Chapter 54: of Heart Resonance: In the Dark Forest

"Come on, are you little girls?! Get that fucking tree out of the way! We don't have all night!"

A few dozen mercenaries were cutting up the trees with axes, carrying the tree remnants away and cleaning up the path. Korwen stood a little to the side, shouting orders. Next to him, Ria was holding a piece of wood, scrutinising it quite closely.

"Do you want us all to freeze to death! Get a move on!"

He kept shouting at them, probably to prevent them from slacking off.

"Captain."

"Mh? Oh, you..."

He frowned a little seeing me.

"Yumi, I have to apologise to you again, it seems."

"No, it's fine, Captain. I should've controlled myself as well."

I had completely overdone it as well with the drinking. He did kind of pressure me a little into it, but I still should've kept myself under control. That had been my own responsibility. Passing out like that was... embarrassing. And... From the looks of it, he already felt bad about it. That was enough for me.

"I see. Then I won't bring it up again."

"Nn."

"So, Captain. Did you make any progress?"

"Nothing changed from when you asked the last time. The trees are beyond hard to remove."

"Hard to remove?"

I tilted my head curiously. I mean, they definitely were a bother but they had axes and everything, it shouldn't have been too hard.

"Look... at this..."

"A branch?"

Ria turned around to us and handed us the piece of wood she was holding. It was a small branch, an oddly stiff branch. Suspiciously stiff. I tried bending it but... Even with all my strength, it wasn't bending at all.

"The heck? What's up with this branch."

"Yumi, can I try?"

"Nn..."

I handed Karen the wood and she tried her luck at bending it. It took her a lot of effort to bend it—having to bend it over her knee—but she actually did it. Much to my surprise, it really bent and didn't break. Although, it stayed in its now bent position. The heck.

"Every tree is like that. Hard beyond comprehension. We checked on the surrounding trees and every single tree here is like that. Ridiculous."

Korwen shook his head.

"At this rate, we're stuck here for at least half a day. Yumi, go and fetch Greyward and his magician. Karen, since you're free now, grab an axe and help those idiots out. You're probably going to make more progress than most of them."

"Understood, Captain."

"Nn, got it."

Korwen turned around to me, silently staring at me and narrowing his eyes.

"Y— Yes, Captain."

He nodded, satisfied and then turned back to the mercenaries, shouting at them once more to hurry up. Karen only gave me a curious glance but didn't say anything.

"Yumi. If you feel worse again, don't force yourself."

"Nn, I'll take care."

"Then, I'll go to help them. Until later."

"Nn, good luck."

Karen left as well, grabbing a nearby axe and joining the surprisingly merry mercenaries in their wood hacking endeavours. Some of them even started to sing now. Something about a lumberjack and a fairy princess. Would've liked to listen but I had to go look for Greyward and Wendl now.

"Ria, where are the Black Guard wagons? At the end?"

"Yes..."

She nodded in response to my question.

"As expected. I'll go fetch them then."

"Good... Luck..."

"... Thank you."

Not sure why I needed luck. Maybe I was overthinking it, but hearing those words made me a little wary. Especially since Wendl was involved once more.

With that said, I left Ria, who was busy studying the now bent branch, and walked to the back of the caravan. Considering the sheer amount of wagons, it probably would take quite a while until I'd reach the Black Guards.

Looking at it like this, the mercenary group really is large. Dozens of wagons and each wagon already has an impressive size...

One single wagon was enough to house a good dozen people. That was considerably large. Size-wise they were closer to a train car. Not the really huge kind of train car, mind you. Still incredibly large compared to most kinds of vehicles.

I wonder how many wagons there are even. Less than a hundred? Or maybe more than a hundred?

The number of people was in the hundreds. If I recalled correctly, the Dragon Knights themselves were at around eight hundred people. Eight hundred. Just counting one wagon for ten people it would already be close to a hundred. And the Black Guards weren't even among those. That didn't account for supply wagons and the workshops either...

That means... I'll have to walk a good while, huh...

True to my fears, I couldn't see the end of the caravan.  Then again, it was dark, so I could only see the lamps past the second wagon anyway.

Nobody... Is looking right? Just a quick look is fine, right?

I glanced at my surroundings, but everyone was busy with other things. And people wouldn't casually take note of someone's eyes either, right? Especially not in the darkness of the night.

With those thoughts in mind, I changed my eyes back to the slitted pupils. The surroundings brightened instantly.

"Ohh..."

Bright, as if it was day. The change was enormous. In the far distance, I could even spot the Black Guard's wagons. Judging from that distance it would surely take... take...

Wait a moment... I'm clearly looking way farther than I should be able to. Is... Is this again an effect of these eyes?

How come I hadn't noticed this? How? Being able to recognize something hundreds of meters away was not normal. But I just did that...

Seriously... Just what happened to me?

I let out a small sigh. Who knew how many more things I would discover. The night vision, the distance I could see now. It felt as if things were still changing.

Well, let's just see this as a boon for now. It is quite useful.

Being able to see far ahead could come in handy for sure. Albeit I had to confess, judging the distance like this was... a little hard. Or rather, I just wasn't used to this.

I changed my eyes back, having confirmed that I'd have to walk for quite some time.

"Oh? If it isn't Yumi."

"Nn?"

I turned around to the person who called out to me.

"I heard you collapsed, Yumi. Are you fine?"

"Nn, I am, Merim."

The Vice-captain, carrying a small box filled with tools in his arms, stood in front of me.

"How about you? Are you fine already?"

"Mostly. Still a little wobbly on the feet but that's about it."

"I see, that's good to hear."

It was a good thing that they hadn't caught some serious disease or so. Still, they had recovered quite quickly.

"Merim, have you seen Greyward or Wendl? Or preferably both."

"Greyward was organising the watch in the back. And... Wendl... Wendl... who was that again? The name rings a bell."

"He's the Black Guard's magician."

"Oh... Don't think I've met the man yet, so I don't know. Sorry."

"It's fine. Thank you."

Just having confirmation where Greyward was, was already good. Didn't want to look for him all over the place now.

"Still... You do look the part now, huh..."

"Nn?"

"Well, with that armour, you do give the feeling of a mercenary now."

"Do I?"

I looked down, at the armour dress I was still wearing. Did it make me look like a mercenary? It certainly didn't feel like it did. Either way, just looking the part didn't exactly change much anyway, did it?

"That reminds me, the Captain said you should teach me how to properly salute."

"Did he? Mhm... That means the Captain's serious about it, huh..."

"Nn?"

"Nothing. When we're back in the capital I'll teach you. I'll teach the other three as well then."

Three? Was he... counting Rina as well? Well, that was fine... Probably?

"Thank you."

"No problem. It's only a small thing anyway. More importantly, we'll have to train you at least a bit. I hope you're ready for that."

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

Hopefully, it wasn't some training from hell... Practising magic was one thing but the physical exercise was probably going to be... tough.

"It won't kill you, no worries. It's quite a problem if our recruits run away after the first day."

He laughed heartily.

"Did some actually run away?"

"Mh? Sometimes, yes. But mind you, they are usually the ones we had no hopes for anyway. Some children and young men come to us, thinking they could earn easy money behaving like bandits. Or get some fun with women. Plenty mercenary bands are like that, so I'm not exactly surprised at the notion..."

"Are there really that many that act like bandits?"

I had seen some bandit-like mercenaries when we rescued Rina. But the Black Guards and the Dragon Knights weren't even remotely that bad.

"There are. Many mercenary bands bring more trouble than they solve. They plunder, they rape, they do whatever they want, using the excuse that 'it is a job'. This is especially bad during wars. Thankfully, there haven't been many in recent years."

"Then, what do the mercenaries even do most of the time?"

"Monster subjugation, disaster relief, caravan guarding, there are plenty of jobs. The first two are usually done by larger and more well-known bands, like us. Monster subjugation is also among the most profitable jobs. Small bands don't have many options outside of getting hired as caravan guards, as skirmishers and things like that. That's why many turn to banditry. And then get subsequently subjugated by a larger band or by the army."

So, the ones I had seen in the slums weren't that far off from the norm for small bands. That was... quite worrying.

"As a small example, did you hear about the contract we have with the Academy in the Lafrian capital?"

"Only a little."

"It's basically a mutual support contract. We provide them with labour, collect materials, subjugate or even capture monsters and things like that. In turn, they provide us with information, technology and some personnel. Miss Ria was originally from the Academy, you know? She simply decided to stay afterwards, since travelling with us provided her opportunities to study different things, or so she says."

"Ohh..."

Somehow, that was a little surprising. That Ria decided to stay with them on her own.

"The Academy also provides education for the younger ones. Maya, Emily and Sele will probably go there for the duration of our stay this time."

"Nn? I thought they didn't want to stay there?"

"They won't. They just go there to learn. Only Sele can read, you know? Maya and Emily can do basic calculations but... Either way, depending on how they do during our stay, there'll be plenty of options for their future."

Plenty of options for their future? But...

"They quite vehemently refused to leave the mercenaries, you know..."

"Ah, I don't mean it like that."

"Nn?"

"We have different jobs here too. We have someone responsible for the treasury and our logistics. We also have various craftsmen. Not everyone here swings a weapon to earn their bread. I already heard that the Captain made you his secretary now. Jobs like that are also here. And... They are also safer."

A wry smile formed on his lips.

"I am happy they are worried and that they think so much of us. But, that also goes the other way. We don't want them exposed to danger. If they can find a job where they won't have to stand on the front and risk their lives, that's already enough for me."

"..."

"Unfortunately, the Captain doesn't agree with me. He wants them as far away as possible, for their own safety. Just... Where is it truly safe? I rather take someone's protection in my own hands than leaving it up to fate."

My eyes went wide in surprise. He... had thought about this as well, huh.

"... I can see why Helma fell for you."

"Wha—

He froze on the spot.

"You... You met her?"

"Nn."

"..."

A moment of silence later, he turned to me.

"Did she do something?"

"..."

"She did, huh."

"Well, I didn't know it was possible to become a father with four, so..."

"..."

Merim stared off into the far distance. A few seconds later, he let out a sigh.

"So, this time I'm her father. Soon, I've gone through every possible family position except her mother."

"Including being her sister?"

"Yes."

"..."

How... How should I react to that even?

"Uhm... My condolences?"

"... Thank you. But..."

He smiled weakly.

"Even if she's a little on the odd side, she's still my wife. I already knew in advance it'd be like this."

"Was she always like this?"

"Yes, she was. Always doing things her own way in her own pace. She always dragged me into her mess, too."

A small giggle escaped him.

"But it'd be boring without it. I can't imagine life without her, so... Yeah..."

"Huh..."

How precious. He was averting his gaze a little, looking clearly embarrassed. But... He was still smiling.

"Don't make her cry," I said, with a small smile.

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

I nodded, satisfied. Helma was nice and I quite liked Merim as well. Hopefully, they'd get along well for a long time.

"Still, how did you even meet her? She rarely comes over to the other mercenaries."

"Nn? I was looking for Wendl and met her by coincidence. She helped me quite a bit."

"Huh... So... She met this Wendl guy as well?"

"Nn. And, she's learning magic now under him too."

He froze yet again.

"Excuse me? Yumi, could you repeat that?"

"I said, she learns magic from him now."

"..."

"Nn?"

Merim was staring into the distance, his eyes unfocused and his expression blank.

"Merim? Uhm, is everything okay?"

"... Yumi."

"Yes?"

"Do you mind if I come along to meet this Wendl?"

"Uh, of course, I don't mind, but don't you still have work to do?"

"This is more important."

How... was that more important than this whole situation, where everyone was alert and worried hell might break loose?

Merim walked up to a nearby mercenary, pushed the toolbox into his arms and told him where to bring it to. Then he returned to me, with a smile.

"Let's go."

"Is that... okay?"

"It is."

"Haa..."

Why was he suddenly... He couldn't be jealous, could he? Or was he the possessive type?

He walked in front of me, rather quickly, so I was more like jogging after him.

This man sure got his priorities straight...

Guess I'll find out soon...

Around half an earth hour later, we still hadn't found Wendl. We did find Greyward, though. It took us a bit because he was walking around, checking on the patrols, collecting the reports and such stuff.

"Korwen wants me over there? That's... Mh... I'll need to take care of this first. If he didn't say it's urgent, then it's not urgent."

"Nn, well, that's fine I guess?"

Korwen hadn't said anything about it other than wanting me to bring them over. Just finding Greyward already took quite some time...

"And, Mr Greyward, have you seen Mr Wendl? We've been looking for him..."

"Wendl? He should be in his wagon over there. Wanted to take a look at the wood or something. Lily is with him too."

"He wasn't at his wagon when we took a look just now."

"Not? Mh... Then he probably is somewhere over there."

Greyward pointed to the side of the road, the line of trees that marked the begin of the forest.

"He won't walk into the forest but he probably is taking a look at the trees."

"Ahh..."

Maybe it was in the nature of magicians to investigate odd things like these. Well, I was interested in why the trees were so durable as well. Not enough that I had to find it out right now, though.

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"With that said, I'll quickly finish this and go to Korwen. I'll leave Wendl to you, Yumi."

"Nn, good luck."

Greyward waved with his hand and left. Only took a few steps before he was stopped again by one of his men though. Truly a busy man.

"Then, let's look for this Wendl, Yumi."

"... Nn."

Yeah, right. Merim was still with me. He kept quiet most of the time, only watching me. I wasn't quite sure what to think of this. On one side it felt like a supervisor making sure I kept working and on the other, I was a little scared that this was the calm before the storm. The storm being his soon-to-come meeting with Wendl.

"Haa... Well, let's take a look."

I took the lead and walked along the side of the road, glancing into the forest at times. It felt like I could see someone occasionally in the forest, but every time I decided to take a closer look, even with my night vision eyes, there was nothing. The darkness really spurred on one's imagination...

"Yumi, is that them?"

"Nn?"

"There. Lily is there with some old man."

After a few minutes, Merim drew my attention and pointed on the opposite side of the road. Between the wagons, he had spotted Lily. And Wendl.

"... That's them."

Wendl was squatting down and doing something with the soil, while Lily stood next to him, holding some bag. She looked bored out of her mind.

"Hey, Wendl, can't you finish up?"

"Lily, the more you hurry me, the longer it'll take. Just let me concentrate."

"Ehh... Oh?"

Lily spotted me and Merim approaching. Instantly, a smile bloomed on her face.

"Yumi! My saviour!"

"Nn, Lily. I'm not your saviour, though?"

"You're saving me from this ordeal, so you're my saviour."

"Haa..."

She rushed over, leaving the bag simply next to Wendl.

"Are you feeling better already, though? You really looked like you were in pain."

"Nn, well... It wasn't great, but I already feel fine again. Though, still got a bit of a throbbing in my head. That's all."

"That's good. You really made us worry."

"... Sorry. I won't do it again."

I didn't want to anyway. I had never liked the hangovers after drinking. And surely I was never going to like them either. Well, I very much doubted anyone liked them.

"Oh, the brat and... Who the heck are you?"

"I'm Merim Jockson. You are Mr Wendl, right?"

"That I am. Can I help you?"

"I heard my wife, Helma, has been in your care."

"Mh? You're... her husband?"

"Yes."

Wendl's whole expression turned sympathetic.

"You poor guy. So young and already caught in their claws and talons."

"Eh?"

He put his hands on Merim's shoulders.

"I'll root for you. Good luck, young man."

"..."

"If you ever have any problems, you can come to me. I'll help you."

"I... see..."

Merim, dumbfounded as he was, could only stare at Wendl. I could only guess the thoughts that had to be running through his mind... He was surely confused...

"Nn, Wendl. The Captain, Korwen, wanted to see you. Mr Greyward went there already as well."

"The Korwen guy? Mh... Guess it's a good chance. Are the Dragon Knight's magicians there too?"

"I saw Ria there, at least."

"Mh... One moment."

He turned back to the spot he had been investigating, to fetch the bag.

"Yumi... What is up with that man?"

"He's a womaniser that hates women."

"... What?"

"I don't know."

That was the best description I could think of.

Seriously, his words and his actions were completely contradicting each other. He really didn't seem to have an interest in younger women, so Helma should be safe from his womanising efforts, at least. Then again, with her personality, I doubted he'd try to anyway.

"I see... Do you... think Helma is safe?"

"Nn? So, you really were jea— Ahem, worried?"

"Haa, I know I'm jealous and overprotective, it's fine to say that. But, yes. I never knew she even had an interest in magic, so this comes as a surprise. That only makes me more worried, though. What if he tried putting his hands on her, in the guise of practise?"

"Nn... I think she'll be fine? According to his own words, he's only interested in older women anyway."

"Older women, huh. I hope it'll be fine..."

She'd be fine. Surely. I seriously doubted Wendl had a death wish anywa—

No, he clearly had a death wish. Otherwise, he would have learnt already that women were also people and not some kind of alien race.

"Yumi, could you do me a favour and sometimes watch over her?"

"Nn, well, I don't mind. Though I really don't think you need to worry that much."

"I still worry, even if you tell me that."

"Hmm..."

He was really quite worried, wasn't he? Made me smile a little.

"Brat, let's go, I'm done here."

"Nn, ahh, right."

Wendl had returned with his bag and... another bag filled with some soil? Ehh... Okay.

"I'll go back to work as well, then. And, thank you, Yumi," Merim excused himself.

"Nn, good luck."

Good thing that ended without any incident. It would've been a pain if those two fought over this. Although I could imagine Helma being happy about this.

"Lily, what about you?"

"Mh, I'll come along too. I'm interested in what is happening. Also... The forest is giving me the creeps. It feels like someone is watching us."

"Ha! Little Lily is still scared of such things? Guess you never grow up."

"What, got a problem with that?"

Lily scowled at Wendl.

"Nn, but I feel like someone is watching as well."

"Brat, it's not 'it feels like', someone is watching us."

"Eh?"

"If I had to hazard a guess, I'd say those damn elves. Unfortunately, whether they are just keeping watch or are responsible for this, I can't say."

Then, it hadn't been my imagination that I had seen people in the forest? That was a little scary by itself.

"Let's just get to... Mh?"

Wendl interrupted his sentence, only to stare into the forest.

"Wendl? Is something wrong?" Lily asked.

"... Did you two not notice the mana?"

"Nn? I don't feel anything..."

"... Maybe it was my imagination."

I took a closer look but... There was nothing in that forest. At least, nothing I could see right now.

"... Let's better hurry. Just in case."

"Okay..."

"Nn..."

And with Wendl taking the lead, we made our way back.

"..."

"..."

"... Lily, why is he taking a bag full of soil?"

"If only I knew, Yumi. He made me dig up some from various spots, then made me collect branches and other stuff, but even if you ask me why... I have no clue."

It took us again around twenty minutes to return and meet up with Korwen and the others. Wendl quickly joined Ria and a few minutes later they were discussing their respective findings. I couldn't really follow their conversation, though... Talk about the mana concentration in the soil and things like that...

"Everyone is here now, that's good."

"So, Korwen, mind telling me what this is all about?" Greyward asked with a scowl.

"Now, now, no hurry. Greyward, how much do you know about the recent incidents here?"

"Mh? I only heard a little bit about disappearances in the villages or so, if you mean those."

Those incidents with villages being wiped out or so? The ones that had been investigated by the fort's soldiers.

"Ruben gave me a little bit of a warning. Most likely someone instigated those incidents."

"... You aren't going to say they might be here?"

"Personally, I doubt so. But there might be people that are involved here. After all... The elves were on alert."

Were? They aren't anymore? Ah, now that they say that...

I took a glance at my surroundings.

"The lights on the trees are gone..."

"You're a bit late in noticing that, Yumi. But yes."

The forest was dark, really dark. But the two times we had passed through, the forest had been illuminated by the Fairy's Light.

"There are two scenarios I can think of. Either, the elves are gone or they are involved in this in some way."

"I doubt you could wipe out an entire elven tribe in the span of a few hours," Greyward said.

"So do I. That means they are likely involved. It's also likely they are the ones that keep watching us."

The elves had given me quite an odd impression, removed from the common sense they did what they believed to be right. Whether that was trying to take away Emily or to kill me.

"Do you think they are after the high elf girl? Emily was her name, right?"

"Probably. Also, the report mentioned they were quite upset about Yumi, right?"

"Right..."

All present pairs of eyes fell unto me, Korwen's, Greyward's and Lily's.

"Uh..."

"They probably have two objectives. Finding Emily and getting rid of Yumi."

Those aren't words I want to hear!

In the first place, why did they even want me gone?

"Captain, Papa, why do they even want to kill Yumi?"

"Greyward said they called her a Cursed or so? Probably because of that. Although I have no idea what that means in particular. But... Most likely, there were others like her."

"Other... humanoid monsters?"

"I guess so."

There had been others like me? Really?

Or... maybe there still were others like me?

"Either way, we can worry about that later. For now, we have to think about what we're going to do about this."

"Mh, they're waiting for something, aren't they?"

"Most likely. And I doubt we're going to like whatever it is. That's why, Greyward. I know you won't particularly like me asking this but I have to regardless: What do you know about those monster experiments back in Arkesta?"

"..."

Greyward fell silent. Everyone was looking at him, waiting for his reaction. A few moments of silence later he sighed.

"Those experiments, huh... Even if you ask me, I can't tell you a lot. They kept monsters in the basement, but we didn't have access to those. The actual experiments were also done out of our sight. We only guarded the cells and the hallways. That unlikeable Lord didn't trust us. If it had gone after him, he wouldn't have hired us in the first place."

"Wait, Greyward, wasn't it the Lord who hired you?"

"It was, but I think it was someone else who told him to do so."

"..."

Korwen stroked his chin, lost in thought.

"That's about all I can tell you."

"I see..."

"You think these incidents are related?"

"I'm at least not ruling it out, yet."

Did he maybe think about those ogres from back then? The ones that had been equipped with simple armour and weapons.

"Actually... There's one thing..."

"Mh?"

"We also had to... dispose of the dead girls."

"..."

Greyward's expression turned dark.

"I don't really want to remember it but there was something quite noticeable. The girls all had... mixed traits."

"Mixed traits? What do you mean with that?"

"You know, the different traits from the races. The Demonkin have horns and tails, sometimes wings, the beastkin have furry ears and tails. Some girls had both, and some were even a complete mess. There were also a few that showed signs of being manakin despite... clearly not having been one while alive. At least, while we guarded them."

"..."

Korwen closed his eyes, listening to Greyward.

"If possible, please don't talk about this in front of my men. They didn't take the whole thing well."

"... I won't, don't worry."

"Thank you."

Greyward bowed his head slightly.

"We should keep quiet about this in general. Lily, Yumi, don't talk about this unless necessary. That's an order."

"... Understood... Captain."

"Nn... Understood..."

So we couldn't tell Karen about it. Maybe... Maybe that was better anyway.

"... Greyward, get some men and have them build a simple barricade. The wagons are armoured, especially the smithy."

"That's going to be hard on such a narrow road. Worst case we might just confine ourselves and get surrounded."

"It might. But I doubt the elves will pose a problem by themselves. They aren't used to combat. That means, whatever they are waiting for is going to be the problem."

"And as long as we don't know what it is... Think it might be a possessed fairy tree?"

"Probably."

Korwen nodded to the question.

"The wagons should provide enough protection even against a possessed fairy tree. As long as we can hold out until morning, we're good."

"Nn? Why until morning?"

"Because the army will pass through here in the morning."

The army? I thought they didn't intend to help?

"They might arrive earlier if a patrol found the tree blockade. Assuming they even manage to return. But in the worst ca— Mh?"

"Captain!"

A mercenary ran up to us, interrupting Korwen.

"Captain! Emily is acting weird and says she has to tell you something! She was in a panic!"

"... I understand. I'm coming. Greyward, get the barricade up."

"Will do. Be careful."

Greyward turned around and left, clearly in a hurry now.

"Ria! Wendl!"

"Don't... shout... Captain..."

"I got no time for this. Prepare for combat, find Wenners and Krutz and then meet me at my wagon. Also, take Karen along."

"... Understood."

"Understood, Captain."

Ria nodded and, together with Wendl, they made their way to Karen.

"Lily, Yumi, you come with me. Let's hear what Emily made so upset. I got a really bad feeling about this..."

Rinne

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