Chapter of Blooming Fate: Her Wish

"Hey, Yumi."

"Nn? What is it, Sis?"

Karen's craned her neck back, her silver-coloured eyes looking up to me.

Usually, it was me who was sitting in her lap but today Karen decided she wanted to be the one lying down. Although, in my current state I was unable to give her a lap pillow. Instead, she got a veritable tentacle pillow.

"You can change back, right?"

"Nn... I should be able to, yes."

If I couldn't, that'd be... just a little bit problematic. Disregarding that I was surely going to creep out a multitude of people, I couldn't even move. I sure didn't want to be stuck on the floor of this wagon for the rest of my life.

Fortunately, I was fairly certain that this wasn't going to come true. While Karen made herself comfortable, I tried to... Well... Grow? Expand? Either way, I tried to cover more of the floor.

"Mhm... Are you sure?"

"Nn. I can expand on the floor and also...Uhm... return it?"

"You mean, like, retracting it?"

"Yes, yes. Like that."

"Huh."

Karen returned her attention back to the tentacle she was hugging for some inexplicable reason. This wasn't some plush toy or pillow or so... Although I happily admitted that I enjoyed it as well. The smooth sensation of her skin on the sensitive tentacles was... addicting.

I wasn't going to turn into some overly touchy pervert, was I? Or was I already one, considering how much I enjoyed touching and feeling Karen...

"Hey, Sis. I want to ask you something as well..."

"Yes, Yumi?"

"... Why did you strip?"

"So I can feel all of you!"

Once again she craned her neck back, staring at me with a smug face.

Just for the record, we hadn't done anything lewd. We had done quite a bit of cuddling, yes, but it had stayed at that degree. We both knew it wasn't the time for this. Or rather, someone might burst in just like Karen had done earlier.

"... Are you sure we shouldn't... get ready? Lily and the others might come back soon."

"Ahh, no worries about that. Lily and Rina went off somewhere together after we were done at the Captain's."

"Ohh..."

Well, in that case...

"Ah? Yumi?"

"Hehehe, take this."

I moved all the tentacles—excluding my hair, of course—and wrapped Karen up, covering every little bit of her body save for her face.

Although, I didn't exactly 'wrap' her up. It was more like a blanket. A tentacle blanket. But it was still a little tight. Probably.

"Woahhh... This... feels odd. Am I now going to be eaten?"

"Nn, maybe? Who knows?"

"Oh no! Please spare me!"

"Nn, what should I do? What should I do?"

I pulled Karen a little closer, the back of her head right below my chest now. Then, I leaned forward, approaching her face. Or rather, her lips.

"Ah. Mm..."

We kissed.

"Mm... Hehe. Being on the receiving end is actually pretty nice as well."

Karen smiled, her cheeks blushing.

"Nn. We can do this more often if you want, but I really think we should stop here for today, Sis."

I was sure the others wouldn't mind if we slacked a little right now, after our accidental... timeout. But on the other hand, it was probably better if we didn't slack too much. After all, it seemed there were more than just a few problems heading towards us.

"No."

"Eh?"

Karen refused.

She somehow managed to turn around, despite being entangled by the tentacles and was now lying on her stomach.  Then she wrapped her arms around me, hiding her face behind my stomach.

"Ehhh?"

This... wasn't what I had expected. At all.

"Sis? Uhm... Sis?"

"Don't wanna."

"..."

Her grip around me strengthened a little. She definitely had no intention of letting me go, did she?

"Sis, did something happen over at the Captain's?"

"..."

A short pause, then... she shook her head.

Guess that hadn't been it.

"About Rina... It's just that she's going to work a little at the various craftsmen's places... To see what she wants to do in the future..."

"Ohh..."

So, basically what I had talked with her about a da— four days earlier. I felt a little sorry, I had promised to go with her and yet she probably had to do it on her own now. Though, Lily most likely had accompanied her. At least I hoped she had. I'd light a fire under her butt if she hadn't.

"Then, Sis... What's wrong? Is it... about what happened now?"

"..."

A pause again. Then... a small nod.

"I see..."

I wrapped my arms around her head and gently pat it. Seemed that Karen hadn't simply digested this situation as fast as I had thought. She just hid it, huh. Or maybe it had just happened all too quickly for her to process it. I could kind of understand that... This was... a lot to stomach.

"... Yumi."

"Nn?"

"... I love you."

"... I love you too, Sis."

Once again, her grip around me strengthened a little. In the meantime, I continued to gently pat her head. There wasn't much else for me to do. I didn't know what exactly was bothering her, outside of the... Well... Lost time. And maybe about the situation as a whole... Maybe she was anxious about the future? I didn't know. And I didn't ask either.

After several minutes had passed, Karen's grip slowly loosened. She kept on hugging me, though. Not that I minded.

"Sorry, Yumi."

"About what?"

"... Nothing."

"Nn."

This wasn't even remotely a bother to me. If anything, I was happy she was relying on me like this. There was nothing to apologise for.

"Yumi."

"Nn?"

"Can I say something really, really selfish?"

"... Nn."

Karen turned around again, now lying on her back again. Her eyes were a little red.

"I wish we would live somewhere far far away from everyone, just us two. Together like this."

"... Without Rina and Lily?"

"Mmm... I don't mind if they're around, I guess. But, I want Rina to live her own life. And that might not be with me necessarily, right?"

"Well, yes..."

"So, I don't mind if they're there. But occasionally I think I'd really like it if we could just live somewhere all alone, just the two of us. If I turn out like you, then we could just hide away somewhere far away, away from everyone else."

Karen closed her eyes, a wry smile on her lips.

"Well, I know that things aren't that easy. We can't just leave Rina and Lily alone... and I like quite a few of the people here... It's just a silly wish I sometimes have..."

"Sis."

"Mm?"

"It's not a silly wish. Even if it might not be possible right now, it might be possible in the future. And once it is, if you really want to, then I'm fine with that."

"... I see."

It was a bit surprising, to be honest. No, not just a bit... But a lot.

"I see... In the future..."

"Nn."

Living alone with Karen didn't sound bad, actually. It sounded like it could become a rather carefree life. On the other hand, moving away from everyone else caused its own special set of troubles.

"Then, in the future! Mhm, I'll look forward to that."

"Is that so?"

"Yes. So, I'll do my best until then!"

She sat up, throwing the tentacles that covered her off in the process.

"Ah."

Suddenly, I didn't have anyone to hug anymore... Karen turned around a little, directing an awkward grin at me.

"Sorry. But I fear if I don't get up now, I won't be able to anymore..."

"Haa... I can understand that but..."

"Weren't you the one who said we shouldn't fool around more than necessary."

"Nn... What I'm saying and what I'm actually feeling are different things, though. Haaa..."

I grabbed Karen's clothes that were thrown to the side nearby and handed them to her.

"Thanks."

Ahh... watching her getting dressed was always a little sad...

"Now then..."

"Nn?"

"... Were you still trying things out when I came in?"

"Nn... Not really? I think I was mostly done..."

It was doubtful whether I could transform any further, at least at this point. And even if I could... I still wanted to keep at least some human parts.

Probably not the most believable when more than half my body was consisting of tentacles. Most of it was tentacles... That reminded me...

"Actually, there's one thing I didn't take a look at yet."

"Oh?"

"Well... I'm somehow stuck to the floor... But I have no idea how."

It wasn't something I could casually check either. I doubted that even some impressive acrobatics would help me here. Not like I could move for any kind of acrobatics...

"Should I take look?"

"Nn, that'd be great."

Karen, noticing the small dilemma, volunteered and lifted the tentacle mass that was currently my lower body.

"Huh..."

"And?"

"Well... It kind of looks like it's... grown onto it?"

"Grown?"

"Yes... Do you feel anything if I pull here."

Karen pulled a little on the tentacles she had lifted up. Alas... There was absolutely no feeling in them...

"No. Nothing."

"Mhm... Well, it kind of looks like they just... transition into the wood. Seamlessly."

"That's... okay..."

So I actually was connected to the wood... Could I only connect to organic matter? I should try that out sometime.

"Guess I really won't move anywhere then, unless someone cuts out the wood."

"Doesn't look like it, yes."

"Haa... Well, time to change back, I guess."

We had fooled around quite a bit Even if Lily and Rina had run off somewhere together, they would surely come back at some point.

"... Sis."

"Yes?"

"I just remembered but... What about the other three?"

Last I heard, they were still under house arrest, after all.

"That's... a good question."

"... Nn. Better hurry."

If those three were to come right now, it'd be mighty... awkward.

I retracted the mass of tentacles that had covered the ground, regaining my lower half. The lack of attachment was, of course, something I had forgotten about. How else could it be?

"Woah!"

"Yumi, be careful!"

I fell forward, straight into Karen's arms.

"Thanks..."

"Be careful, Yumi..."

"I will... Next time..."

I changed the tentacles at my lower half back, returning my legs.

"..."

"Yumi? Something wrong?"

"Nn... Well... After being stuck like that, having my legs back feels a little weird. They're tingling."

Like, when your legs fell asleep for a long while and then the blood flow resumed. That kind of a rather unpleasant tingling sensation.

A little wobbling, I stood up with Karen's help.

"But it feels good to properly stand again. Nn."

Being mobile was, after all, more convenient.

Also, we now confirmed that I could change back without an issue. And now that I had experienced this, it probably shouldn't be too hard to repeat the whole transformation stuff. Maybe not inside the wagon next time.

"So, Yumi."

"Nn?"

"What about your arms and those tentacles?"

"... Eh?"

Karen pointed at my arms. Those soft pink arms, the same colour as my hair. As well as the tentacles that grew from my shoulder, in addition to my arms.

"... Well, this is... A bit unexpected."

My lower half was back to normal so... Yeah...

I concentrated on my arms and the surrounding tentacles and changed them back to normal as well. Somehow, for my arms, they didn't first turn back into tentacles, the skin just changed back to normal and that was it.

"Mm..."

A little curious, I tried to change my arms once more into their pink version. Didn't work out. It didn't feel like it was impossible though, so maybe I just had to practise a little.

"Normal Yumi is great too."

"Ah, Sis..."

Karen approached me and pulled me into a hug.

"... Thanks again, Yumi."

"... Nn, it's fine. If you need me, I'll always come."

"Thank you."

She gently patted my head, reversing our earlier positions.

"Thank you..."

Around ten to twenty minutes later, we had finally cleaned up the wagon.

Made a bit more of a mess than I had expected, and getting rid of the spilt aphrodisiac turned out to be more than just a little... problematic. Karen couldn't exactly clean it up and we had to make absolutely sure that none of it remained... My earlier thought that spilling it solved the problem already was mistaken. Probably would've noticed if I had spared a second to think about it, though. Got scolded by Karen...

"Okay. Now, the only thing left is this... eggshell? It is an egg, isn't it? Was an egg..." Karen asked, her eyebrows furrowed.

"I think so? It has a hard shell on the outside and something soft and fluffy on the inside... I thought, maybe you can make something out of it? Like with my hair?"

"Mm... I have no idea about that... Oh, it really is soft on the inside..."

Karen had walked over to the shell remains and was touching the inside. There was a layer of a very soft... something... on the inside. Around as thick as my palm was wide. Maybe a little bit thicker. If you were to put it on the floor it would frankly make for a good mattress. And yes, that was my motive behind not wanting to throw it away. I was slightly fed up with the current situation. There were only a few beds around and we mostly slept huddled up and covered in a blanket. If we could fashion a mattress or two out of this...

Seriously... Nothing gets wasted... I feel like this kind of thinking is slowly affecting me as well.

It wasn't a bad thing, though, mind you.

"Right, the Captain mentioned that they had talked with the magic craftsman."

"Oh? Ohh... We did kind of miss him, huh..."

"Actually... He's currently still in the camp. At least, Lily said that. Apparently he's working with the leatherworkers from the Dragon Knights and the Black Guards as well as Wanda and a few other women that are good at sewing. To figure out what they can make from your hair."

"Seriously?"

Now, that was... Quite lucky.

"Ah, but we should probably visit the Captain first. I think he was quite worried. Though he didn't say anything, it was written all over his face."

The Captain was worried, huh. Somehow, the thought made me smile a little. On one side, you didn't want to make others worry. But on the other, it made you a little happy to hear that they were worried.

"Nn, that's fine with me. So, first, to the Captain, we go."

I opened the door and left the wagon. Karen followed right behind me.

"Huh... This place changed quite a bit suddenly..."

"Well, they probably don't like sleeping in the wagons all the time either. And we did see these before, you know. In Arkesta."

"Nn, right..."

The camp had changed quite drastically. The wagons had been moved to the side, forming rows. There was barely enough space between them to even enter.

Instead, the freed up space was now filled with tents. A lot of them.

"They also moved the camp a little. The place where they parked the wagons was apparently mostly intended for merchants and merchant caravans so they had to free it up."

"I see..."

It sounded a little weird, to be honest, considering that most of the immediate surroundings around the city were mostly fields and hills. There was more than enough space, after all. Maybe it was just a dedicated space that they kept clean or something like that? Probably.

"To that large tent over there."

"Nn, okay."

Most of the tents were pretty large already, large enough that a few people of Korwen's size could comfortably stand inside them. Albeit there were also some smaller tents, where I probably had to duck as well.

With that in mind, there was one tent that still stuck out like a sore thumb simply because of its ridiculous size.

"Hey, isn't that the tent we were in back in Arkesta?"

"It is."

Right. I remembered being quite impressed, entering that tent. If you excluded, of course, the little incident we witnessed, with those church officials.

It was probably intended for receiving guests, that's why it was more imposing. Still, it lacked decorations and things like that, except for the banner that was hissed at the top. Wait, two banners.

"They put up the banner of the Black Guards as well?"

Just below the Dragon Knight banner—a knight fighting a dragon—was another banner of a black knight in plate armour, holding a large black shield.

"Oh, you're right. Didn't see that before. Probably because the Black Guards joined, I guess."

"Nn..."

We approached the large tent and the banners disappeared from our view. Karen pulled the cloth covering the entrance to the side and the two of us entered.

"Oh? You're back already?"

A long table was placed in the middle of the tent and at the end of the table sat Korwen. Behind him, two banners were hung up, one of the Dragon Knights and one of the Black Guards. Right next to him sat Greyward as well in addition to another old man. Though I said old, he was still clad in thick muscles and sure looked like someone you didn't want to mess with.

If I recall correctly... Isn't that one of the former mercenaries?

The ones that had visited before, attempted to show us a fight only for it to turn into a brawl... Couldn't claim they left the best of first impressions.

"I see you two are indeed healthy. That's at least some good news already," Greyward greeted us with a smile.

"Mr Greyward, hello. Sorry for worrying you."

"Damn right you are, Karen. So make sure we don't have to worry the next time."

"... We'll try not to."

"Nn, sorry for worrying you."

He had been worried as well, huh. We should probably go around later to everyone we knew and tell them we're fine.

"Oh, the two girlies from a few days ago! Boy, did you get even more daughters? How come the girls end up so cute when their father is such a rough lumberjack that belongs in nightmares?"

"... You're wrong, old man. They're not my daughters. We picked them up in Arkesta."

"Oh, so they aren't? Jeez, thought I got it right this time. Wanted to throw a party already if I got even more granddaughters."

"... So you can get drunk on our alcohol? You got enough money so get your own."

"Jeez, so cold, this boy."

The old man shook his head.

"Granddaughters... Eh? Then, you are..." Karen stumbled over her words.

What's wrong with Ka— wait...

I just noticed what she meant. If the man's words were true then.

"Oh, did I never introduce myself? Aldrik Korwen, the old man of this boy here."

He slapped Korwen's shoulders.

"You can call me Aldrik. Oh, but if you want to call me grandpa... That'd be completely okay too! In fact, please do!"

That was... quite a surprise. I had heard they were former mercenaries from this band, but to think Korwen's own father was included in that.

"Old man, stop messing around."

"Huh? I'm not messing around, boy! When else do I get to dote on my grandchildren?"

"They're not your grandchildren. You only have one granddaughter. Go and dote on her if you want to."

"How the heck am I supposed to dote on her?! She'll kill me! In the first place, she's literally on the other side of the continent, the journey alone will kill me!"

"As if anything could kill you. Not even the grim reaper themself could kill you."

Korwen shook his head in exasperation.

"Whatever, let's ignore this old man... Once again, it's good to see the two of you are back and healthy. We can talk about everything sometime later when things calmed down a little. Did you come here for something?"

"Ah, yes. Lily told me that the magic craftsman is still in the camp, so we thought we could pay him a visit. And ask about... Uhm... The stuff that was leftover from earlier... And some of the other things."

Karen glanced at Aldrik a few times. We didn't know how much he knew, after all, so she had to keep it vague a little.

"Ahh... Yes, that's right, the magic craftsman is still here. But... Well..."

Korwen leaned back and scratched the back of his head.

"I don't mind you going. That person is just... a little bit weird."

Really? Another weird person? Didn't we have more than enough of the eccentrics already?

"Ah, I don't mean it in that kind of way. Personality-wise that person is completely normal. You will understand when you meet."

"Haa..."

"It's just that that person doesn't really understand... what personal distance is. It's a cultural difference, so to say."

"Nn?"

That was a weird way of putting it... At the very least, it meant that he wasn't from here or the immediate surroundings. Otherwise, it wouldn't be much of a cultural difference... Or maybe his people or his family moved here but kept their cultural views, that could be possible too? To be honest, there were quite a few possibilities but they didn't really matter anyway.

"Also, you can tell that person as much as you are comfortable with. There shouldn't be an issue. You'd get found out immediately anyway."

Well, now, sorry for being so bad at hiding my secrets. I wasn't doing it on purpose. And they kept noticing for the most stupid things. Although Karen was probably the most ridiculous one. Who the heck was paying attention to someone's feet that much? Karen was.

Wait a second... Did Karen have a thing for feet? I vaguely recalled her talking about things like that before...

"Yumi? Something wrong?"

"Ah, no."

Unconsciously stared at Karen... Not good. I shouldn't think about it. Maybe it was better to forget that entirely.

Watching the small exchange between us, Korwen raised an eyebrow but he didn't say anything.

"Ah, also, one more thing. No negotiations. Leave those to me or Jockson. Or Greyward. Even if it is something you just want for yourself, you'll get cleaned out down to your underwear if you aren't careful. Worst case, not even your underwear will be left."

"Nn, understood..."

So we needed someone to negotiate for us... Great.

"Should I come along with them?" Greyward offered.

"Mm... If you're fine with that, please do."

"Got nothing else to do for now anyway. Not until we get word from Lady Karker or Mr Ruben. Also haven't met them yet myself either and I'm a bit curious."

"... If you have nothing to do you could've helped me with that mountain of documents."

"... Ahaha, that is that and this is this."

Greyward laughed. He had absolutely no intention of helping Korwen at all.

"Haa... Well, now that Yumi is back it'll get at least a bit better."

Korwen shook his head and then faced us again.

"But don't mind that for now. Talking with the magic craftsman is more important. I doubt you will finish before dinner anyway, so you can worry about helping me tomorrow."

"Nn, okay."

The word dinner reminded me of something.

We had slept for three days. That, of course, meant... we hadn't eaten anything for three days either. Great. Now I was getting hungry. Got to hold out unti—

Grrrmmm...

"..."

"..."

A stomach growled. A cute growl.

It wasn't mine. Not mine but the one right next to me.

"Pff... Hahaha! Guess you girls are hungry after all. Then, you should look forward to dinner. Hahaha!"

"Uhhh..."

Karen, her cheeks blushing, averted her gaze. Couldn't really blame her, I was hungry as well, after all.

"The hungrier you are, the better dinner will be. Hunger is the best spice."

"I'd rather not be hungry..."

Karen let her head hang, hiding her face from the three men. All three were looking at her with a warm gaze.

"Then, Korwen, Sir Aldrik, I'll accompany the two."

"Go do that."

"Have fun. And drop the 'Sir',  it makes my back itch."

"Perfect. I'll keep using it then."

Greyward stood up from his chair and walked over to us, leaving the slightly annoyed Mr Aldrik and Korwen behind.

"Then, let's get going."

"Ah... Yes..."

"Nn."

We said one more goodbye to Mr Aldrik and Korwen and left together with Greyward.

"Now then, you two. Before we meet that craftsman I have a question for you two..."

"Nn?"

"Yes?"

Greyward led us through the camp, towards the magic craftsman, when he suddenly said that to us...

Was he going to ask us about what happened and why we were out for three days? Or was it something else?

"How much do you know about the devilkin?"

"... Devilkin?"

"Not much..."

Karen just shook her head but as for me... I didn't even know they existed. Maybe someone had mentioned it before but I thought it was a different name for the demonkin...

"I see. Then we'll have to start at the beginning. The magic craftsman you're about to meet is apparently one of the devilkin."

"Are they... much different from demonkin?"

"They are, Yumi. They're completely different."

"Huh..."

Sorry for lumping the two together, then. Devils and demons just sounded a little like they'd be related.

"I'm not blaming you. You rarely ever see a devilkin. Well, more often than seeing an elf at a bonfire barbecue."

Greyward led us through the camp, navigating swiftly between the tents.

"Devilkin are a rather odd bunch, and honestly I'm unable to tell you much about them myself. They're secluded, rarely interacting with other races. But, the thing we do know... They're rather unique. In a biological manner."

"Unique?"

From my point of view, pretty much all the different races had quite a few unique traits... But maybe that was just my impression as somone who came from a world with only humans.

"Yes... You see... How to say..."

Greyward stumbled upon his words. Then he sighed. A big tent was right in front of us... and Greyward stared at the entrance.

"Well, to keep it simple... they're a man and a woman at the same time."

Rinne

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