Escanor and Ume entered a decent restaurant and filled their stomachs. The food wasn’t all that great, but seeing the girl eat so happily made him decide that was enough.
"...Aren’t you going to eat?"
"I am fine. It seems you are quite hungry, so please eat as much as you like."
Escanor said that as he took a sip of the tea that came with the meal. Of course, the tea was hot, but to Escanor, it was barely lukewarm.
"...By the way, you. What’s your name?"
"Me? Is there any need for me to tell you?"
"I can’t keep calling you "you.""
"...I am far too great a being to introduce myself first..."
"Pfft, what is that? You’re so annoying, haha."
Ume thought Escanor was joking when he said that, but Escanor was completely sincere.
"But is it really okay for such a great being to be called "you"?"
At Ume’s words, Escanor looked at her with a surprised expression.
"Ho ho. You’ve landed a good one there."
Escanor burst out laughing at Ume’s bold, perfectly timed retort.
"I am Escanor. I would appreciate it if you remembered that."
"Hee~. I’m Ume! I rather like you, Escanor."
Ume said with a smile at the corners of her lips, and Escanor smiled back at her.
He had no daughter, but this felt like raising one...
Just as he was thinking that, the restaurant door was suddenly thrown open.
Bang!
"Ume!!"
"Brother?"
A man called out to Ume, and she reacted to the voice.
"Do you know him?"
"Y-Yeah. He’s my brother."
"...What are you doing here? And who’s this guy? Tch, he’s obnoxiously big."
"Ho ho. Thank you for the compliment."
Escanor could tell. The boy was wary of him. Normally he wouldn’t have cared at all, but since this was Ume’s brother, he watched him closely.
"Brother! This is Escanor. He’s the one who helped me."
"...Helped you?"
"Escanor, this is my brother! His name is Gyutaro!"
"It’s a pleasure."
At Ume’s introduction, Escanor greeted him. Of course, he only said it was a pleasure; he made no move to bow or anything of the sort.
"...By the way, Ume. What was that just now? Helped you...?"
"Oh, well..."
Ume explained what had happened earlier. She told him about stabbing out the samurai’s eye, about nearly being burned alive because of it, and about how Escanor had stopped it.
After hearing the story, Gyutaro pulled Ume into an embrace.
"Thank goodness... You weren’t hurt..."
"Brother..."
"You said your name was Escanor...? Thank you for saving Ume..."
"It was nothing more than finding that man’s actions in front of me unpleasant."
"Hee~? You’re not very honest, Escanor."
"I have no idea what you mean."
Ume approached Escanor and spoke to him with a mischievous smile.
"...I’ve never seen Ume act like that before..."
Gyutaro could only find the sight of her like that strange.
...
"...Are you really not coming with us?"
Ume clutched Escanor’s trousers and looked on the verge of tears. It seemed she had grown quite attached to him, if only for a short while.
"No. I have something I must do."
Escanor gently patted Ume on the head.
"Then I’ll be going now."
"Yeah. Get lost already, annoying guy..."
"I’ll take that as praise."
With that, Escanor took his leave.
"Now then... Shall I look for that monster again?"
Escanor’s purpose was clear.
He would find the monster he had seen before once more. With that goal in mind, Escanor headed back into the forest.
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