Chapter 8

The journey through the mountains throughout the region of Suncup was at it's end, after several weeks of monotonous travel Reina could see an expanse of green from their vantage point. During her travel with the something Daisy group(I forgot lmao), she had done her best to be friendly with the other 3 girls in the carriage with her but.... she was rather shy. While she understood that it was for the best that "Reina" had seemingly vanished out of thin air rather then making a bold escape, trying to perform the fresh faced courtesan recruit Daisy was almost entirely out of her means.

Her biggest regret through this time was that she hadn't pushed to become a staff member instead. She should have at least demanded a different name! Being named after the brothel caused a cloud to gather over her head, as if they expected her to be number one because of her name. If her name was different then it would be better, at least then this pressure would disappear! Not to mention the pressure of socializing!

Being seen as a cold & withdrawn woman would be so much more preferred then the hell she had to subject herself to everyday. The other girls were nice enough, but it was still hard to act naturally with them. No matter what she did her face was always stiff, her hands clammy, and she could only imagine what her face looked like when she tried to smile. But she knew it was no good! She was certainly being looked at with disdain! Crying out at the unfairness of the world, Reina let out a sigh.

"Daisy, you sigh a lot, is there something wrong?" one of the girls, Saki, spoke up. Saki was by far the most friendly of everyone in the carriage. Probably due to her age, Reina wasn't sure due to the others maturity when dealing with others she had to be in her 20s. Besides her curling brown hair that flowed down her back gave her a motherly vibe, she was rather popular in the brothel back in Suncup.

"N-noooo, I-I....I'm just... a little home sick"

"I understand, it's my first time being so far from Suncup, and the only people I'll know in Acacia are right here. It's kinda scary, but you and everyone else are basically my family now". Saki leaned forward towards Reina with a smile on her face "And since I'm older then you, that makes me your older sister, ok?"

"Ok!" Reina quickly replied with a smile, a little shocked at her own eagerness. 'Ahh, but it's nice, I have another wonderful big sister to admire~' Reina thought before freezing. 'Eh? Why am I so happy just because someone called themselves my big sister? In fact I accepted Fang claiming herself as my big sister quickly as well..... Eh?' Reina continued to ponder this well into the night before giving up and shoving the issue into the back of her mind.

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2 weeks have passed by, Reina and co were nearly halfway to Acacia city and her exciting was mounting. She had been bouncing in her seat for about half an hour as the sun hung directly over their heads, happily humming to herself as she starred out the window.

"I see your home sickness has run its course after a month of you shriveling up in your seat", Reina looked over at Saki, who was wryly grinning at her. She only puffed her cheeks in response, and turned back to the window, "Saki has been teasing me too much lately, take my silence as punishment".

"You're bluffing Daisy, you would never do something so cruel as ignoring me"

"....."

"A-after all, you're my favorite. A little teasing shouldn't warrant this treatment"

"....."

"D-daisy? I have snacks! J-just say the word and I'll give them all to you!", Saki began to desperately pull out cookies, cakes, candied apples, and more out of her bag. "I-I-I-f that's not enough, I'll give you more when we reach the city!" A sheen of sweat had begun to appear on Saki's forehead as Reina snuck a glance at her paling face, trying to suppress the guilt welling up inside her. 'Like shadow said, I must be strong! I may be weak against people claiming to be my big sister, but that doesn't mean I will bow down to them!'. She kept her gaze glued to the trees passing them by, if she looked over at Saki her resolve could crumble.

"...."

"hic...", as if made of sand, Reina's resolve instantly collapsed as she rushed over to hold the older girl. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! don't cry ok? your little sister loves you the most!" Reina desperately said while silently cursing in her heart, she was weak! too weak! she could barely stand to punish her for a couple minutes! Wasn't this too much? What will happen to her in the future if someone else decides to declare themselves as her sister and makes some unreasonable demand? She's been lucky so far but the future is scary!

Had she been more clear minded, she would have noticed what the two other girls enjoying the show did: a sly grin on Saki's face as she buried herself in Reina's chest as the carriage slowed to a halt.

"Alright everybody! Come down, time to set up camp for the day!" Brauns booming voice cut the scene between the two girls short as they got down from the carriage with the others. The spot they would make camp was ideal, a little ways from where they were was a clear patch of land. Nothing but grass, some sparse trees, and a lake only a dozen yards away. As they were directly across from the Bloodroot forest, Braun and his men were vigilant as they watched the crowd of people disperse into their usual groups.

Everyone spent their time like the usually do, idly chatting away with their friends or finding other ways to entertain themselves. With a lake so close by many women had decided to swim and play together, had Reina not been wearing a wig she would have loved to join them but there was no helping it. Reina watched while twirling around the blonde hair with her fingers, thinking about what she would do when they arrived in Acacia.

Naturally the brothel wasn't her final destination, and she had expected to just silently disappear when they arrived. However after spending more then a month in Saki's company, she didn't want to do that anymore, she wanted to keep spending time with her. Laying down into the grass, Reina muttered to herself, "I'll find a time to tell her the events leading up to this properly". Omitting the cult of course, only the upper management knew about the connection the cult had. For most employees, it was just a upper tier brothel that they found work in.

During the journey towards Acacia, Reina would spend her nights sharing a tent with one of the other girls. Naturally after being claimed as a little sister by Saki, she was dragged into her tent and shared covers with her. At first she could barely get any sleep, being caught in an embrace while the other party stroked her hair until they fell asleep was too much. Presently she had accepted her role as a secondary pillow that was cuddled throughout the night, and had learned to enjoy the sensation.

Reina yawned as the hand stroking her hand begun to drag more and more, "Good night Yuki" Reina muttered, getting only a series of mumbles in response. Smiling, Reina snuggled deeper into her embrace as she drifted off into dreams.

[Wake up, they're coming]

Reina's eyes snapped open, "What's wrong" she said, her drowsiness being taken away by Shadow.

[Get up]

Reina clicked her tongue as she left the warmth of Saki's embrace, dismissing the thought of ignoring Shadow and returning to bed. She knew this tone of voice, even if she tried to go to sleep he would force her to be alert the entire time. Still wondering what was wrong, she walked out of her tent and waited for her eyes to adjust, it was still the dead of night. Right when she was about to ask Shadow what was wrong she heard it.

"Awooo!", The howls of a dozen wolves suddenly rang through the night. The cries of the men on look out were heard as they called for the others. Braun's voice boomed as he called his men to his side, the cries of wolves and men alike rose up as steel pierced through the flesh of wolves and teeth tore at the skin of Braun's men. Reina stood in a daze, wondering why Shadow woke her up for such a meaningless show, her complaint died in her throat as Braun struck a wolf hard, sending it flying towards her, crashing to the ground by her feet.

Reina looked at the wolf's body in a daze before her eyes widened in horror

"What on earth?!"