Chapter 44: of Heart Resonance: A Small Experiment

"Yumi, you said you wanted to try out magic, but what exactly did you want to do?"

"Nn? Ah, well, I've read about a few spells that I might be able to use. Mostly from Life and Lust Magic."

We had distanced ourselves quite a bit from the camp by now, walking on a meadow. The laughter of the mercenaries' was still audible, but it was far away... A few single trees surrounded us and otherwise only grass.

"Lust Magic... While I heard about it from the stories, I don't know what it even does. Except, uhm, making others horny..."

"From the stories... About Yumias?"

"Yes. Even I was told the story before, you know. But, it never really talked about the magic in detail. At least, in the version I heard."

Karen walked up to a tree and sat down at its roots. She patted her lap, beckoning me over to sit down, which I promptly did. Leaning back, I could feel her soft body touching me. Her breasts, her stomach, her thighs.

"Yumi, you're warm."

"You too, Sis."

"Too bad we didn't bring a blanket."

"Nn. But the sun is still up. It'll take a little before it'll get colder."

"True. Maybe I should bring one when we go into the city."

Karen wrapped her arms around my stomach. This wasn't quite what I originally wanted to do, but... This happy feeling spreading in my chest, it told me to forget about the magic for a little bit and enjoy this precious warmth.

It's only for a little while, it shou—

"... Sis?"

"Yes?"

"Your hands."

Karen started doing things other than simply hugging me now. I didn't wear a one-piece dress right now, but the simple linen shirt and pants from yesterday evening. And Karen's hands now slipped beneath each. Her right caressing my stomach, slowly moving upward, and her left, slipping into my pants and...

"Sis. Nn?! Sis, not now!"

"Ehh? But we finally got some time for ourselves. If not now, then when?"

"That's... But... Nn?!"

"Just a little bit, okay?"

Her right hand finally reached my chest, carefully caressing it from below. Her fingers slowly traced along the shape of my breasts. It felt good. Pleasurable. Warm. A pleasant, cosy feeling spread through my chest.

"Yumi. I tried really hard, you know."

"Haa... Tri...ed?"

"Yes. I really had to hold back since earlier. I wanted to hug you so much. To kiss you, caress you. And when we were holding hands... Yumi!"

"Si... Sis? Sto... Not... the... re!"

Her left hand slipped further down, between my thighs, slowly crawling along my skin towards its goal. She buried her face in my nape once more, kissing it, sucking it. My face was heating, my whole body felt hot.

"Nn?! Ah!"

Finally, her hand reached its goal: My crotch.

"Oh? What's this, Yumi? You seem quite ready yourself."

Karen started licking my nape while she teased me. It was a great feeling but... But...

"Sis... I... Your... face..."

"Mh? You want to see my face?"

"... Nn."

It felt good. I liked this pleasure. But, it was lacking something.

"So you want to see my face, mh?"

"Ah."

Karen removed both her hands.

"And up we go."

"Woah!"

Suddenly, my sight shook. Karen had lifted me up moved me into a princess carry.

"Is this better?"

"Ah... Nn..."

Seeing Karen from this close up made me feel a little embarrassed and I instinctively tried to curl up. But Karen prevented me from doing that.

"No hiding now, Yumi."

"Ah..."

Karen's face closed in. Her lips and mine met. Still in Karen's arms, I returned the kiss clumsily.

"Ehehe. Yumi. Yumi!"

"Ah?! Sis?!"

Suddenly Karen hugged me with all her might.

"Sis?!"

"Yumi! I won't ever let you go! I promise! Never ever!"

Hugging me, pressing me against her own body, rubbing my cheek with her own and calling out my name.

"Sis? What's wrong?"

"Yumi. I love you. I love you so much!"

"Woah!"

Karen threw herself, and me as well, towards the ground, lying down. Then she wrapped her arms and legs around me and squeezed me while rolling around on the ground.

"Sis?! What's wrong?!"

"Yumi!"

She didn't listen. Instead, she rolled left and right, hugging me and rubbing herself onto me while calling my name. She had completely lost control of herself, unable to contain herself.

"Sis? Sis? What's wrong?"

No reaction from her again. She wasn't listening, only giggling like an idiot. My face was pressed into her breasts. Her heart was beating, loud and rapid. She still kept calling my name and that she loved me. It made me feel embarrassed. But also happy. That the girl I loved reciprocated my feelings this strongly.

I grabbed onto Karen's clothes and tried squeezing back, as strong as I could.

Let's stay like this until she calms. Ehehe.

A happy giggle escaped me, while I buried myself in this overwhelming love.

"Ahhh... That felt good..."

Around ten minutes later Karen calmed down and stopped rolling around. She was lying on her back now, her arms and legs still wrapped around me. With no intention to let me go either.

Well, I didn't really intend to leave this spot right now anyway. I had a very comfortable cushion right now. Although, I was basically her body pillow.

"Sorry, Yumi. I, uhm, lost control a little..."

"It's fine. Although, I was surprised. That was quite sudden."

"Uhh... Sorry. I wanted to be alone with you so much and then, uhm... I felt like I'd go crazy. I wanted to hug you so much."

Rather than just feeling, I had the impression that you did go crazy.

But it made me happy. Incredibly happy, even. To be loved this much, just how blessed was I?

"Sis, if you want to go crazy, then do it all you want."

"... Are you sure about that? I won't let you take that back."

"... I am."

I lifted my head a little and nuzzled against her collarbone.

"You're like a little animal."

"Then you should properly take care of your pet, as the owner. Like patting and feeding."

"Oh, I want to feed you. But we just ate. Ahh... Speaking of which... My stomach..."

"Your stomach?"

"... I think... It was a bit too much... for my stomach..."

"..."

That didn't sound good. At all.

"Is your stomach okay? Should I get off?"

"Ah, no! I just feel a little ill, it'll settle soon!"

"... I see. Don't force yourself, okay?"

"I won't. But thank you for worrying."

Karen caressed the back of my head and softly pressed her lips on my forehead.

"I wish we could stay like this forever."

"Nn."

"There's always someone around. Haa... If only we had a place just for us."

"Nn..."

Alas, we didn't. And we kind of missed our chance for that as well. We decided to stay with the mercenaries so we'd have to share the wagons with others. We'd also be around people pretty much all the time. Outside of toilet breaks, probably.

"I wonder how the families solve that."

"Nn? The families?"

"Yes, the families. The couples probably have sex, right? Or they wouldn't have children."

"Nn... Now that you mention it."

That was indeed a good question.

"... Maybe we should ask Merim and Helma."

"Helma? Who is that?"

"Nn? Oh, I didn't tell you yet? She's... Merim's wife?"

"... Why a question?"

"She claims to be his daughter but also his wife. She's a little... peculiar."

"His daughter? Yumi... How old is she?"

Karen furrowed her brows. I could understand that feeling... It was... odd...

"Twenty-two, same age as I."

"... But then, how old is Merim? I'm sure he's not even thirty, isn't he?"

"Twenty-six."

"... So he became a father with four, huh. Way to go."

"Sis, that's not how it works."

She probably was joking anyway. Still... I really had to question Merim about this...

"But I see. Asking someone might be a good idea... Mh, that reminds me though...

"Nn?"

"Mr Greyward talked about how Mr Captain wants to cut down everything unnecessary, right?"

"Nn."

"So, he'll downsize the mercenaries."

"Nn. Probably."

A grin formed on Karen's face. I got a bad feeling, somehow.

"If he downsizes the mercenaries... That means some wagons will be free!"

"... Sis."

"I'll make sure we get one!"

"..."

While she wasn't exactly wrong with that assessment... I highly doubted we would get one for ourselves.

"Sis. Even now there are already like a dozen or more people travelling in every wagon, right? There's no way we can take one for ourselves."

"But Ria and the other two have one for themselves. This Kohno guy from earlier also has his own wagon."

"... And Wendl has one too... And the captain... But Sis, they all have them for a good reason."

"Then we just need to find a reason. Let's see, we could make a doll workshop out of it."

"Sis, that..."

That... might actually work?

The dolls were quite useful. And I had a few new ideas for them as well. But, making a workshop out of it... Maybe?

"Hehehe, that's a good idea, isn't it, Yumi?"

"... It might work, but, Sis. We'd need to convince the captain. It might work, but it also might not."

"It's fine, we'll just think of something else if it doesn't work."

"Haa..."

If it did work, it'd be great indeed. If it did.

Our own wagon, huh. So, we'd be living together? Ahh, that might be nice... Ah, no good. Before that, there are still other things we have to do.

"Yumi. I feel really motivated suddenly."

"Nn. So do I."

"Let's do our best."

"Nn."

Karen squeezed me one last time and then let me go. Slightly reluctantly, I stood up and stretched myself. After huddling up like that, my whole body felt really stiff. But it was so worth it.

"Oh, right, Yumi, sorry about earlier."

"Nn? I already said it was fine."

"No, not that. You see, you never finished, right?"

"Nn?"

Finished? What did she mean now?

"Well, then I played with you down there."

"... Ah. Ahhhh..."

Right. But, somehow it didn't bother me that much. Honestly, I felt incredibly happy and satisfied right now. I had completely forgotten about it anyway.

"It's fine, Sis."

Karen stood up as well and stretched herself. I walked up to her, standing right in front of her.

"Yumi?"

"Sis."

I motioned her to lean down a little, which she did. I wrapped my arms around her neck, pulling her even closer.

And then I kissed her.

"So, Yumi. I asked earlier already, but what exactly do you want to try out? You said something about Lust and Life Magic, right?"

"Nn. I want to try out a few things with Life Magic."

I didn't want to try out those emotion-changing spells from the Lust magic on anyone close to me. It might be fine if I use it to get a hug from Karen but I could just ask for it anyway. On the other hand, Life Magic had a few things I could try out.

"Apparently the Witch Worshippers use Life Magic to heal wounds and grow things. Or, even changing their bodies."

"Changing their bodies?"

"Nn. I think what I do to change my eyes or my limbs is also part of Life Magic. Albeit, I don't know what kind of magic moving my hair would count as, or if it even counts as magic."

"Huh."

"So, I wanted to try out a few things. Maybe I can make myself able to see in the dark."

Night Vision would be very convenient. Or I might even be able to gain Thermal Vision? Depending on it, I could do quite a lot of things.

"Right, Lily said you can't see in the dark... But I was sure you could see in the dark before..."

"Well... Even if you say that, I can't now. And I don't remember being able to see much in the dark anyway?"

"Odd..."

Was it odd? I didn't know... Where did she even get that idea from?

"Guess I thought wrongly then... But, I was sure..."

She seemed a little down that she apparently remembered wrong.

"Haa... So, what do you want to try out first?"

"Nn, I think I'll try growing something. That sounds like the simplest to do."

I didn't really have the confidence to heal a wound or mess with my own body for now. My eyes were something I did mostly instinctively and I didn't worry too much about it usually, but actively trying something else was... a little scary. Just imagining all the things that could go wrong made me shudder...

"Growing something. But what exactly? There's only grass and trees around."

"Nn... Good question. I think a tree is a little much and grass... Is probably not good either. Maybe a flower?"

It was doubtful if we could see a change in the grass. Or rather, I didn't have confidence that I could keep track of the particular grass straw I was trying to grow... Something a little less common would be better. Like a flower.

"A flower... Mh, like these?"

Karen pointed at a nearby spot where a yellow flower was growing. Actually, there were a few of them around.

"Nn, I think those might work."

I walked over to the yellow flower. It was a small flower, with many small yellow petals. It reminded me a little of a dandelion. Although... looking closely, the centre of the flower was tinged in dark green. A green that dyed the petals irregularly. But the other flowers close-by were all completely yellow, no hint of any green on the petals.

"Sis. Why is that flower green in the centre?"

"Green? Oh, maybe it caught one."

"It caught one. I see."

Then it would be green, obviously.

"Sis. Caught what?"

"Mh? An insect, of course."

"... Excuse me?"

I took a step back from the flower.

"Yumi?"

"Sis. Maybe we should look for a different flower."

"Why?"

"I'm scared what'll happen if this one actually grows big."

For all I knew, it might try to eat us.

In the first place, it completely looked like a normal flower. Why would it catch insects? I thought flowers use insects as part of the pollination process. And how did it even catch the insect? And how did the insect die...

"Is something wrong with that flower, Yumi?"

"... Sis. Flowers shouldn't catch insects."

"What are you talking about, most flowers do that."

"... What."

I glanced at the flower again. And at the other flowers.

"Yumi, didn't flowers do that in your old world?"

"... No. They didn't. Ahh, there were a few that ate insects but those were considerably rare. Nothing you'd commonly see."

"How odd."

"..."

I will never be able to see flowers as something peaceful and pretty again, won't I?

Nature was quite cruel and at times unreasonable. I knew that. But at least the flowers...

"Sis, you said most, so there are a few that don't... catch insects?"

"Maybe? I'm not really a specialist with flowers, Yumi."

"I see. Too bad."

"Just try it on one of these. They probably won't grow that large anyway, right?"

"I don't think so."

It was still the best option, apparently... In the worst case, we could just run. And if rumours of a giant man-eating flower would spread around, it wasn't our fault.

A little reluctant, I decided to walk over to a flower that wasn't dyed in insect blood.

"So, what exactly are you trying to do now?"

"Nn, good question. Mr Wendl said it'd be better for me to just learn about the end results of spells since I should be able to directly invoke them. But... I don't really understand how either."

The past few times I always had something like an urge, a kind of instinct telling me how to do things. But even before that, I had to go with trial and error. Basically, I'd have to repeat that process. I could only hope that this mysterious instinct would kick in once more.

"Well, I should just try it out and see what happens. Here goes nothing."

I put my hands close to the flower. I drew some mana from my body and attuned it to the Life Attribute, just like I usually did with the dolls. But this time, I didn't want to mould, to change the shape of my target. Nor did I want to simply strengthen it. I wanted it to grow. And with this intention, I sent the mana into the flower.

"..."

"..."

Nothing happened.

"Nn... Odd."

"Maybe you need more mana? Did you bring any mana crystals?"

"... Ah."

I hadn't brought any. I completely forgot, in fact.

"I knew that would happen... Come here, I have a few."

"Nn? You brought some along?"

"Yes. I figured it wouldn't hurt to carry a few around. They aren't really taking much space after all."

Karen opened the small pouch she was carrying and pulled out a handful of mana crystals. And it was really a handful. Wasn't half the pouch only filled with mana crystals? Karen, just what did you need these for...

Regardless, I received the mana crystals from her. Time for attempt number two.

"..."

"..."

A few seconds later, I was still squatting in front of the same, unchanged flower.

Nothing had happened. Nothing at all.

"Nn, maybe I can't make things grow?"

"Or it did grow and we just don't see it?"

"That might be possible too..."

"Maybe change the way you do it?"

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I might have to do that... But what exactly should I change? I wanted it to grow, after all. Maybe I had to grow a specific part? It was worth a try.

I took another small mana crystal, robbed it of its mana and attuned it to the Life Attribute. But now, how should I even proceed? If I wanted to grow a specific part, which should I choose? The stem? The stem sounded like a safe option. I imagined the stem of this flower growing, maybe a centimetre or so. And with that image in my head, I tried invoking it.

"..."

"..."

"Ah."

"It's growing, Yumi."

"... It really is."

The flower grew. By around one centimetre. It really did.

"Let's... Let's try this again."

I stretched out my hand, took mana from a mana crystal and attuned it once more. Then I sent it to the flower, imagining it to grow another centimetre.

"..."

"..."

"Nothing..."

"It's not growing."

"Nn..."

It didn't do anything this time. The flower was just sitting there and not growing.

"Odd. Why did it not work this time?"

"Even if you ask me... It all looks the same to me, what you are doing."

"Mn... Let's try on another flower..."

I left the slightly bigger flower and walked up to a different one. There I repeated the whole process but...

"Still nothing. How weird... But why did it work at that time?"

"Yumi, how do you cast magic?"

"How, you ask... Some of it is, well, like on instinct? It's like I'm moving the mana with an, uhm, intent?"

"That... sounds vague."

"Nn..."

It was vague. Honestly, I didn't really understand the process either. Maybe that was actually the problem, after all?

I held my hand above a patch of grass. Then, I attempted the slightly familiar process now. The magic I used for the dolls, moulding the wood.

Taking in the mana and attuning it and finally, injecting the grass with the magic. The grass fell down to the ground, slowly becoming a gooey mass.

"Nn..."

I poked the dark green, gooey mass a little bit. The spell worked like always. But why? What was the difference? I didn't understand it at all...

"Maybe I'll have to consult with Mr Wendl once more. Or with Lily. Haa, that's why I wanted Lily to come along."

"So, it's not working?"

"Nn. I feel like, I have to figure out this vague process first... How troublesome..."

"So, you don't really know what the difference is?"

"Nn. What I do mostly by instinct works fine, but... No idea why. Or how."

Just how did monsters usually deal with this? They didn't even have the mental capacity to comprehend things like that, did they? Assuming they were similar to most animals.

"Maybe you can only do things on instinct?"

"But the flower grew a little right?"

"It did... But... an intent..."

Why was this so hard? I didn't understand.

"Maybe your intent isn't clear enough?"

"And how am I going to make it clearer? I already tried my hardest to imagine it."

"Mh... Maybe you thought too hard about the intent? You don't really think about the other magic, right? They are on instinct, after all."

"Sis... I mean, I can try but... I don't think that's it."

With that said, I sloppily threw some life-attributed mana at the flower. For all I knew, it really mi—

"No way. It grew?"

"See?"

"... That can't be it, can it?"

Immediately, I repeated the whole thing, throwing some mana sloppily at another flower. If this was really how I had to do it, I'd feel like an idiot.

"..."

"..."

"It didn't work, huh... Yumi, are you sure you didn't think too much?"

"I am... This is getting more and more confusing. I don't get it at all."

Was growing the flower too much to ask of?

I mean, yes, I'd also like to know how to properly deal with magic but... Come on...

With a sigh I threw myself down on the ground, facing upwards at the sky. The sun was still up but probably only for like two earth hours at most.

"Yumi, don't give up yet. If you experiment a little, maybe you can figure it out."

"Uhhh..."

How bothersome. That was, unfortunately, my first thought. But I knew Karen was right. I just felt a little frustrated. After all, we were talking about something that I theoretically should be able to do. Without any practice and experimenting. I could do other kinds of magic already, after all.

"Haaa..."

"Come, Yumi. Brooding over it won't help."

"I know, but..."

Karen leaned over me and looked down at my face. Due to the sun behind her, her face wasn't really visible. Cursed sun.

"Mh... Then, Yumi. If you try your best, I'll reward you."

"Reward?!"

"Woah!"

Karen was so startled that she fell on her behind.  Not surprising, considering I immediately sat upright, hearing those words.

"Don't surprise me like that, Yumi."

"Ah, sorry."

"Haa... Really, can't be helped. Yes, a reward. You can either ask anything or I'll surprise you with something. Whichever you want."

"I see. No choice but to give my best, right?"

"Ehehe. Yes, good luck."

"Nn!"

And with newfound motivation, I continued my little experiments.

"Ugh, I'm tired..."

The result? Incomprehensible. Half the time the flowers grew. Half the time they didn't. The success chance was worse the more I actually tried and better the more sloppily I did it. And it certainly didn't depend on the flower. The same flower could first not react but then react at the next attempt and vice versa.

"Are you okay, Yumi?"

"Nn... Just a bit tired. This is frustrating. I still don't understand it..."

Karen stroked my head lovingly. I was currently enjoying a lap pillow. It wasn't the reward she was talking about earlier, but I sure wouldn't have minded this as my reward.

"Should we go back now? It will soon get dark."

"Nn... I really thought this would just take maybe half an hour at most... Just trying out a few things and seeing how it'd go... I didn't think that I'd get stuck at the very first thing..."

"Ahaha... Isn't it often like that?"

"Nn..."

It really was. You already had a clear process in your mind how long all this would take. But then you stumbled somewhere early and never made any progress anymore... It was beyond frustrating.

"Come, we should get back soon, or we won't get into the city anymore. The gate isn't open forever."

"Ohh, right... Wait, Sis. If the gates close, we won't be able to get out either until morning, right? Where do we sleep then?"

"Don't worry about that. I got that all planned out."

"Huh..."

Planned out? So, we'd stay inside the city then?

"Rather than that, we first need to wash up a little, you know. We're all kinds of dirty. Especially your hair. It's full of dirt."

"Nn, it is..."

"You should be a little more careful. I can understand that it is hard to prevent it from dragging on the ground at that length, but you ought to look out a little more."

"Nn..."

I wondered just who it was that grabbed me earlier and was rolling left and right with me in her arms? Most of the dirt was from that time... With that said, she wasn't quite wrong either. The moment I so much leaned down my hair would be on the ground. But despite this little inconvenience, I grew to like this long hair. It was fluffy, nice to touch and made a wonderful blanket.

I feel like using my hair as a makeshift blanket is somehow wrong... Whatever... It's soft...

"Yumi, why did you start hugging your hair?"

"Because it's comfy."

"It is but you're just going to get even dirtier... Ahhh, let's go."

Karen lifted my upper body up. My lap pillow was distancing itself. It broke my heart.

"Come, Yumi. I'll give you another lap pillow later, okay?"

"Nn..."

But I want it now, not later...

Karen's expression told me that wouldn't work, though. So I reluctantly stood up and stretched myself. Looking down on me, though, I really was full of dirt. It might be better to just change clothes... But...

"Sis. Did I bring the one-piece dress along?"

I had the subtle feeling I forgot it at the fort, somehow.

"That dress you got from Wanda? I don't know if you did."

"... I might have forgotten it at the fort."

"Maybe you brought it and just forgot about it? Let's just take a look later."

"Nn..."

If I didn't bring it along, I'd have to look for it when we get to the fort again... Hopefully, it was still there, in that case. It was the first piece of real clothing I got, so I'd like to keep it, if possible.

"Now, let's finally get moving, Yumi."

"Nn..."

Karen grabbed my hand and pulled me along, back to the camp.

"Yumi?! Karen?! What happened to you?"

The moment we returned we found Lily sitting next to our wagon.

"Ahh, nothing much."

"Nn. Just a bit of lying on the ground."

"For just lying on the ground you really got dirty. Wait here, I'll bring you some water. Ah, but the three little ones are sleeping inside, so keep quiet... I'll ask if we can borrow another wagon."

"Ahh, thank you, Lily."

Lily immediately left to fetch water for us.

"Let's get at least some of the worst dirt off already before Lily comes back."

"Nn."

There wasn't much we could do other than patting down on our clothes, trying to get rid of the worst. Although most of it was already gone, fallen off while we walked here. That said, there was still quite a lot coming down every time I hit my clothes.

A few minutes later Lily returned with a large washbasin.

"No wagon we can use right now, but at least get your hair cleaned up, okay?"

"Nn, thank you."

"Thank you, Lily."

Lily put down the large, empty washbasin and took out a small, dark blue stone from her pouch. It shimmered in the dim light of the sun. I could feel Lily's mana flowing to the small stone. A second later, water poured out from the stone into the basin.

"Ohhh..."

"Yumi? Did you never see a water stone before?"

"Nn, I didn't."

I had only a little bit of experience with that accursed fire stone.

"Then, want to try it out?"

"... I think I'll refrain for now. Maybe another time."

When I don't mind being splashed by water...

"Hmm, okay then. Ah, Yumi, don't drink this water, okay?"

"Nn? Why not?"

Was magical water maybe bad like monster meat? Because of the mana within?

"I think you can get ill..." commented Karen.

"Ill? Is it not because of the mana?"

"No. I think it's just unhealthy?"

"Huh..."

But it was just water, right?

"I don't really know why either, but it's certain you get ill from it if you drink it regularly."

"Huh..."

Maybe it had something to do with nutrition or so? Or maybe it contained something harmful?

"Anyway, just don't drink it and it's fine."

"Nn, got it."

I was a little curious, but neither Karen nor Lily really knew why either.

"Now, let's get your dirt out of your hair, okay? Karen, I'll help you so you do Yumi's hair."

"Ah, thank you, Lily. Yumi, come here."

"Nn."

I tried sitting down in Karen's lap but was immediately shoved away.

"If you sit in my lap I can't wash your hair, Yumi."

"... Is that so."

"Yes, it is. Ah, don't look so down now. Later, okay? Later!"

"... Nn."

I sat down in front of her. I wanted to sit in her lap... How unfortunate.

"Ahaha... Really, you two. Just get to washing, don't you two have something planned after this?"

"Ah, right. Yumi, I'll start, okay?"

"Nn. But Lily, you know what Sis has planned?"

"I do. Hehehe, I hope you'll have fun."

I couldn't see her expression but surely it was a mischievous grin or something like that. She was enjoying it... Now I was a little worried about the whole thing...

"Karen, I'll start too."

"Yes. Go ahead."

I heard the water splashing in the basin. The next thing I felt was cold water being poured on my hair and my hair being rubbed.

"Ah, there's so much dirt. Really, Yumi..."

"..."

Despite her complaint, shortly after I heard someone humming behind me. Probably Karen.

For a few minutes, we sat there in silence, only accompanied by her humming. Lily obviously finished pretty quickly so she helped Karen out getting my hair clean.

"And done. Now you two already look quite a bit better. You don't look like you crawled out of a mud hole or so, anymore."

"That's... relieving."

"Nn."

"With that said, there's one thing I'd like to talk about first. Actually, two things."

"Nn?"

Lily fidgeted a little, before opening her mouth again.

"Karen. What happened with your hair?"

"My hair?"

I glanced towards Karen, or rather her hair. It looked like always, though... Karen herself quickly took a strand of her hair and checked whether something was wrong with it.

"No, I don't mean that. Uhm, more like... Ahhh, come here, Karen."

"Eh, wait, Lily?!"

Lily walked up to Karen and started fiddling with her hair.

"There. Look, I mean this."

Lily grabbed a particular strand of hair.

"Ah."

"Ahh..."

It was something I had seen before. Yesterday, in fact. It was the odd, pink strand of hair. Except... It spread. There were probably around three small strands worth of pink hair now.

"Nn, it spread."

"It really did."

"So you already knew about this?"

"I saw this yesterday, although it was less than now...

Karen stroked the pink strand carefully with a strained smile.

"That... person, your mother, she also pointed it out..."

"Eh, Mama did?"

"Yes. She said it'd be nothing bad, so I shouldn't mind it but... I don't even know why or what this is..."

"I see... If she said that, it probably won't be a problem for now. But, you should still take care, okay?"

"Got it..."

Lily let go of Karen and let out a sigh.

Then she looked over to me, and then once more at the pink strands in Karen's hair.

"I'm a little worried, but... For now, it seems fine..."

"It doesn't hurt nor do I feel strange in any way so..."

"I see... Haa... We'll have to observe that, okay?"

"Nn."

"... Got it."

Lily smiled wryly, then coughed once and straightened up herself.

"Anyway. The other thing I... wanted to talk about. Uhm... Karen..."

"Yes?"

"... What... things does Rina like?"

"..."

"..."

Standing as straight as a totem pole, Lily timidly asked Karen, her voice small and her face tinged a light red.

"What things she likes... I don't know... She used to like stories. Back then, I often told her bedtime stories and our mother.... she read fairy tales with us. She always loved those stories. Especially happy ones."

"Stories, huh..."

"Sorry, I don't really know anything else either."

"No, it's fine. Thank you. I'll think of something."

"Good luck."

"Uhh... Thank you."

Lily averted her face in embarrassment. It was cute. I wanted to cheer for her.

"Lily."

"Ye... s?"

"If you do something to Rina, I hope you'll take responsibility."

"Yes... I will..."

"Then, get going. We're off too now."

"... Thanks, Karen. And have fun, you two."

Having found new courage, Lily clenched her fists in front of her. With a big smile, she left, waving in between to us.

"Where's Lily off to?"

"Probably to Rina. Maybe she's waiting for Lily."

"... She's not sleeping in the wagon?

"Don't you remember what Lily said? The three little ones are sleeping. She didn't say Rina is sleeping."

"Oh."

I had completely missed that. So that's how it was.

I see. I see. Hehehe, I'm looking forward to tomorrow.

"Yumi, come. Before the gate really closes."

"Nn."

Karen took my hand with a smile. I returned a smile of my own. Holding hands, we left in the direction of the city.

Rinne

In other news, yesterday the second additional chapter went up on Patreon. Now, both tiers have three chapters each. Took a little longer than I had planned... Sorry about that. Still, they are slowly building up.

With that said, thank you for reading! Hope you'll have a nice remaining Sunday!

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