Chapter of Blooming Fate: Morning After the Storm

"Wake up, you brats. Wake up! The day's already half over and you're still getting cosy here?"

With a slam, the door opened and the warm light flooded the interior of the wagon.

"Nnn..."

"They're really all sleeping. Can't believe it."

Steps echoed through the room.

"Hey. You're not asleep, aren't you, kid?"

"Nnn... Mm..."

No, no, I was asleep, Fast asleep, in dreamland and everything. Quite literally enjoying heaven.

"... Is she actually really asleep? Hey, wake up. Wake up!"

The intruder went to the other side of the room, away from me.

"Mm... These two are also asleep? I see..."

After apparently having come to a conclusion, the person left the wagon.

Safe. Time to further enjoy the soft and squishy texture of Karen's chest.

Ahhh... This is bliss... I could do this the whole day...

It probably wasn't that good of an idea to bother someone who had headaches just a little bit earlier... Alas, that wasn't on my mind right now.

The nap in Karen's arms had been really comfortable. I wasn't sleepy anymore, but the other three were asleep so... I just didn't want to wake them up. Yes, that was it. I just wanted them to rest.

Haa... Hopefully, nobody woke up from the ruckus Wanda made... Nn?

The intruder, also known as Wanda, had returned. Well, probably. She didn't say anything, she had just entered the wagon and walked towards Karen and me. Her steps stopped right next to us, yet she didn't say anything. How odd. Just what was the mea—

"HIYAA?!"

"WAH?!"

Something cold was poured over my head. The sudden sensation causing me to jolt up in surprise. Karen, having been subjected to the same surprise gift, did the same.

"Well then, now you two are awake for sure."

"Wanda... What did you... Is that... a bucket?"

In Wanda's arms was a large bucket, water dripping off its sides.

Slowly, the realization hit me... She had poured cold water over us...

That's an absolutely horrible way to wake someone up!

"It's already past noon and you all are still sleeping. Just because it's break day doesn't mean you can sleep all day."

"That doesn't mean you have to pour water over us..."

"And you two could've just responded. Considering both of you were awake."

... Both?

Karen had been awake too? Ohh... Well, guess I hadn't been the only one enjoying a good time.

"Anyway, here you go, kid."

"Nn?"

With an unpleasant expression, she pushed something into my hands. An envelope. This was the second time I had gotten a letter...

"Nn, Wanda. Who wrote this letter?"

"You can guess three times. You just might get it right."

"Yumias."

"Correct."

Great...

Karen peeked at the envelope in my hands... There were still water drops running down her cheeks and her hair. It looked a little alluring.

"Why did she write a letter to Yumi? Can't she just say it to her?"

"Nn... Actually, I spoke yesterday with her so..."

"Oh, you did? Did she say anything?"

"We talked a bit but... Uhm... Wanda, did something happen?"

Wanda's eyes had narrowed when I mentioned my talk with that girl. She had done something again, hadn't she...

"She disappeared."

"... Nn, that's about what I expected. She did say she had to leave..."

"Together with Korwen's booze."

"... Nn? The Captain's... booze?"

"His personal collection. She even left a note. Together with that letter."

She... kidnapped his booze...

"By the way, Korwen was bawling like a child when he saw his booze missing. He was close to just ripping that letter open himself."

"... Do I have to open this now?"

Something told me that I would regret doing that...

"Unless you want Korwen to storm in and do it himself, yes."

"..."

Wanda told me that I would regret even more leaving it unopened...

I stole another glance at the envelope in my hands. It was just... plain white. No decorations, no nothing. Only a 'To: Yumi' written on it.

A little reluctant, I opened the envelope under Wanda's watchful eye. A neatly written letter revealed itself.

"..."

"... So, what does it say, kid?"

"Nn, not really anything important... here."

She took the letter from my hands and read through it. Then she threw a side glance to the two girls who miraculously were still sleeping. Although, by now I had the suspicion they just did the same thing we had. Pretending to sleep.

"Can I take this to Korwen?"

"Nn, feel free to."

"Thanks."

She turned around on her heels and left.

"... Back to sleep."

"Yumi, no. Get up."

"Mrgm..."

"Come... We should change our clothes... or maybe take a bath while we're at it?"

"A bath, huh. Did they set up the bathing tent already?"

It hadn't been up two days ago at least.

"No idea. If they haven't yet, we could borrow a wooden tub and at least wash our hair."

"Mh..."

True. The wet clothes were rather unpleasant and cold... At least they hadn't turned see-through or anything. The fabric was way too thick for that.

"By the way, Sis. How are your headaches?"

"Pretty much gone now. I still feel a little dizzy, though."

"Nn, that's good to hear."

She recovered quite fast from that hangover. Made me a little bit jealous, to be honest.

Karen threw the blanket to the side, stretched her arms and stood up.

"So, Yumi, what did the letter say?"

She walked to a small wooden box where we stored the few spare clothes we had. After retrieving some for herself and some for me, she turned around, a questioning gaze directed at me.

"Nn, not really anything. Only that she would leave and that I should tell Lily..."

"... How irresponsible. And did she have to write a letter just for that?"

"I don't know..."

It surely wouldn't warrant a letter usually... Especially considering I had talked with her just yesterday evening.

"Whatever, I don't understand what she is thinking anyway..."

I stood up as well and pushed the wet strands out of my face. Seriously, who would think of using cold water to wake someone up.

"Should we wake up Lily and Rina?" I wondered out loud.

"They'll be fine, they can take care of themselves."

"Nn, okay."

Karen took my hand into hers, smiling a little.

"Let's go."

"Nn."

To our luck, the bathing tent had already been set up. We took a long and warm bath, scrubbing ourselves until we were clean.

The only downside was, we weren't alone. In fact, it had been quite crowded. I kind of missed having a small, private bath for yourself. But, I could be glad that there was a bath at all.

"Ahh... That was good... I feel refreshed."

"Nn. Same."

We were now on our way to get something to eat.

The bonfire had finally burnt out and most of the mercenaries that fell victim to the alcohol had woken up and left too. Probably to treat their hangovers...

"They didn't clean up at all, though..."

"Nn, the Captain said not to mind it but... It looks bad."

Remains of food, plates, mugs. Spilt drinks and... questionable remains where I sure as hell didn't want to know the origin of.

Sure looked like a tornado went through this place.

"I can't imagine it being good to just let all this sit until tomorrow..."

"Nn, but as long as we don't have to clean it up..."

"Don't say that or we'll really have to."

That'd be... tragic.

"Nn, the breakfast was... at the family's tents, right?"

"Yumi, I very much doubt it is breakfast time."

"Lunch?"

"More likely."

As long as it was something to eat, it could be breakfast or lunch or whatever.

"Still, just what the heck happened? I don't remember much from after we drunk that... stuff."

"Nn... They celebrated quite... hard. Merim was dancing on a table and the Captain and the other mercenaries cheered for him."

"... Why was he dancing?"

"I don't know."

Like hell, I could understand the thought process of a drunk...

At the very least, they were quite uninhibited with their... fun. Then again, being able to cut loose once in a while was kind of necessary too.

"Yumi."

"Nn?"

"Just to make sure... I didn't do weird stuff, right?"

"... You were cute."

She had been cute. I kind of wished she'd be a little more... uninhibited as well. Not as much as yesterday, of course. Being sexually assaulted in public was surely the last thing I wanted to experience.

"Cute, you say. Yumi, what did I do?"

"Nn..."

I stopped in my tracks and looked at Karen. She stopped as well, looking a little confused.

Karen had been acting quite spoiled yesterday. Maybe she had been trying too hard, to act like a big sister, or maybe that's just what she wanted in the first place. Maybe it had been something completely different and I just interpreted something into it, when it had been just drunk ramblings.

Either way, I did notice one thing. That I actually quite liked that spoiled side of Karen.

"Squat down a little."

"Eh? Uhm, like this?"

"Nn. A little more."

"This alright?"

"Nn."

She was now squatting down, eyesight level with my chest. I promptly hugged her, patting her head.

"Eh? Yumi? What are you—

"Ah, hold still. Nn, good."

I gently pat the back of her head.

"You were acting spoiled and I hugged you like this. It was really cute."

"Eh? Ahh, I'm sorry!"

"Sis. You should be sorry. If you want to be spoiled, then you should just tell me. You're doing so much for me, for us."

"..."

Karen fell silent, not saying a word. A few moments later, she gently hugged my waist.

"I'm quite needy, you know?"

"Nn, that's fine."

"Really?"

"Nn."

She buried her face in my chest, while I continued to hug her.

To be honest, I expected her to put up a little more resistance. Well, this was fine, though.

"Yumi."

"Nn?"

"... I'm feeling horny."

"Sis. I'm sorry but it's neither the time nor the place right now."

Not to mention that I was hungry.

"I see... Haa..."

"Nn, Sis. Let's take a look later if we can find a place for us, okay?"

"But I am horny now, not later."

"... I can't help you with that right now."

"Can't we just... look for a place behind a wagon or so? Where nobody will look."

A frightening suggestion had been made.

"Sis, let's not fall down that rabbit hole. I beg you."

"... Okay."

She hugged me a little tighter in response.

I didn't dare to think about it but... Were Karen's interests... like that? She did try to have fun with me when drunk and this suggestion now as well...

Maybe we should have a proper talk sometime about it. It was better to clear up things like that. For all I knew, it could be just my misunderstanding.

After a few minutes, Karen had apparently enough and let me go. She smiled, from one ear to another.

"Ahh, I am full of energy again!"

"Nn, that's good."

I took Karen's hand in mine, responding with a smile of my own.

"Let's get something to eat, shall we?"

"Yes, let's go, Yumi."

Hand in hand, we continued our walk. I hadn't really thought about it in the heat of the moment, but a few people watched our little flirting act... How embarrassing.

"I wonder what we'll have for lunch."

"Probably some leftovers from yesterday? There's also all that fish. I didn't see it yesterday so..."

Shouldn't fresh fish be eaten rather quickly? Hopefully, it'd be fine...

"Didn't they want to serve it for the celebration as well? I don't remember seeing it either, though."

"Nn... Maybe they had a change of heart?"

It was a lot of food, after all. Like, a whole lot.

Well,  we'd find out soon anyway.

"I think it's... over there?"

"Looks like it."

A group of women were distributing food. A large pot, probably with a soup or stew or something...

Actually, so far it had been stew or soup nearly every time, hadn't it? Outside of the times where we had a barbecue over a fire.

"Oh, Yumi, Karen!"

"Helma, good morning."

"Good morning."

"Good morning? You aren't going to tell me that you just woke up, are you?"

""...""

A judging gaze was directed at us.

"To think the mercenaries rubbed off on you two that quickly. I'm astonished. Haa... I guess you're here for... lunch?"

"Nn. And lunch is..."

"Fish stew."

"... Fish stew?"

I peered into the large pot that was behind Helma. Sure enough, it was a white stew with pieces of fish meat.

"It's a little bit of an experiment, but the reception has been well."

"An experiment?"

"Right, right! You know, the group tasked with groceries brought back waroxen milk. They were also told this stew recipe that uses that milk, so we figured we could try it."

"Ohh..."

Helma filled two plates for us with the stew. It smelled good. Really good.

We took each a spoon and cautiously ate a bite.

"Ohh, this is good."

"Nn. Delicious."

"Hehe, that makes us glad. Was quite hard to get it right."

Helma was clearly very proud of this creation. The stew had a very strong taste, most likely due to the milk, but it still went well with the fish.

"Now, don't stand in the way and take a seat. The table's over there."

She shooed us away so that the next ones could get their lunch. Or breakfast. Probably breakfast.

We sat down on the table, eating our lunch. From our spot, we could watch Helma and the other women handing out the food or asking for opinions on the stew.

"They even work hard on a break day, don't they.?"

"Nn, well, someone has to work, after all. Or we wouldn't have food."

Even in my old world, not everyone had free on holidays. There were always people that had to work to make sure that things continued to work. Though they usually had free on other days in return. Or got paid more. Usually...

"Oh, look, Yumi, Mr Captain is over there."

"Nn?"

Karen pointed into the distance.

"Oh, he really is."

He walked over towards Helma and the other women. Most likely to get lunch as well. He was followed by his wife and... another woman, who was more like running after him.

"Korwen! Listen, you can't just leave and not do anything! It's your job to do something!"

The woman shouted, being gloriously ignored by Korwen.

"Nn, that woman looks familiar..."

"Isn't that one of the family's women that were making trouble?"

"Was she?"

Maybe fed up with being ignored by Korwen, the woman grabbed his shoulders trying to jerk him around a hundred-eighty degree. Now, an untrained woman was rather unlikely to make this giant of a mercenary more than budge even a tiny a bit. Still, her intention got through and Korwen stopped, turning around by himself.

"I am fairly sure I said it already. First, today is a break day. Second, this is not my job. And last, my order will not change. I have told you all time and time again, that the children need to work. Either, they could become apprentices among our own craftsmen or they could train to become mercenaries."

Korwen stepped up to the woman. He was already towering over most men, having him come that close and glaring down sure made an impact. The woman stiffened up, clearly frightened. Surprisingly, she took hold of herself quite quickly though.

"Tha, That's why I told you, Korwen! Those horrible craftsmen aren't taking my son or any of his friends as their apprentices! You have to tell them off!"

"It's their own decision who they take as an apprentice and who not. If they deemed them unsuitable for the work, then they can reject your son and his friends all they want. I don't care."

"You, you can't do that! Are you going to force them to, to slaughter others for money?!"

Ouch... Did she really just say that?

"I am forcing them to nothing. If they don't want to work, then that's their own decision. Just know that we will not continue feeding them. If they don't have work until we leave the capital, then we will leave them behind. Simple as that."

"You! Are you serious?! You can't do that!"

"I can and I will. End of the discussion."

Korwen turned around again, only to be blocked immediately again by that woman.

"Then, what about those children you picked up?! They are fine? Or are you into that? Into young girls doing your bidding? I should have known when you picked up those non-human children in the last years! You're forcing them to, to, to—

She stuttered, unable to finish the sentence. Instead, she turned to Korwen's wife.

"Miss, are you fine with a husband that takes advantage of young girls like that?!"

Alas, she didn't get a response from her, only a stoic smile. Korwen was once again the one who answered. He slightly bowed down, staring straight into the woman's eyes.

"Contrary to your stupid son, those kids are at least trying to work. Emily, Maya and Sele have been training for well over a year, and they are younger than your stupid son. They're also going to learn at the Academy for the duration of our stay. As for the other girls, they already started training as well, and one of them is helping out with my work. Contrary to your son and his friends, who are only goofing around and haven't even lifted a single finger for work."

"My, my son is not stupid!"

That's what she was focussed on?!

"He's a great, bright child! He'll become something way better than a lowly mercenary! I'm sure he will get a job and work you can only dream of!"

"... I see. Since your son is that great, you'd rather stay with him then, right? Rather than a bunch of lowly mercenaries who fed your fat arse, I'm sure staying with him is better. You can do that, go ahead. I won't stop you."

"You, you can't do that! My husband works for you, do you want to lose him as well?!"

"Your husband? The one that hasn't slept in your family's tent in the past years? Sure. What he does is his own decision, I won't stop him. Now, if you will excuse me. I am hungry, I want to eat lunch and I am in an exceedingly bad mood. Good day to you."

He nodded once at the woman and walked around her, his wife following.

"I! I! I won't forget this, Korwen!" she shouted.

She turned around on her step and walked away, her face beet red from anger.

"What did we just watch, Yumi?"

"Something where I am not sure if I should say it is amusing or that it serves her right."

It did serve her right at least. Calling the captain of a mercenary band a 'lowly mercenary' was a surefire way to get into trouble.

Honestly, I was astonished how calm Korwen was during the entire thing. Well, calm might not be the correct word for it. He held himself back quite a bit, that much had been clear.

"I knew it was bad with those families but... Aren't the mercenaries the ones who provide for them? And then they can still talk like that?"

Karen shook her head in disbelief.

"Nn, well... Some people are like that..."

Some people took their way of life as granted, unable to understand that many others worked hard to build up this life, their life. Nobody was perfect, by no means, but one would think that... insulting your husband's boss is not a good idea.

"She just truly believes that her child is special. That's all."

"Oh, Mrs Korwen, hello."

"Hello."

"Hello, you two. We haven't had much of a chance to talk since you came over. I heard you're doing quite well."

"Ahh... Well..."

Quite well was maybe a little too much... We tried, more or less.

Maybe having picked up on my hesitation, Korwen's wife chuckled.

"Ahh, youth, youth."

She patted my head gently.

"Don't let my husband bully you too much, yes? If he does anything, tell me immediately, understood?"

"Ah, ahh... Understood."

"Good!"

"Hey, are you already badmouthing me again?"

"My, only because there's a lot I could say about you, isn't there, dear?"

"Ugh..."

Korwen, carrying two plates, sat down opposite of us. He shoved a plate to his wife and begun eating his own.

"Mh... This is good."

"Right? Mavi and the others got the recipe from a local merchant."

"How the heck did they get that recipe... I am fairly sure merchants are really tightlipped about those things."

"I won't have you underestimate us, dear. A housewife can do anything once she sets her mind on it!"

Mrs Korwen answered with a smug smile.

"Haa..."

Korwen smiled wryly.

After a few more bites of the stew, he turned to us.

"I guess you saw that right now, didn't you?"

"Nn... What was up with that?"

"That was Marga, the mother of Ludo."

"... Ludo?"

Who the heck was Ludo? I glanced to Karen but she just shook her head, unable to recall that name either.

"You already forgot him? He's that brat that keeps picking fights with the Emily, Maya and Sele."

"Ah, the bully. I remember."

So his name had been Ludo? That tall, idiotic child... Wait, that woman had been his mother? No wonder the brat grew up to be so... bratty. Cheeky? A pain in the ass. A real pain.

"Haa... First I wake up to my booze missing and then this stupid woman runs after me. Today starts great."

"Ahaha..."

I kind of felt bad for him.

"Uhm, Mrs Korwen, you said earlier that she truly believes that her son is so great but..." Karen asked.

"Mh? Ahh, right. She often brags about her son. Every time he does something she makes sure that every single person gets to hear it at least three times, praising him beyond the heavens. It's a little annoying so I wish she could just fall down a cliff or so."

"..."

That was a very unexpected wish. Especially since she was still smiling.

"But in her own way, she's got some charisma. Some of the other women, especially those that are on bad terms with their husbands, started following her. It's become really troublesome in the past few years. Haa..."

"I... I see..."

"Still, that doesn't free them from their responsibilities. I don't care if she thinks her son is a prodigy because he can count to ten with his fingers or because his shit is a shade darker than waroxen dung. Those who don't work, don't eat. The end."

"Dear, don't use such crude language. Still, I agree. She recently keeps complaining about how the craftsmen are bullying her son and his lackeys. They even tried to go to the Black Guards craftsmen apparently, but got rejected too."

Mrs Korwen shook her head. in exasperation.

"Nn, that reminds me. Wormaz mentioned something about a boy and his mother coming to him."

"Oh? That was probably them? My, do tell me, what happened?"

Mrs Korwen inched closer to me, clearly very interested.

"N, Nn... I think he only said that they had quite the attitude, demanding from him to take the boy as his apprentice. I don't think there was anything else, but Wormaz was quite annoyed by it."

"Ohh, well... That explains why nobody wants him though."

Mrs Korwen nodded, apparently having come to an understanding.

"I was surprised that they got rejected by everyone but if that's how they tried to do it..."

"Not exactly a clever attempt..."

"Ahaha..."

Nothing that could be done about it.

"Haa... Anyway, what are you two girls going to do? Going out? Having some... fun?"

Mrs Korwen smiled suggestively.

"Ehh..."

"We thought of going to Wanda and ask about clothes. We don't have a lot. Then we also thought of going into the city and look for a Savonette for Yumi. Ah, but, if I recall correctly, Mr Captain wanted to talk with a magic craftsman, right? Should we wait maybe?"

"Ohh, right. I planned to check at his shop tomorrow, you can come along if you want. He's a pleasant fellow, but he is also quite expensive. You should be able to afford it, if you really want to, though," Korwen answered her.

A magic craftsman, huh. It sounded like an interesting occupation.

Meanwhile, Mrs Korwen was hung up on a different thing.

"Clothes... Clothes... Hohoho..."

"Nn?"

"Do you mind if I come along to Wanda? I also still have a few old clothes from our daughter, if you don't mind hand-me-downs."

"I don't mind..."

"Nn, neither do I."

If those clothes would fit, that would be fine by me too.

"Good, good. Oh, that sounds like some fun. Hohoho."

She laughed to herself, looking forward to it.

"Then, let's hurry up and get going, go, go!"

She urged us to hurry up, eating her own stew with quite some vigour...

Well, more opinions on clothes were fine by me. Maybe she had some nice ideas about cute clothes...

Nn, I hope it'll be fun... Wait... Hand-me-downs... Daughter? Korwen has a daughter?!

Rinne

This time I got a little more to say.

I know I said I'd make more chapters for Patreon in February... Then I was ill for two weeks and I'm just glad I managed to keep the regular schedule. Life really likes to mess up your plans.

With that said, I'll do my best to get them done this month. Surely... Hopefully...Wish me luck!

Well then, I hope you all stay healthy!

Thank you for reading!