" Vic! I want to go too! I want to go with you!"
No sooner had Vic finished speaking than Rebecca's eager voice rang in his ears. He couldn't tell if she wanted to be alone with Vic or if she was just too bored on the warship and wanted to go ashore as soon as possible.
"You and..."
Vic wanted to refuse Rebecca, as he knew he couldn't bring himself to do it, but he didn't want to say it himself. So he gave the old man a look, hoping the old man would make the first move.
But before he could finish speaking, the old man turned away and looked at the sea as if nothing had happened, clearly not wanting to get involved in their affairs.
The old man isn't blind; he was young once too. He may not have understood love and romance when he was young, but now that he's this age, what doesn't he understand?
He knew exactly what Rebecca was thinking, and he didn't want to interfere in their affairs, lest he be blamed for nothing. As for the final outcome, he'd let them figure it out themselves; he was just a deaf and blind old man.
" Rebecca! Don't you know my abilities? I can't take people with me when I transform into my elemental form. Why don't you just wait for me on the warship!"
Ignoring Wendy and the others' teasing looks, Vic sighed, trying to persuade Rebecca to stay. His elemental form really couldn't carry anyone; it wasn't that he was holding back. Other methods of travel might cause delays, which wasn't what he wanted.
"I don't need you to take me. I can fly on my sword by myself. I'll find you when we get to the island. Please, just let me go!"
Rebecca walked over to Vic, hugged his arm, and started to wag her arms affectionately. However, her movements were a little stiff, and her face was slightly flushed. It was unclear where she had learned this trick, as she hadn't quite mastered it yet.
While others would wave their arms at a distance to act cute, she went a step further and immediately pulled Vic's arm into her own chest, and the shaking caused her to react.
Vic stiffened, a wave of tenderness washing over him, causing Vic to shudder. This was the first time in his life that he had ever been so close to a woman's private parts. It wouldn't have been a problem if he were completely ignorant about matters between men and women, but the key was that he knew everything about it, he just hadn't practiced it in real life.
"Alright... alright! You can fly on your sword yourself... be careful, I'll wait for you on the island!"
Vic glared at Wendy, carefully pulling his arm out of Rebecca's arms, while dribbling the ball around for a while.
Feeling the smooth, tightness of the arm pressing against him, he felt a shiver run through him. A nameless fire surged in his lower abdomen, but before the flames reached his heart, he completely withdrew his arm and quickly took a step back.
Rebecca was still too young in his eyes. Although there were such things as Primal Spirit in this world, and humans developed earlier and faster, in Vic's subjective opinion, Rebecca was just a minor. He felt a little guilty and cursed himself for being a pervert.
"Hehe! Then wait for me to come find you!"
Rebecca was alright; she had already made up her mind and quickly let go of her romantic feelings, though the blush on her face hadn't faded yet.
The night she met Ain, she wanted to give herself to Vic, but Vic refused. Vic treated her like a minor, but she had already developed a lot in the year she had been in the Navy and considered herself an adult.
She was willing and even looking forward to doing some adult things with Vic; this was the signal her mature body was giving her. She simply thought Vic was clueless about romance, after all, Vic had even rejected the mature and voluptuous Gion, so she never considered the possibility that he was underage.
But who can blame her for liking him? Living with a man like Vic all this time, who else could possibly catch her eye? Her standards have already been raised too high by Vic. If Vic can't be with her in the end, she will definitely choose to live alone for the rest of her life. There's no such thing as "of the three unfilial acts, the greatest is to have no offspring" in this world. There are plenty of people who don't get married.
"I'll go first then. Check the direction of the Log Pose before you set off," Vic told Rebecca, worried she might get too excited and get lost; the girl could be a bit silly sometimes.
"Grandpa! Take out your Den Den Mushi and keep it in your hand. Don't be unable to reach you when I need to. And don't be like that guy who kept talking into his anti-eavesdropping Den Den Mushi —it was hilarious!"
After Vic and Rebecca finished speaking, Vic said something to the old man, and before the old man could get angry, he transformed into Inazuma and shot straight into the sky.
He was trying to provoke the old man into thinking he was getting senile. Although he wanted to do the work, he also wanted to gain an advantage verbally, but he was afraid of getting beaten up, so he ran away after saying it.
Seeing the old man turn around with an unfriendly expression, Rebecca and the others burst into laughter, but Vic was nowhere to be seen on the deck.
Vic used to be a very serious person, but he turned into a goofball when he met the old man. It seems that when two people spend a lot of time together, their personalities tend to become more similar.
Unable to find anyone, the old man could only sulk in frustration, muttering to himself that he would teach Vic a lesson next time, beating him until he was begging for his life.
Rebecca laughed for a while, then stretched out her right hand and made a gesture. The sword box behind her opened instantly and a flying sword flew out. After the sword box closed, she took a step and landed steadily on the flying sword, then flew away.
Although Rebecca can fly directly after eating the Float-Float Fruit, she still prefers to fly on a sword. Since fighting with the Float-Float Fruit is also a form of sword flying, she might as well go for the whole thing!
She had already checked the direction the Log Pose was pointing, so she didn't hesitate for a moment.
" Wendy! Keep an eye on Ain for me, don't let her run off!" Although Rebecca had flown away, her voice still carried to the warship.
"I want to go too! I want to fly! I want to go with Vic!"
When Ain saw that Vic and Rebecca had left, she pouted and muttered to herself. However, since Vic hadn't even taken Rebecca with him, she didn't say anything, but her unhappiness was definitely not going away.
She has a lot to learn every day now, with Vic and Rebecca taking turns giving her lessons. She's experiencing a childhood like the children Vic experienced in his previous life! What a pitiful child, even worse off than Tashigi who stayed at Marine Headquarters.
" Ain! We're almost at Water 7! We'll see Vic and Rebecca soon. Come on! Let's study! Today I'll tell you about the geography of this world. We should be there by the time the lesson is over. Let's go!"
Although Ain's mutterings were soft, Wendy, who came to her side, still heard them. In order to keep Ain from running around, she chose to teach Ain a lesson to pass the remaining time, but she didn't see the eye-roll that Ain was rolling her eyes to the sky.