“I’m… looking for… Sir Greyward.”
“...”
“...”

I couldn’t help but stare at Alma as she announced with quiet words who she was looking for. Her cheeks were still flushed. Even to me, it was clear just what was going on here.

This is… not what I expected… at all…

To think Alma was interested in Greyward… Did Lily know about this? Probably…

Wait, there’s still a chance that I am just misunderstanding everything, aren’t I?

It’d be really embarrassing if I made assumptions only to be told later that I was wrong.

“Err, Alma? Are you… interested in Greyward?”
“Eh?!”

Alma straightened up in surprise, looking at me in shock.

“How did you know?!”
“... It’s really obvious.”

So, I wasn’t wrong. I hadn’t made false assumptions. She really was into him.

“Is... Is it that obvious?”
“Nn.”
“It is,” added Karen.

There weren’t many other reasons someone would blush when they mentioned another person. Well, they could be mad at them but she certainly didn’t look like she was mad…

“Uhh… Please keep it a secret from him.”
“... Nn, got it.”

That’s assuming it still was a secret… I couldn’t imagine Greyward not noticing when it was this obvious. Well, for all I knew, he really might not know. Not that I was going to mention it to him anyway. That wasn’t something I should mess with.

But to think she liked Greyward… That sounds like it could be… complicated.

As far as I was aware, Greyward wasn’t married nor did he have a significant other. However, I never asked about it either. Not that I even cared until today, really. Ahh, but there might be someone he was close to… The person he wrote that letter to when we were in Melfin. Although, all I knew was that it was a woman and that she was important to Greyward and Lily. I didn’t know their exact relationship.

Yeah, this sounds too complicated.

Well, they’d figure it out on their own… I didn’t want to get involved with this.0

“So, err, you were looking for Mr Greyward, right? I’m sorry but I don’t know where he is…”
“Is that so? That’s too bad.”

Well, he’d be around somewhere, though. As long as she looked around, she’d find him for sure.

“I guess you’re going to look for him now then?”
“Mhm… Well, I’m not in a hurry.”
“Oh?”

And here I thought she would try to run off now. Apparently not.

“He’s staying here, isn’t he? I’ll have all the time to meet him.”
“I guess that’s true.”

But… she hadn’t seen him for a long time, right? Was she fine with that?

“Are you fine not seeing him immediately?” asked Karen.

Seems like I wasn’t the only one wondering.

“Yeah, it’s fine. I was planning to look around the camp anyway while looking for him, so I wasn’t exactly in a hurry in the first place.”
“... Really?”
“Really really. Don’t worry, it’s not like I am holding back or anything!”

Karen frowned a little, probably unable to understand. Seeing her frown, Alma chuckled and put her hand on Karen’s head, ruffling her head until it was all messy.

“Miss Alma?! What are you doing?!”
“Hehe, sorry, sorry. It’s just so cute. Really, you don’t need to worry about me. But I do have a plan.”
“Huh? A plan?”
“Yes. See, Sir Greyward is a very serious man, right?”
“He is.”

He definitely was pretty serious.

“Right. And he is always working. So, what do you think will happen if I just strut up to him and want to talk? He’ll just brush me off. Not to mention I would look clingy and I don’t want that. But if I just look around and happen to meet him by chance, I can ask him about what he is doing and about the camp. I’ll have a reason to talk with him.”
“Haa…”

Well, she certainly would have a topic to start with, that much was true… But, personally, I didn’t think Greyward would brush her off unless he was working on something time-sensitive. He often talked with us, after all.

But, she also said she didn’t want to seem clingy. In other words, she probably wanted to show her best side to him. Maybe this much was simply necessary to do that? I had no idea… I never really thought about that all that much… In the first place, Karen knew all my bad sides already anyway. And I had plenty of those.

Actually, it’s a little sad that Karen knows all about my bad sides… I guess I can understand Alma a little… On the other hand, knowing that Karen accepted me despite that makes me quite happy.

Right, Karen already accepted all my bad sides.

“Hey, Karen, why is she suddenly grinning? I don’t think I said something that funny, did I?”
“Ah, please don’t mind it. She sometimes does that…”
“That so?”
“Yes.”
Hey, I can hear you, you know?

Then again, it was my bad for getting lost in my thoughts. I cleared my throat in an attempt to deflect from my daydreaming and turned to the two.

“Anyway! I guess that means you’re going to look around the camp now?”

Alma grinned when she saw me changing the topic. Seriously, it’d be nice if she could just pretend not to have noticed.

“Yeah, I guess. Want to come along? I’d like some company.”
“Nn? Are you okay with that?”
“Sure am. It’d be boring to just walk around all alone. And I have someone to ask.”
“... I mean, I don’t… Not like we have anything else to do, right, Sis?”
“Ahh, we don’t, really… But… Won’t Alma have less to ask Mr Greyward if we come along?”
“I can just pretend not to know!”

Err, sure, that was an option, yeah… 

“Hehe, you two are way too nice, you know that? You needn’t worry about me. I’ll be fine.”
“Nn, if you say so.”

In that case, I wouldn’t hold back. I mean, really, she was older than us. She surely knew what she was doing. It wasn’t our place to butt in.

“Great! Then, I wanted to say hi to everyone first but… I have no idea where to look!”
“... I see.”

Of course, she didn’t… But that reminded me…

“Hey, putting aside taking a look at all the new stuff… Shouldn’t you know the rough layout of the camp, at least? They always set up everything roughly the same, don’t they?”
“Yeah, they do. But it’s been like, what, two years? I barely remember!”
“Ahh…”

Been too long, huh?

“Like, I could probably find everything but I’d need to look around for a bit to remember. It’s easier when there’s someone who knows where to go from the beginning. Also, things might have changed since the last time. I mean, they definitely had to with the Black Guards around.”
“I guess that’s true…”

Though, as far as I could see, the Black Guards fit in pretty well. At least, I hadn’t seen any trouble coming up because of the camp and where to set up everything.

“Nn, well… Who are you looking for?”
“Oh, well, there’s—”

Alma proceeded to list a good dozen names… Most of which I had no clue about.

“Sorry, who are those people? The only ones I know are Fenna, Helma and Sanna.”
“... Eh? Oh, right, you haven’t been here all that long…”
“...”

The Dragon Knights consisted of hundreds of people so it was nigh impossible to know everyone anyway. At the very least, not in that short amount of time.

“Then, let’s go to Fenna first.”
“Nn… That’s fine but I don’t know where she is either.”
“...”

When we looked for her and Merim earlier, we only found the latter. No idea where Fenna was, right now.

“She might be with the ones carrying the supplies to the fort,” suggested Karen.
“Nn, that could be…”

But in that case, she was probably at the tentacle door, right? I glanced at Alma, unsure of what to do. It was probably fine to tell her about the tentacle door but I’d rather not do so without Korwen’s permission.

“Is there a problem?”
“Well, yeah… Er… I’m not sure if we’re allowed to show you some things.”
“What, you’re not allowed to show it to the daughter of your boss? Sheesh, just what kind of evil things are you doing?”
“...”
“I’m joking, I’m joking. Ah, but Dad did say he wanted to show me some amazing stuff later. Maybe that’s it?”
“Nn, that could be…”

He might want to show her himself so it was probably better to refrain…

“In that case, how about you go look for her and bring her over if she’s there and doesn’t have anything too important to do?”
“I guess that’s okay… Sorry about that.”
“It’s okay. If anything, I should praise you! You can bet I wouldn’t have wasted a second thought about something like that!”

That probably wasn’t good either, though, was it?

“And it’s not like Dad tells me everything anyway. I know he has his few secrets he doesn’t want me to know. Sheesh, he worries too much, sometimes.”

Glad to see she wasn’t hurt by that. I was a little worried there for a second but it seems that it worked out fine for us.

“Nn… Then… Sis, should I go?”
“Eh? Err…”

Karen looked at me, then at Alma. She probably hadn’t expected me to suggest that we split up for a bit.

“... No, I’ll go.”
“Nn? Well, I don’t mind, but…”
“Who knows what will happen if I leave you alone.”
“...”

Thanks for the vote of confidence.

“Got it, then I’ll wait here with Alma.”
“Okay, I’ll be right back.”
“Nn.”

Karen sprinted off in the direction of the tentacle door. With some luck, it shouldn’t take her long to find Fenna. Maybe she could fetch Sanna as well.

“Hehe, she’s a good girl, isn’t she?” said Alma as she watched Karen disappear in the distance.
“Nn, she is.”
“Take good care of her.”
“Nn, I will.”

I had no intention of ever letting her go, after all.

“Ahh, seriously, seeing you two makes me jealous. Wish I could be like that.”
“Well… Good luck…”

In a lot of ways, she’d need it.

“Thanks. I’ll probably need it.”

Yeah, she knew it as well.

“Hey, if you don’t mind me asking… Why Mr Greyward?”

I couldn’t help but be curious. There was a huge age gap between them and frankly, I couldn’t see this going well at all.

“Mm? Well… There’s not really one reason but if I had to say something I guess… because he’s cool?”
“... Cool?”

Cool, huh?

“Yeah! I mean, don’t you think so too? The way he commands everyone and how he is always composed, no matter what happens! It’s just so cool! And the way he fights is also just awesome! Ahh, I wish I could see it again!”

Greyward fighting? That was… something I hadn’t really seen, so far. Though, I could picture him being quite strong. And it was true that he was quite composed even when something unexpected happened.

“Nn, I guess he is pretty cool if you put it like that.”
“Right?! I knew you would understand!”
“Woah?!”

Alma’s face was suddenly right in front of me, taking me by surprise. I nearly fell on my backside.

“Ah, sorry, I got a little agitated!”
“Nn, it’s fine, it’s fine.”

I smiled wryly to reassure her. It only showed how important it was to her so I really didn’t mind.

“But you know, everyone always says he’s way too old for me. They just don’t understand…”
“Nn… Well… I don’t think they mean ill. They’re just worried.”

To be honest, my first thought was also that they were just too far apart in age…

“I know they mean well. But I can’t help it. I mean, the men my age are just no good. They’re all no good.”

Alma crossed her arms in front of her chest, squishing her assets together. I couldn’t stop my eyes from being drawn in… It was quite a sight.

“Enough about me! Hey, tell me more about you.”
“Nn? Me?”
“Yeah! You said that you aren’t a humanoid, right? And… I don’t think you’re a fairykin, either. But then, what are you?”
“Ah, well…”

I averted my gaze a little. Another topic that was hard to talk about…

“Ah, Dad told me to ask you, so I think it’s fine.”
“He did?”
“Yeah. He said that it’s not for him to talk about that.”
“...”

Well… She probably wouldn’t lie about him saying that…

“Ah, you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to, though.”
“Nn, well… It is a bit of a… complicated matter…”

To be honest, I was a little torn. I figured it would probably be fine to tell her about it… But it was also true that I only knew her for barely a day…

But… she’s been travelling a lot, hasn’t she?

Maybe… she could help me…

“Nn, I don’t mind telling you. But in exchange, I’d like your help with something related to that.”
“Mhm? My help?”

Alma stared at me with blank eyes.

“Err, I mean, if I can, sure, but I don’t know if I would be of any help.”
“Nn, that’s fine.”

Frankly, I wasn’t expecting a whole lot out of this. But maybe she knew something?

“Well, to put it simply… I’m similar to a monster.”
“Huh? A monster?”

Her eyes went wide when I revealed what I was. Then, she stepped closer, looking at me intensely.

“A monster? You?”
“Well, more or less.”
“... So, that’s the weird feeling I’ve been having?”
“Nn, I don’t know what kind of feeling you had but it might be because of that.”
“I see. A monster? That’s… a bit surprising.”
“I can imagine.”

Honestly, I’d be shocked if she was disappointed or something like that.

“But… you look like a person. And I’m speaking with you… are you really a monster? You’re not pulling my leg, are you?”
“I’m not. I really am. Ah, though… The elves called my kind the ‘Cursed’ or something.”
“The Cursed?”
“Nn. Do you know them maybe?”

At the mention, Alma closed her eyes, seemingly thinking about something.

“Mmm… Doesn’t ring a bell.”
“Is that so…”

As expected, she didn’t know anything, huh?

“Hey, is the thing you wanted help with about that as well?”
“Nn. I… don’t really know much about myself and the elves only know little as well.”

Anything might help if it could shed some light on it. Especially if it could help salvage my… lacking strength.

“Sorry. The closest I can think of is about the cursed children of the demonkin. But I don’t think that’s quite the same.”
“Nn… Wait, did you say the cursed children of the demonkin?”
“Yes? Don’t tell that’s it?!”
“Ah, no, but… If it’s okay with you, could you tell me about that? Or, actually, it’d be better if Sis was here as well…”

She sure was taking her time with fetching Fenna, too…

“Even if you say so, I don’t really know much about it either… I only heard from a few people about how certain demonkin are shunned and called by that name.”
“Is that so…”

So, this was a bust, too?

“Ah, but, you could try asking Irwin!”
“... Irwin? You mean, the one who came with you? The one who doesn’t speak at all?”
“Yeah, that’s him, all right. He’s super shy so it takes forever to get him to say anything… But he might know some things.”

Irwin, huh… He was a demonkin, so he would probably be better informed.

“I should probably mention that he’s not from Aldreigh, though. He’s from the Beyond.”
“... The Beyond? You mean, that really far away place?”
“Yeah. Though, according to him, there are places even farther away. But he’s from a country there. Apparently, he came here by ship… not quite voluntarily.”
“... Oh.”

He was kidnapped… probably as a slave, huh?

“I don’t know what exactly happened back then but he apparently escaped pretty quickly and then found a job in Krohmea. I think he originally was saving money to pay for his trip back. Though, you can guess how that worked out now.”
“Nn, he’s probably not getting back.”
“Not like he really minds, from the looks of it.”

Alma shrugged her shoulders. He certainly didn’t look like he minded.

“Anyway, you really should talk with him. He’s hard to get close to but once he starts talking, he can literally talk until your ears rot off, so be careful. He knows a ton of weird things so he might know something about those cursed children, too. He might even know about those… What was it? Cursed? That you mentioned. Who knows?”
“Nn… He might.”

Someone from so far away… I had to admit, I was quite surprised to hear that. I didn’t think he came from the Beyond, of all places.

Also, I’m a little interested in what kind of place the Beyond is…

But first and foremost, I wanted to know about the Cursed and those cursed children… those special demonkin like Karen.

“But… they sure are taking their time.”

The place should be pretty close, yet Karen was nowhere to be seen. It was a little odd… Well, she could take care of herself and we were in the middle of the camp, so I wasn’t really worried, but it did make me wonder.

“You mean Karen? I don’t know where she even went.”

Alma just shrugged her shoulders again. Well, she was right, though.

“Maybe she’s looking somewhere else?”
“Nn, could be.”

Well, she’d be fine.

“Hey, continuing our earlier discussion, you said you’re a monster, right?”
“Nn, I am.”
“In that case, is that your real appearance?”
“Nn? It is.”

At least, I considered it to be.

“I see… But you really look just like a humanoid… Oh.”
“Nn?”

I looked at Alma when she suddenly sounded surprised and found her looking into the distance. Following her gaze, I could see Karen finally coming back, followed by Fenna and a few other women.

“Does everyone know about you?”
“No, not everyone.”
“I shouldn’t talk about it then?”
“That’d be nice.”
“Got it.”

That said, I had lost track of who even knew about me… Did I tell Fenna? I couldn’t recall that I did so probably not…

“Hey! Alma!”
“Fenna! It’s been ages!”

The small group led by Karen finally reached us and Fenna walked up to Alma, a big smile on her face. A moment later, the two greeted each other with a big hug.

“You’ve been gone so long I thought you died in a ditch somewhere!”
“Hey, don’t kill me off that quickly, Fenna! No way you’re getting rid of me that easily!”
“Too bad! One can hope!”
“Rude as always, eh?”

After trading a few jabs, the two stared at each other and then broke out in laughter.

“It’s good to see you, Alma.”
“You too, Fenna. Glad to be back.”
“How long are you staying?”
“A few days. Still got a job to finish first.”
“I see. Always on the move, aren’t you?”
“That’s just who I am.”

Fenna smiled wryly.

“But I’m planning to come straight back when the job’s done. I’ve been thinking I should stay for a bit longer anyway. Especially now!”
“The captain’s going to be happy to hear that.”
“Ahh, don’t get me started on that! He’s always going on about how I should stay here!”

As the two caught up with each other, Karen joined me at my side and we looked over the small group.

“It’s nice to see their reunion.”
“Nn, it is.”

There was a happy, carefree smile to be seen on Fenna. A kind of smile I hadn’t seen before on her.

“They must be really good friends.”

To be honest, I felt a little jealous. This kind of friendship that held together even after being apart for years was something I truly envied. After all, I didn’t even know anyone for more than two or three months.

After Fenna welcomed Alma, the other women got their turns as well. Each one of them pulled Alma into a hug and teased her or just told her that they missed her. It was, how to say it… It made you feel a little warm as you watched them.

“I think they’re going to take a while.”
“I think so, too.”

Right then, the last one let go of Alma, only for all of them to surround her again and barrage her with questions. As we watched, Alma glanced over to us at one point and raised her hand in an apology.

“Might take a while, sorry! Thanks for helping me out!” she shouted over.
“Nn, you’re welcome.”

Ah, she probably didn’t even hear my reply anymore…

“Hehe, well, I guess everyone is happy she’s here.”
“They definitely are. When I told Miss Fenna, the first thing she did was to look for the others.”
“Oh, so that’s why it took so long?”
“Yes… I found her nearly immediately, actually. She was right where we thought she was.”

And from there they went around to get everyone else, huh? Considering that, maybe they were actually pretty fast about it. They had to look for everyone, after all.

“But seeing them like this, I think I understand why Miss Fenna wanted everyone to come.”
“Nn.”

There was no mistaking that they were close friends.

“Well… It looks like our guided tour has been delayed. So much to that.”
“It sure was short-lived.”
“Nn.”
“What do we do now? Wait for them?”
“Nah, I think we should let them have time for themselves.”

We’d be, frankly said, just in the way of their reunion. They probably had all kinds of things to talk about.

“Right, Fenna!I heard Merim finally married Helma, is that true?”
“It is! I mean, we all knew it was going to happen sooner or later but it sure took him far too long!”
“You can say that again! But seriously, good for Helma. I should give her my congratulations when I see her.”
“She’ll surely be happy to see you. And don’t worry, she hasn’t changed a bit.”
“Not sure if I should be glad about that or not. I wonder what stuff she comes up with this time.”
“Well, it’s Helma, so, yeah… Good luck.”
“Yeah, it’s Helma.”

Definitely Helma…

No, seriously, maybe we should take our leave…

“Nn, let’s leave them alone for their reunion.”
“Hehe, I guess that would be better.”
“Yeah… Also, I want to look for Aryn and Irwin.”
“Oh?”

Karen and I quietly turned around and walked away from the boisterous group. When I mentioned our two visitors, Karen looked at me with surprise in her eyes.

“Nn, Alma told me that Irwin comes from the Beyond.”
“The Beyond?! Really?”
“Seems so. And she mentioned that he might know something about us… About those demonkin that are like yours or maybe even about my kind. At least, it seems he mentioned the former before.”

I could see Karen twitch a little next to me. It was probably still a sore spot for her.

“The demonkin like me… Do you really think he knows something?”
“I have no idea. That’s why I want to ask him. Or… do you not want to? We don’t have to ask him.”
“...”

Karen stopped in her tracks, looking at me. After a few seconds, she smiled.

“No, let’s ask him. If he really knows something, it might help us out, right? Whether it is about you… or about me.”
“Nn, I think so.”
“Then, let’s go and ask him.”

I watched Karen for a few seconds. Admittedly, I was a little worried that she was forcing herself. Alas, that didn’t escape her. But she smiled at me and patted my head. Her hand gently stroked and ruffled my hair.

“The more we know, the better, right? And… I do want to know more about myself. Though, I am a little nervous and… just a bit worried. But Yumi… You’ll stay with me, right?”
“Nn, of course!”
“Then it’s all fine!”

Her smile widened and she pulled me closer, linking her arm with mine, even if it was a little difficult to do with our height difference.

“As long as I have you with me, I’ll be fine.”