The scouts of the Dragon Knights were usually sent out in small groups with half of the group being older, more experienced mercenaries that were guiding the younger ones. And this time had been no exception.

“Don’t ya worry, girls. They’ll get back up in no time.”

An older scout, a thin man, tried to reassure us as we watched the three young scouts eating their food in silence.

“Nn… Will they?”
“Sure will. They just need to… process it. Give ‘em some time and ya will see.”

Hopefully, they would… There wasn’t much we could do for them… Korwen told us to cheer them up again but… how?

“Ya two still got places to be, don’t ya? No need to hang around here.”

He gave me a soft pat on the shoulder, giving me a small push towards the door.

“Yumi, let’s go.”
“Nn…”

Karen took my hand and we walked to the door. I really wanted to help those three but…

What can I even say…

I had yet to see what these men saw. And even if the older scouts seemed relatively fine, none of them were smiling or cheerful either. It affected them just as much…

“Sis, wait.”
“Yes?”
“...”

We stopped right at the door… It might be just in vain but… if it could help them at least a little… Korwen had allowed me to. Or rather, he told me to do it if necessary. Having come to a decision, I gathered a little bit of mana and faced the scouts once more.

“Uhm… Please cheer up again soon!”

I tried to smile. There wasn’t much else I could do for them. Some of them lifted their heads, looking at me. I wasn’t sure if it was out of surprise or because of some other reason...

“... Let’s go, Sis.”

Turning around again, we left the scouts alone. The moment the door fell shut, I let out a deep sigh… Mostly out of helplessness.

“Well, that went about as well as I expected.”
“... Captain?”

Korwen stood next to the door, waiting for us. Much to my surprise.

“You used the Charm?”
“Nn… If it helps them at least a little.”
“I see. Good call on that.”

Korwen stared at the door of the wagon for a few seconds before turning back to us.

“Things like this are never easy. Some can take it, some don’t. At least, we know what will expect us.”
“... Are things like that common?”
“No, thankfully not, Yumi. We’d all be insane by now if that was common. Then again, maybe we already are.”

That was at least a little bit of a relief.

“... Monster slaying can get bloody and once in a while you get some… unpleasant situations. Monsters butchering an entire village and the like, for example. We always have a few people dropping out after jobs like that. They can’t handle it. Can’t blame them either. It is… bad.”
“I see…”
“That’s why... don’t forget why you are here. We got a job to do. Don’t lose sight of that.”
“Nn… I’ll try.”

Not losing sight of it… He had said that as a warning, didn’t he?

“Good. Now, let’s get you two ready and then we’ll move out soon.”

The only thing we needed was… the banner, wasn’t it? Speaking of which, the Elder wanted to prepare glowing plants, right?

I already did what I could for those men… Now I have to take care of this.

While it bothered me, I couldn’t let it distract me either. When this was over, I could check up on them.

“Uhm… Mr Captain, is it alright for you to be here right now?”
“Sure is. We already decided on our course of action so everything else I can leave to the others for now.”

So that’s why he was waiting for us. He simply didn’t have anything else to do for now…

“Instead, I can make sure our newest additions to the group get their work done properly.”
“... That sounds like you don’t trust us, Captain.”
“Hahaha!”

No, that wasn’t a laughing matter. Oh well… Wait, he didn’t deny it!

“But speaking honestly… Trust is good. Confirmation is better. I have to make sure things go smoothly and the ones with the least experience are you girls. Something can always go the wrong way.”
“I see…”

Well… That, I could understand.

“This is also a whole new experience for me as well. There might be complications none of us expected and it’s easier when I am present at those times.”

Right… He always went around as if he knew what to do but… this was also new for him… I hadn’t really thought about that at all.

“Oh right… Speaking of complications…”
“Nn?”
“I wanted you to do a little speech, remember?”
“... I remember.”

And I couldn’t claim that I was all that prepared for it…

“We’ll have to skip it.”
“... Huh?”
“See, we’re going to attack them at night.”
“Nn.”
“There’s no point to it if we alert them now already.”

Oh… True, that’d completely defeat the purpose.

“Will they even hear us from that far away, though?”
“You’d be surprised how far the noise of a cheering crowd can travel. And there’s no way I can keep those idiots quiet after a speech…”
“Ahhh…”

Cheering crowds could really get noisy... 

“So, instead, I’d like you to do a few other things.”
“Other things?”
“Yes. Simple stuff like giving the order to move out and the like.”
“Huh…”

Well, if that was all, then it would probably be fine. Even I should be able to handle that fine. I more or less managed when we moved out as well.

“It’s still some time until then, however. First, we will check on the plants the Elder wanted to prepare.”
“Glowing plants, huh…”

I never saw plants that were creating light before so I had to say I was a bit curious.

“Ah, right, before I forget it. Did you get your robes already?”
“Robes? No, we haven’t…”
“Then, let’s first fetch those. They’re just over there.”
“Nn.”

Korwen took a turn and we walked towards a nearby group of mercenaries. Taddick was among them as well. Plus, a large pile of cloth next to them.

“Taddick.”
“Mh? Oh, Captain. Need something?”
“These girls need some robes.”
“Gotcha.”

Taddick turned around and grabbed two robes from the pile next to him.

“Here you go.”
“Nn, thank you.”
“Thank you, Mr Taddick.”

The robes were quite heavy… Dark brown and thick cloth.

“Ah, give us one more. The Elder needs one too.”
“No problem. We got more than enough.”
“Mhm… How many have come already?”
“Quite a lot. I think nearly everyone should have one by now.”
“That’s good news. Seems we won’t need to get new ones either yet.”

Korwen watched the other mercenaries handing out the robes for a short moment.

“Don’t forget to get your own ones later, Taddick.”
“No way we’d forget that.”
“How odd, I vaguely recall that that happened before.”
“Surely you remember that wrong.”
“Maybe. Anyway, don’t forget. We’ll go now.”

Korwen waved his hand and the three of us left Taddick to his work.

“Captain?”
“What is it?”
“... Why do we even need robes?”

Everyone was getting them… But I hadn’t yet heard the reason for it.

“To cover us. It’s harder to spot us with those robes, which makes it perfect for a night assault.”
“Ohhh…”

In other words, camouflage.

“But, wouldn’t black robes be better?”

Korwen turned his head around and looked at me, a frown on his face.

“... Well, am I glad you haven’t walked into any wagon yet at night.”
“... Huh?”

What did the wagons have to do with this?

“Yumi, darker colours are harder to spot in the dark most of the time. However, black is an exception. It’s surprisingly pretty easy to spot.”
“... Wait, really?”
“Yes.”

That was news to me.

“Just think about it, have you ever had a problem seeing the wagons? Especially the ones from the Black Guards.”
“No… But usually there’s light nearby.”
“The night isn’t exactly without light either. The moon and the stars can be pretty bright. Just look up now.”

He pointed at the night sky. True to his words, the moon was up and about, gracing us with a little bit of light. Together with some stars.

“It has to be really dark before you can’t see black anymore. And at that point, the colour won’t matter anyway. Dark brown is harder to see, especially from the forest side. And the robe obscures your body shape as well. As long as we are careful, they won’t spot us.”
“I… I see…”

Another thing learnt… And good that I had.

“Nn? But, wait…”
“What is it?”
“... Wasn’t I supposed to draw attention?”
“In the second part of the assault. First, we have to approach without being spotted, take out the magicians and after that, you can draw attention.”
“Ahh…”

Okay, that made sense. Well, he did tell us earlier, just slipped my mind for a second. Yeah...

“Ah, Mr Captain, Yumi, there’s the Elder.”
“Nn?”

Karen pointed forward at a small silhouette crouching down.

“I hope she finished already...”

We approached the Elder who seemed to concentrate on her… work? Whatever she was doing on the ground…

“Are those… flowers?”
“Nn? Ah, you’re right…”

A patch of small, purple flowers, their blossoms closed, surrounded the Elder. They were perfectly spread around her in a circle so most likely, she was the one responsible for growing them.

“Miss Elder.”
“... Oh? Mr Korwen?”
“How’s it going?”
“Quite well if I may say so.”

The Elder, who had turned around when Korwen addressed her, stood up and faced us.

“These flowers provide more than enough light I believe.”
“... They’re not making any light.”
“Not until I tell them to, no. Look.”

The Elder crouched down again in front of us and stretched out her hand over the nearest flower. The moment she touched it, the flower bloomed, revealing the inside. A small, glowing orb. And despite it being so small, it emitted quite a lot of light…

“Hooo, this is interesting.”
“I believe these are sufficient, are they not, Mr Korwen?”
“They are. As long as we can pluck them, that is.”
“That will be no issue. The flowers can glow a whole day after you pluck them.”
“More than enough.”

So, we’d put these flowers on the banner and make it light up? Well, it sure would draw attention... That much was sure.

“These flowers should be more than enough. I’ll send someone to collect them.”
“No need, plucking a few flowers shan’t be an issue for me, Mr Korwen.”
“You still need something to transport them in so I have to send someone anyway. Who knows how long it’d take otherwise.”
“Ahh… I see. Very well, in that case, I shall appreciate the help.”

Korwen nodded at the Elder and then handed her the robe.

“Take this as well.”
“A robe? Ah, I recall that you have mentioned it at the earlier occasion.”

She received the robe and spared no time to actually throw it over herself.

“It’s warm. How long has it been since I wore garments like these, I wonder.”
“... Actually, you were supposed to wear them later. But as long as it doesn’t hinder you…”
“It won’t, Mr Korwen.”
“Then, good.”

The robe was a bit too large for the Elder, though. She tried to lift up the hem but… It was still too large.

This is definitely going to be my problem as well, won’t it?

The Elder was of a similar height as me… So, unless my robe was smaller… Great… Why did all these mercenaries have to be so tall… Then again, even the shorter ones were still taller than us. Outside of Wormaz, maybe. Made me wonder how he dealt with these things. Maybe he didn’t have to, as the blacksmith.

“This is a little troubling… Are there no smaller ones, Mr Korwen?”
“No… They’re all the same size. You’ll have to use a belt or rope or something to hold it up.”
“How unfortunate… Well, I shall look for something then.”
“... We’re moving out soon, so you should rather do it now. Don’t worry about the flowers.”
“I suppose that is true. I understand. In that case, I shall go now.”

With a small sigh, the Elder lifted the overly long robe so she could step out of the circle of flowers.

“Yumi, Karen, I assume you will have a similar problem so I will look for you as well.”
“Nn, if you could. Thank you.”
“Thank you… but you should focus on yourself and Yumi. It probably won’t be as bad for me.

While I definitely would have problems, I wonder how bad it’d be for Karen.

“Do not underestimate this, Karen. Even if it is only a slight bit too long, running will become hard. You don’t want to step on the hem and fall over when you want to the least, right?”
“... I guess so. Then, if you could.”
“Do not worry, I already know what to do.”

The Elder gave us a smile and then went off, away on her search for something to bind the robes for us.

“Now then…” murmured Korwen as he watched the Elder trot away.
“... Captain?”
“Let’s get someone to collect those flowers. When we’re done it’ll be time to move out. Are you two ready for that?”
“Nn. We are, Captain.”
“Yes, Mr Captain.”

---

A short while later, I was standing at Korwen’s side, overlooking the hundred-odd mercenaries, all clad in robes. Behind me were Karen and the Elder, also wearing their robes. The only ones who had yet to wear them were Korwen and me.

“Mhm… Everyone’s here now.”

Korwen did a last check over the men in front of him. The only remaining light was a lantern in Korwen’s and the sparse light from the night sky.

“Yumi, if you could.”
“Nn…”

Now it was my turn…  Korwen had already told me what to do but nonetheless, it was still quite nerve-racking. But there was no time left to feel nervous now. I took a deep breath, calming myself.

“Everyone! We’re moving out!”

With a loud clack, Korwen closed the shutter of the lantern and extinguished the light from the tool.

“Yumi, the robe.”
“Nn.”

Korwen threw his robe over his shoulders. Copying him, I also covered myself with mine. It was… large… Way too large. No wonder the Elder had a problem with this. The hem was dragging on the floor, easily the whole length of my own arm…

“Yumi, I’ll tie it up.”
“Nn. Thank you, Sis.”

Fortunately for us, the Elder had grown some vines we could use to tie the robes. I was a little impressed with how quickly she got those. They made for a decent rope substitute.

“Karen, take the banner. Miss Elder, the flowers.”
“Yes, Mr Captain.”
“Understood, Mr Korwen.”
“Mhm. Let’s go. Time to get a good look at this village.”

Korwen turned around to the side, gesturing with his hand to a few men, standing at the side. They were the scouts that were supposed to lead us to the village. Seeing the signal, they immediately stepped in front to take the lead.

“Don’t forget to keep quiet. If there’s something important, tug on my clothes instead of speaking up. Understood?”
“Nn, understood.”
“Understood.”

After giving us a last glance, Korwen faced forwards and followed the scouts. We kept right behind him. In the back, I could see Merim and Taddick coordinating the other mercenaries to follow us. All of it in complete silence, only the ruffling noises of the robes and the cluttering of the equipment. Which was still quite noisy.

The village, huh…

I still had no idea what exactly would expect us. Of course, outside of the things we knew. The magicians, the worshippers and the equipped ogres. But the scouts hadn’t seen Yumelia.

And then there’s that sight… that the scouts reported…

The corpses piled high in the centre of the village… growing those drugs on them… The whole thing was more than just a little bit… crazy…

Honestly… I don’t want to see that…

Just imagining what it would look like was already turning my stomach around. Good thing that dinner was on the simple side today…

But… I am part of Korwen’s plan… I can’t back out… Who knows… Who knows what would happen if I did... 

Nothing good, that was sure. The worshippers’ victims would just increase in numbers.

I peeked around me, looking for Karen. I stepped a little closer, causing her to look up.

“Yumi?”

Speaking with a hushed voice, she tilted her head.

“Nothing… Just want to be here.”
“...”

Karen stepped a little closer too. Her hand found it’s way into my robe and grasped my own.

“... I’m here.”
“... Nn.”

A little bit of relief came over me. I wasn’t alone. Karen was here. Korwen and the mercenaries were here. Even the Elder was.

I’ll do my best…

I kept telling myself to do my best while we continued to march in silence. We passed the fields, crossed the road and walked along the edge of the forest. The forest was the best hiding spot near the village, so we would approach while keeping ourselves hidden inside it. The fields and the plains leading to the village would just make it easy to spot us, after all.

Ah… that over there… is that the village?

In the distance, I could make out a small light. It was obviously not much but it was there. If I tried looking for the souls, I could probably make sure. In that case, it was easy.

So many…

A few dozen souls were there… Definitely more than the barely twenty worshippers they had reported on. At least, that’s the impression I got. They were hard to make out from this distance.

Maybe I should tell the captain about this…

It was probably better to… He was walking right in front of us so I just had to tug at his robe and he turned around.

“What?”
“The village. There’s definitely more than twenty people there.”
“... How many?”
“... Don’t know. Maybe forty?”
“Mm… I see. Tell me when you know more.”
“Nn.”

With that, he turned back forward. Guess it was the right call to tell him.

Still… they’re really there, aren’t they? The worshippers… Maybe Yumelia as well...

If I changed my eyes… Would I be able to see the village even more clearly? Probably… Not only would I be able to see well in the dark, but I’d also be able to see a little further.

But… I don’t know exactly how much farther I can see… In the worst case... 

In the worst case, I’d already see the state of the village now...

“Yumi?”
“... Nn?”
“What’s wrong? Your hand…”
“... Oh.”

Apparently, I unconsciously strengthened my grip around Karen’s hand when I was pondering what to do…

“... A little something.”

We were still pretty far away from the village now. Maybe I should do it… But…

“Ah…”

Karen’s grip around my hand got stronger as well. When I looked at her, she was smiling at me.

Seriously… You’re wasted on me, Sis…

After I returned her smile, I once more faced forward and pulled on the robe in front of me.

“... What?”
“Captain… I can try looking at the village but... I don’t know what I’ll see… obviously… Uhm…”
“... You can look that far?”
“... Maybe.”
“... One moment.”
“Nn?”

For some reason, Korwen turned back forwards, quickening his steps to reach out to the scouts leading us. He stopped them, then turned to the mercenaries behind us and gestured for them to stop as well…

Did he seriously stop the entire group because of this now?!

That was a little too much, wasn’t it?

“Let me say this first.”
“Nn?”
“Whatever you see, we’re here.”
“... Nn. I know.”
“Good. Then, do it.”
“...”

I looked at the light in the distance. It was still far away. Quite far away. I doubted I’d be able to make out any details but I couldn’t be sure… I rarely needed to rely on my monster eyes to see in the dark or in the distance.

Well then… Here we go.

I took a deep breath, closed my eyes and prepared myself. The moment I’d open them, I’d see the village more clearly. That much I was sure of.

You can do it… You can do it… Go!

I opened my eyes wide. And saw white.

“Gngh!”
“Yumi?”
“... I… I’m fine…”

I barely managed to keep myself from crying out… Unlucky me got simply blinded. How stupid… Utterly stupid… I squinted with my eyes, making sure to get used to the brightness first. It was just… such a stark contrast to the night that I had seen before…

“... I can see it.”

There it was, the village… Maybe I was luckier than I thought since it still wasn’t clear enough to make out the details… But…

“I can see some… destroyed buildings… Something… in the middle of the plaza… It’s… red…”

It had to be that… Thank everything holy and whatever else that I wasn’t able to clearly make it out yet…

“What else? Can you see people?”
“... There are a few large… silhouettes… And some small ones… Maybe six small ones… and ten large ones… The large ones… Are probably monsters…”

After all, they didn’t have a visible soul on them. But the small ones did…

“There’s… a lot of people in one building… Not sure how many… and fewer in the other two… Maybe around ten in each…”
“Twenty-five plus an unknown number in the last building. Can you make out anything else.”
“... No. We’d need to get closer first.”
“Mhm. Then let’s do that. And Yumi.”
“Nn?”
“Good work.”
“... Nn.”

Korwen nodded at me then faced the scouts, giving them a signal with his arm to continue, then did the same with the men behind us.

“Let’s continue. When you see anything else, tell me.”
“Nn.”

We followed behind him. As we walked, I kept a good look at the village. There wasn’t really anything happening there. None of the silhouettes seemed to be moving around at all. Of course, as we closed in… more details presented themselves to me… Especially, from the centre of the village…

What… What is that?

A large red mass… Not just simply a pile… It was an upright structure forming a large T. Something was… dangling down from the arms of the structure… and things were piled up at the bottom. I didn’t really have to ask, what those were, of course… They became clearer with every step we took.

“Ugh…”
“Yumi… Are you okay?”
“... I… I am not… But I’ll try.”

Every single step, the silhouettes became more clear… Every single step… it was easier to realise what I was looking at…

Corpses… Human corpses...

Once we had approached a good distance, Korwen led us deeper into the forest, so that we wouldn’t get spotted prematurely. Maybe it was a blessing in disguise that the trees interrupted my view frequently, preventing me from getting a clear image of the scenery in the village. It still didn’t prevent me from seeing them… the dead…

So… So many… dead…

It wasn’t like the times in the slums, the thugs when we rescued Rina or when Lily had killed those assailants. This was… like looking at a mass grave… one that was still bleeding.

“Yumi.”
“Nn?”

Suddenly, Korwen addressed me, having turned around to look.

“Anything new? From the Worshippers.”
“... Ah. One moment.”

Right, I wasn’t only looking at the village to look at the dead. I was doing it to look at the living.

“There is one man standing with the ogres… The ogres… They’re all wearing armour… and carrying a weapon. Their… skin… is a dark blue… Like the ones in Arkesta.”
“... Only one man?”
“Yes, one. There are… five others. I think they’re… standing watch. They look in different directions. They stand at different spots, too.”
“Guards then. Can you see any odd structures containing magic or puppets?”
“... No.”

Korwen turned to look at the village. It was probably still quite some distance for most here but even they should be able to make out the buildings and the… structure in the middle now.

“But only one man at the ogres… Mhm… ”
“...”

I tried to look over it again but… only one man. He wouldn’t increase into more just because I kept looking.

His soul… it also looks a little… muddled? And a little dark… Just like Yumelia’s… but hers was also pink…

What did the muddled and dark soul even mean?
No, wait… Yumelia’s soul… was quite distinctive...

A pink and muddled soul… Where is it… Where… Where…

Nothing… It wasn’t there… There were two other souls that looked muddled but none of them were pink.

“Captain… Yumelia doesn’t seem to be there… And… I’m not sure but I think there are two other magicians there. In the buildings.”
“... Two and no Yumelia, huh…”
“Nn.”

That’s how it was, most likely.

“That gives us a good idea what to expect then… Now, I got to ask a little harder question.”
“Nn?”
“... Can you see the Crystal Flowers?”
“... I can.”

The crystal flowers… Something that could grow on corpses… And it was grown right there, on the corpses in the city centre… Crystal-like structures were covering some of them… Not a lot but… They were there… A good dozen or so spread out on some of the bodies.

“I see. Good work. You should stop now.”
“... Eh?”
“Take a rest. Until we are in position.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
“... Okay.”

I reverted my eyes and the dark night greeted me once more. I glanced at the village and I was unable to discern any details now. I could still see the pile of corpses and the buildings but we still had quite some distance to cover. I thought we were closer already.

“Yumi.”
“... Sis?”
“Are you okay?”
“... Nn. More or less.”

We were quite some distance away, after all. And I had known what would await me. Maybe, especially because I had known in advance, I could take the sight a little better. But... nonetheless… it had been a hard sight.

Bones… Guts… Torn limbs… That’s… That’s not a sight… you can just look at…

The villagers hadn’t died a happy death. That much had been clear.

And we’re here to stop more of that happening…

I had to keep telling that myself. We were here to stop this. We… We didn’t have to… That much I knew. Korwen told me, this was a job. Something we were paid to do. But… at least I knew that we prevented it from happening again. That gave me at least a bit of relief.

“I’m here, Yumi.”
“Nn. Thank you, Sis.”

Karen put her arm around my shoulder and pulled me closer, just close enough that we could still walk fine. It wasn’t for long, but it gave me a bit of strength. I wasn’t alone here.

We kept walking like this until we arrived. The edge of the forest near the village.