135 -) Reunion
Wuma was at home, preparing dinner as always. She had already taken care of some of the housework, but not all of it. She used to have Woya, who normally would help her. However, her daughter was no longer there. It wasn’t just because Wuma couldn't handle the chores alone. After losing her two precious daughters in a way that is potentially most vicious, she nearly lost her will to live. Even after she mostly recovered, her health wasn’t as good as before because of the pain. Now, she could only do house chores half-heartedly.
Dinner was nearly ready by the time her husband usually came home. At that moment, she heard the front door open. She guessed her husband must have come, as no one else would come at this hour, not that they could get in without her opening the door to them.
She took the cooking pot off the fire and set it aside, then headed out of the kitchen to see who had come. She indifferently looked toward the door after it was in her line of sight, but strangely, her husband was not entering, but staying at the door threshold without moving while the door was still open. She even thought that he brought someone home, as she felt someone else behind the door.
The look on Wark’s face was quite strange. His face and beard looked wet, as if they'd dried with something sticky. His eyes looked red and puffy, which should have panicked Wuma. However, what she focused most on was the smile on his face. It was a smile she had never seen on his face before—not even before they lost their children. She looked surprised, even a bit horrified, instinctively. It was the smile of someone who had freed themselves from all worldly worries and found absolute peace—someone who wouldn't mind dying right then and there.
Then he suddenly sidestepped as if to give way to someone else. She thought that he would introduce the visitors, so she looked toward the people who were now in sight. However, as soon as she saw who they were, her eyes widened, and her legs started to shake as if her knees couldn't hold her own weight.
Two brown-haired girls were standing there, looking at her with sad, tear-filled eyes. There was a blond-haired girl behind them, but Wuma could not see her because the girl was standing short behind the other two girls, and Wuma’s focus was not on the girls.
“M-mom!” Wyn said, and tears started to flow down her face.
As if that was proof that she did not see it wrong, Wuma took a step that looked like she was carrying a mountain on her back toward Wyn and Woya. She raised her shaking hand toward them, and suddenly Woya dashed toward her and embraced Wuma.
“MOM!... M-mom, mom, mooomm!!” Woya called her mother again and again as she held her mother tightly.
“Mom, sniff!” Wyn also held her mother from the side and cried more.
“... Woya…” Wuma started to sniff, kiss, and buried her face in Woya while holding her and crying. “Wyn…”, then she did the same to Wyn.
Wark also came behind while her eyes filled with tears again and hugged both of the girls from behind. The girls were held by both of their parents. The four of them stood like that for a few minutes while crying.
On the doorstep, Elaris was also crying while watching the scene. She suddenly vaguely remembered her parents, whom she had lost when she was still a small child, and then remembered her former party members, who were like a family to her. However, like a strong girl who experienced many hardships, she felt happy for Wyn and Woya, who are like sisters to her now.
When the family members calmed down, Wuma told them to come in and sit down. Since they just barged in, the entrance part of the main room was filled with footprints. They took off their shoes and were about to go back in, but Woya noticed that they forgot Elaris, who was standing there with a gentle smile and red eyes.
“Elaris,” Woya smiled and called her. “Come on in.” Then she called her in as she reached out her hand toward Elaris.
Wuma went inside the kitchen to bring the meal she had prepared, as she thought that the girls might be hungry, as well as her husband and herself. However, she saw one more person beside Woya, holding her hand and getting in with her.
“... Oh, who might this cute girl be?” Wuma asked curiously.
“Oh, Mom. She is Elaris. We all live in the same house in Yargan.” Woya said cheerfully.
“Hi, ma’am. I am Elaris, a companion of big sisters Wyn and Woya. Pleased to meet you.” Elaris greeted Wuma with a bow and introduced herself.
“My, my… What a lovely girl. Big sisters, is it? Thank you for getting along with my daughters.” Wuma said with an affectionate smile.
“N-no, no. If anything, it is big sisters who look after me, so I am thankful.” Elaris seemed flustered when praised, so she tried to deny her merit.
After the greetings, Wuma set the table for dinner, and all of them filled their bellies. The meal was for just 2 or 3 people, so it was not enough. So Wuma brought some dried food as a side dish. Woya tried to help her as a habit of returning home, but Wuma rejected her as she claimed that she wanted to serve her long-lost children.
She did not stop smiling the whole time from joy. She occasionally wiped away her tears that kept coming because of excessive emotions. Wark was also smiling the whole time softly, although his smile turned bitter from time to time as if he remembered something unpleasant.
“Did you like the meal? I am sorry, I would have prepared a much grander table if I knew…” Wuma said regretfully.
“No, Mom. It is okay. We did not inform you beforehand after all, so how would you know?” Wyn said as she had already returned to her calm demeanor.
“Yes, Mom. Whatever you would have prepared, I would still love it.” Woya said cheerfully. “ I must have missed your cooking so much.” She added with a longing look.
“Come on, it was you who was mostly taking care of cooking before you left,” Wuma said with a soft smile. “So, don’t be too modest.”
“T-the food was delicious. I seem to understand now how big sister Woya is so good with cooking.” Elaris said anxiously, as if wanting to join the conversation.
“Huhuhu. Thank you for the compliment, Miss Elaris.” Wuma beamed after being praised by cute and excited Elaris.
After that, there were a few dozen seconds of silence. No one knew what to say. Whatever they asked would undoubtedly touch a sore spot. So they awkwardly glanced at each other or looked at each other’s faces affectionately.
“... S-so…” It was Wuma who managed to break the silence. “H-how did you manage to come back?” She asked, not able to contain her curiosity. “What did my poor children have to face after leaving the town?” She asked with a somber expression.
“...” There was silence again. Woya and Wyn looked at the floor as if trying to collect their thoughts, while Elaris glanced between Wyn and Woya, as she did not want to interrupt their family issue.
“... I am going to be honest,” Wyn said after raising her head with a determined face. “It was hard at first. We were afraid and ignorant about what would happen to us. Fortunately, compared to other slaves, Woya and I had each other. We supported each other enough to make it at least bearable.” She started to count their days at the slave merchant’s training facility.
“The next challenge started after that.” She continued as her face turned serious. “We started to be shown to customers after our training seemed to be sufficient.” She said as she remembered those days. “Fortunately, they said that we had beautiful faces, as I also was good at fighting, and as for Woya…” She paused and looked at Woya, then the corner of her mouth raised mischievously before continuing. “... She has a great body.” She said and chuckled. The others also smiled at her remark to lighten the mood. “That made us more valuable, so it prevented us from being sold earlier.” She continued as her serious face returned. “If not for that, our situations would be much worse, let alone that we would be separated.” Her remark made her parents’ faces stiff.
“There were some instances where we were nearly sold.” She continued. “Both Woya and I were so afraid at those times. However, it ended well in the end when he came…” she said, her eyes drifting as if looking back at the past, reliving those memories. “The master bought both of us.” She said with an affectionate smile that blossomed on her face. Woya also smiled without realizing.
“... The master…” Wuma mumbled to herself sadly. She did expect as much. Unlike Wark, she had time to calm down before she learned about the master of the girls. She remembered that her daughters were sold as slaves. So, naturally, there must be a master who owns them. However, for some reason, she did not feel that bad. Seeing the face her daughters made by just mentioning his name, she instinctively understood what they thought of him.
“... So… You are still his slaves?” After the silence of Wyn’s statement, Wuma reluctantly asked in a low voice. “You don’t seem like you are bothered by being his slaves.” She said as her voice returned to normal. “If anything…” She then scrutinized the girls with her eyes and said: “... You look so good compared to a slave someone would expect. Actually, you look better than before leaving, not to mention these expensive-looking pieces of equipment you are wearing now.”
“The master is so good to us,” Woya interjected at her mother’s comment. “He always treats us kindly. He also teaches us many things. He is handsome, strong, talented, rich, and smart. He has many people working for him, too.” She started to count her master’s good sides with an excited tone. “And, h-he is…” She then tried to say something, but felt shy, so she could not continue.
“He also looks after us and s-shows us intimacy.” Seeing that Woya was about to say something inappropriate, Wyn interjected again, but she also looked flustered. “He even said that w-we are precious to him.” Saying that, Wyn blushed and avoided eye contact with her parents.
“Come on, big sisters!” Elaris also joined the conversation as she started to fume when the twins began to count how close they are to Han. “You talk like big brother Han is only fond of you two. You know he dotes on me a lot, too.” Elaris said as she pouted.
“Is she also… a slave?” Wuma asked cautiously, not to hurt Elaris, who looked younger than her daughters.
“... Huh?” Wyn was about to say something to Elaris, but turned toward her mother when she heard Wuma’s question. “No. She is not. She is just a little sister to the master and us. She started to live with us after the master took her in.” She said as if it was nothing interesting.
“Big sister, Wyn!” Elaris raised her voice. “What do you mean, just a little sister?” She started to argue with Wyn and Woya.
“...” As the girls bickered with each other, Wuma and Wark could only stare at them blankly. Then they turned toward each other to see the other one’s thoughts. They listened to the girls and generally understood the situation. A bitter smile was etched on their faces. It means that they are both happy for their daughters and sad that they have to be happy in this situation.