Breakthrough with the Forbidden Master

Chapter 277 – Setting Sail a Second Time

Espie and I both put on our hoods properly.

This way, people would only see us as a parent and child or brother and sister traveling together.

Fortunately, it was Koujiro this time, but in the future there might be people who know Espie’s face, so I have to be careful.

“Well, best of health, Espie-jou. Why don’t you give me a hug at the end?”

“I absolutely won’t, Beh!”

“Ungh, so cold to the end, aren’t you!?”

The dock. A ship bound for the continent on the other side of the world.

Koujiro asked for a farewell hug, but Espie coldly refused.

But……

“………… Koujiro…”

“Hmm?”

As a compromise, Espie trotted up to Koujiro, tugged at the hem of her clothes and whispered…

“…… th… thank you… I told you to die, but… I didn’t mean it… I’m sorry…”

“Haha.”

Even though she didn’t hug or fawn on him, Espie thanked him while looking bashful and apologized for what she said.

Koujiro also patted Espie’s head while looking pleased with those words.

“Now, this one can also work harder. Stay in good health.”

“Un.”

Espie, who hadn’t opened up to my father or mother… no, she didn’t seem to have opened up “yet”, might have softened a little towards Koujiro.

“Onii-san as well.”

“Yeah…”

Saying that, I nodded back to Koujiro, who also smiled at me.

He never showed the depth of his power, and to be honest, I don’t know how strong he will be when he goes all out.

But this time, I found out that he was a big softy.

People who fought against my father like Tre’ainar and the Six Supremacy… on the other hand, those who fought with my father…

“Until next time…’we’ll meet again.'”

“Yeah, don’t look forward to it!”

I’m the one who found out about you… so I’ll be seeing you… that’s what I decided.

『Certainly, this man in the future… ‘knows’ about the child… how curious.』

「Tre’ainar… by the way, can Koujiro see you?」

『No, I do not believe so… well, I suppose he senses that there is something peculiar about the child…』

「I see…」

『Be that as it may………………』

「Hmm? Tre’ainar?」

At that moment, Tre’ainar… was staring at Koujiro with a somewhat complicated expression.

I was worried about that and tried to call out, but Tre’ainar immediately turned on his heel.

『Ah… tis ‘nothing’… ‘your concern is unnecessary’… child.』

「?」

I had no idea what feelings were contained in Tre’ainar’s words.

“Let’s go, then, Espie.”

“Un.”

Espie boarded the boat with me, looking down a little.

At that time, Espie wiped her eyes with her hand only once.

“If you are feeling lonel―――― “

“I’m not lonely, because I’m with Big brother. If you tell me to go back, I’ll beat you up, even if you are Big brother.”

“…… I, I understand… I’m sorry…”

I jokingly asked a wild question, but she didn’t think I was joking, and Espie tightly squeezed my hand in protest, so I decided not to say anything else.

I mean, she heard about my sister Amae in the equipment store… so she still seemed a little grumpy.

“SET SAIL――――!!”

The high-spirited voices of sailors echoed across the deck as the ship sailed away.

The sky was clear. It’s a good day for a departure.

Even so, the little girl over here had a sour look on her face.

“Espie~, come on, say bye bye to Koujiro.”

“I already did.”

“Geez, hey~ what got you so mad. Don’t be so sulky.”

“I’m not mad.”

Even with that kind of persistence…

『My oh my, you appear to be struggling, child.』

「Hm~m… if she gets this attached, it will become more and more difficult from now on. It will be difficult to train outside the Vier world… well, there’s nothing to train for on the ship anyway…」

『Training… well, then you can do that, can you not? Have you forgotten when you were on a ship in the future?』

「Huh? …… ah…」

For a while, I thought I was going to be stuck with a grumpy Espie for a while, and there was nothing I could do, but when I heard Tre’ainar’s words I had an epiphany.

『During those few days of voyage in the future, the training was merely meditation and a change of scenery, with not much effect… but what about now?』

I get it. At that time, I did it as part of learning Magical Radar and a bit of fun at the same time.

The results were embarrassing, and the old sailors laughed at me, but now…

『Moreover, if tis accompanied by Espie… then somehow…』

「We can do it together, like we’re playing a little…」

I thought it was definitely a good idea, so I told Espie…

“Hey, Espie.”

“What is it?”

“You want to go fishing?”

“……….. Huh?”

That’s right, fishing.

“Fishing… like catching fish?”

“Yes. Have you ever done it?”

“Hmm~…… I’ve caught them in the river with my power.”

“No, you catch the fish with a fishing rod.”

Hearing Espie’s story, I smiled a little.

Certainly, with Espie’s power, it was faster to catch them with her ability without fishing for them.

But this was not about catching fish.

“With a rod? Troublesome.”

“I see… we can’t… that’s too bad. If you had played a game with your brother and won, I would have listened to anything you had to say again.”

“…… Huh?”

“Then, Big brother will go fishing alone…”

“Well, I can do it! I can catch fish easily!”

“You have to use a proper rod, right?”

“I can do it! Something like that, it’s easy!”

Espie was pouting at my provocation.

I said, I’ll listen to whatever you say… but if Espie is a beginner, I can beat her after learning to use the radar.

And so, Espie and I, while enjoying a leisurely fishing trip that also served as training, set out to the open sea for a different continent.