PATH OF THE STAR HUNTER

′′ Desmond, I’m home. Where are you? ′′

′′ I’m in the kitchen; put down your things and put on something comfortable. Dinner will be here soon. ′′

Thinking of something Claire said recently, maybe I should focus a bit on myself and the mission I will be undertaking soon. . . but again, it’s hard to focus on such a boring mission, plus I tried at some point to teach Claire how to cook and well how do I say it. . . I’d rather die in the jaws of a giant beast for lack of preparation than try something she cooked again. I love her, and I’m very sorry. Still, I’ve never met someone who cooks so badly, it’s not like everything I touch automatically becomes poison or anything so ridiculous, but only god knows how the hell she seasons things so they taste so bad.

Leaving aside the mystery surrounding the complete lack of culinary skills of the woman who aspires to be my wife, the dinner went without a hitch or anything important to mention, except for the fact that Claire mentioned that her awakening ceremony would be in three days.

With that in mind, I remembered that I actually had something in my hand that would help her a lot in awakening a better ability, so after letting Claire rest on the living room couch, I went to my room and pulled out a briefcase full of resources that are likely to make the military cry over the fact that they forgot to put a tracker in the said briefcase. . . Now that I think about it, maybe I have more talent as a thief than I thought, or it is the power of wearing a mask. . . Well, I guess I’ll know if I ever rob the military again.

I gave the briefcase to Claire, explaining a little about the uses of what was in it. The use of the Esper potions was particularly important for Claire, who would soon go through her awakening because the use of the potion was even more effective if it was used before to awaken an Esper’s ability. This would increase Claire’s chances of awakening an ability and would also increase the potency of her ability.

′′ My God, Desmond. . . I knew you had stolen from the military, but I was not aware that you had screwed up so badly. ′′ Claire exclaimed, quite surprised.

′′ Claire, that vocabulary. . . But if the truth is that I screwed them beautifully. ′′ I began to scold Claire with a severe but short-lived face when I remembered everything I did to the poor military that night, and a smile of cruel amusement was born on my face.

.....

Cof* cof* . . . Returning to the subject of the briefcase, I also explained a little about the use of Esper crystals. As a normal and sociable person like Claire, she was obviously aware of the existence of these in the same way that she knew the Esper enhancement potion. Still, the peculiarities of its use were something that the military did not disclose so easily.

I can only be thankful that a little instruction booklet came at the bottom of the briefcase. I also feel a little bad now that I think about it; after all, I robbed them, destroyed part of their building, and assassinated an entire squad of Esper. I also slept with the only survivor of the said squad and even cheated on them by putting all the blame on a dead man, and they were kind enough to include an instructional kit in the briefcase. . . Of course, all of the above had not yet happened when they showed me the briefcase, but still.

If the military knew what Desmond was thinking right now and how much he didn’t give a damn about all the misery he put them through in recent times, they would likely die of excess anger and then roll in their graves remembering such a blatant thief.

′′ I will be away a few days maximum of a week. I need you to stay safe in the meantime, leave some things ready in the refrigerator, and Kyuru will help take care of the house. Use the things in the briefcase according to the instructions in the brochure, and good luck in your awakening ceremony, but don’t forget what we talked about. ′′ I said in a serious tone.

′′ I know Desmond, you are being overprotective; you are not my father. ′′

′′ No, I am not, but someone had to take care of you. ′′

An awkward silence filled the room, and even Kyuru felt uncomfortable, so she slowly left the room. I knew that Claire had no intention of claiming me or anything like that, and it was not my intention to bring the subject to the table, but things like this happen when you have a past like ours. Anyone who says that being a father is easy, it’s because they don’t know a damn thing about being a father. In our case, I had to be Claire’s father, her brother, her friend, and now something else; not that I complain, but it is difficult sometimes to handle so many roles.

′′ I’m sorry if I’m being overprotective, but because of what happened in my last meeting with the military and the situation they are going through with the new mutant beasts, I am afraid that something may change with the way they handle the civil espers; I just don’t want you to get caught up in the chaos out there. ′′ Try to express some of my concerns instead of keeping them to myself as I used to do in the past.

′′ I know Desmond, you are always taking care of me, and that is part of the reason why I love you so much, but you cannot protect me forever from the outside world, besides; You are not the only one who comes from a military family, I can also take care of myself. . . Except for the cooking part, in that I came out exactly like my mother. . . completely incompetent.” Claire exclaimed at first, trying to look serious and mature, but remembering how I still have to cook for her, her expression before her maturity changed to a wry smile instead.

Remembering when we were little, and our parents secretly gave us combat instructions and other things related to the army from our mothers, who, of course, were opposed to such a thing, a smile full of nostalgia came to me.

′′ In that case, I suppose I will let the mature and independent Claire enjoy a couple of days alone without her older brother, maybe even go out with her friends to have fun for once. In any case, I will leave early tomorrow. Thus. . . I’ll see you soon, darling. ′′

I made fun of Claire’s “mature” attitude a bit and said goodbye beforehand, as it was unlikely that we would see each other. I also suggested that she expand her social circle and go out a bit. After all, it was not healthy that her whole world revolved around me, although it was a bit ironic that the boy without friends told her that. So with an intense kiss on her lips and my hands on her waist, I recharged my love batteries for the long boring journey.