Chapter 373

Number One

It was now evening in Kaina village, and so Jin decided that they should hurry on back .

As Elsa had not been given permission to use the warp gate by herself, Edgar took Reiko’s hand and Jin took Elsa’s hand and they went through it .

“Ahhh, older brother…Sister Elsa . Welcome back . ”

Hanna welcomed them with a toothless voice . Hanna saw Edgar being pulled by Reiko and looked surprised .

“…Who is that?”

“Hanna, this is Edgar . The automata that Elsa created . I guess you could say that he is Reiko’s cousin . ”

Hanna seemed to have understood this explanation .

“Really? So he is called Edgar . I’m Hanna . Nice to meet you!”

“Yes, Miss Hanna . It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance . ”

Hanna scowled at these formal words .

“Edgar, I don’t like it when you call me ‘Miss . ’”

Elsa agreed .

“Edgar . Hanna is Hanna . That’s what you should call her . ”

“Yes, I understand . …Hanna . …Is that alright?”

“Yes, that is fine . ”

Hanna and Elsa nodded at the same time .

“Welcome back, Master Jin . And Elsa…who is this?”

“Ah, this is the automata that Elsa made . Edgar . ”

Mine’s eyes widened at this . Her own daughter was now able to make such an advanced automata .

“I think Elsa has a gift . ”

Jin added .

“I-is that true?”

“Yes . It might have been better had she started earlier, but she can still learn so much even now . ”

“…Elsa’s father only had her educated as a n.o.ble, ever since she was little . He had no intention of nurturing any gifts she might have had . ”

Mine looked very sad . Then Elsa called to her .

“Mother . Brother Jin . What is it? Hurry up and come inside . ”

Aside from Jin and Mine, the others had all gone into the house .

After dinner was over, Jin and Elsa introduced Edgar once again .

“I barely did anything . I only gave a few suggestions and watched to make sure that there was nothing strange . And so Edgar is definitely Elsa’s creation . ”

“Wow! Sister Elsa!”

Hanna praised her without restraint and Martha also looked impressed .

“That means that Sara can focus more on helping Martha and Mine now . ”

Currently, Mine was working the most, and so there was less for Martha, the house golem maid, and Sara to do .

Well, they were also guards in a way, so Jin meant to maintain the current structure .

＊ ＊ ＊

It was now the thirtieth of the fifth month .

Reinhart and Belche’s wedding would be on the following day . And so Jin planned to return to the Shouro empire in the evening . But he intended to play with Hanna as much as possible until then .

“Brother! Over here!”

Hanna rode on Mint and Jin rode on Koma as they went to the mountains . Reiko rode in front of Jin .

It was the same mountain they had gone to before to collect herbs .

“It’s been a while since we came here . ”

“Yes, that’s right . ”

Kaina village looked small from here . And the summer breeze felt very good .

Jin and Hanna lined their golem horses together and enjoyed the scenery in silence .

“…Sister Elsa did so well . ”

“Huh?”

Jin was surprised at this sudden declaration .

“She didn’t seem so reliable when she first came to the village . And she was a bad cook . ”

Well, it wasn’t too surprising, since she had lived as the daughter of a viscount up until then .

“But she learned how to cook and can now clean and draw up water . ”

“…”

“And she teaches me and can use magic . And recently, she practices in the workshop late into the night when you are not around . ”

It was a side of Elsa that he hadn’t known . And now Hanna was telling him . Jin listened carefully .

“You know, it was her who said that we should let you do what you want . ”

He had had a feeling about it . But he was still happy to hear it from her directly .

“…And so…”

Hanna stopped, as if organizing her thoughts . Then she started again .

“I decided that I need to do my best as well . ”

“You?”

“I can’t just be spoiled all the time . I need to be able to help you . ”

Hanna said . Then she smiled like a flower .

“I don’t know what I can do, since I’m still small, but after I study a lot and grow up…”

Hanna’s eyes had a serious light in them .

“…So I can become your number one . ”

Hanna said with red face . Then she jumped off of Mint and ran away . Jin sat there in surprise .

“Father, please run after Hanna . ”

Reiko said . And so Jin dismounted Koma and chased after Hanna .

There was a great field of gra.s.s near the top of the mountain . Hanna was running in it .

“Hanna!”

Jin called as he chased after her . Hanna turned around and stopped .

“Brother!”

Then she ran towards him and jumped into his arms . And like that, they fell onto the soft gra.s.s .

“Brother…”

Jin patted her gently on the head . Hanna’s cheeks turn red . She looked happy .

“Hanna, thank you . ”

Jin was a little sad that he couldn’t say anything else . But they stayed there and enjoyed the smell of the gra.s.s and the early summer breeze for a while .

From afar, Reiko watched over them .

＊ ＊ ＊

There was a time difference of about three hours between Kaina village and the Shouro empire . And so Jin needed to leave Kaina village at nine in the night in order to return on the promised time .

That was why Jin played with Hanna as much as he could during the day .

And now it was nearly nine .

Jin had finished his preparations and was standing in front of the house .

“Well then, take care of things while I’m gone . ”

“Master Jin, please give my regards to Reinhart . ”

Reinhart knew that Jin was helping Mine, but Belche didn’t know . Reinhart would probably tell her later .

As for Jin, he hoped that they would come to Kaina village as part of their honeymoon .

“Brother Jin . Please give them my present . ”

The mascot doll that Elsa had made had been wrapped up neatly and given to Reiko .

“Master Jin, you are leaving so soon again?”

Barou and Belle had also come out to see him off . He had decided to tell them of the existence of the ‘warp gate . ’

Along with the information that it could only be used with him and could only take them to select locations .

“Jin, be careful . ”

Martha looked at Jin and laughed .

“Brother, please take care . ”

Hanna also laughed as she saw him off . A new tooth was starting to grow in place of the one that had come out .

“Good bye . ”

And then Jin jumped into the warp gate and arrived in Hourai island and then teleported to the carriage in the Shouro empire .