Chapter 48: of Heart Resonance: Hidden Emotions

"Move that over there. No, not there, brat."

"Uncle Wendl, what do we do with the table?"

"I'm not an uncle, brat. Below the wagon is a compartment for it."

"Ohhh..."

Emily and Maya carried the folded table and shoved it into the compartment. A moment later the table was gone from sight.

"Wendl. The warox doesn't want to get into the harness."

"There are some vegetables below the driver's seat, girl. The damn glutton isn't resisting while it eats."

"Here? Oh, there really are some."

Helma took a cucumber-shaped orange vegetable from the box and waved it in front of the warox. Its eyes followed the vegetable and after a few seconds, it literally snatched it from her hand. With quick steps, Helma moved to the harness and fastened it on the warox while it was busy eating. Her motions were smooth, like someone who was used to doing this.

"Good, good. That should be all."

"Did we do good, Uncle Wendl?"

"I told you, I'm no uncle, brat. But I guess you passed. Barely."

"Yay!"

Emily threw her arms up in the air, jumping on the spot. Despite the questionable praise, she was beaming.

"Yumi..."

"Nn? Is something the matter, Sele?"

"... No."

There hadn't been much to do so Sele and I were sitting on the ground, watching Emily and Maya bringing away the chairs or folding the table and stowing it away. Why was the table foldable anyway. And how did it fold... It bothered me a little. Although I had to admit, it was quite clever.

"Now all we have to do is wait for the Captain to give the signal and we can leave."

Wendl checked once more if everything was stowed away and if the warox was properly in the harness. Once done, he walked over to me and Sele.

"Brat, already done with those books?"

"Nn? No. I brought them to read."

"Ha? We'll be leaving soon, there's no time for you to read here."

He wasn't wrong... But I had a plan.

"Nn. There are a few things I still want to know, so I wanted to ask if I could stay here for the trip to the fort."

"You want to get on my nerves even more, brat?"

"Nn."

"Not even denying it, huh. Well, do whatever you want."

"Nn, will do."

Got his permission. Perfect.

"So, what do you even want to ask about? Magic again?"

"Nn. I can't really figure out how to use those spells..."

"You can't figure it out?"

Surprised, he raised his eyebrows.

"What do you mean, can't figure it out? Aren't you using various kinds of magic already?"

"Nn, but... Like... I do them on instinct, I don't really think about casting them..."

"Don't think... And you can't do that for the other magic?"

"Nn..."

Wendl stroked his chin, lost in thought.

"Is that so... To be honest, I have no idea how I could help you."

"I... see..."

That was... unfortunate...

"The way you cast magic is just too different from humanoids. There isn't really anything I could help you with."

"Haa... Did nobody ever try to find it out?"

"Sure, there are probably enough who tried. But nobody ever figured it out. You see, you can't communicate with monsters."

"..."

Well, yes, monsters weren't able to communicate, generally... Except me.

"At least among the humanoids, that is."

"Nn?"

"There are also intelligent magic beasts, creatures like dragons can cast magic too and they might know something. But, well... I wouldn't try to find a dragon. With that said, there's no guarantee they can help either. Other intelligent magic beasts might work. Maybe even fairykin. Finding a dark elf might be your best bet, in fact."

"A dark elf, huh..."

Wormaz couldn't cast magic, so he wasn't an option. He did say that mixed-bloods with a fairykin parent couldn't use magic like them.

"The Academy has probably some books and the research materials for such studies. But there's no time for that, right now, brat."

So, in other words... There was nothing I could do except trying to figure it myself. How unlucky...

"Fairykin... magic?"

Next to me, Sele perked up and stared at Wendl.

"What, you want to know about fairykin magic?"

Sele nodded.

"That... might be a little hard."

"Hard?"

I tilted my head. It wasn't like they were that rare, from the looks of it, so how was it hard?

"Mh... How to say it... Fairies are very troublesome creatures, most of them. They aren't really magic beasts or monsters, but they aren't humanoids either. Some say they are materialised spirits or the will of nature."

"Spirits?"

"Yes. Do you know about spirit magic?"

"Only a little..."

If I remember it right, it was a type of magic where the caster asked spirits for help. So, probably they weren't actually casting the spells themselves.

"Spirits are quite interesting, but that's a very long topic. More importantly, the fairykin. Fairykin differ largely on their type. Most of them live in forests but a few don't. Gnomes are known for living in rocky areas. But there's one thing most of them have in common. Can you guess what, brat?"

"In common? Uhh..."

I barely knew anything about them, so...

"Terri... tory..." answered Sele.

"Ohh, you're a smart one, aren't you? The grey brat is right, fairykin are very territorial. Even dark elves, who are said to be the most sociable fairykin. That's also why the Fairy's Light is such an annoying sign. Because, it means, there are intruders."

Wendl stared past the wagons, towards the forest we went through. It wasn't as apparent, but there was still a glow to be seen, even with the sunlight drowning out most of the glow.

"The way the fairies deal with it can differ largely. Some are very quick to make use of it, while others barely ever do. The actions of the fairies during the Fairy's Light also differ. Mischievous ones play pranks, the cautious ones observe and make you leave by way of illusions. But there are also very dangerous ones, that actively attack any intruders. And due to that, dealing with fairykin is quite hard. They aren't really rare, but we still know next to nothing. Except that they don't like to be bothered."

He returned his gaze back to the camp, scanning the surroundings.

"Be that as it may, that's all I can help you with. For now, I'll go and look for my stupid apprentice. Don't break anything, are we clear on that, brat?"

"... Nn."

And with those words, he left.

But finding a dark elf... that might be a little hard...

"Yumi..."

"Nn? What is it, Sele?"

"Emily..."

"What about her?"

Sele paused, maybe not sure what to say. After a few seconds, that honestly felt like an eternity, she spoke up.

"Emily... can cast... magic..."

"... Pardon?"

I froze. Did I hear her right, just now? Emily could cast magic? But Emily was... an elf. Probably a high elf. Therefore, she was a fairykin. And a perfectly valid option if I needed some help.

"... I completely forgot that."

She was so far removed from my image of elves that I had forgotten. Well, her ears were there. And I still wanted to nibble on them, but Emily wouldn't let me. No, that wasn't important. There had been a fairykin right next to me, the entire time.

"I could ask Emily, huh. Thank you, Sele."

"Mm..."

I pat her head and rubbed it strongly. The way she was squinting her eyes and pressing her head against my hand was so adorable...

While I continued to pat Sele, I took a look at my surroundings. It took me barely a few seconds to find Emily and Maya next to the warox.

"Emily."

"Mh? Yumi? Yumi! Did you call?"

"Nn."

Emily turned around and dashed over to us with Maya right behind her. Thankfully, she didn't attempt to jump at me. That wouldn't have ended well while I was sitting and patting Sele.

"Nn, Emily, can you use magic?"

"Magic? A little."

"Ah, Yumi!"

For some reason, Maya's face turned pale, and then into an expression of utter panic. She shook her head vigorously, standing right behind Emily.

Nn? Maya doesn't want me to talk about that? But...

"Yumi? Yumi, do you want to see my magic?"

"Nn? Ahh... Uhhh..."

I glanced between Emily and Maya, the latter now waving her hands as well. Her entire being was rejecting this idea. I glanced to Sele next to me, but even her expression turned grave.

You're the one who suggested this, Sele!

"Ahhh... Maybe some other time... I actually just wanted to ask you something about magic."

"Oh... Okay! But... I don't really know anything about magic."

"Eh? Haa... Then, how do you cast magic?"

"I just do."

"You... just do?"

Emily nodded, smiling. Meanwhile, I had absolutely no idea what she meant with that.

"Ehh... Could you explain a little more?"

"But, I don't know?"

Apparently, even asking the closest fairykin to me ended up in no result. How unfortunate.

"Emily... The feeling..." mumbled Sele.

"The feeling? I don't know? Like, I just do!"

Maybe I should ask her after all to demonstrate it. But Maya's vehement refusal worried me... What to do...

Meanwhile, Emily stared at us. She probably had picked up on it, that it wasn't the answer I had been looking for.

"It's like, I just do it? I don't know... If I want the tree to move, it moves. If I want it to give me fruit, I get fruit!"

"Nn? Seriously?"

The tree just moved? Or gave her fruit? Rather than casting magic, that sounded more like the forest accommodating her.

Frankly, that wasn't helping at all...

"Uhh... Sorry, Yumi. It's not helpful?"

"Nn? Ah, don't apologise. Maybe it'll help me out. Thank you, Emily."

I quickly stood up and tried to placate Emily who was feeling down from being unable to help, staring to the ground.

Ruffling her hair, I tried lifting her mood.

"Uhhh... Yumi! Yumi!"

"Nn?"

Suddenly, her energy returned and she closed in on me, her face stopping right in front of me.

"I'll show you magic! It'll help! Come!"

"Ah! Don't Emily! Uncle told you not to do it! He forbid you from doing it!"

From behind Emily, Maya jumped at us, hugging Emily from behind. The force made Emily crash into me, and, subsequently, made us three fall down to the ground.

"Woah!"

"Wah!"

Landing on my back, I was nearly flattened by the two of them falling onto me, the air being pushed out of my lungs. 

"Ahh! Yumi? Emily? Are you okay?"

"Uhhh..."

"Haaaa... Haaa... Haaa... Nn... It's... fine..."

Thankfully, it didn't hurt as much as I had feared, it just left me short of breath. That said, it still hurt. Maya moved away in a hurry so I could finally properly catch my breath. It took me a few deep breaths to make sure everything was fine.

Then, I turned my attention to the person who wasn't moving.

"Nn... Emily? Could you move as we— Wait? Emily?"

Suddenly, Emily sat up, mounting me. She touched and patted my stomach as if she was looking for something. It gradually grew more intense.

"Emily? Could you... The heck are you doing?"

"Yumi... Hooo... Yumi. You're squishy."

"... Ha?"

"Squishy! Super squishy!"

She pressed down on my stomach with all she could. Which, wasn't really a lot. At least, it wasn't making me feel uncomfortable. It seemed she got quite the kick out of it though, laughing loudly.

Maybe intrigued by Emily's actions, Maya and Sele appeared from the sides and joined her in pressing on my stomach.

"Squishy Yumi."

"Squishy!"

"..."

"You three... I'm not a toy..."

"Ehehe!"

Emily grinned brightly. Then she suddenly spread her arms, caught Sele and Maya and threw herself once more onto me.

"Woah?!"

"Wahh! Ahaha!"

"Emily?!"

"..."

It wasn't as bad as the first time, but now I was quite literally buried below those three. At least there was a lot less force this time.

Emily giggled and laughed happily.

"Emily?"

"Ehehe! Squishy!"

"Emily, don't surprise me like that."

Maya complained to her. Yet, she didn't even try to move away. So much to that. She and Sele were still caught in Emily's arms anyway. And Sele... was stealthily trying to snuggle closer to me, grinning to herself.

"Ehehe! I love you all!" Emily declared, beaming like the sun.

Haa... Oh well. This is fine too.

At least, she was happy. I couldn't really move and the ground wasn't exactly comfortable, but... I couldn't help but forgive her when she was smiling that much...

"A pile of little girls."

"Definitely a pile of little girls."

"Sis. Lily. If you have time to comment, could you help me?"

"Should we, Karen?"

"Mh... No."

They abandoned me. Cast aside. I wanted to cry.

Around ten minutes later, Lily, Karen and Rina came over. The three little ones still hadn't budged. In fact, they had made themselves comfortable with my hair. Wrapped up as we were, it surely looked utterly ridiculous. Well, to be fair, if I really wanted to, I could probably get out. But that hurdle was simply too high for me. And, I might be complaining, but I did feel a little reluctant leaving. I would've preferred a more comfortable place, though, and not the hard ground.

"Oh well... Emily, Maya, Sele. If you don't let Yumi go soon, we can't leave. You can continue later."

"We can't leave? That'd be bad!"

"Mhh..."

"..."

Emily disappeared from above me with incredible nimbleness. She was the only one, though. Maya was dozing off and Sele was simply hugging my arm. It was an improvement. Better than nothing. But it was a little colder now.

"Maya, Sele, come on. Let her go."

Karen walked around me to Sele and picked her up. Much to my surprise, Sele didn't move at all and just let herself get picked up, now hanging limply in the air. Now, mostly free, I managed to escape Maya's grasp.

"Freedom. Freedom has been achieved."

"What were you girls even doing anyway..." asked Lily.

"We squished Yumi! Yumi is really, really squishy! Like jelly!"

"I don't think I'm that squishy, Emily. I still have bones and everything..."

"Mhh..."

There was a limit to squishiness. A person had more than enough hard parts inside. Mostly the skeleton.

"Are you sure about that, Yumi? Sometimes. I get the feeling you don't even have bones..."

"Sis, that'd be quite scary."

If I didn't have bones, I wouldn't even be able to stand anyway, so I obviously had them.

"Enough of how squishy I am... I still have bones. More importantly, let's wake up Maya.

I squatted down and shook Maya.

"Maya. Maayaaa. Wake up."

She hadn't even noticed that I had escaped. Somehow, she had managed to lodge her own arm below her head to use it as a pillow. Lying like that on the ground, she was dozing away. Quite resilient, this girl. Being able to sleep peacefully on such rough ground was... Actually, I wasn't sure if I should be envious about it... It was pretty hard ground after all. Even if I could theoretically sleep on it, I wouldn't want to.

"Mmh... Mh..."

"Maya. Come, wake up."

"Mm... Only a bit more..."

"You can sleep later. Now, come."

"Mmmm..."

Her eyes slightly opened. After blinking a few times she sluggishly managed to force herself up. After rubbing her eyes, she stood up. Although, she was so wobbly on her feet I feared she might fall over... Still, she was up and that was enough for Lily at least.

"You all awake now? Then, let's get back to the wagon. Papa said we'll be leaving any minute."

"Mm..."

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"Yes! Coming!"

"Ah, Lily, Sis. I'll stay here. I want to look through Wendl's books and stuff. Maybe something can help. I got Mr Wendl's and Mr Greyward's permission for it too."

"Oh, you'll stay here? How unfortunate."

Lily voiced her displeasure.

"Well, it might come in handy if I can find something."

"Mh, true. Should I stay too? I do know a little about magic, after all."

"That's... I won't say no but..."

I took a quick glance at the three little ones. They had surrounded Rina and were talking about something full of excitement.

"Yumi, I'll take care of them."

"Nn, are you sure, Sis?"

"Yes. I can't help much with magic anyway, after all."

"Ah, actually, Karen. Why don't we let Rina take care of them?"

"Huh?"

Karen's eyes widened at Lily's sudden proposal.

"I wanted to teach you magic too, right? And if we're here already. Wendl can help, too!"

"I... see... But..."

"Rina can do it, don't worry, Karen! I'm sure!"

Karen threw a slightly doubtful glance at Rina before returning her attention back to us, or rather, to Lily.

"You need to trust her a little, Karen. Isn't that what a big sister is supposed to do?"

"Is... that so?"

"Yes, yes. It is!"

"Haaa... Then... I guess it's fine?"

Karen relented after Lily's insistence.

Is it just me or is Lily somehow a little pushy right now?

I watched Lily continuing on telling Karen that it'd be fine and she should tell Rina to look after them. After a few more unsure exchanges, Karen walked over and explained it to the girls. Rina seemed quite happy about being entrusted with their care, so... All was well?

But... from the corner of my eyes I spotted Lily's wry smile.

"That's what Emily told you?"

"Nn. I don't really know what to make of it, though..."

"It is... quite... Well..."

"Nn..."

We were currently sitting inside Wendl's workshop slash wagon. Maybe I should really just call it laboratory. Rina and the girls had run off to our wagon, preparing to depart. Alas, with Lily here, there was no driver for them, so we had to ask one of the other Black Guard mercenaries to drive the wagon. He accepted willingly when Lily asked but... was that really fine? He didn't even question it... Actually, he seemed quite glad.

"So, in the end, you still have no clue?" asked Karen.

"Nn..."

"Hey, girl. Concentrate."

"Ah, sorry."

Karen was sitting at Wendl's desk, forced to practice with some kind of magic device again. According to Wendl, it was more efficient for her to familiarise herself with mana from other attributes, for now. Otherwise, she might be only able to cast magic from her own attributes as a manakin. Depending on whether she could do it or not, the way he'd teach her would change apparently.

"Is that why you are reading this, Yumi?"

"Nn."

A voice came from behind me. As Karen was busy with that weird device, Lily took the opportunity and kidnapped me, forcing me to sit in her lap for a change. She hadn't really done this since the incident with Rina, so I was a little surprised. Sitting in her lap really made me realise once more... Her height... She really was smaller without her disguise. And not exactly a small amount. She was still quite a bit taller than me, but... Was this girl really eighteen?

"Oh, I remember that one. The Bubbling Wyrm, huh..."

"The heck kind of name is that. But a wyrm... Are they related to dragons?"

"No, they aren't. Most wyrms are a type of lizard monster. See, it's written there."

"Oh, you're right."

It really was written there. After skimming over the page and confirming there wasn't anything interesting, I turned the page of the monsterarium. The next one was a pretty familiar one...

"Currently in the lizard section? Is that an armoured salamander?"

"... Isn't this a crocodile?"

"What's a crocodile?"

"... A large, amphibious lizard. But it's an animal."

"Well, this one is clearly a monster. It even says where the mana crystal is."

True to her words, the article not only wrote where it was, but it even had an illustration of the spot in question. So, it really was a monster... Made me wonder if it was still possible to simply prevent them from opening their mouths. Not like I'd ever wanted to try that.

"Teacher!"

"What? Don't bother me."

A voice from outside called out to Wendl, who only turned to the door with an expression of displeasure.

"The warox is refusing to move."

"Tsk, can't you even get one thing right, shitty apprentice?"

"Please come and help me, the others are already leaving."

"Ah, curse the spirits. I'm coming. You girls, don't break anything, you hear!"

"We'll try our best!" answered Lily.

Lily's tone was everything but serious and her joking salute made it only worse. Shaking his head in exasperation, Wendl left the wagon.

"Now we're alone, huh."

"Nn."

The next page of the book showed a very weird, two-tailed lizard, spewing fire. Biology really meant nothing to these creatures...

"Oh, the spewing lizard, huh. I hate those. But they bring in a lot of money, especially alive. Like, a real lot of money."

"Nn? Why that?"

"The fire, you see, is actually not completely magical. It actually spews oil and ignites it. Oil! Live spewing lizards equal money minters!"

Was that the equivalent of a money printer? Still...

"Aren't there other oils that are easier to acquire?"

"Ah, yes. There are quite a few ones... But the spewing lizard oil can be used by magic craftsmen apparently. At least they pay a lot for it. A real lot. Maybe Wendl knows more about the why. I never really cared."

You did care, Lily. For its monetary value...

That made wonder if it was possible to create oil with magic... Oil, huh...

While I was thinking about that, Lily stiffened up behind me, and then took a deep breath, as if she was preparing for something.

"By the way... Karen," Lily called out to her all of a sudden.

"Yes? Is something the matter?"

"Uhm... There's something I... wanted to ask you..."

"Go ahead?"

Karen turned around, facing us. From behind me, I could feel how Lily was immediately hiding her face behind me, keeping silent for a few seconds, then taking another breath.

"Karen. How do you feel about your parents?"

"... My parents?"

I craned my neck back to look at Lily. Her expression was... conflicted... Or rather, downright sad.

"... My parents, huh... Honestly, I don't know? I don't really care about those people anymore, after all."

"You don't care, huh..."

"... Lily, does this... have to do with Rina?"

After a short moment, Lily nodded.

"I... talked with her yesterday. We had... a lot of fun. But..."

"But? Lily, what happened?"

"Karen... Rina, she... She scares me a little."

"Eh?"

Rina was? Rina was scaring Lily? The Lily that was fine facing an ogre in battle and was still laughing? While I was simply bewildered, Karen left her seat and walked over to us, simply sitting down next to Lily. She didn't say anything, not a single word, waiting for Lily to continue.

"... At one point... We talked about the future..."

"The future?"

"Mhm. About the things we wanted to do, or the things we once dreamt of doing. Such things..."

Lily was squeezing me, burying her face completely in my hair.

"Do you know... what Rina's plan for the future is?"

"... No, I don't."

"That girl... she wants to take revenge."

"Revenge... you say?"

I could feel how Lily was nodding once more to Karen's question.

"She wants to take revenge... on her parents... and everyone else who exiled you two. Revenge on all those who wronged you. And she wasn't talking about playing pranks or something. She... plans to kill them."

"Revenge, huh..."

Karen blankly stared into the air. Some seconds later, the wagon suddenly jerked forward. We could hear the cry of the warox, pulling the wagon. It didn't take long before the wagon was gently swaying and shaking from the movement. We continued on in silence for another minute or two before Karen finally let out a sigh.

"Revenge... So it really was like that, after all..."

"Karen? You... knew?"

"I didn't. At least, not for sure. But I wondered whether she felt like that..."

"..."

Karen leaned over, putting her arm around Lily's shoulder and pulling her close. She gently patted her head.

"When we were still travelling, I also had thoughts of revenge. I also thought of making them pay in the worst possible ways... But that was long ago. Those feelings are gone now. And... Living in the slums was hard, but I still had it better than Rina..."

"Karen..."

"You see, people die for the pettiest things. The worth of a single life... Is sometimes less than stale bread."

She paused, then let go of Lily, stood up and walked to the desk.

"Lily."

"... Yes?"

"Could you do me a favour?"

"A... favour?"

"Yes, a favour. Rina is really fond of you, so... please be there for her. I couldn't, after all."

I wondered, what kind of face was she making right now?

"But, Karen... That's..."

"You don't hate her, do you? Even after hearing that..."

"I don't."

"Then, isn't it fine? You're troubled because you love her, right?"

Lily was twitching at those words. Her embrace also tightened a little...

"... You're quite selfish, Karen."

"Oh, you didn't know?"

With a slight hint of sarcasm, a giggle escaped Karen.

"I'm sure you can help her. In whichever way you think is fine."

"... I'll try."

"Mm, that's good enough for me."

Karen sat down at the desk again.

"Still, revenge, huh..."

"Karen?"

"Ah, nothing. Just been wondering... When it was that I had stopped bothering with that."

She started operating the magic device again, her body shivering in between. Apparently, she quite disliked the feeling of the mana entering her body.

I leaned back, resting the back of my head on Lily's shoulder.

"Yumi?"

"Nn, good luck."

"Good luck, huh. Thank you, Yumi."

"Nn."

As the discussion was over, I could return my attention to the book.

Revenge... I guess I'm not surprised that Rina feels that way. Sis barely speaks about those times, I wonder... Just what happened back then...

"I'm done."

"Ohh... You actually went through the entire book?"

"Nn..."

The book was thick, but a large amount of the pages were illustrations. Nonetheless, I learnt a lot about various monsters. I probably had forgotten the majority of their names already, but that was just a minor detail. But for my actual goal... Unfortunately, the whole thing wasn't as fruitful as I had hoped.

"There are really only a few monsters, huh... Ones that can use magic..."

"It'd be a catastrophe if they all could, Yumi," commented Lily.

"Nn, well... I guess."

The number of monsters was, frankly, incredible. But, nearly none could use magic. As in, actual magic. Even beings like the spewing lizard were... rare. Most of them were just oversized, ferocious animals.

"Haa... And there was really nothing on their ecology either."

The way they lived, multiplied and such things... They weren't even written for the most part, except very few exceptions. Creatures like the ogre were surprisingly well-documented due to it being a quite common monster. I had some mixed feelings when the book classified it as a comparatively weak monster... What was I then? A pushover?

"Nn, Lily, could you let me go for a bit?"

"Ehh... No way."

"... I'd like to take a look at the other book."

"... You won't really find anything else, Yumi. It is just a more in-depth version of the book you just read, going through the different types of ropers, tentacles and the like."

Being able to take a look myself would be preferable, though... But, Lily didn't move. Not even the tiniest bit.

"Nn... Wait, Lily? Did you read these books before?"

"I read the roper one before."

"And not this one?"

"..."

She fell silent.

Throwing a look behind me I saw her averting her gaze awkwardly.

"Lily?"

"Well... You know... I was just a little interested... But that was already years ago!"

"... Interested?"

"That's... you know..."

She fidgeted around, her face slowly blushing.

Ah. I think I get it.

"Horny teenager, huh."

"Yumiiiii! Don't say iiiit!"

"No, wait, Lily, I'm soooooooooorrrryyyyy!"

Embarrassed as she was, I was subjected to violent shaking. It felt like my brain was thrown forwards and back repeatedly.

Or, to keep it short, it made me feel sick.

"Lilyyyy! I'm sorrrryy! Pleaassee! It's! It's coming! Stooop!"

"Yumi? Lily? Ah! Lily, stop! Quickly!"

My saviour appeared. Karen, having been disturbed by the ruckus, hurried to my help, preventing Lily from shaking me further.

"Uhhh, I feel sick..."

"Ahh, I'm sorry, Yumi."

"You reap what you sow... Still, Lily, if Yumi vomits again it'll be catastrophe inside here. So, please don't do that."

"Oh... Ohh... That. Was close."

It really was. My stomach nearly turned around entirely. Fortunately, my breakfast stayed where it was.

"Sorry, Yumi."

"N—, Nn... It's... fine..."

I was still trying to catch my breath and suppress my stomach contents. Right at that moment, a small window to the front of the wagon opened.

"Hey, brat, girl, Lily."

"Wendl?"

"We might have some trouble brewing up."

"Trouble? What happened?"

The three of us turned to the small window where Wendl's face was peeking through. I'd really appreciate it if he could start using our names...

"We're in the forest. Entered a quarter-hour ago. And it seems someone has been watching us since we entered here."

"Watching? Are you sure?"

"Yeah, from the looks of it, someone is keeping watch on us. Not sure who, ye—

"Teacher!"

His apprentice suddenly cried out, drawing Wendl's attention away from us.

"What, shitty apprentice?"

"There!"

"Oh fucking... Hold the damn warox, you rockhead."

The wagon slowed down until it came to a stop.

"Why do these things always happen when you need them the least? You girls, stay inside."

"Wendl! What is happening?"

"Our beloved forest folk is happening, Lily."

Rinne

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