“You know, aren’t we, maybe, just maybe… a little too many people?”

I looked around me. Mrs Korwen was standing in the small kitchenette and preparing drinks for everyone. Lily, who had come back after a while with Alma in tow, was looking around. Alma was helping her mother. Karen and I sat at the small table, being pretty.

Korwen’s home was by no means small. However, this was no house. It was a wagon. And just with the people present already, it was already pretty full. If we added Korwen and the three girls—there was little doubt in my mind that the three would only come together—it would get positively stuffy in here.

“Don’t worry, Yumi, we’ll just need to squeeze in a little tighter.”
“Great idea, Lily, I wonder if we can squeeze you into a chest or cupboard then.”
“Are you trying to kill me?!”

Honestly, she probably could do that as long as she got enough air. Whether it was comfortable, though, was a different matter.

“Now, now, no killing here, girls. Here, have some juice.”
“Ohhh.”

Mrs Korwen and Alma put down a few cups with juice on the table. Lily immediately flew to the table and sat down before Mrs Korwen and Alma followed.

“Nn, we’re definitely too many.”

We had occupied pretty much the entire table. One person could probably still join but that’d be the limit.

“I hope we won’t scare Sele off like this…”

It might be a bad idea to have a serious talk with so many people staring down at the poor girl…

“Oh, don’t worry about that. When it’s time to talk, I’d like everyone to wait outside.”
“Huh?”
“Wha—”
“Eh?”

Everyone turned around in surprise to Mrs Korwen.

“Uhh… I thought that’s what we’re here for, mom?” asked Alma.
“You are.”
“I’m… not sure I follow.”

Neither did I, to be honest.

“We’re going to have a nice happy get-together with everyone. Maybe we should have a small barbecue outside as well. It might be a little early for it, though. Doesn’t that sound like fun?”
“Well, it does.”

Mrs Korwen giggled, seeing Alma befuddled.

“Then Sele will surely think so, too. The talk isn’t all that important. That’s something for me and my husband to worry about, not the children. If our suspicions are right, we’ll scold her a little and tell her not to hide something like that from us again. If she really needs blood on a regular basis, then we’ll need to think about what to do about that, but whether we’ll talk about that today or some other time, I don’t know yet.”

Everyone went silent, surprised at Mrs Korwen’s plans. They were… quite different from what Korwen was planning, after all. Though, to be honest, I liked her idea way better.

“And that’s why we’ll have a nice little get-together. I’m very much looking forward to it.”

Yeah, I think I could live with that idea.

“But will that work? Won’t the captain tell them why he calls for them?” asked Lily.
“Oh, he won’t. If he did, they’d just run away and he knows that. He’ll probably say he’ll read them something to bring them over.”

Ah, that would probably work. Still, they’d run away, huh… I couldn’t say I liked the idea of tricking them, though I understood why he had to do that if they would run away otherwise.

“Don’t worry, I’ll make sure that he’ll read something to them later if he promised them.”

Mrs Korwen chuckled, looking at me. Had my doubts been that clear to her?

“... I guess it’s okay then?”

A small get-together with everyone to have fun, rather than some serious talk, huh?

“Nn, we need to make sure they’ll have a good time.”

I much rather had the girls happy as well. Mrs Korwen said that those serious things should be left with the adults. I agreed. Wholeheartedly. There was no need to make the girls feel bad about it.

“That’s right! So, what do you girls think? Do you think having a barbecue outside is too early?”
“Well, we had breakfast just a bit earlier… I think that’s something better suited for the evening.”
“Ahh, as I thought.”

Mrs Korwen crossed her arms and got lost in thought. It reminded me quite a lot of how Korwen did the same when he was thinking about something.

“And I thought it was a good idea.”

Barbecue at noon was a good idea? Even if we hadn’t had breakfast just earlier, wouldn’t that be a little hard on the stomach?

“Mom, we can still do it later, if everyone feels like it.”
“I guess I’ll have to settle with that then. I’ll take some snacks out then.”

Snacks? Maybe those dried fruits again? Those had been pretty good.

Mrs Korwen left the table and returned to the small kitchenette, presumably to look for the snacks she mentioned. Hopefully, there were enough of them… For everyone, of course.

“Sele and the kids have it good,” said Karen quietly.
“Nn, they do.”

And we had to make sure that it would stay like that.

“Mmm… This should be enough, I think.”

Mrs Korwen returned with a plate of dried fruits, just as I expected.

“Oh, nice! Don’t mind if I do!”

Alma immediately reached out to the plate and snatched away a few of the fruits.

“Mmm! How I missed these! Tastes like home.”
“You never change, Alma. Leave some for Sele and the girls.”
“I will, I will.”

I wasn’t quite sure if she really understood what Mrs korwen meant. She took more of the fruits and threw them into her mouth, a blissful expression on her face.

“Lily, Karen, Yumi, feel free to take some as well. No need to hold back.”
“Well, if you say so.”
“Thank you very much, Mrs Korwen.”
“Nn.”

And… Yeah, they were good. Even though they were dried they still tasted sweet. It was pretty amazing.

“My, I can see you like them.”
“Nn?”

Was it that obvious? Wait, she wasn’t even looking at me. I glanced at my side and saw Karen holding a hand in front of her mouth, her cheeks blushing a little. Damn, what did I miss there?

“We have enough, so no need to hold back.”
“... Okay.”

Karen awkwardly took another fruit and nibbled on it. On my other side, Alma spoke up.

“Hey, mom, why are you telling me to hold back but not them?”
“Because they’re our guests, of course. And if I didn’t stop you, you’d really eat them all. I know you.”
“That’s not true! I’d leave some!”
“Yes, yes. Surely.”

Seeing that Mrs Korwen had no intention of changing her mind, Alma sulked for a short moment, before continuing to eat the fruits. As if she hadn’t been told just now to hold back…

“Mmm! That… Mhm…! Reminds me, mom.”
“Don’t speak with your mouth full. What is it, Alma?”
“Sorry, sorry.”

Alma silently ate the dried fruits before continuing.

“So, what are we going to do about dad? You didn’t tell him about what you are planning, did you?”

It took me a moment to connect what she meant… It was about the get-together and all that, probably.

“Don’t worry about him. If he complains I’ll handle him.”

Good luck, Korwen… He was going to need it.

“Let’s forget about that oaf for a moment. There’s something else I wanted to talk about. Yumi.”
“Nn? Wha?”

I accidentally let out a dumb-sounding noise when Mrs Korwen called my name. I didn’t expect the conversation to suddenly turn to me.

“I wanted to ask, Sele, Maya and Emily are roughly as tall as you are, right?”
“Nn? Uhhh… Pretty much?”

Of course, they weren’t exactly the same height. Maya was the tallest of the three and actually a little taller than I was. Sele was… roughly the same? And Emily was just a tiny bit shorter. However, the differences were small enough that you could say we were about the same height.

For now, anyway. In a few years, they’d all be taller than me… That thought saddened me a little.

“That’s convenient! Could you do me a favour?”
“Sure, what is it?”
“Come with me for a moment.”

Mrs Korwen led me to the back of the wagon, where the door was to what I assumed was their bedroom. She gestured for me to wait in front of the door before she disappeared into the room behind it. A few moments later, she returned carrying a bundle of cloth in her arms.

Ah… I know where this is going…

There was only one thing she could possibly want to do with those…

“Could you spread your arms wide?”
“... Sure.”

Mentally resigning myself to be a dress-up doll once again, I spread out my arms. Mrs Korwen took one of the clothes and held it up in front of me, as if she was checking for the size.

“Ah, I know that one! Isn’t that from me?” said Alma.
“It is. I was wondering if some of your old clothes would fit the girls… but it looks like this would be a little too big still.”
Wait? She was actually just checking for their size?

That was a little unexpected. Here I thought for sure she was going to make me wear them.

“Oh, that’s a good idea! I remember I had some pretty cute clothes.”
“You ruined most of them, though.”
“No— Not all of them…”

Alma averted her gaze awkwardly. Meanwhile, Mrs Korwen held up another piece of clothing in front of me. I hadn’t really looked at the first one but this one was… a baggy shirt? It looked like it was made from some pretty good cloth, too. But, while it was hard to judge from my perspective, it did look too big as well.

“Mmm… We might need to wait another year.”
“Mrs Korwen, why are you not checking with the girls themselves? Even if we’re roughly the same height, it’s not like we’re exactly the same. Maya is a little taller than me, even.”

Doing that should easily clear up any doubts, after all.

“Because I want them to be a surprise, of course!”
“Ahhh…”
“Which might be a little odd to say, since they’re just hand-me-downs from Alma…”
“Hey, I had some pretty clothes, mom!”
“Yes, you did.”

Yeah, looking at the ones in her arms, those definitely were better clothes than what I saw most people wearing. It wasn’t on the level of the dresses that Wanda made us, but they were still considerably better than what everyone else wore.

How to say it… it was like comparing a farmer’s work clothes with a fashionable town girl’s outing clothes. There was a big difference in appearance. And most importantly in their use. A farmer’s clothes were intended to be practical and durable. But the ones Mrs Korwen was showing us were intended to look pretty. You wouldn’t work the field in them.

“But this is a problem…”
“Nn? Is it?”
“Yes. We’re going to live here for longer, after all. I hoped I could give them some nice clothes they could wear in town.”

Mrs Korwen sighed as she told us that.

“I might need to ask Wanda to make new ones.”

She held up another piece of clothing against me, shaking her head in disappointment.

“Alma, why did you have to grow so quickly…”
“Now you’re being unreasonable, mom.”
“But if you had been a little slower, we might have had something that could fit them. Haaa… I wonder why you had to sprout like the first flowers in spring. You used to be so cute.”
“So I’m not cute anymore?”

Mrs Korwen turned around to look at Alma. After a few moments of silence, she sighed again.

“I miss my little girl.”
“Rude!”
“I hope the next one won’t be like her.”
“What a thing to say…”

Alma frowned for a moment. And then she froze, staring at her mother.

“... ‘Next one?’”
“Hehehe.”
“Mom, are you…”
“No, I’m not.”
“... Don’t scare me like that!”

Even I was taken aback. That was more than just a little bit misleading.

“Oh, but that might change soon, hopefully.”
“... You’re joking, right?”
“No, I’m serious. You don’t want another little sister or brother?”
“I’d be more than happy about it but… Mom, you’re not the youngest anymore. Is that going to be fine?”
“Ria assured me that there shouldn’t be any issues I’m not that old yet, Alma. And your father is still lively as well.”
“That’s not something I want to know!”

I think none of us wanted to know that.

“Still… Why now, suddenly? I mean, I’m not objecting but…”
“Why now, you ask? Mm… Because it’s a good time. We’ll have a permanent home soon, we won’t have to wander around anymore. That will make life a lot easier. We’re definitely not the only ones thinking about that. But more than that…”
“More than that?”

Mrs Korwen put down the clothes she had been carrying on the table and sat down. She looked around the room for a little, her gaze wandering over everyone present. Lily, Karen, and me, until it stopped at Alma again.

“Well, let’s say it’s not quite the only reason.”
“That’s a weird way to put it…”

It probably wasn’t something Mrs Korwen wanted to talk about in the presence of everyone. That sounded like a very… personal thing.

“But a sibling… I wonder if it’d be a little brother or a little sister?” Alma mumbled quietly, grinning to herself.
“We won’t know until then.”
“I guess. But it sounds like fun! I never thought I might get a sibling at this age anymore!”

Their family would be growing… that sure was a source of excitement. And we would probably experience that from close-up as well. And she mentioned that they weren’t the only ones likely to take advantage of the fact that they had a permanent home now. If that were true then we could expect things to be quite lively in a few years.

A few years, huh? That’s still quite some time off, though.

Still, it was fun to think about.

“That sounds nice,” muttered Lily.
“Nn, it does.”
“I wish I had a sibling, too.”

A sibling, huh? I glanced over at Karen. We might not be related by blood, but she was still my beloved sister. The same went for Rina, of course.

And then there were the ones I could barely remember, my sisters from before I came to this world… but I couldn’t really remember them all that well. I think we got along quite well but… I could only wish them the best now.

“My, Lily, doesn’t that old Greyward have a sweetheart?”

When Mrs Korwen turned to Lily to ask her about Greyward, Alma, who was still lost in thought about the potential future, suddenly froze. Her eyes slowly wandered over to Lily, staring at her. Fortunately, Lily didn’t seem to take notice.

“Papa? Well… he kind of does, I guess?”
“Oh my, really? I didn’t know that. I never heard of him having someone.”
“Mm… It’s a little complicated… Very complicated…”
“I hope they’ll sort it out then.”
“I do too. Really, I do.”

While Lily was lamenting Greyward’s complicated love life… Alma was about ready to fall into the depths of despair, from the looks of it. Could it be that she hadn’t known?

Well… Stay tough, Alma. You can do it… Maybe… or maybe not…

Frankly, I couldn’t see Alma’s love life working out…

Mrs Korwen was also glancing towards Alma for a moment before sighing deeply. Thinking about it, they probably knew about Alma’s interests, didn’t they? Then, did she ask about Greyward with that in mind?

Right then, the door of the wagon opened.

“I’m back.”

And in came a large, hulking presence.

“Captain.”
“Mr Captain.”
“Looks like it’s gotten lively here.”

Korwen entered the wagon.

“Oh my, you’re back already, dear? Let me put this away just real quick!”

With the clothes she had brought out earlier in her arms, Mrs Korwen got up from the table and disappeared into their bedroom to put away the clothes. She came back only moments later.

“Now, where are our guests of honour?”
“Sele and the girls will be here in a bit.”
“Oh? They didn’t come with you?”
“No. They were helping out and I asked them to come here when they finish up.”

He pulled back a chair and sat down, leaning into it.

“I also talked with Mr Irwin… or rather, I talked with Miss Aryn? Say, Alma, are they always that weird?”
“Ah, you mean that Aryn has to talk for him?”
“Yes.”
“That’s pretty normal. It used to be even worse, though.”
“Seriously?”
“Seriously.”

How could it have been even worse than now, though?

“He couldn’t speak Akkian or Aldreighan when I first met him. Aryn used to translate everything back and forth. At least, nowadays he roughly understands what you say to him.”
“Ahh, I did hear he was from the Beyond. No wonder then.”

The language barrier, huh? That couldn’t have been easy.

“Anyway, I confirmed what Yumi and Karen told me. We’ll have to talk with Sele about this.”

He frowned, likely thinking about the situation.

“Dear, we talked about that as well.”
“You did?”
“Yes. And I’d like you to leave talking with Sele to me.”
“... Mind telling me why?”
“Because the way you’re doing it is just going to scare the poor girl, of course, you oaf.”
“... Huh?”

Korwen’s eyes went wide at the sudden accusation.

“Sele isn’t one of your mercenaries. You can’t just gather a bunch of people and stare down at her. You’re just going to make her cry.”
“That’s not what I was trying to—”
“That’s what you’re doing, though.”
“...”

He shrunk back into his chair, intimidated by his wife glaring down at him.

“That’s why I’ll be talking with her. Do you understand?”
“... Yes.”
“Good. Then, with that out of the way… It’ll be a little tight with everyone in here, so how about we set up some tables outside?”

Mrs Korwen clapped her hands, having successfully defeated her husband in an argument… if you could even call it that. Somehow, I felt a little sorry for him, even though I agreed with his wife.

“So, dear, go and bring us some tables.”
“... Yes, yes.”

With a sigh, he got up from his chair and left the wagon.

“Karen, you’re pretty strong, aren’t you?”
“Me? Yes, I would say so.”
“Good, could you help me carry this?”
“This one?”

Mrs Korwen pointed at a large barrel in the corner of the wagon. Karen went up to it nad lifted it.

“Oh my, you’re really strong!”
“Where should I put it?”
“Bring it outside, please.”
“Okay.”
“Thank you. I’ll show you where.”

Karen followed Mrs Korwen outside, leaving Lily, Alma and me behind.

“Hey, Alma.”
“Lily?”
“Your mother can be pretty scary.”
“You haven’t even seen the half of it, trust me.”

Not sure I wanted to see it, either.

“You girls, come outside and help us!”

Came Mrs Korwen’s voice from the outside.

“Well, you heard her.”
“Ahh.”
“Nn.”

Alma, Lily and I then went outside as well. Korwen had already found a first table and was putting it down, following his wife’s instructions.

“Right there, yes. Yes. A little more to the left. That’s good. Thank you, dear.”
“Sure, sure. I’ll bring the benches as well. Do we need more than one table?”
“I think a second one would be better.”
“Got it.”

Seeing Korwen doing such mundane work was… pretty refreshing to see, to be honest. Usually, he just ordered everyone around to do things like this. But here, in private, he did these things himself.

“Ahh, it’s Auntie! And everyone else!”

Right then, a familiar voice echoed through the camp. Looking for the source, I could spot three familiar girls, running over to us.

“Auntie!”
“Auntie Korwen!”
“...”
“Oh my, you all came! Come here, you little rascals!”

Emily, Maya and Sele rushed over to her before they got caught in her arms for a big hug.

“Have you been good?”
“We have!”
“We were good!”
“...”
“Great, great.”

She ruffled the girls’ hair, making them giggle in joy.

“Then, let’s see what we’ll do with these good girls, shall we? Come.”

She pushed the three girls towards the table. Korwen had already put down some benches in the meantime.

“Ah, it’s Yumi! And Big Sis Karen and Big Sis Lily!”

And who could it be barreling in my direction? Yes, it was without a doubt… our little elf Emily.

“You’re here too?”
“Nn, I am.”
“Yay!”

She threw up her arms in joy.

“Hey, Emily, Emily, I’m here, too!”
“Ah, Big Sis! It’s Big Sis!”

Upon seeing Alma, the three girls all immediately ran over to her, jumping into her arms, nearly knocking Alma over. Though, with her strength she probably had little problem catching the three bundles of energy.

“How have you been, you rascals, huh?”
“We were fine!”
“Mhm, we were good!”
“...”
“That so, that so? That makes me happy to hear.”

Alma ruffled the girls’ hair, making a total mess out of it. It was a spitting image of what Mrs Korwen had done as well. You could really see the relation in their reactions.

“Sheesh, you’ve gotten so big, haven’t you? Time sure flies!”
“Hehe, we’ve grown a lot! We’ll be taller than Big Sis soon!”
“Seriously? That’s something to look forward to! Can’t await it.”

Emily puffed out her chest as she tried to tell Alma how much she’d grown and how much she would grow. Bold words, considering Alma was quite tall.

“Girls, sit down and have something to drink. I also brought some snacks.”
“”Snacks?!””
“...”

Hearing the word ‘snacks,’ all three of them turned around to Mrs Korwen, looking longingly at the plate in her hands.

“Yes, you got that right! It’s a reward for being good girls and helping out.

Emily, Maya and Sele wriggled out of Alma’s arms—much to her chagrin—and ran to the table to sit down and await the snacks.

“Here you go. Enjoy.”
“Yay!”
“Snacks!”
“...”

Seeing the three so excited… I could tell that Mrs Korwen had made the correct decision. Just seeing them this happy was definitely worth it.

“Now, who of you girls wants some juice?”
“I do!”
“Me too!”
“Hehe, then let me give you some.”

Mrs Korwen put down some mugs in front of the girls and poured them juice in, much to their delight.

While the three girls were stuffing themselves with fruits and drinking their juice, Alma sat down opposite them and watched.

“Slow down, girls. The fruits aren’t running away, you know?”
“But they’re delicious!”
“And sweet!”
“...”

Sele, as usual, nodded vigorously to convey her agreement. Despite Alma’s warning, they didn’t slow down at all. It was a good thing that Mrs Korwen seemingly had a lot of these fruits.

“Hey, Big Sis, Big Sis. Are you going to stay this time?”
“Mh? Ahhh… Well… I’ll be leaving in a few days.”
“”Ehhh?””
”I’ll come back quickly this time. I promise.”
“Really?”
“Yes, really really.”

Alma reached out to pat Maya’s head and scratch her behind her ears. Maya closed her eyes, content. If she were purring now, it’d be perfect now.

“But I have to finish my job first. I promised my friends to escort them. When I am done, I’ll immediately come back to you girls.”
“... Are you going to stay then?”
“Mmm… I’ll at least stay a little longer this time.”

The girls looked at Alma. I wasn’t quite sure if they were sad, or not. Or if something entirely else went through their heads. Either way, it was clear they wanted Alma to stay.

After all, she’s their ‘Big Sis.’ Not ‘Big Sis Alma,’ just ‘Big Sis.’

That alone told me how close they were to Alma. To be honest, I couldn’t help but feel a little jealous.

But, well…

“Yumi, Yumi! Do you want some, too?”
“Nn? Sure.”
“Here!”

I didn’t mind this either, you know?

“Thank you, Emily.”
“Hehehe!”

I nibbled on the fruits Emily had given me and watched the scene in front of me. Three girls, happily eating their snacks as they bothered their older sister figure to stay around.

“Hey, Sis?”
“Yes?”
“I think Mrs Korwen’s idea was the right one.”
“I agree.”

Really, who could say that talking about that stuff was more important than their happy smiles? I sure would like to know.