(Kiyomi POV)
"Onii-sama likes shoulder massages!"
"No, Aniue prefers back rubs!"
"Onii-sama told me so!"
"Aniue told me that as well!"
Sister… Why am I stuck with these two...
"Onii-sama gave me more head pats!"
"Aniue gave me more!"
"Enough!" I hit both of them on the head with my fists. "We're here to help Master, not to have your little sister contest. Do that elsewhere, got it?"
"Yes sister Kiyomi…"
"Kuh… I'll stop for now… But Aniue definitely gave me more headpats..."
"No, Onii-sama definitely gave me more!"
Ugh… Master help me, why are both your little sisters like this? Why can't the two of them just share Master like sister and I? Is there some significance to the little sister position that I don't know about?
I'm also a little sister myself but I still don't get why they're fighting over this. Then again, Manami and I are twins so does it really count?
I had to pull these two girls apart when they started trying to pull each other's cheeks while snarling at each other.
"Before I freeze the both of you to the sides of the ship… Are we there yet?" I asked.
"Kuh… Navigator! Are we there yet?" Elaria shouted.
A man stood up and saluted, "Reporting, ma'am! We've been hovering over the Forest of The Lost for about half an hour!"
"What?! Didn't I say to report when we reached there?!"
"Umm… I… I tried to, ma'am… But you were in the middle of your quarrel and I couldn't find a good time to report…"
Master's sister from another world chuckled, "Obviously all of them are scared of you. For you to use fear to control them, how barbaric."
"That's not true at all! They obviously got scared of you instead!"
"Hohoho, you'd like to think that wouldn't you? That just means your control over your men aren't as strong as you think it is."
"Why you…"
By Master…
I froze their mouths shut, "Another quarrel out of you two and I'm turning this thing around and both of you can explain to Master why we're the only group that failed. Am I clear?"
Both of them nodded hurriedly.
I unfroze their mouths, taking a few moments to make sure they would not continue arguing before relaxing.
"Now, we're meant to find the Fairy Lake here, where do we start, Elaria?"
She walked towards a large table where some kind of map was laid out, except this map seemed to be made out of light and was floating above said table, showing a three dimensional view of the area.
Elaria looked over the map critically, "Unnn… I know why this place is known as the Forest of The Lost now at least."
Tsuki looked over her shoulder, "Magnetic interference and a thick layer of fog. Reminds me of a place back in our world."
Elaria pinched her chin between her thumb and index finger, "Unnn… I guess that would disable any compasses they might bring in but I'm sure some of them have at least tried other ways of tracking."
The other sister went up to the map and pointed a finger, "Biological signatures, but their biometrics look abnormal…"
"Zombies. Damned zombies. We have oursevles a stupid zombie apocalypse here."
"I recommend a saturation bombardment before executing a paradrop to clean up."
"I concur."
And of course, the two of them would somehow be in agreement over the weirdest of things that made no sense to me.
I know it wasn't what the rest of them intended, but it still felt like I was sent with these two as their babysitters.
Elaria stood up and raised her hand dramatically, "Ready cannons for saturation bombardment! Clear a landing area!"
"Cannons ready!"
"Fi--"
"Hold it" I raised up my hand and interrupted them.
"--re! Eh? What's wrong sister Kiyomi?"
"Why are you so ready to start destroying things? Are we even sure if the Fairy Lake is even there? What if there are actual people inside the forest now? Are you going to kill them as well? And what if your cannons destroy the lake? What are we going to do then?"
Elaria poked her fingers together meekly, "Umm… No? I don't know?"
I sighed, I really was sent here to babysit them…
"Can your map scan for any sources of water down there?" I asked.
Elaria immediately went to the table and pressed a few buttons before shaking her head, "The magnetic interference is preventing a full scan of the area…"
I don't even know what this 'magg neg tick' interference is but I shan't ask.
"What about people then?"
Tsuki shook her head, "With that affecting our scanners, people will show up as zombies as well."
I stared at Elaria, "So we won't even know if those are undead or not, yet you were all ready to fire on them."
Elaria pouted at me, "Do they even matter? They're obviously not Onii-sama's followers and no one important. I doubt any of them would be missed."
I frowned, "That's not the point. What would Master say if He knew we levelled an entire forest just to find a lake? It'll be even worse if the lake gets destroyed because of your carelessness. You may be a genius military commander, but please don't let your love for Master blind your thinking."
"Ugh… I'm sorry…" Elaria apologised sincerely.
I turned to Tsuki, "And same goes for you as well. I don't care how close you were to Master in the other world, but I doubt Master would be happy to hear that the two of you keep bickering about something so trivial all the time."
She looked down, "I… I'll keep that in mind…"
I nodded, at least they were willing to listen. I would have been worried if either of them were too stubborn to listen.
Elaria looked at me with upturned eyes, "Umm… What should we do now, sister Kiyomi?"
"We'll have to go down ourselves to look for the lake. Since your map is still able to give a rather accurate layout of the area, we just need to find the most likely places a lake would be, namely any clearings that are free of trees and look like a bowl of some sort."
"Sister Kiyomi is so smart!"
"Praising me won't get you anywhere. So let's just get started on finding the lake first ok?"
Tsuki tapped a few more buttons on the table and three parts of the map lit up.
"There. The topography in these three areas are the most likely to house a lake. We can start searching for it in these places."
I turned to Elaria, "Should we send your men to search then?"
She thought for a moment before shaking her head, "The sound of firearms might draw the entire forest of zombies to us. I think it would be better to do this quietly."
At least she's being sensible now.
"So that means we'll have to sneak in there ourselves," Tsuki mused. "I am fine with that."
Elaria grinned at her, "Heh, heh! First one to find it is the better little sister!"
"Hmph! I won't lose to the likes of you! You--"
I smacked them both on the head again.
Master, I humbly request that you discipline your two rowdy sisters when they get back.
We haven't even started and my head already hurts...