I dart sideways while loosing another pair of arrows – these ones normal, with steel tips – at the approaching horde of goblins. She'd thrown her pistol directly into the face of one of the green spearmen before letting out a sharp whistle and making a gesture over her head that we'd long since agreed on.

Left. Two targets. Attack.

I even know exactly which ones she means; she wants me to aim for the two attempting to flank Joy while the wolfman is engaged with the other four in their front line. They drop as though puppets with their strings cut, shafts protruding from one's neck and the other's eye.

At the same time Sadie had shouted something and the mage, through obvious complaints, responds by casting a spell with a murky flavor, suddenly causing the rocky dust covering the floor of the cave tunnel to form slick mud under the feet of our quarry.

Joy has no trouble pushing back the now destabilized vanguard, bisecting one and disarming another. The only thing that would make it better is if he hadn't chosen to take a wound to his side in the process, but I've noticed his methods aren't that much different from Sadie's… at least in actual battle.

They'll both take a hit to give one.

And speaking of, the clang of a speartip glancing from the halfling's shield before biting into her forearm almost covers her pistol's report a split second before the other monsters are showered by the back of her target's head.

Gruesome. Effective, but gruesome.

...As well as devious. Sadie takes the opportunity to feign that the injury is enough to make her drop her weapon.

The three goblins engaging her let out a roar of victory, wasting no time trying to capitalize on her apparent blunder... only for the first to be met with a shield to the face and the second a cylindrical wound through the chest as she deftly sidesteps the third, who earns a brief stay of execution when he slips on the ensorcelled ground.

An arrow to the neck cuts his reprieve short.

Finding Joy had already made short work of the three he'd been facing – bisecting two with a single swing – Sadie calls us for a quick huddle and cleanup.

"If you two weren't so damned lazy, I might be able to save some magic for more practical things," Lyra complains, but it doesn't prevent her from flipping through her book to a dogeared page, this one with a low-end healing spell.

Our leader simply shrugs. "Not like you even care that much. You hide out on the back line, right where you're supposed to be, so you can do this when we take the hits for you."

And then she sneers smugly. "Or would you rather be in the front?"

"Fuck you too."

"Fuck me yourself, you coward."

"Hey, hey!" Joy interjects, "We're supposed to be a team, remember?" "We are a team!" they both snap in unison.

"It doesn't mean we have to like each other." "She's right, I sure don't," Sadie adds.

I wish I had any idea what she's saying, but sometimes it's not necessary – the situation is clearly getting out of control!

So I stop pulling arrows free and quickly put a hand on the halfling's shoulder. When she looks I give her a concerned expression and a small shake of my head before glancing down the cave before us.

Sadie lets out a massive sigh and shoots one last glare at the mage before gesturing me a simple agreement that I know she means as conceding, at least to me.

Good.

Later when we finally make camp – a funny word for setting up that strange portal house again – and we've taken whatever meal the horrifying maid has once again prepared, I join Sadie in the bath.

I probably shouldn't… for obvious reasons, but at this point it seems what little time she spent at the colony adjusted her to communal bathing. Despite Lyra's outright refusal, the halfling still pulls me along whenever she goes.

But not Joy.

Whatever. The humans have strange ideas about modesty.

…

That said… I never know where to look, not anymore, so I tend to just close my eyes and try to focus on the water. At least until she taps me on the hand, causing me to flinch.

And look up, getting an eyeful of skin and scales in the process.

「Learn,」 she gestures.

…

And then, the same gesture more emphatically.

「Here?」 I reply.

She… she wants to learn more of the cant? Now?

「Not question,」 she answers.

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Her grammar is still incredibly childlike. There should be a lot more nuance to it, but at least she knows how to indicate that she's asking something… even if it's completely wrong. That isn't even a particle, it's a literal object we use to… oh never mind. It's not worth ruminating over.

At least I know what she's trying to say: 'why not?'

Well, whatever.

We spend the next hour or so going over a literal handful of vocabulary, including my attempt at teaching her a couple of phrases – a definite weak point of hers, considering her grammar at the moment literally consists of smashing together a series of the few nouns she knows into something almost intelligible.

It's enough to communicate, at least a little. For now that's good enough.

…

I just wish she were a little bit smarter. She's already proven that she has a knack for tactics, though we still need to rely on Lyra for strategy.

…

…

No, I have to address it. It's been getting out of hand.

「Why mean?」 I ask, and she looks visibly confused until I pantomime reading a book.

...And then furrows her brow…

…

And then looks even more confused.

「Not know.」

Huh.

We sit in silence for another moment as I'm suddenly no longer distracted from my current predicament and quickly look away, struggling to prevent myself from blushing. I'm sure I've failed though…

「Maybe question,」 she finally says and holds her fingers to the sides of her head as though horns, followed by circling a finger above her head.

...The demon empress.

…

…!

Oh my ancestors…

Her Domain.

It's her Domain.

Malevolence.

「Can you stop?」

「Maybe question.」

Maybe? What a weak answer.

From her apologetic shrug I can tell that she's picked up on my disappointment, but I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. For as dense as she is, Sadie can be incredibly perceptive.

...Unless it's in matters of love.

…

At least she isn't aiming any of her hostility at me, but it's still concerning. This could hurt our group dynamics going forward. That's how parties die.

And then she scoots closer and bumps my shoulder with her own before saying, 「Okay question.」

「What?」

「You question. Face question.」

…

It just now occurs to me that I've been blushing almost the entire time we've been in the water. How I could I not be!? Ever since… since… ugh! I have no issues being nude around anyone but her!

I quickly fan my face as though I've been in the bath for too long and point toward the door before rising to leave, turning to face it to break my line of sight as the splash of her doing the same reaches my ears. But I don't stop, I simply walk straight out the door…

And unexpectedly into Alice's waiting arms, wrapping me immediately in a towel as she whispers in my ear in perfect eldra common.

"You are insufficient for the young miss," she hisses. "Grow or die. I will kill you myself if necessary."

I stand in mute horror, lost in the implications of what I've just experienced as the maid takes another towel from her dimensional storage to wrap it around Sadie without a word, who thanks her in that language I still don't fully understand.

But I at least understand a 'thank you.'

A fresh dress is waiting for me in the adjoined changing room. Why exactly she always has dresses for me when she dresses Sadie like a boy, it certainly isn't her activity level. She spends so much time lazing around! I'm not even sure how, though. Many of my… of our kin seem content to sit and watch leaves fall, but I've never been comfortable with it. I've always needed to keep moving in one way or another.

…

I wonder if I'd have to learn to be more like her if… if…

A hand touches my still bare shoulder from the back, making me flinch. When I turn to look I flinch again, met with Sadie's face a few inches from mine and wearing a concerned expression.

And then she points at my face again.

This is going to be a long… however long it's going to be, whatever it even is.

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