"Ahh... This is bliss."
"Nn..."

The sun was shining down on us. A gentle warmth on our skin.  The mercenaries watched us curiously sitting here, enjoying our break out in the open.

"Yumi, Lily... What are you doing..."
"Big Sis, you don't want to join?"
"... I'll think about it."

She didn't say no.
The sound of water splashing around could be heard.

"Rina, stop that, we'll get wet."
"Ehh? Like this?"
"Wah!"

And Lily was drenched...

"Rina, you little... Take this!"

Lily enacted her revenge and now Rina was drenched too.

"Just because it's warm you shouldn't get wet, you two... You'll catch something."
"Karen, we won't get ill that quickly, no worries."
"Don't blame it on me later, Lily. I warned you."

Karen furrowed her brows while watching us from the side.

"Sis, you really don't want to join? It's comfortable."
"Mm..."

For some reason, she looked a little troubled.

"Let her be, Yumi. Can't force the unwilling."
"Nn..."

Even though it felt pretty great.

"Uhh, I get it, I get it. I'll join..."

Clearly, Lily's comment didn't sit well with her.

"It's... It's really... safe... Right?"
"Do you see any of us crying in pain?"
"But there's steam coming from it!"
"Well, of course, there is. It's hot water."

It wasn't boiling or so, though. Neither was it hot enough to actually scald us. It was hot, yes, and the first moment did hurt a little but once you got used to it, it was quite... comfortable. It warmed you up to your core, mysteriously.

"Come on, Karen. It's just your feet."
"Nn, it'll feel good."
"..."

Karen slowly moved closer before finally sitting down next to me. It took a few more seconds of her staring at the water. Finally, she removed her shoes and slowly, cautiously... testing the waters.

"Hot! I knew it, this is hot!"
"It's only hot in the beginning."
"Nn."
"Uhh..."

Her troubled expression was cute... But it was also a little annoying that she was making such a big deal out of it... It was just a footbath.
Well, truth be told, this was my first time having one too. Probably. And much to my surprise, it was a lot more comfortable than I had expected. I mean, it was just warming your feet, that's what I had thought at first when Lily suggested it.
But after heating up some water and forcing me to try it out, I changed my opinion. It was nice.

"Come now, Sis. You can do it."
"... I'll try."

She took a deep breath, closed her eyes and plunged her feet in.

"Ah, Karen! Don't splash it everywhere."
"..."
"Sis?"
"... It's... hot."

Well, yes. It was a hot footbath, after all.
Karen winced a little and then stiffened up, clearly trying to endure it. Hopefully, it'd only take a little for her to get used to it.

"Hey, Lily."
"What is it, Rina?"
"I've never heard of a footbath before, so how did you even think of this?"
"Ahh, it's not common around here, but a merchant from beyond the Wooden Sea once told me about this when I was little. I bothered Papa and Mama quite a lot to let me try it back then. And it was great. Especially in winter, or when you can't set up a proper bath!"

A happy smile floated on Lily's face, probably reminiscing about the time.

"Nn, speaking of which, I've heard the term 'Wooden Sea' before already but what exactly is it?"

It was probably some kind of forest, right? Judging from the name.

"It's a huge forest, Yumi. Like, a really huge one. It's said that it takes around half a year or longer for someone to traverse it.
"Half... a year?"

Seriously? That... was some ridiculous distance... And that was one forest? Really?

"Yeah. The western border of Lafria is along the Wooden Sea. Same for the western border of Krohmea north of here and the western and southern borders of the Akkian Empire. And there are even more countries bordering on it too."
"Huh... Lily, do we have some kind of map or so?"

I'd really like to see a map of this... world? Well, I doubted they had maps of the entire planet. But at least a map of the continent, or, at the very least, of the surrounding countries.

"A map, huh. I think Papa has one. Korwen probably does too. Whether they'd let you see it though..."
"Are they valuable?"
"Of course they are. Knowing the lay of the land is important information. We'd probably have to save all our wages for the next twenty years to afford one single map. That's how valuable they are."
"Wah..."

That was beyond expensive... That was plain ridiculous. No, it was completely beyond ridiculous.

"Isn't the sale of maps restricted anyway, though?" Karen asked.
"Yes... Unless you're a noble or with the military it's nearly impossible to even see one, regardless of whether you are in the Empire, Lafria, Aldreigh, Krohmea, or really any country. At most you'll find maps of the surrounding areas, like villages and so, but that's not what Yumi wanted to see, I guess."
"Nn. I wanted to see a big map."

But it was that hard, huh... Maybe Korwen or Greyward would show it to me if I asked nicely? Better to keep that in mind.

"So, Karen. How are your feet?"
"... It's not that hot anymore."
"It's still hot, you just got used to it."
"... It's a little comfortable."
"That's good."

Karen pouted, not quite unhappy though.

"Rina, don't kick me."
"Mh? Oh, that was your foot? Sorry."
"With four people it's a little small, huh..."

We had kind of misused an iron washbasin for this footbath. Said basin wasn't exactly large, so we frequently bumped each other's feet.
That wasn't necessarily uncomfortable though, actually the opposite. It kind of gave me a close, warm feeling. Watching our four pairs of feet in the water was kind of... nice. Yeah.

"Still, this is bliss."
"Nn..."
"You're repeating yourselves, Yumi, Lily... Though, I think I can understand it a little now. I feel a lot warmer now. How come my entire body feels so warm..."
"Ohh, another one converted! Yay!"

Lily laughed happily and kicked her legs a little in the water, making small waves and hitting all our feet.

"Lily, stop. Are you a little kid?"
"I'm always a little kid!"
"That's nothing to be proud of!"
"Isn't it fine? Relaxing after such an incident is the best, after all."

Lily leaned back and stared over to the forest. It hadn't even been an hour since we returned, and here we were...

"I wonder just what was going on there."
"I don't know, Yumi. But whatever it is, it got nothing to do with us anymore!"

How irresponsible...

"In the end, nothing happened except for those monster trees..."
"If you ask me, those were more than enough."
"Nn..."

This had been the second time I saw the mercenaries fight. The first time with the ogres in Arkesta. Small squads fighting one ogre at a time, carefully.
And then this time, with those trees. Groups holding up against a single tree.

"What's going to happen about those broken down wagons anyway?"
"We might have to retrieve them at some point. I doubt the Captain is going to let those lying around there. I guess after he made sure it's safe, though."

I followed Lily's glance to the forest. There was a small pillar of smoke rising up from it.

"It's... not going to burn down, is it?"
"That's... a good question. Pretend you don't know about that."
"Haa..."

A forest fire wasn't good. Neither the beverage nor this. I should definitely refuse to get drunk in the future. Drinking in moderation only!

"I wonder what happened to the mana and the elves, though."
"Nothing we can find out now... Mama really should think first about how the fairies see her."
"Why do the fairies hate her anyway?"
"Well..."

A troubled smile appeared on Lily's face.

"You see... Mama likes cute, petite girls."
"Nn..."
"Most of the fairykin races are female-only races."
"... Nn."

I had a feeling where this was going...

"You see... She became known as a sexual deviant to them at some point."
"... I see."

What?

"Could you repeat that?"
"Ahaha... The fairykin apparently think that she kidnaps them to... have fun. In a sexual sense."
"... I have no words."

What should one say in such a situation? If someone knew, I'd love for them to tell me about it, because I sure didn't know. Maybe, somewhere deep inside me, I expected something actually... more 'scary'? Well, it was scary in its own right, sure, but a different kind than I thought of.
Actually, it had to be really bad that they got scared to this degree...

"I'm sorry..."
"... It's not your fault, Lily."

One couldn't choose their parents. And this sure would've been a bad one, if she could have chosen. At least her 'father' was normal as far as I knew.

"At least the dark elves don't hate her... Not that I know whether I should be happy or not about it."
"... I am a little scared about the answer but... Why don't they hate her?"
".... Peas in a pod."
"Sorry that I asked."

That explained at the very least why the dark elves weren't so averse to human settlements. To think that they were like that...

"The dark elf I met in the slums wasn't really that bad though..."
"Was she married?"
"Well, I think so, yes."
"They only have one partner at any given time, as far as I understand. Male partner, that is. Surprised she didn't try to make a pass at you. Guess not all of them are as bad."
"..."

Karen stared blankly at Lily for a few seconds before responding.

"... I always thought she was joking when she told me how much she liked me and that I should hurry and grow up."
"""..."""

Apparently, that one had been no exception in how bad they were. Sample size of one. I somehow felt bad for Karen. Her impression of the dark elves had worsened a lot now, hadn't it?

---

"What are you girls doing? I know I told you to take a break but... Aren't you a little too relaxed?"
"Nn? Captain?"

While we enjoyed our footbath for a little longer—splashing and fooling around included—Korwen had appeared behind me, watching our antics curiously.

"It's a hot footbath, Captain!" Lily answered him.
"A footbath?"
"It's comfortable and warms you up."
"Huh..."

He stroked his chin, clearly interested in it.

"And what are you doing here, Captain?"
"I was talking with Ria and the other magicians. I was actually going to look for you now when I spotted you sitting here."
"You needed us?"

Korwen nodded, his expression turning a little more serious.

"We still don't know what was going on there. We missed the chance to talk with the elves thanks to that airheaded moron of a witch, though."
"Mama is not a moron. And wouldn't it be fine if you asked Mama? She probably knows about it, right?"

Lily tilted her head in wonder.

"... I actually didn't. She disappeared around the same time as the elves and nobody has seen her since."
"Nobody? Mh... Did she wander off again? Speaking of which, she quite likes footbaths too so I thought she'd come here..."
Lily, you planned for that monster to join us? Please spare me...
"That so. Mh, nothing we can do about for now. Anyway, finish up whatever... you are doing and come see me. In a timely manner, understood?"
"Yes, yes. And Captain, it's a footbath! A footbath."
"One yes is enough, Lily."

He turned around—alas, unable to suppress a sigh—and left us alone again.

"Boo, if we have to wrap it up I can't enjoy those wonderful legs and feet anymore. Haa..."
"..."

This girl clearly got her priorities straight...

"We can just do it another time again, Lily."
"Haa... I know, let's try a steam bath next time!"
"A steam bath?"
"It's a bath where you bath in hot steam. Really hot steam!"

Wasn't that like a sauna?

"And where did you pick up that again?" Karen asked with furrowed brows.
"It's a traditional bath in the northern parts of Krohmea."
"... Why do you have so much weird knowledge."

Karen shook her head in exasperation.
Although, since Lily's memory was exceptional, it wasn't that surprising...

"Because it's interesting! I haven't done that steambath before either. Ah, but there's also those thermal baths... Though we can't do that here... Mmm... Oh, oh! I heard that there was a place where people bath in sand too."

In sand? That sounded... interesting?

"Lily, neither a steambath nor a sand bath are possible... So stop trying to divert the attention. We have to leave."

Even though it was Karen herself who had asked where she picked that up...

"Ehh... Haa... Do we really have to?"
"Yes, we do. Come."

Karen stood up and left the basin.

"Ahh, so cold!"
"See, that's why I don't want to leave..."

Karen winced and fidgeted around, trying to get used to the comparatively cold air.
I stared for a moment at the hot water and our feet. I'd have to leave as well...

"Let's get this over with... Hya!"

Cold! The cold air caused me to shiver.

"Uhh..."

At least they'd dry quickly in the sandals... I still had to get proper shoes sometime but right now this was probably better than normal shoes.

"Lily, Rina. Come. We have to clean up."
"... Coming."
"Mh? Me too?"

Rina tilted her head curiously.

"He only asked for you all so it's fine for me to stay, right?"
"""..."""

Three pairs of blank eyes stared at her.

"I'll clean up in exchange."

She smiled at us, clearly not having any intention of leaving.

"... How unfair."

And a slightly disgruntled Lily joined us...
All the while we couldn't help but feel frustrated that Rina stayed behind...

---

"You found an elf?!"

Around ten minutes later, Korwen stood in front of us, together with a little girl in very distinctive clothing made of leaves. Just... The poor girl was shivering in fear. Probably due to the person right behind her.

"Well, I caught her for you. I did feel a little bad that they ran away, okay? My, I'm not heartless."

Judging from this scene it was hard to not call her heartless though. The elf in question was, in fact, again their elder. It was a surprising change, seeing her shivering in fear because of Yumias. And she had been so steadfast and even arrogant earlier...

"Ugh... Could you, like, not kidnap them next time?"
"My, how rude. I only borrowed her."
"That is called kidnapping!"

Korwen was close to blowing a fuse. Maybe more than one.

"Just! I don't know, do something else. Go play with the children or so! Don't. Do stuff like this!"
"So ungrateful, seriously. It took me quite some effort to nab her, you know?"
"I. Don't. Care."

Yumias shrugged with her shoulders and turned around.

"And here I only wanted to help. Haa..."

Shaking her head she left the wagon.
The Elder cautiously watched her leaving. Even after she was out of sight, she kept staring at the door.

"Ahh... This girl is going to be my ruin, isn't she? Lily, how did Greyward survive this? It's been barely over a week and I already feel like throwing the towel."
"Ahaha..."

He only got an awkward laugh her.

"Y, You humans! Y, y, you are in dealings with that witch?!" the Elder asked suddenly, heavily stuttering.
"She's travelling with us... more or less," answered her Karen.

The Elder was still shivering but looked a little more composed now, that Yumias had left. Didn't change that she stuttering like there was no tomorrow...

"Ehh... Miss... Elf? I heard one of you talked with my Vice-Captain earlier. I am deeply sorry about Miss Yumias."
"Y, you! Y, you're... th, their leader?!"
"Yes, I am Korwen, the Captain of the mercenary band, the Lomerian Dragon Knights."

She scrutinised him, from top to bottom. Korwen patiently waited for her to calm down before they proceeded to talk.

"I heard you elves wanted to propose a trade with us. I hope it is not too late to talk about that?"
"Trade?! You talk about the trade we offered when you harbour the witch?! And after she... she kidnapped us?! Are you insulting us?!"

The Elder suddenly shouted, infuriated.

"I am sorry about the trouble she caused, but that's something different. I cannot control what she does. But from what I heard, I doubt you'd readily find someone else willing to look for a home for you."

She froze, staring at Korwen.

"... What do you mean, human?"
"Fairykin—especially elves like you—rarely interact with the other humanoid races, right? There are plenty of people who'd try to take advantage of your little plight. The price you'd pay then might be a lot more than simply telling us a little information and bearing with that witch."

Korwen leaned slightly forward, smiling, while the Elder was lost in thought.

"If I recall correctly you are looking for a new home, probably a forest, right? We've travelled a lot so we might be able to point you in the right direction."
"..."
"You want the best for your fellow elves, right?"

Her ears twitched at those words.

"... So, human... You are saying you know of a place where we and our people can live?"
"I cannot promise anything. For one, I don't know what exactly you are looking for. But we will try to find something."
"..."

The Elder kept silent, closing her eyes. She was likely thinking about Korwen's words right now.
After a good while of silence, she opened her eyes again.

"We understand. But we have one condition. Keep that witch away! If you do that, we will accept this trade."
"... We'll try."
"... Well, that's good enough for us for now. Human. As part of our bargain, we said we'd tell you what has transpired in our forest, our home."
"... You're already telling us?"

Korwen's eyes widened in surprise.

"Hmpf, do not think lightly of us, human. We are not stupid. The worth of our information will only diminish with time."

The elder walked to the window of the wagon. She opened the shutters, revealing the distant view of the forest.

"Our home was visited by the devils themselves."
"Devils?! You mean, the devilkin? But they should be living far away from here."
"Not their kin, human. It is but a metaphor. Though those people clearly worshipped the devils, the Cursed. But that is of nought importance now."

The Cursed? Wasn't that... what she had called me before?

"The Witch—The Bringer of the Curse—is their idol."
"... I see. I understand now."

Korwen suddenly stood up, his face distorted. He walked to his desk, opened a drawer and retrieved a small book.

"Tell me, were they wearing robes like this."

He opened the book and showed her an illustration. Three humans, standing around a fire, their arms up in the air. Hovering above them the figure of a naked man with a face distorted in rage.
The three humans all wore a very distinctive robe, adorned with an emblem of two flowers intertwining.

"The robes look the same, yes. Do you know those devils, human?"
"... I might. But please continue first."
"Hmpf. They came to us, with an offer. Those cloaked ones offered information on our young, esteemed ancestor. And they offered to help us bring her back."

The Elder snorted, shaking her head.

"They said they only wanted to move in the forest, unhindered. There was no reason for us to deny it to them, there was no reason to reject their offer. In the first place, we elves avoid the living children. They might pass through the forest or take its fruits, as long as they do not do so in excess."
"So, you took them up on their offer?"
"We did. Like we had told you, there was no reason to reject it. But we had been naive. Preoccupied with our esteemed ancestor, we did not watch them when we should have."

She turned around to us, her expression dark.

"Like one plucked the fruits of the trees, they took the very soul of our home. Yet not satisfied with that, they searched for more, for a living sacrifice. In fear, we escaped our very own home. Yet, we were too late. They had already found their sacrifice."
"Wait a moment, a living sacrifice?! What nonsense is that?"

Korwen once more jumped out of his chair, only to be regarded with a stern stare by the Elder.

"We do not know. It's beyond our understanding, how they would attempt that. And soon, what they are doing will be completed."
"Soon?"
"Very soon. You'll likely be able to see it from here."

The Elder suddenly sighed.

"Foolish cloaked ones. They waste lives for nothing."
"... Excuse me, Miss... Elf. But if I get this right, they're going to use some kind of large-scale magic soon?! That's a bit lot to deal with!"

Korwen grew more and more agitated.
The sudden revelation was, after all, anything but good. Lily and Karen also grew visibly more anxious.

"Calm down, human. There's nothing for you to worry about. We may have been fooled once by them, but we won't be fooled twice. Their spell is a failure. They do not understand the laws of nature, their magic will never succeed. It is but suicide in vain."
"... Suicide? Are you saying... they'll overload themselves and die?"
"Overload? Is that how you call it? Destroying your very being with mana?"
"Yes. When a person's body cannot handle the strain anymore."
"Mhm. Overloading... I will remember that word."

The Elder nodded to herself.

"... How can you be so sure they will fail?"
"The cloaked ones attempt to bridge the veil between worlds. But they do not understand the ways of our world. In a metaphor you would understand: They are trying to fell a tree with the tiniest axe instead of just walking around the tree. It is not impossible, but foolish."

The veil between the worlds? Does she mean...

"Miss Elder, are they trying to travel to another world?"
"Cursed child... That is correct. They want to travel to the world where the Witch was born in, according to legend. Whether it even exists, we do not know. But we know that their approach is unfeasible. Nigh impossible, even. They will die a cruel death, a death they deserve."

She snorted once more, then turned back to the window, staring at the forest.

"This is all we can tell you. Look, it has begun... The end of our beloved home..."
"Nn?"

Everyone followed her gaze, towards the forest...

---

A weak, turquoise light illuminated the forest in the far distance. Small specks of light rose up, slowly growing denser in their numbers.

"Is... Is that the ritual magic?"
"The trees..."

Even from this distance, we could see it... The leaves falling down, the trees slowly withering, birds rising up from the trees, only to fall down again, limp and unmoving.

"They are killing our home and all that is in it. Stealing their very soul from them."

We could only watch as the light slowly grew more and more intense, as the trees and the animals.

"It's a good thing we got out of there..."

Korwen's eyes narrowed as he watched.

"Nn..."
"Yumi, Karen, do you see that too? The... mana."
"Ah."
"Nn."

The mana of the forest was eaten. I had no other way to describe it. It was sucked into the ground and... disappeared.

"Miss Elf, are you really sure that's... going to fail?
"You needn't worry, human. As I have said, it is impossible. Our home might boast in what you call 'mana', but it will do nought but give them a glimpse of their goal. In exchange for their lives. They are but mere mortals, they shouldn't dabble in the works of gods and the world itself. Look for yourself."

The light dimmed, then grew stronger, then dimmer again. Completely unstable, as if it couldn't decide which way it wanted to go.

"It's already failing. It's a greedy spell, devouring everything, even the practitioners. For but a glimpse."
"A glimpse?"
"They might see a crack, a glimpse of their destination, assuming it even exists. But it won't even last a moment. Less than the blink of an eye. Despite all the lives they just took."
"Miss Elf, you said they had found their 'sacrifices'. Who did they... sacrifice?"

True, it wouldn't have been surprising if it had been either the elves themselves or us, to become their sacrifices. Yet, the elves escaped and so did we.

"Many men came in the veil of the night, wearing noisy plates, walking a seldom trodden path. The cloaked ones took them by surprise, made them kill each other, cast strange spells on them. Similar men regularly used the common path, that you people have walked as well."
"... Soldiers, huh. That explains why we never met them in the forest."

Soldiers? Then... were they the ones that Greyward had asked for assistance? It couldn't be... could it?

"And so it ends. Our home..."

The light slowly diminished more and more, until it finally vanished in its entirety. Only a barren, dead forest was left behind. Even from the distance... this wasn't a forest I wanted to put a foot into anymore.

"So... They really failed?"
"Had they succeeded, you would see it, human. They failed and they likely paid the price for their sin. Trying to tarnish the works of those above you will never end well. They paid the price for their arrogance, of that I am sure."
"... True, if they really overloaded... That's not a pretty death."

Korwen sighed and turned away from the window.

"I'll go talk with Merim, we'll have to report this to the military. They're probably in an uproar right now. You girls can go back to take a rest. And..."

He glanced at the Elder.

"If our guest needs anything, do help her out."
"Nn..."
"Understood... Captain..."

Korwen left the wagon, leaving us alone.

"Yumi, Lily... Let's leave her alone for a bit."

Karen peeked at the Elder who was still solemnly staring into the distance, at the place where the forest had once been. Her long ears were drooping down lifelessly.
Tears ran down her cheeks.

"Nn..."

This elf, this girl... Just lost her home...

"Uhm... Miss Elder... If you need anything... Feel free to ask us..." Lily told her.
"... We... I... will be fine, young wolf. Just... leave me be... for a while..."

We exchanged glances, then nodded to each and left the Elder, the elven girl, alone.
Shortly after we closed the door...

We could hear her quiet sobs.