Chapter of Bottled Love: A Dress for Two

“Yumi!”

You can do this. You can do this, Yumi. There’s no need to worry, you can do this!

“Yumiiii!!!”

“Woah?!”

“Wah, be careful, Yumi!”

I couldn’t do it.

“Yumi, you’re back!”

“Yes… Yes, we’re back, Emily…”

Smiling wryly, I gave the girl that had barreled into my arms a gentle pat on the head.

“Emily, didn’t you promise us not to rush like that anymore?”

Karen, who had caught Emily and me in her arms, asked her, sounding slightly exasperated.

“... Ah! You’re right! I’m sorry, Big Sis Karen!”

“Then don’t forget it next time.”

“I won’t!”

“... I’m worried.”

Considering she hadn’t managed to restrain herself even once so far, that worry was rather understandable… I could only laugh dryly, imagining the next time already.

“Haaa… But it’s good to see you are fine as well, Emily. Where are Maya and Sele?” Karen asked her.

“Maya and Sele? Uhm… They were right behind me…”

“Behind you?”

We looked into the direction from which Emily had stormed towards us… A little in the distance, we could see two small silhouettes, trying to make their way through the merry-making mercenaries.

Correction, Maya is trying to save Sele who is unable to get through and is now stuck somewhere… or something like that?

After some struggling and the help of the nearby mercenaries, they managed to get out and come to us.

“Emily! Don’t run off like that…”

“...”

“Maya! Sele! I’m sorry!”

Sele looked slightly disgruntled, probably because of what had happened just now. Alas, she quickly perked up when she spotted Karen and me, rushing right past Emily and trying to squeeze her way in.

“Ah, Sele, wa— Geez… Come here.”

Karen freed one arm and pulled Sele right into our hug. With a satisfied murmur, Sele made herself comfortable next to me.

“Sele… Emily… That’s unfair…”

Maya, who was the only one left out, stared at us, unhappiness spreading on her face. Alas, Karen could only hug so many people at once… In that case…

“One moment… Maya, come here.”

I copied Karen, freeing one arm and inviting Maya to join in. Without delay, Maya perked up and rushed over, squeezing herself next to Emily into my arms.

“Ehehe!”

With a happy giggle, Emily watched Sele and Maya coming into the little group hug.

“Haaa… Why did I expect things to turn out this way…” Karen whispered.

“Nn… Because it wasn’t exactly hard to guess.”

These three girls seriously loved getting their fair share of skinship.

“Big Sis Karen, Yumi, I’m glad you’re back again…”

“Glad…”

“Maya… Sele… thank you. We’re back.”

“Nn. Were you good girls while we were away?”

“We were!”

I couldn’t help but smile at Maya’s vigorous response. Even Sele seemed to nod fervently next to me, asserting that they behaved while we were gone.

“We helped Mrs Korwen and the others! We helped with dinner and breakfast, we helped with the laundry... and many other things!” Maya told me.

“Hee, seems you girls were busy, weren’t you?”

With a smile, I pat Maya’s and Emily’s heads. They weren’t really any smaller than me so I had to raise my arms quite a bit, but seeing their happy smiles was worth that little bit of effort. Next to me, Sele was squeezing her eyes shut, silently enjoying Karen’s hand stroking her.

“So, uhm… Yumi… Big Sis Karen… Is everything… over already?”

“Nn? Ahh, it is.”

“Uhm...”

Maya seemed like she wanted to ask something but she seemed a little troubled whether she should or not. Seeing that she didn’t speak up, Emily sprung in for her.

“Yumi… Did everyone make it back? Did they? We saw those healers… And only some returned... Did anyone…”

“... No, everyone is healthy and alive. There’s no need to worry, okay?”

“Really?!”

“Nn, really.”

“That’s… That’s great!”

Maya and Emily both looked relieved when they heard that nobody had died.

“There were some injuries but they are already better. That’s why the healers came over. And for the ones that haven’t returned yet, they still had a few things left to do. That’s why we returned first.”

“I see… Then, they’ll come back?”

“Nn. I guess tomorrow or the day after the latest.”

These girls were worried, weren’t they? Seriously, to make these kind girls worry so much… Not that it could be helped, considering our job. But I was also happy when they worried so much about us coming back.

We might not have a permanent home or anything like that… But we do have people caring about us, don’t we?

It really made me happy.

“Really, you girls.”

“Ah, Yumi!”

“Yumi!”

I embraced the two and squeezed them. They were both surprised a little, but they quickly returned the hug, giggling.

“Thank you for worrying about us. We’re back.”

---

A little later, the five of us calmed down and dissolved our group hug. Karen and I had come here because it was time for dinner and just as we had expected, we met with the three girls. We all got our food—a delicious-looking stew with bread—sat down and enjoyed our dinner.

The three girls were interested in hearing about what had happened, so we told them about our encounter with the Worshippers and the Mother Roper. Of course, excluding the less pleasant parts with the Crystal Flowers, the corpses and so on. In turn, we might have embellished the rest a little. It wasn’t my fault, okay? Really.

Once dinner was over, we sat down a little, continuing our talk, listening to what had happened here while we were gone. Which was… mostly nothing. Well, that was good by itself. We had been only gone for a short time but nothing bad had happened during that time.

“So, you haven’t seen Lily and those girls either, Emily?”

“Uh-uh… They didn’t let us visit them.”

“I see… They must have it hard, huh… Hopefully, they can relax a little now that they dealt with everything inside the city…”

It seemed that Lily and Rina were still stuck with guarding El and Nel. The mercenaries really took their protection seriously… At least, Fenna’s squad was keeping watch in shifts.

But if they are still guarding them now, that means they haven’t judged it to be perfectly safe yet, right?

That was something that worried me a little… But once I thought about it a little, I realised that they probably still had to make sure that no noble had slipped through their grasp. Or that they dealt with thugs and the like that might still aim at them. Maybe even possible spies from the Empire… There were actually plenty of things they likely had to consider first.

“Haa… Nothing we can do about now, can we? Let’s hope they’ll stay safe.”

Lily would surely be happy if we praised her a little for holding up for so long.

“Do you think anything is still going to happen, Yumi?” Emily asked me.

“I don’t know… Of course, I hope it won’t but we shouldn’t dismiss it completely… I think? I mean, they haven’t lifted the guard yet for a reason, right?”

“I see… I hope nothing won’t happen, too!”

“Nn… I’m sure it’ll be fine.”

While we probably shouldn’t dismiss it completely, I very much doubted that anything big was still going to happen at this time. If what Will had told us was true, then they should have most likely caught everyone who was involved already.

“Either way, they can surely deal with it even if anything does happen, right? The mercenaries are strong after all.”

“... They are!”

“Right? They are.”

I patted Emily’s head as she beamed at me with a big smile, happy that I was praising the mercenaries.

“So, there’s no need to worry. Those four will be back soon.”

“Okay!”

“And when they do, we’ll welcome them back.”

“We will!”

Good, good. A smiling Emily was the best Emily.

“Yumi.”

“Nn? What is it, Maya?”

While I was still busy patting Emily, Maya called out to me from the side.

“Are you and Big Sis Karen going to be busy again as well?”

“Uhh, we’re free for now, unless the captain says something different.”

“Then, uhm…”

“Nn?”

Maya was fidgeting a little, averting her eyes.

“Would… Would it be fine if we all slept together today?”

“That’s...”

She stared at me with her big eyes full of anticipation, her fluffy ears twitching a little.

What do I do?

Under normal circumstances, I would’ve said ‘Sure, it’s fine,’ but today was… I was looking forward to spending some time with Karen.

I probably should have expected them to ask this, though... Ahh…

“Is… Is it no good?”

“Uhh, it’s not that it’s no good…”

I glanced towards Karen, looking for help. She was watching our little exchange with a strained smile.

Haa… Can’t be helped, can it…

There was no way that I could go against those expectant eyes. Not only from Maya, but Sele and Emily were looking as well…

“Hey, you girls, don’t be selfish. Give them some time to rest.”

“Huh?”

An unexpected voice came from behind us… It was Wanda.

“They’ve just come back. They’re tired and need some rest, so don’t bother them too much.”

“Ah! You’re right… Sorry, Yumi, Big Sis Karen.”

“Sorry.”

“...”

They apologised, looking a little disappointed.

“... Tomorrow, okay? Let’s sleep all together tomorrow.”

“Really?!”

“Yes. Really. Is that okay with you girls?”

“Yes!”

“It is!”

“...”

I was too easy on these girls… I definitely was…

“Well, if you girls are fine with that,” Wanda commented, her eyebrows raised.

“Thank you, Wanda.”

“No problem. Rest is important as well.”

That it was, without a doubt.

“So, uhm, did you need something from us or…”

“I did.”

Affirming my question, Wanda sat down next to us.

“I wanted to talk about the clothes for you girls.”

“The clothes?”

Speaking of which, Korwen had mentioned that.

“Is it about the matter with the formal clothes?”

“Oh, you were already told about it?”

“Only that we’ll probably need them… and where...”

“I see.”

If we really were to join that celebration, we’d definitely need some decent clothes…

“Wanda, didn’t you have trouble with getting fabric for the clothes?” Karen asked.

“Girl, I sure did. Hell, I still do. But it’s not like it’s impossible. That old coot Korwen said we should be able to get into the city again soon. Then I can get all I need. Also…”

Wanda stopped for a moment, then glanced at me.

“There’s also another kind of cloth that I can use.”

“Ahh…”

My hair… Or rather, the materials they could get from my hair... Those were an option as well. But wearing clothes made from my own hair… The thought of it was… a little weird.

“But that’s not what I wanted to talk about.”

“Nn? What then?”

“It’s about the design.”

“The design?”

The design… I vaguely recalled that we left it up for Wanda to decide? Probably?

“Are there any problems?”

“No. I wanted to confirm if you are fine with what I thought of.”

“Ahh…”

So, she had already thought of a design and just wanted to confirm with us if she could go ahead and do it.

“If possible, I’d like you to to come with me to my place and discuss it.”

“Nn, I’m fine with that. Sis?”

“I am too.”

“Good.”

Wanda stood up from here seat already, looking ready to go.

“Emily, Maya, Sele, what are you going to do?”

“I want to join, Yumi!”

“Emily, we still have to help out…”

“Ah! I forgot…”

“...”

They wouldn’t join us in that case.

“Then, good luck with your work. And have a good night.”

“We will! You too, Yumi, Big Sis Karen, Ms Wanda!”

“Good night.”

“... Night.”

And so, we followed Wanda back to her place…

---

“You can sit down there. Give me a moment, I’ll bring everything.”

“Nn.”

Wanda pointed us to the table in the middle of the tent.

“Where is it… This… Right, it was this…”

She rummaged through a stack of large papers, retrieving two single sheets and bringing them to the table.

“Here we go.”

“Nn? This is…”

“Designs for the dresses for both you and the girl. This one is for the kid and this one for the girl.”

Both sheets were quite large, with an intricate drawing of a dress on each of them.

“They’re black.”

“Nn…”

Both were black sleeveless one-piece dresses. The shoulders were bare, with only the shoulder straps covering them. The hem ended at around the knees. In short, it was quite short and… a little revealing.

“There aren’t many colours fitting for you two, you know? Pink and silver don’t mesh well if you ask me. But they both work with black quite well. That’s why I decided to make the base colour black.”

“Huh…”

Pink and silver didn’t mesh well, she said… Then… These dresses… They were designed as a pair…

“Kid, stop grinning, it’s disgusting.”

“... Sorry.”

But I couldn’t help it…

“Anyway, back to it. The base colour is black but the accessories and embroidery will be a different colour. For the kid, it’ll be in silver and for the girl, it’ll be in pink.”

“Accessories and embroidery?”

“These. Here and here. As for the embroidery, I am still considering some options. It won’t be anything big, however.”

Wanda pointed at various spots on the dress where she apparently planned to add decorations. They were written on the paper as well but, honestly, I could make little sense out of all of this. As for the embroidery… I knew next to nothing about that either… Hell, seeing these designs on the paper was overwhelming me a little.

“At the very least, we’ll embroider the emblem of the Dragon Knights on it. While the black colour should be a good indicator already, you can never be too careful.”

“The emblem… Wasn’t that a knight fighting with a dragon?”

“It is.”

“Nn… I can’t quite imagine how that would work…”

The emblem wasn’t exactly… Well… The most peaceful. As expected of a mercenary group, but it did feel a little… too aggressive for a dress.

“The easiest option would be the hem.”

“The hem?”

“Yes. We could embroider it alongside the hem as a recurring pattern.”

“... That sounds like a lot of work.”

“It is a lot of work. This is something I’d usually spent weeks, if not months on. Having to rush this is not quite what I envisioned. I don’T even know how much of what I planned I can actually finish in time. But Korwen pays me extra for it, so I’ll do what I can.”

She was getting a bonus for it from Korwen? Was that okay? We were the ones who needed the dress in a hurry after all… Not that they’d see me complaining.

“The other option I was thinking of was… splitting the design.”

“Splitting?”

Wanda grinned at me, showing her white teeth.

“One of you has the dragon and the other the knight.”

“... I see. So, it’d be split in two parts.”

“Right. Unfortunately, that one’s a no-go.”

“Why?”

“Too much work and it’s too experimental. We’d have to adjust it to make sure it works well and we’d have to embroider samples first. We would have to with a recurring pattern as well, but it’s still less work.”

So that’s how it was…

“The last one was that we’d just embroider the emblem once along the hem. That’s currently the most likely and easiest option.”

“Once, huh…”

“Mm…”

Karen and I both mulled over Wanda’s suggestions… but honestly, I had no idea.

“Sis, what do you say?”

“... I don’t know.”

“Neither do I. In that case, Wanda, we’ll leave it to you.”

“You two sure about that?”

“Nn.”

“That’s fine.”

Neither Karen nor I knew much about dresses, clothing design and all that. Of course, I appreciated that she told us about it and asked for our opinion.But Wanda was the professional here so we’d leave it to her. And from what I saw so far she was doing a good job. Good enough that I was looking forward to it quite a bit.

“Then I’ll do as I see fit.”

“Nn.”

I looked once more at the dresses drawn on the large paper sheets. A sleeveless one-piece. Rather than elegant, it was… cute. Although, it was kept rather simple overall, even with the accessories she likely planned to add.

“Is the colour for the embroidery the only difference between the two?”

“For the most part. There are some adjustments because of your different builds. And the girl is better endowed than you. But outside of those, I’ve kept them as similar as I could.”

“I see.”

The corners of my lips raised on their own when I heard that. We’d really look like a pair like that.

“Just don’t forget to wear your bracelets as well. You have to make it absolutely clear that you are a couple, you hear?”

“Huh? Uhh, okay?”

I never took off my bracelet anyway. Same for Karen.

“Wanda, would there be a problem otherwise?”

“Of course, there will. You girls are both beautiful and cute. If someone thinks you are single they’ll approach you without a doubt.”

“Ah.”

Being… called beautiful… Err, well… I didn’t want anyone approaching Karen, so I’d take note of that.

“Well, Korwen will be with you so I don’t think we’ll need to worry much. And I doubt many would have the guts to woo a mercenary… Still, you can’t be too careful, are we clear on that?”

“Nn, loud and clear.”

“Yes, Wanda.”

“Mm…”

She looked at us as if she still wanted to say something but then gave up with a sigh.

“Well, come what may, Korwen will probably deal with it. I can only pity the men who try.”

“Ahaha…”

Wonder why I could vividly imagine Korwen glaring down any would-be flirts…

“Anyway, if you don’t have anything else to say, I’ll go ahead with this design. That fine?”

“Nn, it is.”

“Yes.”

I honestly liked it. It was cute. And when Karen was wearing that… I was looking forward to it. And for me, well… I was also looking forward to wearing it. I couldn’t deny that.

“Good. Then, for the materials… Kid, I might call for you tomorrow, is that all right?”

“It should be. Unless the captain calls for us, we should be free.”

“Free, huh. Lucky you.”

Sorry... but you got paid extra for rushing... Hopefully, she could forgive us with that.

“Currently, I’m planning to at least make the embroideries with the materials from your hair. Elina should be able to change the colour as well, so that won’t be much of an issue. If I can’t get into the city tomorrow, I’ll likely have to make everything out of those materials. I’m not quite sure how I will do that, but there’s little choice… Other than that… That should be all, I think.”

So that was it, huh…

“Nn, I’m looking forward to it.”

“... I’ll do what I can, kid.”

I was cheering for her in my thoughts. She’d surely be able to do it.

“Hey, Wanda. What are those other papers?” Karen asked her.

“Mm? They’re designs as well. I’ve got a few others who are in need of clothes, including formal ones. Oh, right…”

Wanda went back to the aforementioned stack of papers and retrieved once again two, bringing them over to the table.

“These are… Ah.”

Once again, they were drawings of formal clothes again. Just, this time… They were designed with male, suit-like clothing in mind. However, these were clearly still a work-in-progress. Notes and struck out scribbles were covering the paper. Proof of how much she had thought about this.

“I’ve also been working on the requested clothes for your crossdressing hobbies. This is surprisingly tricky, you know?”

“Ahaha…”

It wasn’t our hobby but whatever. We did ask for it after all.

“There’s something I wanted to ask you girls about this. How do you want it to appear?”

“To appear?”

“Do you want to be seen as a girl in men’s wear? Or do you want to actually give the impression of being a man?”

“Ahh…”

I hadn’t thought about that. But if it was me…

“Nn, I’d say as a girl in men’s wear. Sis, what about you?”

“I agree.”

“Well, that’s a relief.”

“A relief?”

Tilting my head in wonder, I looked over to Wanda, curious about what she meant.

“Adult men and women have very different builds. Not only about your chest but also the waist, the hips, the shoulders and so on. If you wanted to appear like a man, I would have to design it in a way that gives the illusion that you have the build of a man. And frankly, I fear that is beyond me. At the very least, I’d need to experiment and try out a lot of things first.”

“Ohh…”

Now I understood her issue… That did sound pretty tricky.

“But if you are still intending to look like a girl, then I can design them in a normal way, fitting your build. That makes it easier for me.”

“Hmm…”

Well, I wanted Karen to still look like a girl, to be honest. I mean, she was a girl. But a girl could also look handsome and that was what I was aiming for. I didn’t know if Karen shared my thoughts on that but since she agreed with me, she probably did… I should ask her later.

“Good. This will still take time, however, so don’t expect it to be done anytime soon. I got a lot of work piled up and frankly, this is pretty low-priority on my list.”

“Nn, that’s fine. Thank you, Wanda.”

“No need to thank me, just doing my job.”

Even so, she still spared a thought or two about it. Or even more, if the scribbled notes were any indication.

Speaking of those notes… There’s so much… She even took into account the possible hairstyles…

I had no idea how skilled Wanda was at her work. The only clue I had was that she was well respected by Korwen and plenty of other people. Now, however, I could see that this respect was well-earned.

“Do you still want to look over it?”

“Nn? Ah, I’m done… Sis.”

“Mm… Would it be fine to look for a little longer?”

“Sure, go ahead.”

Having gotten permission, Karen returned to staring at the design paper in front of her, completely absorbed in her thoughts.

Well, it’s not like I can’t understand it…

Imagining how Karen would look like in these clothes… Whether they be the dress or the male clothing… It was fun. And the dress wasn’t that far away anymore either.

“Hey, Wanda. When do you think they would hold the celebration?”

“Mm… That depends. Usually, such a celebration would be planned months ahead. But this time is a little special since it is celebrating a current event… The old coot Korwen said he’d expect it within the next few days. Three days earliest, a week latest.”

“In three days? That’s quick…”

When they usually planned these events months ahead, then three days was… extremely fast.

“It won’t be as lavish as a properly planned celebration if I had to guess. In the first place, it also serves as an award ceremony for the mercenaries.”

“An award ceremony?”

“Basically the payment for the job you took.”

“... Why a whole ceremony, though?”

Didn’t he just request something? And then he should just pay us? Or did I miss anything?

“He’s a king. The sovereign of a country. He has to make his decisions look like they were the best possible choice for the sake of the country. In other words, it’s all for show.”

“A show, huh…”

“Yes. It’s pretty normal when a mercenary finishes an important job for the country. Especially one that was requested by the king personally. If it was the military who made the request, this wouldn’t happen.”

“Huh…”

But still… Knowing it was a show irked me a little… Then again, most celebrations were mostly for show, weren’t they? And if it bothered me every time, I’d never get to wear that dress together with Karen.

“Well, as long as I can see Sis in a dress.”

“You sure got your priorities straight.”

“Of course, I do.”

“There’ll be food, too.”

“Good food?”

“Things so good you can’t even begin to imagine them.”

Well now… My expectations were growing splendidly. If I ended up disappointed, I’d blame Wanda for it.

But, food… Haa… I can’t even eat that much anymore…

If the food really was that good, then it was a bit of a shame…

This is a stupid idea but… Maybe I can make my stomach larger…

Then I could eat more. That was worth some consideration. We had planned to try some things out before hitting the bed. I should keep it in mind for later.

“Is there anything else interesting?”

“Interesting, you say? No clue. If you are lucky, the company might be good. If you aren’t lucky, it can be an annoying kind of company. But in the worst case, you could just pretend to be a wallflower with your sister and enjoy the food.”

“Nn… I see…”

“But I’d say that the king here has at least enough in his head to ensure it will be halfway enjoyable. I don’t think you’ll have to worry much.”

“That’s good to hear.”

Well, in the end, there probably wasn’t much point in worrying about it. In the first place, it wasn’t even guaranteed that they’d hold a celebration… Although, I was a little interested in how those nobles were holding their parties. We could expect at least a little something, right?

“Yumi.”

“Nn? Are you done, Sis?”

“Well… Yes.”

She nodded, her cheeks a little flushed. I had no idea what exactly she had been imagining but… I could take a good guess. After all, I could totally relate to that…

“Then, I’ll clean up now.”

Wanda quickly sprung to action when she saw that Karen was done and collected the sheets of paper.

“You kids are free to go. And thanks for coming. That was a big help.”

“No problem. We’re looking forward to it.”

“Don’t put too much pressure on me. I might make it a size smaller around the chest by accident…”

“... I’ll try not to.”

If she made it any smaller, I’d probably not even fit into it because it got stuck elsewhere, not around the chest…

“Should we go, Sis?”

“Yes. Thank you, Wanda. Until tomorrow.”

“Until tomorrow.”

We waved to Wanda and then left the tent.

“... Should we go back?” Karen asked after a short pause.

“Nn.”

She took my hand and we made our way back, to our wagon.

“Yumi.”

“Nn?”

“I’m really looking forward to those dresses.”

“I am too. I’m sure you’ll look great in it.”

“Hehehe, and you will look great in yours too.”

We both giggled, hearing each other’s words.

“She made them a pair.”

“Nn.”

“We’ll have to thank her.”

“We should.”

Holding each other’s hand, we slowly walked through the camp. The light at the horizon was slowly receding, flushing the surroundings in the short-lived crimson light of the sunset.

I hope it’ll turn out well… I really do.