The chirping of birds and the rustling leaves woke me up early. Still half-asleep, I looked for the warmth that was supposed to be close. But I couldn't find it. Forcing myself up I scanned the surroundings.

"Oh, Yumi? You awake?"
"Nn..."
"'No, I'm still sleeping!' she said."
"Lily, there is no need for interpreting, I can see it myself."
"I'm... awake..."
"Clearly, you are more asleep than awake."

Karen and Lily were grilling something over the fire. They must have woken up even earlier than me since both of them were quite lively already. I stood up and tottered over to Karen.

"Yumi, breakfast is soon ready, just wait a moment, okay?"
"Nn..."
"'But I want to eat you instead!' she said!"
"Lily, shut up or I will make you shut up. Forever."

How could one be so energetic in the morning already? It was a complete mystery to me.

"Here, Yumi. Food."
"Nn..."
"'Feed me!' she sa— Woah! Be careful with that, Karen. Do you want to burn my pretty face?"

Lily was still sputtering nonsense and got what she deserved, namely Karen thrusting some of the burning wood at her.

Being fed by Karen, huh... That may be nice...

I sat down next to Karen and opened my mouth wide.

"Eh? Yumi? Uhm..."
"..."
"Ahh... I understand I understand."

Karen took some of the meat and blew on it to cool it down. Then broke off some of it with her hands.

"Here, open wide."
"Ahh. Mn!"

It tasted great. Like happiness. There was nothing else to say.

"Here, feed me too!"

In the meantime, the third wheel sat down on Karen's other side and demanded to be fed as well.

"Lily, can't you eat yourself?"
"Yumi can eat by herself, too! I demand equal treatment!"
"I refuse. Isn't it obvious I will treat Yumi better?"
"How unfair! Feed me!"

Karen was clearly unsure how to deal with her. However, a sudden smile formed on her face.

"Okay, here you go."
"Yay! Huh? Wait, Karen. That's not possible. Stop!"
"Just stay still!"
"No way! I'll die!"

Now I had to eat by myself after all while Karen was chasing Lily, trying to 'feed' her. With the whole poor animal at once. Of course, still steaming.

Are you two a comedy troupe?

I feared that Karen would be too worried about her sister now after what she heard from Lily yesterday, but it seemed to be a needless worry.
Instead, we had a boisterous breakfast. I certainly didn't dislike it. In the end, Karen unexpectedly gave up and fed Lily and me until all the meat was gone.

Once we finished eating, Lily instructed Karen on her remaining exercises. Apparently, Karen could already feel her own mana in a much more direct manner than before. However, she was still unable to feel mana outside her own body, so Lily blindfolded her, gave her earplugs and sent Karen on a literal quest to find me. Of course, I was only a few meters away, but being unable to see or hear anything transformed those few meters into quite the challenge.

"Are you sure that will work? That seems... not very effective to me."

I had my doubts about this method yet Lily insisted it would work. Still, I couldn't help but worry anyway.

"It will, it will. Rather than worrying about that, let's make some more of those dolls and see what they can do. We collected a few things to work with when you were still asleep."

Lily dragged a big piece of lumber towards me.

"Lily, no matter how I look at it, that's probably a bit too much for me."
"Hm? Ah, you got it wrong, we will make multiple dolls out of this, okay? Multiple!"
"What have you even planned for those dolls?"
"Planned? Ah, I told you yesterday how fear is an effective weapon, right? We will swarm their hideout with your dolls, as many as possible! We will use them to distract the thugs. It won't help against the mercenaries, but the fewer enemies, the better!"

I stopped. What did she just say?

"Lily, what do you mean with mercenaries?"
"The lord hired mercenaries to guard the hideout. They are a lot more skilled than random thugs. It's practically impossible that they would falter because of a few dolls. Maybe one or two might get scared stiff for a moment if we are lucky."
"Huh. I wondered about this before, but you know quite a lot about them. You only agreed to help us yesterday, right? Then why do you already know all of this?"

Lily pulled the log next to me and sat down on it. In the background, I could hear Karen calling for me, occasionally bumping into a tree or something else. I had to believe in her.

Do your best, Sis!

"... Do you know why Wanda called me, and not other mercenaries? There are quite a few skilled mercenaries around. It didn't have to be me, to be honest."
"Because she knows and trusts you?"
"Well, that would be great, but I doubt that. Wanda is a bit more... practical, so to say. Because our objectives are plainly speaking, the same. Ah, well not quite, but mostly."
"The same?"
"Yes, due to a personal matter, I was already preparing to attack their hideout. That you two came along, was a surprising coincidence, and honestly a welcome one. There aren't many that are really interested in fighting against those pieces of trash. They complain, but they think that they'll at least survive as long as they keep their mouths shut and avert their eyes."
"Nn... But then, who will help us? Didn't you say you would help us with your connections?"
"Ah, I did say that, right? Well, in a way, I will. We're going to hire every other mercenary we can find."
"... And how are you intending to do that?"

Lily showed me an evil smile. This couldn't bode well.

"That's a secret for now."
"... I'm not for sale."
"I won't sell you! Never! You and Karen are mine!"
"We're not yours..."
"Don't be shy. Ah, Karen's sister, too. When we saved her, then I'll have three cute girls! I'll take care of you all!"

This was hopeless. I sighed in resignation and began working on the log. Lily quickly jumped off when the log began to soften. She immediately separated one part and began moulding it, while I maintained the magic.

"Hm, do we have to make them into actual dolls, Yumi? As long as they look like one it should be fine, right?"
"If you think that is enough, go ahead."
"Okay!"

She quickly worked the clay-like wood into a simple wooden doll. It barely took a few minutes.

"That was a lot faster than yesterday..."
"Well, I already did it once, you see, and I was cutting corners this time."
"You did it only once and you improved this much already."
"Praise me more! But first, let's see if this even works. Speaking of which, where's the one from yesterday?"
"I think somewhere around here... Come here."

I called for it as I wasn't able to find it on the spot. Something rustled and the doll stood up, walking over to us. Then it bowed and stayed in that position.

"Why does it bow? Did you teach it to?"
"No... I don't know either."
"Anyway, try doing something with this one now!"
"Nn. Give me a moment."

As we had no mana crystals ready, I decided to try and give it a soul without one for now. Even if it was going to work, it would only be alive for a few minutes or so. But this was... Well, an experiment.

"Oh, it's moving!"
"Nn. It's a bit clumsier, but it works."

The new doll moved awkwardly around, but maybe these unnatural movements might even be better for our purpose. They felt extra creepy.

We confirmed that the doll did just about everything we told it to. Even rather complicated orders seemed to be completely fine. The only issue was that it had close to no actual strength. It was stronger than it looked but in the end, it was just a doll made of wood. Alone it wouldn't be able to do much, but Lily decided that this was more than enough and we proceeded to make more dolls. 

Around two hours later, our small campsite was filled with moving and dancing dolls. Lily dragged one log after the other to me and we changed them all into dolls. Much to our surprise, the first doll was still moving on the mana I gave it initially. They were quite eco-friendly.

In the meantime, Karen was lying somewhere to the side. Lily thought it was a good idea to have some dolls latch onto Karen while she was still looking for me. The resulting outcry allowed Karen her breakthrough and also presented Lily with a bloody nose. Even she didn't expect that Karen would lash out at her at full strength the moment she was able to sense her. As a result, she took her fist straight into the face before she could react.

You reap what you sow, Lily. Still surprised it ended in just a bloody nose. Sis hits quite hard.

"Lily, are these enough for now?"
"Wait a moment... Ouch! Ah... At least it's not broken. Okay. What did you say again?"
"I asked whether these are enough dolls."
"Enough? Ah, yes, that should be enough. Any more and it'll become a mess. Can't have that. For now, let's recover Karen."
"Nn."

Lily walked over to Karen and poked her. She didn't react.

"She isn't dead, right?"
"Still alive."
"Okay, good. Then off these go!"

With a flash, Lily removed the earplugs and the blindfold.

"Wake up, princess. It's morning!"
"Mm... Huh? It is not dark anymore? And I can hear something again?"

Karen, finally rebooting, noticed that she could see and hear again.

Why didn't you just remove them yourself, Sis?
"Ah, Yumi!"

Ignoring everything else, Karen jumped up and dashed towards me.

"Finally got you!"
"Nn. Good job, Sis."

I let Karen hug me, but Lily urged us to finish up. We had to move on.

"I'm happy you two are always in a good mood, but we're a bit in a hurry, okay? You should postpone that for afterwards. Seriously."
"Eh, Lily, you had Yumi for yourself the entire time, too."
"We were working! Look around! I even restrained myself from having Yumi sit in my lap while we work! Can you imagine that suffering?! Make up for it and flirt with me, too, Karen!"
"No way."
"Lily, I'm not sharing Sis."
"It won't hurt you to share her for a bit, right?!"
"She doesn't want to."
"... Does that mean it is fine if she wants to? Then I only have to make her want it!"
"... I won't share her."

If Karen actually wanted to, it might be one thing, but she didn't. Therefore, I had no intention of sharing her. And in the unlikely case, she actually wanted to... I would have to think about it at that time.

"You two, I am still belonging to myself and not to either of you. And, what is this scenery of hell here anyway?"
"Scenery of hell?"

I turned back to look at our beautiful campsite. There were dozens of dolls around, doing various things. Some of them were holding burning sticks and dancing around the fire. Others were doing various exercises, like bashing at each other with sticks. There were even some using another doll as a ball for dodgeball. Then finally, some were gathering around another doll that was crucified onto a thick branch. They seemed to be discussing something.

Wait, I never told them to execute each other?! And why are they playing dodgeball? Wouldn't a nut or so work too? And why is that one doll crucified? What did it do?
"I am not quite sure how effective curses are, Yumi, but I don't think you can curse those people to death with this spectacle."
"Sis, this is a misunderstanding, I haven't told them to do those weird things. Probably Lily did."
"Me? I haven't told them anything either, though?"
"..."
"..."

Let's pretend we never saw this. 

We packed our few belongings and moved out. I replenished the mana of the dolls, as the first doll finally stopped moving. Now, we were being followed by dozens of wooden dolls. They were walking in formation. It was closer to the march of an army.
The one with the mana egg was carried in my arms, though.

Where did these dolls even learn to march like that?

"Then, let's decide what we're going to do now. Today will be a long day, so we have to properly divide our time."
"You say that, but you still haven't told us what you have prepared so far?"
"Prepared?"

Karen hadn't heard our talk since she was busy with her 'training', so Lily repeated what she told me.

"So it was like that... But, Lily, what is your reason for fighting them then?"
"Mm... That's a bit... It would be a story way too long to tell you. I'll tell you after this is all over..."

She dodged the issue. It didn't seem like wanted to talk about it to us.

"Anyway, Yumi wanted to know what I already prepared, okay? My original plan was to brute force my way with the help of any mercenary I could find. It wasn't really much of a plan, but I didn't exactly have any other options either, you see. I alone can only afford so much and no mercenary works for free, right? And even then, some mercenaries don't like being employed by another mercenary, so that also becomes a problem."
"But, how did that change now...?"
"Because you two are here. Yumi can provide funds indirectly, we got to be careful that they won't trace it back to her, but it should be good enough to hire quite a few more people than I originally planned for. In fact, materials like that can be sold for a good price everywhere, while currency becomes useless when you leave the area it is used in, so it's a great way to pay them. And for Karen, you are actually quite well-known around the slums, right?"
"I wouldn't call myself well-known, but I do know a number of people."
"You are quite well-known, believe me. Wanda actually told me about you before we met. With your help, I might get some of the folks in the slums to help out."
"I don't think they will move just because I ask, you know."
"Well, if they don't, then that's that. But asking won't hurt us. Probably."
"Huh..."

Apparently, Karen didn't know her own reputation, judging from her confused expression. She probably couldn't believe that she was well-known or anything like that. From what I saw the past week, though, it certainly seemed like many of the slum dwellers knew about her.

"And, since our small camping trip was a lot more successful, our options increased even more. My current idea is a simple distraction and infiltration plan."
"Distraction and infiltration?"
"Yes. I want Yumi to cause a disturbance, drawing out as many people as possible, while Karen and I sneak in and save whoever we can. That's our first priority."
"And the second priority?"
"Killing the asshole in charge. But to be honest, that will prove immensely difficult. He's probably well-protected. And I don't know if I can win against the more powerful guards. I want to sneak in with as few people as possible to lower our chances of being detected, so we can save the captives."
"But then, why do you need more people?"
"Do you think Yumi can fight hordes of thugs and guards swarming you?"

Both of them turned towards me with those words. Their thoughts were clearly showing on their faces.

"... No. Impossible."
"See?"

But being swarmed by criminals might actually be quite scary. Therefore, we definitely needed more people. My life was at stake here.

"Well, regarding what we'll do now, though. I want Karen to rally whoever you can find in the slums that might help. I will take Yumi and we'll be doing some rounds to other mercenaries."
"Wait, why should Yumi go with you?!"
"Because she'll be relying on the mercenaries, so she has to get acquainted with at least a few of them."
"Aren't you just going to sell her?!"
"You still don't trust me? Well, it's not like I can't understand your thoughts but... hm... Ah, I have an idea."

Lily turned towards me with a mischievous smile.

"I'm not for sale."
"Even you?! No, that's not what I want to talk about. Yumi, you trust Karen, right?"
"Of course I do."
"Then, you will be staying with her long-term?"
"Nn? I think so?"
"Then there's no problem! I got the perfect solution to a number of problems!"
"... Do you mind if I ask what it is?"
"It'll be a surprise! We'll make a stop somewhere else for that, okay? I'm sure Karen won't object after that!"
"A surprise?"

Karen squinted at Lily.

"Lily, you couldn't possibly mean..."
"Oh? Do you maybe have an idea already?"
"I don't want that. That's not much better than her being a slave!"
"Well, but it would solve a lot of problems, you see. As she is, she can't even enter the city, she will be sniffed out eventually by a magician, and so on. But! That could all be solved!"

Apparently, Karen figured out what Lily was planning. Since she compared it to being a slave, was it something that made me belong to Karen?

That idea... might not be bad.

So I pulled Karen's arm, to get her attention.

"Sis. Please tell me what Lily means."
"Yumi... she probably means the Tamer's Collar."
"Tamer's Collar?"
"Ah, let me explain! You see, there are monster tamers that make use of monsters, yeah? So, these monster tamers make use of a certain magic item that lets them control the monsters. Well, rather than control, it is more of making them subordinate to you? They cannot go against the tamer. The tamer can order them, know where they are and a few other things. That's the Tamer's Collar!"
"So, you want me to wear a collar?"
"Well, yes! I want to see this cute little Yumi with an oversized collar!"

Lily suggested something rather shocking. However, I was... surprisingly not that much against it. On one side, it would be physical proof that I belonged to Karen. That sounded quite tempting. But on the other side, my remaining dignity and pride refused wholeheartedly.

I already gave up my pride as a man, but at least let me keep my dignity as a person. Then again, I was already prepared to become a slave should it improve my livelihood. And belonging to Karen wouldn't be a demerit anyway.
"Lily! We don't need that! I don't want to do that to Yumi! Absolutely not!"
"Hm... I thought it was a good idea. Guess not then."
And there goes the plan. But I will remember that, for future reference.

"Oh well, then Yumi has to learn it some other way then."
"Learn what?"
"Hiding your mana, of course."
"Hiding my mana?"
"Yes! Did you not notice something when you fought the ogre?"

Now that she mentioned it, I remembered that I first thought there was no monster approaching, but in the end, it was one. So it was hiding its mana?

"You see, stronger monsters all do that. Those close to animals like normal fishes, rabbits and similar critters, they can't, but anything else hides its mana."
"To prevent magicians from finding them?"
"Magicians and other monsters. They aren't overly aggressive towards each other, but they do occasionally fight over territory and prey. But in your case, it would be mainly against other magicians, I guess."
"So, that's how you found out about me?"
"Yes. It's actually kind of common knowledge that monsters do that. I was seriously surprised to see a little girl absorbing mana like a monster would. I had half a mind to just cut you down immediately 'cause I thought you were some monster pretending to be a person. And if I react like that, then the magicians that sometimes watch the city gates will do so even more."

Wow... It seemed that I not only barely escaped with my life when we met Lily, but I also very narrowly escaped capture when I tried to get through the city gates. Thank you, unknown guard, who refused to let me go through. You might have saved my life.

"So that's why we didn't enter the city then... But, Lily, how do I learn how to hide my mana?"
"I don't know!"
"You... don't know?"
"Yes, I don't know! After all, humans don't continuously absorb mana and you can't really ask a monster how they do it, right? Not like people would have any use for that knowledge anyway."
"So, I have to figure it out myself. But will I be fine when we meet those mercenaries?"
"For most of them, I think you'll be fine. For the ones where I'm not sure, I'd like you to wait for me. There's someone who can probably guard you in the meantime, so we'll collect her first. But most mercenaries should be safe. Magic is not overly common, after all, and only a few groups have dedicated magicians."

So it was mostly safe. That was relieving. I looked over to Karen, who was listening in on us. She smiled at me and pat my head.

"It will be fine, don't worry... I would rather go along with you, but if I can convince some people to help us, that would be better. Behave yourself, okay? And stay with Lily!"
"Nn. I will."

We talked some more about less important things until we could see the slums. Before we parted ways, we decided to meet up at Wanda's place in the evening. I was a bit anxious about being left alone with Lily, but there was nothing I could do about it for now.

"Thank you, Lily."
"Hm? That came out of nowhere. You can always thank me and praise me, though! Go ahead!"
"You noticed Karen was still hung up over yesterday, right?"
"Ah... Well, it was quite obvious, wasn't it? Especially when you were still sleeping, you see. That girl probably barely slept from worry. I really should have told her today and not right before sleeping yesterday. But she's stubborn, isn't she? I think she wouldn't have let me sleep until I told her."
"Nn, I think so too."
"Well, but she took it a lot better than expected. She's quite impressive. Wanda told me Karen's story before. I don't think I could do that. I'm sure I'd break, working so long for literal scum, always worrying about my only family member. Never knowing when it might end. And yet, she didn't give up in all those years. And when she finally saw a chance, she decided to act on it. On the slim possibility of rescuing her."
"She's a good big sister, I'm a bit jealous."

For years, Karen survived on her own, working for criminals. All the while, knowing how her sister was treated as an experimental subject. I couldn't even imagine the feelings she must hold. The anger, the sadness. The helplessness.

"But, was it fine to leave her alone?"
"Worried? I'm sure she needs some time alone. She won't show it how much it drains her. Neither to you nor me. After all, she wants to look reliable for you."
"Is that how it is?"
"Yes, it is. She decided to look after you, so let her have that bit of sisterly pride."
"But... I'm not even her real sister. I just arbitrarily called her Sis on my own and..."

Lily stared at me and then burst out laughing, holding her stomach.

"Ahahahaha. You were worried about that? Geez, you both are so cute."
"Cute...?"
"Mhm... Well, let me say it like this. I don't know much about either of you, how you lived before, your family, your experiences, your friends nor your knowledge or opinions on various matters. I only know a few fragmented things I could see since yesterday, but to me, I think there's no need to worry about that. Wanda told me, that for Karen, her little sister is like a sacred being. Someone, she absolutely needs. It's what drives her forward."
"A sacred being? So that girl is that important to her..."
"What are you talking about? Aren't you Karen's little sister now, too? Push out your chest with pride and declare you are her sister! She needs it. And I am sure, she will need it even more, once everything is over."
"Even more? Why?"
"Yumi... I didn't really want to talk about this with Karen around, so... please keep quiet about it."
"Huh?"
"What do you think is the state of Karen's little sister? What do you think happens to someone, who is imprisoned for years and abused in experiments?"

I gasped. I hadn't thought about that at all.

"Does Sis... know?"
"She probably suspects it, at the very least."
"Did you possibly... see her sister?"
"... I did. She is a cute girl. I saw her... Her and the others..."
"The others?"
"Yes, others. There are more than just Karen's sister. They kidnapped manakin girls and bought female slaves from all over. Most of them die within a short amount of time, but that girl survived. She may have survived, but..."
"Only girls?"
"... Only girls."
"Why?"

Lily stopped in her tracks and looked over to me. She probably was not sure whether to tell me.

"Tell me, Lily. I'm not some little girl that knows nothing of the world. It can't be much worse than what I already have seen anyway."
"You certainly do look like one. I mean you are only... actually how old are you?"
"Err... twenty-two."
"Ah, right twenty-two... Twen... ty.... two...?"
"Nn."
"You were actually the oldest among us?!"
"Nn."
"Aren't you older than Karen?!"
"Nn."
"... That's a lie."
"It's not."

Lily held her head in exasperation. Was it that much of a surprise? Sure, I was the smallest among us but... Anyway, that wasn't what we were talking about right now.

"So, why only girls...?"
"Eh? Ah... For entertainment. The ones that have no use for the experiments are kept as pets... to keep their lower ranks content... Until they break and get disposed of."
"Her sister too...?"
"I don't know. Maybe. But she still has value, so they won't treat her too badly. In the physical sense."

Lily continued walking again, her steps sounding heavily through the surroundings.

"You should prepare yourself, Yumi. Because from now on, the leisure time ends."

Rinne

I intend to make a regular release on Sundays in the future, hopefully, a bit earlier than today.
That keeps me from writing like mad over a few days and then losing all my drive, I hope. It also prevents me from rushing a chapter on a single day because I was lazy, I really hope. Totally not like the last two times.

Any additional chapters I write will be released whenever I am done with them, but those are more of a bonus.

Also, if you find any mistakes, contradictions or anything that makes no sense, I'll appreciate it if you tell me. Thank you!