Chapter 102

Eri's eyes were wide with wonder and excitement as she looked around the sights of the carnival. No matter where she looked, she was greeted with something that seemed so fun to do.

It wasn't just the sights. All of Eri's senses are being overwhelmed by multiple things; namely, the great smell of food she didn't know about.

Eri couldn't decide what to do first. Should she follow that good smell? Should she try out that fun-looking ride? Should she just walk around first until an idea comes to her?

Then, Eri subconsciously placed a hand on the hat she wore. It was a little too big for her, so it hung lopsidedly on her head. With the reminder that Ace's hat was with her, Eri knew what she had to do first.

Eat food!

"Sensei!" Eri called out to Mihar. "I smell food! Let's follow it!"

"Yes, Captain Eri!" Mihar said, with a playful salute, which made Eri's smile go wide.

The two of them followed the smell Eri's nose detected. They didn't have to walk long. After passing by three other stalls, Eri found the source of the smell.

As Eri suspected, she smelled food. She didn't recognize what it was, but Mihar did.

"Oh! Waffles, huh?"

"Waffles?"

The food stall Eri and Mihar arrived at was indeed selling waffles. It was a rather delicious snack made of whipped cream and fruit jam sandwiched between a pan-cooked dough batter.

Eri soon discovered that the smell she followed was the smell of the dough cooking in the pan. Eri had no idea something could smell so good.

And it seemed Eri wasn't the only one. The stall selling waffles had what was the beginning of a long line. If Eri and Mihar waited any longer, they'll have to wait minutes to even place their order.

"You want some?" Mihar asked.

"Sure!"

Eri and Mihar stood in line. They were the fourth in line, not ahead but not too far behind either.

"I don't know where to go next after this," Eri said to Mihar. "There's just… so many!"

"Take your time, Eri," Mihar said with a soft chuckle. "We have all the time in the world right now."

Mihar was right. The Royal Aces didn't really have an urgent agenda at the moment. They were here in Water 7 for Doppol to study and improve his skills as a shipwright.

They didn't need to rush. In fact, Eri could return here tomorrow with the others without any problem. As Eri realized this, the line moved up.

"Then… what do you want to do, Sensei?" Eri asked.

"Me?" Mihar seemed surprised that Eri asked for his opinion. 

So, Mihar started thinking of something that they both would enjoy. At that moment, the line moved up again. Eri's order will be next. Mihar was impressed at the speed of the one cooking.

"How about the ferris wheel?" Mihar asked. "I bet we'll be seeing the whole island up there!"

"The ferris wheel?" Eri looked up to try and see the ferris wheel. She found two. "Let's go to the bigger one!"

"You're not scared?" Mihar asked. "We'll be very high up."

The line moved up before Eri could respond. Again, Mihar was impressed at the speed of the cook. When Mihar finally saw the cook, he instantly realized why the service was so fast.

"Good afternoon!" said the octopus fishman making the waffles. "What flavor would you like?"

"Strawberry and cream, please!" Eri said, then she realized just who she was talking to. "Woah! You have so many arms! Cool!"

"Is it… your first time seeing a fishman?"

"Yeah!"

The octopus fishman seemed surprised at how Eri didn't show any fear or disgust despite it being her first time seeing someone like him. People like Eri were rare…

"Thanks for thinking I'm cool, young miss!" he said before turning to Mihar. "How about you, sir?"

"I'll be having the blueberry and cream one, thanks."

"Coming right up!"

Mihar and Eri watched in awe at how the octopus fishman worked. Having eight arms made him extremely efficient; cooking the order, preparing the batter for the next order, and everything else were done simultaneously. 

In seemingly no time at all, Mihar and Eri's order were served. Each of their orders were placed neatly in a small brown paper bag. Eri gratefully took them as Mihar paid for their order.

"Ferris wheel, here we go!"

Eri and Mihar walked to the big ferris wheel. They ate as they walked. Eri hoped the ferris wheel wasn't too far from where they were.

"This is delicious!" Eri said after taking her first bite of the waffle Mihar bought for her.

"Want to try mine?" Mihar asked while he reached out his paper bag with the waffle peeking out to Eri.

"Can I?" Eri asked and Mihar nodded without any hesitation.

Instead of taking Mihar's paper bag that held the waffle he ordered, Eri took a bite directly. Her eyes lit up.

"That's delicious, too!" Eri said. "But, I like mine better… can we get some for Kotatsu?"

"Only if he exercises after," Mihar said with a chuckle. "Let's go back there later."

"Okay!"

Around a minute later, just as Eri was done eating her waffle, they saw the line to the big ferris wheel. The line was rather long already.

"Let's go, Sensei!"

Eri pulled Mihar along by the hand as she hurried to get in line. Luckily, they made it to a batch and didn't have to wait too long.

The carriage Eri and Mihar were riding slowly went up. Mihar let out a sigh of relief once he realized the safety of the carriage. 

It wasn't the usual ferris wheel carriage that swayed if you moved too much. The sides were also lined with glass so people can safely look out without any chance of falling.

"Woah! We're so high up now, Sensei!" Eri said as she stuck her forehead to the glass, looking at the scenery below.

"Don't lean on the glass, Eri," Mihar said before looking out at the sight himself.

"I wasn't!" Eri lied. She didn't listen and leaned against the glass anyway.

"This girl." Mihar clicked his tongue. "Aren't you afraid of falling? We're pretty high up, you know?"

"Not really," Eri said with a small giggle. "Sensei is here, after all!"

"Doesn't mean you should take risks," Mihar said as he gently pulled back Eri a little bit away from the glass pane so she wouldn't be leaning her whole weight on it.

"Okay," Eri said, pouting a little in frustration. Then, she instantly brightened up when she saw something. "Look, Sensei! A fire show!"

Mihar looked below to where Eri was pointing at. There was indeed a fire show. People on stage were putting on a performance with burning rods. Mihar bet it would've looked even better if the performance was done at night.

"They're pretty good," Mihar said, judging the ability of the performers from above. From what he could see, the performers were indeed skilled. "I bet the performance would look better up close."

"Let's go there next, Sensei!"

"Sure. I think we're about to get off, anyway," Mihar said. "But don't get your hopes up too much, Eri. The fire show could already be over once we get there."

"Aww… then, do you think Captain Ace could perform for us?" Eri asked.

Mihar then had a sudden flash of imagination where Ace was performing a fire show. He didn't know if Ace could move like the performers, but he was sure that Ace would be demonstrating a more superior form of control over fire.

"Let's ask him later," Mihar said. "Maybe he will. He owes you, after all."

"Hehe, that's right!" Eri said, once again touching the hat on her head.

When Mihar and Eri got down from the ferris wheel, they immediately went to where they saw the fire show. It wasn't that far from the ferris wheel, or so they thought. 

Being high up makes it difficult to correctly estimate the actual distance on the ground. When Mihar and Eri arrived there, the show was already over.

"It's over?" Eri asked. Seeing people pack up and clean the stage made an answer unnecessary.

"Sorry, Eri."

"That's okay, Sensei," Eri said. "It's still early. Maybe there's other shows!"

And so, Eri began walking to find something that interests her. Mihar followed closely behind.

Soon, Eri stopped walking after seeing something that caught her eye: a stuffed bunny.

"Sensei! Look!" Eri pointed at the bunny. "It's so cute!"

"Come and test your skill! Let's see them sharpshooters!"

The bunny Eri pointed at was indeed a prize for the little game set up at the stall. From what Mihar could see, it was a shooting game. But he didn't see any targets.

"Excuse me," Mihar said as he approached the stall. "I want to play."

"Ohh? Sure! You look like you could handle a gun, sir!"

"I fire a shot every now and then…"

"Three hundred Berry!" The stall keeper then put up three fingers. "Three shots to play!"

"Here." Mihar paid up front.

"You can do it, Sensei!" Eri cheered from the side, making Mihar smile.

The stall keeper gratefully received Mihar's payment before giving him a toy gun. Mihar took it and was immediately dismayed.

The stall keeper gave Mihar a toy. It was a piece of wood carved to look like a flintlock pistol. The three 'shots' Mihar had were three rubber bands. The stall keeper gave Mihar a toy gun that shoots rubber bands.

"What am I shooting at, exactly?" Mihar asked out of confusion. One didn't need to be an expert at guns to know that the 'firearm' in Mihar's hands would find it incredibly difficult to even injure someone.

"Why, the prize you want to win of course!" the stall keeper said. "If it falls off the shelf, it's yours!"

Mihar's focus locked in on the stuffed bunny Eri wanted. He didn't even pay attention to any of the prizes.

Again, Mihar didn't like how the game was rather rigged. It would be very difficult to shoot down something like a stuffed bunny with rubber bands.

But, complaining won't get him anywhere. Mihar tested something out by firing his first shot.

In one fluid motion, Mihar aimed and fired. The rubber band went flying straight to the stuffed bunny, hitting it right on its nose.

'Well, at least this toy is accurate enough…'

"W-Wow!" The stall keeper seemed surprised at Mihar's skill. "But, too bad! The bunny is still on the shelf!"

'Not for long…'

"So let me get this straight," Mihar said to the stall keeper. "If that stuffed bunny falls off the shelf, we win?"

"That's right!"

"In that case…"

Mihar really wished he knew how to use Haki. Being able to use those techniques would make winning this game much easier than having to bend the rules a little bit.

What Mihar did next made the stall keeper's eyes pop out. Instead of aiming for a shot, Mihar threw the gun itself at the stuffed bunny.

Mihar is one of the three marksmen of the Royal Ace Pirates. Needless to say, his marksmanship was very impressive. The gun he threw hit the stuffed bunny accurately and made it fall off the shelf.

"Yes! You did it, Sensei!" Eri said.

"I believe it's my win," Mihar said with a smirk to the stall keeper.

"N-No! It's not!" the stall keeper said. "That was cheating!"

"I did no such thing!" Mihar said. "I got that bunny off the shelf! You didn't tell me I needed to use those rubber bands."

"Th-That's-!" The stall keeper was stunned. Mihar was right, he didn't specify that the prize needed to be shot off the shelf. "You're supposed to play fair!"

"Are you really going to lecture me about that?" Mihar asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I'm calling the-"

Mihar slammed his palm on the stall's counter, making the stall keeper flinch. Then, Mihar leaned closer and opened his coat for the stall keeper to see.

"Now, no need to make a fuss," Mihar said. "How about you just give me the bunny, and we go in peace?"

Mihar was flashing the pistol he had in his inner coat for the stall keeper to see. It was Mihar's spare gun since he favored using rifles instead.

"O-O-Okay! Okay, okay!"

The stall keeper then rushed to pick up the bunny and gave it to Mihar. He only relaxed once Mihar stopped showing him the pistol in his coat.

"Thanks for the fun game!" Mihar said to the stall keeper as he and Eri walked away with the bunny in his hand.

"You were so cool, Sensei!" Eri said.

"I wasn't, but thanks," Mihar said. "Here."

Mihar gave Eri the stuffed bunny she wanted. Eri took it gratefully and hugged it close.

"It's as fluffy as I imagined!" Eri said as her steps seemed to spring up, slowly going from walking to hopping. "Thank you so much, papa!"

Mihar stopped walking after hearing what Eri said. It was the first time Eri called him that. He watched the little girl that was merrily hopping ahead of him.

If he would be honest, Mihar really thought of Eri as his daughter. Although they're not of the same blood, he's been taking care of Eri for four years now. They were family, but never once did Eri call Mihar her father.

Seemingly unaware of what she just said, Eri went on ahead. Mihar shook himself off his thoughts and stepped into pace with Eri.

In retaliation for the little happy shock she gave him, Mihar made a rare gesture of affection. He patted Eri's head and took her small hand in his.

"What's wrong, Sensei?" Eri asked. "Are we going somewhere?"

"Not really," Mihar said. "It's a big place with many people. You could get lost, so let's walk like this."

"Hmmm… no."

"What?" Mihar was surprised that Eri rejected.

"Give me a piggyback ride instead! Just like before!"

Mihar felt his heart be filled with warmth. Still, he decided to tease Eri first.

"And here I thought you're a big girl now," Mihar said.

"Big girls can still get piggyback rides!" Eri said with a smirk, seemingly reflecting Mihar's. "Am I wrong?"

Mihar wanted to laugh. Ever since they set out to sea, he observed how Eri has grown to be more… devious. Not that it was a bad thing. Mihar was glad to see that Eri was slowly shedding her overly bashful and naive self bit by bit.

Eri was growing to become a strong woman. He may not be her real father, but Mihar was proud of his daughter.

"Alright, princess," Mihar said before picking Eri up for a piggyback ride. He was strong enough to not struggle with Eri's weight. "Where do you want to go?"

"Forward!" Eri shouted as she brandished an imaginary sword.

Thus, the father and daughter went on with their day at the carnival.