Searching the premises took… time. A lot of time. As one might have expected, the fort’s grounds were ridiculously large. There’d be no issue at all housing six-hundred-odd mercenaries and their families here. Hell, I’d even say you could keep twice that here and still have room to spare. At the very least, that was my impression.

During the search, the mercenaries reported back to us—or rather to Fenna—about the progress of the search. Most of the buildings seemed to be something like barracks. Dozens of small rooms lined up, each room just barely large enough to fit a bed, a dresser, a trunk and a small desk. I couldn’t stretch out my arms in a room without touching either wall. They were tiny. But in exchange, there were many of them.

This might be a problem, though. After all, not every mercenary lived alone. Quite a few of them had their own families. When I mentioned this to Fenna…

“Ahhh… that might become a problem, you’re right. Well, soldiers don’t usually bring their families along so maybe that was to be expected…”

That's what she said. She didn’t really have much of a solution, either. Guess it’d depend on how much space we’d actually need in the end.

In that way, our work continued. Apart from the barracks, we found a ridiculously large storehouse, several armouries, a kitchen and a dining hall and whatever other necessities for daily life were required. Needless to say, the mercenaries were voicing their excitement every time they figured out what use a building had. Well, with the exception of the latrine. I would have questioned their sanity if they had cheered there anyway.

I mean, sure, it’s a necessary part of life, we all have to go, but I don’t think people enjoy making a big deal out of it. I’d be worried if they did.

The sun was steadily going its way and at some point, Fenna decided to wrap work up. We probably hadn’t even searched half the area but there was nothing we could do. If we returned too late, we would just lose our way in the forest.

Unexpectedly, the return trip wasn’t as much of a pain as before. The mercenaries had waltzed through the forest and made a sizable path in the process where I wasn’t entangling my hair every three steps.

“We have returned!”

With raised arms, I stepped out of the forest, happy to be released from the eternal brown and green scenery.

“We only left the forest, Yumi. It’s still some way until we are back at the camp.”
“But we’re back in civilization, sis! That’s the important part.”

Although said civilization was just a fishing town. It was still better than the untamed wilderness behind us.

“If you say so…”

Yes, I said so.

“Either way, we’re out of that forest now… Nn, where are they…”

Since we had come out of the forest we should be able to see the men working on the road from here, shouldn’t we?

“Ah, there they are.”
“Looks like they made some progress.”
“Nn, let’s take a look.”

Fenna had told us we were free for the remainder of the evening unless Korwen had work for us to do, of course. That meant, we didn’t need to stay around with the others and we could comfortably make our way to Greyward’s group.

“Ohhh! You can see the road again.”
“You really can.”

At the place where there was nothing but grass, earth and foliage, there was now a paved road. Thick stones set side by side into the earth. They were discoloured, sporting a dark green from all the years covered in plants and dirt.

“Ah, there’s Mr Greyward.”

Close to the unearthed road stood Greyward, supervising the men as they pulled out plants, bushes and trees one after another and carried them to an ever-growing pile of lumber and plant remains.

“Mr Greyward.”
“What? Oh, it’s you. You already got back?”
“Nn. Just now.”
“You sure took a while there. Did something happen?”
“Well…”

We told him about our findings, about the dead bandits we found as well as how overgrown the place was. And, of course, of the damage we found, too.

“Bandits aside, I gotta say I expected worse. The biggest problem might just be making the road serviceable again.”
“How are you coming along with that?”
“About as well as you can see. This is going to take months…”
“... Months?”

Did he just say that? It’d take months?

“We barely uncovered a small part of the road in one day’s time. And we’re not magically going to speed up inside the forest.”
“Ugh… that’s true.”

Getting rid of grass and earth was one thing, but getting rid of the foliage and trees in addition…

“So, we’re going to be stuck here… for months?”
“That’s what I want to know, too.”

Greyward sighed as he watched over the men. I just noticed I hadn’t seen the elves yet but after looking into the forest, I could see them pacing about and helping.

“I hope Korwen has some plan. We’re not lumberjacks or engineers. It might be easier to hire the townsfolk and find some other work in the meantime.”
“Wouldn’t that be expensive, though?”
“... That’s the problem.”

Figured it’d be. Money was making the world turn, after all. And with the fort purchase, Korwen probably wasn’t all too willing to pay for things that we could do ourselves.

“Well, it’s Korwen’s problem to deal with. Hahaha!”

He shrugged his shoulders and then broke out in loud laughter. A few of the men and the elves turned around in wonder, surprised by the sudden noise.

“To think there’d be a time when I could leave problems like this to someone else. I have to thank that old coot for once.”
“... I don’t think he’ll be very happy hearing that,” said Karen.
“That’s the entire point. I’m not around to make him happy.”

How nice of him… A real charmer.

“That aside, since your group has come back, I guess it’s about time to wrap things up.”

Greyward stared into the sky, checking the sun’s position.

“You girls should go back as well. Oh, and could you do me a favour?”
“A favour? What kind of?”
“Could you look after Lily today? I worry she might get a little overexcited and oversleep tomorrow.”
“Lily? I mean, sure, we can…”
“Thanks, that’d help a lot.”

I mean, I was curious about what had happened anyway. But if she was really that excited, then she’d probably be unable to fall asleep anyway, no? At least, that’s what’d happen in my case. Pretty sure about that.

“I’ll leave it to you two then.”
“Nn, sure.”

Greyward then called for the mercenaries and the elves, gathering them around. We could hear him giving out orders about dealing with the piles of wood they had already amassed.

“Shall we go, Yumi?”
“Nn.”

---

The return trip to the camp was as uneventful as the trip to the forest. Karen and I went around the town, the same way we had taken earlier. Part of it was because we didn’t know the town all that well yet so we didn’t want to risk getting lost. But for the most part, we simply wanted to enjoy some time with just the two of us around.

Today had been rather eventful, after all. So we very much welcomed a short break where we could leisurely walk through the meadows, holding hands.

“But months, huh… Sis, do you really think that’s going to take months?”

It wasn’t that I couldn’t imagine things taking a long time but hearing just how long was still a bit of a shock.

“I think so. The path to the forest was quite long. They’ll have to clear the entire road…”
“But months… Hey, when winter comes… It’ll snow… Will we be all right?”

If it would take that long, there was no way we’d finish before winter came. And winter was known to be a cruel time, where the cold claimed countless lives. Or something like that.

“Winter… I think it should be all right. It’s not their first winter, right?”
“Nn, if you say it like that.”

But, in a way, it was my first winter. My first winter in this world, at least. Not like I remembered much from my old world’s winter, anyway. And even if I did, it was probably not a very good example for this world. With the few memories I had, I didn’t connect winter with trouble and danger at all.

“We’ll need to get new clothes for winter, though. Ahh, maybe we should ask Wanda now already.”
“Winter clothes? Nn, we would need them.”
“... Yumi.”
“Nn?”
“Would you need them?”

That was a hard question to answer…

“Maybe? Maybe not? I can differentiate the temperature, it’s not like I’m not feeling it at all.”

I was just not particularly bothered by it. Actually…

“Wait, Sis…”
“Yes?”
“I know I’m not bothered by heat, but what if the cold bothers me?”
“...”

It was possible… Weren’t there animals that slowed down when they got cold? Considering my unique circumstances, what if I belonged to that category?

“Even if you do, we won’t find out until winter. Unless you want to pour cold water over your head and try it out.”
“I’d rather not.”

Plus, just talking about comfort, then I’d like some warm clothes, too. There was a difference between not needing something and not wanting it.

“But if you’re cold, I’m happy to warm you up, Yumi.”
“Oh? Maybe I should forgo the winter clothes and just live in yours.”
“That’s quite the jump…”

I’d be fine with that. No, honestly speaking, I’d be quite happy with that.

“I don’t think the captain will allow that, Yumi.”
“I guess so… Wait…”
“Mh?”
“If he allowed it, you’d be fine with that?”

That’s basically what she meant, right?

“...”
“... Sis?”
“... If it’s just for a short time, I might be okay with it.”
“Ohhhh?”
“Actually, never mind, I’m not.”
“Ahhhhhh…”

That was so unfortunate… I wish I could be with Karen all the time… Living in her clothes would be nice… If that’s not possible…

“... How about I become the clothes?”
“Yumi, you’re not running a fever, are you?”
“I don’t think so.”
“Then stop spouting nonsense.”
“Yes, ma’am.”

It was nonsense, but one could dream… Okay, it was a stupid one. And thoughts like that were the reason I even ended up here. Thanks to that monster peeking into my head.

“Yeah, I better stop having such thoughts or someone might actually make them come true.”
“Who might?”
“Yumias.”
“... Ah.”

Karen frowned a little at my mention of her.

“But I don’t think she’d actually do that…”
“She did change me after peeking into my head.”
“But you were on the verge of dying, right?”
“... I was.”

Even now, I wasn’t quite sure of what had happened back then, though. Only that I had gotten into an accident and then Yumias intervened before I could kick the bucket.

“I don’t think she’ll do something like that without a reason.”
“... Really?”
“She also protected and cared for Lily.”
“Nn…”
“She’s a little odd and mischievous but I think she’s a good person at heart.”

Was she? There was also that suspicion about her messing with Lily’s growth, though. And potentially even with others’ growth. And then there was the issue with the elves, who were incredibly scared of that monster. Which wasn’t just simple suspicion but something we confirmed with our own eyes. She did chase the elves around…

“Nn… Well, she’s at least not a completely bad person, I guess. But I feel, the more we talk about her the higher the chance she’ll actually pop up again.”
“... Didn’t you have questions to ask her anyway?”
“I did.”

But that didn’t mean I was outright thrilled to see her again. This and that was different.

Best case she just appears to answer my question and then disappears again… Ahh, but that’d make Lily sad so that’s no good either…

Truly a conundrum.

“Yumi.”
“Nn?”
“Did you dream when we were in the shell?”
“That’s a pretty sudden question… But yes, I did.”

Most of them were quite, well, sensual dreams about Karen… I could barely remember their contents, though, except that I very much enjoyed them. Of course, having the real Karen here with me beat any dream.

There was only that one dream that was a little weird but it was hard to say whether it was a dream at all… Especially, since I could still remember it.

“You know, I also had a dream…”
“Oh? What was it about? About me?”
“Yes, it was.”

Oh? It really was? Now I could feel my cheeks getting warmer from embarrassment.

“There was a town. It was… a weird town.”
“A weird town?”

Karen nodded.

“Grey buildings with smooth walls, formed like a box. A wide street with weird colourful carriages on it. They were incredibly fast. And people pacing about. Many, many people in good clothes.”
“Sis, that’s…”

A grey townscape… colourful, fast carriages… and people with good clothes… It reminded me immediately of my old world.

“It was weird. I have never seen such a place before. Neither Arkesta nor Lafria look like it. Nor does Aldreigh. But while I was wondering what kind of place it was… I saw you.”
“Me?”
“Yes… You were at my side, smiling. We walked through that town. I think you were showing me the town.”
“Huh…”

Showing Karen my old world… That… That did sound like it would be nice. Even if it was impossible.

“So, what did I show you?”
“Eh? Uhh…”
“Sis?”

Why did she suddenly clam up? And why was she blushing?

“I don’t remember it all that well.”
“Is that so… That’s a shame.”

That still didn’t explain the blushing, though… But I felt it’d be rude to inquire too much about it.

Dream-me, just what the hell did you do to Sis? Tell me! Now!

Of course, nothing would answer a stupid complaint like that. I was just getting jealous all on my own towards my dream self. I was being quite stupid, wasn’t I?

“A— Anyway!”

Why the stutter?!

“Towards the end of that dream… We saw Yumias.”
“... Way to ruin it, stupid Yumias.”
“Yumi… That’s rude.”

Wasn’t she ruder for interrupting our dream date, though?

“So, what did she say?”
“... ‘Peeking is a bad habit.’”
“... Huh?”

What the hell?

“And then the dream ended.”
“Just like that?”
“Just like that.”
“The heck?”

Why would she even say something like that? Not only did she interrupt, she even said such weird words.

“Yumi.”
“Nn?”
“Was I peeking? Into, well… your memories?”
“Eh? I guess you could say that?”

So, Karen too had determined that it was part of my memories.

“I… I’m sorry…”
“Nn? You don’t have to apologise, Sis.”
“But…”
“I don’t mind if it is you who is peeking.”

I really didn’t. Rather, she might have seen something that I didn’t consciously remember. In that sense, maybe she could even help?

“But wouldn’t there be things you would rather keep quiet about?”
“Well… If there are, I don’t remember them. And in that case, it’s as good as not existing.”

It was nice to hear her being worried about that. Everyone had their own little secrets here and there. It still surprised me that she was considerate in that regard, though. I usually shared everything with her anyway. And currently, I didn’t have any intention of changing that either.

“...”
“Sis?”

Somehow, though, Karen gave me a strained smile.

“You’re so carefree…”
“Only when it comes to you.”
“... Hehe.”

She chuckled. Seems I said the right thing if that cheered her up.

“It makes me quite jealous,” she said.
“Eh? Really?”
“Yes… It does.”

That surprised me. Was that something to be jealous about? And in the first place, it wasn’t like I was completely carefree. I was fretting about plenty of things all the time.

“Haaa… I worried about nothing in the end.”
“You were worried?”
“A little. It seems that it wasn’t necessary, though.”

She chuckled again. A smile spread on her lips, exuding genuine happiness.

“But I do wonder then… What did Yumias mean with that? I can’t imagine that dream being related to her in any way. At least, I don’t remember anything special... ”
“Nn… I wonder…”
“Maybe I wasn’t supposed to see that townscape?”
“Might be. Was there anything notable when you walked around the town?”
“Not really. I didn’t really pay much attention either, though.”
“Huh, why not?”

Wouldn’t someone pay attention in such a strange unknown place? I would. Definitely.

“Err…”

She was blushing again.

“Did I do something?”
“He?! No, no, you didn’t!”

Suspicious… I really did something, huh.

Damn you, dream-me. Stop seducing my girlfriend.

That aside, since Karen didn’t even remember much of it outside of whatever the dream-me did, that begged, even more, the question of what her words meant. It wasn’t like she had as strange a dream as mine.

“Hey, Yumi.”
“Yes, Sis?”
“You said you dreamt, too. What were your dreams about?”
“... Most of them were about you, Sis.”

Ahh, and her furious blushing was back. Yeah, that was exactly how I felt earlier, too.

“Many fun dreams… It’s a shame I don’t remember much of them.”
“You don’t?”
“Nn. I don’t. As unfortunate as it is. But I know they were nice. That said, having the real Sis with me is better than any dream!”
“Uhhh!”

Karen averted her gaze. Her entire face was going red, including her ears.

“So unfair… I already told you about mine…”
“Not much I can do about when I can’t remember them… Well, except for one dream.”
“Oh, so you do remember one?”
“Nn. But I didn’t see Sis there. I wished I had, though. There was absolutely no one there.”
“...No one?”

I nodded. That yellow landscape… It had been empty. Dead. Devoid of any and all life. Not a very pleasant place to be.

“It was a yellow wasteland, full of sulphur. It stank.”
“... Sulphur?”
“Nn, sulphur. The entire place.”
“No, Yumi, what is sulphur?”

Oh, I had to start there of all things?

“Well… Do you know how rotten eggs smell?”
“No.”
“...”

Okay, how did I explain to someone what sulphur is?

“Uhhh… You know, everything is made up of a lot of small things. And sulphur is, well, basically one of the more elemental building blocks that makes up everything?”
“O… kay?”

Yeah, that wasn’t going to work with a quick explanation. I’d likely have to explain it to her later in detail. Gee, I didn’t envy teachers having to wonder about how they teach things like this.

“Well, this, err, sulphur also can exist alone. It takes on a yellow appearance and it smells. It smells bad. I guess you could say it’s a yellow, bad-smelling rock?”
“A yellow, bad-smelling rock. Got it.”
“... Great.”

I sucked at this, didn’t I?

“And everything was made up of that yellow, bad-smelling rock?”
“Nn… Everywhere, as far as the eye could see. And rather than it looking like the place was made up of sulphur from the get-go, it was more like… everything turned into sulphur. You see, I walked around and I found a road and a sign and later even a town. Everything was made up of sulphur, though.”
“That… sounds quite weird?”
“You can say that again.”

But more than weird, it was discomforting. It was obvious that people had lived in that town. But no matter how magical things could be, I very much doubted you could subsist on sulphur alone. Unless the creatures living there were sulphur as well. Sulphur golems?

“In the end, I walked around the town, trying to find a way home or to wake up. Then… what happened at the end again?”

I had found something if I recalled it correctly. Right… And then there had been a name…

“Ah, I remember now!”
“Yumi?”
“I found a bag with a doll inside. And it had a name tag sewed on it… Right, I remember now...”

The name that had been sewed on it.

“‘Mina la Freyr’ was written on it.”
“... La Freyr? But isn’t Yumias family name?”
“... Nn. I think so.”

In other words, that name and that dream had some connection to that monster. Well, I already figured it had something to do with her but that particular part cemented it.

“After I read the name tag, everything went up in flames… Then I think I heard a voice…”
“... Peeking is a bad habit?”
“Nn. The dream ended there.”
“I see.”

That dream… I really didn’t like that dream. It had been discomforting, creepy and most of all strange. The fact that it had felt so real only made it worse. I was incredibly glad once the dream had been over.

“Then, maybe she said that in my dream because of what you saw?”
“It’s the only explanation I have, at least.”

The voice that had told me not to peek… I couldn’t really remember how it sounded like all that well but it did remind me of Yumias. Might be all in my imagination, though. Either way, who else but her could it have been?

“But peeking… You have no idea what that dream could have meant, Yumi?”
“No, none at all. It might have been her memory.”
“Similar to what I saw from yours?”
“Nn.”
“I see.”

Karen gazed forwards, towards the horizon. While we had walked leisurely, we still had come quite a way already and the camp had entered our view a while ago.

“In the end, we only got more questions, didn’t we?”

That we did…

“Maybe we should write them all down?” I suggested.
“We’d fill a whole book with them.”
“And we’d get answers for maybe three. Awesome.”

It annoyed me to no end that we had so many questions but the person to ask was never around.

“Haaa… Either way, we made it back now.”
“I wonder if they are already preparing for dinner.”
“I guess so. Ohh, I’m looking forward to the fish.”

There had been so many interesting ones. I feared I wouldn’t be able to taste all of them. Damn my tiny stomach. Digest faster, or something!

Mm… Maybe I can force it to digest faster? What does my stomach even do with the food anyway, considering that my body is not exactly functional. From a normal living being’s point of view.

If it just absorbed it, maybe I could do something… I’d try that later. If I could enjoy some more food that way, it’d be worth the effort.

“—mi. Yumi.”
“... Nn? What?”
“I’ve been calling you a few times…”
“Sorry, I was lost in thought. What’s wrong?”
“Well… Look.”

Karen pointed towards the camp. I saw a huge crowd having gathered. Lots of murmuring, hushed whispers and some laughter could be heard.

“What’s going on there?”
“I don’t know. Let’s ask.”

As we approached the crowd, someone spotted us from within and ran over in our direction.

“Yumi! Yumi!”
Oh no, don’t you dare. Give me a second to prepare myself.

I spread my arms in a hurry, ready to receive the rocket barreling towards me. I closed my eyes, awaiting impact.

An impact that never came.

“Yumi, Yumi! And Big Sis Karen! You’re back!”

I opened my eyes, confused about the lack of impact. When I opened it, I saw our energetic energy bundle by name of Emily standing in front of me. I was shocked.

“Yumi? Something wrong? Did you get hurt?”
“No, Emily, I’m fine… Uhh, I was just surprised. Actually, I should ask if you are fine.”

She didn’t barrel straight into my gut. That was alarming. I put my hand on her forehead to check if she had a fever but she wasn’t burning up. She was quite warm, though, but nothing out of ordinary.

“I’m fine!”
“That’s… good to hear.”

Was… Was she learning how to hold back? Our Emily? Seriously? Or was she an impostor after all? I… I was feeling a little sad now.

“So, Emily, what’s up with that commotion?” asked Karen.
“Ah, she came back!”
“...”

Wait, please, no…

“Who… came back?”
“Yumias!”

...

“I fucking knew talking about her wasn’t a good idea.”

Needless to say, I got hit on the head by Karen for that undiluted remark in front of Emily.

Curse you, Yumias.