Taboo Journal Novel Chapter of Soul Expansion: Evacuation

"Leaving the rcenaries? Fenna said that?"

"Nn..."

"She did, Karen..."

Shortly after Fenna left, Lily and I told Karen about our conversation with her.

"But... what would we even do then?"

"That's... I don't know either."

Karen furrowed her eyebrows.

"Even if we would do that, what about those three? I can't imagine them wanting to leave."

"Nn, probably."

Even if Emily, Maya and Sele had their own share of troubles, they still grew up here with the rcenaries. And they were quite attached to Korwen as well.

"Well, we have so ti until we have to decide. So how about we just let it rest for a bit and decide later?"

"But Lily..."

"Karen, hurrying it won't help us either. And to be honest... I can see where Fenna was coming from..."

"Eh?"

Karen and I both looked at Lily in surprise. She surely was the last person I would have expected to agree with Fenna.

"You see, thinking about it for a bit... Fenna's worries are quite right. I've always been the youngest among the Black Guards so I never had to... experience that myself... But as the Black Guards are a small band we often worked with others."

Lily looked up, at the stars and the two moons shining brightly.

"Once we worked with another rcenary band... They were a reckless, young bunch. Papa tried to rein them in, but they only thought of him as annoying. The job was a monster subjugation and... More than half of them died on the job... And the ones that survived were..."

Lily shook her head as if chasing away the mories.

"I don't think it'd be that bad with the Dragon Knights here... But I certainly understand Fenna's worries... Death is common among the rcenaries... And..."

She turned around, flashing us a smile.

"I never had to worry about the Black Guards, they are strong, and they know what they are doing. But now there are others dear to

that aren't as strong. You two might still be fine but..."

The others wouldn't... No, I had evaded the thought of it until now but... I wasn't sure I would be able to handle it either.

"A-, Anyway, we should think about it carefully. Alright?"

"Nn..."

Lily turned around, her back facing us now.

"Is this really alright, though? Lily, Yumi, what... what other choice do we even have?"

"Well, we'll have to find that out, Karen, don't we?"

"... I guess."

Karen seed a little unsure about all of this. It was sudden. It really was. Even assuming we would leave the rcenaries, what options did we have? The slums were definitely not an option, we could just stay with the rcenaries then. That would be, in fact, safer. Quite ironic, but that's how it was.

"Rather than wondering about it right now, how about we talk about it later with everyone? It should only take a bit over half a day to the capital from here. But we can just discuss it tomorrow morning then," suggested Lily.

That wasn't really as long a trip as I expected. I kind of expected it to be quite a bit further away.

"I guess we should do that..."

"Nn."

"Great! With that out of the way, we should see what we can do to help with the evacuation."

"Nn... But Lily... How can we even help? I have no idea what we're supposed to do."

We weren't really told anything specific, were we?

"Well... The others are packing their own things for now. Most of my things are either in the wagon or with the Black Guards, so I don't have anything to pack I guess."

"Nn... My things are in the wagon as well."

Not like I even had many things though. Ah, I probably should look for the dolls, though.

"Sa for , so..."

"So, Karen as well... We all don't have anything, huh... That's sohow sad, you know."

"Lily... Anyway, I don't know where the dolls are, so maybe I should look for those."

It might be a bit troubleso if they would end up in the hands of others. Wait...

"Actually, can't I leave them here?"

"Yumi?"

"Well, the dolls don't really need

around, right? And maybe those dolls can... at least help them out here a bit."

"..."

Lily smiled and ruffled my hair a bit.

"Let's ask them, yes? But we have to look for them first anyway."

"Nn?"

"Well, they don't really listen to everyone, right? If you want them to help out here, you have to tell them whose orders they can listen to."

"Oh, that's right."

That was actually sothing I had wanted to do anyway. Korwen did tell

that before, after all.

"Then, let's look for them. Yumi, do you know where you saw them last?" asked Karen.

"I haven't really seen them since yesterday, but I was told Emily and the others had them. And I think they are in that crate they brought back from the fort's warehouse."

"Ah, that one. I know where it was last, so let's go."

It seed that Lily knew where we had to go. She took the lead, evading the crowd of cheering and chanting rcenaries by a wide margin. I was actually impressed that they were still at it. It was a bit scary.

"Hey, Lily."

"Karen?"

"Is it... normal for rcenaries to be that... happy? About war?"

"Well..."

Lily slowed down a bit, allowing us to catch up with her.

"I guess, yes. The Black Guards were rather ticulous in their preparations and always went about them rather stoically, but even they were looking forward to it."

"... And what about you?"

"Eh?"

Karen stared at Lily's face, which had stiffened.

"? That is..."

She looked down to the ground, then to the sky and then to the side, as if she was troubled. Then she took a deep breath.

"War... is scary. To be honest, the Black Guards always avoided wars since they started taking care of . I only know of it from their stories. If it's fighting then I'd say I do like it. But about war... I don't know."

"... I see."

Scary? That was... unexpected. Even Karen seed surprised, judging from her widened eyes.

"Well, you see. If you fight soone you usually do it on equal terms. Both sides know they could die. But war... War is not like that."

"Huh?"

It wasn't like that? But... wasn't that what war was all about at its core?

"Lily, I'm not quite sure I follow?" said Karen, furrowing her brows.

"Ah, well, you see. Do you know how armies are made?"

"Made? From soldiers?"

"Yes, soldiers. And where do those soldiers co from?"

Where should they co from? Wasn't this their job?

Karen tilted her head as well.

"You see, not all soldiers are soldiers voluntarily. Many of them are drafted from villages. The actual standing army isn't that large. Even if they still make the majority of the fighting force, as they are trained."

"Wait, but, then... If they are drafted... But not even a significant part of the fighting force... Then, why?"

"You could call them a living at wall."

"Wha-"

A living at wall? Was she joking?

"Well, it's not really that bad, but it cos pretty close. Depending on the country it might be just that bad, though. In any case, many soldiers aren't there because they want to. They aren't prepared for that equal risk."

"..."

They didn't want to fight...

Yes, I could imagine that being scary. Of course, nobody wanted to die. Even if they were prepared for that risk, I was sure that most people would still take care. But if you were just thrown onto the middle of the battlefield... That was scary. I didn't want to imagine it. Nor did I want to imagine having to fight soone who was in that situation.

Maybe... Fenna was right... Maybe we're not suited to this...

"In any case, I don't think I could like war."

"Huh... I guess, that makes

feel a bit relieved."

"Relieved, huh? Well, I'd be worried too if you or Yumi had suddenly joined that war chanting."

No, I didn't want to have anything to do with that war chant. It was scary, oppressive. As if sothing was pressing down on you, suffocating you. Such an atmosphere was... uncomfortable.

"Ah, the crate was last around there, I think."

Lily pointed forwards at a wagon. If I recalled correctly, it was one of the wagons filled with supplies.

"Let's take a look."

Not hesitating in the least, Lily opened the door and entered the wagon.

I wondered for a bit whether it was really fine not checking if it wasn't occupied, but nobody scread at Lily, so it was probably fine.

"Mh... Ah, isn't that the crate?"

"Nn? Maybe? The crates all look the sa."

"Well, let's just open it and take a look."

Once again without any hesitation, she heaved the heavy lid up and revealed the crate's contents. And sure enough, the dolls were inside.

"Lily, you're impressive," praised Karen.

"Ehehe, you're welco!"

"Nn, you're great, Lily. Thank you."

"Ehehe!"

A wide grin was on her face. She clearly felt happy about being praised. Such an innocent reaction.

"Now then. Dolls, co here."

Responding to my call, the dolls stirred and sluggishly climbed out of the crate. I wasn't quite sure if they were so slow because they liked it inside or whether they were exhausted from being inside. To be honest, I wouldn't be surprised at either being the case.

"Nn, ah. What are you... Stop!"

"Yumi... They like you, huh."

"I would prefer if they would stop climbing , though."

The dolls all had walked to

and climbed up my legs and so even tried climbing my hair. I honestly wondered how they even managed to grip anything, much less climb.

"Uhh... Off with you."

I plucked a few dolls off and threw them to the ground. Thankfully they didn't try climbing

once more. A minute later I got them all off . Just what the heck was up with that?

"Well, now. We got the dolls so how about we go looking for either Fenna or soone else?" proposed Lily with an amused smile.

"Nn..."

I kept my eyes on the dolls, hoping they wouldn't do sothing weird now. I certainly didn't need that now.

"Mr Captain is probably still busy so... I don't know, maybe Mr Vice-Captain? Even if he is still ill technically..." suggested Karen.

"I guess he'd be our best choice, unless we find Fenna, huh..."

"Yes."

I ordered the dolls to follow us and we left the wagon. Karen closed the door and then we took off to the crowd. Even from a distance, I could still make out that they were hyped and energetic. Although the crowd itself had shrunk by quite a lot. Most likely so people left due to their orders.

"Mh, anyone seeing rim or Fenna?"

"No, I don't..."

It was really hard to make out single faces in that mass of humans. Though...

"Actually, would he even stay in the crowd? I can't imagine him being able to stay in there for long."

I couldn't imagine soone who still wasn't feeling that well being able to stay in that shouting crowd. It was loud and probably everything but good for your body if you weren't fully recovered.

"Mh, you're right, Yumi. Maybe we should look close by? Let's walk around a bit."

"Nn."

Keeping so distance from the rcenary crowd, we searched for rim. I was wondering a little bit what Korwen was even telling them that they were still cheering.

"Oh? Yumi, isn't that..."

"Nn?"

Karen pointed at a small group in the distance. I couldn't quite make out who that was though.

"Isn't that girl who was with you earlier? The one that brought you back. Ah, rim is there too. And the others."

Lily could make out who it was even better than Karen. My eyesight wasn't bad, right? I was sure it was fine... Surely...

"Well, let's take a look, shall we?"

"Nn."

Lily jogged over to them with us following behind.

"Even if you tell

that, what am I supposed to do? That's not in my hands."

"But isn't it awful?! It's awful!"

"Haa..."

Lefa, seemingly quite upset, was arguing with rim for so reason. Lefa's back was facing us so she didn't see us, but rim spotted us quickly.

"Ohh, you're here. Great!"

Imdiately a smile ford on his face and he nonchalantly walked past Lefa, approaching us. She still looked like she wanted to say sothing but rim really must have wanted to escape from her. He completely ignored her.

Too bad for him that we had already t Lefa. Since she had to turn around she noticed us as well.

"Oh! Yumi!"

And imdiately dashed towards us, past rim. She stopped right in front of , so abruptly that I feared she might crash into

for a second.

"N-, Nn... Lefa... Why are you here?"

"We were looking for the commotion!"

"Haa."

How did looking for the commotion end up in an argunt with rim? That was quite a jump, wasn't it?

"Ehh, Lefa, right? Why were you arguing with the vice-captain?" asked Lily.

"Eh? We weren't arguing?"

"Not? Then... What were you talking about?"

Lefa had clearly seed upset, but now she claid she wasn't arguing with rim. Certainly seed a bit weird.

"I was just talking about awful this is!"

"This? Do you an the commotion? Or..."

"Those people! Doing sothing like hurting so many children and others!"

"Ahh."

So, she was just letting out her emotions? At rim. Not quite the choice I expected. Weren't the other two boys with her? Or did they flee already?

"Certainly, it's awful, that's why we're evacuating the fort, aren't we?" said rim who had finally caught up.

"Yes. But still!"

"Lefa, calm down."

She already wanted to continue, so I tried to stop her.

"Rather than that, what are you going to do? Will you leave as well?"

"Eh? Yes! Alf and Eward wanted to get the professor later!"

"Is he still in his room?"

"Yes."

She smiled for so reason. I got a bad feeling sohow.

"Alf and Eward are good at magic, though. So he'll be out quickly."

"..."

My condolences.

The poor man was already an emotional wreck. Being chased out of his only sanctuary surely wasn't great for him.

"Ah, Yumi!"

"Nn?"

"Can we leave with you all?"

"With us?"

I tilted my head. Didn't they have their own thods of travel?

"Yes, we were escorted by soldiers from the capital, but now there's nobody who can escort us. And Alf and Eward aren't good enough to fight any monsters we could encounter."

"Ohh... Well, I don't know."

I turned to look at Karen and then at rim.

"We already said we'd bring them along with the rcenaries, so that's not really a problem," told

rim.

"Ah, but I want to be with Yumi! I don't wanna be with so middle-aged old n."

"... We planned to leave you in the families' care, though."

Their care? But weren't they...

"Mr Vice-captain, are you sure that's a good idea? I an..."

Karen, probably thinking the sa thing I was, looked past rim, towards the spot where he and Lefa had been arguing. There stood Wanda together with the other girls and also the two boys I had seen earlier.

"Well, what else are we supposed to do? If it's just about this girl, then it's fine if she stays with you but the boys and the professor are a different thing. If they are fine with staying with the escort, that'd be sothing different, though."

"Nn, did you ask them?"

"Not yet..."

He glanced at Lefa. Maybe she held him up for quite so ti already.

"I guess I'll go over and ask them."

"Nn... Ah, Vice-captain."

"Yes?"

He stopped in his tracks and turned back to .

"We wanted to ask you about these..."

"Mh?"

I pointed at the little crowd of dolls behind us.

"Ohh... What's with them?"

"Well, we wanted to ask if we should leave them behind so they can help here..."

"Mh... I guess that should be fine? Do they listen to others, though?"

"I think that should be fine if I tell them to."

I couldn't guarantee that they'd continue listening to others even if I was away, though. But I did hope they would.

"I guess then it should be fine then? I'm sure they can help out sohow."

"Nn. Then..."

I turned around to the dolls and squatted down.

"Listen to the Vice-captain and whoever else he says you should listen to, okay?"

The dolls hurriedly ford rows and all saluted at once. At this point, I wasn't even surprised about their odd behaviour anymore.

I stood up again and turned to rim, who was rubbing his temples.

"They're all yours now, vice-captain."

"Yumi, you... Ah, whatever. I'll bother with this later. I'll go talk with those boys now."

He shook his head and turned around, walking away. Followed by the bunch of dolls. They all ford a long line and were following behind him.

Is he the Pied Piper of Halin? It looks funny... Speaking of which, I wonder what kind of tales and stories exist here.

Surely, there were so stories and fairy tales that were well-known. Karen told

that the legend about the demons was told as a bedti story in the Aldreigh Kingdom, albeit slightly changed.

"Yumi, what's the deal with those wooden puppets? Is that magic? Is it?"

Lefa was staring at the dolls following rim. I was a bit surprised she hadn't cut in into our conversation asking what they were.

"Nn, I made them with magic."

"... You can use magic?"

Lefa stared at

with widened eyes.

Huh? Did I never tell her? I thought I did...

"Nn, I can."

"Yumi!"

"Ye-, Yes?"

Lefa grasped my hands and leaned forward, staring at

from close-up. A bit too close, if you asked .

"Can you help

with my howork?!"

"... What?"

"My howork! I need soone's help!"

"Ehh... I think there are more pressing matters right now, aren't there?"

"Ah. You are right, sorry."

I didn't mind helping her out a bit, depending on what her howork actually was. But that wasn't a topic for now.

"Well, we can talk about that later, okay? Sis, is it fine if Lefa cos with us in the wagon, or..."

"Mh? Well, it should be fine, I think?"

"Eh? Is it fine if I co with you? Really?"

"rim and Sis both said it's fine, so... Why not?"

"Yay!"

She smiled brightly. I hoped she could get along well with Emily and co. A bit odd here and there but she was a good girl.

"Did you get everything, Yumi? Lily?"

"Nn."

"I have everything."

We were right now in the middle of the evacuation. Our group was among the last ones to leave, so we weren't in a particular hurry. The children from the refugees were given priority, followed by all the other soldiers that hadn't recovered yet from the curse and the accompanying disease. After them, it was the families and their escorts' turn and lastly, whoever was left over. Naly us and a few other groups that were coming along.

"Ah, you girls didn't leave yet, that's great."

"Nn? Captain?"

In the middle of our last checks, we were approached by Korwen. Wasn't he supposed to be busy right now?

"Good thing I found you before you left. Here."

He handed sothing to . The tal sheets that Ria had earlier. And also a letter.

"Since we're helping with the defence, Ruben didn't even try to complain. But well, these should get you into the capital without problems."

"I see... Thank you, Captain."

"No problem. Also... I heard that Fenna talked with you."

"Ah..."

A wry smile ford on his face.

"Well, whatever you decide, make sure you won't regret it. That letter, give it to the headmaster at the academy. You're smart so I'm sure he'll have a job for you. Ah, but if you don't leave us, just burn the letter."

"Captain... Is this really fine with you?"

"I can't dictate what you do with your own life, Yumi. That's your own decision. Not mine. Sure, losing so promising talent hurts but..."

He took a long look over all of us. Lily and Karen, who were listening right next to us. Rina, who was staring at the warox that was going to pull our wagon and Emily, Maya and Sele who were bothering Lefa. Especially at the last three, he stayed his gaze on them for a long ti.

"Those three never had others that could get really close to them. Even towards , they still put up a wall. I don't know if they simply felt so sort of companionship with you all, as your circumstances aren't all too dissimilar, or if there was so other reason. Whatever the case, they opened up to you."

"..."

"I told you about how they refused to be left behind at an orphanage, right? I always felt bad about it, because this is not a place where young girls should grow up. So, if they have the chance to grow up with a proper family, then I wanted to support them. And I'm sure I won't regret doing so either."

His wry smile turned into a large grin.

"Captain, you talk as if it's already decided what we do."

"Hahaha, maybe it is? You're smart, all of you are. So I'm sure you know what you should do, right? Well, I could always be wrong, of course. I'm not all-knowing either."

"Captain... Did you anticipate this to happen?"

"Ha! Who knows?"

So he did... I wasn't sure if that made feel any better or not, though.

"Now then, I still got work to do. You still have a job of protecting the caravan, so do it properly. No slacking off, you hear?"

"Nn, got it."

Lily and Karen both nodded as well, smiling.

Korwen turned around and attempted to leave.

"Ah, Captain? You won't tell the others goodbye?"

"... What, we'll see each other in a few days again. No need to make a big thing out of it."

He raised his hand and waved, before disappearing out of our sight.

"He really is impressive, isn't he?" comnted Lily.

"Nn, he is."

I took a look at the tal sheets and the letter in my hands. Not for long, though.

"Yumi!"

"Nn?"

I turned around to the person suddenly calling out to . As expected, it was Lefa. Again.

"Yumi, I heard you can move your hair?!"

"Eh? Yes..."

Emily, Maya and Sele ran up to us as well. Or rather, Emily jumped at .

"Yumi! Yumi!"

"Ahh. Emily, be careful."

"Ehehehe."

This wasn't the first ti she jumped at . But this ti, I finally managed to catch her without being thrown over. Good job, .

"Yumi! Show

how you move your hair!"

"Nn? Well... Even if you ask

that so suddenly... Mhm... Hold out your hand."

"Mh? Like this?"

Lefa held her arm in front of . I moved a few strands of my hair to her hand and wrapped it around her wrist.

"Ohh? Ohhh! It moved! It's coiling around my arm!"

She held up her arm in front of her face, looking at it from close up. Then she poked the hair wrapping around her wrist.

"How curious... How do you do this?"

"Well... I, uhh..."

How should I explain this? I couldn't just tell her I was moving it with my mana, could I? From what I heard, that wasn't really possible for humanoids after all.

"Oh? Is it maybe a secret?"

"Well, sothing like that?"

"Huh... How interesting!"

Interesting, huh?

"Yumi! Yumi!

too!"

"Nn? What do you want too, Emily?"

"I want to be wrapped up!"

"Haa... Like this?"

I moved the remaining hair and wrapped it around Emily's waist.

"Waah, this feels so nice."

Imdiately, Emily began patting the hair. Was I so kind of pillow or cushion now? Or a blanket?

"... While it's nice you get along, we don't have ti to play around, you know?"

"Ah... Sorry, Sis."

I let go of Emily and Lefa who both looked a bit disappointed. Sele and Maya also looked disappointed. They had wanted to join, huh.

"If you girls are done, get into the wagon. We'll leave any minute."

"Okay, Big Sis Karen! Co, Big Sis Lefa!"

Emily pulled Lefa away into the wagon.

"Yumi, do you want to join

on the bench outside? I don't want to be all alone."

"Nn, well... I guess I can, Lily."

"Ahh..."

Maya let out a disappointed sound.

"Nn, Maya. I'll join you all later, yes?"

"Mh... Okay... Promise !"

"Nn, I'll promise!"

"Good!"

Maya smiled again and then left together with Sele.

"I'll keep them company then. Take care of Yumi, Lily."

"Will do!"

"... Why am I being taken care of again?"

It wasn't really important, though. As long as Lily didn't die of boredom.

"Then, good luck."

"Nn, thank you."

Karen entered the Wagon as well, leaving

with Lily alone.

"Then, let's see. Yumi, can you get up there on your own."

"... I'll try. Nn? Wait, Lily."

"Mh?"

"There..."

"... Oh."

On the other side of the wagon stood Rina, still entranced with the magic beasts. I totally thought she was already inside, like everyone else.

"Rina? Are you getting in? We want to leave."

"Eh? Ah. Uhh... Can I join you here?"

"Well... If you want to. Yumi, tell Karen that Rina stays with us."

"Nn, got it."

I did as I was told and got the okay from Karen.

Lily already sat down on the bench with Rina. She helped

up, as I was having slight trouble... The bench was high...

"Then, off we go!"

"It's boring," I complained.

"It really is," agreed Lily.

"Nn..."

Much to my surprise, Lily proved to be a pretty good driver. I didn't know anything about how one had to stir those waroxen, or anything really. But it proved to be a rather smooth ride.

"Ahh... I wish I wouldn't have to do this."

"Well, they didn't have anyone to spare, Lily..."

As most of the combat-capable rcenaries were now preparing to defend, that also ant a severe lack of drivers. And since Lily was able to...

"Still... At least it's warm with this Yumi blanket."

"I'm not a blanket..."

I had wrapped my hair around all three of us, similar to how I did it with Emily earlier. It was the middle of the night and it proved to be rather cold by now. Despite it being considerably warm earlier today.

"Is Rina still awake?"

"Nn, I don't think so."

"How carefree."

It didn't take long for Rina to doze off and sleep. Thanks to my hair blanket she wasn't in any imdiate danger of falling down, so we let her sleep.

"Lily, can you even see anything in this darkness?"

"Mh, it's bright enough for

to see the road. Waroxen also have good night sight, so there's no need to worry about them either."

"Huh... I can barely see anything."

It was dark and despite the starlit night sky, I couldn't see really that far ahead. At most just past the magic beasts.

"Mh, I heard that pretty much all monsters are good with the dark, though."

"Is that so? I still can't see anything..."

"Maybe you need to grow a tentacle arm with an eyeball to see anything."

"Lily... Please don't joke about sothing like that... It feels like that might really happen."

I already kind of disliked the tentacles that I could transform my limbs into. There was no need to further my dislike of them.

"That reminds , we never actually saw those tentacles, did we?"

"That's..."

"Do you dislike them that much or why?"

"Well..."

I looked up at the night sky.

"I don't know, but... I feel like my human side disappears the more I see them."

"Your human side, huh..."

"Nn."

I felt like I would lose sothing important to

if I transford myself. I did it in the beginning by accident, since I didn't know what was even going on. But afterwards... I never did it again. And now that I knew even more about them, courtesy to Yumias, I wanted to use them even less. Well, they were pretty weak anyway.

"Yumi, you still see yourself as a human, right?"

"Well, yes. As much as this situation allows

to."

"Mh... Did you ever wish to be fully human again?"

"Fully human?"

Did she an my previous self?

"Well, I an, not returning to your previous body or anything. But, as you are right now."

"As I am right now... I... don't think I ever really thought about that."

"Huh..."

I did think about returning to my previous self, my previous world again. Especially in the beginning, but also later. Maybe I still might think about it in the future. Even if I told myself that I got over it now, it would likely still co back at tis.

But being a human, a person again, as I was right now. The thought actually never crossed my mind. But...

"Honestly, I don't think I really mind it that much."

"You don't?"

"Nn. Sure, there are a few inconveniences but... Sis... She will live for a long ti, right?"

"Well, she's a demonkin."

"If I were human again, I would grow old and die way earlier. I heard that even beastkin live quite a bit longer, so you would outlive

as well."

It was probably even Lily herself who taught

that on our little journey to the Hollow.

"I see... But as a monster you don't have to worry about that, do you."

"Well, I don't know how long I would live like this. But it's likely longer than a human's lifespan, right?"

"I don't think monsters can even die of old age."

"Ahaha, that'd be even better. If that's really the case.

Those people, that were experinting on Rina and the other girls, certainly believed it would save them from old age. Well, I had no idea whether that was truly the case though.

"Do you think Mama might know about that?"

"Nn? Yumias? Well... Maybe? I wouldn't be surprised."

"Let's ask her next ti."

"Nn..."

If she could give us so certainty, that'd be great. I sohow could imagine her withholding the answer, though. Because it might be fun. I did feel a little anxious about that, though... I didn't want to rely too much on her.

"And, Yumi."

"Nn?"

"What about Rina?"

"What about her?"

"Well, she has a mana crystal as well now, right? Is she still a demonkin or is she a monster now?"

That... was a question I had been wondering about as well.

I scratched the back of my hand and looked over to Rina, on Lily's other side.

"I don't know?"

"Mh... Does the mana crystal even affect her in any way?"

"I don't know that either. You're asking quite a bit today..."

"I've been wondering for a while about those things. I just never had the chance to ask. And we're alone now with nothing else to do."

That was understandable. There really wasn't anything else to do other than talk, after all.

"Well, in regards to Rina. I honestly have no idea. But... there's one thing I noticed."

"Noticed?"

"Nn... Her mana feels... a bit similar to my own."

"Eh?"

Lily turned around, staring at .

"Your own?"

"Nn. I think that mana crystal is at fault for that. Since I transford it, it is similar to the ones in the dolls, you see."

"Huh... That sounds as if she was your familiar. Maybe she might listen to your orders."

"Ahh... Maybe. I don't know."

"... Yumi. Does that an you could turn other people into monsters?"

Turning other people into monsters? That... was also sothing I had never thought about.

"I don't know."

"You don't know a lot."

"Maybe you're just asking the wrong questions. But really, I don't know. I'm not sure I want to either."

"Huh..."

Lily returned her gaze to the front, not saying anything for a while.

"Yumi."

"Nn?"

"Monsters are pretty resilient, you know."

"Well, I do know."

I've already seen how quickly my wounds were healing after all.

"I have a request, Yumi."

"Request?"

"Yes. If there ever is a situation where I or the other girls are likely to die. Don't hesitate to try. If turning us can save us, do it."

"Wha-"

Once more, Lily turned towards , with a serious expression.

"I don't want to lose any of you. And I don't think the others would mind either. That's why I don't want you to hesitate.

"... Are you serious about that?"

"Yes. Quite. In fact, I'm so serious I was even considering that you do so imdiately for ."

"Wha-, What are you talking about, Lily?! That's no joke."

"That's right. It isn't."

I was taken aback a little.

Lily smiled and turned around, looking at the sleeping Rina.

"I won't ask you that for now, though. That would be just premature of . Well, Karen scolded

quite a bit, too."

"You talked with Karen about this?"

"I did. Only with her though. She did say she wouldn't mind either if it ca to it."

"... You're both idiots."

Lily burst out in lively laughter in response.

"You're right, we're idiots! But you see..."

Lily freed one hand from the reigns and caressed Rina's head.

"When we rescued those girls... Rina was really... Well... Impressed?"

"Nn?"

"She thanked

a lot and followed

quite a bit over the recent days. Well, you know how Karen thought of that, though."

"Ah... When she was worried that Rina was barely talking with her..."

That was when Rina was talking with everyone but kind of ignored Karen. Although it only ended up being a misunderstanding. Rina probably never even noticed it.

"Yes. According to herself, I was like a prince saving her."

"... A prince?"

"Yes. Weird, right?"

Now, I certainly couldn't imagine Lily being a prince.

"Like in those stories, you know. Where a handso prince cos to save the poor heroine."

"Ahh..."

So those kinds of stories were a thing here too.

"Rina really took it seriously, though... She even... well..."

"Nn? She even what?"

Lily stopped caressing Rina's head and instead held up her hand in front of her face, looking awkwardly away. As if she was hiding sothing in her face. Like...

"Wait. Lily. Did Rina... Maybe..."

"..."

Lily nodded, awkwardly.

That... would explain a lot of things. Rina being attached to Lily, who was her saviour, was sothing that wasn't all too surprising. But I had been wondering why Lily got along so well with Rina, despite them only knowing each other for a few days. And even though it was like this since near the beginning.

Alas, there was one thing that could have made Lily so conscious of Rina.

"She kissed you?"

"... Yes."

"The mouth?"

"..."

Lily awkwardly nodded again. I couldn't see it with the dim light, but most likely she was as red as a tomato right now.

Well, that's one unique way of thanking soone.

"Good luck, Lily."

"... Why do you react the sa way Karen did?"

"Well..."

Obviously, because we were rooting for you?

"Ahh, I shouldn't have told you..."

"Is that so? I'm glad you did though. I really wish you luck, after all."

"Uhh..."

"If you need help, just call . Or Sis. You helped us too, after all."

She had been ssing around with us a bit, but without Lily's intervention, who knows how it would've gone? Maybe Karen and I wouldn't be together then. And even if she hadn't helped us, I still would like to help her. Because I liked both of them.

Still, when I t her the first ti, Lily had been so proudly declaring how much she liked cute girls, but now... She was acting all embarrassed.

"I'm rooting for you, Lily."

"... Thank you."

Maybe she got over her embarrassnt a bit, but a little smile was back on her face.

Well, I'm sure it'll go well. After all, if those prince stories go like the ones in my world, then the heroine would end up marrying the prince, right?

When we talked about marriage, Rina did suggest herself to Lily after all. Maybe she had been aiming for this from the start and we just thought it was an innocent suggestion by her. Maybe we had been deceived a little bit.

Whatever the case, if she truly thought of Lily as her prince, then there wasn't really anything to worry about. Wasn't that already as good as a confession? Even more so with a kiss. Actually, Rina was really bold, wasn't she...

I wish you all the best, Rina, Lily.