“Now then… What do I do about this one?”

Korwen looked down at the sleeping woman. It was a pretty cute sight, seeing Ria peacefully resting and using his lap as a pillow.

“I don’t think there is much you can do about that, Mr Korwen. Though you could have her carried away, I assume.”
“Mhm… No choice, I’ll have someone carry her later.”

He sighed, shaking his head, before turning his attention to the large corpse in the middle of the village. Even though it had slumped down and wasn’t as a mountain like before, it still towered over every single building here. Then again, the village only seemed to have one-story buildings anyway.

“The village is a lost cause without survivors so we can leave things as they are. Will can deal with that. That leaves us… with the roper corpse and the worshippers’ belongings.”
“Mr Captain, what can we even do with that corpse?”
“Mh? Well, you can turn these things into quite a lot of money. If you exclude the special reward that Will offered us, the corpse alone will net us more than the entire job. Magic craftsmen can turn just about any part of it into money, after all. Figuratively speaking.”
“It’s worth that much?”

More than the entire job… wasn’t the payment a few thousands of gold coins? And this thing was worth even more?

“It sure is. If we sell the mana crystal as well it’d be even more but… considering our current options, I am considering keeping it instead. But even without, the corpse will earn us some pretty coins. Can’t be sure how much exactly without someone appraising it, though.”
“Huh…”

Karen’s eyes went wide in astonishment and her eyes wandered to the corpse. She kept looking at it for a good while… or rather, she was more like staring a hole into it.

“Sis, you can’t pilfer materials from it, you hear?”
“... I didn’t plan to.”
“Really?”
“...”

Ah, she avoided my eyes. Seriously…

“Hey now, I don’t think we pay you so little that you got to do that, you know? In the first place, everyone who participated gets a bonus anyway, depending on how much we sold it for.”
“Really?!”
“... Yes, really.”

If her eyes could sparkle they’d probably do that just about now, that’s how much she to welcome the news. With a big grin on her lips, she stealthily pumped her fists. This greedy sister of mine…

“I’ll be keeping a close watch. If anything is missing, I’ll deduct it from your bonus, Karen.”
“Mr Captain?! I said I won’t!”
“Let’s hope that’s true! Hahaha!”

Korwen laughed heartily, watching Karen’s reaction.

“Honestly, though… It’s a good thing that it went as well as it did.”
“Nn… That could have gone quite awry…”

I glanced once again at the swath of destruction that odd fog had left behind. If we had been any slower, we wouldn’t be able to stand here. Or sit, in Korwen’s case.

“Mh, yes… Frankly said that was quite unexpected. It wasn’t on the level where it could have become truly dangerous but it could have turned out problematic if it had repeated that attack.”
“Problematic, you say…”

That felt like a small understatement, in my opinion…

“Mr Captain, I don’t think you can keep it at calling it problematic.”
“Why not?”
“We could have died.”
“We could have. Just like we could on any job.”
“That’s…”

Right… It was always dangerous…

“This subjugation was by far not that dangerous, generally speaking. If Will, the king, wouldn’t have to deal with the internal struggles, we wouldn’t even be needed for a job like this. Even less with that kind of reward. In case Yumi hadn’t noticed that breath, I am certain that Ria or the other two would have and dealt with it. Although, that would have meant that one of them would be unable to use magic afterwards.”

So, if we hadn’t noticed it early enough to run away, Ria would have protected us? Or Wenners or Krutz.

“In the worst case, I still have a bit of insurance for such situations as well. I am the captain of this mercenary band, it wouldn’t do for me to get killed that easily, you know? If that was all it needed, I would have died a few dozen times already.”
“I see…”
“Well, with that said… Nobody has to know that, right?”
“... What?”

What did he mean with that now?

“You know, we did have to deal with an unexpected guest and we did have a pretty dangerous situation there. I’m sure I can squeeze out some hazard pay out of Will for that.”

Hazard pay… Seriously? He was going to squeeze the poor guy out of all of his money, wasn’t he?

“Seeing how we dealt with another one of his problems, I think it’s only fair for us to receive a bonus on top of it, right? It was dangerous and we were utterly unprepared to deal with such a large monster. We were stuck in the village when it attacked and it was only due to pure luck that we got away with no casualties. On the other hand, some men did suffer serious injuries. How about it? Sounds good? Sounds good to me.”

Korwen grinned as he looked at us for confirmation. And the only thing I could do was staring at him utterly exasperated.

“Captain…”
“Mr Captain…”
“Hey, it’s not a lie, technically speaking.”
“”...””
“They might just slightly differ in severity depending on your point of view.”
“”...””

Oh well… I knew nothing about this. Yeah, if someone asked me, I knew nothing.

“Of course, part of the money I squeeze out will be given out as bonus pay.”
“I think that’s a wonderful idea and I completely agree with what you said, Mr Captain!”
“Glad to hear that!”
“Sis…”

These two greedy...

“Haaa… Whatever… It’s not like it’s wrong anyway.”

It had been dangerous, that was true. And we weren’t perfectly prepared for it. Although, now that I thought back on it… I had the feeling that Korwen was betting on fighting the roper straight from the start, didn’t he? He said we were unprepared but that was maybe the one and only real lie. He was anything but unprepared… There had been no need for the massive amounts of ropes and ammunition we had brought along just to deal with those worshippers...

But it was a pretty profitable idea he had there… it’s not like I know how profitable but judging from his satisfied grin, it must have been worth a lot…

In that case, it was probably fine…

“Captain! Captain!”
“Mh?”

At that moment, a mercenary ran up to us.

“I’ve come to report!”
“Ahh, right. Go ahead.”
“Understood!”

I tilted my head at the newcomer. Report? Oh, was it an after-battle report or something like that?

“We have confirmed that the roper is—without a doubt—dead. The recovery of the mana crystal might take some time, however. The other crystal that was attached to the roper has been secured and loaded on a cart.”
“Mh, good job. Casualties and injuries?”
“No casualties, sir! There were several injuries, however. Four of them are major. Two mercenaries were struck by flying debris. One man suffered a head injury and fell unconscious. Another one has several broken ribs. The latter also suffered a punctured lung according to Wenners and he is currently being treated with magic.”
“Will he make it?”
“He is in need of treatment but Wenners reported that he will make it, assuming we bring him to a dedicated healing magician as soon as possible.”

My eyes went wide, hearing the report. There was actually someone who got injured that severely…

“Mhm… Prepare for him to leave with the first group.”
“Will be done, sir!”
“What about the other two?”
“One man that engaged the roper in close combat has suffered severe fractures in his limbs, most notable his left leg. It’s not life-threatening. However, he requires treatment from a dedicated healer as well to make a full recovery.”

That must have been the one we had watched slide down… It was a relief to hear that it wasn’t life-threatening but his wounds must have been still really bad.

“Mhm, we’ll take him with the first group as well. Continue.”
“Yes, sir! A man has suffered wounds akin to heavy burns from the magic fog.”
“Huh?”
“Nn?”

Didn’t we all get away in time from that fog? Even Korwen seemed a little confused as he raised his eyebrows.

“Elaborate.”
“He was walking into the fog believing it was just harmless fog, at most poisonous if breathed in, despite the warnings of his comrades. Several wounds on all his limbs, his upper body and his face, including the eyes. He is currently blinded. Mr Wenners is unsure about the severity, whether it is temporary blindness or needs dedicated treatment.”
“...”

He was… blinded?

“I’ll dock that guy’s pay for being stupid. Get him ready to depart with the first group as well.”
“Yes, sir!”
“Anything else to report?”
“Yes, sir! Regarding the roper’s corpse, it seems that part of the body has fused with Miss Yumi’s magic offspring. Mr Krutz said that this was likely already the case before the fight had started?”
“Huh?”

While my head was still thinking about the guy who had lost his sight, the next part of his report was actually concerning me.

”Before the fight already? What do you mean?”
“According to Mr Krutz, the propagation inside the roper’s body advanced too much for it to be new. He suggested that it likely started several days ago already.”
“Mhm… Is it inside the roper’s body only?”
“Yes, sir! They were not visible from the outside!”
“I see.”

Korwen threw a glance at the roper corpse, narrowing his eyes as if he was thinking about something.

“Mh… Anything else?”
“No, sir!”
“Good job. Dismissed.”

The mercenary saluted and promptly left. I still hadn’t yet wrapped my head around what the hell I had just heard. The… magic offspring? Did he really call them like that? Err, anyway… The tentacle growth had somehow… invaded the roper’s body. That’s how I understood it, at least. But… Eh? Huh? What? How in the fucking hell did that even happen?!

“Yumi.”
“...”
“Yumi.”
“... Nn? Yes?”
“You know anything about this?”
“No… I don’t.”

If I knew anything about this I probably would have informed him about it. In the first place, how did that even happen? If it hadn’t happened today then… It couldn’t be…

“... Captain.”
“What? Got an idea?”
“I… think? We… did leave the tentacle growth… in that cave…”
“... So, you’re saying the tentacle growth that you created there somehow attached itself to that roper?”
“Nn… At least, I can’t imagine anything else. It was the only time we met the roper other than today.”
“Mhm, so it’s as expected… ”

Korwen let out a sigh before looking down at Ria, who was still sleeping peacefully on his lap.

“Judging from what Merim and the scouts saw and what we heard just now, the roper might have been quite exhausted already by the time it arrived here.”
“Exhausted?”
“Yes. At the very least, it definitely fought with either Yumelia or with the subjugation force. Possibly both. And then it was infested with those tentacles of yours. I can’t imagine it being at full strength. Considering that…”

He paused, staying silent for several moments.

“If it really was infested back then, then part of its behaviour might make more sense.”
“Nn? Its behaviour? You mean… that it was targeting me?”
“That too but I actually mean before we even arrived here. Do you remember what Will told us?”
“Err…”

That person had told us quite a bit, so… Not sure what part of it he was referring to.

“It was spotted outside the cave and because of that, they put together an emergency subjugation force. But, why did it leave the cave?”
“... Ah.”

If it got infested… Maybe it had been looking for me, to get rid of it?

“You get it?”
“Nn, I think so.”

The roper had left the cave in search of me. Then, it likely got spotted by someone, maybe the villagers, assuming they had been alive at the time. Or someone travelling the road, we didn’t know. The news made it to the capital where they hastily put together a subjugation force and sent it out. Thanks to the quick thinking of someone, the majority of this subjugation force consisted of problematic soldiers, the ones that were likely to support a rebellion. And none of this would have happened if I hadn’t grown that tentacle growth then and there?

“... It’s unbelievable.”

It had been an action I barely thought about at the time. It had been more of an experiment after all. And yet, the consequences had been… far-reaching, to say the least.

“All this… Only because I grew those tentacles?”
“It’s quite something, isn’t it?”

It was.

“Throw the dice on eyes of six, bring might and riches fix. Throw the dice on eyes of one, life and love will be undone.”
“... The heck?”
“It means that a single roll of a dice can change your entire life, giving you riches or ruining everything. But you can’t predict the outcome of the roll of a dice, can you?”
“Well, no.”

Maybe some people could if they were exceptionally good either at throwing or at watching the dice… But that was neither here nor there.

“Right? In the end, you don’t know what could have long-lasting consequences in the future. Anything could. It just so happened that this one time, things turned out as they did because of your actions. And I’m quite satisfied with the result.”
“Mm…”

It wasn’t wrong to say it like that… But nonetheless, it still astonished me.

“Well, actually… I’m not yet satisfied with the result.”
“Nn?”
“We still have to return safe and sound. And especially get the injured treated as quickly as we can. Only when everyone is safe can we really say it was a job well done.”
“Ah…”

The injured…

“... Will that man really make it?”
“Mh? You mean the one who had his lung punctured?”
“... Nn.”
“He will. Wenners might not be as good as Ria but he can keep him alive until we get back to the capital. There we can contact a dedicated magician and get him all fixed up.”
“I see…”

Honestly, when I heard he had a punctured lung, I already expected the worst. But Korwen didn’t look all too worried at all and even Wenners said he would make it. Magic was really amazing, wasn’t it?

“The first group will leave as soon as we can, with the injured in tow. The ones staying here will collect everything else we need and follow us later.”
“I see…”

So we’d have to split up, huh…

“We’ll be joining the first group on the way back. Merim will stay here and coordinate everything else.”
“Huh? We’ll return already?”
“Of course. Though, if you want to stay and work instead of taking a break, be my guest.”
“... We’ll take the break.”

We literally stayed up most of the night… A break was honestly more than welcome. Especially if we could take a nap. I was in desperate need of sleep.

“Good, good. Then, let’s get ready for that, shall we? Karen, could you do me a favour and carry Ria?”
“Of course, Mr Captain.”
“Great.”

Karen walked up to Korwen and gently lifted Ria, freeing him and his previously occupied legs.

“Ah, geez, now my leg is all numb… Ugh…”

And then he immediately complained when he tried to stand up… Well, even he couldn’t escape that fate, huh… 

At least it won’t kill him… Mh? Hey, Ria, the hell are you doing, clinging to Sis?! Only I am allowed to do that! Ahhh!

While trying to suppress the rising need to wake up Ria and chase her out of Karen’s arms, we made our way down. It was torture watching her clinging to Karen… I didn’t think I could feel so jealous about something so simple…

“Yumi… Want me to carry you later?”
“... Nn.”

Karen chuckled as she watched me, slightly fuming in my own stupid jealousy.

“You two, I’d appreciate it if you could keep the flirting to a minimum while you are on the job.”
“We weren’t flirting, Captain.”
“But you were about to.”
“...”

That might have been possible…

“Haaa… Well, let’s see… Oh, there they are. That was quick.”
“Nn?”

Wondering what Korwen was talking about, I tried to peek past him in the distance.

“Ah, the wagons?”

Three large wagons pulled by the waroxen were approaching the village. They were still some ways away but it wouldn’t take long for them to arrive anymore.

“Isn’t that way too fast? It hasn’t been that long since the roper died, has it?”

Even if they had sent out someone immediately, there was no way for him to reach the temporary base in that short amount of time...

“Mh? The heck are you talking about. Of course, I told them before the fight to come here.”
“...”

Yeah, of course, he did. I needed to sleep. Yeah, that was it. Definitely.

“Mhm... The injured will take two wagons and we take the other one. That should be fine I guess.”
“We’ll take the other one?”
“Yes. Unless you don’t want to sleep. That’s fine by me. But I want to sleep. Do you know when I last slept?”
“... I don’t think I want to know.”
“Neither do I.”

If we could finally sleep, then that was all fine by me. In fact, I heartily welcomed it. Honestly, since the roper died, I could feel myself gradually getting sleepier. Maybe the tension had kept me awake until now…

“Good, good. You’ll have to share the space with me so don’t start flirting, you hear that?”
“... Sure.”

Korwen shook his head when I answered him sullenly. But honestly, we probably didn’t have the energy left to even flirt all that much anyway… And the Elder and Ria were around, too.

It’s really over now, isn’t it?

It still hadn’t quite sunk in but the job was finished and we could finally take a rest and get some well-deserved sleep.

And when we’re back, I’ll have Sis spoil me lots. And I’ll spoil her lots. Nn, let’s do that…

While thinking about what we should do upon our return, we waited for the wagons to arrive.

I’m looking forward to it.

---

A good while later, the three of us—the Elder, Karen and me—were huddled up together under a blanket, ready to doze off to sleep. Ria was lying on a bench, still sleeping, and Korwen was sitting at the other end of the wagon, his eyes closed.

Since it was only the five of us in the wagon, the wagon was packed with various items that had been dug up and found in the village to properly utilise the space. Most of it were the belongings of the worshippers, while the remainder included stuff like the Crystal Flowers and the crushed powder counterpart—as evidence, of course. All in all, the wagon was pretty filled up, leaving only a little amount of space for us to rest. But it wasn’t like we were going to run around inside the wagon anyway so this space was more than enough.

After we had gotten rid of our armour, we had taken the blanket and huddled up in our corner. Honestly, seeing how often we slept like this, I was beginning to worry that I’d have trouble falling asleep if I wasn’t hugging...  err, being hugged by someone. Not that I had any issues with that.

People can get used to things surprisingly fast…

That was my honest thought when Karen had locked all my movement away by hugging me. The Elder was more prudent and wasn’t hugging me. Still, she was close enough for me to hear her quiet breaths.

Watching the two of them slowly dozing off to their well-earned sleep warmed my heart. Chuckling to myself, I also closed my eyes and nuzzled against Karen. In response, her embrace tightened. Somehow her arm had also found its way beneath my clothing, settling around my waist.

“Yumi…”
“Nn.”
“Mm…”

She was already halfway off into her dreams as she muttered my name, wasn’t she?

I guess I should join her.

And with that, with the slow, rhythmic shaking of the wagon as a lullaby, I sunk into sleep as well, dozing off into a dream… A long-forgotten dream…

---

It was a dream from long, long ago at a faraway place. No, a faraway world. A world where science was prevalent and magic a mere fairy tale.

“Yuu, the jam.”
“...”
“Hey, Yuu!”
“What’s the magic word?”
“... Please.”
“...”
“Yuu, could you please give me the jam?”
“Here you go, Mira.”
“Thanks! Yuu is the best!”

Three youths, sitting around a table, having a happy breakfast. A young girl, not even in her teens, took the jar of jam that was handed to her, gleefully putting the jam onto her toast and eating it. A normal, everyday scene.

An exasperated sigh escaped from the other girl who was a few years older. A deep scar ran across her cheek, marring the beauty of her smiling face.

“You’ve become so spoiled…”
“Mh?”
“Nothing.”

The older girl chuckled and pat the younger girl’s, Mira’s, head.

“That’s a good sign, after all.”
“What do you mean?”
“Nothing.”
“Mm? Yuu is a meanie and won’t tell me...”

The younger girl pouted before stuffing herself with the toast, her cheeks puffing out.

“... I hope things will stay like this forever.”
“Mh? Of course, they will, Yuu!”
“... Yes, I sure hope they will.”

With a wry smile, the older girl turned around, looking at me.

“When will you come home? You have your part-time job today, don’t you?”
“Late.”
“I see. Don’t overwork yourself.”
“Nn.”
“... You really should stop with that habit, you know? Answer properly.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Jeez…”

Seeing that there was no use in rebuking the third party at the table, the older girl stood up and cleared up the table. Once they finished, she and the younger girl took a bag each and turned to me.

“We’re off to school. See you later.”
“Later!”
“Nn. Later.”

The girls left the apartment, holding each other’s hand.

Ahhh… I remember this… This was… the last time I saw them…

The girls would not return that day.

---

“Yumi. Yumi, wake up.”
“Nn…”
“Yumi.”
“Nn?”

I forced my eyes open, the eyelids as heavy as lead, and was greeted by Karen’s face.

“You awake?”
“Nn…”
“We’ll soon arrive, so we should get up.”
“Nn… I see…”

Karen looked down at me, her expression displaying some curiosity.

“Hey, Yumi.”
“Nn?”
“... You were mumbling in your sleep earlier. Did you have a bad dream?”
“... Kind of. I think.”
“You think?”

She tilted her head at my answer.

“... Can’t remember much but… I think it was about my past.”
“I see...”
“Hey, Sis.”
“Yes?”
“Kiss me.”

Her eyes went wide at my sudden request.

“... Seriously, you’re quite spoiled, aren’t you?”
“Nn.”

With a smile, Karen’s face closed in on me, until our lips met. At the same time, her arms wrapped around me, pulling me in closer. Several moments later, we parted again.

“... Feeling better?”
“Nn, thank you.”
“I wonder why my girlfriend is so spoiled… Just where did I go wrong with you?”
“You’re not my mother…”
“I feel like I am sometimes.”

Her eyes narrowed as she stared at me. Feeling a little guilty, I tried to avert my gaze but Karen took hold of my chin and forced me to look at her.

“Well, it’s not like it is a bad thing anyway.”
“Ahahaha…”
“So, take this!”
“Ngh?!”

Once more, our lips met, taking me by complete surprise this time. An even longer kiss that lasted quite a while until Karen was thoroughly satisfied and I was out of breath.

“Si— Sis, don’t do that so suddenly…”
“I will do it, though.”
“... So willful.”

Who was the one who was spoiled here…

“Yumi… Uhm… About your past…”
“Nn?”
“... Did you remember anything?”
“Well… A little… Maybe?”

The dream had already mostly faded from my memory again. I was unable to recall their faces and their appearance, even though I was sure I had seen them then and there. But some pieces and bits stayed…

“The dream… I think it was about my siblings… younger sisters…”
“... Do you want to see them?”
“That’s… I don’t know. That monster of a witch told me they were fine but… I guess I am still a little worried after all. It’s not like I could see them again even if I wanted to but it’s a little sad to think that I am gone from their point of view.”

The witch had made it clear that I wouldn’t be able to see them again… If I recall correctly, she said that even if I could return to that world, the ordeal would kill me if I wasn’t strong enough. And until I was strong enough, they wouldn’t be around anymore…

“Nothing I can do about… I wish I could at least tell them that I was fine.”
“...”

It was just something minor but… maybe because of the sudden dream, that wish had made itself clear again. I wanted to make a clear break from my past, seeing how it was impossible to connect to it again. But it seemed that no matter how much you tried to, it would still occasionally haunt you back.

“... Couldn’t you ask Yumias to tell them?”
“Eh?”

Asking Yumias to… deliver a message? That… That could… No, wait…

“... I am not sure if that is a good idea. You do remember how I even ended up in this world in the first place? Because of her whim… She might pull them over, in the worst case.”
“... I see.”

Karen nodded to herself… Then, her eyes went wide as if she thought of something.

“Hey, Yumi.”
“Nn?”
“... Would that be really the worst case?”
“... Huh?”
“If they come here.”
“...”

The heck was she talking about? Maybe calling it ‘worst case’ was a little exaggerated but it was still bad. This world wasn’t as nice to people as my old one was. Sure, it could allow me to reunite with them but I doubted it was worth risking their lives for my selfishness.

“It’s at least bad. This place, this world isn’t safe.”
“... But it is over there?”
“That’s…”

It was safe… wasn’t it?

“Hey, Yumi… I’ve been thinking.”
“Eh?”
“You see, Mr Captain told me to think about my future, right?”
“Eh? Ah. Nn.”

Karen lowered her gaze, a small, self-deprecating smile on her lips.

“Honestly, I still have no idea what to do… But… I know I want it to be a future together with you, Yumi.”
“... Nn.”

The feelings of embarrassment from those blunt words caused my face to heat up.

“You know, we both don’t have much in the way of family… Blood-related family… But we still do. And… I know how Rina feels about our parents but, you see… When I thought about it, I just wanted to go to them with you, tell them ‘This person is my lover. I will find my happiness, even without you!’ and then leave.”
“I… That’s…”

My face was burning hot at this point. She… Wasn’t this basically saying that she wanted to introduce me to her parents?

“Well, and then, you know… When you mentioned your past… I thought that I’d like to meet your family at least once… So…”
“...”

This time it was Karen who averted her gaze, looking a little awkward.

“I see…”
“Sorry… It was a little selfish of me.”
“No, it’s fine.”

I was still in Karen’s arms, so I just needed to lean a little forward for our cheeks to touch.

“I… don’t remember all that much… I think my parents weren’t that... great... but my sisters were nice girls… probably… I’m sure you’d get along if you could meet… But I honestly don’t know if that would be a good idea if it meant they’d have to stay here as well, you know… Sorry. There’s just too much I don’t know… That I can’t remember.”
“That so…”
“Nn. Sorry.”
“You shouldn’t apologise. It was my fault for being selfish.”
“That’s not true.”

If there was a chance, I’d like to introduce Karen to them as well.

“Well, I guess I could ask that monster of a witch if she ever shows up again… Though, I don’t want to.”
“Are you sure?”
“No…”

I had the subtle feeling that asking her would lead to its own set of problems so if possible I’d rather not. But this time, if she spoke true, then there wasn’t anyone else I could ever hope to consult about this…

“Guess asking won’t hurt… Haa…”

All this just because of a little dream I had…

“Hey, Sis… You won’t ever leave my side, right?”
“Of course not. Never.”
“Hehe.”

I hugged Karen with all the strength I could muster. This was the person I loved with all my heart.

“Sis, I love you.”
“I love you too.”

The two of us giggled, hearing each other’s declaration of love. No matter how often I heard these words from her, I’d never grow tired of it.

“... Hey, that married couple over there.”

A sudden voice came from behind Karen.

“Sorry to interrupt you two, but… I’d rather you continue that in private. You know, the second-hand embarrassment is quite something.”
“...”
“...”

The two of us looked to the back of the wagon, where the voice had come from. Three people stood there. The Elder and Ria, their faces a little red, looked away from us, while Korwen stared right at us, an expression of utter exasperation on his face.

“... How long have you been standing there?” I asked Korwen.
“Since the beginning.”
“...”

No way?! They heard everything?!

“Haa… With that out of the way, we’ll be arriving shortly. Get ready, won’t you?”
“Nn…”
“Yes…”

This was… incredibly embarrassing… My head was close to overheating… And Karen wasn’t much better off, judging from how red she was.

“The worst…”
“Nn…”

It truly was the worst…

“Hey now, that married couple there. Get up and ready.”
“... We’re not married.”

Yet, at least…

“Mh?”

Korwen looked at me as if he was confused, blinking several times. A few seconds later, he let out a short ‘Ahh…’ and grinned. I had a sudden bad feeling about this.

“Yumi. Karen.”
“Nn?”
“Yes?”
“What do you think marriage is?”
“Huh?”

What was he on about now?

“How about it?”
“Uhh… Lifelong partners, that exchanged a vow to be together? And are officially recognised.”
“Mh, mh…”

Korwen nodded at my attempt at explaining it.

“That sounds about right. Different countries have different customs in this regard, so that’s the closest you could get with a simple explanation. That’s right.”
“Haa…”
“So, why don’t you two just go and finally pick a surname?”
“”... Eh?””

Wait for a darn… What did he just say?!

“That’s about the only thing missing, isn’t it? Neither of you intends to carry on with your previous surnames, right? So, if you two bear the same surname, that’d be all you needed. As an official witness, I am around. You could probably even ask Lady Karkas or Will for it.”

I was frozen solid, unable to even think of a reply… What… This man, didn’t he skip way too many steps?

“You see, in this kingdom, partners traditionally gift each other a certain bracelet at the Summer or the Winter Festival. Henceforth, they are considered lovers. It’s probably the closest you can get to being official lovers in Lafria. Only one step away from an official marriage, really. Per Lafrian tradition, it’s already as good as marriage. And, look at that.”

With a diabolical grin, he pointed at Karen and my arms, where a certain bracelet was.

“...”
“...”
“Well, I won’t force you into it. But if you ask me, there’s no reason for the two of you not to do it. There are honestly more reasons to do it. Give it some time to think.”

With that, he winked at us and then faced away from us, looking out of the window. Still completely perplexed at what Korwen had suggested just now, I tried to steal a glance at Karen, only to see her doing the same. Our eyes met…

Marrying… Karen? Seriously?

My face grew ever hotter and this time I was, without a doubt, close to overheating. My heart couldn’t bear all of this and I hurriedly averted my gaze. From the corner of my eyes, I saw Karen also averting her face in a hurry. But even then, we didn’t part from each other’s embrace.

“These two damn lovebirds…” muttered Korwen in a quiet voice.

He sighed audibly, while someone else was chuckling, giving, either the Elder or Ria.

“Mhm… Look at that, there’s Larfas. Hey, that not-yet-married couple there, you should take a look outside.”
“... Outside?”
And what the heck is with the ’not-yet-married?’

The small doubt, that he was maybe picking on us, grew in my head. Still, I welcomed the distraction from that topic right now, so I decided to open the window next to us and look outside.

“Wha—”

The city of Larfas… Several smoke columns rose from the city… Even from this distance, I could make out some buildings that had been burnt down. They might only number a few, but they showed proof that there had been fighting inside the city.

“Mr Captain… The city is…”
“Mh. They couldn’t settle it peacefully. I doubt there have been many civilian casualties—if at all—but Will sure didn’t show mercy.”
“...”

This was… Will’s doing? This was what it meant to fight the corrupt nobles?

“Are… Are they all right?”
“They should be, Yumi. After all, there are no fires anymore. The fighting is without a doubt already over.”
“...”

My gaze wandered over the parts of the city that I could make out from our window. Most of the city was still in the same pristine state as we had left it. Though, I couldn’t see the places where the smoke rose from here.

“We’ll hear soon enough how things worked out for him. Chances are high our camp was attacked as well. Though it doesn’t look like there had been any issues.”

The mercenary camp was also visible through the window but, true to Korwen’s words, it didn’t look like it had been attacked.

“Now then. Just in case, get ready to move. And this time for real, Yumi, Karen.”
“... Nn.”
“Ahh…”

We watched on through the window as we slowly approached the camp and the city with the smoke columns. Our job had ended well… But did it end well here as well? Hopefully, everyone was safe...

---

A letter to my Big Bro:

Dear Big Bro,

Are you doing well? Are you healthy? Is the other side scary?
I am doing fine. Yuu is taking care of me, together with Big Sis.

When Father came to bring us back, I was scared and cried a lot. I wanted to stay with you and Yuu. Father was really scary. Even scarier than the time Mama left. But then Big Sis came home. She brought a lot of scary men in uniforms with her. She hit Father and then the scary men hit him too. They were all angry at Father, I think. Big Sis took us with her to her home. It’s small and Yuu and I share a bed, but it is really warm. Big Sis says we can stay with her but I am worried that Father will come again. But Big Sis says that won’t happen anymore. She apologised a lot to us because she didn’t come earlier. And that it is her fault that Big Bro went away. But it isn’t her fault, I know that! When I told her that she hugged me and cried.

Hey, Big Bro, can I really not see you again? I wish I could. Yuu and Big Sis are doing their best but I know they want to see you, too. Maybe, if I pray really really hard?

I will do my best, I promise you! I will be a good girl, so you don’t need to worry about us. I will write you again.

Byebye,
    Mira

P.S. by Yuu: We’ll be fine, Big Bro. Big Sis helped us when Father took us back. Thanks to her and her acquaintance’s help we can live freely now. I just wish you could be here with us. Wherever you are, take care. One day, we’ll see each other again. We’ll live to our fullest until then.
    Yuu

A small pastel pink letter, written with big childish letters. Several wet stains and dirt cover the paper. Slightly crumpled.