew them, after all.

"Now then... I think that wraps up the talk about the wagon itself..."

Korwen exhaled and leaned back on his chair.

"Now we just got to... talk about that, huh..."

He threw a glance behind him, at the still slightly wriggling tentacles.
The dolls had all bunched up right in front of them as well... Literally forming a pile of dolls. What happened to waiting in a line?

"Let's start with the easier one, the dolls."

Turning back again, he faced us once more.

"They're a huge help, that's for sure but... Yumi... How do I say this..."
"Nn?"
"Mh... Well, Yumi, did you... make any new ones?"
"Uhhh, no? I don't think so."
"I see..."

He scratched the back of his head, then throwing a quick glance at Ria and Merim behind him.

"They're... increasing."
"..."

Increasing...
I directed my attention to the currently unmoving pile behind Korwen...
They were... increasing... In numbers, probably.

"Mr Captain, do you mean, they're making more dolls by themselves?"
"That's correct, Karen. They seem to be increasing on their own... I thought at first that Yumi made more of them in her spare time but... They still increased in numbers while you two were asleep."
"..."

Having maybe noticed that our discussion turned towards them, the pile finally started to show signs of movement. Some of the dolls crawled out, then pulling more dolls out of the pile.

"Huh? But... Mr Captain, how do you know they increased in numbers?"
"Mh? Well, like this..."

He turned around, to the pile of dolls.

"Hey! Line up immediately!" he shouted.

Before the words even finished leaving his mouth, all the dolls suddenly sprang into action, the pile collapsing nearly instantly and the dolls lining up in front of Korwen. It was a little surreal, seeing the small doll army lined up and a middle-aged, muscle-packed man sitting in front of them.

"I see... That's how..."
"Mh? Ah, it's not over yet, you know."
"Nn?"
It's not over yet? Aren't they all lined up already?

While I pondered such things... Sounds of wood crashing against each other came from behind me... From the window, to be precise.

"Wha— What the hell?!"
"Ehhhh?!"

The sight made me scream out in surprise...
I mean, who wouldn't? Dozens of dolls crawled through the window, joining the already lined up dolls. Like a stream of ants, they gathered up from who knew where. Right in front of Korwen. Dozens of dolls... Far, far more than I had ever made... They even ran out of space to properly line up and were now squished together... Some dolls even started fighting for their spot, throwing other dolls to the side.

"Hey, no fighting! Are you little kids, or what?!"

And they stopped fighting when Korwen shouted at them.
What in the blazes was I watching?

"... Yumi, did you make dolls while I wasn't around?"
"No, I haven't made any others, Sis..."

I did make quite a few and if someone were to ask me how many... I didn't know. Two, three dozen? Maybe more? Maybe less?
Either way, I didn't create this... army of dolls... Not literally hundreds.

"And there you have it."
"..."
"As you can see, they increased."
"..."

Yes, they increased...
They increased substantially! Dear Captain, this wasn't the time to nonchalantly tell me they multiplied!
The heck were we going to do about this?! This wasn't a matter of a few dolls were added! There were a few times as many now!

"Ah, right, Mr Yuu doesn't listen to me for some reason. He only listens to the Black Guards."
"... Who the hell is Mr Yuu?"

And why did it have such a name?

"Yumi, isn't that the one doll that stayed with the Black Guards?"
"... The one doll? Who stayed with the... Ah. I remember."

Right, who was it again... Lily told me about that, didn't she?
That they voted for its name and it somehow turned out like that...

"All others listen to me and Merim, so it's not exactly a big issue. A little shouting and they behave."
"... I see."
"There's just one problem... No, actually two..."

Korwen's expression hardened, staring intently at the dolls.

"First, we don't have enough mana crystals currently to keep them fed. One of them doesn't consume much but with this number, we're going to burn through the stash quickly. Especially if they increase even more."
"... Wait, Captain, you give them mana crystals?"
"Mh? Of course, I do. They stop moving if I don't."
"..."

That explained the mystery of why they were still moving...

"Nn... Couldn't you just... stop giving them some, then?"
"But then they can't help out anymore, can they?"
"..."

Captain, only one thing was going to work here. Either they stopped moving, or they continued burning through the mana crystals.

Don't let convenience blind you, Captain! Not that I know how much they are helping, though...
"Anyway, I know that there are some dolls with... their own mana crystals? Those don't need any, right? So, can you do that for the other dolls as well?"

The mana crystal? Oh, he meant the ones with the pink mana egg, didn't he?
That... certainly would work but...

Wait, the pink mana egg? The ones I made all should have one, shouldn't they?

They didn't. Most of the dolls in front of me had no mana egg. In other words, they really weren't made by me. But... If I were to make a mana egg for every single one of these...

"I do need quite a few mana crystals for just one... And with this many..."
"I see... Well, I'll tell someone to bring you some of our stash, so just make as many as you can with that. We'll have to stock up on them anyway so we might get more in the future."
"... Okay."

He wasn't going to give up on the convenience, was he?
The heck were the dolls doing...
Weren't they already more useful than me?! No way?!

"Now, the second problem might be a little bigger... It's also not really something we can do much about, right now."
"Nn?"
"Some of the families are a little... disturbed by them. Some dolls apparently wander around and then get picked up by the children. There have been a few unlucky occasions where they found a moving doll in their wagon or tent... Needless to say, it involved a lot of panicking and screaming. You can be glad you were asleep."

Yes, I would panic and scream as well if I found a moving doll in my home. Was this some kind of horror story? I didn't even want to imagine their horror... Just thinking of it made me shiver.

"I already told the dolls not to move around in such a situation but the story still spread quite a bit among them... So now we have some families that are telling me to hand some over and others that want nothing to do with them..."
"Ahaha..."

So some of them wanted the dolls, too?

"I guess it'll take some time for them to get used to it but do be careful. And if you have any ideas that might help, they're welcome."
"Nn, got it..."

Not that I had any ideas right now.
At most, we could dress them up or something? Though that would probably just make it worse...

"So, Captain... Should I tell them to stop... Uhm... multiplying?"
"Mmm... No, leave them for now. If we run out mana crystals they'll just stop moving, so there's no big downside to it for now. And even with these numbers, it is not like they take up a lot of space."
"Haa... If you say so..."

If he said it was fine, who was I to stop him...

"Mm... Okay! Dismissed!"

The dolls scattered immediately, most of them leaving through the window again... climbing over each other, throwing others who were in the way to the side... Yumias had told me they were basically my children and that they were very much alive... But weren't they a little too lively?

"Mh... Before I forget it, Yumi."
"Nn? Yes, Captain?"
"I should probably explain first what I want you two to do here, right? I messed up the order a little..."
"Nn?"

The workshop duty... was it...

"Do you two know what Ria, Wenners and Krutz do?"
"Nn... No, not really... They're apparently... Uhh... Testing? Experimenting? I think..."
"That's not too far from it. They are researching things for the most part, yes. But do you know what they are researching?"
"No, I don't."

I glanced at Ria who was still standing behind Korwen. Much to my surprise, she wasn't sleeping. She still wasn't listening anymore and was instead staring at the tentacles behind them.

"Magic and magical tools, magic weapons. Anything that might help strengthen the band. Anything that can be used for battle and for war."
"Weapons..."
"It's not only weapons. Medicine and tools as well. You know about how we destroyed the bridge over the Hollow, right?"
"Nn... You used the dolls and placed an explosive under the bridge."

Which caused the entire bridge to fall down into the Hollow, together with whoever was on the bridge...

"Exactly. And that explosive we used was something made by Ria."
"Huh? Really?"
"Yes."
"I see..."

Was it fine to let Ria handle such strong explosives? She... blew up her wagon at least once already, right? And I very much doubted that even a reinforced wagon could withstand an explosion that destroyed a bridge...

"So, what I want you two to do is pretty much exactly the same. Find things that are useful. You already have two good starting points, after all."
"... Starting points? Ah, the dolls and the tentacles?"
"Right. Find ways to improve them, make them useful to the band. That's what your job will be."

The dolls and the tentacles, huh.
But the dolls were plenty useful already... Though it was clear there were still some issues to even out.

"Of course, that's not all you should be working on, but I guess those two are the more immediate ones."

Even if he said that, though... What was I actually supposed to do? No idea... Well, Karen was here as well, maybe she had some ideas. Should ask her later.

"With that said, the dolls are one thing but... those tentacles... Mmm..."

Korwen rubbed his chin, seemingly thinking about something.

"... No, let's not rush things. As I've said before, keep quiet about the tentacles as much as possible. And whatever you find in regards to them, report it to Ria. Understood?"
"Nn, understood, Captain."
"Good."

He nodded, satisfied with the answer.

"For now, we'll keep it at that. Anything else can be discussed once we know a little more about those tentacles."

So, our jobs were to figure out things with those dolls and the tentacles...
That did come quite in handy, now that I thought a little about it. After all, it was something I had planned to do anyway in my free time. If it was treated as work, I could spend more time on it.
But on the other hand, it also meant I couldn't escape it anymore either...

"I think that was all. If you need anything, discuss it with Ria. She'll stay as your superior, even if she isn't very diligent, so be sure to report things to her."
"Nn, understood."
"Understood, Mr Captain."
"Good, good. Now, that's one thing out of the way. Haa... Do you have anything else you want to talk about?"
"Nn..."

Anything else...
Ah, there was one thing.

"Captain, earlier, the dolls carried a small bag with mana crystals and fed the tentacles with them..."
"... They fed the tentacles?"
"Nn. After that, they grew a little but..."
"Mm... Hey, Ria, what do you think of this.?"
"..."
"Ria!"
"Mm? Captain?"

Clearly not listening, was she...
With a sigh, Korwen repeated to her what we told him.

"Mmm... The dolls... The tentacles... Mmm... It reminds me... of a hive..."
"A hive?" Korwen asked, his eyebrows furrowed.
"Mm... Like... an insect hive... The dolls... are the workers... The tentacles... are the nest... And Yumi... Yumi would be... the queen?"

While I personally didn't like the analogy of insects... It really did look like that, huh... The dolls were feeding the nest...

"I see... What do you think we should do?"
"Mm... As long... as Yumi... keeps it controlled... It should be... fine to... let them... continue... I think..."
"... Aren't you just saying that cause you are curious?"
"..."

Ria fell silent, not answering...
So, she was curious...

"Well, I'll let you decide what to do about this. As long as you can make sure it stays hidden, I won't stop you."
"But... Uhm... Is it fine that the dolls took those mana crystals?"

He did, after all, just say that they were using up a lot of them.

"For now, yes. We can't do much with those small mana crystals and it's not like they are expensive."
"Nn, I've been wondering, but why are you even hoarding so many small ones?"
"Why? Ahh, you see, they might not be expensive but it's not like there are no uses at all for them. The Academy uses them for some experiments and I heard that some tamers use them for their pets. Apparently, some farmers use them as fertilizers too. Then there are also some artisans using them for accessories and the like. We're neither selling nor buying them but we do keep the ones we get our hands on during jobs and the like."
"Ahhh... That explains it. So, they just accumulated over time?"

If you collected them over the years but didn't use up all of them...
No, still, did they never think of getting rid of them? They did have a lot of them, evidently...

"Exactly like that. Although, now it seems that we have some rather convenient use for them, so we might buy some."
"Isn't that going to be expensive? Even if they're cheap."
"One crate full costs only a silver coin. I did say they're cheap. The bigger problem is how much we should stock up on."
"One silver coin..."

Now I wanted to know even more why they even kept that many... Was it the kind of thing where he thought that maybe they might become useful and it'd be a waste to throw them away? Well, he was right if he had thought like that. Unexpectedly...

"We'll still be here for a while so we got time to figure that out. For now, there's no need to hold back on using those small mana crystals."
"Okay, if you say so, Captain."

Then I wasn't going to hold back...

"Then, anything else you want to talk about?"
"Nn, I don't have anything. Sis?"
"I have nothing else, either."
"Okay, then we'll take out leave."

Korwen stood up from his chair and stretched his arms.

"Merim, Ria, let's get a mo— Merim, are you alright?"
"Eh? What?"
"You're bright red."
"I'm fine! I'm fine! Everything is fine!"
"..."

The bright red Merim was vehemently denying something was wrong but... Clearly something was wrong.
Though, what Ria dropped after that was surely not making it better.

"Captain... He's... aroused..."
"""..."""

Ah, he turned around and hid his face. Was she... Was Ria actually right?

"Merim. You're still young so I won't say I don't understand how you feel but... I think you should stay with Helma."
"You're wrong, Captain! I'm not doing this on purpose, I'm not!"
"Yes, yes, let's leave. I understand."

Korwen put his arm around Merim and pushed him outside, continuing to comfort him while saying that he understands. And Merim actively denying it, still red as a tomato.

"Mmm... I think... There is... a misunderstanding..." Ria muttered as she watched the two leave.
"A... misunderstanding?"
"Mm... Yumi..."
"Nn?"
"There is... Lust-attributed... mana... in the air..."

Lust-attributed... mana?

"Ah."

Did he get horny because of the mana? Seriously?

"Huh? But, Miss Ria, aren't you and Mr Captain fine? And I don't feel much different either."
"Mm... The Captain... has a tool... to protect him... I am... a magician... I know... how to deal... with this... As for you..."

Ria stopped, staring intensely at Karen.

"... Who knows?"

She shrugged her shoulders a little, then turned towards the door, before we could continue the topic.

"'I'll... go back now... as well..."
"Ah, yes. Bye."
"Bye, Miss Ria."

And there she went, leaving me and Karen alone. Not even the dolls were around anymore, only the patch of the floor covered in tentacles.

"Not affected... Ah, but maybe that's what felt weird when I came in?"
"Nn, maybe?"

I sat down on the floor and leant on the wall. The paper with the schedule was still in my hand. This was going to be my new daily life, huh... Well, it seemed a little more orderly, so maybe that was a good thing. Until now we just did whatever they told us to, but that couldn't continue forever.

Actually, weren't we supposed to work under Ria? Though she never really told us to do anything...

Maybe that was the reason for the schedules...
Well, whatever was the case, I wasn't going to complain about it. This was probably easier for everyone.

"Yumi."
"Nn? What is it, Sis?"
"Do Emily and the girls know that they shouldn't come in here anymore?"
"... I don't think so."
"... Maybe we should look for them before they turn up here suddenly."

That... could turn out a little problematic, yeah...
Korwen had just told us to keep the tentacles off-limits to everyone so...
With that in mind, I stood up again.

"Nn, we should look for them..."
"... We should but..."
"But?"
"... I don't think we should leave the wagon unsupervised."

That... That was a good point. It'd be also troublesome if we missed them. Those three were really likely to just suddenly appear, weren't they? And I sure didn't want that to happen right after Korwen told us to keep it a secret.

"We should've mentioned that to Korwen..."
"Now it is too late, Yumi."

True...
He was gone already.

"How about I'll go look for Mr Captain again and you wait here?"
"Nn, guess we'll have to do it like that."

If we were to start with the schedule today already...
Well, the practice was something I could worry about tomorrow. Merim didn't seem to be in a state for it anyway. And after that was the workshop stuff anyway so we got plenty time.

"Then, I'll try to be quick."
"Nn, I'll wait here, Sis."

And now, Karen left as well, leaving me all alone.

Haaa... What do I do now...

---

Waiting was boring. Especially if you had nothing else to do.
I could have actually started working on something, like Korwen told me to, but... Well, for now, I just wanted to catch a bit of air, so I went outside, waiting in front of the wagon. If someone wanted to come in, it was better to stop them before they opened the door anyway.

That doesn't change that I got nothing to do now.

The camp wasn't exactly all that busy right now either... And although there had been that uproar earlier, it was rather quiet right now.

There isn't even anyone around right now... At breakfast probably, huh...

Nothing I could do about now.
I leaned against the wagon, staring up at the blue sky. A small flock of birds passed by above me, traveling towards the sun. It was still quite early, so the sun hadn't risen all that much.

I wonder if the cardinal directions are the same here... Or the seasons... This world already has two suns so maybe there are differences in the seasons as well? But then they separate the months into four seasons too...

Time was probably going to tell me about it either way... It wasn't like I could just go back to my old world anymore. Even if I could... I didn't want to leave Karen. I was a little curious about my family over there but... I could only hope they were doing fine.

Not like I remember much anyway...

In the end, there hadn't been any more dreams nor did anything else happen in regards to my mostly missing memories. Not that I complained, mind you. If nothing bad happened, that was a good thing.

Maybe I should ask that monster about it again, though... Like... It'd be at least good to let them know that I am fine and safe, right? My family over there...
"Haaa..."

Speaking of which, where did that monster run off to anyway? She might know about what happened to me, right? The Elder knew a little but... It wasn't exactly a lot. And she did refuse to speak about some parts of it. From the way she spoke, though, it seemed to be a dangerous thing... I probably wouldn't say anything in that case either, huh... Nothing I could do about, may—

"Nn?"

Absorbed in my thoughts, I hadn't noticed someone approaching. It was probably just Karen or maybe a mercenary who had come back from breakfast but...

No. Something is wrong. Really wrong!

A shudder ran down my spine. The urge to hide or run away overcame me like a flood. I had no idea what this feeling was... Instinctive fear? Whatever it was... it was already too late... Three hooded people appeared, walking right towards me. The middle person grabbed their hood pulling it down.

"Good Morning, little miss. So we meet again."
"You are... the woman from earlier."

A woman, probably in her early twenties appearance-wise, with wavy hair going down to her shoulders. Pink hair and pink eyes. She was accompanied by her two hooded companions again.

"Yumelia is my name. May I ask for yours?"
"..."
"Silence, is it? Well, that's fine too."

The woman chuckled, causing me to shudder once again. I still felt the urge to run. I knew this person was more than just bad news.
But I could barely move... As if something was forcing me to stand right here. Maybe it was my panic, maybe my surprise... maybe something else.

"I am glad I am finally able to meet you, little miss. Those pesky mercenaries nearly fooled me, I admit. It's fortunate I decided to stay around a little longer."

Fortunate? More like, unfortunate...

"What... What do you want from me?"

I forced myself to squeeze out the question.
The woman, Yumelia stared me for a moment... Then, her eyes turned wide.

"Want? Want... Want! Right, right! Little miss! I am here to pick you up! I apologise for taking so long! Our inability to locate you in a timely manner has caused you undue distress, hasn't it?! Ahhh! How horrible! How terrifying! All alone among these humans! But! BUT! Now everything is going to be fine! You can be relieved!"

The woman stepped forward, approaching me without care, her arms spread wide as if she was welcoming me.
Her eyes, her wide smile... The whole impression I got from her... She was scary. Scary... And somehow, I felt disgusted as well.

"... Little miss?"

She stopped in her tracks. I had involuntarily backed away from her. Much to my surprise. The disgust was so strong... I didn't want anything to do with this person...
And that wasn't received well, obviously.

"I see... Have those humans already tarnished your mind? That's a problem. A problem. Ahhh, but that means we'll have to rectify it! That! That might be wonderful, too! Ahh, we'll spend a lot of time together, little miss! Yes! Maybe I should thank them instead?"

The hell was up with this woman? What was she even talking about?

"Who... Who the hell are you even?"
"Huh? I thought I introduced myself? I am Yumelia! Yumelia, an ardent follower of our dearest Witch! Little miss! You have met her, haven't you? You met our dearest, our beloved witch! Haven't you?! Ahh, I am so jealous! I wish I could catch but a glimpse of her!"

The woman stared at the sky with a euphoric expression, as if she was experiencing bliss. Unfathomable bliss.

"The... Witch Worshippers?"
"Ahh, you know of us? I am honoured! But please, do not use that crude name! Those pesky humans gave it to us. We have no need for such a name! We are simply followers! Simple, humble followers of the almighty witch!"

Humble? More like fanatical.
Seeing her like this... I was still scared but there was something else... Something... Something... I didn't want anything to do with her... I wanted to get away, if anything... I felt as if I had to... a strong... urge. An urge... rejecting this woman.

"But do not worry, we will teach you, my dear little flower. You will learn of all that is necessary for your task! There is no need to worry!"

No, there wasn't any way in hell that I wanted to learn anything from this woman. This morning, she had seemed like a completely different person! Not like this... crazy fanatic. I never imagined meeting such a person and after meeting her I wanted to meet them even less! I was convinced of that.

"Is, is that so."

Could this woman please leave? She wouldn't, would she? Not voluntarily, at least.
What should I do now? This woman was scary as hell. Yet, she wasn't as scary as Yumias. And somehow, that relieved me. And calmed me down a little. As calm as was possible, probably.
Unfortunately, that didn't solve my predicament. At all.

Waiting for help... Might work? But...

There had been nobody around when this woman appeared. And there was still nobody here. Did she... do something? Most likely she did. At least, I should probably assume so. Waiting until I was alone was probably futile... Even if there were few mercenaries around, there would still be some. In other words, she definitely did something.

Which means, she is probably a lot more dangerous than she looks like... There are also those two behind her...

The people without a soul... So, probably they weren't humans...
Waiting might work... But there was no telling how long I would have to wait. And I doubted I could keep this woman busy that long.

So, my only other option is to escape, isn't it?

While I was busy sorting out my thoughts, the woman had continued ranting on about the greatness of Yumias, the despicable humans and who knew what else. Although, by the time I finished my thoughts... Her monologue finished as well. Unfortunately, so.

"I think it's time now, little miss. Let us be on our way."
"Do I get no say in this?"
"Say? No, no, I just said it, haven't I? It's fate."
"... Fate?"

The heck did she talk about while I was a little busy. I should have listened... But listening as well as thinking about what to do was a little hard to do at the same time. At least it wasn't as easy as it sounded. Not for me.

"Yes, fate! It's your fate to come with us and guide us! Guide us to our paradise!"
"I'm sorry but you'll have to look for someone else to do that for you."
"... Haaa, as expected, you have been among humans for too long already, haven't you? Are you refusing our paradise?"

She shook her head as she sighed.

"But it's fine, we will teach you slowly."

She stepped forward again, approaching me. There was no other choice. If not now, I'd probably get dragged away and never meet the others again. That was the feeling I got from her. From her 'fate.'

"I'm sorry but I don't want to."

With those words, I turned around and ran as fast as my legs could carry me. I didn't have anything on me I could use as a weapon so this was really the only option I had. If I had at least a mana crystal or something. Or one of those elemental stones.

"... Dolls, catch her."

Barely a second after I heard those words... The hooded people—no, the hooded dolls—stood in front of me.

No way?! Did they teleportor what?!

So much to me running away.

This... What do I do now?

The dolls were in front of me, Yumelia behind me. Even if I were to run in a different direction, those dolls would catch up to me immediately again. This wasn't even an issue of being a slow runner or anything anymore. That was simply impossible to outrun.
I dreadfully watched the human-sized dolls approaching me, stretching their wooden arms towards me.

Eh?

But then, something weird happened. The dolls... fell to the ground, as if the string had been cut.

"... As expected, it wasn't going to be that easy," Yumelia muttered behind me.

Small leaves were peeking out from the robes of the dolls, slowly growing into branches. The wooden dolls... Were growing branches, leaves and the like, as if they were trees.

"To think that elf would really protect you. How soft she has grown with the millennia passing. How troublesome..."
"..."

That elf? Was this... the Elder's work? Did the Elder... protect me?

"It seems that it is my loss this time. It isn't the time to aggravate that elf. I would have loved it if you were to join us willingly but..."
"... I won't."

I turned around, facing that woman again. She kept her distance now, maybe wary of whatever had happened right now. Not like I could explain it either.But I understood... The tables had turned on her...
Still, her fanatical expression was gone, replaced by a calm, serene smile. Yet again... It wasn't the facade I had seen from her this morning... Nor the fanatical behaviour from before... A serene smile.... Like a saint's.

"I understand. I hope you will change your mind."

She turned around, walking away with slow steps.

"But remember, little miss flower.

A flower's fate is to wither. No matter how beautiful their blossoms are, no matter how strong their roots, they will inevitably wither and die. No flower can ever hope to escape this fate."

---

Fate.
The inevitable. The future. The predestined.
The desired. The wish. The coveted.

The path forged for us.
The path forged by us.

If you look back on your life, do you think it was fate that brought you to this point?
If you look ahead of your life, do you think it is fate that will guide you to your final destination?

What do you think fate is?
Is it something you create with your own two hands or is it something that was already created for you?

Do you want it to be forged by your own power?
Or do you want it to be forged by someone else?
Or maybe neither of them?

What is it, that you desire?
What is the Fate that you yearn for, my flower?