"I need to learn from you, too."
Until now, I had kept running away. I had avoided facing Kaim because I worried he would openly hate me.
Yet a girl of around ten had seen and accepted both the light and darkness of an unknown world. Embarrassingly, despite being older, I couldn't even face my younger brother. People hailed me as a genius, so I at least had to get this right.
"That greed for climbing to the top is very much like Mikuri."
"Ishana, you know your uncle. What kind of person is your old uncle?"
"Old Mikuri~?"
Afterward, the two talked about Mikuri for a while longer, their conversation blossoming and fading like flowers.
"They get along well."
Watching Lucia and Ishana chatting in the cabin from the stern, Cynthia said those words.
"That's because you're my little sister."
"I'm glad Miss Ishana was the one piloting this boat today."
"...Ah."
Kaim wiped his face with a towel; the sea breeze had left it sticky.
Cynthia drew a breath and asked Kaim a question.
"Hey, Kaim. Can you tell me what you're looking for?"
The hand wiping Kaim's face stopped.
"You noticed?"
"Yes."
"She's sharp."
Kaim put the towel back in his bag and answered while stroking Cynthia's Glaceon beside him.
"What are you looking for?"
"Professor Okido mentioned that old man in Sootopolis City."
"The owner of that chart."
"I saw that sign and connected it to a lot of things."
He added that he hadn't thought they would be connected, then began telling Cynthia about the results of his research.
"Professor Odo said the person who gave us this map was an old man from Sootopolis City, so I started researching the city's residents."
I showed Cynthia the table I had compiled on my tablet.
Cynthia