Lily had fallen into a pitfall. No, that’s wrong. She jumped into one. She jumped straight into it. It might have been a little hidden and it might have been a little bit mean to put two pitfalls next to each other but… Okay, okay, yeah, it was my fault. But I would have never expected Lily to fall for that.

Then again, I didn’t expect Korwen to get hit by a bucket either…

It was just too unexpected. I didn’t know what to say. Or do, for that matter. I could only blankly stare at the whole in which Lily disappeared to. And that was now the source of a wailing Lily.

“Gyaa! Help! Help! I need… Woah?! Sto— Where are yo— Nooooo! Don’t! Let go! Hyaahh!”

A very desperate Lily. Pieces of equipment emerged from the hole, flying a few steps away and landing in the grass. Pieces of armour, gauntlets, boots… Oh, a small dagger came out as well.

“Yu— Yumi! We have to help her!”
“Huh?”

I turned to Karen, staring blankly at her.

“Lily, we need to help Lily!”
“... Ah, yes. Yes, of course.”

It took me a few seconds to snap out of it. Karen and I rushed over to the pitfall. Rina was already standing at the edge and was looking down. She had reacted far quicker than Karen or I. However, she was only staring down the hole and watching whatever spectacle she could see there.

“Don’t touch me there! No! Stop it! Stop it, I say! Let me go! Karen! Yumi! Rina! Help me! Anyone!”

We arrived at the pitfall, still hearing Lily’s wails. I looked down and what I saw was… surprising. A tear-stained Lily was held by the tentacles, only wearing a shirt and pants. Everything else had already been stripped of her. However, the tentacles weren’t satisfied with just that. They coiled around Lily, trying to strip her of her last wall of defence. The last wall protecting her dignity.

Needless to say, the view was… rather sensual. They were locked in a struggle between the half-stripped shirt and pants. Even her underwear wasn’t quite in the right place anymore. At this point, the tentacles probably covered up more than her clothes did. Which wasn’t much.

“...”
“...”
“...”
“Don’t just stare! Help me! Make them stop! Nyah?! Noooo!”

And there went her shirt. It flew right out of the pitfall and into Rina’s arms. She stared at the shirt in her arms for a few seconds, then lifted it up high and made a guts pose.

“I got it!”
“Rinaaaaaa!”
What the hell are you doing, Rina?

Meanwhile, Lily was still struggling to keep her pants in place… I should help her.

I squatted down and touched the pitfall, ordering the tentacles to let go of Lily. A moment later and they retreated, leaving the sobbing Lily behind in their midst.

“Uhhh… Is… Is it over?”
“Nn… It’s over.”

Lily glanced at the tentacles that had retreated, casting a doubtful gaze at them.

“It’s… over?”
“Nn. I promise. You can come out now.”
“Finally… But… My clothes…”
“Ahh, right.”

She wasn’t wearing anything except for her pants. We couldn’t let her out like that.

“Rina, can you return Lily’s shirt to her?”
“Ehh?”

Rina stared at the shirt on her arms. She was cradling it like a treasure. Unfortunately, this treasure was currently needed.

“Rina… My shirt.”

Lily glanced up at Rina, pleading with her to return the shirt. Something seemed to click with Rina as she gasped shortly.

“This isn’t so bad!”
“Rina!” cried Lily.

She was enjoying this. Rina was absolutely enjoying this.

“Mm… I wonder what I should do?”
“Please…”

Lily pulled softly on Rina’s leg from inside the pitfall, pleading with tears in her eyes.

“Ri— Rina? Maybe you should return Lily’s shirt to her? I… don’t think this is the best place for this,” said Karen.
“Mm… I guess you’re right. Okay, Lily. Here you are.”

Rina handed the shirt to Lily, who reached out for it so fast I couldn’t even see her taking it. Then, Lily slipped into the shirt, restoring her lost dignity, before jumping out of the pitfall.

“I’m out!”

Lily raised her hands in the air in triumph. She still had tears running down her face.

“I’m glad you’re fine, Lily. Really,” I said to her.
“I’m not fine. I’m not fine! This was horrible! Never again! Never! Absolutely! Never!”
“Lily, calm down.”

Rina came up from behind Lily and pat her on the head. Lily’s angry expression… very slowly softened.

“It wasn’t on purpose. They tried to warn you, right?”
“They did…”
“See?”

Rina smiled at Lily, who was still sulking.

“You’re unfair, Rina.”
“Ehehe. Will you forgive them?”
“... I’ll forgive them.

Well, that was a relief. Though I honestly wasn’t quite sure what to think of this. Lily was too easy on Rina… I wanted to remind her that it was Rina who was doing most of the bullying earlier but I had a feeling that it wouldn’t end well if I did, so I refrained.

“Let’s get your things first. Ah, but Big and Lil’ Sis wanted something from you…”
“Huh? Oh, right. But we’re not in a hurry. We’ll collect everything so stay with Lily.”
“Oh, is that fine? Thanks.”

I nearly forgot that we called for Lily here for a reason… Still, first, we should grab her things. I’d feel bad if we didn’t at least do this for her.

“Is that fine with you, too, Sis?”
“Of course. I’ll help.”
“Nn.”

We left Lily to Rina and went to collect all the things the tentacles had stripped off Lily. Most of it was armour, like her gauntlets. I was a little curious at how easily the tentacles got rid of the armour so I took a closer look at the gauntlets and found that the clasps were opened. I had no idea how they did it but… the tentacles were smart. Too smart, maybe.

I wish they would have stopped with the armour, though…

They could swiftly take off the equipment, yet they didn’t distinguish between her equipment and her essential clothes. It made me wonder if they, maybe, intentionally did this… I glanced over into the pitfall. Unfortunately, the tentacles couldn’t give me an answer to that question.

… Let’s keep going.

I collected everything else that I could find. Her boots, a pouch and the dagger. Karen had collected everything else already.

“I think this is everything?”
“Looks like it.”
“Great. Lily, we got your things.”
“... Thanks.”

Lily received her armour and promptly put it on with practised movements. She was so quick about it, it was amazing. Barely a minute after she got her things, she was already back in her usual appearance.

“Haaa… What a relief.”
“That was fast.”
“Mm? Well, this is about normal?”
“Is it?”

I couldn’t imagine putting that armour on so quickly.

“It is. Can’t take forever to put your armour on in an emergency.”
“That’s… a good point.”

Maybe I should practise this, too? Then again… It was usually Karen who helped me with my armour. Yeah, I definitely should practise this.

“Anyway, let’s forget this ever happened. Got that?”
“Nn.”
“Okay.”
“Ehhhh?”

All eyes wandered to the sole person unhappy about that: Rina.

“But Lily was so cute.”
“”... Cute?””

Lily and I couldn’t help but stare at Rina. I mean, it was… Well, okay, seeing a teary-eyed Lily was quite cute. But I didn’t think it was appropriate in this situation.

“Yes. She was really cute!”

And what a bright smile she had! Blinding, it was!

“... Lily. Good luck.”
“... Thank you.”
“Huh? What’s wrong?”

Rina tilted her head, confused at our exchange. I worried for Lily’s future. I could only wish her luck.

“Ei— Either way!! We’ll forget about this. Yumi! Tell me, what did you need me for!”

Lily, that wasn’t a very subtle way to change the topic.

“We wanted to know how tall Korwen’s daughter is.”
“Tall?”
“Nn.”

Lily stared at me for a few seconds, then lifted her gaze up to the sky.

“I had to go through this… because of her height? Are you kidding me?”
“Sorry…”

Seriously. Sorry.

“Haaa… She’s pretty tall, I guess? Mhm… Something like this?”

Lily held up her hand to gesture the approximate height. Which, indeed, was quite tall. Nearly a head taller than Karen. Lily had to hold up her arm quite a bit to show us. If that was accurate, she might even be taller than Fenna or Wanda.

“That’s tall.”
“Nn.”
“You are just short,” added Lily.
“You mean ’We are just short,’ right?”
“Ugh… Don’t say that!”

She averted her gaze.

“I’m still growing! I can still grow taller!”
“...”
“...”

I looked at Lily. She was even shorter than Karen, even though she was the older one. I wouldn’t say it was impossible for her to grow anymore but… unless she had some amazing growth spurt that wasn’t going to happen, was it?

“If only Papa hadn’t taken my pendant…”
“The pendant that made you look taller?”
“Yes…”
“... If you ask me, I like you more without it.”

Then again, it was probably only a matter of being used to it. I had only ever seen her using that pendant in the very beginning. I was way more used to her the way she was now.

“You think so?”
“Nn.”
“I think so, too! Lily is the best like this!”
“Rina…”

Speaking of which, she also used to carry a bunch of swords around… Now they were all in the wagon. Lily sure left behind an impression back then.

“Are you girls done soon?”
“Nn? Ah, Miss Elder. Sorry, we’re done in a moment.”

The Elder, watching us from afar, called for us, probably because she was running out of patience. I felt bad about leaving her. Seriously, what a mess this was.

“Don’t fret. I am not particularly bothered. But I believe we should finish soon.”
“Nn?”

Finish soon? Was something going to happen?

Maybe because she noticed my confused expression, the Elder pointed towards the camp. Following it, I saw a bunch of mercenaries there but not much else… Oh, wait…

“It’s dinner time.”
“That it is. How about we finish up here?”
“You’re right. Let’s do that.”

Dinner didn’t wait for us. Even if it did, I wasn’t. I had been looking forward to it for a while already.

“Hey, Yumi. What are you guys even going to do?”
“Nn? Well, the Elder can grow a pretty… amusing flower.”
“I can already guess what this is about but… what does it do?”
“It makes you itchy.”
“You guys are the worst.”

Thanks for the compliment We were working hard to please.

“First those horrendous pitfalls. Now flowers that make you itchy. What kind of grudge do you have against her?”
“Uhh, none? We’re just helping out. Do you… think this is too much?”
“... You know, probably not. Knowing her, she’ll be happy about it. She loves challenges.”
“Huh…”

Challenges, huh? Then, this was a challenge for her?

“By the way, Yumi. Please don’t make those pitfalls strip her.”
“Nn? Ah, yes. I’ll make sure they won’t…”

No equipment stripping. Only restraining. We learnt the hard way that stripping was no good.

“Good… I don’t want to imagine what the captain would do if you stripped her.”
“... I’ll make sure they won’t.”

I was going to make absolutely sure they were only restraining her. I’d prefer it if my head stayed on my shoulders.

But first, the Elder was waiting for us. While we were talking, she and Karen had already started to look around for a suitable place to grow the flowers.

“Sis, Miss Elder, did you find a good spot?”
“There are a few but… It’s hard to say which ones are good,” answered Karen.
“Nn. In that case, how about we just do the spots that seem good? As long as we don’t overdo it, it’s probably fine.”
“I guess so.”

Flowers that caused itching were probably rather annoying so we should limit it to only a few spots. I didn’t want her to get frustrated by the constant itching.

Together with Karen, Lily, Rina and the Elder, we chose around a dozen spots or so for the Elder to grow that flower. I was looking forward to the results.

But for now, it was time to get dinner.

---

“Haaa… That was good.”

Food was wonderful. Food was life.

“It’s so nice having something warm and fresh in the stomach.”
“I agree.”

Karen and I leaned against each other, rubbing our stomachs. Opposite of us, Lily watched us with a wry smile. We were satisfied. Dinner was great, as expected. No, it was even better.

“I didn’t expect such a feast.”
“They really did their best.”
“Nn. I’m so full I worry I’ll burst.”
“Please don’t.”
“I’ll do my best.”

I didn’t want to make too much of a mess by bursting.

“Now I kind of want to jump into bed and just sleep.”
“We can’t, Yumi.”
“Ehh? Why not?”
“Mr Captain wanted to speak with us.”
“Ugh, I forgot about that.”

I was so immersed in the afterglow of my satisfied stomach that I pushed aside all thoughts about that. He had said he wanted to talk with us, though so we should go to him… How bothersome.

“He was calling for you again?” Lily asked us.
“Nn, he did.”
“He sure likes to call for you two quite often.”
“Jealous?”
“No way. That’d mean extra work.”

That… wasn’t wrong. He probably was calling us about work again.

“Work, huh… Haaa… Sis, let’s get this over with…”
“Someone looks motivated.”
“I totally am, Lily. Can’t you see?”
“I can’t, sorry.”

Well, I would have been worried if she could. Karen watched us and giggled, amused by our nonsense.

“Sheesh… Sis, should we?”
“Mhm, we can.”
“Then, let’s go. Until later.”

We parted with Lily and the others to look for Korwen. Somewhere in my mind, I just wanted to get this over with quickly and hit the bed. On the other hand, I also wanted to know why he was at the governor’s place today. It was quite likely that’s why he called us anyway.

“Where is he… At his tent or somewhere here?”
“I can’t see him here, Yumi.”
“Then probably at his tent. Let’s go and check it out.”

Since we couldn’t find him among the crowd of eating mercenaries, we went to his work tent.

“Captain? Are you here?”
“I am. Come in.”

Oh, he really was here, sitting at a table, drinking and working on some documents.

“Ah, Yumi, Karen. You came.”
“Nn, you called for us, after all.”

We couldn’t exactly ignore that, could we?

“Right. Take a seat, this might take a while.”

We took him up on the offer, sitting down at the table opposite him. While we nervously waited for him to talk, Korwen lit up a cigar, leaning back in his seat.

“The war between the empire and the federation reached a standstill,” he suddenly said.
“At a  standstill?
“Ahh. It seems they mobilised the church’s knights. Even the Federation has trouble dealing with them.”

The church’s knights…

“The ones we met in Arkesta and the fort?”
“Exactly those.”

If I remembered correctly, Korwen said these knights were incredibly strong. That had to mean something coming from him. Then again, they sunk one of those knights in the Hollow when they blew up the bridge…

“It’s quite unusual for the church to intervene on such a scale. But otherwise, they might not have been able to stop them, so it was really their only choice.”
“And now they’re at a standstill.”
“Exactly. They’re going to glare daggers at each other for days, weeks, maybe even months.”
“Sounds fun.”

Korwen grimaced at my comment. Maybe I had hit a sore spot.

“It’s the worst, I tell you. You never know when the battle begins. You’re always on edge, waiting for something to happen. Just a few days is already taxing on the mind but you can’t imagine how exhausting it is for months.”
“It’s that bad?”
“Yes.”

Korwen took a drag of his cigar and puffed the smoke into the air.

“It can make you crazy. And even if the battle starts at some point, both sides are just too exhausted already. It’s the worst.”

That bad, huh?

“Anyway, those two are at a standstill now. With the church’s knights there, the Federation won’t attack carelessly. Fighting those knights head-on is suicide and they know that. On the other hand, their numbers are small so they won’t be able to protect the surroundings. In other words, chances are high that we’ll see a large number of war refugees fleeing for fear of pillaging.”
“Pillaging? Aren’t they an army? They aren’t bandits.”
“They are also an army in enemy territory. Don’t expect them to be virtuous knights calling upon their chivalry. That’s something you only get in stories. Reality is that they need supplies. And what better way to get them than from their immediate surroundings?”

And so they were pillaging…

“But let’s continue on the matter at hand. Remember the job offer Ruben sent us?”
“Uhh… Something about the border? Border patrol?”
“Border patrol is correct, more or less. We already planned to accept the job but it seems things are going to be more difficult than I anticipated. I already talked about this with Fenna and Merim but we might have to move out in full.”
“That means… everyone would be going?”
“That’s right.”

And that included us, of course. Well, he planned for us to go there even before this, though.

“Yumi, how many people can you affect with that charm of yours?”
“Huh? Err, I’m not sure?”
“Mhm…”

I knew that I could affect quite a few people, at least. But it was a little scary to influence people with magic. Not to mention that I didn’t really have any reason to anyway.

“Your charm could be quite a boon for a job like this. Dealing with refugees is bothersome. They’ll be running on blank nerves by the time they reach the borders. If your charm can soothe them and calm them down, we could probably avoid most problems. I guess we’ll have to see how well it’ll work.”
“Nn…”

Soothing them, huh? That didn’t sound too bad. I could probably do that.

“The alternative is, after all, to beat any troublemakers unconscious.”
“... I’ll do my best.”
“Glad to hear that.”

At least, the charm wouldn’t hurt them too much…

“We’re also going to test how well your portals work. Since it’s going to be quite a distance from the fort, farther than Melfin.”
“What are we going to do about the fort repairs, though?”
“Those will keep going. Preferably, I would like to finish the most important things before we move to the border. I secured some extra help from the governor as well.”

Korwen grinned as he told us about his achievements.

“He couldn’t quite refuse when I brought up how Ruben personally requested us and that it would be impossible to finish before winter if everyone moved to the border.”
“Captain…”

Wasn’t he basically blackmailing him? Was this fine?

“Don’t worry, it’s not like he loses out on that deal. Most importantly, we have to get the fort in working order or we’re going to freeze our asses off. Since Melfin was a bust, I sent a group to a town a little further away but without a way to contact them, it’ll take a while before we know if it worked out.”
“I see…”

We needed those supplies for the fort so if they failed, too, we’d have a problem…

Korwen took another drag of his cigar and puffed out the smoke. It smelled quite strongly…

“We’ll see how it goes. Not like we could change the result, whatever it’s going to be.”
“That’s true.”
“Now, I’ve got another matter to discuss.”
“Nn?”

Korwen reached out to a paper he had lying in front of him and pushed it towards us.

“Take a look at this.”
“Nn? This is?”

Karen and I leaned forward, taking a look at the document.

“Aldreighan Exile…
“...Revision Decree?”

Was this…

“I took the liberty to research a little about what you told me. Surprisingly, the law you were talking about very much exists. This document is from three years ago, though the decree was in effect quite a while before that. This is the final amended version that they publicised.”

I glanced over the paper,  surprised at this find.

With this decree, a revision to the laws for the punishment of exile has come into effect. Previous exiles will not be lifted… Wait, what?

Wasn’t this different from what we heard?

“Captain, it says that previous exiles weren’t lifted, though.”
“Yumi, read to the end first.”
“Huh? Okay…”

I blinked in surprise but followed his advice.

Err, where was I… Ah, there. Previous exiles will not be lifted and remain in effect. Exception to this rule are exiles of children and those whose guilt was not sufficiently proven in conform with the Aldreighan Criminal Code Revision Decree.

So it was lifted, after all… I breathed a sigh of relief, seeing that.

“What’s this Aldreighan… Criminal Code Revision Decree?”
“The matter of exiles wasn’t the only thing that came under scrutiny in the past few years. The Criminal Code Revision was something I actually knew about. Around ten years ago, they reexamined the Criminal Code and found it lacking. The Criminal Code couldn’t account for the advances in technology. Furthermore, time changes people. The demonkin are long-lived but even they aren’t immune to it. As such, they revised the Criminal Code to be more in line with the expectations of the people. You could say, the exile reform was merely a byproduct of this.”
“That’s… I don’t know… Quite amazing.”

They went out of their way to reform not only one law, but several from the looks of it.

“It is. I can’t speak for the entirety of it but they, fortunately, got rid of several very nonsensical laws while at it. Did you know it was forbidden in Aldreigh to eat warm food in public?”
“... Seriously? Then, cold food was okay?”
“It was.”

What the hell? But why?

“Nobody quite knows how a law like that even came to be but it still existed for a long time. Though, as far as I know, they didn’t actually go out of their way to check everyone who was eating in public, so it was only law in name at that point.”
“I don’t know how I would even react if someone came up to me and asked if my food was warm.”

I’d probably stare at them, utterly dumbfounded.

“There are many other weird laws but we can leave the trivia lesson for another time. For now, it seems like the lift on the exile seems genuine. And I think that’s the most important take, isn’t it?”
“Nn. Isn’t that great, Sis?”
“Yes… Yes, it is.”

A small smile escaped Karen.

“It still feels a little unreal, though.”
“Nn, take your time.”

We had all the time in the world, after all.

“She’s right, take your time. This isn’t something you can sort out in a day or two.”
“Thank you, Yumi. And Mr Captain.”
“Nn.”

We should probably tell Rina as well.

“That’s already all I wanted to tell you. I’m also looking into the matter of Karen’s family but… It’s a little hard to gain any information here. Greyward told me he requested the assistance of the temple. They’re our best bet to figure out what happened for now. Knowing how the temple operates, we might get an answer quite quickly. I’ll inform you two when I hear anything.”
“Thank you, Mr Captain.”
“You’re welcome.”

He really was doing a lot for us.

“And since we’re on the topic. I also have to thank you two.”
“Huh?”
“Us?”
“Yes. Greyward told me about the other letter he sent.”

A smile emerged on Korwen’s face.

“He’s been struggling with the past for a long time already. It hurt seeing a friend trapped for so long. So, I’m glad to see him taking a step forward. Really, thank you two.”
“That’s…”
“We didn’t really do anything…”
“You very much did.”

We only conveyed our thoughts about the matter to him… Nothing more. Well, we were a little mad that he made Lily cry… Just a little.

“Ahem. Anyway, I’m grateful to you two.”
“... We only did it for Lily.”
“Ha, then I’ll leave it at that.”

Korwen laughed when he saw me averting my eyes, embarrassed by the upfront gratitude he directed at us.

“Take your time and enjoy the rest of the evening. We’ll have busy days coming.”
“Nn, got it.”

Afterwards, we said our goodnights to Korwen and left the tent. Though he said we should enjoy the evening, the day was nearing its end already. And, frankly, I was exhausted. The day had been quite eventful.

“Hey, Sis… Want to go to bed?”
“Are you tired?”
“Nn.”
“Need me to carry you?”
“... I think I can manage to our wagon.”
“Too bad.”

Karen sounded quite disappointed… Maybe I should take her up on the offer after all?

In the end, I decided not to. We walked to our wagon in silence. Once we arrived, we immediately got ready for bed and made ourselves comfortable.

“Today was exhausting.”
“It really was. But it was fun.”
“Nn, it definitely was.”

I was looking forward to the coming days. And, I really wanted to meet Korwen’s daughter. Just what kind of person was she? I’ve heard quite a bit about her but it was still a little hard to imagine. But we might meet her soon.

Quite soon.