Chapter 98: of Living Dreams: Night Report

The trek back to the camp during the night was… quite exhausting. Getting out of the forest was the worst. We could only move at a snail’s pace to make sure we wouldn’t lose anyone. And also so we wouldn’t lose our bearings. The sky was barely visible through the trees as well but it was still the best choice to figure out the directions.

With that said, the sky… it should be different from my old world, right?

I was never big into astronomy or whatever. I would have struggled to even find the more well-known stars… Probably. With that in mind, I couldn’t really compare the skies of both worlds. It did make me think a little about the differences in each world for a while. Magic, the suns, probably the night sky, too...

“Yumi. Yumi!”

“... Nn?”

“Don’t fall asleep now, we’re soon back at the camp.”

“Nn…”

“Yumi!”

Ah! The world was shaking. The world was shaking!

“Si, Sis! I’m awake, I’m awake!”

“... Good.”

There was no need to wake me up this violently, though....

No, in the first place, I wasn’t asleep. Only lost in thought. Probably not that far away from sleeping, though…

“... We’re there?”

“Yes, we are.”

“Ahhh… can I finally sleep?”

It was still dark outside with the sun nowhere near. The moon and the stars were quite bright today so at least we didn’t need the lamp to light the way.

“I wonder… We’ll have to report to the Captain first and if we can get some sleep after that…”

“... We have to report to the Captain? In the middle of the night?”

“Yes. Didn’t you listen earlier? Fenna told us.”

Maybe I had listened, maybe I hadn’t. Either way, it hadn’t stuck around in my memories.

“Ugh… I just want some sleep…”

“I did offer you that I’ll carry you while you sleep.”

“...”

Yeah, but there was no way I could actually do that now, could I? Even if I was sleepy and kept complaining, that was still a little too much for me. I would feel seriously bad if I made Karen walk the entire night without a wink of sleep while I was sleeping in peace. No way.

“Seriously, you’re so stubborn about the weirdest things, Yumi.”

“Nn… That so?”

I didn’t think it was all that weird. But maybe that was just me? Either way, now it was too late. The lights from the city and the camp were already in sight.

“Should I carry you the remaining way?”

“... I think that’s quite pointless by now. And if I actually fall asleep, my mood will be horrible if you wake me up later.”

“Mm… That sounds a little interesting.”

“Don’t.”

Seriously, don’t. Don’t put people into a bad mood just because you’re curious. You’re not a child.

In an attempt to find a different topic, I turned to Fenna and the others. Alas, I quickly decided against it… I wasn’t the only one tired, the others were too. Oddly enough, Karen was still quite energetic… Just, the same couldn’t be said for Fenna and the other women.

“I guess we all need some sleep…”

The whole trip had turned out to be a lot shorter than planned but it had also become a little more serious. At least, judging from Fenna’s reaction. Otherwise, we probably wouldn’t march the entire way back in the middle of the night.

“Of course we do. I want to sleep as well.”

“Nn, you still look pretty lively, Sis.”

“That doesn’t mean I’m not tired.”

“True...”

Hopefully, the Captain would allow us to sleep for at least a short while. Some sleep was still better than no sleep at all. Although, my prediction of waking up in a bad mood would hopefully turn out to be false.

“Haaa…”

I let out a deep sigh as I resigned myself for a turbulent night.

“Captain, Captain! Captain!”

“I’m awake, I’m awake. Damnit, who the hell is waking me up in the middle of the night?!”

Cursing, a large man appeared out of the tent, wearing nothing but a simple cloth tunic and pants.

“Captain, the reconnaissance team has returned!”

“... Ha?”

Korwen stared at the mercenary with a dumbfounded look on his face. Then, he looked around, spotting us a little behind the man who had woken him up.

“... Why in the blazes are you already back? No, before that, give me a moment to get dressed. Get to the tent for the meetings and wait for me.”

“Understood, Captain!”

Fenna replied with vigour, belying how tired we actually were.

“And you, go wake up Merim and tell him to come, too. Oh, and Ria as well. Drag her over if need be.”

“Yes, Sir!”

The mercenary saluted and then dashed away. Having confirmed that he was gone, the Captain disappeared back into the tent.

“Let’s go and wait for the Captain. Sanna, Yumi, Karen, you three come with me. Everyone else is on standby for now. Rieke, keep them in order.”

“”“Yes, Miss Fenna!”””

“Understood.”

So, only the four of us would report to Korwen?

“Mi, Mi, Mi, Miss Fenna?! Me too?!”

“Yes, Sanna, you too. Come, let’s go.”

“Ehhh?!”

Sanna stared at Fenna in utter disbelief. Or maybe panic? Not quite sure which, but Fenna didn’t mind it at all and just walked off. Maybne she just didn't have the energy to care anymore either. With a wry smile, we followed after her.

A few minutes later, the four of us plus Korwen—now in his regular mercenary attire—sat in the meeting tent at the large table, giving him a rundown of what had happened.

“As large as a dragon, you say. We’re still talking about a roper, aren’t we, Fenna?”

“Yes. It was definitely a roper. Just enormous in size. And holding a weird crystal.”

“A weird crystal...“

Korwen stroked his chin, lost in thought.

“I’ve never heard of a monster holding a crystal or whatever. Except for their food.”

“It certainly didn’t seem like it was food, though.”

“Are you certain about this?”

“Yes, Captain.”

“Mm… How odd.”

Not even Korwen had seen or even heard about such a thing, huh…

“Maybe it’s some kind of artifact? Some long lost civilization’s magic tool, or so?”

“Captain. Such things only exist in fairy tales.”

“Then do tell me what else it is.”

“That is…”

Fenna faltered at his response.

“Seriously, though. It might really have something to do with those ruins. I, unfortunately, do not know what the Academy was exactly researching there. I didn’t ask either. I slightly regret that now.”

He sighed, leaning back on his chair and staring at the ceiling.

“I’ll have to call in someone from the Academy first thing in the morning. And I have to report this to the army… Mhm… This might actually be fortunate.”

“Nn? Fortunate?”

“Yes, fortunate. Let’s say, they’ll owe us a little for this information. Ahhh, but in the current situation, that might backfire on us as well.”

Korwen sighed again, his shoulders slumping.

“Seriously, couldn’t you just come back at a normal time with normal news? Preferably having retrieved some ropers so the job is done with? Haa…”

“Captain, we did bring those two roper corpses.”

“I still have to deal with everything else, though. Well, it’s better than not having them, I guess.”

At that moment, the curtain from the entrance was pushed to the side. Merim and Ria both entered, looking like they were just kicked out of their bed. They probably were.

Contrary to Korwen, they hadn’t bothered to properly dress. Merim was only wearing a tunic and pants similar to what Korwen was wearing earlier.

On the other hand, Ria… was wearing only a long tunic. Didn’t look like she was wearing pants… The tunic also didn’t hide the things it should be hiding all that well either… Mainly her breasts… Honestly, that get-up was a little… suggestive.

“You two… It wouldn’t have hurt to at least wear some proper clothes, right?”

“Mm.... Bother… some…”

“Ahh... I thought something happened so I came here in a hurry... So, what is going on? Does it have anything to do with why the reconnaissance team is back?”

Ria still looked half asleep as she sat down next to us, her eyes still half-closed. At least, Merim looked more awake than she did.

“It’s quite important but sit down first. Fenna, could you repeat what you told me?”

“Yes, Captain.”

Fenna turned to Ria and Merim and told them of what we had found in the cave. Again, some minutes later, she had finished the retelling. Merim looked a little confused. Ria, though, was suddenly quite awake.

“A... crystal?”

“Yes. A large crystal. I couldn’t get a good grasp on the size but it was probably a little larger than a grown man.”

“Merim... Bring me… the map... The large one…”

“Eh?”

Merim, utterly surprised by the sudden request, could only stare at Ria in wonder.

“Merim, do it.”

“Ah, yes, Captain.”

He stood up and quickly left, to fetch a map. A map.

Wait, a map?!

Would I finally be able to see a map of this world?!

“Uhm… Mr Captain… Should we leave?”

Sis, what the hell are you saying?!

“No, stay. It won’t be the only time you’ll see a map.”

“But… aren’t they quite…”

“Confidential? Well, sure they are. But a map has no use if nobody uses it, right?”

“Haa…”

Well, it was meant to be used, sure… But… Oh well, I wasn’t going to complain. I really wanted to see a map.

“Captain, I brought it.”

Right on cue, Merim returned, holding a large leather container. It was long, nearly as long as I was tall, but only as thick as my arm.

He opened the container and pulled out a rolled-up piece of paper. Or was this parchment? It looked a little different compared to the paper I had seen and used before.

Whichever it was, Merim put it on the table and rolled it out, revealing a large map. A seriously large map.

This… I wonder how much of the world this map actually shows.

It probably wasn’t a world map or anything anyway. It couldn’t be, seeing how the entire western side was cut off by… a forest? And part of the southern border of the map as well. The eastern end seemed to end in a mountain range for the southern half and the ocean for the northern. Finally, the northern side was entirely cut off by the ocean.

“Nn, and where are we?”

“We’re right there.”

“Nn?”

Korwen, having heard my murmur, pointed to the western end of the map, close to the southwest corner of the map.

“See this black line? That’s the Hollow. Right above is the Lafrian Kingdom and below that is the Akkian Empire, which stretches from the Hollow down along the Wooden Sea.”

“Nn? Is this forest the Wooden Sea, then?”

“Yes. Large, right?

The forest covered a good third of the entire border of the map. Regardless of how large the map really was, it wouldn’t change the fact that this forest was quite sizable.

“The Akkian Empire covers the entire southwest corner. North of them is the Hollow and to the northeast past the Hollow they border the Kingdom of Aldreigh. On the east side they also border the Federation of Bruven. To their southeast are a few independent counties and cities.”

“Ohh… Nn? Wait, is that why they want to wage war against Lafria?”

“Oh? You’re quite perceptive. That’s right. The Akkian Empire has pretty much no space to expand to anymore. So, to gain territory, they have to wage war. And among those, the Lafrian Kingdom is the easiest target.”

Huh? The easiest one?

“But what about those countries to the east? And the independent cities?”

“Aldreigh is well-known for its magician army. Even if they could win the war, they would suffer so much damage that they would be unable to fight anyone else for years to come. As for Bruven, it is a highly military state. Even more so than the Akkian Empire. It’s not a good place for mercenaries so I can’t really tell you much about it, though.”

“Nn? Why is it not good? If they are so militant.”

Wouldn’t you think it was a good place to earn money for mercenaries?

“Because they forcefully conscript mercenaries. Of course, for free. And if you refuse, you are worthless and should be disposed of.”

“...”

That’s… pretty extreme.

“But their weapons are good. They don’t have much in the way of more modern weapons like cannons and firearms but their traditional weaponry is one of the best.”

“Huh…”

“Then, the independent cities are by themselves not a problem but if it came to a siege on every single city it’d become an expensive venture for them. The soldiers need food too, after all.”

“And so, they instead attack Lafria?”

“Exactly.”

Korwen nodded in response.

“To add on that, north of Lafria lies Krohmea. If they were to conquer Lafria and, following that, Krohmea as well, they could gain access to the sea. That alone is worth a lot.”

“Huh…”

Access to the sea…

“Nn, but what about this forest? Couldn’t they get through that as well?”

“They could… But the Wooden Sea is known to be extremely dangerous. Many different tribes of humanoids and fairykin live in this forest and if you stumble into their territory by accident, they’re going to make sure you will regret it. Not to mention that moving a large army through a forest for that long is arduous beyond comparison. That’s why you usually need a guide.”

“A guide?”

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“Yes. There exist guides who can lead you through the forest. But they are incredibly expensive and the journey itself takes a long time as well, so they are pretty rare to meet.”

Well, if the journey takes long they’d have to charge an appropriate price to survive…

“Captain…”

“Ria, are you done?”

“Mm…”

Ah, I nearly forgot why the map was even here. Ria had asked for it to check for something. Not for the Captain to teach me about it… Unfortunate.

“Captain… Do you know… about the original… Empire?”

“You mean the Garm Empire?”

“Yes… I believe… the crystal… is one… of their relics…”

“Their relics? I know the Garm Empire was the forerunner in magic tech during their height but that was thousands of years ago, right?”

Ria nodded at his response and then smiled a little.

“Their technology… is the basis… for today’s… technology… for magic tools… But their tools… were slightly… different…”

“Different? Didn’t they use magic crystals?”

“They did… But… our magic tools… use them… for fuel… But for the… Garm Empire… The crystal… was the tool…”

“The crystal? But wouldn’t that make it useless once it runs out of mana?”

Korwen scowled at Ria’s words. Sure enough, if there was no way to refill the mana crystals, you could only make a disposable tool.

“That’s why… technology went… to use them… as fuel… The crystal… being the tool… is not feasible… But… I spoke with… the Elder… She has… actually lived… in the Garm Empire… before... it was destroyed…”

“Eh? She lived… Ria, are you telling me the Elder is thousands of years old?!”

Once again, Ria nodded, confirming it. Korwen could only slump into his chair, holding his head and letting out a sigh.

“I knew the elves were long-lived but I never expected her to be that old… I thought at most a few centuries… So, what did she say?”

“She had… once the… opportunity to… visit one of the… magical fortresses…”

“The magical fortresses? You mean, those fortresses?”

“Yes…”

“Give me a break… I have the feeling I know where this is going but continue.”

The magical fortresses? The Elder mentioned them when she told us of her past, didn’t she? Although, she didn’t say much except that they were ‘marvels of their time,’ right?”

“These fortresses… were powered… by a large... crystal tool… Capable… of absorbing mana…”

“... They figured out how to refill a mana crystal?”

“Mm… They did… It was… one of their… most guarded… secrets… So… I have no clue… about how… But… I can imagine… What would happen… If such a crystal… continued to… absorb mana… for thousands of… years...”

“... In other words, you are implying the crystal they saw was one such crystal?”

“Yes…”

Korwen leaned forward, arms crossed onto the table. After a short moment of silence, he let out a deep breath.

“A crystal, huh… A crystal of a magical fortress… A crystal of a magical fucking fortress… Ria, how dangerous is that thing?”

“Mm… If it… is really… as large as… Fenna and Yumi… said… Probably… enough… to rival… a dragon… And similar… catastrophic… creatures…”

“... Fucking awesome. Not. This is turning into a headache, isn’t it?”

Korwen buried his head beneath his arms, groaning.

“What do we do about this?”

“Nn? Can’t we just leave this to the army?”

“We could. But considering the size of this… problem... roper… they might try to force us to help out… On the other hand, we could also try to deal with this ourselves, keep quiet and poach that crystal… Haa…”

“Poaching…”

He wasn’t even trying to mince words this time…

“This is why I hate it when someone wakes me up in the middle of the night. It never comes with good news.”

No, if there were good news, there’d be no need to wake him up, was there?

“... I’ll have to think about this. When the sun rises, we’ll hold a meeting and discuss what we’re going to do.”

“Uhm… Captain…”

“Yes, Fenna?”

“Do we… have to attend?”

“Ahh… Mm… No, go and take a rest. You’re free for the day after this.”

“Thank you, Captain.”

We were free? Yes! Sleep!

“You did a good job, so you deserve it. Ah, but don’t forget to leave the corpses in Ria’s care. Ria, should we call for the Academy already or do you want to take a look at them first?”

“Mm… I’d say… that depends… on our… course of action… But… if possible… I’d like someone… from the Academy… to help…”

“Not just handing over but help instead, huh… Do you know any trustworthy people that would be willing to help you, though? As far as I know most of the researchers are quite… eccentric.”

That they were… at least the ones we had the pleasure of meeting.

“A trustworthy… I know… one… He is… a monster researcher… a little eccentric… but willing to do.... almost anything… for his research… He is… the one who… put up the… ogre request… I think…”

“... Nn?”

Wait, wasn’t she talking about that guy we had met before? She definitely was, right? There was no one else who would put up that request for the ogre, after all.

“That sounds to me more like someone with a few screws loose. But as long as he can keep quiet we could try contacting him. If it is someone who won’t blabber about it, there should be no issue, regardless of what we do, right? It might also help in making a decision in the first place..”

“That… is fine… by me…”

“Nn? Captain, is that fine?”

“What is?”

“Well, what if he still accidentally talked about it or so?”

By accident or on purpose. He hadn’t met the man, after all. And Ria described him as someone who would do anything for his research. Couldn’t that also be applied the other way round?

“Ahh, of course I’m going to talk with him myself first. I won’t trust just anyone. Don’t worry.”

“I see…”

If he said not to worry, then, who was I to do otherwise?

“Anyway, I’ll send someone to fetch that man. Just give me his name Ria. The meeting will be right after the sun rises. At worst, we’ll just inform them of what is going on. I’ll leave the details to that to you.”

“Mm… Understood.”

“And you all are free for the day. If you want to come to the meeting you’re welcome to do so but I won’t force you. Just get a good rest. Resting is also part of your job.”

“Understood.”

“Nn, understood.”

Such a relief… I already feared that I had to completely skip today’s rest.

“Also, you… your name was… Sanna, if I recall right?”

“Ah, y, y, yes?!”

“Mm… I vaguely recall you were a surveyor’s apprentice before, right?”

“Y, yes! I… I studied under my father… before the… Orick Raid…”

“Good. I remembered correctly. Fenna said you have drawn a map.”

“That… I have! Er, here, here you go!”

Stuttering, Sanna presented him the map she had fished out of her bag.

“Oh? This is… a single corridor? Fenna, is that right?”

“Yes, it is. Until the lake it was a straight corridor. It only changed once from a slope to even ground.”

“I see… Considering that, this is… quite long… How long did you walk?”

“That’s… I honestly don’t quite know… maybe an hour?”

“Mm…”

Korwen stroked his chin as he seemed to think about something.

“Sanna, how accurate is this?”

“Err, I tried to… to make it as accurate as possible. But… it was hard to grasp the distance…”

“So we shouldn’t take the distance as accurate. Got it. Anything else I should keep in mind?”

“Not, not that I know of?”

“Good. Then, Ria, give this to Wenners and have him make some copies. We might need them.”

“Understood…”

Korwen nodded to himself once, then turned his attention back to Sanna.

“You have done a good job. Now, go and take a rest.”

“Y, Yes! Thank you!”

Sanna smiled at his praise and then left, humming happily to herself.

“Cute girl. I remember she was quite gloomy when we picked her up?”

“She was. But that was right after the Orick Raid where she lost her family, so…”

“Considering that, she made a good recovery.”

“Yes. She does have the habit of messing around and slacking off, though…”

“Ha, that’s just fine, isn’t it?”

Korwen chuckled for a little before he turned his attention back to the map in front of him.

“Really, though. She’s done a good job with this. It’ll help a lot in deciding what we should do.”

“I’m sure she’ll be happy to hear that.”

“Mm. Now then, you three can go as well. Take a good rest. Don’t worry about work for today.”

“Understood, Captain. Yumi, Karen, let’s go.”

“Nn. Good night, Captain.”

“Good night? Ah, I see, good night to you, too.”

And with that, the report to Korwen came to an end.

“Ahhh, the bed! Sleep!”

“Yumi, that’s bad manners… At least change clothes first.”

“Nn…”

I could feel myself already drifting off into dreamland…

“Yumi! Don’t fall asleep now! It’s only a little more.”

“Ah…”

The torture. I just wanted to sleep.

“Come, out of that armour.”

“Nn… Help me…”

“... Did you suddenly turn into a spoiled child, or what?”

“Yes.”

If that was what it took to get spoiled by Karen, I’d do it any day.

“Seriously… Come, face that way.”

“Nn…”

It actually worked… Ah, now I felt a little bad. Karen was also tired after all. Too late now. Karen was already in the middle of undressing me.

“And there. You can do the rest yourself, right?”

“Nn…”

Not like there was much. After throwing off the remaining clothes I had on me, I jumped onto the bed. The soft and warm bed. Except, it wasn’t soft. But I digress, it was still a bed.

“Move a little to the side or I can’t come in.”

“Nn…”

Already half into dreamland, I rolled towards the wall. A moment later, Karen laid down next to me, wrapping her arms from behind around my waist and hugging me.

“I wonder what they are going to do now…”

“Nn…”

“Mr Captain said they might decide based on their findings on those corpses… Hey, Yumi… That researcher Ria was talking about, that’s the one we talked with, right?”

“Nn…”

“Yumi? Are you listening?”

“Nn…”

More or less. I at least registered what she was saying. Just no energy to reply anymore. It was weird, the moment you were laying down, all energy just dissipated into thin air and you couldn’t move anymore. Or reply, for that matter.

“Haaa… Seriously, Yumi.”

“Nn…”

“Yumi, I love you.”

“Nn…. Nn?!”

Something was pressing on my nape. Did she… just kiss me on the nape?

“Ehehe… Good Night, Yumi.”

“Nn… Good Night, Sis. I love you too.”

“Ehehehe!”

Karen buried her face in my hair and my nape. Then she rolled over on her back, still hugging me tight so I was laying on top of her.

“Yumi, turn around.”

“Nn…”

A little sluggish, I did as she told, now facing her directly.

“Mm, this is more comfortable, right?”

“Nn, it is...”

“Then, once more. Good Night.”

“Nn. Good Night.”

And so, we greeted the dreamland slightly belated.

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