Chapter 22: of Soul Expansion: Tentacle Report

"Yumi... What is this..."

"A collar."

"And why do you have a collar in your hands?"

"Because Korwen gave it to me."

It was the expected result. Karen was extremely displeased by the collar. In contrast, Lily was quite curious.

"And why did he give you a collar?"

"... Because he believes I might need it."

"You don't."

"No, Sis, you see..."

"You don't."

"... Okay."

Karen made her point clear before I even got to explain anything. I apologised in my heart to Korwen.

"Well, Karen. Maybe you should listen to her first? I don't think he would give her that collar without a reason."

"Regardless of the reason, I don't want that."

"Well... Mh... Karen. Listen for a moment."

Lily leaned over to her and whispered something into her ear. Most likely, she didn't want me to hear it. I was even more convinced of that when Karen's face grew red.

"Lily! What are you saying?! I can't allow that!"

"But it might be your only chance, you know?"

"..."

"Think carefully. There are benefits as well. And Yumi herself doesn't seem to be outright against it, right?"

"Nn, well. It's maybe a bit troubling but if it's with Sis, I don't mind."

"See? You should seize the chance!"

"Lily, shut up. You're just trying to tempt me! I won't fall for that!"

"Well, but weren't you bothered by the..."

"Lily!"

"Oops."

"Sis was bothered by something?"

"No, Yumi, I wasn't bothered by anything!"

No, that pretty much screamed that she was bothered. But she was bothered and it was likely related to me, wasn't it?

"Did I do something wrong?"

"No, you didn't!"

"Haa..."

It was related to me, wasn't it? I wondered what it was about.

"Anyway! Let's forget that! Tell me why Korwen gave you that collar!"

She tried to change the topic. I smiled wryly. It wasn't a really good attempt but I decided to pretend it was fine. We had to talk about that anyway.

"He said Lafria Kingdom would find out quickly that I am a monster and without the collar, I won't be able to enter the city. Even if I were to hide my mana, it would be unlikely that I can slip through. He said he was hoping to get special permission for me to enter without but until then this would be the only method."

"You won't be able to enter the city? That is..."

Karen looked a bit troubled. She understood why the collar was necessary now.

"Still... Is there no other way? What about the special permission he was talking about?"

"He isn't even sure he'd be able to get it, so..."

"Karen, a case like Yumi is pretty unique so I doubt they ever even thought of something like that happening. It may take forever and the chances are high that they'll just reject it. Even if they gave permission, it would be difficult to exempt her everywhere, right?"

"But... I still don't like it."

"Not to mention, we have to be cautious whether we want to even make a fuss about it. With the collar, she may just slip through without anyone noticing but if we make a fuss, the authorities will learn about her."

"Uhh... But I don't want Yumi to be treated like a slave or a pet."

She was genuinely thinking about me. It really made me happy, but right now, we didn't have many other options. Unless I stayed outside all the time.

"You might not... have to worry about that," interjected someone suddenly from the side.

Suprised, we turned around to see Ria taking a seat next to us.

"What do you mean we have no need to worry?" asked Karen with a confused expression.

"She won't be treated like a slave or pet... You can just hide the collar... It's not necessary to be worn on the neck... like a slave collar..."

"It's not?"

"No... The collar works from anywhere... It's just more convenient... To place it on the neck..."

She was talking in a slow manner and looked like she was falling asleep any second.

"In the first place... I doubt the collar will even work..."

"It won't?"

I tilted my head. Why wouldn't it?

"Do you know... how the collar works?"

"Well, no."

"It doesn't control the monster... It gives the monster an incentive to follow commands... It works because monsters follow their instincts... You would probably feel something from a command... But it wouldn't be able to control you... Most likely..."

She turned to me.

"Then there's also the consumption of mana... The collar needs mana like every other magic item... And the more powerful the monster... The more mana it needs... To fool it..."

"I'm not particularly strong though..."

"Strength... Is not necessarily something tangible..."

"Nn?"

What did she mean with that?

"Don't worry about it... Once you get the permission... You don't have to worry about it... You can just keep the collar... And treat it as a toy..."

No, why should I treat it as a toy? It's a collar, I'm not into that kind of... No, I thought about it before, didn't I? Does that mean I'm into that? No way. Have I possibly turned into some pervert?!

Oblivious to my inner turmoil, Karen turned to Ria with a difficult to describe expression.

"We just talked about it but what if they don't give that kind of permission? Would they even consider it? And what if they find out about Yumi and they..."

She stopped, swallowing her last words.

"There is no need to worry about that... There were precedents... After all..."

"A precedent?"

Lily joined in as well.

"Yes... You've talked with her already..."

Ria's gaze turned in the direction of four girls who were playing tag under the careful watch of Korwen's wife and some other women. It was Rina with the three little ones.

"Emily... That girl is a bit unique as well..."

"Emily? That reminds me, she said she doesn't know her own race..."

"That's right... We can only speculate as well... We believe she is related to the elven people. But considering she is of the size of any other humanoid... We believe she might be a high elf..."

"A high elf? Aren't those stuff from legends? They exist?"

Lily's reaction was full of surprise. Meanwhile, I was worried about something completely different.

The size of any other humanoid? Are elves... not those blonde, blue-eyed, super handsome or beautiful people with long ears? Ah, Emily isn't blonde though. But she is cute.

"They certainly exist... We do know there are living ones around... But they either secluded themselves or went to a faraway place... The elven folk has stories about them... About their ancestors..."

Ria took a waterskin out of her bag and took a sip. Lily looked completely dumbfounded.

"They really exist?! Like, really?!"

"They do..."

"That's... Amazing!"

Nn? Did Lily... like stuff like this?

Ria smiled wryly. Maybe Lily wasn't the first one to ask her that. I was a bit surprised that Lily liked legends, though. Or maybe, she was the dreaming kind that loved fairytales? I was a bit interested in what kind of stories there were, so maybe I should ask her sometime about it.

"I can tell you about them some other time... For now... Let's talk about other things..."

"Please do! I'd be glad to hear it!"

"I will then... But for now... I wanted to tell you about the permission... They use a magic item... To discern people's origin... It also detects monsters... But the magic item gives only alarm... When something unknown tries to pass... Generally... Manakin always cause it to go off... But rare races tend to do it too...  They have to be registered to the machine... And it stops going off when you pass... As manakin always have to be registered... As individuals..."

"So, you say... They'd just have to register Yumi as safe in the magic item and everything would be solved?" asked Karen for confirmation.

"That's the case..."

I wished she would just speak in full sentences. Following those half sentences was slowly becoming hard.

"There was also... An uproar at the academy... They wanted to study her... Also... Emily is actually quite strong and wild... So she is classified as a dangerous magician now... Though she isn't yet a magician... But Korwen made them shut up... So that should be fine too... "

"Shut up, you say... But then, why did Korwen even give Yumi the collar? That sounds all pretty simple to me."

"He doesn't want to take chances... And he probably only consulted the tamers about the collar... I guess... They don't know how it works in detail... They don't have to either..."

"Nn... So he just thought better safe than sorry?"

"Yes... That is the... the... case..."

"Miss Ria? Are you alright?!"

"Ria... is enough... No... Miss..."

"Nevermind that, are you fine?"

"I'm... fine..."

And with that, her head met the table with a loud bang.

A few seconds later we could hear soft breathing, indicating she was asleep.

"Did she... just fall asleep?"

"I think so, Sis. That is... Amazing."

"I agree. Right, Lily? Lily?"

"..."

We turned to the girl next to us who didn't react. She was staring at the sky and lost in thought. Or maybe her dreams? We didn't know.

"Lily? Are you okay?"

"Eh? Ah, I'm fine?"

"Did you like the thought of elves that much?" I asked curiously.

"High Elves! They are different! We're talking about high elves! They are basically a legend, you know? You hear about them only from tales, where they help the hero. There's barely anything known about them!"

According to Ria, there were things known about them, though. But let's not burst her bubble, her sparkling eyes were too adorable to look at.

"Yes, Lily, calm down. We understand. For now, what should we do with her? And... With that?"

Karen glanced at the collar that was still in my hands.

"Well... How about we first talk to Korwen again? There's still a lot of time until we reach Lafria, right?"

"Nn, I guess we should."

"So... You're not going to wear it? I was kind of looking forward to it. Yumi with a collar..."

"Lily..."

In the end... She was still Lily. No matter what, she was still Lily.

"Whatever, let's get Miss Ria... or Ria... Into the wagon, okay? Lily, help me. Yumi, can you take her things and bring them along?"

"Nn, will do."

"Got it, Karen."

We moved Ria into the wagon and put a blanket over and made sure she was comfortable. Then we returned back to the table and watched Rina playing with the girls. Which was a rather one-sided game. Rina had no chance against those three energy bundles. Especially not at tag.

We watched them for a while without saying anything. We'd soon have to move again and I could see some people already stowing away the tables and everything.

If I want to talk about that... I probably should do it now...

I grabbed my pouch and took out the envelope I was given.

"What is that Yumi? A letter?"

"Nn... Well, something like that."

Lily and Karen curiously observed how I opened the envelope and took out the photos.

"What are those... Pictures? Wait, isn't that the hut in the slums?"

"Nn, that's right."

"Those pictures are good."

"Those are photos."

"What are photos?"

"Nn... They are pictures made with a little machine... They were common at my place."

"Huh... Wait, your place? But Yumi..."

"Nn... They shouldn't be here."

Karen was confused and bewildered. Lily looked just as confused but somehow for a bit of a different reason.

"What's with that building, Yumi? It looks so... weird? Is it made of stone? Or wood?"

"Ah... I think it's mostly stone?"

To be honest, I had no idea how these were built either. I probably never actually cared about it.

"Stone... It looks really impressive... It's not... carved from one stone, is it?"

"I don't think so, no... But I don't really know the specifics either, sorry..."

"Ah, no. I'm sorry for diverting the topic. I just never saw anything like that. Where did you even come from anyway? I did travel a fair bit but I'm sure buildings like this would at least cause rumours about them."

"Eh?"

She... didn't know?

No way? Let's think for a moment... She knows I'm a monster, right? She found out by herself after all. Then... We never talked about everything else, did we?

I looked over to Karen but she was stumped at her reaction too.

"Lily... We never told you?"

"Told me what?"

"About me..."

"Well, I know you're a monster, that you're 22-years-old and originally weren't a girl?"

"So, we never talked about everything else? I'm sorry, I was sure we did..."

I held my head. We completely forgot that.

"Well, then you can just tell me now? I thought you didn't want to talk about it, so I never asked..."

"... You're right. Well, I guess it's better if you know."

And so, I finally told her everything that had happened up until we met.

"Huh... A different world... That sounds cool."

"You're taking it rather easy, aren't you?"

"Well, there are many stories about otherworldly heroes and creatures. In addition, there's occasionally rumours about heroes that were summoned from the heavens. They probably are mostly propaganda by the church but hearing your story, it might not be a complete lie..."

"Other people that were summoned... I might want to meet them..."

If they were from my world, I might get some information. It was unlikely they'd know anything about me though.

Returning from the short thought I could see Karen's face closing in with tears in her eyes.

"Yumi! Don't leave me!"

"Eh? I won't?"

Why was she close to crying now?

"Karen, doesn't she just want to meet them cause she's curious?"

"But, what if Yumi wants to return?"

Oh, so it was that. With a wry smile, I leaned over to Karen and hugged her.

"I won't leave you, Sis. True, I do want to know more about that place and about my missing memories, but I am quite happy here, you know? I don't want to leave you."

"Yu... Yumi!"

She returned my hug and squeezed me strongly. It hurt but I pretended it didn't. Sometimes, a strong hug was simply necessary.

"You two, don't forget me here..."

With those words, I could feel someone pushing onto my back.

"Lily?"

"Ehehe, I won't let you two exclude me anymore! You're now my cute girls and I firmly declare my ownership!"

"That's not how it works... We're not objects..."

"Yumi is right. We're not objects."

"Don't mind the details!"

She squeezed us strongly.

"I won't ever let you two go!"

"Lily, we are not going anywhere."

"I won't let anyone else take you either!"

How dependable. I was squeezed between Karen and Lily and it was really warm, really comfortable.

This must be heaven, right? There's no way, I would ever give this up.

But there was someone she was missing.

"Lily, what about Rina? She's Sis' little sister."

"That's a weird way of phrasing it, somehow. Shouldn't she be your sister as well then? But well..."

She took a glance to the side. The four girls had stopped playing tag and were much like us sitting together and talking. Well, it looked mostly like Emily was the one doing the talking, but that was fine. It was just like her.

"I don't quite know yet... She's nice, I like her, but..."

I looked upward to gaze at Lily's expression. Yet, I couldn't quite figure out what kind of face she was making. It looked like a confused smile.

"But?" asked Karen after a short pause.

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"I don't know. She's weird. I don't know how to deal with her!"

Weird? I didn't think her particularly weird. And that she didn't know how to deal with her? That surprised me a bit.

Lily let us go and sprawled herself out on the table. In the process, she pushed the photos away so I quickly caught them.

"So, Yumi? What's up with those... photos? Considering Karen said one is the hut you were in... Did someone want to meet you?"

Lily quickly changed the topic. It was convenient for me, so I overlooked it.

"Nn... Lily. I met Yumias."

"Eh? Yumias? You mean, you met mama?"

"..."

"..."

She had barely spread herself out and then she was already back up due to the surprise. Karen and I were just slightly stumped at her choice of words.

I thought that monster was joking when she said that Lily used to call her mama... That's surprising... How cute.

I had a vaguely distinct feeling that bringing that up with her 'papa' wouldn't end well, though. At least I honestly prayed that man's eyes weren't so bad that he would consider someone like that as his partner.

Still, I was a bit curious about why Lily called her that.

"Nn... I met her..."

"... Ah."

Maybe she noticed our reactions or she just realised it by herself, at least she went slightly red.

"Eh... Yeah... So... What did ma... What did Yumias say?"

"... It's fine, Lily. You can call her mama. It's fine."

"..."

She hid her face behind her hands now. It was fun, teasing her. It felt like I finally had the chance for payback.

"Well then, I met Lily's mama at that hut."

"Yumi, you're doing this on purpose, aren't you?"

I had a distinct feeling I asked that question just recently myself.

"I want to see more of the cute, embarrassed Lily, so yes."

Ah, she stopped reacting. Meanwhile, Karen had kept silent, thinking about something.

"Hey, Yumi..."

"Yes, Sis?"

"I don't quite understand why Lily is embarrassed now? Or the times before?"

"..."

"Isn't it normal to call your parents affectionally?"

"Well, it is. Nn."

Ah, Karen wasn't stumped at how Lily said it. Well, it probably wasn't surprising, she hadn't met the person herself. That thing screamed everything but parent.

We looked at Lily who made herself as small as possible right now. Karen put a hand on her shoulder.

"Lily. Isn't it fine? You see them as your parents, right? So, shouldn't you just treat them like that?"

"Karen..."

Her face resurfaced from behind her hands, there were some tears in the corners of her eyes. Maybe I overdid it a bit.

"Sorry, Lily. I didn't want to tease you that much. It was just so cute I couldn't help myself."

"Yumi, that's not exactly a good excuse..."

What else should I say then, Sis?

Karen put an arm around Lily and hugged her closely. I was still in between them so I was squished again. And this time, due to my lower height I was squished in a very comfortable way between their chests.

Yet, right now I wanted to tell them what had happened. It probably wouldn't take that long anymore until they finished packing, and we would have to leave the bench soon as well. Rina and the girls also went back in. Maybe out of consideration she didn't come over first.

It broke my heart having to end this. Totally not because I couldn't enjoy this feeling anymore then.

"Sis, Lily. We don't have much time left."

"Oh, you're right, then go ahead and tell us."

"... Eh?"

There was no intention of letting me go. Was I supposed to tell them like this? Squished like this? I feared my reasoning wouldn't hold out that long.

I subtly tried to squeeze myself free but Karen just pulled Lily closer in response. Obviously, that caused me to be completely unable to move now.

"Sis..."

"Yes?"

"I can't move."

"Is that so?"

"Nn."

"..."

There was no release. At some point, I could feel some movement from Lily. She wrapped her arms around me and hugged me actively.

I sighed as I was giving up. I didn't dislike it anyway.

Squeezed in between these unreasonable yet adorable girls, I told them about my encounter and the result as best as I could.

"Wait, Yumi. So you say she, uh, did something to you?"

"Nn, she explained it as if she just taught me something. Well, it's not quite wrong but it does feel uncomfortable when you just suddenly, well, know something you didn't before."

I had told them everything that had happened in the short time I was away from the camp. We were now standing next to the wagon, but Karen refused to let us go so we were still hugging awkwardly.

Now, she was worried about whatever Yumias did to me towards the end of my meeting with her.

I couldn't really explain it either. But the result was clear. For me.

"It does sound a bit scary when some unknown knowledge just suddenly pops into your head..."

"It's not just knowledge, there are some things I... can't really explain either."

"What things?"

"Well..."

I thought for a moment and decided on the simplest one for now.

"Mh? Oh, your hair is moving. But couldn't you do this before as well?"

"Nn, I could, but it's a bit different now."

I began wrapping us three in my hair.

"This actually, feels quite nice to touch," commented Lily.

"It does, but Yumi, are you sure this is fine? Isn't it... growing again?"

"Nn, it is. But it's fine now."

It was fine. Because, finally, my biggest trouble was solved.

I released us so we stopped looking like a pink wrapped roll and  I returned my hair. To its original size. Which simply was down to my waist.

"Mh, can't see."

Karen tried turning herself and looked behind me. Lily followed suit and looked shocked.

"Huh, so it really is back to its original length... Is it possible to go even shorter?"

"Nn.. No, it isn't. It's more like, I'm stretching it now rather than growing. I just didn't know how to pull it back."

"Yumi... You looked better with the long hair."

"Lily, it's still long."

Not to mention it was a pain if it was dragging on the ground. I was a bit exasperated at her priorities.

"But I mean, the longer version. Somehow, it's like... something is missing without?"

She seemed really down somehow.

"Lily, if it drags on the floor, it's a real pain."

"Then, just keep it long enough it doesn't drag?"

"Well..."

I turned towards Karen as much as possible, seeking help.

"Why not humour her request? It is not like you need to care for it in any special way and I think most people here only saw you like that."

"Uhh... Well, I guess as long as it doesn't drag."

I stretched my hair up until it was long enough to reach my ankles. I was glad nobody actually stepped on my hair all this time. It would have surely hurt like mad if someone did.

Thinking about it, Lily only saw me like this as well, right? Maybe it's because it was her first impression? They say the first impression is always the strongest. Well, as long as it isn't a bother it's not like I dislike it either.

"Yes, that's more like Yumi."

Lily was quite satisfied, a smile on her face.

"So, what else changed?" inquired Karen.

"Well, I can move it a lot better. It's more like moving my arms or legs now... as if it was actually a part of me."

"But you could move it before, right?"

"Nn, but it was more like... I don't know. Like trying to move my leg with the help of my arms? Thinking about it now, it seems really weird and wrong."

I shuddered a bit. With a single touch, this monster changed so much for me. It scared me thinking what else she might be able to do.

"Huh... I can't say I can imagine that."

Lily freed her arm and tried pulling her leg up and then left and right. It looked ridiculous.

"It's weird."

"Nn... It is."

I smiled wryly as Lily continued moving her leg like that. We were still firmly in Karen's grasp so she couldn't move it a lot. Speaking of which, it was slowly becoming a bit too warm for comfort as well. Fortunately, or maybe unfortunately, I somehow got used to their breasts being pressed against me, so I didn't pay much mind to it anymore. It was comfortable, though.

Somehow... I feel like I lost something important right now.

Alas, there was nothing I could do against that, right now.

"Another thing is, the way I perceive mana."

"The way you perceive mana?"

"Nn... I can't explain it really well either... But it's... Deeper? Clearer? It feels different and more natural..."

"That's... really not saying much," commented Lily.

There wasn't really something I could do about it. I didn't understand it myself, after all. Mana was around us everywhere. In the air and inside ourselves, even in the ground, the water, rocks and stones, everywhere. And I was just better at actually noticing this.

"Well, not much we can do if you don't know how to explain it. Are there any other things? Because Korwen's wife is waving towards us. I think we should wrap it up."

Karen pointed towards the wagons' door, where someone was peeking out of the wagon and waving at us.

"Nn, mostly, I think? There are two more things..."

"Two?"

"Nn... One is simple."

It might be better to show them, so I just went and showed my newly learnt skill.

"Mh? Oh?"

"Something feels off? Oh? Yumi, you're hiding your mana?"

"Nn, I know how to do it now."

"That's convenient."

"It is, it's also simple."

Once you understood how it worked, it was really easy. It was just changing the way the mana crystal absorbed the mana, in fact. In the normal case, it actively absorbed mana from your surroundings, pulling it in. But when hiding, it instead just slowly absorbed the mana that I naturally possessed inside my own body.

Now, changing that, unfortunately didn't have an effect on the amount of mana I had inside my body. The stupid crystal was still greedily eating it all so I would probably still have to use an outside source for most magic. At least that was something I could actually do.

"That's great, and the other thing?" asked Lily innocently.

"..."

"Yumi?"

"Well..."

"What's the matter?"

"You see... I'm a tentacle monster, right?"

"Yes, you are... Oh... Wait..."

"I told you I can change my limbs... right? But... I know their use now... And the things I can do with them..."

This was actually something I really didn't wish to know. Because all their uses were, as expected, sexual. There were even various kinds of tentacles. All with different functions. Some of which made me severely question everything I knew about biology.

Magic... Is a scary thing. Especially when you throw it into nature.

"Well..."

"That is..."

Lily and Karen both awkwardly averted their gazes. Obviously, they understood what I implied.

"It's, it's okay, Yumi! You're still my little sister! Even if you are..."

Karen went red as she tried to comfort me. Alas, she wasn't exactly doing a good job at it.

"Hey, Yumi?"

"Nn? What is it, Lily?"

"I'm just wondering but..."

She paused for a moment.

"Well, you are a tentacle monster, right?"

"Nn."

I thought it was a bit late to confirm this, but I nodded anyway.

"Tentacle monsters are known for... reproducing with other races..."

"... Nn."

"So... You could get us pregnant?"

"..."

"..."

Eh?

I stared at her with blank eyes. My brain was refusing to process the words I just heard.

"Wait, Lily?! What are you asking her?"

"But aren't you curious?"

"Well, I am, but still..."

So, you were curious as well...

I rubbed my temples.

"So, can you or can't you?"

She returned the attention towards me.

"Well..."

"Well?"

"I don't quite know."

"Huh? But I thought you knew about their uses?"

"Yes, I do, but..."

"But?"

"I don't think it's the kind of pregnant you would usually imagine..."

Korwen explained it to me earlier but I knew it as well from the way these worked, but most of these types of monsters turned their victims into seedbeds. They were technically made pregnant but not with their own offspring, so to say. I was sure there were proper words or explanations for it, but I didn't know them. If I knew something like this would happen, maybe I would have paid more attention to biology. Though, I couldn't be sure I wouldn't have forgotten it anyway by now, along with my other memories. After all, I wouldn't notice even if I did know those before.

Nonetheless, something told me, this wasn't all there was to it.

"It's not?"

"No, I think, it's mostly the same way as it is for most tentacle monsters, from what Korwen told me..."

"Huh... But you don't know for sure?"

"No... I am rather sure, but... something tells me that it's not necessarily like that."

I didn't know whether Yumias granted me all knowledge in regards to what I am. I wouldn't put it past her to just give me part of the knowledge just to mess with me.

"That's quite vague."

"Nn, I'm sorry."

"No need to apologise, it's still interesting."

"Is it?"

"Well, I mean, you could make many little Yumis, right?"

"..."

"Imagine there being dozens of Yumis!"

I didn't want to imagine it. One of me was more than enough.

"Many Yumis..."

"Sis, please don't go there... That's a dangerous thought."

Karen was gazing towards the sky and murmuring. I feared she might get weird ideas so I quickly tried to nip them in the bud.

I had no intention of making use of these questionable abilities.

"Hey, you girls. Get in, we're leaving now!"

We heard Korwen's wife shouting. They were already waiting for us, so we should put a stop to the discussion here. Frankly, I was a bit relieved. Sometimes, Lily's antics were really bad for my mental health.

"Well, guess we have to continue talking about this some other time."

"Nn..."

Lily, please don't bring this up again...

"Let's get in, you two."

"Nn."

Karen let us out of her hug and we moved into the wagon. Emily, Maya and Sele immediately pulled me over while Rina went over to Lily and Karen. Barely a minute later, the caravan set forth towards our destination.

I must say, I am a bit looking forward to Lafria Kingdom.

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