"Ahh, we're back."
"Yeah. And barely in ti."
Technically, we hadn't been in ti, not even remotely.
Only thanks to the guide provided by Mrs Karker could we leave the city. Today I learnt just how much power this woman truly held. The second the guide flashed the emblem—at least I thought it was an emblem, I didn't see it well—the guards panicked and imdiately let us through. Fortunately for them, they didn't have to raise the gate again, they could just let us pass through guard's room, the sa one where Karen and I had registered for that magical device.
"It's already a lot later than I expected..."
"We did take quite long..."
The sun was already nearing the horizon, much to my surprise. It had gotten quite late. Just where did the ti go?
"Yumi."
"Nn? What is it, Sis?"
"Should we ask the Captain about those leftover mana crystals? They had a whole bunch if I recall correctly."
"Ohh, right. Nn. Let's do that."
We walked down the road to the rcenary camp. Bellowing laughter echoed through the camp. Slightly curious, we decided to follow the sound of laughter.
"Gwahahaha! You old coot! Seems you got into so mighty fine trouble there! Gwahahahaha!"
"That's not funny. And who is the old coot here?"
"Surely not !"
"Haaa..."
Muscles. Lots of muscles.
They had set up a long table in the middle of the camp. Sitting there were Korwen and a few other of the older rcenaries that I had t so far. And then there were... Muscles. Old n—and this ti they probably really were old with their grey hair and the wrinkles—sporting so bulging muscles sat together with Korwen and co.
One of them, a large man, sat next to Korwen, arm around his shoulders, bellowing heartily. He wore an eyepatch, covering up his left eye.
"I'm still as fit as I was in my heyday! I'm no old coot like you brats!"
"That's right! How dare you to call him an old coot! He's way too old for that!"
"Hey! Want
to make a dent into your skull?!"
"Co and try it, you relic!"
"Haaa?! The hell did you just say?! You have a deathwish?!"
"As if so stuttering old grandpa like you could harm a fly! Rather, the fly might harm you!"
"Now you said it! Keep my grandkid out of this! Let's settle this, just like in the old tis!"
The man next to Korwen and another one of those grey-haired old guys began to argue... Korwen buried his face in his hands. Clearly he didn't wish to be here right now...
"Hey, boy! Are the weapons still in the sa wagon?"
"..."
"Hey, boy! Answer !"
"... Yes, yes... They are. Please don't make a ss out of the camp..."
"Ha?! I only got a bone to pick with that pretentious old gaffer! Then, let's do this!"
"That's exactly what I am worried about."
"Did you say sothing?!"
"No. No, I didn't..."
The two n walked off, entering one of the wagons and disappearing.
"Captain."
Seeing the chance, we approached Korwen.
"Mh? Oh, you two are back... Did you see that just now?"
"We did."
"Nn."
"Haa... Sorry about that. They suddenly appeared and started making a ss..."
Well, we hadn't been looking for an apology. Actually, why was he even apologising to us?
Maybe the whole thing ground too much on his nerves and he apologised out of reflex? If so... Maybe we should leave before we got inv—
"Hey, brat! Who are those cuties? When did the rcenaries beco a childcare group?"
"Urgh..."
A different old man spotted us, walking up to us.
He was... huge. Without a doubt a serious contender for the largest man I had seen in my entire life. In addition to the bulging muscles that were clearly visible beneath the thin shirt he wore. Even when he leaned forward a little to scrutinise us, I still had to crane back my neck to look up to the man. That's how huge he was.
"Mhm... Are they so of those glittery fools spewing fireworks?"
"... You an magicians, Gorman. Magicians. And yes, they are."
"Hmpf. I see."
He glared at us, wearing an expression as if he was angry. Not that I knew why he was angry.
Leaning further down, he extended his arm and...
"Nn?"
Pat my head.
"Take care of yourself, you kids, and value your life. Don't you dare dying like so idiot out on the field."
Then, he turned around, walking away without saying anything else.
"That was... unexpected," I murmured, slightly perplexed.
Korwen smiled wryly, seeing our short exchange. Or, well, we hadn't even said anything, so exchange might be the wrong word.
"Gorman is a good man. He looks like that, but he really ans those words."
"... Captain, who are these people?"
"Well... They're forr rcenaries."
"Forr?"
I watched the old n, making rry with so of the younger—but still middle-aged—n. They all had a very rough appearance. Muscles, scars, thick beards. They sure didn't look like 'forr' rcenaries... Most of them had grey hair, a few were bald, but that was about the only indication that they weren't in the job anymore.
"They retired after the Triside War. Well, as rcenaries, that is. Most of them now work as instructors in the military school here."
"Huh."
"Hey, brat, isn't that explanation a lil' lacking?! We're the ones who wiped your ass when you were just a wee lil' baby!"
Korwen once again buried his face in his hands. Seeing that, the old n started laughing, as if they got a kick out of embarrassing him.
"You girls, we're your seniors!"
"Seniors? So, you belonged to the Dragon Knights before?"
"Damn sure we did!"
So they were retired rcenaries from this group. That explained why they were here. And why they got along with everyone. Well, and how they could make fun of Korwen.
"For the love of... Why are you all even here?"
"What, got a problem? We gotta make sure you keep the band together! Or ya intending on making your old man cry?"
"Haa... That old man is currently digging through our supply wagon to arm himself with our weapons so he can settle his argunt. He's going to make
cry, not the other way round, for the love of everything that is holy."
Korwen shook his head in exasperation. Not very happy about the whole thing, was he?
"Gahaha! Let him have his fun! Also, wouldn't it make a good spectacle? Those little brats of yours, when was the last ti they even fought a person? Aren't you mostly taking monster subjugations for work?"
"... We also do bandit subjugations as well as guard duty and escorts."
"And when was the last war you fought in?"
"..."
The old man questioning Korwen grinned widely.
"And you don't really intend to fight in this looming war either, do you? If I had to take a guess... You're going to fulfil the contract with the Academy and then bail, probably either going through Kroha or Aldreigh. Maybe you're even intending to go east, past the Harrowed Mountains? Or north to the sea, shipping forth into the unknown."
Korwen's mimic soured with every word the man said. Seed he was right on point.
"Well, I'm not one to speak of what you should do or not do, brat. Just rember, you got mouths to feed. Doesn't matter where you go as long as you got food. And booze! The booze is important!"
"Haa... Is it that obvious?"
"Gahaha! Don't underestimate us! We've known you for decades!"
"So... Are you here to lecture
about that?"
Korwen furrowed his brows in displeasure.
"Lecture? No way in hell! We just wanted to co and have fun! After all, if you take a long journey, who knows when we might et the next ti. Or if there's even a next ti!"
The man took a hearty gulp of the mug in his hands.
"Man! Sure hits the spot! Anyway, brat, we're not here to lecture anyone. We just want to have fun with our friends. In the first place..."
The man paused, then grinned.
"... your old man surely would've done the sa. He's the sa. Loves to sche and trick outsiders but at the end soft to the core to those you let close. You sure got that part from him! Gahahaha!"
At that mont, the door of the wagon where the other two n had disappeared into opened again, revealing the two, clad in so simple leather armour, both of them ard.
The one who sat next to Korwen carried a large battle-axe, the other a spear with an axe blade at the end. A halberd.
"Ohh! The good part is coming!"
"Mr Captain, those two aren't going to... fight with those weapons. Are they?"
"Oh, they are, Karen, they are. They're most certainly going to do that... Karen, could you do
a favour and deliver a ssage to Jockson? Tell him to round up the younger rcenaries. They're right, it's a good opportunity to watch a fight."
"Understood. Yumi, I'll be back in a bit."
"Nn."
Karen went off to fetch rim after Korwen told her where she'd find him most likely.
"Well then, let's go."
"... Nn."
Around an hour later, the two n both were both lying on the ground, breathing heavily. They had both fought splendidly.
Not.
After they had both ard themselves everyone moved to the practice field where I had had my running practice yesterday.
Then, once quite a crowd had gathered to watch the two, they fought.
It had been spectacular.
Their initial clash managed to break the weapons. Now unard, they continued to just beat each other up with their fists. We basically watched a bar fight.
"Haa... Why did I even expect anything from these two? I feel like a fool."
Korwen watched as rim and a few others carried the two old n away. They had fought each other until they fell unconscious. To the bitter end.
"Mr Captain... What were you expecting, if I might ask?"
"Karen, have you ever seen two soldiers fighting each other?"
"No..."
"Then, what is the largest monster you have fought before?"
"Monster? By myself?"
Karen tilted her head.
"By yourself or with others. Doesn't matter."
"Then... That ogre we t in the forest near Arkesta. Or the one we encountered in the slums."
"Mh, ogres, huh. Ogres are known for their physical strength. You can probably imagine well how strong they are, right?"
"Yes..."
"Then, imagine those two old guys effortlessly winning an arm-wrestling match against an ogre."
"..."
Excuse ?
"Mr Captain. They aren't magicians, are they?"
"They aren't. But they are strong as all hell. That's why I hoped to show everyone just what kind of monsters prowl a battlefield. Instead, we watched a bar fight."
Good thing he judged it to be a bar fight as well.
My impression wasn't off.
"Then, do you rember the knights from the church? Those heavily armoured ones."
"Yes."
"Nn."
They were kind of hard to forget. They were imposing. Really imposing.
"They're just as much of a monster. You cannot fight them head-on. The ti at the bridge we mostly got lucky."
"Nn? What happened there?"
If he ant the bridge of the fort, then we hadn't been there.
"Oh, did nobody tell you two?"
"No..."
"Nn, we only heard that you blew up the bridge."
With the help of my dolls. Speaking of which, I should look for them, lest they get lonely again.
"Do you know what Yumias did, then?"
"No."
"We don't."
"... She walked into their camp."
Korwen sighed, rubbing his temple. That mory didn't seem to be sothing he wanted to recall.
"She walked into their camp, right before we wanted to blow up the bridge. I don't know what she said, but there was a commotion. Then one of those knights tried to fight her. There had been two of them. She... threw the guy."
"... Excuse ? She threw him?"
"She threw him. Literally. A grown man in plate armour made of sun tal. Total weight of five grown n. And she threw him as if he was so trash she picked up. That enraged the camp and the knight—who would have thought—and they started chasing her. Over the bridge. Then we collapsed the bridge in a hurry and sunk the knight into the Hollow."
"..."
How should one even... I had no words...
"That girl is a monster. She sure got a laugh out of it, though."
"... Sure sounds like her."
"Anyway, people like those are people you never want to fight head-on. We're just normal humans, we're not so once in a decade or a once in a century hero who can single-handedly fight a calamity. And I hoped to show this to our youngsters. There are gaps in this world that a normal person just cannot surmount."
Normal people, huh...
"Well, seeing as I have to explain this now, it kind of defeated the purpose, really. Nearly as bad as having to explain a failed joke."
Ah, yes, that sure was an awkward situation.
"Whatever. We'll be around for a while so maybe we'll get another opportunity to see them fight each other. Rather, I trust you two had a good day?"
"Nn, we did. Ah, right. Mrs Karker told us to give you her greetings."
"... You t her?"
Korwen raised an eyebrow in surprise.
"We did. We talked with her but then we got interrupted. Apparently so ssenger or so."
"A ssenger. Do you know whose ssenger?"
"Ehh... I think it was.. Alle... Alla... Allena?"
"Yes, it was Allena, Yumi."
The ssenger of that unpleasant guy from the festival.
"The Allena family, huh. Mhm... What to do... Well, whatever, we'll care for that tomorrow. You two should take a good rest. Tomorrow is back to a workday, which ans you're also back to practice. I heard Jockson put together a nice little training plan for all of you. Gwahahahaha!"
"..."
My legs were going to hurt like hell tomorrow, weren't they?
"Oh, right. Lily bothered
earlier today, asking
where the two of you went off to. Not sure what she wanted but you should probably go look for her."
"Ah, will do. Thank you, Captain."
"Just tell her to stop bothering
about such things and it's fine. I'm not here to keep track of where everyone is."
"Ahaha... Will do."
With a wry smile, we thanked Korwen and set out to look for Lily. We also asked whether we could take the leftover mana crystals, for which we got permission. So, we went to fetch those first.
As for Lily, she hadn't joined the small spectacle of a fight, much to my surprise. It was fortunate that we found her and Rina very quickly at our shared wagon. Just...
"My head hurts... Rinaaaaa... Do sothing, I beg you..."
"..."
Soone was still recovering from her hangover.
"Rina, Lily."
"Oh! Big Sis, Lil' Sis! You're back."
"Nn. What is going on with Lily? Is she still..."
She wasn't in any state to take note of us, much less replying.
"Mh... That is..."
Rina paused, seemingly searching for words.
"She moved around a little too much... maybe?"
"..."
Did she do so sport or training? Why would anyone do that with headaches... That was just asking for it to get worse.
"Ah, right, Lil' Sis!"
"Nn?"
"I'm angry!"
"... Eh? Why?"
"You broke your promise!"
Promise? What promise?
"You promised to go with
to that seamstress today!"
"... Oh."
Yesterday. Yesterday evening I had talked with her about visiting Wanda. I forgot. I had completely forgotten about that.
"Ehh... I'm sorry, Rina. I forgot. Seriously, sorry."
"Hmpf!"
She pouted.
It was probably the wrong ti for this, but it was cute. I really wanted to poke those slightly inflated cheeks.
"Go with
tomorrow!"
"That's... I'll try to find so ti. I can't promise anything."
"Mm..."
She eyed
for a few monts.
"I'm sure you will find the ti."
"That's..."
"I'm sure you will."
"... I'll try my best."
I honestly felt bad about the whole thing so I should frankly try to find so ti for her tomorrow...
"... By the way, Yumi," Karen whispered to
suddenly.
"Yes, Sis?"
"Should we tell Rina about what we heard earlier? It does involve her as well, after all."
"That's... I don't know? Maybe after we made sure of everything?"
We had borrowed the large box with mana crystals for exactly that purpose after all. The large box Karen was currently carrying in her arms. And this was by far not even all they had... Did they really have that many?
Either way, we sure weren't going to run out of mana crystals to experint with for a while.
"Big Sis, Lil' Sis, what are you whispering there? Let
join!"
"Ah, it's nothing, Rina. Yumi and I are going into the wagon and experint a little, so take care of Lily, okay?"
"Ehh? You're leaving
alone already again?"
"... We'll be only in the wagon. You just need to call for us. Also, maybe you shouldn't shout so much."
Karen pointed at Lily, who was clinging to Rina while groaning.
"Ah, sorry, Lily!"
"Ugh..."
My sincerest condolences. Your sacrifice shan't be forgotten, Lily.
While watching Rina desperately apologising to Lily, and only making it worse in the process, we entered our wagon. Karen put down the box with the mana crystals and sighed.
"Haa... It was fun but... It's relaxing to be back."
"Nn. It sure is."
Karen sat down on the ground, next to the box, and pat her lap.
"Co here."
With a smile, I sat down in her lap. Ahh, this warmth was bliss.
"Mhm, nothing feels different."
"I see... Maybe you need so more?"
"Maybe..."
After we enjoyed a little bit of alone ti, mostly so skinship, we decided to start experinting a little. I absorbed a few of the mana crystal. The amount was honestly rather small but it was still a lot more than what I absorbed from my surroundings.
"I wonder how many are needed..."
"Nn..."
There wasn't any way to find out, unfortunately. Maybe that monster Yumias knew more but... She wasn't around. And she hadn't really talked about anything like this, had she?
No, wait... Didn't she say sothing yesterday evening? About it being ti soon?
"Yumi? Is sothing wrong?"
"Nn? Ah, no, I just wondered what Yumias ant..."
"Yumias? Did she say sothing to you?"
Oh, I hadn't told Karen about my talk yesterday?
"Nn. She ntioned that it was soon ti for sothing. Although, I have no idea what, but maybe she ant exactly this?"
"Ti... Did she say anything else?"
"Nn... Let
think..."
What did she say again?
Sothing about my mana crystal... Or soul crystal, as she called it... And...
"She said, if there was anything wrong, I should go to the Prayerhouse?"
"The Prayerhouse? Why there?"
"... That, she didn't say."
She loved being cryptic. Well, I would probably notice when sothing was wrong so...
"Well, for now, let's just keep absorbing a few of these mana crystals."
I took a bunch out from the box and extracted the mana from them.
Now that I actually thought about it, this was actually kind of a pleasant feeling. Like, sothing was filling . It was an odd sensation. Similar to how you felt after eating sothing yet still rather different. There was no real feeling of hunger, after all.
"Still nothing?"
"Still nothing."
"Mhm..."
I took another batch and took the mana again.
Honestly, the more I actively thought about this, the more I worried that this might beco addicting.
"Really, just what is supposed to happen..."
"Maybe it's so change we don't see? Or it's sothing with your monster parts?"
"Monster parts... You an the... tentacles?"
"And your eyes. How about you change to them and try absorbing then?"
"Nn..."
Should I do that?
Karen had seen the tentacles before already so I wasn't as reluctant anymore but still...
"It's worth a try, isn't it?"
"... Then... Okay, I'll try..."
She was right. There wasn't really a downside to it either.
Having co to that decision, I changed both my arms. My eyes as well.
"There's quite a few of them."
"Ah, Sis! Please don't touch them so much, it feels strange."
Karen instantly grabbed one of the tentacles that replaced my arms right now and felt it up.
"Yumi, is the sensation the sa as with your normal arms?"
"Eh? Uhm... It's a little different."
This, too, was honestly a hard-to-describe sensation. Where would one even begin to describe it? Seriously.
"It's like... I don't know... Like having multiple, very sensitive arms."
"Sensitive? Does this hurt?"
"No, uhm..."
I paused.
It didn't hurt. Actually... It was the opposite.
"It... feels a little good."
"Heee..."
Karen grinned mischievously.
"Ah, Sis, what are you—
"Does this feel good too?"
Karen hugged so tentacles and... licked one.
It quite literally made a shiver run down my spine. A pleasant shiver, mind you.
"Does seem like it."
Having figured
out imdiately, she continued licking them, from the tips down to the base, slowly, ever so slowly.
"Sis, please sto— Hiya?!"
"Ehh? Are you sure you want
to stop?"
Now she even licked my nape.
No good. If this continued, we were surely going to do sothing completely different from what we had originally planned. Sothing rather lewd.
"Yumi... We're currently all alone."
"Wait, Sis, Rina... Rina and Lily are outside!"
"It's fine, it's fine."
"Mmgh?!"
No, it wasn't fine.
Alas, Karen had already sealed my lips with hers, making
unable to protest.
"Yumi... Isn't it ti we try these out?"
Karen traced one of the tentacles with her fingers.
"It'd be such a waste not to, right?"
"Wait, Sis, you can't seriously an to..."
"I am serious, Yumi. I really am."
She hugged
and buried her face into my hair.
"Is it so wrong for
to want to feel you as close as possible?"
"That's..."
That was unfair. Such a line, how could I say no to that?
"I... I understand..."
"Ehehehe, Yumi, I love you!"
Once again, she kissed , invading my mouth with her tongue.
Like before, there was a certain odd glow in her eyes. I wondered... Just why were they glowing every ti we did these things?
"Yumi!"
"Ah, Sis..."
Karen didn't waste any ti, touching
all over the place. My back, my thighs, my... tentacles. Her hand found its way below my clothing and to my stomach, rubbing it.
But, this ti she was slow with it, gentle. It wasn't as intense, as fast, as the previous tis.
This was... quite pleasant too.
"Yumi..."
"Nn? Ah."
Karen threw off her upper cloth and then stripped
of mine as well.
"Yumi... I rember seeing a few interesting ones... Want to... try them out?"
"Sis, do you... an that?"
"Of course I do."
She squeezed , her bare breasts pressing on my back.
"Let's see... I rember the one with the sharp tip... and the one with that lewd fluid. Both of which are probably... Let's try sothing else first."
"Ahahaha..."
"There was also the one that you put in, right? What else was there?"
"What else..."
I was a little perplexed by Karen's frankness about the whole thing... Honestly, I had just let Karen do her thing until now so I never noticed that much... but actually talking about this with the clear purpose of... having so fun... was quite embarrassing.
"Yumi?"
"Ah... Uhm... Well... Let
think for a mont..."
The one with the needle and the aphrodisiac were out for now. The needle one I had absolutely no idea what it would do and the aphrodisiac sounded like sothing that was a bit too much as well.
"Nn... There's... give
a mont..."
I concentrated on one tentacle to change it to what I was thinking of. A few monts later, it was swaying before Karen'S eyes.
"This is... What does this one do?"
"Well, uhm... It... sucks on your breasts?"
"My breasts you an, like this?"
Karen took hold of the tentacle and put it right on her breast, over her nipple.
"Mhm... nothing is happening."
"Well..."
Because I wasn't doing anything. Because I was still perplexed by how nonchalant Karen was about this. But... It also made a happy. Karen seed genuinely curious about the whole thing. Not disgusted, not turned off. Sowhere, maybe I had still been worried. Because, right now, this genuine curiosity made
happy.
"Give
a mont... Uhm... do I move it like this?"
"Ah, sothing is... Hya?!"
Oh, seed this about right. How I even managed to move this was completely beyond , seriously, but I had succeeded.
"This. Feels actually quite good. Mhm... Yumi, co here!"
Karen grabbed
by the shoulders and pulled
towards her chest, to her free breast. She quite literally pushed
into it.
Well, if she was going that far, then, by no ans was I going to say no.
"Ahh. This is nice. Yumi, a little stronger. Yes, like that."
Complying with her desire, I sucked rather strong on her breast. Both, with my mouth on one and with the tentacle on the other. In the anti, Karen continued to caress , mostly around my thighs and my butt.
"Mhm, Yumi..."
"Ngh!"
Her hand found the place between my thighs. Simultaneously, her other hand took hold of one of the tentacles—one which purpose was clear even to Karen—and guided it down below, between her own legs.
"Sis... Sis, are you... sure?"
I stopped sucking on her breast and looked up, at Karen's face.
"What are you talking about? A little late for that, aren't we?"
With a smile, she leaned forward, kissing .
"Yumi, I want it, so... please."
"... Okay."
Karen guided the tentacle and then... it slowly, slowly entered.
"Nmh?!"
What the heck?!
A weird, pleasant feeling, ran through my body. But rather than from below, from between my own legs, it ca from the side, from the tentacle.
"Ngah!"
"Si... s..."
Karen was breathing heavily, still holding the tentacle firmly with her hand. Then, she pushed it even further.
"Nmgh!"
"Sis, wa— This is... too much."
It felt good. Very much so.
Karen still pushed the tentacle further, as if it was a toy, as far as possible.
"Yu... mi... This... This is..."
Having pushed the tentacle as far as she could, she put her arm around my waist and pulled
close.
"This... feels a lot better... than I expected... Hehehe... Give... Give
a mont..."
"O... Okay..."
We stayed still, each of us trying to catch our breaths. After a few minutes, we had cald down a little.
"Yumi... This really feels... Ngh... Quite odd..."
"It really does."
Karen was fidgeting, rubbing her legs. Every single small movent sent a little bit of pleasure up my spine.
"I... I think I'm fine now, Yumi..."
"You sure?"
"Mhm..."
Karen kissed
once more and then rubbed her cheek against mine.
"Let's continue."
"... Nn."
I slowly moved the tentacle, wriggling its way through the narrow space it had invaded. Slowly moving out, and then back in again. Not fast by any ans, slowly and gently.
A few moans escaped Karen. I wanted to see more of that. See her moan more, see her feel good more.
Karen's hand was touching
down there as well, her fingers entering. Now, the pleasure ca from two places.
"Yumi... More, do it more..."
"Nn... Ahh... Sis..."
We kissed, our tongues entwining. My free tentacles wrapped around Karen, wanting to feel more of her.
"Yumi! Haaa! Yumi! Haa! It's... It's coming."
Suddenly, Karen cramped up, squeezing
with a lot of force, with her hands, and with her place.
"Ahh!"
The strong stimulation down there... The pleasure shot through my body.
"Naaahh!"
Leaving us both exhausted, lying on the floor.
"Haaa... Haaa..."
"Haa... Yumi..."
"Sis..."
Limp as we were, we lay side by side. The tentacle was still inside Karen, but neither of us had the energy to move right now and bother with that.
"This was... Haa... Quite an... Haa.... enlightening experience..."
"Sis... That's an... odd choice of words..."
"Ehehe... Yumi..."
"Nn?"
Karen turned her head around and gave
a quick peck on the cheek.
"Thank you... It felt good..."
"... Nn."
We smiled at each other.
This was bliss.
It wasn't quite what we had planned to do, sure, but... That was fine. Now, we just had to calm down. My body was still hot. Especially my chest. It was hot. Really hot. Burning.
As if my chest was on fire.
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