Chapter 26: of Soul Expansion: The Hollow Bridge

"Wow..."

There were no other words to describe the sight in front of me. I was standing at a cliff. A huge cliff. A cliff that was gigantic.

"Well, it's called The Hollow for a reason, Yumi."

"But... where does it even end?"

"Good question."

"..."

I cautiously took a peek over the railings, looking down the cliff. There was no end in sight, only endless darkness spread out in front of me.

"The Holy Church says that The Hollow is a punishment from the gods. In Lafria they say that it is a remnant of a fight between the god-dragons and the High Spirit. What it truly is... I don't know."

"... Do those things even really exist?"

"Don't let the church hear that... Mama told me that the gods, or rather, she called them god-like beings, really exist."

"Mh... If that mo-, that person says so... They really might, huh."

Gods being real. Somehow, that sounded quite surreal. I didn't think of myself as being particularly religious, so it was rather weird to hear.

But considering she called them god-like beings, they might not be the almighty gods that some people believe in. Was it really alright to call them even gods then? Though, if I recalled right, there were also some religions that worshipped many gods, and those often had human qualities as well. So it might be fine to call them gods?

Honestly, it was a tough topic.

Let' not think too deeply about this. It's not something that matters for me anyway.

"Still..."

I took another look over The Hollow. The deep cliff was, of course, one thing but it wasn't the truly impressive part.

"Where does this even end?"

"I think it took around a week from this point to either side."

"..."

Speaking plainly, The Hollow was a ravine. But not just any ravine, it was truly gargantuan. The bottom was so far away we could only see black. And either end disappeared in the horizon, far far away.

Then, finally, was the other side of the ravine. Together with the very thing we were here for: The Hollow Bridge.

"Just... how did they even build that thing."

"With many magicians and a lot of labour... There's a reason it took two decades to build."

The other side of the ravine was incredibly far away. I had no idea how I should even begin with an estimate but it was surely a few hundred meters. The trees on the other side were smaller than the tip of my little finger.

And in the middle of this natural, or maybe unnatural, wonder was a similarly gigantic bridge.

"How does that thing even hold together?"

"Magic."

"And why is magic the answer for it?"

"Because I don't know anything about this either?"

I shrugged at Lily's comment. I was quite interested in the construction of this monument but it wasn't all too important right now.

The bridge consisted of three parts that even I as a layman could spot. Two bridges and a huge fort.

In the middle of the ravine was an elongated plateau and just as everything else about this ravine it was huge. On this plateau was a stone fort. Or maybe calling it a castle was a better way to describe it? Whichever it was, it was clearly a defensive structure of enormous proportions. Each corner was adorned with a tall watch tower and behind the walls, I could spot another tower, even taller than the ones at the wall corners. It might be something like the castle keep.

It looks simply like a big medieval castle. Though a medieval castle actually looks a bit out of place when everything else looks a lot more... I don't know, refined? Modern?

I couldn't quite spot what caused the awkwardness but it wasn't really important anyway.

The things that left me wondering even more though, were the two bridges on either side of the fort. They connected one side of the ravine with the other side, making it possible to travel through without having to make a detour around the entire ravine.

Those bridges were made of stone. Or at least, it looked like stone. Each bridge looked as if it was carved from a single stone. No, that wasn't quite right either. It looked as if each bridge itself was a natural part of the ravine. There was no clear indication where the cliff ended and the bridge began.

"Magic is impressive..."

"You notice late... But yes, I agree. It really is."

I stepped back from the railing, something that looked oddly modern, and took another good look, from one end of the ravine over the bridge itself with the castle-like fort to the other end.

It was truly awe-inspiring, I could understand why Lily suggested I find some time alone with Karen here.

But thinking about it makes me still nervous. Like, super nervous.

"Well, we should go and see whether we can help. It's not good to be slacking."

"Nn."

A strong wind blew into and ruffled my hair up.

"Sure is windy."

"Nn..."

I tried putting my hair in order but the strong wind immediately made a new mess out of it.

"Uhh... Even though I finally managed to get it done myself."

I pulled out one of the ribbons that were on the verge of flying away.

Wanda had scolded me about my lack of care for my hair. I had been so sure that it was fine to not put any particular care into it since I realised that keeping the hair healthy was completely unnecessary for me. That was still the case, of course, but I had completely underestimated a different thing: The hairstyle.

"You should just ask Wanda to fix it for you. It took you really long to finish it."

"... No, I want to do it myself if possible."

Mainly because it was embarrassing. Wanda usually didn't stop only at my hair. It didn't take her long until she dressed me up with various other clothes. Most of them were clearly things that weren't finished yet but she said she wanted to make sure her work would progress well.

Nearly all of them fit me so well that it scared me a bit. When asked she claimed it was a coincidence but...

Whatever the case, it was a bit troublesome.

"If you go to her you might get a cute outfit for later too."

"..."

That idea is actually not that bad...

I was considering it for a moment before I shook my head at her suggestion.

"Don't want to?" asked Lily.

"It's not that I don't want to... But I feel that'd be too much."

"Honestly, isn't it a bit late for that, Miss Romantic?"

"..."

"Well, it's not like I can't understand you, Yumi. I'm sure many girls dreamed about a romantic confession before. Though... It's something I'd more expect from girls like Maya and Sele... Not from someone who claims to be older than me."

"Uhhh..."

I couldn't really argue against it. The past three days I had spent a good amount of time fantasizing about today and Lily caught me more than once grinning to myself. At the very least, I was spared any interrogation by her. And yet, the understanding look in her eyes hurt me quite a bit.

"Well, have you at least thought what to do afterwards?"

"Afterwards?"

I turned around, facing Lily, and tilted my head at her question.

"Afterwards. If your confession goes well, you'd be lovers, right?"

"... I hope so."

"Assuming you are lovers, you would also want to do things that lovers do, am I wrong?"

"No, you aren't. You mean, things like holding hands or... kissing?"

"... Yumi, how old were you again?"

"22."

Lily let out a sigh, holing and shaking her head.

"Yumi, there are other things too, right?"

"..."

"Listen, if you don't at least mentally prepare yourself, it might end in a disaster. You're the older one here after all."

"But... Something like that surely wouldn't happen that quickly, right?"

"Yumi... A girl's sexual desire is not to be underestimated! Especially one who is in love! Or do you not want to have sex with her?"

"... You're... awfully blunt, Lily. And... Of course, I want to. There's no way I wouldn't, right?"

"Then there's no problem right?"

"Uhhh..."

I averted my gaze. How could she be so blunt about it without getting embarrassed? It was a mystery for me.

"... Yumi, you want this to work out well, right?"

"... Nn."

I nodded in regards to her question.

"If you aren't prepared, it might turn into a disaster.  If Karen were to accept and then finds out that you're already being overwhelmed by holding hands and kissing while she had something more... physical in mind... Well, it might turn rather awkward, at the very least..."

"... I'm sure that won't happen... right?"

"Mh... I wouldn't be so sure of that."

Lily put her hand on my head and rubbed me with quite some force. It was a bit uncomfortable with the strength she put into it.

"In any case, you should prepare yourself for it, okay? It doesn't mean it has to happen, but reality doesn't necessarily take one step at a time, you know."

"... I... I get it... I'll think about it. But... I'm a bit scared."

Lily stopped rubbing my head, still resting her hand on my head, and stared at me.

"Well, can't help you with that. You'll have to get through that."

"... I guess so."

I smiled wryly while looking downwards. It was scary, really scary, how couldn't it be? If Karen rejected me, I had no idea how I would deal with that. I didn't even know if I could deal with it. Karen had already become the one who was most important to me.

In an attempt to chase away those thoughts I shook my head. Oblivious to my inner worries, Lily could only raise her brows at my strange behaviour. Ignoring it, I turned towards the mercenaries that were a bit away. Somewhere there was Karen as well, probably together with Rina and maybe the three little ones as well.

"I hope it'll go well," I mumbled.

"That will depend on you, Yumi."

"Nn..."

"Let's go and see if we can help out, okay? You still have time."

"... Nn, let's go."

Lily went ahead with a firm step, and I followed behind her. I took a quick glance over to the Hollow Bridge.

Lily, there's another thing I'm really worried about... It's what might happen if Sis and I... would really sleep together... with each other... I don't know if I might be able to hold back. Because of what I am... What, what if I hurt Sis...? The thought... scares me.

"Everything checked? Do we have a list of our inventory?"

"Here, ma'am! We confirmed the inventory! There's a barrel wine missing but everything else is accounted for! No suspicious cargo either!"

"Good, get a copy of the list to the Captain. See if there are any other groups that need help. Also, tell everyone that if I find the girl who snatched the wine I'm going to stuff it up her behind, clear?"

"All clear!"

When we returned to everyone else, Fenna was just doing the last checkups. Apparently, each group was responsible for their own inventory and supplies, so it also fell upon each group to make sure everything was in order.

Fenna quickly noticed us approaching and called out to us.

"Oh, our two slackers have returned. Got a good look?"

"Nn, it looks amazing."

"Ahh, it's impressive. If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I would've never believed someone could build this."

Lily and I both shared our sentiments and Fenna nodded in response.

"I still can't believe people could build something like this, so I understand where you're coming from," she told us.

"Well, enough of that. You two came just when we finished up, so there's not really anything else to do. The other groups are probably finishing up right about now as well."

"Didn't you just send the others to help, though?" I asked her, tilting y head.

"Those girls know what they have to do, though. Instructing you two would take more time than they'd save now."

Quite rude. But she was right. At least I didn't really know what they were even doing for the most part. Well, checking the inventory was, of course, one thing but inspecting the wagons for anything was beyond me. After all, what were they even looking for? Explosives plastered onto the bottom side?

Lily just shrugged with a wry smile.

"Where are Karen and the others?"

"Ria took them. They went to the magician's supply wagons and are inspecting those."

"... Are you sure that's fine?"

Lily furrowed her brows, obviously not sure what she should think of this. To be fair, Ria really didn't give the impression of being... orderly.

"That's why she took Miss Karen along, you know? Maybe we finally have magicians that aren't trying to sabotage us all..."

Fenna shook her head and let out a sigh.

"Nn... We'll try..."

"Yeah... We'll try."

From the looks of it, she was just a bit fed up with the antics of those three.

"In any case, if you are looking for them, you can go there and look. But they'll probably come back soon."

"Mhm... Guess we'll wait then, okay, Yumi?" asked Lily, turning towards me.

"Nn. Let's do that."

I nodded. If they would come back soon anyway, then there was no need to go.

"You can already go back onto the wagon. If you want to, you can also walk. We'll traverse the bridge slowly, so you can enjoy the... scenery."

"... Well, I don't know. Lily, want to walk?"

"Well, we won't have the chance that soon again, so let's walk, shall we?"

"Nn."

And like that, we decided to walk. Afterwards, Fenna shooed us away, saying we were in the way if we had nothing else to do.

We still decided to wait at the wagon to meet up with the other girls.

"Yumi."

Lily suddenly called out to me.

"Nn?"

"When we're inside the fort, I asked Korwen if we could have some time for ourselves."

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

"You can walk along the plateau. I'm sure it'll have a nice view and you'll be alone."

"Mh..."

I nodded a few times to myself.

"Well, what you'll do then will be your responsibility."

"I understand. I'll try my best."

I took a deep breath.

"But, for now, how about you go about fixing your hair."

"... Well..."

I traced a few strands of my hair. It was a bit of a mess, thanks to the wind.

"Can't you move them in a way that they unravel themselves when you have knots?"

"No, I can't..."

"Oh well, come here."

"Nn?"

Lily grabbed my shoulders and turned me around. I heard her rummaging for a moment and then, I could feel something in my hair.

"A brush? Why are you carrying a brush with you?"

"It's an important tool for everyday use."

"..."

"Actually I just anticipated this to happen."

I tried shaking my head but it was quickly stopped by Lily.

"Stop moving."

"N, Nn..."

I held still for a bit and let her brush my hair. It was overall surprisingly comfortable. Every time there was a bad knot she would carefully unravel it and continue brushing.

"You're really good at this..."

"I had to care for my hair myself after all."

"Mama had no idea about it either, after all. And there weren't many women among the Black Guards.

"Huh..."

After a while, she was done and took the ribbons from me and began fixing my hair, back to the two up pigtails that I was sporting since I met Wanda.

"All done now!"

"Nn, thanks, Lily."

"You're welcome."

I couldn't quite take a look but it felt about right.

"Just don't let it become a mess again, okay?"

"... I'll try."

I smiled wryly since I really couldn't promise that.

"Well then, let's take a look. Mhh... You're cute. That dress is also from Wanda, right?"

"Nn."

Wanda originally tried to fix up the dress I had been wearing but in the end, she gave up. So, instead, she gave me a new one-piece dress. I didn't dare to think about where it had come from and why it fit me so perfectly, but it was still welcome. And it was cute.

Then, just in time as we finished up, we could see a few familiar people approaching from some distance away.

"Ah, there they are. We probably won't have any other chance to talk alone now."

"Nn..."

"So yeah, I'll say it now already: Good Luck."

"... Thank you, Lily. Really."

"Don't sweat it. I hope it'll work out for you."

"Thanks. I hope so too."

Surely, a small smile was on my face right about now. And I hoped, it would be replaced by one that was even bigger, later.

I took another deep breath. Then I stepped forward, towards those familiar people in the distance, raised my arm and waved.

"Sis."

"Yumi, Lily, you're back. Where did you two run off to?"

Karen, furrowing her brows in exasperation, asked us.

"Well, we were looking at the ravine. It's quite deep," explained Lily.

"I wanted to look at it too but you just disappeared and then we helped Ria out."

Ah, she was angry.

"Sorry, Sis."

"Next time, at least tell me!"

"We'll do that, Karen, okay?"

Lily was already holding up her hands in a placating manner, hoping to calm her down.

"Now, Big Sis, don't be angry! We'll have plenty of time to look at it later, right?" interrupted Rina.

"Well... That's not wrong... Still..."

"Big Sis Karen, don't worry about it! It won't hide from you!"

Emily, I'd be rather intrigued by a ravine this size that could hide... Or rather, how does a ravine hide in the first place? It doesn't even have a will, right?

Turning towards Emily, a wry smile formed on Karen's face

"I'm not mad or anything, I just thought it was a bit unfair."

Karen squatted down a bit for Emily and pat her head. Emily responded with her own smile.

"Then it's good!"

When hit by a beaming smile like that, there was just no way to stay angry or mad, was there?

Karen stood up back again and faced towards us.

"Just remember to call me next time, too, okay?"

"Nn, we'll do that."

Actually, I'm a bit surprised that Karen doesn't mind that little slacking off. I would have expected her to get mad that we didn't help, not that we didn't include her... Though Fenna did allow us to take a look.

We didn't dare to slack off without approval, after all. But maybe Karen knew that herself. Or maybe she didn't. Thinking about it made me slightly curious.

"Anyway, Karen. What did Ria want you all to do? I mean..."

Lily looked past Karen at certain two girls, namely Maya and Sele. They looked as if they had just weathered a long-distance obstacle course without proper clothing. Their clothes were incredibly dirty, every time they moved you could see a small dust cloud rising. In addition, their eyes looked as if all vitality had been sucked out of them.

"Ahhh... It was mostly just checking the inventory..."

"So? How does checking the inventory lead to this?"

"One of the supply crates fell down... With flour."

"... Flour?"

"Yes, flour," affirmed Karen towards the slightly confused Lily.

I took another look over the two poor victims. If she hadn't told me that it was flour, I wouldn't even have noticed. They weren't covered in white, after all.

"Why do they have flour in the magician's inventory?"

"I don't know..."

Lily was shaking her head, but Karen didn't seem to have an idea either.

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"Whatever the reason is, we have to get those two a change of clothes at least. Ria told us the fort has a large bath, but it wouldn't be good if they stay like that until then."

"That's true."

"Big Sis! I'll take care of that with Emily!"

Rina interrupted us energetically and Emily next to her nodded.

"Then, can we leave it to you?"

"Yes!"

And with those words Rina and Emily pushed the two into the wagon, hoping to clean them up at least a little bit.

"I hope a change of clothes is enough for now, though. We probably can't use the bath until tomorrow."

"Nn, why not, Sis?"

"They only prepare the large bath once a week, on break day."

"Ah, because it's hot then, right?" added Lily.

"Hot?"

Why would it be hot on their weekly break day? My question was met with some really incredibly stares and open mouthes, though.

"Yumi... Are you serious?"

"I am, so could you please explain it to me, Sis?"

"Yumi, every week, or every eight days to be exact, the twin suns are out. So it's of course hotter."

Wait? I think I heard something that was really wrong.

"Twin suns?"

"The twin suns," repeated Karen.

"The twin suns..."

I rubbed my temples.

"Are you saying... There's more than one sun?"

"Yes? What are you surprised about?"

What I was surprised about? Only about the fact that she was telling me there existed another sun that appeared every 8 days...

I don't really know much about this kind of topic but how is it possible for us to have two suns? Wouldn't we, I don't know, get fried to death?

Oblivious to my inner turmoil, the two of them just continued to stare at me as if I was an alien or something similarly otherworldy.

"Yumi... I wouldn't guess it but... Did your world have only one sun?" asked Karen, sounding a bit cautious.

"Nn..."

I nodded. Both of their eyes went really wide when they heard my affirmation. I had already told them about my world before, or at least about things I thought were important points, like the lack of magic. Or assumed lack thereof.

But never would I have thought that there was such a fundamental difference as well. Who could have thought of it, after all?

"But... Yumi, you've been already here for nearly two weeks, right? You should've seen it last time already."

"Lily... If you suddenly saw a third sun, would you really believe it was there? Or would you think it is a hallucination?"

"... Ah."

Yes, I certainly did see it at the time. But I couldn't believe it, so I decided to ignore it. And now, being told that it wasn't a hallucination, that it was truly real, hit me quite hard.

"Still, to think there was such a difference as well... How can your world even survive, Yumi?"

"Even if you ask me that, I am more surprised this world is working as is..."

We stared at each other for a bit and then burst out laughing. It took a bit until we all calmed down.

"Honestly, I still can't quite believe it, Yumi. Thinking about it, it just feels so wrong."

"Sis, the same goes for me. I have honestly no idea how this is even possible. But... This is something I have to get used to, right?"

"I guess so, yes."

"I wonder... There probably are even more differences that we don't know about. Like, you just said a week is eight days. In my world, we had seven days per week."

And if there was a difference in the definition of a week, then surely there was a difference in the entire calendar as well. Lily turned towards me, having calmed down shortly after us.

"What was the calendar in your old world like, Yumi?" she asked me.

"Nn... There were twelve months, each month had about 30 or 31 days and a week had seven days, totalling up to 52 weeks."

There were a few more intricacies with the calendar of my old world but those would only be too confusing right now.

"Huh, a weird calendar."

"I agree, Karen. It's weird."

"Nn, then, what is the calendar here like?"

Lily grinned slightly.

"There are twelve months as well here, but we have 32 days per month, split into four weeks. Each week has eight days."

"Huh... That's quite simple. Are there no exceptions?"

"There aren't any, no."

It was a really simple system then. I was a bit impressed about how handily they could split up the year.

Also, comparing it with my own world, the year seemed to be a slight bit longer.

Nn... The days seem to be just as long as in my world but... If the year is longer, does that mean... Karen and Lily are older than I thought they are?

I looked at the two girls. They both had cute features and they certainly looked young, but if this was right then, Karen might already be 18 or even close to 19 by the standards of my old world. Same for Lily, who was a year older than Karen.

"Lily, Karen. When are your birthdays?"

I decided to simply ask them.

"My birthday?"

"Nn, what is it, Sis?"

"Ehh... I think you mean our birth month?"

"... Birth month?"

"Yes, the month we were born in."

Well, and there was another little difference I didn't expect. I would have expected Lily to teach me about things like this rather than the names of the surroundings countries or the different names of currencies.

"Well, in my case it's actually the next month," confessed Karen.

"Huh... That's... soon."

And I didn't prepare a gift. In fact, I had no idea where to get one anyway.

Maybe I can make something, but what...?

I was slightly distracted already when Lily joined in.

"In my case, it was last month. But how surprising, I didn't know Karen was only two months younger, huh."

"That is indeed surprising."

Apparently, they hadn't asked each other about it before, either.

"Mh, and we're actually not that far away either... I never thought about it, but in this world, I'd be closer to 21."

"That's not really a big difference, Yumi... You're still quite a bit older than me or Lily. Speaking of which, when is your birth month?"

"... I don't know."

"... You don't know?"

"Nn..."

I nodded towards Karen's question. It was one of the things I had forgotten along with many, many other things.

"Mh... Yumi, Karen. Then, how about we just take this month as her birth month? Then we're all one after another!"

"Oh, that's... actually a good idea, Lily!"

Karen seemed to really like it.

"Well, I don't mind... I don't know the real date anyway."

"Then, it's decided! Though, the month is already nearly over, so there won't be a celebration anymore, but..."

Lily quite excited, walked up to Karen and pushed her in front of me.

"Go, Karen!"

"Eh? Wait, Lily?"

"What should one do on someone's birth month?"

"You want me to do that now?"

Karen took a fleeting, confused glance at Lily, who simply nodded. Then she looked straight at me and took a deep breath.

"I wish you all the best for the coming year, that we may be together for a long time to come and that the suns and the gods may bless you with happiness," she said.

I was a bit taken aback at the sudden congratulations. I surely never would have thought to get congratulated now. A new birthday, or rather birth month. My very own one.

"Yumi? Hey, Yumi, what's wrong?!"

"Eh?"

Lily suddenly called out to me.

"Why are you crying so suddenly?"

"Eh? I'm... crying?"

I held up my hand and traced a finger along my cheek. It was met with a slightly wet feeling. Sure enough, there were tears running down my face.

"I... I don't know... They, they just came..."

"Come here, Yumi."

Karen pulled me towards her into a hug.

"We're here for you and nobody else is looking so... Cry all you want."

"... Sis, but..."

"Shhh, it's fine."

She put a hand on my head and gently rubbed it. As if she was my mother, she just silently hugged me and pet my head.

The tears were welling up, for reasons unknown, getting stronger and stronger, until the dam finally broke and they flowed uninhibited, accompanied with a quiet sobbing, stifled in the warm embrace of someone dear.

"Feeling better?"

"Nn... Sorry about that."

"It's fine, Yumi. It's fine. Everyone has days like that, right, Karen?"

"That's right, there simply are days like that."

They both smiled at me gently. It was a bit embarrassing, being comforted like this, but it was also nice, to know that they were here with me, caring for me.

We simply stood by the wagons for a while, none of us saying anything. It was a comfortable silence.

After a few minutes, we saw the first wagons moving again, moving onto the bridge.

"Seems like we'll be moving now. Should we get into the wagon?"

"Ah, Fenna said we could also walk and enjoy the view, Karen."

"Is that so? Then, that's fine with me too."

And so we decided to walk along with the wagons. Since Rina and the girls hadn't left the wagon they probably decided to stay inside. In fact, most people decided to stay inside, apparently. I could spot a few others, couples probably for the most part, that were walking as well, but overall not many.

When we finally stepped onto the bridge, I tried looking for any kind of indication where the bridge began, but it truly was completely seamless, as if the cliff and the bridge were one.

"The view really is impressive," commented Karen after a while.

"Nn, it is."

"I heard that you can actually spot the bottom for a few minutes during noon. And they say that those who see it get cursed and taken by the reaper."

""...""

Congratulations. You just destroyed any and all moods.

Karen just sighed in response. Lily was looking back and forth between Karen and me, probably not sure what the problem was.

I shook my head and looked forwards, towards the front of our caravan. They had just reached the front gate and were let in. Surprisingly, the next wagon immediately followed without stopping, and the next one as well.

"Aren't they inspecting the wagons?"

"I don't know, usually they should..."

Lily didn't know the answer to my question either.

"Well, better than having to stand here for a few hours."

The wagons were simply let in without stopping, except one.

"That's the magician's wagon... What is happening..." asked Karen, turning to Lily.

"Don't know, but they seem to be actually inspecting that one."

After a few more minutes, they let it through as well, though.

Barely twenty minutes later, all wagons were inside the fort.

"This is really huge... It's even bigger than it looked like from the outside..."

I really couldn't grasp the vast size of the fort. The walls were towering far above us and the towers even further. The keep wasn't as tall but it made up for it by being incredibly wide.

"Lily, Karen, Yumi."

"Miss Fenna."

"The captain told me to give you some free time, so you can explore the surroundings a bit."

"Eh? Really?"

Karen looked surprised, eyes wide, at that all too sudden announcement.

"That's the case, though it seems these two already knew about it, huh..."

Fenna took an exasperated, fleeting glance towards Lily and me. Our lack of reaction probably exposed us.

"Whatever, ask a guard for the exit to the plateau, don't roam the fort and make sure you're back here by dinner, are we clear on that?"

"Crystal clear!"

"Nn."

"..."

While Lily and I affirmed her conditions, Karen looked too dumbfounded to even react.

"Good, if you cause trouble I'll cut your pay, yes?"

Fenna turned around, but not before silently moving her lips as if she was saying something.

"Lily..."

I took a look at our walking disaster. I obviously didn't know for sure, but even I could guess the meaning behind that gesture with this timing. And as if to confirm my suspicions, she averted her face quickly, avoiding eye contact.

"Achem, now, I'll go and tell Rina and the others, okay? You two go ahead, okay?"

Lily quickly fled the scene.

Really? Won't Sis notice if you two act this suspicious? Wasn't this way too obvious?

Turning towards Karen, I quickly confirmed my worries to be unfounded.

"Ehh... Well, should we go, Yumi?"

"... Nn."

With a nod, I followed Karen. She quickly asked a guard for directions and we left the fort, entering the plateau in the middle of the ravine.

The plateau was surprisingly full of nature, there were trees and other plants as well as plenty of birds and a few critters. If it wouldn't abruptly disappear nobody would believe this was in the middle of a gigantic hole.

It was truly a wonder of nature.

"I've never seen those birds before, they are pretty."

"Nn, they are."

A few steps away from us was a small bird with many different colours dying its feathers. Another step away was a second one and the two birds were facing each other, dancing and hopping around as if they were measuring each other up.

"I wonder what they are doing."

"I don't know, maybe they are competing?"

"But what are they competing for, Yumi?"

"... Food?"

"That doesn't seem right."

It didn't. Maybe one bird was courting the other. But I was too nervous to point that out. After all, what I was attempting now wasn't really much different.

Get a grip, Yumi. What would Sis think of you if you confessed like this?

She probably wouldn't make fun of me, but she might have been disappointed at me.

I took a deep breath.

Calm down, you just have to do it.

"Yumi."

"Eh? What is it, Sis?"

"There's a little thing I wanted to talk about."

"Haa..."

Karen was looking forwards, no, she was looking at the sky.

"Yumi, I lied to you."

"Eh?"

I stopped, not quite registering what she had just said.

"I told you, why Rina and I were exiled, right?"

"... Nn."

"That... was a lie. Well, not quite, but the reason was..."

"The reason?"

"Yes... The reason... To be honest, it was all my fault... Rina... She just got caught up in it."

Her crestfallen face turned towards the ground.

"Sometimes, among the demonkin, there are some... very odd children born. They look like all others, they live like all others, and yet... They are different."

"..."

I listened silently, waiting, for her next words.

"... These... children... They are a danger. They... They harm those around them."

Karen took another deep breath.

"I... I had been so worried about Rina, but now I've become so happy. It's like... all the worries are gone. And when I realised that there were other things, other things past simply... surviving..."

Her strained voice fell silent. She turned towards me with tears in the corners of her eyes.

"I... I want to live a normal life, have fun like others, be sad like others and love others like a normal person. I don't want to go through that again, the feeling of being abandoned by all those I thought were important to me. I want to be with those I love."

A sniffle could be heard from her.

"Yumi... When Sele confessed to you... I was jealous. I wanted to push her away. I didn't even think of anything else for a moment. I wanted to run towards you and take you away from her... Because... Because..."

She wiped her eyes with her arm and looked at me with strong, determined eyes.

"Yumi. I love you, I want to be with you, forever. There are many things I want to do with you. I want to hold your soft hand, I want to rub your fluffy hair, I... want to kiss you and... I want to spend the night with you."

"..."

Eh? Did I... just mishear? I didn't, right? There was no way it could be right? Did she... just confess to me? Sis? To me?

That couldn't be, right? But... I was certain I had heard those words. They weren't an illusion. They were... reality.

I clasped my hands in front of my chest. I could feel my own heartbeat. Happiness. A warm, fluffy happiness spread through my body. I could feel warm tears gathering in my eyes.

Yet, Karen's faced turned into one with a hint of panic, seeing me like that.

This isn't good, Yumi. You... You have to respond!

I took a deep breath, steeling my resolved and facing Karen.

"Sis..."

"Y, y, yes?"

She was stuttering, nervous, anxious. Maybe scared.

"Sis, I love you."

"... Eh?"

"I... I was actually planning to confess here... Seems I got the march stolen on me. Quite pathetic, isn't it?"

A smile formed on my face. Once I said those words, all the nervousness, it just disappeared all at once. As if it was never there to begin. Something heavy was lifted from my heart.

I walked towards the confused Karen until she was so close I could feel her breath on my face when I looked up to her. She was tall, from my point of view. Tall and reliable. And someone so dear to me.

"I don't know what happened to you, Sis, or all the things that might happen in the future. But right now, I love you, not as a sister, but as a person that I want to be together with. Will you please... be with me?"

I was sure, there were many better ways to confess, but I didn't care. Right now, I just wanted to bring my feelings across, regardless of how clumsy it was.

Once again, tears formed in her eyes, she leaned forward and pulled me into her embrace, squeezing me as strong as she probably could without hurting me.

"I... I might hurt you, Yumi."

"If it's you who is doing it, then that's fine with me."

"But I... Is this... really fine?"

"Sis... It's fine. I love you. I really do. More than anyone else."

I returned her hug, squeezing her softly. I could hear her heart beating incredibly fast. And I was sure, my own one was still just as fast. Yet, in this moment, I didn't mind. Because it was a blissful one. A moment I wished would never end.

"Yumi, I love you too. I'll be with you, so please, be with me as well."

"I will, Sis."

We slightly separated from each other. Her tear-stained face showed a bright smile, like a blooming flower. My own face was surely just as stained with tears. And yet, I knew I was smiling. Maybe, the biggest smile I had since coming to this world. No, it surely was.

Because... when else would I smile, if not now?

"Yumi, I love you."

Karen leaned down and pulled me slightly forward. Her face was slowly approaching. And then, her lips met with mine.

This time, we wouldn't separate any time soon.

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