Chapter of Blooming Fate: Bonfire Party

"Yumiii! Hehe! Yumi!"

"Sis, please let go of me. Sis? Sis."

"I won't! I! I! I won't let go. Do you... hate me? Yumi, do you hate me?!"

"No, I don't hate you, Sis! But I can't move!"

"Then! Then... If you don't hate me..."

"Yes, Sis. I love you. I really do. So, could you please let me go? Pretty please?"

"He! Hehe! Yumi!"

Just a short while I warned Karen and Lily about drunks being a pain.

Never did I expect it to end like this.

"Rina! Rinaaa..."

"I'm here, Lily. I'm here. Good girl, good girl."

"Haaaa..."

"Does this feel good? Does it?"

Rina was busy patting and caressing Lily, mostly her ears and her tail, but also her stomach. Lily was clearly enjoying it.

Although I wasn't sure if she would still think like that tomorrow.

"Yumi, don't look to them! Bad!"

"Ah, I'm sorry, Sis, I'm sorry, I won't do it aga—Mmhm?!"

Suddenly, my vision was blocked by Karen's face. Because she was kissing me.

"Mmhm?! Mmm!"

"Wow, so bold!"

"Ohoh? Nice!"

Air. I needed air! She was squeezing me way too hard!

"Mmm! Mmmmmm?!"

"Hey, girl. I think the little one can't breathe."

"Doesn't that look bad?"

"Mhhh! Mm! Wahhh! HAAAA!"

Maybe she had her fill, or maybe she actually heard the worried voices from close by. At the very least, she finally let go of me. With a satisfied expression, she giggled and rubbed her cheek on my hair.

All the while, I was still breathing heavily.

"Haaa... Haaaa..."

"Hey, still alive?"

"Haa... Some... Somehow... Haaa... yes... Haa..."

I glanced at Karen, her face beet red from the alcohol.

"Haa... What did you guys... even give her?"

Everything had been fine until a short while ago. Everyone was eating and drinking merrily, I kept walking back and forth to refill the drinks and sometimes bring them something to eat, like the vegetables or the soup.

But then, first Lily started acting strange, fawning all over Rina. And then I was suddenly caught by Karen as well.

"We only gave her a little bit of the rune tea?"

"... Tea?"

"It's not really tea. It's a mix of several fruit juices."

"Fruit juices. And what else?"

"The Captain's Forest Fire."

I fucking knew it.

"Ehehe, Yumi! Yumiiii! Yumi! Hehe!"

"Ah, Sis, calm down a little."

"Hehehe! Hehe! Yumiiii!"

Nevermind how it had come to this, I probably should try to... calm Karen down. I was a little envious of Rina. Lily was completely under her thumb, enjoying the lap pillow and the caressing. Under different circumstances, I might have watched it with glee... No, to be honest, I really wanted to watch it. Alas...

"Yumi! He! Hehe! You're so squishy! Hehe!"

"Wait, Sis, don't squeeze me there. Woah! Stop!"

"Hehehe! Soft! So soft! Hehe!"

A little forceful, Karen pushed me down onto the bench. Her flushed face was smiling. All the while she started patting me all over. But, differently to what Rina did, this wasn't even half as innocent. Nor a quarter, or anything even remotely innocent.

"Sis. Sis! Not there! For the love of—

"Ehehee, hehe, hehehe."

"Sis, cut it out. Seriously, I beg you, not in front of the whole world! Someone, help me!"

My last resort. Calling for help.

"Wohoo! Nice view!"

"Go on, go on! Don't mind us!"

Cheers and whistling were the answer...

I'm so going to get back at you all for this!

"Yumi! I love you! Hehe. Hehehe."

"Yes, great! I love you too! I really love you, but please, cut it out! Stop! Bad girl! Bad!"

Her face was approaching my lower body and her hands were very clearly trying to get rid of the obstacles. Fortunately, in her drunken stupor she was unable to undress me. Although, it was probably only a matter of time.

Think, Yumi! Think! What can you do to make her stop? I can't push her down or anything, so something else, something else! Can I restrain her maybe? But I'd need to be able to move for... Wait... This might work!

I couldn't move my arms, my legs, or really anything. But there was one I could move. My hair.

"Sis, sorry."

"Hehehe... Hee? Yumi?"

As fast as I could manage, I wrapped my hair around Karen. It didn't have nearly enough strength to actually restrain her, but it was enough to entangle her. Add to that, that my hair was quite robust... And it worked out. Confused, she tried to free herself from my hair, but in her clumsy attempts, she only made it worse.

"Uhhh... Yumi? Why? Why? I can't move... Yumi? Why? Do you... Do you hate me? Yumi? Yumi?"

"Sis, I don't hate you, but this is neither the time nor the place for such things, sorry."

"So... So you hate me... Yumi... Yumi hates me... Yumi hates me! Waaaahhh!"

She broke out in tears, bawling loudly.

This was... a different kind of problematic.

"Waaaahhh! Yumi! Don't leave me! Waaaahhh!"

"Sis, I'm not leaving you, I'm still here, I don't hate you either, I love you, so stop crying, yes?"

"Wahhahh!"

I sat up and hugged Karen, patting her back in an attempt to calm her down.

"I'm here, yes? I'm here, no worries."

"Waaaaahhh! Yumiiii! Yumiiii!"

"Nn, I'm here, I won't go away, I'll stay with you."

She hugged me back, squeezing me. Just like before, she wasn't holding back in the least, but I did my best to bear with it.

"It's all good, it's all good."

She kept bawling, calling out my name, while I tried to comfort her. I had no idea what else I could do to calm her down...

Note for the future... Don't get Sis drunk.

A considerable time later, Karen quietened down and... fell asleep in my arms. She literally cried herself to sleep. She was now sleeping in my lap, still hugging my waist and not letting go. Looking at her like this, she really was cute...

"Haa..."

"Yo, seems everything turned out well?"

"Nn? Ah... Captain..."

"No need to look at me like that, I even got you something to eat. That should be your job."

"Ah... Nn, thanks."

He handed me a plate with some meat. A roasted chunk of boar meat, still steaming slightly.

"Well, didn't expect them to get that drunk either, though."

"Captain, I never want to see that liquor ever again near me..."

"... Demanding, aren't we?"

Please think of all the trouble that damn stuff brought me already...

With a sigh, I took a bite from the food. It was juicy. And delicious. Really delicious.

"Whatever, there's not much of it left anyway. Want a mug?"

"No. Definitely not."

"More for me then."

Karen moved a little, rubbing her nose on my stomach.  A small smile appeared on her face. Maybe she had a nice dream or something?

"Here, want a drink of this?"

"Nn?"

"It's a fruit juice mix."

"Really?"

Korwen handed me a mug with some red liquid. It did smell quite fruity.

"It tastes quite good, I guarantee it."

"... Nn, I'll try a little."

I took a small sip and... It really was fruit juice. No hint of alcohol in its taste at all.

"This is quite delicious."

"..."

Confirming that this was safe, I took another gulp. Somehow, this was just what I needed. Calming Karen down was a little exhausting. But thinking about how she was so emotional about me, it made me feel all warm and giddy. All warm and giddy.

Nn? Warm?

"... Captain."

"Yes?"

"This is alcohol, isn't it?"

"It is. It's rune tea."

I fucking... I fucking knew it!

I felt all warm because of the alcohol in it. But... It didn't taste like alcohol? It tasted completely like fruit juice.

No wonder that Sis actually drank this. I nearly didn't notice either.

"Captain, how the hell did you even manage to make it taste like a fruit juice?"

"Hahaha, it's just a mix of various fruit juices and strong liquor. Nothing more."

"But why can't I taste the alcohol?"

I stared at the half-empty mug. The warmth from the alcohol was slowly spreading through my body. Yet, knowing it was only tasting like a fruit juice was kind of... and odd feeling.

"Even if you ask me why, I can't tell you. That's just how it is. But not many even notice until it's too late. Like your dear sister there."

"... That's quite evil, you know."

"Hahaha, see it as something like a rite of passage. Everyone needs to get wasted at least once in their lives."

"Not everyone actually wants that though."

At least they refrained from giving Rina some.

"Now, now. It's a celebration, you need to have some fun. If you're so stiff, nobody will like you."

"Haa... I'll try."

Unfortunately, I couldn't help but worry.

"Speaking of which, are Emily, Maya and Sele still under house arrest?"

"Of course they are. But I'm no devil, I let them out for today. Under the condition that they also help out, like you did. They're over there. Well, somewhere over there."

He pointed in the general direction of... the middle of the crowd. Somewhere there could be pretty much anywhere.

"Now then, I'll go back doing my rounds. Looks like they're trying to get Merim dead drunk again."

"... Good luck. Don't be too hard on them."

"I won't. Watching it is way more entertaining anyway."

"..."

Okay, so he wasn't going to stop them. He wanted to watch it...

He bade me a good night and left, disappearing into the crowd. A little ways off, I saw him sitting down a table with other mercenaries. Merim was there too. Albeit I had no idea what he was trying to achieve there, standing on the table, his upper body bare, and downing mug after mug. This couldn't end well...

"Yumi..."

"Nn? Sis? I'm right here."

"Mmm..."

Sleep talking, huh. I stroked her hair gently, caressed her cheek and traced the tear stains on them.

She had been like a spoiled child. It was a little troublesome, but oddly... I didn't mind it. This was just another side of her.

I wonder... Maybe that's what she was really feeling all the time...

If so, I felt a little bad. She kept showering me with her love.

Maybe, I should spoil her a little once in a while. Yeah, I definitely should. Seeing her lying in my lap, sleeping defenselessly, really made me want to spoil her and protect her.

Nn, maybe I should do that tomorrow.

I was technically the older one. Once in a while, it should be fine to show that side, right?

Nn. But with that said, I should take care that she's not getting drunk again so quickly. At least, not in public...

After all, I had nearly lost my dignity in public...

I continued to gently caress Karen's hair while I took a look around. Merim was now lying face-up on the table and... from the looks of it, he was down for the count again. He hadn't learnt at all from last time, did he?

Korwen was enjoying himself with some of the other, older mercenaries. If I had to take a guess, they were continuing they're drinking bout.

Let's hope they don't all end up drunk on the table like Merim... But they didn't last time either, so it's probably going to be fine...

A little further, near the bonfire, was...  Uhm... A certain other pink-haired little girl was standing on the table, shouting something while lifting up her mug and laughing. There was something wrong about this view. She was probably a lot older than any of us here, but she still had the appearance of a little girl.

Speaking of which, I wonder if the elves are here too...

The Elder had gone collecting her brethren but... I hadn't seen her since the day her home... was destroyed.

"Lil' Sis, Lil' Sis!"

"Nn? What's up, Rina?"

Rina, who was still caressing Lily, called out to me. At some point, Lily too had fallen asleep, her chest rising and sinking rhythmically.

"I have a problem!"

"A problem? What kind of problem?"

"I need to go to the bathroom."

"... Nn? Then... go?"

"But I can't leave Lily!"

"... I'm sorry, but I can't help you there."

That was a little too much for me.

"But I really need to go... Can't you take care of Lily for me?"

"And how do you imagine that? Unless you can lift her up, neither of us can move, right?"

"... Ah."

Her expression turned into one of panic.

"But, but, but! This is bad."

"Nn..."

It was... But... Neither of us could change... Us?

"Nn? I got an idea."

I looked around at my surroundings. If we couldn't do it, then someone else could. Too bad, the others on our table had gone to join Korwen, so Rina and I were alone.

"Ah, there. Fenna. Fenna!"

Coincidentally, Fenna was nearby. How fortunate.

"Fenna. Fenna! Fenna!"

Ah, she turned around. I waved wildly, calling her over.

"Yumi? Is something wrong?"

"Nn, we need your help."

"Miss Fenna! Uhm, could you take over for a moment here? I really need to... The bathroom!"

"Eh? Ah, I'll help, I'll help!"

Quick to understand, she lifted up Lily, freeing Rina. And with a flash, Rina ran. To the bathroom, most likely.

"Haa..."

"Thank you, Fenna."

"No problem. But really, this girl is way too light. Is she even eating anything? Well, whatever, here you go."

"Nn? Ah, wait what are you doing?"

Fenna walked over with Lily and put her down on the bench, right next to me.

"I still got work. Here, now you got two flowers on each side, aren't you happy?"

She placed Lily's head on my lap. Now I got Karen to my right and Lily to my left.

"Then, good luck."

"Ah, wait! You can't just... Ahh... She's gone... What do I do now?"

I couldn't even readjust my position, or the two would bump their heads into each other... Well, they were sleeping quite deeply, so it wouldn't wake them up probably. I caressed Lily's hair and her fluffy ears with my free hand. Her ears were so nice to touch...

Nn, maybe... this isn't all too bad.

A little time later, Rina came back.

Going through some difficult acrobatics, we somehow managed to get her to sit right next to me and take Lily over again. The fluff was gone... Alas, seeing Rina petting Lily so happily made me forgive her.

"So, Rina, how is it going? With Lily?"

"Mh? What do you mean?"

"Well, you getting along?"

"Ah! Yes, we do!"

She smiled happily.

"Nn, that's good."

Karen and Lily were both sleeping peacefully. Occasionally, one of them stirred, but despite all the ruckus surrounding us, they didn't wake up. Alcohol was quite scary...

"Rina, you didn't drink any of the alcohol, did you?"

"Alcohol?"

"Well, the stuff that Sis and Lily drank."

"Oh, that fruit juice? That was delicious!"

"... Eh?"

I stopped and turned to Rina.

"You drank that?"

"Yes? Shouldn't I? It was good!"

"... And, you're not feeling drunk or anything?"

"No?"

She tilted her head, staring at me, confused about my question.

"Uhh, how much did you drink?"

"How much? A few mugs, why?"

"..."

A few mugs sounded like more than two or three... That was probably too much for me already. Not to mention Lily and Karen, who were both not used to it. Well, Karen wasn't at least. Judging from how quickly Lily was down, it was just likely she wasn't used to it either.

And yet, this girl... How was she still fine?

"Lil' Sis? Something wrong?"

"No... Uhm, you are feeling alright, don't you?"

"Yes?"

"Nn... Okay..."

Let's not think too deeply about this...

Some things are better off left unquestioned. Not like anyone could probably give me an answer anyway.

"Lil' Sis, Lil' Sis."

"Nn?"

"Uhm, you all are... going to help the mercenaries right?"

"Nn, well, it's more, like, we're going to be mercenaries?"

"Hmm..."

Rina stared at the bonfire. The damaged wagons were burning quite well and a large smoke column was rising into the air. Much to my surprise, there weren't any guards or anything coming over to ask what the heck was going on or so... Making a large bonfire was apparently fine...

"Lil' Sis, what do you think I should do?"

"Nn? What do you mean?"

"Like, should I also become a mercenary? Or should I do something else?"

"That's... What do you want to do?"

"I don't know."

She turned to me, staring straight into my eyes.

Now, that was a little bit... Mh...

"Nn...But I don't know either... Have you tried talking with Sis or Lily?"

"Uh-uh, I didn't."

She shook her head.

"Then, how about talking with them about it? Also, if you don't know what to do, how about asking some other people too? Korwen needs people to help out with organising things. I remember Wormaz, a smith, looking for an apprentice. Maybe there are other things that you could do as well?"

"... So, I should speak to others?"

"Nn. And maybe try out some things? Some things you might have to experience first."

Rina turned her gaze back to the fire.

"Did you do that too, Lil' Sis?"

"Me? I did..."

Did I do that?

... Not really. But...

"Nn, I can't say I did. But the future is long, so who knows? I'm currently helping the Captain with organising and stuff. Although it is mostly just going through complaints and calculating a few numbers, it still adds up to quite a lot of work."

If someone told before how much work this actually was, I would've probably just laughed it off as a joke. But... Tomorrow I was definitely going to round up all the expenses we had today, the remaining food, how much alcohol they drunk and what we had to restock. That would probably take quite a while.

And those were only the things Korwen entrusted me with for now...

"I see... The future..."

"Nn. I wonder what we all will do in ten or maybe twenty years. Or even further down the road... I... I am looking forward to it."

Rina fell silent, her gaze dropped down. Even her hand stopped caressing the sleeping Lily...

"Do you... think I will be part of that?"

"Nn? Of course."

"... I see."

She continued petting Lily and let out a small chuckle.

"Lil' Sis, is smithing hard work?"

"Nn, I'd say it is. Although I don't know what exactly it entails, you probably need quite some strength for it."

"Huh... Then, then, the things you are doing, what about them?"

"Do you mean the organising and the work with the documents?"

"Yes, that!"

She once more turned to me, a big smile on her face.

"Nn, I'd say it's more tedious? You have to think more for that, calculate things and such stuff. It can get quite tiring."

"I see... Then, then... Uhm... Ah, the guy that works with leather? What about him?"

"Do you mean Konno? Nn, I don't know much about that kind of work to be honest..."

What was his profession even called? Was it like a tanner? Or something else?

If I recalled correctly, a tanner's work was quite dangerous actually...

"Then, then..."

"Rina, calm down. Even if you ask me, I can't really tell you a lot. Like I said, you should ask them yourself."

"But, I need to know a little so I know what to try first!"

"... Is that so. Then, I guess I'll try to answer what I can."

I smiled wryly. Rina seemed quite excited, thinking about all the things she could try out.

"Thank you, Lil' Sis! Then, then, uhm... What else is there? Ah, that woman's work, ehhh... Miss Wanda?"

"Wanda's? Wanda is a seamstress. She makes clothes. It's... I guess a little bit more delicate work?"

"Clothes... That sounds nice... Could I make my own clothes then?"

"I think that should be possible."

"Ohh..."

Her eyes widened in astonishment.

"Nn, want to go and ask Wanda about her job tomorrow?"

"Is that okay?!"

"Why shouldn't it?"

Wanda might be a little scary here and there, but she was generally kind. Although a little direct. She probably wouldn't mind asking.

"Hehe, thank you, Lil' Sis. I'm looking forward to tomorrow!"

"You're welcome."

She chuckled again to herself, her legs kicking forward as if she was a kid excited for its birthday the next day.

"Be careful, not that Lily falls down."

"Ah! You're right."

That would've been an unpleasant awakening for her.

Rina readjusted her position, which caused Lily to move in her sleep a little, but she didn't wake up. She stared at Lily for a little while, before smiling again.

"They're still sleeping..."

"Nn. They might sleep through until tomorrow morning."

Hopefully, without a hangover. Though, considering how wasted they were, they might not have that luck...

"Even though everyone is so merry."

"Nn."

A few mercenaries passed us, dragging a bunch of wooden planks and similar behind them. One after another, they threw the planks into the fire.

"It's warm."

"Nn. It's slowly getting late, so this is nice."

Well, Karen had my hair as a blanket, but the rest of us didn't have one. I could probably wrap us all up but... Considering how Karen was entangled in my hair, that might become troublesome...Hopefully, we could get her out later...

"Oh, Lil' Sis, look."

"Nn? What's that?"

A little in the distance... was a group of people, carrying something rather big. Curious, I changed to my monster eyes to see what it was.

"A... tree? Oh, it's the elves with a huge tree."

"The elves?"

We watched how the group of elves, together with some mercenaries, carried the huge tree trunk towards the bonfire. When they got closer, some of them stiffened up and didn't move anymore...

"Lil' Sis, they stopped."

"Nn... Did they spot Yumias? Probably..."

An elf turned around and said something to her comrades. A short while later, they resumed and carried the trunk to the bonfire, albeit a little slower than before.

Once they stood right in front of the fire, they heaved one side of the trunk up until it stood on the other end.

"""Woooohhhh!"""

And with a loud sizzling and crackling, the trunk fell onto the bonfire, becoming part of the fire. It didn't take long for it to light up in a bright fire column.

"Ohhh! Such a big fire!"

"Nn..."

Rina was staring at the big fire with wide eyes. On the other hand, I watched the group of elves. Maybe someone had told them, or they did it by themselves, but all of them were wearing proper clothes. Well, as proper as could be, they were mostly lumps of cloth... Still... They solemnly watched the trunk burn.

"I wonder if that tree was important to them..." I murmured quietly.

We watched them for a few minutes. They didn't move at all, only watching. At one point though, one elf moved and said something to the others. They slowly dispersed, although most of them crowded together a little away from everyone. Yet, a few elves walked around and even started talking with the mercenaries.

Some also walked past us, to the spot where the food was. They asked the woman in charge and she showed them everything. The plates, the meat, the soup and all other kinds of things. The elves were listening and a little while later, they took plates and started roasting their own chunks of meat.

"Never would've thought I'd see elves roasting meat on a fire..."

"Why not, Cursed child?"

"Woa—

A voice from behind called out to us. I nearly threw Karen of my lap in surprise...

"Uhh... Oh? Miss Elder?"

"Mhm. I see you are doing fine, Cursed child."

"Nn? Ahh..."

The Elder, standing right behind me, glanced at Karen in my lap.

"Uhm... Miss Elder, what is that tree?"

"... That's the biggest and oldest tree, that once stood in our home. Now it is withered and dead. The only thing we can do is see it off with respect. Like this, it will return once more to the ground, becoming the energy for new life to thrive."

The energy for a new life? Oh... Right, ashes could work as fertilizer or something, couldn't they?

"Be that as it may, Cursed child, why do you say it is odd for us to eat meat?"

"Nn? Ah, well, because, when I think of elves, I think of a race that lives in harmony with nature? I guess you could say it like that."

"We do live in harmony, as you might say. But we still have to eat and live, just like you all do. We eat the meat of dead animals and we eat the fruits of the trees and the earth. On happy days, we might fill our bellies more than we need. And on days like today, we might do so too."

Days like today...

I threw a glance at the elves who were roasting their meat on the fire. Some of them were talking with the mercenaries, some were staring at the meat with an intense gaze.

"Do not feel sad for us. Every end is a beginning. We will find a new home. For a long time, we have lived there, protected our home. And ultimately, we failed. But our lives were good, they were fun. And we will find a new home, a new place to live."

"I see. I'll root for you."

"Root?"

"Uhm, I'll cheer for you? Support you, in finding a new home."

"Ahh. Thank you, Cursed child."

She thanked me. That... was a bit unexpected.

"Nothing to thank for. If I can help, please do not hesitate to ask."

"... I will do that if I deem it necessary."

"Nn."

I smiled at her. She had opened up a little, didn't she? Quite quickly, too. Was this the composure of those who were leaders?

"Now then, Cursed child. I myself am quite hungry so I will go now. Do I go over there?"

"Ah, yes. Over there to the group of women. They have plates for you to use. The soup and meat are right next to them."

"Mhm, thank you. Until another time."

And there she went.

"Lil' Sis, Lil' Sis, that was the elder elf?" Rina asked after the Elder was outside the hearing range.

"Nn."

"Ohhhh..."

Rina stared after the Elder, who was, quite clumsily, helping herself to some food. A woman from Fenna's squad was helping her out, most likely explaining everything to her.

Some of the elves earlier had now finished roasting their meat and were eating, delight visible on their faces. The group that stood a little to the side was watching... Slowly, ever so slowly, a few elves left the group and went to get their own food.

Their hunger wins against their suspicions, huh...

We silently watched, until even the last elf went to get some food. A few of them even sat down at our table. They kept a little distance, but they still tried to approach us.

Jeez, Sis... And you're asleep right now...

Karen was peacefully sleeping in my lap, hugging me and occasionally murmuring my name or Rina's. Once in a while, she also called out to Lily or someone else. Amusingly, when she did, Lily groaned right next to her, getting a chuckle out of Rina and me.

Haaa... I hope it stays peaceful like this...

Rinne

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