“It’s taking a while.”
“Nn, it is.”

She wasn’t coming. Like, she wasn’t coming at all. It had been quite a while since we set up a position on our little wooden fort. Yet, here we were, waiting for our foe…

“It’d be nice if she could come soon.”
“Nn.”
“Mr Captain is getting restless.”
“He is.”

Korwen, the one person here who wanted to rush into the city in the first place, had it the hardest. He was pacing back and forth on the road to Auria, watching the gate. Even from afar, there was little doubt about how restless he was.

Well, can’t fault him. It’s his daughter we are waiting for.

In a way, it was a fresh sight to see him so nervous.

“She’s really taking a long time, though,” I muttered, equally impatient.
“But with the uproar she caused…”
“Ahh, that’s true.”

She had a giant Phantom Ship chasing her. It wouldn’t be surprising if they took her in for questioning. Not to mention, she had no idea where the mercenaries even were…

“Wait, isn’t it possible that she is going to the fort?”
“... It is.”

After all, that was one of her primary reasons to visit us, unless I misunderstood something. Wouldn’t it make sense then that she went there first?

“Sis, could it be… That we are waiting here in vain?”
“...”

This couldn’t get any worse, could it? They woke us up this early and now it might turn out that it was all pointless?

“... Let’s hope we’re wrong and she comes to the camp.”
“Yes...”

Either way, chances were quite high that we had to wait a considerable amount of time until she came here. If the guards really took her in for questioning, that is.

“You know, the captain is pacing back and forth in anticipation right now… But I wonder if he thought about the governor’s reaction to this… debacle.”
“Yumi…”
“What?”

Karen sighed, exasperated. Did I say something that weird? I was fairly sure I hadn’t.

“At least, be so nice and don’t tell him that.”
“Didn’t plan to.”

There was no way to say what kind of reaction he’d have, considering how restless he already was.

“Then, that’s fine…”

Did Karen actually think I might say that to him? I wasn’t that mean. Not yet, anyway.

“Though, if she doesn’t appear soon, I might think about it.”
“Yumi, don’t.”
“I won’t, I won’t. That was a joke.”

At least, a part of it.

I leaned against the wooden wall behind me and looked over the area. Our ‘defensive perimeter,’ you could say. All the mercenaries that had gotten ready were now sitting down and talking, eating their breakfast or playing games with their comrades. I even spotted a group that was trying to start drinking. Thankfully, Merim stopped that.

“Cards or something would be nice, now.”
“We don’t have any.”
“Nn, I know.”

Games… I knew a few types of cards existed, as well as a few board games. They were all made of wood, though. Maybe I should look around at what kind of board games existed and try to get my hands on some of them. They’d be perfect to kill the time.

“Yumi, Karen!”
“Nn? Ah, Lily.”

While we were busy doing nothing, Lily came up to us, carrying a small sack. She put her hand inside and pulled something out of it and threw it towards us.

“Here you go.”
“Woah?!”

I nearly failed to catch whatever she threw…

“This… Oh, thanks.”

It was a waterskin.

“You’re going around handing out refreshments?”
“Pretty much. Mrs Korwen asked me to.”

How thoughtful of her. It was quite welcome, though. After all, we couldn’t exactly leave our spots right now. If we did and she appeared right at that moment, it’d be a problem. Especially in my case, since I was supposed to hold up the flag. Though, said flag was currently on the ground. No way I was going to keep holding it while we were waiting. It was surprisingly exhausting because the flag made for a wonderful wind catcher. The slightest breeze and I felt like it would rip out my arms.

“Here Karen.”
“Thanks.”
“Wait, Lily, why are you handing it to Sis but threw it to me?”
“Seemed funnier to me.”

Wow… How should I feel about that?

“That was a joke. There wasn’t a particular reason, really.”
“Huh… Really?”
“Maybe there was.”

Lily grinned mischievously. This girl…

“By the way, Lily…”
“Yes, Karen?”
“Why are you not joining the welcome? You know Korwen’s daughter, don’t you?”

Oh, that was a good question. I wondered about that as well. After all, Lily was our resident combat fanatic. Her sitting this out was more than just surprising.

“Ahhh… There’s not really a big reason for that but… How do I say it?”

Lily scratched the back of her head, trying to find the words.

“There’s a time and place for it, I guess.”
“A time and place?”
“Yes. I want to fight her, that’s true. But I don’t think it’d be right of me to barge into everyone’s fun for that.”
“Huh.”

That’s not quite the reason I expected.

“So yeah, I’ll refrain for now. I’m going to enjoy the show with Rina, so make sure to make it entertaining, you hear?”
“... We’ll do our best.”

Not like I had much confidence in that. The fact that we had to set up all these traps and barricades as well as a tiny fort—even if it was really just a wooden platform with walls—spoke volumes. And if that wasn’t enough, the sight of a tiny boat being chased by a giant ship only made it worse.

Seriously, I can’t deal with this anxiety anymore. Just hurry up and come here!

Alas, my prayers went unheard. Nothing changed.

“Hey, Lily, how long do you think we’ll have to wait?” I asked.
“Huh? Err, I wonder?”

Lily, slightly surprised by my question, crossed her arms and went deep into thought.

“She did cause quite a stir so the guards are definitely interrogating her. If they find out she wants to meet the Dragon Knights, they’ll likely contact the governor. I guess it depends on how busy the governor is. But, if I had to just throw a wild guess, I’d say it shouldn’t be long anymore.”
“Nn, I see.”

Not long anymore. That was great news. Hopefully, Lily was right about this.

“At least, I don’t think you’ll have to sit here the whole day.”
“I’d absolutely hate that.”

I’d rather ask Merim for some training or so than sit here and do nothing. At least that was productive. More or less.

“Maybe I should just take a nap. We had to wake up so early.”

Then again, if I woke up I wouldn’t be in any state for this small party for a short while. I also didn’t want to miss anything because I was sleeping.

“If you want to nap, you can do it here.”

Karen patted her legs, telling me to lie down there. The temptation… was great. I really wanted to lie down now.

“... I guess I can lie down without napping.”
“Didn’t you want to sleep?”
“Nn. But I also don’t think it’d be good if I did that now.”
“I see.”

I moved over to Karen and lay down in her lap. A second later, I could feel Karen’s hand gently brushing my hair.

“Nn, this is great.”
“Ehehe.”

But… I was definitely going to fall asleep like this, wasn’t I?

“You two are always so quick to disappear into your own little world, aren’t you? It’s amazing.”
“Nn, we’re amazing.”
“That wasn’t a compliment, Yumi.”

I’d take it as one, though.

“Don’t you have to hand out the refreshments anyway?”
“You two were the last ones.”
“Oh…”

Was that so she could talk with us in leisure?

“Why are you grinning now?”
“Nothing. Absolutely nothing.”

She scowled at me but I didn’t let that deter me. If anything, it was cute.

“Hey, Yumi, make space.”
“Huh? Hey, what are you doing, Lily?”

Still scowling, Lily squatted down next to me and pushed me a little to the side, laying down right next to me. Then, she put her arms around me from behind and hugged me.

“Lily… Do that with Rina.”
“I do and I will.”
“...”

Above me, I could hear Karen giggling. Really, was she fine with that?

“Maybe I should call her over as well? Then we can all share Karen’s lap.”
“I think my lap is going to be a little too cramped for that, Lily.”
“Mm, I guess so.”

These girls…

“Haa… Really… What are we doing?”
“Mm… Having fun?”
“That’s one way to put it.”

Well, it was fun, true. And being hugged made me happy, too. And I was in Karen’s lap, too. This wasn’t bad at all.

“By the way, where is Rina anyway?”
“She’s helping out with breakfast.”
“Huh… Didn’t know she was helping out with that.”
“For a few days now. She gets along quite well with Mrs Korwen and the others.”

I could imagine that. Then again, it was hard not to get along with them. They were really nice.

“I should probably help out again as well… I didn’t do that recently…”
“Well, everyone is busy so I think that’s unavoidable.”
“Nn…”

The fort kept everyone busy for sure.

“Mm?”

Suddenly, Lily lifted her head up, looking elsewhere. Her fluffy ears were twitching a little.

“I think something is happening.”
“Oh? Is she coming?”
“I don’t know. Wait a moment.”

The arms hugging me disappeared, together with the warmth on my back. When I turned around, Lily had already gotten up, looking down the fort toward town.

“The captain is coming back.”
“So it’s not her?”
“Doesn’t look like it. But there’s someone else with him.”
“Someone else? Who?”
“I don’t know.”

If Lily didn’t know them, then it couldn’t be his daughter. After all, Lily knew her.

“Judging from the clothes he’s an official. Maybe for the governor or the town guard.”
“Huh… If they came to us…”
“Yeah. I don’t think there’s any doubt left that it was her earlier.”

There were precious few reasons they would send an official here with this timing.

“Oh, he’s leaving again.”
“Already?”
“Yes… Guess he finished what he came for. And the captain is coming over here.”

He was coming? Ugh… Then I’d have to get up, didn’t I?

With a sigh, I forced myself out of Karen’s lap. So long, my precious place. Our time together had been too short.

“Yumi, you can always do it later again.”
“I know. But later is not now. And I want to enjoy your lap right now.”

At that moment, heavy boots hit the wooden planks of the small fort. I turned around and sure enough, Korwen came up. Lily was already saluting him, albeit a little lackadaisical.

“Sorry you three, I’ll need to borrow this spot for a moment.”
“Nn, that’s fine.”

Next to me, Karen nodded in agreement.

“Glad to hear that. Now then.”

After having confirmed that it was all right with us—not that he really needed to, he was our captain—he turned around, facing the mercenaries down below. He clapped his hands and the sharp sound echoed through the area, drawing the attention of everyone here.

“Listen up, men. I was just visited by a messenger of the governor. Just as we thought, the ones causing the commotion earlier were my daughter and her companions.”

Oh, we finally had confirmation. Not like there was much doubt left, though.

“The guards took them in for questioning and they sent a messenger to confirm that she was with us. They’ll likely let her go once the messenger makes it back. In other words, she’ll be here soon. Get your asses up and get ready!”
“””Oooohhhh!!!”””

The mercenaries roared in excitement. It wouldn’t be long anymore.

“That’s all! Show her what you are made of!”

Another roar followed. Korwen nodded, satisfied. Then he turned around… and his serious expression broke apart.

“Why am I motivating them to beat up my daughter? Someone, tell me…”
“Uhhh… Hang in there?”

That was a pretty good point he made, though. Why was he doing that?

“I will… Haaa… Just where did I go wrong with her…”

Even if he asked us, I had no idea how to answer that. If anything, it was troubling if he expected an answer now… I didn’t even know his daughter, after all.

“I’ll be watching from the sides. Have fun.”
“Nn, thank you.”

Korwen walked down the ramp, disappearing between the barricades.

“I guess I’ll be leaving you as well. Good luck you two.”
“Thanks.”
“Thank you, Lily.”

Following Korwen, Lily left us as well.

“Then, it’s finally time, isn’t it?”
“We still need to wait for a bit.”
“Nn, but not long anymore.”

The anxiety from earlier had been replaced by excitement. I wanted to see what would happen. Just what kind of person would we meet?

“Sis, can you help me with the flag?”
“Sure.”

Karen lifted the flag for me and put it upright on the ground. I took over from there, holding the flag with both my hands. When I looked up, I could see the black flag waving about in the breeze. A battle between a dragon and a few mercenaries.

“You good, Yumi?”
“Nn. I’m fine.

Karen let go of the flag, watching for a few seconds to make sure I wasn’t having any trouble. After all, a sufficiently strong breeze might throw me over. Literally.

“Maybe we should give you some weights…”
“Please don’t.”

I’d never be able to move.

“But then you wouldn’t fall over so quickly.”
“I wouldn’t be moving anywhere, that’s true. But really, please don’t…”

Karen giggled, likely amused by my aversion to that idea.

Well, she wouldn’t really do that. Right?

It would probably be all right…

“Look, Yumi?”
“Nn?”
“They’re all getting ready.”

Karen pointed to the mercenaries on the ground. They had all been loafing around earlier, playing cards, drinking, eating breakfast and whatever else they could do to kill time. But now, they were checking their equipment, their weapons, making sure the traps were all in place and working and so on.

After looking around, I looked past the mercenaries, toward Auria. I couldn’t see the supposed messenger anymore, so he probably had reached the gate already. In that case, it wouldn’t be long anymore.

“Now I’m getting nervous…”
“It’ll be fine, Yumi.”
”I hope so.”

I cautiously let go of the flag with one hand. If it wasn’t for long, I should be fine holding it with one hand. Then, I checked over my gear and my mana crystals, making sure everything was where I needed it.

“Do you have everything?”
“Nn, all good.”

Final check, passed. Everything was in place.

“Maybe I should keep at least one of the mana orbs ready?”
“That might be a good idea.”

I took out one mana orb and held it in my hand… Yeah, this was going to be a little hard to work with if I had to hold the flag, too.

“Better not… I should be able to reach the mana crystals without that anyway…”

I put the mana orb back into the pouch. And right after I did that…

“Yumi, look!”
“Nn?”

Karne pointed forward, to Auria’s gate. There, in the distance, I could see a small group of people. There was no telling what they were doing there or who they were in the first place, but…

“It’s probably who we’re waiting for, huh?”
“I think so.”

The group departed from the gate, walking along the road toward us.

“Yumi.”
“Nn?”
“Wouldn’t it be a good idea to motivate everyone?”
“...”

Wait, she wanted me to hold a speech? Now?

“At least, I’m sure I’d feel motivated if you cheered for me.”

Karen giggled, as she accurately guessed what was going through my head. Did it show on my face?

“... I guess it is technically part of my job. And… this is practice.”

Practice. Right, this was just practice.

“Sis, can you hold the flag for a moment?”
“Sure.”

I handed over the flag to Karen and stepped forward, to the edge of the platform. Everyone finished their last checks now and was ready. Ready to engage.

Motivating them, huh?

I had done it a few times by now but… it was something that was hard to get used to. It was embarrassing, of course. But, even if it was embarrassing, it was something I had to get used to. Speaking in front of people, motivating them… Right now, it was just a friendly match. Even if I messed up a little, it wouldn’t be a real issue.

When I think about it like that, it’s… not that bad anymore.

This wasn’t like the previous times. This time, we were just here to have fun. Right, fun.

I closed my eyes, thinking for a few seconds about what to say. And most importantly, if I should use my Charm magic again. Then, I opened my eyes, took a deep breath and…

“Everyone!”

All eyes turned around, focussing on me. I flinched just a little, seeing everyone’s attention on me. But, I could do this.

“Everyone, listen up! They just left the gate and are coming our way! So, get ready because they’ll be here any moment now! Show her what you are made of! And most importantly, have a good time! It’s time to have some fun!”

A moment of silence…

“””Oooohhhh!!! Let’s do this!!!”””

… followed by a familiar roar.

Was this all right?

I knew nothing about how to hold a speech. I only said what I thought of at that moment. But, my intentions seemed to have come across nonetheless.

“Good job, Yumi.”
“... Was this really fine?”
“They look quite motivated.”
“Nn… I guess so.”

Their mood sure went up a notch.

“But Yumi… did you use your magic again?”
“Nn. Just a little, though. I don’t think it has much of an effect like this but…”

Frankly, influencing people with magic was scary. I still felt that way. Nonetheless, I decided to use a little bit of Charm magic. It really wasn’t much since I kept it down on purpose. After all, getting them too riled up would be bad as well.

“They’re approaching.”
“They are.”

The small group in the distance was close now. Close enough that I could finally see them clearly. Taking point was a tall human girl. Though, it might be more appropriate to call her a young woman. Her blonde hair that went down to her shoulders was a stark contrast to the worn-down black and brown equipment she was wearing. On her back was a large weapon, though I couldn’t quite make out what it was. It might be either an axe or a halberd. Or something else.

The two people behind her seemed to be a beastkin woman and a demonkin man, judging by the fluffy ears and the demon-like tail. They were probably around the same age as the blonde woman. The beastkin woman had grey hair while the demonkin man had brown hair. They were both wearing plain linen clothes and the look on their faces was one full of exhaustion.

“Then the one in front…”

That had to be Korwen’s daughter. She was finally here.

“Yumi, your flag.”
“Nn. One moment.

I closed my eyes again for a second. When I opened them again, I could see that the blonde woman had spotted our welcome party. She pointed in our direction, talking to the two behind her. They exchanged a few words, then she faced us once more. I could see her face clearly. There was a big smile on it.

“Everyone! Get ready! She’s coming!” I shouted.

The mercenaries roared once more, picking up their weapons and getting ready. The roar must have reached the woman because her smile widened and she seemed to be sparkling with joy.

I turned around, receiving the flag from Karen.

“Good job, Yumi.”
“Nn… I hope I didn’t overdo it.”
“It’ll be fine.”

How many times had I heard those words today already? Probably too often if I actually had to think about it.

“She’s coming.”

Holding the flag, I faced the front again. The woman was running toward us. She had unsheathed her weapon, a large halberd. Her smile was a ferocious one, reminding me strongly of Lily when she anticipated a good fight.

I gulped when I saw her running in our direction. It was intimidating. The smile, her weapon, everything. Yet, there was an odd absence of… fear.  As if I instinctively knew that she wasn’t going to harm us. It was a weird feeling.

“Yumi.”
“Nn.”

It was about time. She had nearly reached the first barricade. I didn’t know where the mercenaries were waiting for her but I was pretty sure there was a group out front. They should clash any second now.

And they did. I could hear their shouts as well as the weapons clashing. It was unfortunate I couldn’t see them behind the barricade.

However, their clash only lasted seconds. The next moment, I could hear wood splinter. The blade of a halberd was peeking out of the barricade.

“Are you kidding me?”

The blade sunk deeper and deeper and then, with an abrupt jerk, it sped into the ground, splitting the barricade in half. One half fell while the other kept standing. And behind the fallen barricade, I saw a young woman, smiling brightly. As for the mercenaries that had been right there… Well, they were on the ground. It didn’t look like they had suffered any serious injuries, at least.

“She’s… strong,” commented Karen, her voice betraying her surprise.
“Nn. I didn’t expect this either.

If she was this strong… could they hold her off? Suddenly, I wasn’t so sure anymore.

“She’s moving again.”

The woman walked into our small labyrinth made up of barricades and traps. She didn’t cut down any other barricades, instead opting to walk leisurely along them.

“Well, if she could walk into the traps now, that’d be nice…”

There were our pitfalls and the water buckets as well as the itching flowers. Apart from those, the mercenaries had also made several traps.

“She stopped.”
“Nn?”

Korwen’s daughter was prodding the ground with her halberd, frowning.

“Sis, is that…”
“It’s a pitfall.”
“Thought so.”

Well, now she knew there were pitfalls around… Oh, she jumped over it. Well, so much to that.

However, just as she landed, the nearby mercenaries jumped out and rushed her from all sides. Weapons clashed and blood… didn’t flow. But there were definitely going to be some bruises. With a swing of her halberd, she pushed back the approaching men, hitting the last one, who was guarding with his weapon, with a force so strong his feet left the ground and he flew through the air. Into the pitfall. A very manly scream could be heard.

“Uhhh…”
“At least you didn’t tell the tentacles to strip them.”
”I guess so.”

Still, that man wasn’t going to have a good time… Hopefully, he wasn’t the type to hold grudges.

More importantly, our blonde woman was already continuing her stroll after disabling another group of mercenaries.

“Wow… I knew she would be strong since she’s the captain’s daughter but I did not expect it to be like this.”

Granted, neither Korwen nor Lily were participating. The Black Guards and the Dragon Knights, the elite of our band, were withholding, too. But even so, the fight was rather one-sided. Maybe too one-sided, even.

“What do we do?”
“I don’t think there’s anything we can do, Yumi. Except watching.”
“Nn…”

Another group of mercenaries was beaten down by her with little effort. It was amazing… 

“Actually… Sis, maybe there is something I can do.”
“And that would be?”
“The dolls.”

She might know about traps and the mercenaries. But the dolls might take her by surprise.

“Where is she walking toward…”

She was taking a pretty leisurely stroll, evading the pitfalls and the traps the mercenaries had set up with ease. From the looks of it, she was going to systematically walk through the entire area. In that case…

“Dolls, all the free dolls, come here.”

I kept my voice quiet, hoping it would be enough. And as expected, the dolls came. I had to wonder how they even knew I was calling… but that didn’t matter right now.

“Dolls, I need you to do me a favour. We have to take her by surprise.”

The dolls looked at me, listening silently.

“There are a few spots where I want you to lay low and quiet. When she passes by, you surprise her. Can you do that?”

The dolls nodded and saluted me.

“Great, then, go to that spot over there. And just in case, that spot, too.”

And then they departed, rushing over to the aforementioned places. When they arrived, they all positioned themselves nearby. On the barricade, on the ground, and wherever they could find a spot that was free. And then they stayed there, motionless.

“Yumi, isn’t that a little too mean?”
“... Maybe.”

Now that I calmed down for a moment, maybe it was mean. After all, if I would be on the receiving end, I’d probably scream my lungs out… or rather, my mana crystal.

“It’ll be fine… probably.”
“I hope so…”

The blonde woman had just beaten down another group of mercenaries. It had taken her a little longer this time. And she was wiping away some sweat. It might be that she’s slowly tiring herself out. Maybe my set-up with the dolls wasn’t even necessary… though it was too late now. She was approaching the dolls. And she was now close enough that I could her voice.

“Huh? What’s with these? Are these dolls? What the heck’s up with these?”

She squatted down, picking up one of the dolls. The doll was, of course, not moving

“Are they trying to scare me? I mean, they look a little creepy…”

Hey, they weren’t creepy… after you got used to them.

“Whatever…”

She put the doll back where she had found it and proceeded onward… only to stop and look back, a frown on her face. Maybe she had heard something. After looking around for a little, she tried to continue again… only to turn back around after only two steps.

Confusion was written on her face. She walked back to the dolls, picking up the one she had in her hands just a moment earlier.

“... You’re just wooden dolls, aren’t you? Man, am I imagining things now? Bet they’re just messing with me.”

She sighed and then wanted to put down the doll. But halfway through the motion… all the dolls simultaneously jumped up. The one in her hands slipped out as well. And then, all the dolls jumped in her direction.

“Woah?! What fuck? Stay away! Shi— What’s this?!”

She stumbled backwards in her panic, throwing off the dolls that clung to her one by one. As she walked backwards, however, she forgot about one thing. The traps. A water bucket came crashing down and, much to my surprise, it was split in two. Unfortunately, water couldn’t exactly split in two like the bucket.

“Hyah?! Cold! Fucking hell1 Get off me!”

Drenched and with dolls clinging to her, she jumped away, trying to put distance between herself and the dolls. Unfortunately, straight toward a pitfall… She disappeared from my sight. And the only thing I could hear…

“Hyaaah! Get off me!”

Was a scream.

“Yumi.”
”Yes?”
”You overdid it.”

I did. I absolutely. Did.

Well…. That was probably the end of this… or not.

“Nn? Hey, Sis… Am I seeing things?”
“... You aren’t.”

Severed tentacles were flying out of the pitfall. The tentacles were slithering away, despite being cut. It creeped even me out.

Then, a person climbed out of the pitfall, breathing heavily.

“Hehehe, very well. This caught me by surprise! But I won’t fall for this again! I won’t!”

Wow, she was still raring to go. No, if anything, she was even more motivated. She threw off the last remaining dolls, and then checked her body all over. Probably to make sure no dolls or tentacles had found their way in.

After confirming everything was well, she then ran… in our direction.

“Sis, I think she’s getting serious.”
“Good job, Yumi.”

Why did she make it sound like it was my fault? I mean, it was my fault, yeah…

“No getting through here, dear!”
“Ah, sheesh, you all sure are motivated today, aren’t you?!”
“Of course we are!”

The mercenaries faced her down, weapons raised high and both sides smiling from one end to the other.

“Let’s go, boys!”
“Yeah!”
“Attack!”
“We can do this!”

The mercenaries rushed towards her, swinging at her with their weapons. And the next moment, they all were on the ground. I had no idea what happened. It happened so fast…

“Well then, we should be about done! Time for the last spurt!”

Uh-huh, she was right. There was only one group left, apart from me and Karen. As for the traps, she completely ignored them, jumping over the pitfalls and evading falling buckets. She even ran past the second group of dolls before they could even react. And all of that without slowing down.

“Sis, this is bad. She’s coming.”

Right after I said that, the halberd crashed into a barricade, tearing it apart with an ear-deafening noise.

Splinters flew everywhere, as well as small petals…

Nn? Aren’t those the itching flowers?

They definitely were… But she didn’t react so she probably hadn’t been hit by any. She was now approaching the last mercenary group.

“Hold it, girl! We can’t let ya pass so easily today! Don’t wanna disappoint our lady there.”
“Your lady? Those two girls? Well, sorry to burst your bubble, but I’ll be taking them.”
“”Not today!””

And the final group faced off with her, fighting… on a surprisingly equal footing.

Huh? Something’s wrong.

I tilted my head as I watched them fight. Halberd clashed with axes and swords, but she didn’t push them away. Even I could see something was odd. She had brute-forced her way through, fighting the mercenaries purely with her strength. But somehow that strength… seemed to be waning.

“Is she getting tired?”
“I don’t think that’s it, Yumi. Look at her feet.”
“Nn?”

I followed Karen’s gaze and watched her feet. She was… hopping about in a weird way.

“What’s wrong? Girl? I thought ya wanted to get past us?”
“Tsk, I will, don’t you worry about that! Right after I deal with this… Shit, it itches!”

Ahhh… Well, they did reach her…

“Excuses! Come at us!”
“I can do this, I’ll show you!”

And they clashed… and clashed again… and again… and again…

At some point, only one mercenary was left standing, panting heavily.

“Haa… Giving up, old man?”
“Ugh… You youngsters…”

And with that last mutter, he fell to the ground, exhausted.

“I did it! Now…”

Her eyes wandered to us. A ferocious grin adorned her otherwise exhausted expression. She was already right in front of our wooden fort.

Karen stepped in front of me, ready to fend her off.

“This ought to be interesting, eh?”

In the blink of an eye, she was in front of Karen, swinging the flat of her halberd. A dull sound echoed in my ears.

“Woah, what in the Spirits’ name?! That felt like I’m striking an iron block!”

The blonde woman had jumped back, shaking her hand. As for Karen, she was practically unhurt.

“That smarts! Ehh, guess we have to do this another way.”

Karen readied herself… and then the blonde woman discarded her halberd.

… What?

While I was wondering what was going on, she had once again stepped into Karen’s range, grabbed her beneath the arms and threw her to the ground.

“Got you!”
“Woah?!”

Karen, unable to defend herself, came crashing down on the ground. With such force, she broke through the floor.

“Hehehe, now then, that only leaves you.”

She stood right in front of me, looking at me with a grin. This was bad…

“Do I win?” she asked.
“If you take the flag.”
“I see.”

She didn’t reach out for the flag, looking at me. I tried to siphon some mana from my mana crystals but… what would I even do with it?

“You’re not going to just hand it over, are you?”
“I’m not planning to.”
“I see. I’d rather not hurt a young girl.”

So, Karen didn’t count as young anymore?

“I’m older than you think.”
“Oh? Is that so.”
“Nn.”
“I see. Then I don’t need to hold back.”

She disappeared from my sight. I couldn’t say it any other way. She was just gone.

A hand grabbed my arm, twisting it behind my back.

“Okay, got you. How about now? Giving me the flag.”

I fell silent… My arm was twisted behind my back… a normal person wouldn’t be able to move like this, right?  But in my case, it wasn’t actually a problem…

Well, at least let me put up a last bit of resistance.

I smiled a little. It was unlikely I could stop her now, after all. But at least, I had to show I could do something as well. I gathered the mana I siphoned from the mana orb, sending it to my feet. Tentacles sprouted out of the ground.

“Woah! What?!”

They entwined around her ankles, restraining her. At the same moment, I moved forward, ignoring my arm that was twisted behind my back. The flag that I was holding with only one hand now, fell forward.

“Ehhh?”

The flag left my hands, falling to the ground.

“You’re not supposed to let go of your flag!”
“Better than leaving it with the enemy.”
“I mean, that’s true but… What the hell’s up with your arm?!”

Needless to say, it wasn’t in a state that a normal arm should be. It didn’t hurt, though, so it was fine.

“I see… So you want to hold me in place so I can’t pick up the flag.”
“Nn.”
“That’s pretty smart, I guess, considering the situation. Unfortunately, for you though!”
“Ah!”

The ground moved. No, that wasn’t right. The planks the tentacles grew on… were ripped out.

“If I can’t get rid of them, I just have to take them with me!”

What the hell was up with her?

“Hehe, now you can’t do anything anymore!”
“Actually, I can.”
“Huh?”

Yes, there was one thing I could still do. She might be able to rip out the wooden planks but she didn’t get rid of the tentacles. I wasn’t sure if it was because she couldn’t or if she just opted not to. Either way, I only had one last hope!

“Huh? The hair? What the—?!”

To tie her up in my hair!

“Are you serious? Wait, what? I can’t get out!”

Too perplexed by the moving hair, she hadn’t evaded my capture. Maybe she thought she could just get out. Alas, my hair was quite resilient.

“What the— Ahh, you can’t be serious?! I can’t get out! You gotta be kidding me!”
“Do I win?”
“...Ahhhhh! You do!”

I won.