Chapter 180: of Spirit Verse: From one place to another

“Mm… It’s quite a bit bigger now.”

“Nn, it is. But is this big enough?”

“It should suffice. Big enough to get most crates through. Everything bigger will be kept behind and transported once the road is clear. Good job, Yumi.”

Korwen, who had come after a while to inspect our progress, nodded in satisfaction. The expanded tentacle door was big enough for his plans, which was a relief.

“I wonder if you could expand it more if we added more boards to it.”

“... It might be doable but… I’m not sure what would happen if those broke apart.”

“That could become an issue, you’re right.”

Technically speaking, the tentacles were the ones creating that door and the wooden board and the stone wall were both simply foundations where they grew on top of. Nonetheless, there was no telling what would happen if those foundations broke apart. In the best case, the connection would just break away and the tunnel would close. And the worst-case… wasn’t a scenario I was fond of imagining.

“It’s not something we’re in dire need to try out for now anyway. The door is large enough for our current needs.”

“Nn. That’s good.”

The door was big enough and we knew that I could expand them without issue. I had also informed him earlier of the news regarding the mana consumption and the mana orbs in the door. Was there anything else to discuss with him now? Not… really?

“Captain, what should I do now?”

“Mm? Well…”

Korwen looked at me, lost in thought.

“... How about you watch the door for a while longer?”

“...”

Did he… have nothing for me to do? Seriously? Was that what was going on?

“... I don’t mind but… is that okay?”

“It’d be a bit of an issue if you walked around our camp now. And at the fort, there’s nothing for you to do either. So, yes, that’s fine. If you find something else to do, I won’t stop you. As long as you don’t do anything dangerous, of course. Or dumb.”

“... I’ll try not to.”

Basically, I was given free rein over what to do now? Wow…

“Good. Don’t cause trouble.”

“I won’t.”

Korwen left the tent so that the mercenaries could resume their work and carry the supplies into the hall. He probably still had work to do in the camp…

Well, what to do now?

He told me I could do what I wanted but, honestly, that was a bit of a problem. It was easy when you were told ‘Do this.’ or ‘Do that.’ and similar. But, in a way, now I had to find work on my own?

I mean, watching the door just in case is probably good enough for the captain… Otherwise, he’d told me to do something else.

Still, just watching the mercenaries coming and going was, frankly, incredibly boring. I wanted something to do.

“Yumi.”

“Nn? Oh, it’s Lily again.”

“Still sitting here?”

“Nn… You could say that.”

Where else was I supposed to go, after all? Not anywhere else, at least.

“Hey, Lily?”

“Yes?”

I interrupted Lily as she ushered the dolls through the door again.

“Do you have any idea what I could do?”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“Well, you see…”

I explained to her briefly what the captain had told me just now.

“Isn’t it fine if you just sit here and watch?”

“I guess it is. But it’s boring…”

“That’s… something I can relate to.”

Honestly, it was sometimes astonishing how little there was to do. In my old world, finding something to do was so simple. But here? It wasn’t as easy. Though, I did have the feeling that I was slowly getting used to that, too.

I’m absolutely certain I wouldn’t get used to guard-work, though. It sounds like a nightmare, to me. Glad I don’t have to.

Though, this job wasn’t much better.

“Mm… If you could go to the camp I could have recommended you to do maintenance on your weapons and armour…”

“... I wouldn’t even know how to do that.”

“Oh? Want me to teach you?”

“Nn, sure. But not now.”

“Too bad.”

While I was looking for something to do, this girl was looking for a way to slack off. Things sure could take a turn depending on where you stood, huh?

“Well… I don’t know… Something to do… Well, your dolls are busy, right now, so you can’t do any maintenance on them either.”

“... Honestly, I’m not sure they’d need any.”

I glanced towards the gaggle of dolls, running around at our feet. When they heard my words, they immediately gathered in front of me, jumping up and down to draw my attention.

“I think they’re saying that they do need it.”

“Nn, I can see that.”

But, how do you even do that…

How do you take care of a doll? Uhh… Clean them? Sounds like a plan. Maybe polish them? They’re made of wood, after all. And, of course, giving them some mana.

Considering their numbers, that alone… might actually take some time. And, as loath as I was to admit, I had never done anything of the sort for them. I probably should change that.

“Hey, Lily. Is there something like, err, wood polish? Or rather, how do you take care of wood?”

“... Wood polish? Never heard of that.”

“Well, too bad…”

I had some hopes, considering how good her memory was but it seemed that wasn’t working out.

“We do use wax or oil for weapon maintenance, including those with wood parts. Maybe that’s what you’re looking for?”

“Oh? That sounds pretty much like it.”

“Then, you might want to ask Wormaz about it. He knows a lot about things like that. Even if it’s not what you want, he might have an idea what else to use.”

“Nn, will do. Thanks.”

Correction, she could help me out. As expected of Lily.

“But… Wormaz is in the camp right now, right? I’ll have to do that another time then.”

The dolls at my feet all slumped to the ground at my words. Sorry, but I was told by Korwen to not go to the camp today. Transporting all those supplies was already plenty suspicious, so if I turned up, who was supposed to be at the fort, it’d surely lead to rumours. At least, that’s what I believed the reason was. I was a little too conspicuous.

“Sorry, I’ll take care of all of you another time, okay? I promise.”

The dolls stood up again, jumping up and down like earlier. At least, that cheered them up a little.

“Thank the Spirits, I was worried my helpers wouldn’t help me anymore.”

“Speaking of which, Lily… Why are you not carrying things yourself?”

“Isn’t this more efficient?”

“...”

It would be if she also carried something alongside the dolls.

“Forget about me, do you have any idea what you’re going to do now?”

“That’s not a very good attempt at changing the topic.”

“So you don’t?”

“I don’t.”

Doing maintenance was off the table for now, until I could go to the camp again. And other than that, I had no ideas.

“Mm… I have no idea either, then.”

“I see.”

I suppressed a sigh, watching as another set of mercenaries was carrying things into the hall behind Lily. The men put down the crates and went back to fetch a new set of supplies. There were so many things, it made me wonder just what the heck they were carrying.

“Oh. I have an idea.”

“You do?”

“Nn. Maybe I should take stock of what they’re carrying here?”

With all the things being brought over, someone had to keep track of what they brought in, right?

“Taking stock? Is nobody doing that?”

“Well, if there is, I haven’t seen them.”

“In that case, it might be a good idea.”

“Right?”

And it was infinitely better than lazying around.

“But I need some writing utensils for that…”

“You should also ask the captain if there isn’t someone already doing that.”

“... Probably not.”

As a matter of fact, I had helped taking stock as part of the secretary work before. After all, the band was in desperate need of more well-educated people. Most people could at least do their numbers, but anything beyond that proved to be troublesome. And taking stock at least required people to read and write.

Then again, there’s not often a need to take stock… There are people responsible for that, after all. For example, the food supplies are managed by Mrs Korwen and the families.

There might be someone doing it already…

“I can’t just go and ask him, though… Guess that won’t work out either.”

“I could go and ask him for you?”

“Lily, do you even have time for that?”

I didn’t explicitly say that she was supposed to be working, but it probably got through to her. Although, if it did, she sure wasn’t letting it show.

“Don’t worry about that. I can do that alongside my work.”

“... I’m not going to help you if Greyward gets angry at you. Or the captain.”

That’d be her problem. Not mine.

“That won’t happen. This is just a short break, after all. As long as I do enough work, they won’t get mad.”

“...”

I wasn’t quite sure whether they really wouldn’t get mad or not but… Well, they probably wouldn’t. I hadn’t seen Korwen get truly mad at someone for slacking a little, yet. Excluding that boy and his mother, that got kicked out.

“But I really should get back to it or they really are going to get angry with me. See you later, Yumi.”

“Nn, have fun with work.”

“You too!”

Lily laughed and waved before leaving, the dolls following right behind her. I was a little surprised how they followed her without her saying a word…

“Makes me a little sad, huh…”

The dolls had managed to integrate themselves really well into the band. They followed orders and they worked hard.

“Meanwhile, I sit around again.”

I glanced over to the tentacle door. Nothing really had changed about it. The only thing different would be the place where Ria was squatting.

Makes you wonder just what she is looking at the entire time…

Even when I checked up on the tentacles and the door, there was too little I could see.

“Oh well… I wonder what Sis is doing.”

Maybe I should have asked Lily or Korwen about her. Neither Karen nor the others from her group had come through so far.

Nothing to do about that but wait. Maybe I should look around at what things they brought over?

I stood up from the chair and walked through the door and into the hall. The supplies they had brought over were slowly piling up, filling the hall. There was an incessant ‘One, two.’ in the background, as the mercenaries carried things in groups. Some were gasping for air after bringing something especially heavy, others wiped their sweat in a corner. A few others were doing some small-talk, taking a break.

As I stood there and watched my surroundings, I could hear a few mercenaries even talking about the tentacle door. Surprise and awe mixed into their voices, as they happily discussed how useful it was. Hearing their praise made me a little happy, to be honest.

It is useful, after all. Heck, if something like that existed in my old world… That’d be crazy. Though, I guess it did?

There was one thing that came to mind. My last moments over there. Some weird cultists performing some ritual that ultimately led me to this place. Honestly, even now I still had no idea what had happened there. Sure, my memories were muddled or outright gone but the ones I still remembered didn’t answer any questions either… If anything, I only had more questions.

“My memories, huh…”

When I closed my eyes and tried to remember my past… It was mostly blank. There was nothing but vague fragments here and there. 

“Hey, kid. Kid. Girl, lil’ lady!”

“Nn? What?”

“Ya standing in the way. Mind moving a little?”

“Oh… Ah! Sorry, I’ll get out of the way.”

I hurried to the side, letting the mercenaries through. They walked past me, setting down the heavy-looking crate.

“Sorry about that.”

“No problem, no problem. Just take care next time!”

“Nn, I will.”

Standing in the middle of the hall and spacing out had clearly been not my smartest choice. Seriously…

“Well, what to do… Oh, right, I wanted to take a look at the things they brought.”

That had been the reason I had come over in the first place.

“Where to start…”

I walked through the hall, evading the busy men and staring at the crates, sacks, bags and whatever else they had brought. Honestly, most of it just looked the same to me, so it probably didn’t really matter where I’d start.

“Then, let’s start over here.”

I walked over to the corner that was already filled to the brim. As such, the mercenaries weren’t placing anything else here anymore. I wouldn’t bother anyone with my bout of curiosity.

“Let’s see. Oh? What’s this?”

The first crate I opened… contained vegetables. Red and long with patches of dirt remaining on them. Otherwise known as Earth Cucus.

I don’t know. Food is important, sure, but I expected a little… Something a little more exciting?

Those were just my unfair expectations, sure, but I was nonetheless a little disappointed. Even if they were delicious. They were basically potatoes.

I opened the next crate and, sure enough, found more vegetables. The same kind even. Mrs Korwen had told me you could store them for months when I helped with cooking but…

Unsurprisingly, the next few crates were all filled with Earth Cucus as well. One might wonder what in the hell we might need so many of them for but… The band was large. Several hundred people to feed. I wouldn’t be surprised if one dinner was one or two crates worth of Earth Cucus.

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Okay, let’s check somewhere else… It’s obvious that they brought all the Earth Cucus to this corner. Guess someone is taking stock already, then?

With nobody to answer my question, I moved away from the mountain of vegetables in crates to find something else. Instead of the crates, I targeted a small mountain of piled up sacks this time.

“Let’s see… Show me what you hide… Oh?”

There was… something brown inside. A brown powder.

“This is flour, isn’t it? It’s flour, right?”

It was flour.

“Yumi, what are you doing?”

“Nn? Oh, Lily, you’re back already?”

“You sound like I am not supposed to be here.”

She had been ‘taking a break’ just earlier, after all. But I could see the crate behind her moving, so she was working this time. Or rather, the dolls were.

“So, what are you doing?”

“I was curious about the supplies, so I wanted to see what they brought over. Only found Earth Cucus and flour, though.”

I glanced at the sacks behind me.

“I wish I had that free time.”

“Want to switch places?”

“No thank you.”

Too bad.

“But you shouldn’t mess around with the supplies too much. Mrs Korwen’s going to be mad.”

“That’d be bad… Well, I guess I’ll stop.”

It was mostly food anyway.

“If we have all the supplies here, I wonder if we can stop eating rations today.”

“If you have someone who can cook or bake bread.”

“...”

The cooking part… Well, I was still too unfamiliar with a lot of the ingredients. I didn’t want to give anyone a stomach ache. Especially since I probably wouldn’t even get one myself.

“Now I’d really like some fresh bread.”

“Can you bake?”

“Unfortunately, no. I know what ingredients are needed but I never saw the process myself.”

“Huh…”

That was a bit unexpected.

“I mean, I was the only one among the Black Guards who could cook at all.”

“... Ah right. That was a thing.”

Forgot about that part…

“Nn? But if nobody could cook… Who taught you to cook? Was it Yumias? Or did you learn it yourself?”

“I’ve never seen Mama cook… No, there was someone else who taught me. They’re… not travelling with the Black Guards anymore.”

“Oh, I see.”

So, there used to be someone who could cook among the Black Guards, huh… But… Not travelling with them anymore? It didn’t sound like that person had passed away but… Maybe it was better not to pry on that topic.

“Unfortunately, I never got the chance to learn how to bake bread. Maybe I’ll get the chance another time.”

“Nn, I’m sure you will.”

“I sure hope so. Fresh bread is delicious! Delicious, I say!”

It definitely was better than old bread.

“I’m sure we’ll get the chance to have fresh bread more often now. I recall Mrs Korwen saying that having a proper kitchen would go a long way towards things like this.”

There wasn’t an oven readily available while travelling, so fresh bread really wasn’t something you could easily get. The only time we had fresh bread… was in the Hollow Fort?

“I sure hope so. I’m looking forward to it!”

“Nn, I am too.”

Not only fresh bread but all the things we couldn’t do because of a lack of time or facilities. By no means was the dinner bad, it was really good but just the image of how much better it could get with a proper kitchen… Yes, I was looking forward to it, too.

“... Lily, you should probably go back before you slack off again.”

“I’d love to but the exit is blocked.”

“Huh?”

The exit was blocked? Wait, did something happen to the door while I was looking away?

“Nn?”

Except, the door was still open. But Lily was right that nobody was coming through right now.

“Is something going on?”

“You’ll see in a moment. Ah, we should probably make space.”

“Huh…”

It wasn’t like we were in the way but Lily and I still decided to go to the wall and watch the door. Not that I knew what we were waiting for.

“Oh, there they come.”

“Nn? Oh, it’s sis.”

A familiar silver-haired head entered the tent on the other side of the door. She was entering with her back first, taking one step at a time as she looked at the ground. I could hear some people saying something to her, upon which she stopped.

“Are they carrying something?”

“They are.”

“... Something big?”

“Yes.”

So that’s why the exit was blocked. They let them through first.

As I watched together with Lily, Sis and whoever else was out there had made some progress, taking one step at a time. The thing they were carrying slowly came into sight but… it was covered by a large blanket. Still, I felt something familiar about it.

Curious, I took a look with my mana sight and…

“Oh. It’s that thing.”

The large crystal we had gotten from the roper. The artificial mana crystal, created by some fallen empire. They were slowly carrying it into the tent.

“Okay, one step. Ah! Careful there. Don’t let it hit anything! Yes, that’s good. Now, slowly… Slowly… Yes, good. Very good.”

The other people carrying slowly came into sight as well. Sure enough, it was the group that Karen belonged to.

“We nearly got it! It’s the last spurt, you can do it!”

And the one giving directions as they carried the massive crystal… was Korwen himself.

“Karen, be careful. Watch your step.”

“Yes… Captain!”

Karen gasped for air as she answered Korwen, She watched the ground as she slowly stepped over the doorstep—if you could call it as such—and entered the hall proper.

“Good, good. Now, don’t rush. We’re at the last part.”

One after another, the men including Korwen stepped through the tentacle door and into the hall. Once they had confirmed they were all inside, they made their way towards the wall. I hadn’t noticed before but there was some contraption placed at that, probably serving as some kind of underlay.

“Now, let’s get it down. Slowly! Slowly… Wait, slowly, I said! Stop! Stop! It’s tilting!”

The whole group froze, as the crystal slowly tilted to one corner.

“Get it up a little again. Yes… Yes, like that is good. Okay, again. And this time, slowly!”

Several moments later, they had finally set down the crystal on the ground. They all cautiously let go of the crystal. The group stared at the crystal for several seconds before—

“... Woooh! We did it!”

“We did it, guys!”

“Wooohoooo!”

—they all cheered.

“Haaa… Good work, everyone! Take a break now, you deserve it!”

“””Yes, Captain!”””

Instead of dispersing, most of them immediately dropped down on the floor, catching their breath, including Karen.

“That thing must’ve been really heavy,” I said, astonished at the view.

“I think they tried to carry it with a carrying aid but it broke outside. So, yes, I think it is heavy.”

If it was that heavy, I was quite surprised they managed to get it into Ria’s wagon… That couldn’t have been easy. Nor getting it out of there again.

“Well then, I’ll go back to work before the captain’s going to scold me. Later.”

“Nn, later.”

“Come you dolls, back to work we go!”

And there went Lily, together with the dolls. I watched her for a moment before going over to Karen’s group.

“Good work there, Sis.”

“Haaa… Haa? Ohh… Yumi…”

“You look tired.”

“It was… heavy…”

There was sweat flowing down her face, a sign of how exhausting it was. And with Karen having so much stamina and strength, seeing her exhausted was definite proof of it.

“Err… Need something to drink?”

“Please…”

“Wait a moment.”

“Ahh…”

I found a small barrel with water that had been carried over already, together with a crate full of wooden mugs. I filled one and brought it over to Karen, who thanked me and gulped it down.

“Ahhh… Thank you, Yumi.”

“Nn, no problem. Good work. Want another?”

“Yes, please.”

I received the mug and went to fetch her another one, only to be interrupted by a voice from behind.

“Hey, it’s unfair you only bring your girl some! Bring us water, too!”

“Yes, exactly! We’re exhausted, too!”

“What he said!”

“You guys…”

Well, it couldn’t be helped… I took another mug, and filled both, bringing one to Karen and handing the other to one of the other mercenaries. Of course, that only got more shouts out of them, but carrying more than one in each hand was bound to end in a disaster. Their grips weren’t so handy that you could carry multiple in one hand. Plus, they were big and heavy.

In other words, I had to do a few more trips, until they were all happy. The moment they all had something to drink, they had already all forgotten about it and they were making merry among themselves.

“What a troublesome bunch…”

“But you still humoured them.”

“Nn, well, they did some hard work, didn’t they?”

I sat down next to Karen as we spoke, knocking against the crystal. It didn’t even move the tiniest bit when I did.

“Ahh… It was hard… I don’t want to do this again.”

“Ahaha…”

That… might be a wish that wouldn’t come true. After all, Korwen wouldn’t let the crystal sit here, doing nothing.

“Did you have to get it out of Ria’s wagon?”

“Mm, that’s right. That part was still fine, actually. Did you know that you can open the entire front of her wagon?”

“Wait, seriously?”

“I was surprised, too. We only had to get the crystal down from there.”

That explained how they got it inside. At least, they didn’t have to squeeze through the door with that thing.

“Carrying it the whole way was a little harder… I never thought it could be this hard. And then, in front of the tent, the board we used gave away and broke under its weight.”

“Ahh…”

“Mr Captain was quite upset. It seems it was a reinforced carrying aid.”

Yet, it still couldn’t carry that weight. Made me wonder how much this crystal actually weighed.

“So you had to carry the last part without the aid?”

“Yes… It’s so smooth it’s hard to get a proper grip… and if you let go…”

Your feet would be mush for sure.

“But now it’s here. Haaa…”

Karen leaned towards my side, resting her upper body against me.

“Nn, you did well, Sis.”

“Mm… Praise me more.”

“You did well. Good job, Sis.”

I gave her head a few pats, making her grin happily. 

“But I wonder… Why did the Captain already bring it over? Wouldn’t it have been easier to transport it with the wagons later on?”

”Apparently, he doesn’t want to leave it in the camp. Because it’s such a rare and dangerous crystal.”

“Ahh…”

The crystal contained a huge amount of mana, even if it proved impossible to extract currently. Even then, it was surely quite tempting for some people. The faster it was brought to safety, the better.

“I guess that would be better…”

But where did he want to store the crystal now? It might be in the fort now but…

Let’s hope for everyone’s sake, that they don’t have to get it to the surface.

I put my arm around Karen and gave her a few more head pats.

“Mm… More.”

“Nn, come here, Sis.”

“Ehehe!”

Ignoring the stares from our surroundings, I spoiled Karen until she was thoroughly satisfied.

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