Karen and I flirted for a good while as we waited for Wormaz to return. Not many people walked by this spot so we didn’t even need to care about any curious onlookers. Not that it would have stopped us, mind you.

“Still, he’s taking some time, isn’t he?” I muttered as I sank deeper into Karen’s lap.
“Mm… He sure is.”

Karen’s arms squeezed me a little tighter, making me even more aware of the soft sensation pressing against the back of my head.

Really, if you asked me, he could take all the time he needed and then some more. The longer it took the longer I could relax in Karen’s bosom. It was already bad enough that we had to wake up in a hurry this morning. Not to mention that it had been significantly earlier than usual. All that time I could have spent in her arms… I was going to make up for it. Absolutely.

“Yumi, what are you grinning about?”
“Nn? Ohh… Nothing in particular. I’m just happy.”
“Hehe, I see.”

Karen giggled… and tightened her embrace even more as if she was saying she wouldn’t let me go. Not that I had intended to go.

“Nn…”

I closed my eyes and simply enjoyed the warmth. If I listened closely I could hear Karen’s heartbeat as well. It was calm and rhythmic, almost soothing.

“Nn, I love this.”
“As spoiled as usual.”
“Nn, with pleasure.”

Being spoiled by Karen was without a doubt one of my greatest pleasures in life. That’s why I was going to savour every moment until life came knocking.

“Hey, Sis.”
“Yes?”
“How about we just go back to our wagon and take a nap?”
“Yumi… Hehe.”

A quiet giggle escaped Karen, despite the accusatory tone.

“You know we can’t do that.”
“Nn, I know. But it’d be nice if we could.”

Just sleeping away all our worries while hugging each other. That’d be great.

“You can take a nap if you want to, Yumi.”
“If you don’t join me, then where’s the point?”

I didn’t just want to take a nap. I wanted to take a nap with Karen. A very important difference.

“Then you have to wait until tonight.”
“Nn… I’ll try to hold out.”

It’d be hard on me, though. Very hard. I might not make it.

“I hope night comes soon.”
“It’s barely noon yet, Yumi. I think you’re going to need to wait a little longer.”
“Can’t the sun move a little faster?”
“I don’t think the sun cares about our problems.”

What a stupid sun. It could afford to be a little more accommodating, couldn’t it?

“Even if it did, it would cause a lot of problems for everyone, so let’s leave the sun be.”
“... I guess I’ll have to. Be happy, sun. I’ll forgive you for today. But only today.”

I directed a challenging gaze towards the sky, where the sun made her rounds, oblivious to my complaints. Afterwards, I snuggled closer to Karen. After all, since I let the sun go I would have to enjoy this to the fullest now.

Though, I could barely even get closer to Karen. She was already hugging me in a way that I could barely even move while being pressed into her bosom. Honestly, if a normal person was being hugged so strongly, they would probably be quite uncomfortable. Or worse, considering how strong Karen was. Fortunately for me, my body was so squishy, that this wasn’t a problem. In fact, I enjoyed it when she hugged me like this. And I could sense from Karen, that she enjoyed it as well.

… I’m kind of like a giant stuffed toy, aren’t I?

Except that I was actually alive and moving. Well, not like it really mattered. We both were happy like this, that’s what was really important.

“Yumi.”
“Nn?”
“I think Mr Wormaz is coming back.”
“Ehhh? Already?”

I opened my eyes to look for Wormaz and sure enough, I could see him in between the tents, pulling a small cart behind him.

“He really is…”

So, it was already over… Ugh, I didn’t want to… I rubbed my cheek against Karen’s bosom in protest, even though I knew it was futile.

Oh, this actually feels nice.

Soft and squishy,

“Yumi, stop that, we’re in public.”
“Ah.”

Right… I glanced in the direction I had seen Wormaz. He was still pulling his cart and it didn’t seem like he saw us. Lucky me.

“Come, get up.”
“Nn… Guess I’ll have to.”

Karen relaxed her arms and freed me from her tight embrace, so I could get up. There was a sense of loss when we parted. It made me a little sad.

I’m going to have Sis hug me a lot tonight. A whole lot.

Alas, that determination wasn’t going to fill this void right now… I could do nothing but bear with it…

In the meantime, Wormaz had finally pulled the cart over to us where he stopped.

“I’m back. This should be more than enough for now.”

The cart was filled. With weapons. A lot of them.

“Are all of those weapons?”
“Sure are.”

I peeked into the wagon, curious about what kind of weapons there were. It also served as a good distraction. There was still some warmth lingering…

“Swords, axes, spears… You got a lot.”

Some of them looked worn and old while others had a very obvious dull edge as if someone ground down the edge on purpose. Maybe they were training weapons.

“The Dragon Knights got a lot of stuff for their recruits so I borrowed them. Wish our captain had kept some of these.”
“Oh, so they’re really training weapons?”
“That they are.”

That was quite interesting. I didn’t know we even had those…

“I would have thought training weapons were made of wood or something, though.”
“And how are you supposed to learn with those? Wood is far too light compared to metal.”

Well, I could see a wooden hammer being rather different compared to a metal one. But swords and similarly light weapons shouldn’t be too different. But maybe it was just easier to use old weapons and remove their edge.

“Now, girly, did you try the ones I left here or did you spend your time cuddling?”
“... I tried them out.”

Karen answered, a tinge of red to be seen on her face. Well, we didn’t exactly hide that we were cuddling and flirting so… that reaction was kind of to be expected.

“And?”
“They were… light.”
“Light, huh?”

Wormaz narrowed his eyes a little before falling into thought.

“Light, she says. Is it uncomfortable light?”
“Err, I don’t know. But it feels like… How do I explain it…”
“Like you’re waving a stick around?”
“Yes. Like that.”
“Mm.”

A stick that I could barely even lift…

“Have you used any weapons before?”
“... Only a knife, if that counts. Oh, I also used makeshift clubs to fend off thugs.”

Clubs? First I heard about this. Then again, clubs were rather primitive weapons. The makeshift club was probably more like a plank she took from a broken-down house.

“A knife, huh? Well, a knife’s purpose is to be light so it probably doesn’t bother you as much. Let’s first start with something small then.”

Wormaz turned to the cart and took a small wooden crate. He opened it and revealed the shiny contents. Knives, daggers and all sorts of small arms.

“Are all of these daggers?”
“Most are. Let’s see… Try this one.”

He handed Karen a dagger with a thin but surprisingly long blade. It was clear that this wasn’t a knife for cutting but a weapon to stab something… or someone.

“It probably weighs nothing for you but just swing it a few times. Don’t worry about the details, just see if it feels comfortable. We’re only trying to see what might be good. Nothing deciding.”
“Okay.”

She took the dagger and then stepped away from us to swing the dagger a few times. Her eyebrows raised after a while before she scowled a little.

“How is it?”
“Mmm… I don’t know…”
“Let’s see… Give me a moment.”

He pulled another thing from the cart. Not a weapon this time, but a plain plank. Though it was quite a big plank. He stabbed one end into the ground and the plank was long enough to tower over us.

“Okay, try stabbing the dagger into this.”
“Err…”
“Don’t stab me. Stab the plank.”
“... Okay.”

Karen clearly wanted to say something but he just interrupted her and told her to do it. And so, Karen got into position in front of the plank. Her arm drew back and in the next moment, the dagger sunk into the plank…

…as did her fist.

“...”
“...”
“...”

We all stared at the hole in the plank, far too large for the blade of the dagger.

“Well, should have fucking figured this would happen. A dagger’s a weapon you use to fight people face-to-face. But in that case, just punching them would suffice for you, huh?”
“... I’m sorry.”
“What are you apologising for? We’re doing this to figure it out in the first place. Anyway, I can guess the answer but I’ll ask anyway, how was it?”
“Light. And it didn’t feel very… useful.”
“Ha! Not many could say that. Okay, let’s try something else then.”

Wormaz took the dagger from Karen and threw it back into the box. He didn’t even try to look for something else in there, instead returning to the cart and pulling another larger box off it.

“One-handed weapons like swords and handaxes are probably not much better for you but let’s see how they fare anyway.”

And just as he announced, the box contained a number of small one-handed weapons. Swords, maces and small axes.

“Let’s try them in order. Swords first.”

He handed Karen a shortsword for her to test out. She swung it around a few times.

“It doesn’t really feel different from the dagger…”
“Thought so. Okay, next one.”

Without even bothering to make her stab the plank this time, he took the shortsword from her and handed her a larger sword.

Again, she swung it around… with the same result. She shook her head, saying it was no good.

“Okay, swords are out. Then, let’s try the axes next. Not like there’s much variety here.”

He took out two small axes. One was a very simple handaxe with only a blade. The other one was similar in design but opposite the axeblade, it had a hammer-like part.

“The first one is, well, actually a throwing axe.”
“This is?”
“Yes, try holding it.”
“... It’s light.”
“Is that the only fucking comment you can give? Sheesh, guess everything would be light for you. Okay, give me a moment.”

Wormaz took the plank against, as well as a few other things like stakes. Then he walked quite a bit away from us before setting up the plank again, securing it with stakes and a rope.

“A little primitive but should be good.”

With that comment, he returned to our side.

“Try throwing the axe… Ah, actually, take the axe and hold it like this. Yes, that’s good.”

And now he started instructing her in the proper form of throwing the axe.

“Okay, throw it like that at the plank. Don’t worry about missing.”

Well, if she was missing… she’d hit his wagon that was behind the plank dummy. Good thing he didn’t set it up elsewhere, or a missed throw could have hit someone…

“Okay. Like this, right?”

Karen held out the axe and… threw it straight at the plank. The axe spun around as it flew, hitting the stake next to the plank rather than the plank itself, and sliding off before continuing downwards to the ground where it came to a stop two or so steps behind the plank.

“Oh, not bad for your first throw. So, how did it feel.”
“Mmm… Better than the sword but… I feel like I shouldn’t put a lot of strength into the throw…”
“It’d be easy to mess up, that’s right… Mhm… It seems you’re more the type for brute force. Want to still try out the other one?”
“Yes.”

She received the other axe from Wormaz and swung it around a few times. The result was as expected.

“No good, eh?”
“Yes…”
“A shame. These are pretty convenient. Might want to try them out anyway since these can double as tools.”

As tools?

“Oh, is that why they have that hammer-like part?” I asked.
“Damn right. They’re weapons and tools. Though, admittedly they’re more often used as side weapons.”
“I see.”

Tools, huh? I didn’t even think about that but that was right, they could also serve as tools. They weren’t only weapons.

“Anyway, we don’t have all fucking day. Maces next. Here you go.”
“Thank you.”

And another few swings later.

“How is it?”
“Mm… It feels better but still…”
“Better is already good to hear. Means we’re getting closer.”

Karen tried a few other maces he had prepared but just like before, they were only ‘better,’ not ‘good.’

“You’re one fucking tough customer, girly. Can’t say I didn’t expect this result, though.”
“Ahaha…”
“But now we’re getting to the interesting part.”

With a grin, Wormaz pulled a few weapons from the cart.

“Are those swords?”
“They are. Two-handed swords. Although they’ll be light enough for you to wield them with one hand, I bet. Wouldn’t recommend that, though. They’re not intended to be used like that.”

The two-handed swords were large. Even if you could handle them with one hand, I bet it’d just get in the way if you were to hold a shield or something else.

“This kind of sword… it’s similar to the one Lily uses, right?”
“The type, yes. But that girl’s sword in particular is a little different since it’s also a magic metal.”

Didn’t Lily tell us about that before as well? I had the feeling she had done that.

“So, don’t expect the same crazy performance from these. And by the spirits, don’t even think about cutting rock with it. The sword will break.”
“... Just what did Lily do?”
“Tons of things.”

Wormaz glared at the sword as if it was responsible for all the bad times he had… Maybe the reason they gave her that magic sword was because she couldn’t break it so easily…

“Thank the spirits that girl can now appreciate a good weapon and take care of it. Way better than most of our men. I’m glad when they know a weapon needs a sharp edge!”
“I see…”

Shouldn’t they know that a weapon needed a sharp edge, though?

“Anyway, try swinging that one. With both hands.”
“Okay.”

Karen immediately got to work, swinging the two-handed sword a few times. Having seen Lily swing around her sword before, it felt a little weird to see Karen with a similar weapon now. Especially since Karen wasn’t half as wild as Lily.

“And?”
“Mm… It’s okay, I guess?”
“Just say it’s still too light.”
“It is too light.”
“Right, right. Always too light! Too fucking light! Pah!”
“...”

Karen looked at me, confusion visible on her face. After all, she had just done as he asked… I couldn’t really help her either, though.

Either way, Wormaz had her test out a few other two-handed swords but it was all the same. Not like anyone expected anything else. Still, Wormaz insisted on doing this.

“Next would be… Mmm… You already tried the axes I had so no need to repeat those. Then next would be the two-handed maces and the hammers.”

Oh, those sounded like they would be heavy. Maybe Karen would feel comfortable swinging one of those.

“Let’s try this one first.”

And then he handed her an iron ball on a stick. A huge iron ball, mind you. If you added spikes, it’d be a nice morning star. A huge one.

Well, Karen went to swing it around a few times.

“Mm… It feels better but…”
“Still no good?”
“Mmm… Yes.”

And that was already a very heavy-looking weapon.

“Thought so. But before we go to the next one, mind showing me something?”
“Huh? Err, okay?”
“Just swing it sideways a few times.”
“Like this?”
“Yes, yes, that’s right.”

Karen swung the iron ball on a stick as instructed. It looked like someone swinging a baseball bat. Though, if you got hit by this one, there wouldn’t be much left of you.

“Was that okay?”
“Keep swinging. As hard as you can.”
“Eh? Okay…”

And so she just kept swinging. As for Wormaz… he wasn’t even watching her swings. For some reason, he was looking at the ground.

“I knew it. Something’s weird.”
“Mr Wormaz?”
“A dainty girly like should be swung around by that thing, rather than the other way around. Yet, you’re not moving a tiny bit.”
“Huh?”

Karen followed his gaze towards the ground but… there was nothing to see there, which clearly only furthered her confusion.

“Either you get damn heavy or there’s something else going on. You didn’t do anything in particular, did you?”
“I was only swinging this…”
“Figured. Must be doing it on instinct then... Mmm…”

So, Karen was doing something, after all? He mentioned that it should swing her around… That did sound likely. She was treating it like a toy so I didn’t really think about it much as I was watching her, but that weapon had to weigh a ton. If you swung it around, there’d be no stopping it. Yet, Karen was waving it around like a stick.

“Okay, go try and hit the plank again.”
“... Won’t that break it?”
“That’s why I brought so get to it.”
“Okay…”

Karen walked up to the plank dummy and lifted the iron ball on a stick. Then, she swung it sideways at the dummy. The heavy ball didn’t even so much as slow down as it smashed through the plank and sent splinters everywhere.

“Mmm… Well, as long as the power isn’t affected, I guess it doesn’t really matter. Anyway, let’s keep going for now.”
“Haaa…”

Karen stared at the demolished plank, then at Wormaz. The latter, however, didn’t even so much as spare a thought to the wooden remains.

After that, they tried out a few other hammers and maces. It sure seemed like Karen liked these heavy weapons more. But there was still something that seemed to bother her.

“Well, we got through the two-handed weapons. That only leaves the long weapons like spears. Maybe those fit you better.”

“Spears…”

For some reason, Karen glanced at me, then at the flag that was still nearby.

“Okay, let’s try this.”

Wormaz picked up a few long weapons and put the side by side. A spear, a lance made of metal, something that seemed to be a pike, and a halberd, similar to the one Alma used.

“Just go through them by order and give me your impressions.”
“Okay.”

Karen picked up the spear and started thrusting it a few times.

“How’s it?”
“It’s… Well, it’s light but it doesn’t bother me quite as much…”
“A spear is mainly used for thrusting, after all. Okay, try the lance next.”
“Okay.”

And then the same with the lance. And then the pike and finally the halberd. The verdict?

“Damn, fucking none of them were any good, huh?”
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. But still, what do we do about this? I sure underestimated your strength.”

She was so strong that every single weapon felt like she was waving around a stick, after all…

“Okay, ignoring the weight, which ones felt best to you?”
“Mmm…”

Karen looked over the weapons that were partly strewn around, partly on the cart.

“If I had to say… I guess the two-handed weapons, especially the swords and the axes, and the halberd.”
“Not the maces and the hammers?”
“They do feel good in the hand from the weight but… I can’t say I like them very much apart from that.”
“Fair enough.”

Wormaz crossed his arms in front of his chest and nodded in understanding.

“So, the two-handed swords, the axes and the halberd. That’s already a good start for now. Mmm… That reminds me…”

He suddenly turned around and went to the cart, looking through the weapons he brought.

“Mm… Not here. Then it’s still in the wagon. I’ll be right back.”

Without waiting for a reply, he trotted off to search for… whatever he was thinking of right now.

“Time to wait for him again.”
“Yes…”

Karen walked over to me and sat down by my side.

“So, how was it, swinging all those weapons?”
“It was… interesting, I guess. But it feels like I am swinging toys or sticks around… It doesn’t feel… right.”
“Nn… I see…”

Well, if you gave me a weapon that weighed as much as a stick, I’d be confused, too. I’d probably think it was just a fake weapon made to look like a real one. In that case, I could understand her apprehension.

“Still, you really are strong. You even swung around that iron ball like it was nothing.”
“Mmm… That one was a little heavier than the others, yes.”

Only a little, huh? I probably couldn’t even lift it then.

“Also, there’s one other thing.”
“Nn?”
“When I was still in the slums, I sometimes used clubs to protect myself.”
“Nn, you mentioned that earlier.”
“But I never felt like I was swinging a stick around back then. Even though they were just large pieces of wood… and I think that iron ball was heavier…”

Wait, if that was the case…

“You got stronger?”
“... I think so.”
“Wow…”

Her strength increased, huh?

“But, isn’t that a good thing?”
“I… guess it is. But… it feels a little weird… to be honest…”
“Nn…”
Weird, huh…

Karen was clenching her fist next to me, then opening it and clenching it again. As if she was testing her strength.

“Oh, Mr Wormaz is coming back.”
“Nn? That was fast.”

Didn’t expect him to be this quick about it… But he wasn’t carrying anything.

“Girly, come with me for a moment.”
“Huh?”
“I need your help bringing it here.”
“Okay.”

Karen stood up, so I followed suit. Wormaz then led us through the camp to the Black Guards’ armoury. There was a bit of a mess in front of the wagon, likely caused by Wormaz during his attempt to… fetch whatever it was. Actually, there was something sticking out of the door, halfway pulled out.

“Okay, girly, can you pick that up?”
“This here?”

Just as I thought, Wormaz pointed at the weapon that was peeking out. Karen went up to it and put her hands on the handle lifting it up. But contrary to her expectations, it didn’t quite want to.

“Eh? Woah!”

With both hands, she lifted the weapon, retrieving it from the wagon. I finally got a good view of it. It was something like a halberd or a poleaxe. It was as long as a spear with a large axe blade and a pointed spearhead. The axe blade was huge, though, far bigger than the halberd from earlier.

“As expected, you can lift it, eh?”
“Mr Wormaz, what is this?”
“A… Well, a failed creation.”
“Failed?”

Karen raised her eyebrows as she looked over at the weapon in her hands.

“Yes, failed. For one, it’s heavy. As you can probably guess already. Not many men can even lift that thing. Then, even if you can lift it, its balance is utterly atrocious. Fucking horrible.”

Karen tried to swing the weapon a little… and stopped immediately. She nearly buried the weapon in the ground in the attempt.

“I think I understand…”
“Right? At that weight, there’s no way to handle it properly. That’s why it’s a failed creation. I’m already fucking astonished that you can lift that at all.”
“Mm… It’s quite heavy, yes.”

Despite her words, Karen was smiling a little. Maybe she was glad that she could finally feel the weight in her hands.

“I’m just going to say that in advance, but there’s no way we can use that thing as is. Even if you can lift it.”
“We can’t?”
“No. We’d have to fix the balance at the very least. But frankly, I’d rather just smelt it down and reuse the metal. I’m already glad to see that there actually is something that you think is heavy. If we can make a sword or an axe with a weight like this, then you should be able to handle it.”

Wormaz grinned as he spoke. It was obvious he was happy that he finally found something.

“Though, you said you liked the halberds the most, right?”
“Yes.”
“Then, I’ll try to see if I can fix this thing. If it’s no good, I at least now have something I can use as a reference. Hahaha, just you wait, girly, I’ll make you equipment where you’ll never be able to complain it's too light!”
“Err… does that mean you’ll also make a weapon?”
“Sure as hell am. Not like there’s much of a choice at this point.”

Wow, she’d get fully decked out with her personal equipment.

“However, I will have to clear that up with your captain and so first. Armour is one thing but I can only make you one weapon. This stuff can get expensive. We’ll need to make sure it’s the right one for you.”
“I understand. Thank you very much, Mr Wormaz.”
“Ha, look forward to it, girly!”
“I will.”

And so was I.

A halberd, huh? She’s really going for that knight part, isn’t she?

I couldn’t help but smile at the thought.

Well, if that’s what she wants, then that’s fine.

For now, I was going to look forward to it as well.