Chapter 25: of Soul Expansion: A Maiden’s Troubles

"Are you sure this is fine, vice-captain, sir?"

"It's fine, it's fine. You worry too much, Fenna."

"..."

Fenna was looking at Merim as if he was a suspicious person.

"It'll be fine, see? They haven't shot at us yet."

"... Not yet?"

I honestly preferred if they didn't shoot at us at any time.

Right now, I was in front of the refugee's barricade, together with Merim, Ria and Fenna and her squad.

Apparently, the refugees accepted the offer Korwen made and so he sent us together with Merim to take a look at the people we'll bring along and the compensation they offered.

Now, one might wonder why I was here and not Karen or Lily...

The reason was simple, really. Monsters generally couldn't get ill. Apparently, most diseases weren't able to survive in the highly mana-contaminated bodies of monsters, so they basically never got ill.

It did make me question however how a monster was even alive in the traditional sense. If I recalled correctly, most living beings had various kinds of microorganisms inside their bodies. If a bacterium couldn't survive inside the body of a monster, then how could those microorganisms survive? And what about a virus?

Alas, there was nobody around me who could answer that question. It still bothered me.

In any case, since the chances that I could get ill were low, I was sent along. In the worst case, where Ria couldn't approach the patients for fear of being infected, it was my job to take a look and if possible do something. I had no idea what this something was supposed to be, so I prayed it wouldn't come to that.

"We're here to take a look at the ill!" shouted Merim over the palisade.

A grumpy looking old man with small horns on his head peeked over it and then disappeared again.

Nothing else happened.

"Will you let us in?!"

No reaction to his second shout.

"Oh, come on. Is it really necessary to make things more troublesome now?"

"Well, vice-captain, are you sure they really accepted the offer and you didn't misunderstand anything?"

"They haven't shot arrows at us yet, so I'm sure."

"I am filled with doubts about using the lack of arrows as a confirmation..."

"It's fine, you worry too much."

Fenna shook her head in exasperation.

"Oh? Something is happening."

Next to the crude palisade, there appeared a small group of people. The old man from before as well as two young men and a young woman.

"You're that scum that'll help us? What are you standing around for? Get in, and where's the food, we need food!" bellowed the old man arrogantly.

Not only did he call us scum he even made demands.

"Grandfather, you can't just make demands like that!" scolded one of the young men.

"Pah! They're just a bunch of humans! They should be honoured they can serve us! Now, where's the food! And if you have alcohol, bring that too!"

I barely heard a few sentences from this man but I was already sure I'd never get along with him. Good thing I didn't have to anyway.

"Good sir, I am afraid you misunderstand. We're offering our help for a price. If we aren't being paid, we'll just take our leave."

"Empty threats! I have nothing for lowly animals like you!"

"Grandfather! Please stop! Please excuse him, the journey was arduous, he's just a bit agitated."

"Just a bit, huh..."

"Of course, we will pay for your help."

Merim nodded towards the young man.

"Then, we would like to discuss the payment and also about who we will escort to the Hollow Bridge. I said it earlier, but we can at most take around four dozen along."

"That's fine, please come this way."

"Aino! You can't intend to really take these strangers into our camp, can you?! I won't allow that!"

"Grandfather, please! Ino, please take grandfather back to the camp. And don't leave him unsupervised..."

"Aino! Do you dare defy your grandfather?! Have you no respect for your elders?!"

I slightly felt bad for the poor guy. His grandfather was really doing all he could to undermine his efforts.

The other young man escorted the grandfather away. Forcefully.

Why did they even let him come here in the first place?

"I am really sorry, he boasted he knew how to handle negotiations so I was sure..."

"As long as we get paid he can shout all he wants."

"That's... reassuring to hear."

The young man bowed his head slightly.

"My name is Aino, a pleasure to meet you."

"Merim Jockson."

"Sir Jockson is it. Please come in, we'll show you around."

The young man, Aino, motioned us along and we followed him and his female companion, who kept silent at Aino's side.

The inside camp was even worse than what I imagined it to be. There were women and even children, nearly all of them having horns, small wings or tails, holding whatever tools they could arm themselves with and glaring at us suspiciously. Many of the children looked malnourished, even worse than the ones I saw in the slums. Some had wounds on their bodies that were poorly, if at all, treated. They all looked dirty. Not the dirty of not seeing the shower for a few days, like me, but veritably dirty, covered in mud, dirt and things I was probably better of not knowing.

They had no tents or anything, they sat only on the ground, exposed to the elements. In the back, we could see many, many people lying on the ground. Those must've been the ill ones.

"That looks even worse than I imagined it to be."

"Ahhh... We'll have to figure something out. Ria, Yumi, go and take a look at the ill. Fenna, go with them and protect them in case something happens. The rest stays with me, I'll discuss with Mr Aino... What we'll do now."

"Mhh... Understood."

"Nn, got it."

"Understood, vice-captain."

We left Merim behind and walked towards the ill people, the woman that was with Aino followed us.

There were at least around thirty people lying here. It was mostly children.

"Mhh... There's a lot of children here..." mumbled Ria.

She turned towards the woman.

"More than half the people here... are children... Why...?"

"Miss, that is... We took the children of our village in hopes to bring them to a safe place..."

"So you prioritised the children... and left everyone else behind...?"

"..."

The woman nodded, looking down. It must have been a hard decision, to leave behind everyone else.

"I see... Then we should make sure... They reach their destination..."

Ria stepped forward and squatted down next to a child, a young boy. He was looking feverish, breathing roughly and sweating heavily. She put the hand on his forehead, opened his mouth and examined his tongue. She was looking like a real doctor when she did things like this.

"Mh... It looks like the flu... But the symptoms are too strong... It might be child pox."

"Child pox? But... isn't that a rather harmless disease?"

"The flu is as well... but untreated... it can still kill people."

"That is..."

"Child pox is not a worrying disease... If the patient is healthy... These children... are weak..."

"..."

The woman bit her lip in frustration. I could see some blood flowing down on the side. She seemed to care for the children a lot.

"Do you have... relatives... among the ill...?" asked Ria, probably also noticing how agitated the woman was.

"... My younger brother and sister..."

"I see..."

Ria stood up again and turned towards me.

"Yumi... Can you use magic... to strengthen them...?"

"Eh?"

"It will be... a good lesson for you..."

"Uhm, I don't quite know what I need to do for that though."

I was still carrying around a small mana crystal around to use for magic, since Lily insisted on it, so that wasn't a problem. But 'strengthening' someone was a rather vague description.

"Mh... How did you... use magic so far..."

"Well, somehow by instinct and guts?"

"Then try to strengthen them... with instinct... and guts..."

"..."

That didn't help me at all. I was slightly taken aback by that.

"Just do it... I'll take responsibility..."

"I don't really care about responsibility, just..."

"That's an order..."

"That is..."

She called it an order. Hearing that made me realise once again, she was my superior, the one who was supposed to order me around, right now. But even if that was the case, she wanted me to mess with someone's body. There was no way I could just agree to that. This wasn't like with Rina, where I knew what I had to do, or rather, what I had to try.

"Yumi..."

"... Ahh, I get it, I'll try..."

Her stare felt a bit unbearable so I squatted down next to the kid and grabbed the mana crystal I was carrying. I felt incredibly anxious, but I couldn't escape now.

Now, how do I do this? She said to strengthen them... Their immune system maybe? Or just, their general energy, or rather, dealing with their fatigue? I have no idea!

Holding my hand over the poor boy I closed my eyes. I wanted to concentrate on feeling the mana, inspecting the mana in the boy's body. Then, I noticed something odd. There was mana that didn't belong there. It was disturbing as if someone glued a blank plate onto an already completed picture. It didn't belong there.

I felt like I should get rid of that, but I couldn't. It was too weak, too small, it felt as I would overpower the boy's mana instead. And I had the feeling, I shouldn't do that. No matter what, that was something I shouldn't do.

But what should I do then? I can't get rid of that weird mana, I would probably just harm the boy. His mana already feels so weak... Wait, weak?

Maybe, I could strengthen the boy's mana. Maybe, that was what Ria wanted me to do.

But that still begged the question of how to do it. I pulled some mana out of the mana crystal, something that went a lot smoother now after Yumias messed with me, and tried giving it to the boy. Alas, nothing much changed.

Ahh, how stupid. Can't this somehow work and be done with?

The mana I had given him was dispersing and was gone after a few seconds without my control. This wasn't like with the dolls, my instincts didn't help me this time. But why did Ria tell me to do this? That meant she was sure I could do that easily, right?

Let's think, what did I do so far with my magic? I can control my own body in parts, I made the ogre horny and I made a bunch of dolls. Nothing else... Oh wait, I also, uh... Made a bunch of old men happy. No wait, that sounds wrong!

I shook my head. Of those options, there was only one that could maybe help with my current dilemma. The time when I made the dolls with Lily.

That was life magic, it probably can do something like that, right? Strengthening someone. Uhh... Guess I'll have to try it.

I pulled once again mana out from the crystal and attuned it to the life attribute. This, too, somehow went a lot better than I expected.

That witch's messing probably had a far more deep-reaching effect than I had thought. But right now, I was actually thankful for it.

I used the life-attributed mana and pushed it into the boy. As stupid as it sounded, that was quite literally what I did. It didn't take long for the mana to completely disappear.

"Mhh... That went better than expected..."

Surprised at those sudden words behind me I opened my eyes and looked up behind me, at Ria, who was unexpectedly smiling.

Then I took a look at the boy in front of me. He still looked ill but his complexion was a lot better than before.

"Did it... work?"

"It did... It's nothing more... than simply strengthening the body... but things like this... can go a long way..."

"Is... Is that so..."

I breathed a sigh of relief. All my anxiousness disappeared and I suddenly felt really tired.

"That... reminds me. I saw some weird mana in his body, it didn't feel like it belonged there."

"Oh...? You can already... see them...?"

"Them?"

"The Disease Spirits..."

Spirits? Were spirits responsible for the illness?

"They are... what makes people ill..."

"Huh..."

Still, were they really spirits? The thing I saw when Lune used her magic, that felt more like a spirit. But this? It was more a living being.

Whatever it was in the end, I couldn't care less for now. This was tiring.

"Now... Repeat that... For everyone else..."

"..."

Please don't say that! 

I had no idea how long I took but it was a good amount of time until I finished improving the complexion of over thirty children.

Since I was completely spent afterwards they sent me back and now I was currently enjoying a comfortable lap pillow.

"You did well, Yumi."

"Nn."

All the trouble was worth just for this. I could feel Karen's hand gently caressing my hair.

"Yumi, stop looking so sloppy," complained a jealous someone nearby.

"No. This is heaven, you won't understand it, Lily."

"Are you making fun of me?"

I wasn't making fun of her. Okay, maybe I was. But that didn't really matter now.

"Yumi, don't bully her."

"Nn, okay, Sis."

"Jeez, you two should just kiss already and date."

"Li-, Lily?! What are you saying?!"

"Dating Sis..."

"Yumi?! What are you thinking about?!"

I was imagining kissing and dating her. Although that was a bit too much for me as I could feel how my face got really hot.

"Oh? Yumi's face is turning quite red, Karen. Isn't right now your chance?"

"Lily, stop it! We're both girls! And she's my little sister!"

"And that matters in what way?"

"Eh?"

"Nn?"

Curious about her question as well I slightly shifted my head to turn towards Lily.

"Like I said, that matters in what way?"

"That... That is..."

Karen started stuttering.

"So, Yumi, what do you think?"

"Huh?"

"Do you think it's a problem if two girls date each other?"

"No? Not really?"

She was asking this rather late, wasn't she? If I had a problem with it, I would have complained to her. Especially to her. After all, she wasn't exactly hiding her infatuation with cute girls. Ah, but maybe I was misunderstood that I only took it as her joking around? That might have been the case.

Whatever, I really didn't mind it. After all. I would be quite the hypocrite anyway if I did.

"Yu, Yumi, you don't mind... such a thing?"

"Nn?"

I turned my head upwards to look at Karen.

"I don't?"

"Huh... Really? But, you know, girls can't have children with each other? Is that fine?"

"Um, aren't there normal couples without children too?"

"Well... There are... But..."

"I think, people should just love whoever they want. Something like it being two girls, that's not really important, is it?"

"... You think... so?"

"Nn."

I nodded towards her question. Though I was still lying in her lap, so it was slightly awkward just to do a simple nod.

"See, Karen. Nobody minds! Well, at least we don't."

"Are there usually problems with this kind of relationship?" I asked.

I vaguely remembered that same-sex relationships tended to be rejected by many people in my old world. On the other side though, I also remembered that same-sex relationships have been surprisingly common for a long, long time.

"Many religions shun it, people are even persecuted in some countries, so yes, it's quite an issue. It heavily depends where you are, though."

"... And you are fine just declaring you want a cute girlfriend to strangers like that?"

"Most people just think I'm joking anyway."

"Wait, Lily?! That wasn't a joke?"

"..."

"..."

Seemed that it finally hit Karen too.

Karen started awkwardly fidgeting and looking left and right.

"That's... I didn't know...  Uhm... I'm sorry?"

Seeing her behaving so awkwardly made Lily burst out in laughter.

"Do, Don't laugh!"

"Ahahaha, but it's so cute. Really, you shouldn't worry about it that much. I never made it really clear either, I guess. So really, don't worry about it."

Despite those words, Karen averted her gaze.

She closed her eyes for a few seconds, probably thinking about something. It took some moments until she clenched her fists, opened her eyes again and faced Lily.

"I understand. I won't mind it, e, e, even if you..."

"Even if I...?"

"Uhh... Even if you... are... like that..."

Her voice slowly grew into a whisper towards the end.

"Geez, you make it into way too big an issue, Karen. I mean, I'm not the only one here, aren't I? Isn't Yumi the same?"

"Nn?"

"... What?"

Karen suddenly stared right at me with inquisitive eyes.

"Well, Karen. Think about it. If she wasn't a girl before she came here... Actually, wouldn't it be weird in her case if she didn't like girls?"

Lily, I would vastly appreciate it if you didn't go around telling other people what things someone likes? At least not these ones.

"That's... true..."

Karen nodded to herself, seemingly convinced.

"Well, I wonder who Yumi will end up with in the future. Sele seemed to be quite adamant about it, didn't she?"

"Lily... Sele is just a child."

"So you don't see her like that, Yumi?"

"I don't. She's a nice girl and all, I like her a lot, but I can't see her like that. She's just a child."

"Children grow up astonishingly fast sometimes."

"She hasn't grown up yet."

"So she might have a chance once she did?"

"That is..."

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"Not impossible?"

Frankly, even in the further future, I had no intention to let that happen. After all, I hoped for something else. Yet, the future was not set in stone. I had no idea what things would happen in the years to come, so I couldn't outright refuse it either.

"Well, you should better clear that up with Sele soon then. I'm fairly sure she was serious and it'd leave a bad taste if you left her hanging like that."

"..."

Wording it like that, I felt like I did something bad. It was true that I had simply dismissed it as the antics of a child. Maybe I shouldn't have done that.

"I get it, I'll go and talk to her. Satisfied?"

"I'm always satisfied, whether you go or not. Both options are cute."

This girl was a lot worse than I was, right?

I shrugged my shoulders. It wasn't my problem but hers in the end.

"Then, Yumi, who would you like to go out with?"

"Eh?"

"Well, if Sele is not an option, do you have someone else in mind?"

"..."

Lily leaned forward and stared at me with a wide grin. She was messing with me, she absolutely knew.

I couldn't possibly say such a thing when I was using exactly that person's lap as a pillow right now.

Therefore, there was only one solution.

"A secret."

I escaped.

"Ehh... That's boring Yumi. Karen, don't you want to know too?"

"Uhm... I... I do?"

Sounding rather unsure, Karen still affirmed that she was curious.

That really wasn't that I needed right now.

"It's a secret. The End."

"... She's escaping, Yumi is escaping! Even though she basically confirmed there is someone already!"

"I never did through?"

"If there wasn't, there wouldn't be a problem with telling us."

"..."

That... wasn't wrong?

No, wait. What if I simply disliked things like this and refused to get involved? Then it wouldn't be strange? It wouldn't be, right?

Alas, there was a small issue with that. If it had been like that, it wouldn't have taken me any time to answer as such. And Lily obviously knew that as well. Additionally, Karen understood that too...

"So... There's someone Yumi likes..."

"Well, Sis... That's, you see."

"No, it's fine, Yumi. I understand."

"Eh?"

"You're free to like someone, I will support you as your big sister!"

"..."

That somehow hurt, in a different meaning. Karen was clenching her fists in front of her chest and looked down at me.

"Ah, ahhh... Thank you..."

That was all I could utter right now.

"Karen is quite cruel, huh..." whispered Lily nearby.

I had to agree. She was cruel. It hurt.

"Yumi? You look so serious suddenly, is something the matter?"

"Nn... Just a little something..."

Yes, it hurt. But there was something I could do against that. It was something I had to do, I was sure of it now even more than ever before.

I slowly sat up, leaving the heaven-like lap with much resistance in my heart.

"Oh, you have enough?"

"Nn, well... Right now, it's too much for me."

"Too much?"

"Nn."

I nodded in affirmation.

"Yumi, you're an idiot," commented Lily from the side.

"Yumi isn't an idiot, that's rude Lily."

"Yes, sorry about that. She's not an idiot."

Karen started to chastise Lily for her behaviour.

I watched Karen for a short bit. Before I noticed, a small smile was on my face.

I had to take action, now. 

Sometime later we got a notice that the refugee children have been brought to some wagons that were reasonably empty. Ria treated most of them well enough that they wouldn't die, but they would still require rest from what I was told.

Karen decided to look for Rina suddenly, leaving me alone with Lily.

Thanks to the previous little incident I was a bit miffed. I didn't like that she treated me as a plaything.

"Yumi, I already said I'm sorry, okay?"

"..."

"Come one, at least respond! Really, I'm reflecting, okay?"

"..."

I was a bit angry, yes. So I kept her hanging for around ten minutes already.

Well, I guess it's so enough now. She already has tears in her eyes.

With a little sigh full of astonishment at Lily's nerves, I turned around to her.

"Lily, you shouldn't do that again."

"Yumi is speaking! Yippie!"

"Lily..."

"Ah, I'm sorry, I won't do it again!"

"... I'll hold you onto that. Or I will tell Rina a lot of bad things about you."

"Eh? Why Rina?"

"... Because Karen already knows them."

"Haa..."

Was I mistaken? When Rina had her little incident, I could have sworn she was grinning to herself when Rina announced the 'couples' she had thought of. Which included her and Lily being one.

Whatever it was in the end, it didn't matter a lot.

"Lily. If you are sorry, then help me out."

"I will, I promise!"

"Okay. Then I have a simple question."

"I'm all ears!"

I had no idea if it was intentional or not but her fluffy ears started shaking for a moment.

"How do you confess?"

"Yes?"

"That wasn't a yes or no question..."

"No, wait. You want to confess? To Karen?"

I nodded.

"Didn't you have the perfect chance right now?!"

"... That was no good."

"Why not?"

"I can't possibly confess in public, even more so when someone is watching."

"That's pretty weird to hear from someone who is flirting around in public with her supposed sister."

"..."

That wasn't flirting. It was enjoying heaven.

"Haa... Anyway, what did you imagine?"

"I don't know... something private? At the very least that. I doubt I have much freedom in the location, though I'd like something with a nice view or so."

"Yumi..."

"Nn?"

"Are you really sure you were a man previously?"

"Eh?"

I tilted my head. I was a man previously, without a doubt. There wasn't much left of my manly side anymore, but it was there.

"You remind me more of a young girl dreaming of a rose-coloured romance with a prince."

"... I'm not that bad. Not even remotely."

"You're still more the romantic type, aren't you."

"... Nn, I think so?"

"Innocent maiden, Yumi."

"..."

I averted my gaze. I already realised that one myself but having it pointed out did a lot more damage than anticipated.

"Yumi, I have an idea."

"Nn?"

"Imagine Karen as a handsome prince."

A handsome Karen? That... actually sounded interesting. Karen with a ponytail in tight-fitting, fancy clothing... That was nice in its own way.

"Yumi, you're red."

"... Ah. Lily, what are you making me imagine?"

"Nothing? I just decided that you're now a dreaming maiden."

This girl, she didn't stop messing with me after all.

"Guess I'll have to tell Rina all the bad little things about you."

"... There aren't even many things you could tell her, are there?"

I would think of some. There was enough time.

"Anyway, it's cute. You're more girly than most girls, isn't that fine?"

"... I feel rather conflicted about that, though."

"Nothing you can do about it, right? Just accept it."

"Uhh..."

"In any case, I do have an actual idea, okay?"

If this was another joke, I wouldn't forgive her.

"You see, in around two or three days, we should arrive at the Hollow Bridge. Why not confess then and there?"

"I have no idea what the Hollow Bridge even is, though?"

"Ah, right. Well, I guess, you have to wait then. You should enjoy the surprise."

"Haa..."

"As an apology, I'll make sure you and Karen will get some time alone, okay?"

"... If you mess around again, I won't forgive you."

"I won't, I promise! I do wish you two luck after all."

Did she, now? She was messing around an awful lot for that, though. Honestly, I wasn't sure if it was fine trusting her with this.

"Your face is literally screaming you don't trust me, Yumi."

"Is it now? I thought you said I look like a doll with no expressions?"

"Well, they are hard to read. Yumi. Really. But they are there, I realised that."

So she still thought they were hard too read? Well, fine. Nobody complained about it yet. And I personally didn't feel like that either, so there was nothing I could do about it anyway.

"Yumi, just trust me. Just this once! I promise I won't mess around!"

"... Okay, I trust you..."

I still wasn't sure if this was a good idea, but... How did Rina say it? She was family. And who would trust in someone if not your own family?

"Yay! I promise I won't let you down!"

"Nn."

With a big grin, Lily was hopping around me, like a little kid.

Was it so great that it warranted skipping and hopping? 

After a few hours, my own perception of hours, we were finally moving again.

"Yes, like that, try keeping it constant."

"N, Nn..."

The children we took along were split around among the various wagons, mostly around the adults that already had the child pox when they were young. Due to that, there weren't any in our own wagon since we had children here. And it would be a problem if they would catch it too.

Thanks to that there weren't any changes in our wagon. Maya and Emily were playing something with Rina and Karen while Sele was using my back as a backrest and was reading. She was awfully clingy since she, well, confessed to me.

I wish I had your courage Sele. I know I shouldn't say that, considering I'm the recipient, but still...

"Don't think of something unnecessary, it's getting unstable."

"Ah..."

Right now, Ria and Lily were watching over my magic practice. In practice, it was mostly Lily who did, though.

And what were we doing again? Dolls. A lot of them. Lily had somehow procured a huge wooden block and heaved it into the wagon. There wasn't much space so it was, frankly, in the way. And that's why I had to turn the entire block into dolls.

"Oh, this one is good, Yumi."

"Nn."

Lily was holding up my newest creation. It looked like all the others. Well, not quite, it was slightly smoother and more refined than the previous ones. Still, I figured I could be a bit proud, right?

"Now, you only need to repeat this a few more times."

"... I'll try."

I turned towards the huge wooden block. I felt like it didn't get any smaller. But chances were, that I only had that impression because I was just so slow.

When Lily helped me making them, it was going pretty well since I only had to focus on maintaining the magic. But if I did it myself, not only did I have to keep up the magic but I also had to form the wood into a doll shape. This proved to be quite hard.

"Nn, that reminds me. Where's that one doll..."

"One doll?"

"The one I gave the mana crystal?"

"Eh? You don't know?"

"Nn?"

I turned towards Lily. Her reaction seemed strange.

"I thought for sure you knew..."

"Nn? So, what happened?"

"Well... It's with the Black Guards..."

"Eh?"

"I thought you left it with them on purpose."

"... I didn't. What the heck is it doing there."

"... Old man things."

And what the heck were old man things now?

"Like, enjoying a footbath, drinking alcohol, celebrating, drinking alcohol and so on."

"Why is alcohol twice there? How does a doll even drink alcohol? And why is it getting along with those old men?"

There were too many things that were strange here. Way too many. What did that doll think it was? Actually, could it even think? What was up with it, honestly?

"Isn't it your doll? You should ask it. In any case, the Black Guards already painted their emblem on its back and someone already considered making a miniature armour for it... There's currently even a contest to find a name for it."

"... Let's pretend I heard nothing."

"... Well, if you are fine with that."

I had to be fine with that. Because otherwise, I would have to question myself just where this doll turned strange.

"By the way, the current favourite for a name is 'Mr Yuu'."

"... What?"

"Because it's from you. The second most popular one is 'Mr Yumias'"

"... Everything but that."

"You really don't like mama much, do you..."

Lily's voice sounded a bit sad again but I couldn't help it.

"Let's just say, her first impression wasn't the best..."

I poured mana into the wood and started cautiously moulding it into a proper doll. The basic look was simple, but making it look like an actual doll was really hard. On that note, when we began practising, the first doll looked only slightly better than the one I made back then before Lily took over, but it still looked quite creepy. Creepy enough to make the surrounding girls keep their distance and turning around their backs towards me, with the exception of Lily, who apparently had expected this.

"You're getting better and better."

"Nn."

"By the time we reach the Hollow Bridge you can probably make them without a problem. Afterwards, we should try some other things."

"Nn, got it."

"How about... you ask the Academy for assistance... once we are at the capital?" suggested Ria, who had kept silent until now.

"The Academy? Why them?"

"They know a lot... about attributes and magic... Life magic... isn't outlawed there either... Though it is under restriction..."

"Hmm... So they might know magic I could use?"

"That's right... Though... They probably will want your help in some experiments... But it shouldn't be... anything drastic..."

"Hmm..."

I looked outside through the back window of the wagon. If they knew some things, that might be really helpful. And as long as the experiments weren't particularly bad, I could deal with that.

Well, guess asking won't hurt. And it does sound interesting, to say the least. But for now...

For now, there was a different worry.

I glanced over to Karen who was playing with Rina, Maya and Emily. They looked like they had fun. Then, Karen took a short glance in my direction as well, but she quickly returned to the game. Some kind of simple card game.

"Yumi, I know you are nervous, but how do you intend to survive the next three days like this?"

"... Somehow..."

"'Somehow' is not exactly good, you know..."

I sighed. There was nothing I could do against it though. I had to deal survive this. Three days. Three days of anxiousness and nervousness.

"Let's continue, Yumi."

"Nn..."

Three days later, days filled with reading and writing practice, magic practice and some lessons about common knowledge, we arrived at the Hollow Bridge.

The torturous days were, thankfully, rather quickly over. Nonetheless, the closer we got to our destination, the more anxious I got.

Today, Yumi. Today, is the final day. You can do it! Today, you will confess to Karen!

Rinne

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