Chapter 269 – Ribbon

Something …… strange happened to me…

Truly, I wanted to send Espie back to the Union as soon as possible after some treatment, and say goodbye.

But the sobbing Espie would not leave me again since yesterday.

Espie slept with her hands and legs wrapped around my back, in close contact.

We had no choice but to camp out in the field, the two of us wrapped in a single cloak and sleeping in the forest.

“Fu~ah…hmm~……”

“Shupi~…… un… ku~…… mnyah…”

“…… Oh dear, you’re a big sleeper…”

The moment I woke up, Espie was lying on my chest, sleeping like a log.

Her eyes were swollen with tears, but her expression was as peaceful as her exhaustion.

And….. it’s still a little dark… did I wake up too early?

『Are you awake? Did you have trouble sleeping with the weight on you?』

“Eh? Oh…… well, I got used to this kind of thing with Amae.”

『I see.』

After waking up in the morning, Tre’ainar and I exchanged wry smiles.

Who could have imagined that the kid clinging to me now, sleeping like this, would be my father’s comrade-in-arms and one of the Seven Heroes, once the natural enemies of the Demon King’s Army, like Tre’ainar?

『Though they are the Seven Heroes, children are still children… well, that is… Hiro of this era is the same.』

I nodded at Tre’ainar’s words.

To be honest, I don’t know much about Espie’s past.

I only heard roughly what the adults who were around Espie had said.

But, that alone made me think that I couldn’t turn a blind eye to this girl…

『Put that aside, child. Sit up and take a deep breath.』

“Hmm? A review of yesterday’s radar?”

『No, just simply… go out into the forest for a moment and breathe in the slightly colder air of this wilderness. Right now, there are no Allied forces or Demon King’s Army around.』

“?”

Somehow Tre’ainar had a slightly scheming face.

I don’t know what he’s thinking, but if Tre’ainar said so, I tried to gently untangle Espie’s limbs from my body so as not to wake her…

“Oh, like this… and, I slipped out———”

“Huh!? Hiuh!?

“Whoa!?”

“…… ah…”

Espie, whose body was suddenly startled, opened her eyes and looked at me with big crackling blinks.

As expected of the Seven Heroes.

Did she detect even the slightest sign?

“…… Yo, yo, good morning.”

“…… Good morning.”

“Did you sleep well?”

“…… yes, I slept.”

“I see…”

“…… un…”

“…………”

“……………”

Ah? I was halfway through untangling her limbs, but she wrapped herself around me again?

“…… Let’s get up, shall we?”

“…… un…”

No, even though she looked a little sullen… this girl, how could she let her guard down so much with me in one night?

Is she so easily spoiled by something like that… no, not really…

On the contrary. “I’m not used to receiving affection from people to the point where my heart is shaken by something like that.”

Even though I have a complex about my parents, I have been blessed in some way, and I have been pampered by Sadiz.

I talked about it a little bit yesterday, but… I’m a little embarrassed about it…

『My oh my, no other choice then. Tis about time, you two should go outside for a while.』

Sighing at us, Tre’ainar said again.

I don’t know what he means, but for now…

“Come on, let’s go for a walk.”

“Hmm? Un…… okay…”

Espie was a little grumpy, but when I asked her to join me, she obediently followed me side by side.

“……………”

“Ah~………”

“……………”

“That………”

How unfortunate. I don’t know what kind of conversation to have.

Besides, I don’t want to get too involved either~…… or preach like I’m a snob, first of all, as soon as her injuries are okay, I’ll go back to the previous time using the watch.

And besides, Espie has been glancing my way for a while now…

“Hmm? Oh…”

“…… ah…”

At that moment, we had left the forest and there was a valley in front of us, and below us was another large forest, and beyond that, we could see mountains.

But from beyond those mountains…

“Amazing…”

“Wow…”

The blinding light of the sun… it’s sunrise…

It’s a little cold, but as I breathe in this clear natural air, I feel fresh, as if my body is being cleansed from the inside out.

My half-asleep body immediately wakes up.

I start to calm down, even though my mood has been a bit complicated, thinking about what has happened in the past, the war, Espie’s past, and most of all, what my father and mother are doing.

“Hey, Espie. How’s that?”

“…… but I see them all the time, when I camp out on the battlefield…”

“R, really…”

“Un, I always see it clearly…”

“Hmm?”

“Today, more than usual, is… very good… I think.”

Espie turned away in a huff, giving a not-so-honest but not bad reaction.

And……

“Hey. Name…”

“Hmm?”

“What’s your name? Tell me.””

Name…… come to think of it, I left a lot of things out yesterday.

But I can’t call myself “Earth Lagann”…

『Tis so, child.』

「Hmm? What’s that, Tre’ainar?」

『Speaking of names… did you not receive a forged identity card from Paripi?』

「…… ah!」

That’s true.

The one I got with the Master Key.

I put it in a small box in my pocket…

“Let’s see…”

“?”

I fumbled around in my pocket.

When I opened the small box, inside was a ribbon tied to the box and a folded ID card.

There……

—Tapil Bael

This is so lame… rejected. I don’t like it. I put the ID card back in the box.

“?”

Espie tilted his head curiously, but give me a break.

I mean, come up with a cooler name!

What’s with this name?

More this~…… Schneider or Grand Cross…

“Hey, your name?”

“Oh~…… I can’t tell you… well, call me whatever you want.”

“…… what’s that? I don’t know what that means.”

“I mean, just~ it doesn’t matter, what my name is.”

Well, it’s not worth worrying about.

Espie seemed to be okay, and I’m going back to the future soon.

Then, just as a cold morning breeze blew, Espie’s long hair fell in a mess over her face.

As if to distract from the conversation, I reached for Espie’s disheveled hair…

“Wapp…”

“Aaah, your hair is so long… here, I’ll give you this, just tie it up a little bit.”

“…… Huh?”

The white ribbon tied around the small box sent by Paripi.

There’s no point in wrapping it around the box again, it’s just something I can throw away.

“Huh? Th, this kind of… if you give me this, what are you going to do?”

“Huh?”

“For helping me, for feeding me… for sleeping with me… until now…”

“You’re overreacting! It’s not that big of a deal, and I have no use for it, so I’m just giving it to you. It’s a present, a present.”

“…… present…”

“Here.”

I didn’t expect a single cheap ribbon to cause such a reaction.

I had never experienced anything like this.

Then, Espie received the ribbon from me while trembling a little, and her eyes got wet, huh?

“A present… for the first time…”

“R, really?”

“Yes, I’ve never had a ribbon before…”

“I see… ah, but you don’t know how to tie a knot, do you?”

“I’ve never done it, but… Mamu always ties her hair… like this, and this…”

At that moment, I thought, “Ah”.

「Tre’ainar… Espie of the future, had a tattered ribbon, but…」

『So this is why…』

But it was the ribbon Paripi had used to tie up the small box. It wasn’t a ribbon meant for tying hair.

But no way, she had been using it all this time…

“…… H, how is it? Is it cute like Mamu?”

“Kuhahaha, aren’t you cuter than Mamu?”

Espie blushed a little and whirled around on the spot.

It was only for a moment, but I saw a smile on Espie’s lips for the first time.

And……

“…… nk…… yo… bi…… th…… er…”

“…… Hmm?”

“Th… Thank you…… Big brother…”

“Eh, kuhaha! Sure!”

That’s what you called me… but, did you get a little closer to that future Espie’s smile?

And I think she will be okay now.

“Well, it looks like you’re going to be okay… and can you make it back to the Allied Forces from here? I have to get going, too.”

“Huh!?”

What?! Suddenly, Espie turned to me with a look that seemed to be filled with desperation.

“G, going… w, where?”

“Oh. No, I also erm, I have to go home…”

“…… together…… let’s go to the Allied forces.”

“…… Huh?”

“B, big brother is strong… together…… to, gether…”

“No, I can’t do that!”

Oh no, Espie almost cried as she pinched the hem of my clothes with her fingers.

No, I couldn’t go to the Allied Forces if I was recruited like that.

In more ways than one.

“…… then…… I’ll go with you…”

“…… Huh?”

“I failed my mission… I don’t want to go back anymore…”

No, no, no, that’s even worse.

『Nuh, Nuu……』

Tre’ainar seemed very concerned, as expected.

I mean, I’m going back to the future.

“I, I failed the mission, but I’ll do my best and be useful… and become stronger…”

“No, that’s not the problem…”

“I’ll be a good girl and listen to what you say… so…… take me with you…”

No way, this is the second time this has happened recently.

I didn’t expect a little girl to go this far… this already happened with Amae…

“Espie, you know–“

But, as might be expected, this is no good.

Espie is one of the Seven Heroes, a champion who will play an active role in the future war.

If she were to disappear at this point, there’s no telling what effect it would have on history.

No matter what happens, she must return to the Allied Forces… to my father…

『…… Hmm? Oi, child! The other pocket…… the one with the watch!』

Hmm? At that moment, Tre’ainar seemed to notice something and spoke up. Pocket? Watch?

I took the watch out of my pocket and…

“Hmm? Wh, what is this? Is the watch flashing?”

“?”

The clock face was flickering. I’ve never seen a reaction like that, even though I didn’t do anything.

Don’t tell me something strange is happening again?

Wait a minute, what’s going to happen with an object that can go to the past or to the future?

――― Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep

“Huh?”

“…… What?”

Suddenly, a ringing sound came from the watch…

[Please Charge]

“Huh? ch, charge?”

“Huh? Did the watch talk…?”

[Please Charge]

“Nu, nu?”

The clock said something incomprehensible.

But without knowing what it meant after all, the watch kept repeating the same words, and then it went silent.