Chapter of Bottled Love: Before the Celebration

“Well then, I am happy to announce that all of you are healthy. No troublesome diseases, no chronic ailments. If that isn’t a happy thing, then I don’t know either.”

The High Priest announced, sounding quite satisfied. His examination of Sele, which resulted in a ‘She’s as healthy as can be,’ had ended a few minutes prior. It was quite a relief to hear that everyone was in good health.

“Though I admit, the Great Spirits sure deemed today a surprise for me.”

He glanced over to Karen, Rina and the still sleeping Sele. After resting his gaze on them for a few seconds, he then glanced over to me, before returning his gaze to the group looking at no one in particular.

“Now, if you have any lingering questions, I would be happy to address them now, before you have to leave. I believe you all are tied up with another appointment soon, are you not?”

“Eh?”

Wait, did he know about the celebration this evening?

“That is correct but… how did you know?” asked the Elder, surprise audible in her voice.

“Ahaha! Fairy Lady, of course, I would know! I am the High Priest, fervent servant of the Great Spirits! Naturally, an invitation has been extended to our grounds as well!”

“Ahh…”

Of course… They had been involved as well since they had taken care of the wounded. No wonder they were invited as well.

“Ahhh, how am I looking forward to witnessing the ever-beautiful fairy lady in an evening gown! Such joy!”

“...”

Although, I had my doubts if this was a good idea...

“Seriously, you never change, do you? Only your body gets older yet your mind stays a child all the same.”

“So cruel, Fairy Lady!”

With theatrical gestures, he showed how heartbroken he was, eliciting the Elder to shake her head and sigh.

“Let’s stop with the jokes. Old man… No... Mr High Priest. Thank you for taking your time for us.”

“Mhm, it was a pleasure. I have seen many a curious thing today, that is reward enough.”

The two faced each other, bearing serious expressions as if their previous banter had never happened.

“Then, I assume there are no further questions from me?”

“Are there?”

The Elder and the High Priest both looked at us as they posed their question. Well, since we were at it, I raised my hand.

“Oh, the little one from the bonded couple, what is it you wish to ask?”

“Ahh, well… You mentioned to me about inspecting myself… I did try with the tool you lent me but, honestly, I have no idea what to look for or what to do…”

“Mhm? Pray, tell me, how are you examining yourself?”

“I try to look at the mana…”

He tilted his head as if he wasn’t sure what I was saying.

“... With mana sight?”

“Nn, with mana sight.”

“No spell?”

“Uhh… I can’t really use spells.”

“... Oh.”

Behind the mask, I could see his eyes widen in surprise.

“I see. That makes things a little difficult. We use a specialised spell to help examine the state of whatever we touch… If it had been just not knowing I would have happily taught you but… This makes it difficult.”

Right, difficult it was.

“Mm… I am deeply sorry, but I have no idea how to relieve this dilemma.”

“Is that so…”

Well, it was worth a try. But if he didn’t know anything either, then there wasn’t much I could do. I’d have to try and figure it out myself.

“The most I can tell you is the feeling.”

“The feeling?”

“Correct.”

The feeling, huh… Maybe that would help?

“Then, if you could…”

“Very well.”

With a nod in response, he began to explain.

“The spell we use is given to us by the grace of the Great Spirits. With it, we can see the make-up of a living being’s body. The skin, the muscles, the skeleton, the organs. We see the flow of the blood in our mind’s eye, the beating heart and the mana pulsing through our very fabric. It is akin to viewing a painting, but the subject of it being inside the body. The more skilled you are, the more detailed the painting.”

He paused for a few seconds, before continuing.

“Healing magicians need to learn the meaning of the painting they are looking at. But I do not believe such knowledge would be of much help in your case.”

“Because there’s not much to look at?”

“Ahaha! That is true! Admittedly… As someone who has done this for a long time, it was… shocking.”

Who would expect to find just about nothing when they expected a regular person’s body, after all…

“Now that I have explained thus, I have to say, putting the feeling into words is hard.”

“Nn…”

He sighed, probably out of helplessness.

“Mm… Mr… High Priest…”

“Yes, Milady Mortas?”

“The way… the spell… works…”

“... You mean, the theory behind it?”

Ria nodded and the High Priest let out a short gasp.

“I see. Yes. If it is the method then I can explain that… Maybe I should have begun with that? Ahh, the fool is me.”

“...”

“Now, the method. Yes, yes, Great Spirits be thanked that I have been instructing our new faithful. The method behind it is exceedingly simple. The mana is a medium, recording—or rather, taking the shape of—what it touches. This image, we return to our mind, visualising it.”

Now, this already sounded a little more helpful.

“I pray hope this explanation is a little more useful.”

“Nn… I’ll try to figure something out.”

“That is a relief to hear. Then, if you don’t mind me asking…”

“Nn?”

The High Priest stared at me.

“I have one… Nay, two requests. I have lived many years but even then, I still encounter things I never deemed possible before. Especially now, with the advances Aldreigh is making, the times are changing. The wind of change is blowing, they say. But I believe the wind will be little less than a storm. In this storm, I wish to help as many people as I can. As such, one request is, should you find a solution to your problems, that you could share them with me.”

“Eh?”

Sharing them? He meant if I managed to inspect myself?

“Not just this one matter but the problems you encounter in the future as well. The other request is… that I share this knowledge with my fellows, so that should we ever happen upon another like you, that we can help them, that this knowledge, your experiences won’t be lost to time.”

“...”

He fell silent, waiting for my reply, my answer.

“... If that is all, then please do.”

“... I cannot thank you enough. In the name of the Great Spirits, I will make use of this knowledge.”

He bowed as he gave his thanks.

“Although, I very much doubt you will find another like me… and… We won’t be here in the capital for much longer so I don’t think I’ll be able to tell you anything.”

“I understand that much. Should you ever return here, I hope you could remember this place and our request.”

“Nn.”

I honestly doubted someone like me would pop up anytime soon again… But I wasn’t the first one either. That monster Yumias had been doing this before. Who could say she wouldn’t do it again? And if that was the case, if it helped even if just a little, then I didn’t mind. The High Priest seemed like an honest person.

“Old man.”

“Yes, Fairy Lady?”

While I was still caught up in our previous exchange, the Elder drew his attention to her.

“You mentioned a storm… What were you talking about?”

“The Akkian Empire starting another war. Aldreigh’s breakthroughs in magic research. The internal political struggles and the assassinations in Krohmea. The independent cities forming a council. The Federation of Bruven mobilising its armies. And among them all, there are talks about the fanatical worshippers of the Great Witch.”

“...”

A stunned silence followed. After several seconds, Ria finally broke the silence.

“...High Priest… That information…”

“Ahaha! Whatever could you be talking about, Milady Mortas?”

“...”

“... Nothing.”

After a sigh, Ria just shrugged her shoulders instead of pursuing the matter.

“High Priest… We thank you... for your time... but I believe… it is time…”

“Is it already? I wished to tell you a little more but if it is already this late... Ahh, such a shame. But before you leave!”

With vigour, he turned around and disappeared into the small examination room. After a short moment, he reappeared, carrying something. With this something in hand, he approached the Elder, a spring in his step.

“Fairy Lady!”

“I refuse.”

“Agh?!”

He nearly tripped over his own feet at the Elder’s curt refusal. Not that I even knew what she was refusing…

“Fairy Lady! I haven’t even made my request!”

“It can’t be any good.”

Did she just refuse him without even waiting for his request? And here I thought she knew what this was about...

“I just wished to ask if you would allow me to be your partner for tonight’s celebration.”

“And in the end, you still ask…”

The Elder rubbed the bridge of her nose, reminding me of Korwen when he was troubled.

“Just for this single night, oh Fairy Lady! Grant me just this one wish!”

“Uhhh…”

“Just this once!”

He dove to the ground, pleading to her on his knees.

“You…”

Apparently, the Elder had some troubles refusing this… extremely vigorous request.

“Mm… Why not… do it?”

“Miss Ria?!”

“Why not… stay here… until tonight…”

“Miss Ria, please do not joke around.”

There was a faint smile on Ria’s lips, likely the reason she assumed Ria was messing with her.

“I am… serious… though…”

“...”

“We’ll have… someone deliver… your clothes… Then… that shouldn’t… be a problem… right?”

“Miss Ria.”

“We won’t… be here… much longer… You, too… should enjoy… the time…”

“...”

The Elder fell silent. After a few seconds, she finally let out a sigh.

“I give up.”

“Ohhhh?!”

Hearing this, the High Priest jumped to his feet, arms raised in the air, letting out a roar full of joy.

“You… Grow up a little. Haaa… Seriously… Then again, men never grow up, do they?”

Yet, despite her complaints, a smile adorned her lips as she watched the High Priest expressing his joy.

“Miss Ria, I’ll leave the rest to you.”

“Mm… Enjoy your… time…”

“...”

“We’ll take… our leave…”

With those words, the end of our little excursion came. The High Priest had gone from simply shouting to praising the Great Spirits to high heavens. Well, since he was clearly not in a state to talk with us anymore, I just left the magic tool on the table and our group went our way. The Elder waved us goodbye as we left through the large double door.

“That was… a surprise…” muttered Karen, once the door fell shut.

“Nn… You could say that.”

Even through the closed door, we could still hear the shouts of the High Priest… Hopefully, his vocal cords were going to be fine tonight.

“Time to return.”

“Nn.”

And yes, we tactfully ignored the poor priest standing next to the door, looking completely bewildered from the High Priest’s shouting…

---

Nothing much happened on our return trip. We peacefully arrived at the mercenary camp. Busy mercenaries ran to and fro, like usual. Although I had to note that a lot more of them were lazing around than usual.

After reporting to Korwen that we had returned, the four of us—Lily, Rina, Karen and me—found a free table to sit down at. Ria had parted with us after reporting. And Wanda hadn’t called for us either. The only thing she reported to Korwen was that she was making good progress and that Karen and I should come by later for the finishing touches. In other words, we were free until it was time to leave.

“I guess the Elder and the High Priest really are…” said Lily.

“It is a bit of a surprise...” answered Karen.

“Yes…”

“Nn?”

Lily and Karen smiled wryly at each other.

“You mean about her being the High Priest’s partner?”

“Yes. Yumi, do you know what that means?”

“No, not really… But I guess it’s important?”

A partner… On this occasion, it probably meant more than just being a dance partner…

“Well, it does leave an impression if they turn up together. And as far as I know, the High Priest is unmarried. So, him coming together with the Elder...”

“Is going to be taken pretty seriously?”

“You could say that.”

Well, the Elder didn’t seem all that against it either… and she probably knew that as well… She did… right?

“Coming together…”

I imagined the Elder and the High Priest entering a large hall, arms linked and in evening clothes.

“Yumi? Is something funny?”

Apparently, my expression gave my thoughts away immediately. At least, to Karen.

“... I just imagined the Elder and the High Priest linking arms.”

“Mh? And why is that funny?”

“The height difference.”

The High Priest was… quite the tall man. And the Elder was just as short as I was. Rather than a couple, wouldn’t that look like a father escorting his daughter?

“Oh… Well, they’ll… manage.”

“... Nn.”

Likely thinking the same, Karen also couldn’t hide a small grin. I could hear an exasperated mutter from Lily, about how we shouldn’t be ones to talk, but kind as I was I ignored it.

“Hey, Big Sis. Will that man also wear the mask there?”

“Uhh… I think so?”

Speaking of that mask… Did the Elder know what he looked like beneath that mask? She probably did, unless he had worn it since he was a child.

“Huh...“

“Well, we’ll see tonight, I guess.”

“... I wish I could go too. I don’t want to stay behind.”

Rina slumped onto the table, resting her chin on her arms.

“I’ll stay here too, Rina.”

“Mmm…”

With a strained smile, Lily patted Rina’s head and ruffled her hair.

“More…”

“Yes, yes, Madam Spoiled.”

If she could purr, she’d likely start anytime soon now… A content smile plastered all over her face.

“Lily, you aren’t joining either?”

“Mh? No, I’m not. Papa didn’t want me to, for some reason… I think it’s because Mrs Karker and her family will be there but…”

Then, only Karen and I would go? Well, and the Elder.

“He really seems to dislike her, doesn’t he? Even though she’s been so nice to us,” said Karen.

“Nn. Lily, do you have any idea about why?”

“None... I did try to ask some of the others but the only thing I found out is that it is some grudge from long ago. I was still small back then so I don’t really remember much from that time...”

Not that she had grown much taller…

“I think it is related to why he dislikes Mama so much… But I don’t know much more.”

Greyward wanted revenge on Yumias and he also disliked the Karker family… And Mrs Karker knew about both of those things as well.

“Well, he never talks much about either of those topics. Ah, but don’t mistake him for someone who hates everyone, yes? He usually doesn’t hate people without a reason.”

“Ahaha… We won’t, Lily, we won’t.”

“As long as you understand.”

Satisfied, Lily nodded before returning her attention to ruffling Rina’s hair, until it was a complete mess. The heck was she doing?

“Anyway, I won’t be coming along. It’s only a few who will go anyway, right?”

“Nn, I think so?”

Who was it again… Korwen, the Elder, Karen and me. Then… Merim and Greyward? Oh, and Fenna as well, if I recalled correctly. Who else? I forgot. Either way, not many.

“Don’t let some unsavoury nobles approach you.”

“I’ll make sure nobody will approach her, Lily.”

“Karen, hearing that makes me even more worried… Don’t be too overprotective of her. And don’t punch anyone.”

“Who do you take me for, Lily?”

“Someone who can only see red when it comes to Yumi.”

“Lily!”

“See?”

I watched as Lily teased Karen and Karen raised up in protest. Meanwhile, Rina, her hair a complete mess, had stealthily moved closer to Lily, leaning against her. Watching the three of them bicker like this really made me happy.

“Yumi!”

“Nn?”

“Am I, am I that overprotective?”

“... No?”

“Really?”

“Nn.”

Letting out a sigh of relief, Karen, reclined on her seat.

“As long as there won’t be any casualties.”

“Lily!”

“Waah! Scary! Rina, save me! Wait, Rina, the heck are you doing?”

“...”

“Rina?”

While Lily tried to tease Karen again, Rina had fixated her gaze on Lily’s chest. Or actually, slightly below it.

“Lily!”

“Yes, Rina?”

“Let’s take a bath!”

“... I don’t mind, but can I ask why?”

“I want to see your belly button!”

“... Excuse me?”

Her… belly button?

“Rina, could you repeat that?”

“I want to see your belly button!”

“... Why.”

“Don’t know.”

Yeah, everything’s normal over here…

---

In the end, the four of us actually went to take a bath, allowing Rina to have her eyeful of Lily’s admittedly adorable belly button. We had more or less planned to take one anyway before visiting Wanda, so this was fine. Afterwards, we parted ways with Lily and Rina, since it was about time for us to visit Wanda. Right there, at her tent, we were now looking at her handiwork with eyes full of astonishment.

“”Ohhhh!””

“Feast your eyes on this.”

“Wanda… you’re awesome.”

I just couldn’t describe it in any other way than awesome. She really had managed to finish in time. In front of our eyes were two finished dresses. Each was a black one-piece with embroidery along the hem. On the right side of the chest was another embroidery, colourful and designed like a crest. The mercenary’s emblem.

“It was quite a lot of work finishing this in time. I’m glad that Mrs Korwen and the others helped out. Thank them later, you hear.”

“Nn, will do.”

“Will do.”

They had done a really good job, after all.

“Now, we don’t have much time left, so get into those clothes. Get going.”

“Nn.”

“Okay.”

On Wanda’s behest, we changed our clothes, putting on the finished dresses. They even came with a pair of sandals each that fit surprisingly well. Overall, the dress was light and fluffy, a completely different feeling than the time it was still a work in progress. Likely because it had still been rather rough on several patches.

“Mh. Looks like this one fits well. Any discomfort?”

“No, none at all.”

“Good. Hold your arms up.”

“Like this?”

I did as I was told so that Wanda could look all around and check if everything was fine.

“Good, good. Everything seems in order.”

Nodding to herself, Wanda then turned to Karen, who had finished changing as well.

”Yumi... Don’t stare like that.”

“Sorry, that’s impossible.”

There was no way I could tear my eyes off this wonderful view. Her bare shoulders, her alluring collarbone, her legs peeking out below the hem. All the while the dress accentuated her curves, which were more mature than mine. Averting my eyes would be a sacrilege. I had to burn this image in my mind and feast on it forever.

“Sis. You’re beautiful.”

“Yu, Yumi!”

Ah, watching her blush was also good.

“Looks like everything’s good here too. Haa… Finally, this is done.”

Having skillfully ignored our idiotic display of love, Wanda sat down on her chair, leaned back and sighed. Hearing her mutter, the two of us returned to reality. Right, we weren’t alone...

“Good work, Wanda.”

“Nn, good work.”

“You’re welcome.”

From her position on the chair, Wanda looked at us once again.

“Have to say, though… It really looks good on both of you. Is this because you’re still young? Or is heaven just that unfair?”

“You were the one who designed it, Wanda.”

“No matter how much work I do, clothes can only do so much. Ahh, I nearly forgot.”

Wanda stood up and went back to her work utensils, retrieving something.

“Here, wear this.”

“These are… flowers?”

“Yes. I’m glad I asked the Elder yesterday for them. Didn’t expect she wouldn’t come back either. Now, if you’ll excuse me.”

“Nn?”

Rather than just handing me to wear them, Wanda approached me and fiddled with my hair.

“Now, this is good. Next, girl, come here.”

“Me too?”

“Of course, you too. Now hold still.”

“Ah, but…”

“Hold still, I said.”

“Yes…”

Moments later, Wanda stepped back and looked at her work. A small, pink-petaled flower was resting in Karen’s hair.

“This flower…”

I felt like I had seen it before…

“It’s the Witch’s Flower. Since you two are already treating each other as family, I figured this would be the most appropriate.”

The Witch’s Flower… Ahh, wasn’t that the flower I had been given before once?

“The Witch’s Flower…”

“Devotion to the family and perseverance for the sake of your loved ones. It also symbolizes a young blossoming love. Isn’t it the perfect flower for the two of you?”

Was, was it really?

“Well, now you two look good to go. Seriously, you’ll have to be careful or you’ll draw all the men’s eyes to you.”

“I don’t think that’s something you can be careful about…”

“Right. Too late now anyway. If it happens, just hide behind that idiot Korwen.”

“Ahaha…”

I sincerely hoped it wouldn’t come that far.

“Now, my job is finally over.”

“Thank you for your hard work, Wanda.”

“Yes, yes. I know, I know. Just go and have your fun, you hear?”

“Nn, we will.”

We certainly would. After all, I was accompanied by Karen wearing a pretty dress. Ahh, I had been looking forward to this a lot. I’d definitely make sure to have a lot of fun. Yes, with Karen this prettied up, there was no way I wouldn’t.

“Ah.”

“Ah.”

Our eyes met as we both stared at the other and we averted our eyes in a hurry. Being caught staring was… a bit embarrassing...

“You girls… Aren’t you a little past that stage?”

Even Wanda couldn’t help but smile a little as she watched us exchanging furtive glances at each other.

“Haa… Well, guess I can understand that a little… Mh? Hey, your escort has come.”

“Huh?”

Our escort?

“Wanda, are Yumi and Karen here?” came a familiar voice from outside.

“They are.”

“Great. We’re about to leave so tell them to come out.”

So, it was time now…

“You both heard him. Get out. And have fun.”

“Nn. Thank you, Wanda. Really.”

“Thank you.”

“Get out, I said. Go, go.”

Blushing ever so slightly, she threw us out of her tent. And outside, we were greeted by a small group of familiar people.

“Oh my…”

“Now, that’s a sight for sore eyes.”

“Miss Wanda did quite a good job.”

“Nn… Captain?”

In front of us was a tall man, hair and beard groomed so well, I had trouble recognising him at first.

“Yes, it’s your captain, all right. I know this doesn’t suit me.”

“No… I was just surprised.”

He wore black clothes accentuated with red and a few other colours. The clothing did little to hide his muscles, as usual… Looking closer, he actually wore the chest piece of an armour, as well as greaves and armoured gauntlets. The emblem of the mercenaries was proudly displayed on the chestpiece as well.

“... Is it all right to wear armour?”

“We’re mercenaries, it’s only right for us to do so.”

That was… quite the argument. Also, neither Karen nor I wore armour…

“Well, this is just armour for show anyway, so no need to worry.”

“I see.”

Well, if he said so… Rather than caring about that, I peeked behind him to look at the others.

“Everyone really did their best.”

“Of course we did. Otherwise, I wouldn’t take them along, you know?”

“How rude, Captain. Weren’t you the one who didn’t want to get ready until your wife dragged you away?”

“Merim… You shouldn’t talk like that about your captain.”

Merim was wearing armour and clothes in a similar style to Korwen. Since he was on the more slender side, however, the clothes weren’t stretched by mountains of muscles. His hair was also groomed and he looked like quite the stunning young man.

“Clothes make the man, don’t they, Yumi?”

“Nn, they do.”

“Hey, you two, why are you looking at me when you say that?”

“Well…”

“You know…”

If he always took care of himself like this, he probably would be quite popular. Then again, he already was married so maybe he had no need to. But Helma would surely enjoy it if he did…

Either way, we left Merim alone and looked at the remaining group.

“Ohh, Fenna looks quite good as well.”

“You, you think so?”

“Nn.”

Fenna, like us, wore a dress. However, different from us, a sense of maturity exuded from her. Something, we could never achieve. Her dress, like Korwen’s and Merim’s clothes, was mainly black with a red accent.

“I bet they will flock to her, right, Sis?”

“They definitely will.”

Maybe something would even come out of it tonight?

“Then, last is Greyward… He’s black.”

“Black.”

“Really black.”

The only thing I could make out except for his face was… black.

“If he wore a helmet he’d be completely black.”

“Right?”

“You girls…”

The person in question wasn’t all that amused by our lackadaisical judgement.

“Can’t you say something nice about me too? Look, don’t I look awesome?!”

And now he was posing.

“I think it’s better if you ask Lily for that.”

“I already did.”

“You… did…”

Somehow, this was sad…

“Well, that aside… Is that everyone, Captain?”

“Except for the Elder, yes.”

“Mr Captain, didn’t you want to bring someone else along?”

“Mh? Ahh, I couldn’t decide on the last person. Ria refused, Greyward doesn’t want Lily to come along, and most of the men don’t really care either. They’d come at most for the food. I was thinking of taking someone from Fenna’s squad but…”

“You’ll only trouble them, Captain,” interrupted Fenna.

“You heard her. So, with the Elder, it’ll be just the seven of us.”

Seven, huh…

“Anyway, we should be on our way. We got a carriage waiting for us. Are you ready?”

“Nn, we are!”

“Yes!”

“Good. Then, let’s get going.”