A short while after our little run-in with Yumias, the group searching the area had finished, so we made our way back to the temporary camp in the middle of the fort’s yard. There, Korwen dismissed everyone for the day. Hurray for free time.

He also told us we were free to explore the fort on our own as long as we were careful enough. Not really what anyone was really looking forward to, considering that we had been doing exactly that all day already. Or, at least, that’s what I had expected…

“Well, I guess they didn’t really have the chance to look around here yet.”
“They only saw the basement, after all. I’m sure they were looking forward to this.”
“Nn.”

Karen and I watched the Dragon Knights as they walked around, going into buildings, looking around the yard and all that stuff. They seemed positively thrilled, in fact, as they explored the fort. They reminded me of boys running around a ruin looking for secrets rather than battle-hardened mercenaries.

“Makes me a little glad that the Space magic worked out fine when I see them like that.”
“I think we all are quite glad that it worked out.”
“Nn.”

Even though Yumias had reassured us that things should work out fine, it had still worried me a lot at the time. After all, she had also told me what would happen to me if I screwed up.

“That reminds me, Ria took a look at the tentacle door, right? I wonder if she figured something out about it…”
“Should we go ask her about it?”
“Nn. I’m curious.”

Ria was the person who was the most knowledgeable about magic among everyone I knew—excluding Yumias. It wasn’t unlikely that she had noticed something of interest.

Karen and I both went through the—admittedly small—temporary camp, looking around for Ria. Needless to say, it didn’t take long.

“Oh, she’s busy?”
“Seems so.”
“Those two are… I think they were in our group earlier, no?”

Two men were talking with Ria, their expressions quite stiff and serious. As we approached them they nodded several times, then, just as we came into hearing distance, they thanked Ria and left.

“Ria.”
“Mmm… Yumi… Karen… Do you… need something?”

 Ria turned around and replied with her usual languid tone.

“Nn. We wanted to ask if you managed to figure something out about the tentacle door.”
“Oh… Mm… Well…”
“Nn?”
“It is… a very… curious… thing…”
“... Nn, I think I can agree on that.”

There was a literal hole in Space connecting to a different place. If that wasn’t at the very least curious then I had no idea either.

“But… I don’t think… I can… say anything… specific… yet… It’s… too strange…”
“Strange?”
“The mana… flows through… the door… and back… as if… the hole… was always… there… There is… only little… mana flowing… into the… tentacles… Mm… It’s… like someone… molded a… stone statue… with Earth magic… and once… they are done… It keeps… standing… without… magic…”

A statue? So, once the magic was cast, it would… stay that way without any need to do anything else?

“Then it would stay that way even if the tentacles were gone?” asked Karen.
“Mm… I think… that might… be possible…”
“I see… but that’s a little different from what Miss Yumias said…”
“Nn?”
“... Oh? She has… talked with… you?”

Wait, how was it different from what Yumias had told us?

“Yes… She compared it to bending a stick, if I recall correctly. Bending the stick would require more energy than keeping it in its bent position… She didn’t say it explicitly but wouldn’t that mean, if the energy is missing, it would return back to its original state?”

Oh, now I remembered. She did indeed mention that stick example.

“Keeping the… position… requires less… energy… I see… that is… certainly… a possibility…”

Ria nodded a few times, mumbling quietly to herself.

“Then… the small amount… of mana… is not… to maintain…the tentacles… but the… door? That would… explain… the difference… Mm… But how… does it… use the… mana? The hole… itself… is not… likely… But then… Mm…”
“Ria?”
“Mm? Ohh… I was… thinking… Mm… You gave… me a bit… to think…about…”
“I see…”

Well, at least we had been of use. Or rather, Karen had been.

“Well, anyway, is there anything else you can tell us?”
“Mm… No… Not really… As I… said… it is… strange… It will… take some… time…”
“I see.”

So she hadn’t found out anything about it either so far. Well, it was worth a try.

“If we can help with anything, feel free to ask, though.”
“Mm… I might… take you up… on that offer…”
“Nn, that’s fine.”

Korwen would probably let us go if it was Ria who wanted our help, so there shouldn’t be any problems in that regard either. Though that didn’t mean we shouldn’t ask for his permission first.

“Do you… want to… ask any… other questions?”
“Nn? No, that was the only thing. Did we interrupt you?”
“No… It’s nothing… urgent… I was just… asked a… favour…”
“Huh… Oh, by those two from earlier?”

Ria nodded once.

“Do you… remember… the Rainbow Hoggie?”
“Nn.”
“Yes.”
“Mh… They asked… what kind… of cage… would be… necessary… to keep… one…”
“...”

They… were asking about a cage for it?

“That’s a little unexpected.”
“Nn.”

Korwen had said that it was fine if the men wanted to keep it as a pet, but I did not expect them to immediately come to Ria and ask her about it.

“Did the favour have something to do with that as well?” I asked her.
“Yes… To capture… the Rainbow Hoggies… you need… a lure… I was… going to… make them…”
“A lure? Wouldn’t a mana crystal work?”
“It does… but… we don’t know… how many… of them… are here… A lure… would… make sure… that all… of them… come…”
“Ohh.”

A lure, huh… Well, now that she said it, if the small tunnels went deep into the earth, there was no way for us to get all of them out of there. And there probably were more than just one.

“But, do they already have a cage then?”
“Mm… Making a… cage is… not hard… They don’t… eat plants… Most types… of wood… are fine… But… I did… recommend… which were… best… and that… they can… be treated… with mana… to make… them sturdier.”
“Wouldn’t a metal cage be better?”
“They can… bite through… most metals…”
“...”

What hell, that’s scary. Those small critters had some terrifying jaw strength to be able to bite through stone and metal. But they ignored wood, of all things… Usually, you’d think that even wood would be more edible than a stone… Not that I ever planned on biting into a wooden plank, either.

“Mr Captain did say they’re easy to keep. But I didn’t think it’d be as easy as making the cage out of wood…”
“Nn. It’s surprising.”

At least, I wasn’t alone this time. Karen was surprised, too.

“Mm… It is… what makes… them quite… popular… as pets… They are… easy to keep… and are… pretty to… look at…”
“... Won’t it be a problem if someone gets bitten, though?”
“As long… as you… don’t anger… them… then they… won’t hurt… anyone… They are… smart enough… to know… who feeds them… Though… even… if you… tease them… they are… very patient… and docile…”

That made them sound like they were among the usual pets people tended to keep in this world… Well, they did look like a hedgehog with rainbow spikes… and hedgehogs were quite cute. They were, right?

“Nn, I think it’s nice we get to keep them.”

Surely, those three little ones were going to like them as well. I could vividly imagine them hovering around a cage and playing with them. It’d be nice if that could come to pass.

“In that case… I think it’s better if we leave you to your work. I’m looking forward to it.”
“Leave it… to me…”

In an unusual attempt at looking imposing, Ria straightened her back and nodded with a serious expression. I couldn’t help but chuckle a little, since it wasn’t at all like the usual Ria.

“Mm… Was it… that funny?”
“A little. Sorry.”
“It seems… I need… more practice…”
“... Is that something you can practice?”

You probably could. But whether Ria of all people could manage that… was something to be seen.

“Anyway, we’ll go back. Good luck with your work.”
“Good luck.”
“Mm… You too…”

Once we had said our encouragement, Karen and I turned around and walked back the way we had come from.

Though I said it like that, the camp consisted of only a few tents. It didn’t take even half a minute to walk back to our tent. Not that I had a clock to measure it.

“So, what do we do now? Wait for dinner?”
“Mm… Who even makes dinner?”
“Someone, surely.”

Didn’t we bring rations or something? We probably did. That’d be… a very sad dinner.

I’ve already gotten used to our usual food… Haaa…

Rations didn’t taste bad by themselves but they simply didn’t compare to our usual dinner. It’d be scary if they could, anyway. Nobody would cook anymore then.

“Yumi.”
“Nn?”
“There’s actually somewhere I’d like to go…”
“Oh? Where to?”

My eyes widened a little in surprise. I didn’t expect that Karen wanted to go somewhere. Especially, right here in the middle of the forest.

“The lake.”
“... Oh. You’re right, the lake is close-by.”
“Yes. And I’ve never been to a lake before.”
“Not?”
“No. Only to rivers.”
“Huh. In that case, we should change that.”

I was also interested in the lake, so that was quite fine with me. The only problem was…

“But the captain only gave us permission to explore around the fort… We should probably ask him if we can go.”
“That’d be better.”
“Nn. Then, let’s go and ask him.”

Korwen wasn’t far from us anyway. He was busy watching over the mercenaries. Or rather, he was exasperatedly shaking his head as he watched a few men gambling their salaries away…

“You all, I know there’s little else to do but can’t you show some restraint?”
“Captain, you should join us!”
“I’ll refrain. Also, don’t gamble all your money away. You’re on break but you are still here for work.”

He started to chide them for their gambling, earning him a few disappointed reactions.

“But that’s boring! I’ll win back my money in jiffy!”
“Can you even remotely imagine how often I have heard that sentence already and how often it held true?”
“Captain, you should trust in your men!”
“I trust that you will fail at upholding that declaration, yes. Just don’t overdo it. Got that?”
“””Yes, yees”””

Shaking his head, Korwen left the gambling group alone and walked towards our direction.

“Mm? You two, did you need me?”
“Yes, we wanted to ask if we could go and take a look at the lake.”
“The lake?”
“Nn.”

I nodded, earning me a slightly surprised “Huh.” from him. He seemed to be lost in thought for a few seconds before answering.

“As long as you make sure to keep to the path and don’t stray too far away, you can go.”
“... That was surprisingly easy.”
“What, did you want me to say no?”
“Of course not, but I expected a little more resistance…”

It was outside the fort, after all.

“I’m not your father who keeps tabs on everything you do, you know? I already got enough big children to take care of here.”

He glanced over his shoulder to the still gambling men behind him. They were quite big for children, yes…

“As long as you don’t get lost, you can go. But if you get lost, rest assured this won’t be allowed again.”
“How reassuring.”

Better take care not to let that happen.

“Nn, you said there was a path?”
“Yes. If you go through the gate and keep to the right along the wall you’ll end up on a small path. That path leads to the lake.”
“I see. That’s good to know.”

Maybe a remnant of the time when the fort was still in active use. Convenient for us, at least.

“Then, we’ll go now. Thank you, Captain.”
“Thank you, Mr Captain.”
“Sure, sure, take your time and enjoy yourselves.”
“Will do.”

We gave our thanks to Korwen and then made our way to the lake. After exiting through the gate, we followed the wall for a while.

“Through the gate he said and then keep to the right along the wall…”
“Until we find a small path. Yes.”
“Nn… I don’t see a small path.”
“Neither do I.”

Hopefully, we hadn’t missed it because it was too small. I wasn’t very knowledgeable about forests and I wasn’t confident in recognising every path through them.

“We should keep walking for a little… The lake is in this direction anyway, isn’t it?”
“I think so.”
“Maybe the path is at the end of the wall, then.”

That sounded like a very possible outcome.

“Let’s keep walking then. If we can’t find it, we can just go back and ask him again.”

Being unable to find the path didn’t count as getting lost, right?

The two of us kept walking along the wall, until we finally reached the end of it. And with it…

“Ah, is that it, Sis?”
“It looks like it.”

There it was, a small path that was effectively just a continuation of the one we’re walking on already.

“He could’ve told us it would be at the end of the wall… Oh well, let’s go.”
“Yes.”

After we walked for a few minutes down the small path—with me fighting to free my hair once in a while again—we finally closed in on our destination.

“Yumi, I think I see something.”
“Nn… looks like we arrived, huh?”

Small blue patches appeared between the trees as they got sparser and sparser, revealing the lake they were hiding.

“Ohhh.”
“... It’s seriously huge.”

No matter how often I saw it, it was impressive every time. Water as far as the eyes could see. And far beyond even that. If the map Korwen had shown us back then was any indicator, then the part we were seeing was only a very small one.

Rather than a lake, it feels more like a small ocean already…

Except that it was missing the salt. It was… right?

“Yumi, come.”
“Nn.”

Karen pulled my hand as we jogged over to the shore. 

“It’s all water…”
“Nn, it is.”

The water was rather quiet, only small waves reaching towards us. Likely curious about the waves, Karen squatted down and reached out to a wave.

“It’s not as cold as I thought.”
“... Not?”

I squatted down next to Karen and held my hand into the water. It was… a little cold but not outright freezing.

“Nn, you’re right. But it’s still a bit cold.”

The weather was quite warm so the water was probably quite tolerable because of it. In fact, it was warm enough that you could go for a swim. If only we had swimsuits or something similar.

Sis in a swimsuit… That might be nice… But swimsuits probably don’t exist, do they?

I’d be surprised if they did. Maybe Wanda could help us out with that, though.

“Yumi, look.”
“Nn? Is that… a fishing boat?”
“I think so.”

At the horizon, we could make out a single small boat, making its way back to the port.

“You can see the port from here as well.“
“It looks tiny.”
“Nn.”

I sat down properly and gazed towards the horizon, making myself comfortable. The ground wasn’t incredibly comfortable but it was still surprisingly soft. Seeing me sit down, Karen promptly followed.

This is nice.

Just sitting here with Karen, enjoying the rhythmic sounds of the waves against our feet and gazing out at the water.

“Oh, there’s another boat.”
“Nn. But that one’s leaving from port, it seems.”
“Is it another fishing boat?”
“Who knows?”

It had a similar appearance to the first once but even for me it was difficult to say at this distance. I would guess it was a fishing boat as well, though.

“Some come back at this time and others go out… Feels a little weird that they would fish at different times, though.”
“Maybe there are different fish to be caught at different times?”
“Nn… That might be possible.”

We watched the fishing boat until it disappeared behind the horizon. Whether it was out fishing or had some other task, we probably wouldn’t learn.

“It’s quiet.”
“Nn. It is.”

Next to me, Karen leaned back and lay on the ground, stretching her arms to either side.

“This reminds me of the time we were at the river.”
“Nn? You mean back in Arkesta?”
“Yes. Back then, I’d never imagine I’d be here today.”
“Me neither.”

Things had taken quite a few… impressive turns here and there. But I quite liked where we were right now.

“Hey, Yumi.”
“What is it?”
“You can swim, right?”
“Nn? Yes? I think so.”
“That’s not a very confident answer.”

Karen’s eyes wandered over to me. She stared at me for a few seconds, but before I could explain it to her, it seemed that realization had hit her.

“Oh. You don’t remember?”
“... Pretty much. I think I should be able to, though.”
“... Then, want to take a swim?”
“Eh? Here?”
“Yes.”

I stared at the water, thinking for a short while.

“As long as we keep it to depths where we can stand…”
“... That limits it a lot, Yumi. You’re not exactly tall.”
“Neither are you.”
“Taller than you, at least.”

It’d be surprising if she wasn’t at least taller than me. Even those three little ones… from my point of view, they weren’t little at all. We were roughly the same height. Actually, I had the feeling Maya was even a little taller than me…

“Anyway, I don’t want to be swept away by a current or something like that. It wouldn’t be funny if we didn’t make it back because we drowned.”
“A… current? What’s that? A monster?”
“No… It’s not a monster…”

Well, how did I explain that one…

“Err, basically, even if you don’t see it, the water in the lake is flowing at all times below the surface. These flows are called currents. And if you get caught in a current, it will drag you along the path it goes, which is usually further into the lake. Those currents are also quite strong, so it’s very hard to get out of them. Maybe even impossible.”
“I see. And if we don’t want to get caught in them, we should stay near the shore?”
“That’s right.”

I nodded. Glad she understood.

“Mm… Is it the same as how in the river you can feel the water passing your feet below the surface?”
“Nn? I think that’s pretty much it, yes.”

That example surprised me a little but… that should be about the same, right?

“Then, we’ll stay in the areas where we can stand.”
“Nn, that’s fine with me.”
“Great!”

Karen stood up, looking a little excited. Someone was looking forward to take a swi— Ehhh?

“Sis? What are you doing?”
“Eh? I’m taking off my clothes?”
“...”

The problem about currents made me miss something important. You couldn’t really swim in your clothes. And I had just earlier lamented the lack of swimsuits, too.

“We’re… outside.”
“Hehe, are you shy, Yumi?”
“... It’s outside.”
“Don’t worry, there’s nobody nearby.”

Karen grinned at me. Did she… Was this what she was really out for?

“Come, Yumi, strip.”
“Wait, Sis… I think it’s better if we consider that carefully again.”
“Don’t worry, I won’t let anyone see you.”
“That’s not quite… the problem…”

Even if there was nobody here… it was still outside.

“Yumi, you walked around in a shirt that barely hid anything before. I think it’s a little late to feel embarrassed.”
“Those were unavoidable circumstances.”
“... There were clothes around, though.”

Those of dead people, yes. And I had been very reluctant to wear those. I… still was.

“Come on, it’s just me.”
“Ah, Sis, wait.”

Alas, my protests fell on deaf ears as Karen forcibly stripped me of my gear, leaving me bare as newborn.

“Uhh, Sis…”
“Ehehe, you’re cute, Yumi.”
“That’s not making me happy.”

It actually did.

“Wait one moment and I’ll join you.”

Karen, who had interrupted her undressing before she got anywhere, stripped off her clothes as well, revealing her body to the world.

“Sis is a pervert.”
“We both are.”
“...”

We both were…

“Come, let’s get into the water.”
“Huh? Okay?”
“Mh? What are you surprised about?”
“... Nothing.”

Yes, the reason for this was actually that she wanted to take a swim. Not for… other reasons.

I let Karen pull me by my hand towards the water. Waves splashed against my feet, tickling me a little.

“Oh, this is… a pretty weird feeling.”
“Nn… Is it?”
“Yes.”

I couldn’t really say if it was weird or not… but Karen enjoyed herself, so that was fine with me.

“It’s a little cold, after all.”
“We’ll warm up when we start swimming.”
“I guess you’re right.”

Once we got used to the water it wouldn’t be that bad anymore. That said, the cold sensation didn’t really bother me anyway. In a way, this made me glad but in another way, it was a little sad.

We slowly stepped deeper into the water, until I was submerged up to my chest. It’d be deep enough to take a swim from here on. I cautiously leaned forward and kicked off the ground, letting my body float on the water.

“Nn… this is nice…”

I didn’t even need to swim like this… Just floating was already relaxing.

“How are you doing that?”
“Nn? What?”
“Floating.”
“Huh? I just, err, let myself float?”
“...”

I stared at Karen, who was still standing next to me. Her breasts were just a little higher than eye level, giving me quite a pleasant view.

“But how… Is that because you’re a monster?”
“Uhh… I think it’s a little easier for me like this, but shouldn’t you float either way?”
“... Really?”
“Yes…”

Karen eyed me suspiciously, then apparently decided to trust my words. She let herself sink into the water. I could see how she was trying to lean forward and let herself float but… Everytime she leaned forward a little, she stumbled and hastily had to correct her posture.

“This isn’t possible, Yumi!”
“No, it is… It should be…”
“Uhhh…”

Karen tried again… with no success. She nearly sank.

“How about… Err, I don’t know how you teach this… Maybe try to jump just a little and let yourself float up, without trying to lean forward?”
“... I can try.”

And try she did. The next moment, her head was under water.

“Sis?”
“Puah?!”
“Woah?!”
“It didn’t work.”
“... I saw that.”

But, weird… How was that possible?

“Uhh, Sis, you can swim, yes?”
“I can.”
“... Then, just swim for now.”
“Okay…”

I was really curious how she could swim halfway decently without floating.

As I watched Karen, she kicked off the ground and the next moment, she was swimming.

“See? I can.”
“Nn… I can see.”

Just… Well… It wasn’t awful but she… certainly wasn’t very good at it. It looked to me like she was forcing herself to stay afloat by brute force. She was kicking up quite the waves behind her.

“I think we need to practise that a little more in the future….” I muttered to myself.
“What did you say?”
“Nothing important. I’ll join you.”

Thankfully, she hadn’t heard me. I turned around and swam towards Karen, joining her.

“Hehe, now we can swim together.”
“Nn.”

Karen held out her hand to me, which I promptly took. She grinned and suddenly pulled me towards her into her embrace.

“Woah?! Sis?”
“Hehe, I caught you.”
“Sis…”

We were still in the shallow waters but it was already deep enough that it was hard for me to reach the ground. Karen, however, stood firmly on the ground as she held me in her arms.

“Seriously, Sis… I thought you wanted to swim?”
“I do. But I also want to have some fun with you. You knew that already, didn’t you?”
“Well…”

I had suspected it, at least.

“But we’re outside.”
“We’re all alone out here, though.”
“Uhh…”
“And even if someone came, we’re deep enough in the water. They wouldn’t see anything.”
“That’s…”

Karen hugged me a little tighter. It was an odd sensation, feeling her skin and the water on me. But not at all unpleasant.

“Yumi. I love you.”
“Nm…”

Without warning, Karen’s lips sealed mine.

“Mmm… Mn.. Nah… Sis…”
“Hehehe, this is actually quite nice in the water.”
“Ugh… Even though we’re outside.”
“So you say, but you look like you enjoy it.”
“...”

Wait… Did I?

“Hehe, Yumi, you little pervert.”
“I don’t want to hear that from the one who stripped me in the first place.”
“We’re both perverts.”
“... We are.”

But, I had to admit… This was quite nice in its own right. I sighed at the realization. We both were quite bad in our own ways.

“Seriously… Sis.”
“Yes?”

I kicked off from the ground a little, shifting my position so I was on Karen’s eye level. I hugged her back, making sure I stayed in that position.

“I love you, Sis.”

And with that, it was my turn to give her a kiss.

This is… nice.