Taboo Journal
Chapter of Past Recollection: Sele’s Little Secret

We watched as the three little girls bothered Alma. I thought they had already talked with Alma yesterday but seeing their enthusiasm, maybe not. Or they didn’t have much time with her. Either way, the girls were surrounding her and barraged her with questions.

I admit I’m a little jealous, seeing them like that…

Even though I rationally understood that they hadn’t seen Alma in a long time, my emotions didn’t quite agree with me there. Still, while I might feel a little jealous, I was also happy for them. After all, their beloved big sister had come home to them.

“Seriously, they’re so cheerful…”

“But you’re happy for them, aren’t you? You’re smiling,” said Karen.

“Of course I am.”

All the gloom from earlier was completely gone. How couldn’t I, seeing how happy the girls were? As if the gloom had never even existed in the first place. Although, part of that was thanks to Mrs Korwen and the change of plans. Give credit where credit was due.

“Haa… And what happened to the captain?”

I turned around to look for our superior. To no one’s surprise, his wife had pulled him aside and was now chiding him.

“He doesn’t have it easy, either.”

“Mhm.”

Lucky for him, she wasn’t lecturing him for long and released him after he apologised a few times. Though there was no telling if she wasn’t going to continue later on.

“Ugh… Today’s just not my day.”

“Welcome back, Captain.”

“Mmm…”

With a languid expression, Korwen sat down at the table, slumping over. A sight that would have been all but impossible in his work mode. The contrast was quite amusing. The always stalwart and super capable mercenary captain, depressed after he got scolded by his wife.

“Maybe I should take a day off and dump all my work on Merim.”

“I don’t think he’ll enjoy that.”

“He keeps skipping out on his work, so he’s just getting his just deserts.”

Was he really skipping out on his work that much, though?

“But a day off might be good. Even if I know I can’t afford one right now…”

“Nn? Are there important things left to do?”

“Some… matters I need to sort out with the governor. Not something I can leave to Merim.”

He paused in between, thinking about what words to use. It was probably not something he wanted everyone to know, so he kept it vague.

“Either way, I still have work to do.”

“Then, how about you leave this to us, dear?”

Behind Korwen, his wife was looking down and smiling at him.

“You’re not telling me to leave now, are you?!”

“Oh? I thought you had work to do?”

“I do, but I still want to be here for this.”

“My, that is a problem. My husband intruding on all these young girls.”

“... Are you trying to ruin my reputation?”

“Nothing of the sort.”

Mrs Korwen chuckled when her husband grew increasingly more flustered.

“I am joking, dear. I won’t chase you away.”

“... Thanks for that. I was worried I’d get kicked out of my own home for a moment.”

“I wouldn’t do that unless the situation called for it.”

“...”

That’s a roundabout way of telling him that she would do it if she had reason to, though. Not very comforting. He didn’t have it easy.

“More importantly, dear. What did you promise the girls to bring them here?”

“I told them I’d play with them. And just so you know, I fully intended to do so.”

“My, then you better do so.”

They’d be really sad if he wasn’t going to play with them now after he promised to.

“But playing… Oh, I have an idea.”

Mrs Korwen clapped her hands together, having come upon an idea. Right after, she hurried into the wagon, leaving us behind in our confusion.

“I got a bad feeling about this,” said Korwen as he stared at the wagon’s door.

Whatever got Mrs Korwen into a hurry, she wasn’t coming back out. We could hear some noise that sounded like she was searching the wagon, though.

“I’ll go take a look at what she’s up to.”

Saying so, Korwen got up and joined his wife in the wagon.

“I wonder what they are doing…” mumbled Karen.

“We’ll see soon, though.”

I was curious about it but once they’d come back, we’d know.

“Maybe some game? They were talking about it, after all.”

“Nn, I think so, too.”

That said, it was mostly gambling games I had seen so far, typically with dice. I had my doubts about whether that type of game was all that good for the girls. Well, as long as they didn’t actually bet anything, it was probably fine…

What are they up to anyways?

I was busy pitying… I mean, talking with Korwen, so I hadn’t quite followed what Alma and the girls were doing. 

“Oh, their numbers increased.”

“Huh?”

Hearing my Karen, Karen followed my gaze over to Alma. A few seconds later, her gaze returned to me, though.

“Yumi…”

“Hey, it’s not wrong, is it?”

“Haaa…”

Their numbers did increase! Now, Alma was surrounded by four little girls! Four! Though technically speaking, one of them wasn’t little anymore but details.

“No wonder Lily didn’t say anything when the captain came back.”

Lily had sidled up next to Alma, listening to her stories, just like the other girls. She fit in surprisingly well with the other three. Though it had become more cramped with her around Alma, so Maya was now sitting in her big sister’s lap. And Alma was fluffing her ears with abandon.

I understand. I totally understand. I want to touch them, too!

And even though I understood, I was jealous. Because I wanted to touch them too. Maya, and Lily as well, were pretty protective of their ears and tails, after all. You couldn’t just walk up to them and fluff them. Yet, Alma was doing exactly that and Maya seemed more than happy to let her do that.

“Yumi.”

“Nn? Mgh?!”

Karen called out to me and suddenly grabbed my nose, blocking air from coming in.

“Mmpf? Sis?”

“You were staring a little too hard…”

At the same moment as those words left her mouth, something wrapped around my wrist. I looked down and saw her tail coiling around my arm.

“Sorry, Sis.”

I scooted a little closer to Karen and leaned against her. Right, I might not be able to get my fluff, but I did have something even better right beside me.

“Mm. It’s not like I don’t understand your feelings but at least, don’t make it so obvious.”

“Ahaha… I’ll try my best…”

That was easier said than done, though. I wasn’t all that aware of my facial expressions, after all. Actually...

“Do you think others would notice, though? Everyone says my expression is hard to read, after all.”

“Well… I don’t know. It feels pretty obvious, to me.”

“Nn…”

Well, she was with me pretty much all the time. Even if they were a little hard to read, it was probably easy for her by now.

“I do think you became more expressive, though.”

“Huh? Really?”

“Yes.”

So I was becoming more expressive? That was… well, nice?

“Maybe I should really be more careful then.”

“You should be careful either way.”

“... True.”

It wasn’t an excuse to blatantly stare, after all.

At that moment, the wagon’s door opened again and the couple reappeared. Mrs Korwen came first, followed by her husband who was carrying a big box in his arms.

“Girls, gather around.”

Mrs Korwen clapped her hands a few times, drawing everyone’s attention to her. Or more like, to the box that Korwen was putting down on the table.

“Ah, mom, is that…”

“Yes, dear.”

Alma seemed to recognise the box.

“Haven’t seen that in years…”

“Big Sis, what is that?” asked Emily, while staring at the box.

“Hehehe, that’ll be a little surprise.”

Alma chuckled, not really answering Emily’s question. Fortunately for the girls, Korwen opened the box as soon as he put it down, revealing the contents.

“What’s that?”

“Mmm?”

“...”

The three little girls all looked into the box with curiosity gleaming in their eyes. And right next to them Lily was similarly staring, but for a different reason.

“Woah! You actually have one of these?”

As for why Lily was so shocked… to be honest, I had no idea. Because all I saw was a box with a board game. Yeah, it was a board game.

“Mrs Korwen, is that a game?”

“Yes, Karen. Surprised?”

“... Very much so.”

Even Karen was surprised about it?

“Hey, Sis, is there something special about these games?”

“Yumi, you don’t know? They are really expensive. The only time I ever saw one was when I was still… in Aldreigh.”

With her family, most likely. And that family, as I knew by now, was a pretty big one.

“Are board games that rare?”

Back in my old world, board games were fairly common. Or at least, I was pretty sure they were. I didn’t really connect them with being expensive.

“I wouldn’t say they are rare… Some of them are common since you can just make the board yourself. But games like this one are.”

“There is a difference between them?”

“Yes. Just take a look for yourself.”

So I did. And I instantly understood why she said that. The wooden board was made of a beautiful piece of wood and intricately decorated and formed. There were patterns engraved on the border and the wood itself was shining as if someone had just polished it. The field itself was also carefully made, reminding me a little of some popular board games for families back in my world. It seemed to have been designed to show the plains with farms and small villages as well as the occasional forest. Even to me, it was clear that someone had worked on this for a long time, making it this beautiful.

But it wasn’t only the board. The play figures were similar wooden pieces, carved into various forms. People, monsters, animals, all kinds of things. They were so well-made that it was hard to believe these were made solely for a board game. You could put these on display and nobody would think of them as figures for a game.

What surprised me the most, however, was that on the underside of the board was a small mana crystal attached.

“... Hey, you’re not going to tell me… that this is a magic tool, are you?”

“Spot on, Yumi.”

Korwen grinned at me all smug as he confirmed my doubt.

“You kidding me? It’s a magic tool…”

I knew how expensive magic tools could be. Coupled with the high-quality make of this board and I couldn’t even begin to fathom the cost.

“Captain, I knew you had some money but to think you were this loaded.”

“Hahaha, seeing me in a different light now?”

“No, not really.”

“Huh?!”

Sorry, but seeing him so smug about his financial wealth was quite off-putting.

“Tsk, you’re no fun. Then, watch thi— Ah, it’s empty?”

Korwen tried to do something with the game board, most likely activating the tool. Nothing happened, though.

“Hey, Yumi, does this mana crystal have any mana left?”

He pulled the small crystal from the tool, showing it to me.

“Nn… Not really. It still has a little but…”

“Thought so… We need a new one, huh?”

“Should I recharge that crystal?”

“Huh? Oh, right… You can do that.”

“Nn.”

It wasn’t something I really had to do all that often, but I could even refill a regular mana crystal like this. It felt a little trickier but that might be simply because I was so used to the Lust-attributed mana and the pink crystals by now.

“Nn, that should do it? I hope?”

“That doesn’t sound very confident.”

“Well, I have no idea how much mana that tool needs… and I don’t want to accidentally break it because the crystal has too much.”

”I don’t think you’ll have to worry about that. It’s a lot sturdier than it looks.”

That was good, at least. It should be fine then.

By the way, a certain someone was staring at me really hard after I recharged the crystal. Speaking of which, Alma doesn’t really know much about me…

“Well, let’s see if it works this time… Ah, looks good. Here we go!”

Korwen pushed something on the board and then stepped back. The board lit up for a moment and I could sense the mana flowing through it. The tiles on the board lit up. Then, the ornaments on the board followed suit, before they suddenly began moving. The ornaments moved! Small figures walked across the board, and buildings seemingly emerged out of nowhere. Monster-like figures ran across the board. It was…. unlike anything I had ever seen before. The board came to life. Almost literally.

“It seems like the surprise worked, huh?”

Korwen looked at us, all smug again. But this time, I couldn’t blame him. Because I was just too… too flabbergasted. It was simply that amazing.

“Uncle… They’re moving! Moving!”

“Are they alive?”

“...”

“Wow.”

The three girls and Lily all similarly stared at the board. Everyone was surprised. Dumbfounded, even.

“What the heck is this…”

“I don’t know…”

Karen said that she had seen something like this before but even she was surprised.

This wasn’t a game anymore. This was a piece of art. I couldn’t describe it in any other way. That’s simply how amazing it was. Even now, the small wooden figures raced across the board. Monsters were chasing animals and people and attacking them.

“Captain, are you sure this is a board game? And not something you put on display?”

“It definitely is a game. Amazing, right?”

“Amazing doesn’t even begin to describe it.”

I had seen my fair share of magical stuff since coming here. But this was probably one, if not the, most fantastical thing so far.

“So, since we already brought it out, how about we play a bit, eh?”

“... Is that really okay? I mean… what if something breaks or gets damaged?”

“I told you just now already but this thing is really sturdy. You won’t need to worry about breaking it. I doubt even Karen could damage it unless she really tried to.”

“Is it that sturdy?”

It looked like regular wood to me. Apart from the fact that it was moving.

“It’s a magic tool. And you should know already what kind of material magic tools require.”

“They need monster materials but… Wait, are you saying…”

“That’s right. The entire board.”

It was all made from monster materials?!

“Holy crap…”

This was ridiculous.

“Language, Yumi dear.”

“... Sorry.”

Mrs Korwen chided me for my crude words but… I really wasn’t in the state of mind to bother about that right now. After all, if the entire board was made of monster materials, then… just how much did this cost? Honestly, I didn’t want to know anymore. I was probably better off not knowing.

“It reminds me a little of Yumi’s doll.”

“Nn? Now that you mention it.”

The tiny wooden figures were similarly moving around.

“Is it the same kind of magic?”

“It isn’t. Your dolls can do things on their own, right? These tiny play figures just repeat whatever they were told to do. If you watch for a while, you’ll see that they repeat what they do.”

“Ahhh…”

So they weren’t autonomous. Still, apart from that, they were quite similar.

“Uncle, Uncle!”

“Mh? What is it, Emily?”

“How do you play this?”

“Right, right, let me explain…”

Korwen proceeded to explain the rules to us. They were fairly simple, overall. Everyone had a figure representing a knight and had to move it across the board, gathering points by defeating monsters and saving people. Apparently, there was some flexibility in how those points were gathered exactly. Korwen explained that some used pre-determined tasks for the tiles on the field, while others used wooden cards. Since nobody had played this before except for the Korwen family, we decided to use the pre-determined tasks this time. To get a feel for the game and all that.

And so, we started a happy gaming session…

“And I’m done.”

“Ah.”

“...”

I watched as Alma finished the game again as the winner. Yeah, we had no chance. Absolutely none. She knew this game and she knew it well. Little surprise considering she grew up with it, while everyone else played for the first time today. It still vexed me a little, though. I was so close…

“Uhhh… We lost again!”

“We lost…”

“...”

The three girls stared at Alma’s figure. But no matter how much they stared, it wasn’t going to move away.

“Next time, we’ll win!”

“Just wait, Big Sis!”

“... Win!”

“Hahaha! You three think you can beat me? Think again! I won’t be taken down so easily!”

Alma laughed, her chest puffed up in pride. Her smug face reminded me of a certain someone. Some things sure stayed in the family, didn’t they?

“How can this be…”

On the other hand, you had Karen, who was dead last.

“Sis… You did all you could…”

“Ugh…”

I had this feeling before already but Karen was surprisingly pretty bad at board games. Or rather at games in general. I remembered, when we played with Fenna, she was also losing pretty badly. And the time we played cards with some mercenaries as well.

“You did your best, Sis. I’m proud of you.”

I patted Karen, hoping it would comfort her a little.

“Uhhh… Yumi…”

“Yes, yes, you did well.”

She really tried, you know? But no matter what she did, either luck wasn’t on her side or… someone else got in her way. That included me, of course. There was no mercy to be found when it came to games, after all. Even when it was Karen I was playing with.

By the way, Lily, who was quietly observing, came in third.

The Korwen couple didn’t join so it was only us six who were playing. Emily, Maya and Sele were objecting to that at first since Korwen promised to play with them, but they relented when he promised to join later.

“My, my, you girls did well. Is it fun?”

“It’s fun!”

“A lot!”

“Fun.”

“Is that so? That makes me happy to hear!”

Mrs Korwen smiled, seeing the responses from her darling girls.

“But how about we take a small break now? You’ve been playing for quite a while already.”

“Huh? We did?”

I looked up at the sky, to check for the sun’s position. I couldn’t quite remember when we started but it had been still pretty early in the day. Now, however, it was already well past noon. We played for quite a while.

“How about we have some snacks for now? What do you think of that?”

“Snacks?!”

“Yay!”

“...”

“Hehe, then, how about you three help me out a little?”

Snacks, huh?

“Oh, right… We have no fruits left for the juice. Emily, Maya, could you go and bring us some? Can you manage that?”

“Ah, we can!”

“We’ll bring the juice!”

“Great! Alma, could you accompany them?”

“Sure, mom.”

“Then, Sele, how about you help me get the snacks ready?”

Sele nodded and she followed Mrs Korwen inside the wagon. Meanwhile, Maya and Emily followed Alma to bring some juice.

“Yumi, is that…”

“Nn?”

I turned to Karen, confused for a second. When I followed her gaze to the wagon, though, I remembered.

Right, she wanted to talk with Sele.

And right now, she was alone with Sele.

“Nn, it’s probably that.”

To be honest, I was a little worried about how things would turn out.

“Yumi, Karen.”

As we watched the wagon, Lily came over to us. She was just as worried.

“You think it’ll work out?”

“Nn… I hope so.”

Mrs Korwen cared a lot for the girls, that’s why she chose such a roundabout method. We had no way of knowing what exactly she was talking about with Sele in there but I sincerely hoped everything would work out.

“I think it’ll be fine. Mrs Korwne knows what she is doing.”

“You think so?”

“Nn. I do.”

“... Well, you’re not wrong. She does know what she is doing.”

Lily sat down on my free side.

“But it’s still hard to just wait!”

“Woah, Lily?!”

Without warning, Lily leaned over to me. Or more accurately, she let herself fall in my direction, sandwiching me between her and Karen.

“Lily, that’s bad manners.”

“Ehh, let me do this just for today, Karen.”

Lily rested her entire weight against me so now I couldn’t move. It wasn’t uncomfortable or anything, mind you, but I was still a little surprised by the suddenness.

“Hey, this is actually pretty nice,” commented Lily.

“Great for you.”

Oh, I could feel something fluffy brushing against me. This… might not be all that bad. Lily on one side and Karen on the other.

“... I hope Rina won’t see this.”

“Mh? Why?”

“Well… won’t she get jealous?”

“Rina? Yeah, she might. Because we left her out.”

“... That’s not quite the type of jealous I meant.”

Lily giggled in response.

“But I guess I do feel bad about leaving her out of all of this.”

“Can’t be helped. She’s busy helping out.”

Still… it would have been nice if she had been here as well.

“We’ll just have to play together with her later.”

“Nn, that’d be nice.”

At that moment, the door of the wagon opened again. All eyes were gathered at the door. Out came a familiar small frame.

“Ah.”

Sele, seeing us looking at her, froze up a little. She didn’t… look worse, at least. Or so I thought until she averted her gaze.

Yeah, it would have been too nice if things could have been that easy.

That alone already told me just about everything. What we worried about had been true, hadn’t it?

Behind Sele, Mrs Korwen came out of the wagon. She looked… a little troubled.

I wonder what happened in there…

But for now, I wanted to cheer Sele up again. I spread my arms wide, looking at Sele. She gazed at me, confused.

“Go, dear. Don’t leave them waiting.”

Mrs Korwen pushed Sele from behind in our direction. Maybe that had been just the push she needed, as Sele immediately began to run and jump in my arms.

“... Yumi…!”

“Yes, yes. I’m right here, Sele.”

While I held Sele, Lily and Karen also sandwiched us in a hug.

“Look, everything’s fine, isn’t it? We’re always here.”

“... Mm.”

I could feel Sele relaxing in our tiny group hug.

“See, Sele. There’s nothing to worry about. No matter what, we all love you the way you are,” said Mrs Korwen, watching us with a big smile.

“Nn, we do.”

“You can always come to us.”

“That’s right. Don’t worry about those minor things!”

Sele’s tiny arms tightened around me, hugging me with all the might her tiny frame could muster. And that was quite a lot, to my surprise. If I wasn’t literally boneless, she might have crushed my spine. She was stronger than she looked.

After she had her fill of squeezing me, Sele relaxed her body again and shortly after let go me.

“Feeling better?”

“… Mm.”

“That’s great.”

“...”

I patted Sele and she stared at me with her big eyes.

“... Yumi.”

“Nn? What is it?”

“... Thank you.”

“... You’re welcome.”

I strongly ruffled her hair, making a complete mess out of it and making this little girl giggle happily.

“... Yumi!”

“Woah there.”

Sele once again dived into my arms. But this time not to seek comfort anymore. She happily rubbed her cheek against mine.

“Hey, that’s unfair if it’s only Yumi!”

“Don’t leave us out!”

And barely a moment later, Lily and Karen tried to join again. Now my cheeks were being squished from both sides, same as Sele. Moments later, all of us broke out into laughter. It took a bit until we calmed down.

“Haa… what are we doing?”

“Having fun?”

“Nn, I guess so.”

“...”

I turned to look at Sele, who was still being hugged by all of us.

“Hey, Sele.”

“...”

“We still have a lot to do. We haven’t beaten your big sister yet. So, let’s keep playing some more.”

“... Mm!”

And so, our long day continued as we tried to beat Alma in a board game.

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