"Yumi! Yu... Wake up!"
"... Ugh."
"Yumi! Ahh, what... do now?"
"Let's call... won't like it but... she's like this..."
Distant voices were surrounding . As if I was listening from underwater to others talking.
"I'll... and... Take care... okay?"
"... wait here."
I could vaguely hear so footsteps. They probably left, whoever it had been. But that didn't matter to . I just felt awfully tired and sleepy. I wanted to sleep, to sleep and forget everything...
"Captain, why... her... until... this wasted?"
"... break. Didn't... would get this..."
"Please... drink Forest... again."
"...sorry. It was out... expectations. She... really fast."
Couldn't they shut up? I wanted to sleep. Seriously. It irritated
quite a bit. Ah, but wait. I needed a pillow. Yes, a pillow was definitely necessary for a good nap. Was there sothing nearby?
"Hya?! Yu... you doing?!"
"Mhmm..."
"... go of... tail."
I got a pillow. It was a really great pillow to boot. Fluffy and pleasant to touch. It only lacked in volu a little. With so more volu, it would make for a truly heavenly pillow. I kind of wanted a blanket as well now... Surely a blanket was close too.
"...mi! Don't... at this!"
The blanket resisted. Blankets shouldn't resist, usually. Sothing was wrong here. But getting the blanket to obey sounded like a pain. No choice then, had to sleep without one.
"Li... Brought..."
"Fina... using my... pillow."
"Let ... take... look..."
Two new voices joined in. Couldn't they go away? They were disturbing my sleep. Oh, sothing warm was suddenly covering . Was this a blanket? I couldn't see one but it was still warm, so... it was fine? Ti to sleep.
"...odd. It's... working."
"Not? But... that be?"
"... know... her constitution."
"... troubleso."
The warm blanket-like feeling disappeared. What was up with this? First, they gave
a blanket and then they took it away? They were just like Yuu. Damn prankster never let
nap in peace either. Except for the tis when Father had been at ho but at those tis I wasn't napping anyway. He'd get angry.
"Who... talking about? She's..."
"... if you ask... know."
"Nevermind... thing. We... to a bed."
Speaking of which, I haven't seen Yuu in a while. Hope she was doing well. She used to be such a crybaby... Always following her big brother around.
"... can take my... with soone nearby."
"... you, Captain."
"I'll... with her."
Last I heard she was going north, wasn't she? She really had beco quite dependable, huh... Made
a little sad, to be honest. Ahh... Now I wanted to see her. I should visit her soon. Ah, but the trip would take quite so ti... Well, I could take a little suffering for her sake. She was my precious little sister after all.
"... talking about? She... no sense."
"Maybe... her old..."
"But... too weird."
"... aning of this?"
"Didn't... mories? How can..."
Ah, seriously, could you all please shut up? Sleeping was hard like this. Wait, my pillow! My pillow left! Where did my pillow go?
"... dream?"
"Ramblings of..."
"... pillow again... tail."
"Let's just... bed... later."
The ground disappeared as well. I couldn't sleep in the air! But... My only choice was to flail around. My head hurt when I did, though, so that wasn't going to work. Did soone cast a curse on ? That would be a pain... I didn't want to deal with a bunch of straw dolls again. Or whatever kind of curse that had been. For now, it was probably better to wait and see. Strike when there was a chance. I had to get my pillow back! And I'd bring out all my skills for this! Not like I had many.
"... this bed?"
"Yes... her down and... over her... leave in the... doesn't wake... troubleso."
"That's... fault. Don't make... bla..."
"Yes... apologise... won't... again."
Oh? The ground returned to
and it was many tis fluffier than before. How did that happen? Did the ground turn to pudding? That would be great. Maybe it was edible?
"... don't eat... mi!"
"Gaha... haha! Did she... food?"
"Seems... it."
Conclusion: It wasn't edible. Utter disappointnt. But it was still great for a nap. Now, I only needed to get that pillow! There was no escape from !
"Hya! Again... my tail?!"
"... did she even... that?"
"... hair was..."
"Impressive... really drunk?"
"... sure she is."
Pillow reacquired. Yes, this was perfect. There was sothing else here that was similar to a pillow and both together were perfect. The other one made up for missing volu. And there was even a blanket now. I had to protect it this ti.
"... her sleep."
"Good... on her later."
"Thank..."
"... want to check... more before..."
"Let's... with her."
Again, footsteps moved into the distance. The surroundings finally fell quiet. Ahh... Finally, I could sleep. Maybe I would dream of Yuu and Mira. It's really been quite so ti already since I saw them the last ti. I'm sure they'd be surprised. I wanted to see them. Now I felt a little lonely.
"Who... are... they?"
Who was who? Yuu and Mira? They were my troubleso little sisters. Yuu was the youngest and Mira the second youngest. They were so adorable that I wanted to brag about them all the ti. Ehehe, I'm sure you'd agree with
if you et them.
"Where... are... they?"
Where? Good question, I hadn't seen them for a while myself.
Seriously, they could at least call
once in a while. They really didn't know how troubleso it was without their help. I still had to get used to so many things. But if I had to guess, Yuu wanted to check on sothing in the north or so? And for Mira... Probably running after her girlfriend again. Who knows where they are this ti. I sure wasn't going to look for them again. Others could bother about that.
"Na... of... the... north."
The north? What was it called again... Mh... no good. I couldn't rember. But why? I was sure it hadn't been that long since I was there last.
"When... was... the... last?"
Probably around... around... around? Weird... Around what? A day? A week? A year? A decade? A century? I couldn't rember... Weird... Maybe cause my head hurt. It hurt a little too much. Impossible to concentrate with. Either way, I wanted to sleep so could we stop?
"Only... a few... more..."
But really only a few, okay? This was a pain in the ass, okay? Why were we even having this quizshow? If you wanted to know you should go and talk with those obnoxious believers. They were annoying but they'd tell you. After you had to listen to a few hours of sermons, of course. But that was better than interrupting my nap.
"What... religion... believers..."
What religion? Hell, if I knew, so kind of annoying almighty god. Not like I had ever seen the god in question. You just had to ask them yourself. Those sermons went from one ear in and out the other. Always talking on about how God was going to save you and everything. Sure was lazy nowadays with the saving, though.
"What—
"Wait can... ask a.... too?
"... you want... ahead."
"Thank..."
Could you let
sleep now? My head hurt like hell...
"Did... you... have... a... girlfriend?"
A girlfriend? Unfortunately not. Even my little sisters got
beat there. And thanks to that we were seen as a huge weirdo family. Seriously, how did this even happen? For all of us siblings to be like this. Wait, actually, I was safe. I was totally safe. I had been safe... Yeah, I had been... Well, for all I cared, n could all disappear. The world had only need for cute girls. Yeah.
Then again, maybe it was the fault of her influence, that we ended up like this. Yeah, surely that was it.
"... Her?"
Well, her. That super annoying, never honest woman. She could be so cute. Always hiding her embarrassnt. Too bad she rarely showed that side. And she was an even worse prankster than Yuu. Well, she was good at heart, though. Ah, but... I just can't agree with her goals... I understood them, logically, but... Anyway, you should ask
so other ti. My nap had priority. Why were we even doing this again? I wanted to sleep. Good night.
"Wait... one... more... What.. year... is it?"
That really was the last one okay? But the year? If I recalled correctly... Actually, what year was it right now? The year, the year... Ah, right...
Sowhere around Year...
"Uuuhh..."
"Yumi? Yumi! are you awake?!"
"Don't shout. Please..."
Holy crap, my head hurt. Like, seriously. It felt like my head would split open or soone had wedged an axe into my skull. It was a pulsating kind of pain. To make matters worse, the ground was moving and every little bit of shaking made the pain throb even more.
What kind of hell did I just wake up to? Who hated
this much? Was this torture? It was torture, wasn't it?
"Are you fine?"
"Like hell... I'm fine... Ugh... It hurts..."
"Karen, give her so water. That should help a little."
"Ah, right. Here you go, Yumi."
"Thanks..."
Karen filled a small mug with so water and handed it to . I was really thirsty so the water was welco. After a few gulps, I already felt a little better. Emphasis on a little. My head still hurt like mad.
"Sis... What happened..."
"You got drunk."
"Ugh..."
Drunk? Then... this was... A hangover? A hangover. God, why? Wait, that damn drink that Korwen had. It was all that drink from hell's fault!
"My heeaaad..."
"Co, lie down again. It'll be a bit better."
"Uhh..."
Karen gently pushed
back onto the bed.
"Uhh... Where... is this?"
"The Captain's wagon. He lent it to us so you could recover."
"Ohh..."
I'd love to appreciate that kind gesture but he was also the one who made
drink that abomination. I'd have to burn it. Yeah, definitely had to. Every single drop of that abomination had to disappear from this world.
"Just go back to sleep."
"... I doubt... I can sleep... with this shaking..."
"Ahh..."
Why was the wagon shaking anyway? Did the wagon move? No... Wait... don't tell ...
"Sis... We aren't leaving already... are we?"
"..."
Silence. I glanced over to her, squinting my eyes. Because the light hurt as well. I could only barely make out a strained smile.
"... How long... was I out?"
"... Around five hours."
"..."
Five hours. Speak ten earth hours. It was evening already. The whole point of this trip. Where was it? Soone, please...
"When.. did we leave?"
"Just now."
Just now. In other words, I woke up at the absolutely worst possible ti. At this point, I was willing to do everything to get this over with quickly.
"Where is... Ria? Can't she... do sothing?"
"That's..."
"... You called?"
A sleepy voice ca from behind Karen. Ria's voice.
"Ah, Yumi asks if you can't help her but..."
"Mm... Impossible."
"Impo... ssible? But... My head hurts..."
"I already tried... But you... showed no reaction... to the magic..."
"..."
Seriously? The sober-up magic didn't work on ? Of all the things that didn't work it had to be that one? That was nice and dandy when you were actually drunk but with a hangover I really would've liked that magic right now.
"Your body... is interesting..."
"..."
Did I just hear a very dangerous line? Surely, I was mistaken. Surely.
"No bones... no liver... How does... your body work?"
That was a question I'd like the answer to as well. But not now. For the love of everything that was holy, this pain...
"Ria, please don't scare her now. Just go back and help Lily."
"Mm..."
"Lily's... here too?"
"She is. We stayed here and took care of you.
"Thanks..."
They were really good to . Way too good.
"Just try to sleep if you can."
"Probably... can't..."
Whoever could sleep with these headaches had nerves of steel. No, they were probably even harder and more durable than steel. And unfortunately, those headaches weren't the only thing.
"... I feel sick."
"Yes, we can see that, Yumi."
"No... I... My stomach..."
"Oh... Oh, wait... Don't! Hold it in! Hold it in, please!"
"Don't... shout..."
Shouting only made it worse.
Karen quickly lifted my upper body. From sowhere, a bucket appeared in front of .
And it was right on ti.
The following scene is not presentable. Please imagine a rainbow. My dignity is at stake here. Seriously.
"Let it all out, Yumi. You'll feel better."
She gently tapped on my back after I was done. A sour taste spread in my mouth.
"Here, so water."
"Thanks..."
I took the mug and cleaned my mouth. The bucket disappeared as well and it was as if nothing had ever happened. Yes, nothing had happened.
Now, I probably vomited more tis in the past two weeks than I did the entire year before... Ugh...
At the very least, now my stomach felt a little better. Even a small improvent was very welco right now. Didn't help my head though. Hopefully, it would get better sooner rather than later as well. Whichever god thought to hand out hangovers... Please stop. I'm begging you here.
Karen gently laid
back down into the bed and stroked my head. Despite my headaches, that actually made
feel a little better. A little better and a little worse...
"Maybe we should just give Yumi so alcohol to fix it, Karen."
"Lily, that sounds like an absolutely horrible idea."
"You sure? The old n from the Black Guards do that every ti."
"... It's surely better not to do that."
To be honest, you did feel a little better. At least in my opinion. But you'd still have a hangover again after so ti, so Karen was right. Better get it over with now.
"Well, if alcohol is no good then... Actually, I don't know... What else can you do?"
"... Nothing?"
"Mm... I heard... Apram Tea... can help.... alleviate the symptoms..."
"Apram Tea? But, Miss Ria, we don't even have that here, do we?"
"We don't..."
Nice suggestion. Maybe it was better that wasn't an option either. Most likely, the tea was just as sour as the juice was. Not sure I had the capacity to deal with sothing similarly disgusting as that juice at the mont.
"Anything else?" asked Lily.
"I can't think of anything else. I never had to deal with a hangover so..."
"Neither did I."
"Alcohol is scary..."
Yes, it was scary, dear Karen. But sohow, you'd still find your way back to it. Well, in moderation you wouldn't get a hangover so quickly anyway. It only happened when you clearly overdid it. Which I did. No, I was forced to overdo it.
"Just let her... rest for now..." suggested Ria.
"... Sorry, Yumi."
"Nn... It's fine... Sis."
Karen stroked my head again, a caring smile on her face. She reminded
of a mother taking care of her sick child.
"I'll let you rest then. If sothing's up or you feel ill again, call us."
"Nn... I'll try..."
With a smile, she stood up and disappeared behind the partition, leaving
alone. I could still hear their voices occasionally. I was more busy with the horrendous shaking though, so I had no idea what they were talking about. At least it was comfortably warm. There hadn't been many chances to sleep in a proper bed, so at least that was welco.
Ugh... I'll try to... sleep a little...
There wasn't much I could do right now. Albeit, it was unlikely that I could fall asleep with these headaches. Well, trying didn't hurt at least.
I closed my eyes and pulled the blanket up to
chin.
I'll never drink... again with the... captain...
If it would end like this every ti, I was better off not joining him. That Ria couldn't treat
wasn't making it any better either. It looked absolutely horrible as a treatnt, but at least you got it over with quickly.
The bed was warm and comfy. Maybe the road was better now or so but the shaking lessened a little as well. As long as I didn't move and didn't think too much, the pain was bearable.
And just like that, I was biding my ti, waiting for the hangover to slowly leave
alone. The whispers from Karen and the others and the sounds of the wagon made for soothing background music. There was also so odd scent perating the wagon, reminiscent of herbs. This scent was quite calming as well. Slowly... Slowly, I could feel myself dozing off, back to the dreamland.
"Yumi. Yumi?"
"Mmgh..."
"Yumi."
"Mm?"
Soone was calling for . There was soone in front of , staring at . Silver hair, silver eyes... A very familiar face.
"... Sis?"
"Awake?"
"Mm... Kind of..."
"How are you feeling?"
"... Better."
The headaches were mostly gone. A slight throbbing was still left but that wasn't really a big problem.
I sat up and looked around. Karen sat on a chair right next to the bed. Lily and Ria weren't to be seen. It was pretty bright, so I must've slept quite a long ti. Probably close morning by now. Maybe we were even back at the capital already. Quite likely since the wagon wasn't moving anymore.
Seriously, why were we even there? We should've just stayed back... But, we did go with the Black Guards, so they made a useless trip too...
It was just incredibly disheartening. You prepared, you put in the effort and when the ti finally ca... You were told that it was all for nothing. Was I the only one feeling like this? The others sure didn't seem as disturbed by it... Though, only Karen was in front of
right now. I couldn't see any of the others. Well, even if they were, I doubted they'd show it on their faces so easily.
"Nn... Lily and Ria are..."
"They're outside right now. There's a bit of a problem..."
"A problem?"
Karen nodded.
"The road is blocked..."
"Eh?"
"The road is blocked. Trees got knocked over and now we're stuck."
"..."
Seriously? Trees? But... It hadn't been that long since we went to the fort. There had been no storm or anything either, so why were there trees in the middle of the road? We weren't at the capital at all, we were fucking stuck in the forest...
"So, we're stuck..."
"Yes. The captain and the others are trying to move the trees but it will probably take quite so ti. Not to ntion..."
"Nn?"
"Soone probably moved the trees there."
"... Ah."
Soone wanted us to get stuck here... And if this was deliberate...
"I see..."
I properly stood up from the bed and stretched myself. I had taken an unexpected nap, but it had been a very welco one nonetheless. Nothing beat sleeping with Karen but it had still been quite comfortable to sleep in such a comfortable bed. I felt really refreshed right now. Still a little drowsy and a bit of a throbbing headache, but overall a lot better than before.
"Nn? This scent..."
"Oh, this? It's from a scented candle that Ria brought along."
Karen, who had stood up as well, led
into the main part of the wagon, the part I couldn't see due to the partition screen slash wall. A small candle, nearly completely burnt, was still trying its best on the desk. There were so green spots in the wax which I assud were herb leaves or so.
"So that's what I slled..."
"Ria said it had a relaxing effect."
"Nn... I did feel quite relaxed..."
A scented candle was indeed quite an idea. It didn't help directly with the hangover but if it allowed
to sleep, it was quite good in my book.
"Well, should we join the others?"
"Nn."
"Ah, but Yumi... You should first take care of your eyes."
"Nn?"
"They returned to how they were originally."
Oh? Did that happen while I was asleep? Or while I was drunk. Hopefully not too many people saw the slitted pupils if it was earlier. It would only beco a bother.
"Nn, then, just a second."
I closed my eyes and used the magic to change my eyes again. They had stayed as human eyes for the quite so ti now so I had to get the feeling for it back first. A little troubleso, truth be told, but nothing that couldn't be solved.
"And that's i—
I froze. I was completely, and utterly, frozen.
"Yumi? Is sothing wrong?"
"..."
"Yumi?"
"... To think this was it..."
That had been a little out of my expectations, honestly.
"What's wrong?"
"... Sis. What ti is it right now?"
"Eh? It's in the middle of the night?"
"..."
Indeed, it was night. The wagon was pretty dark, only slightly illuminated by the still-burning candle and the weak moonlight shining through the gaps of the closed windows.
I closed my eyes once more and changed them back to the slitted pupils. Everything turned bright as if it was dayti.
"... Knew it."
"Yumi? Mind telling
what is going on?"
"Nn. Sis. I figured it out."
"Figured out what?"
"My eyes. I can see in the dark..."
To think it had been this... That finally explained why Karen thought I had been able to see in the dark. Because I, indeed, had been able to. Although, I was fairly sure it still had been comparatively dark in the beginning, at night. Yet, right now, it was quite bright. How did I even miss this?
"... Your eyes? You an, your original eyes?"
"Nn..."
"That... actually makes sense."
"It does..."
I took a good look around . It was really as if it had been dayti. Not too bright or anything, just enough that I could make out everything around .
But how did I miss this? Or rather, I am really sure I would've noticed before if it had been this bright at night...
Not like I could travel back in ti and try it out, though.
"That's quite convenient. But, you can only see in the dark like that?"
"Nn."
"Then it's still better to keep it hidden... But at night, I doubt people are going to notice."
"Nn, probably. But it's really quite convenient, being able to see in the dark."
Even with only a little bit of light, I could see everything around . That was bound to be useful. Never again having to look for sothing in the dark. Never again worrying about having a candle, lamp, flashlight or whatever ready in the night.
"It is, but you should still keep it hidden for now. There are many people around."
"Nn..."
How unfortunate. Well, she was right with that. Even if it was unlikely for soone to notice, that didn't an it was impossible. And we wanted to keep the number of people who knew as low as we could manage. So, I changed my eyes back, with round pupils. It instantly turned dark again. Too dark...
"Then, let's go."
"Nn..."
Karen opened the door and left the wagon. A cold wind blew into the wagon through the door, catching
by surprise.
"Cold!"
"It is in the middle of the night after all. Of course, it is cold."
"Uhh..."
I stepped outside and was greeted with an even harsher cold and even more wind. In fact, despite us being inside a forest, it was awfully windy. Looking around, I saw dozens of wagons, all standing still on the road. So rcenaries stood to the side and were talking, but most of them seed to be at the front, trying to get rid of a literal wall of trees that blocked the road. Dozens of them had fallen over. And not just small trees, but actually massive, old trees as well.
"Sis, with so many... are we sure there won't be more trees falling down?"
"If those were deliberate we're probably safe, for now. If not... I don't know. The weather has been pretty good so..."
If the weather was fine, what else could accidentally throw over the trees, after all? It was more likely to be a manmade incident.
"They could still try to drop trees on the wagons."
"I don't think that would happen. The rcenaries are pretty alert, and Ria and the other magicians are on watch as well."
"Nn... So, all we can do is wait?"
"For now, yes."
It was nice to know that things would be safe, or as safe as it was possible in this situation. Regardless, when I peered into the forest it was still a little scary. It was so dark that not a lot of moonlight was getting through and you couldn't see past a few tres into the forest. Yet, despite it being night, there were constant noises, most likely animals, echoing through the forest. The night was surprisingly loud.
At least, it's not only animals making noise but the rcenaries too.
No matter the ti, they still were in a pretty good mood. It was a little envious. Banter and laughter from all around us.
"Oh, right. Sis. I heard about your... talk with the captain..."
"Talk? Which one?"
"Was there more than one? Well, about us... staying with the rcenaries."
"Ahh. That one. That was quite a surprise, yes."
"Nn?"
Wasn't it a surprise for Korwen and not for Karen?
"Why a surprise?"
"Mh? Because I didn't expect the financial situation to be that different. A single day here with the rcenaries is half a month's wage for most other jobs. Even the non-magicians earn a lot better here..."
"That's... indeed, quite a difference."
"I know, right? And we even get food and lodging mostly for free—included, technically speaking."
But half a month's wage? Was it really that bad? Didn't that an that just the pastry from the market was... really, really expensive? Like, seriously expensive. That shocked
a little.
"Sis, that still doesn't change that this is a dangerous profession."
"... Living in the slums was dangerous too. Saving Rina was dangerous too. Compared to that, this was pretty... relaxed?
So far, at least."
"But I doubt it'll stay that relaxed."
"It surely won't. On one side, I don't want any of you being exposed to danger but on the other side... You know, when Lily told us about Rina's goal, her revenge... I was wondering, what is my plan for the future. My goal."
"Your... goal?"
She nodded.
"Right now, what do I want to do? In the slums, I had a goal. I wanted to save Rina. But now, after that, what do I want to do?"
"..."
Karen lifted her gaze, staring straight at the moon.
"I thought about it for a while and... I want to know... About myself. About why we were exiled back then. I don't think I want revenge like Rina wants it but... I want answers. Real answers."
A sad smile floated on her face for but a mont.
"That's why... Staying with the rcenaries, we're likely to travel around, right? And I'm sure, one day we'll travel to Aldreigh. When that happens, I want to be able to confront this past of mine. Mine and Rina's past..."
"... I see. I'm sure, you'll be able to do that."
"I'd be glad if so."
She flashed a new smile, more cheerful than the previous one. Yet, her expression quickly turned serious again.
"Yumi."
"Nn?"
"Have you thought about what you want to do for the future?"
"..."
"Having a goal... I think, that's important, isn't it?"
"Nn..."
But... What did I even want to do? I kept saying I wanted to protect everyone but... What did I have to do for that? And... what else... did I want to do? Was there sothing else... I wanted to do?
"You should at least think about it for a little."
"... I'll try to."
"That's good."
Karen ruffled my hair.
"Co, let's take a look at what the others are doing over there."
"Nn."
She turned around and walked off, to the front where the trees had collapsed. I didn't follow her imdiately, watching her back slowly distancing itself.
Plans for the future. What do I want to do... That's... a hard question.
Did I want to beco a rcenary? I didn't know. Was it necessary for
to beco one? I didn't know. Was there aning in it? Maybe, maybe not. Was this the future I wanted to tread upon? I had no idea, not even the faintest of an idea. I hadn't... thought that far. I had only thought of the present.
Things I want to do in the future, huh...
Staring at Karen's back, I tried to imagine the future. A future with the both of us, with Lily, Rina, the three girls, maybe the rcenaries as well. How would it look like? I didn't know. But I did know, that I wanted it to be a future with everyone.
"Yumi? Is sothing wrong?"
"No, I'm coming."
With a small smile, I hurried after her.
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