Breakthrough with the Forbidden Master-Novel

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Chapter 248 – Intermission (Mother) ②

Outwitted by my own son.

It wasn’t a fluke coincidence or the haphazardness of the moment.

Clearly, we were entangled in a scheme.

Those children in Cacretale said that Earth had defeated Jamdi’el.

If he could even set up a plan to take both me and Hiro for fools, it may really be true.

But still, that move that put us both on our asses. It was all because he had the strength to do it.

Earth got stronger. He had grown. And he hasn’t shown us the bottom of it yet.

Anyway……

“Nuooooooooooh!”

“Deryaaaaaaaaah!”

We, a couple of idiots, have no choice but to give chase.

First of all, to quickly get off this uninhabited island and to the shore on the other side… we swim.

“Daah, sharks and whales keep coming to eat us!”

“Toriyaaa!”

We both moved our hands and flapped our feet, just aiming straight for the other shore.

On the way, we almost ran into giant fishes that tried to swallow us, but we kicked them all away.

“Alright, Mamu! We’re almost at the shores of Bethreal!”

“Yes, the last spurt! Watch me, even if I’m so pathetic that my son tripped me while I was a little out of practice from actual battle, I’m not so old that I can’t swim! I’m forever 17!”

My son rejected me, outwitted me, and escaped again right in front of me.

But we weren’t about to let this stop us and just go home.

Both of us doggy-paddled non-stop as we headed for the other shore…

“Ahaha… lame~… they’re both so uncool.”

“”Huh!?””

But then.

“…… eh?”

“… Hah? Huh? What??”

Above us, we heard a voice mocking us for being ridiculous.

Above? The whole area here is the sea, isn’t it? From above…?!

When Hiro and I looked up at the same time, and right there was…

“Ah!?”

“Hey, you’re…”

A woman in a pure white long coat, with her long brown hair pulled back, was floating in the water.

We knew her.

She was much older than when we knew her, and her body has matured a lot.

But we still remember her face, and most of all, that ribbon, although a little worn out, she has cherished it since “when we were together”.

“You… Espie!?”

“Wait, no way… Espie! It’s not Espie! H, how are you here? What are you doing here, no, where have you been?!”

A comrade, who we once entrusted our lives and souls to each other and fought together against the Demon King Army led by the Great Demon King.

“Long time no see, Hiro… Mamu…… you kinda… look like idiots.”

Although she was less than ten at the time, she had the same title as Hiro and I as one of the Seven Heroes, and made a name for herself in the world with her many battle achievements.

But……

“Y, you, where have you been this whole time? I heard you disappeared from the Kingdom of Bethreal… Granpa Mikado didn’t know where you were…”

“Yeah, I have to explain things properly… ah~, but, ah~~~, nnnngh!”

There’s a lot I have to ask of this girl(kid)… but, something else went through both my mind and Hiro’s at the same time.

That must be prioritized over everything no matter what…

“Damn… but Espie. I don’t know what’s going on, what you’re thinking, what you’ve been doing up until now, but I’m sorry! We’re in a hurry right now!”

“Yes! Do you remember? Our son, Earth. You held him when he was a baby, didn’t you? That kid is running away from home right now… and now he’s working with Jamdi’el!”

“Espie, use your ‘powers’ to get us to shore!”

“And if you can, we’d like you to carry us to him as well!”

That’s right, Earth.

Espie also went missing and we have not seen each other for several years. A dear companion. I’ve been looking for her for a long time. I know that.

But now we…

“I know~”

“”…… Huh?””

“I’ve heard a little bit about it in Cacretale…”

“What!?”

Espie said something unexpected. Espie… do you know the sequence of events?

“It seems that the worst man who made his little sister cry is running around, isn’t he?”

“”…… heh? …… Huh?””

Little sister……? Don’t tell me, Espie is talking about Amae?

Eh? Why?

“Fufufu, don’t you know? I don’t tolerate men who make their little sister cry.”

At that moment, something disastrous overflowed from Espie, who gave a smug smile.

No, eh? You won’t forgive a man who makes his sister cry? I don’t remember her being…… that kind of girl.

“…… Hiro?”

Yeah. Certainly, Espie was like a little sister to us. Or rather, I thought of her more like a sister than a companion.

But…… I couldn’t believe she had such a side… but…… for Espie, was there an older brother or something like that… I don’t know if there was any kind of feud between the two of them…

“No, wait, wait! I don’t know anything about that. I, don’t have anything… to do with…”

“Th, that so?”

“Y, yes… I don’t know… I can’t… should…”

Hiro also shook his head quickly as he looked out to the sea with a flustered expression as if he had no idea… but……

“Uh, uh~nnh…”

Is there anything wrong with us? Such self-indulgent thoughts led to disappointment and rejection by our beloved son.

That’s why Hiro couldn’t easily say that he didn’t know, so I felt a little confused and hastily tried to look back on the past.

But……

“Ahahaha, you’ve become boring, Hiro and Mamu.”

“”Nuh…?””

“In the past, they didn’t think about anything, they acted foolishly with the idea of action before thought, and still achieved great battle results. But now, they don’t know anything about their blood-related child… they’re worried about being dim-witted… and lost confidence… I can’t imagine that from the two of them in the past.”

Espie laughs coldly as if stunned. As if disappointed in us.

She had always been a much younger child than us, but there were times when she was a little mature because of her “upbringing”, and she laughed at us when we did something stupid.

But she never laughed that coldly…

“Have I changed?” Hiro… Mamu…”

“Espie…”

“Am I the same? Just like Hiro and Mamu… I guess I’ve grown up to be a boring adult.”

And I couldn’t believe she was laughing so sadly… staring off into the distance… what are you thinking… what are you seeing… but……

“Espie… we want to go after our son.”

“…………”

“But… now… are you… worried about something? Something you need our help with…”

Our priorities were set.

But, to see Espy like this, after a few years and all grown up, with such an expression, I can’t help but wonder if there is … something going on … that we don’t know about…

“I’m okay. I don’t need any help from either of you, and I’m not in trouble. But…… even though I think I’ve matured a bit… I’m getting more and more nervous, so…… it looks that way, doesn’t it?”

“…… Huh?”

“Because… soon my wish will come true… in a few days… if only he could go to those ‘ruins’.”

Wish? What do you mean? She mumbled all her thoughts and doesn’t tell us what they mean.

It looks like we have nothing to do with it.

And then……

“Well, let’s get going now, okay? You two who don’t get enough exercise, you can swim a little longer. Until ‘that time’… I don’t want you to move around ‘him’.”

“Wait!?”

“Huh?”

Espie chuckled once more, and then turned her back on us in the direction of the day after tomorrow.

“Hey, Espie! What! Are you going to leave us like this? I mean, who is he? No way, it’s not Earth!”

“Hey, Espie!”

“You’re wrong if you think you can ask me to tell you anything. That’s why your adolescent son is so rebellious, isn’t it?”

Even though we hadn’t seen each other at all in years, it was as if she knew everything that had happened to us… but it didn’t seem she would tell me anything about it…

“I only came here today to see your faces on a whim. Or maybe it’s to relieve the tension of what’s about to happen… either way, later.”

“Hold it!?”

Without giving us a single glance, she flew away.

What’s going on, exactly?

Me and Hiro, who were said to be heroes who defeated the Great Demon King and saved the world as the Seven Heroes… now…… it’s like we’re out of the loop on something that’s happening around Earth!