I Kidnapped the Hero Party – Chapter 5

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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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The Hero.

In various media, the Hero was often portrayed as a master of swordsmanship.

A superhuman who used the power of the sacred sword to annihilate demons,easily rending any mountains that blocked their path.
The Hero who was burdened with the fate of all humanity was always depicted as a genius.

The Hero swinging a sword in front of me was also like that.

“Hyah! Hyah!”

“…”

Whoosh.

That same Hero was making strange shouts,

swinging the sword in a clumsy stance.

Sometimes swaying as if she were about to lose balance and fall.

An observer might judge that she had no talent at all.

However, it was quite ironic that all of the Hero’s strange attacks were aimed at his vital points.

‘With this level of talent… She really is the Hero.’

Solar plexus.

Liver.

Heart.

The Hero kept thrusting at vital points.

It was as if her instincts guided her towards them despite her brain not understanding.

‘If I had to put it, should I say it’s like equipping an old building with the latest facilities…’

One had to acknowledge her innate sense for combat.

But even then, there were far too many openings.

Unaware of this, Luna boasted confidently.

“Heh, how’s that? You can’t do anything, right?! Today, I’ll escap-”

“Nonsense. You have too many unnecessary movements.”

“Huh?”

Tap.

The wooden sword that the Hero was swinging hard suddenly stopped.

And then, herwooden sword soared towards the sky, while her body rolled on the ground.

“Kyah!”

“Don’t get cocky with such a novice skill level. I can deal with someone like you even without a sword.”

“Ow ow.. Why am I on the ground..? What did you just do..?”

“I hit your wooden sword upwards and kicked your legs that lost balance. Your balance is terrible.”

If this situation was real combat, she would have died.

‘Putting that aside…’

The most important thing was talent.

She had talent befitting of the Hero.

While attacking, her gaze preyed upon my movements

Dissecting where I would move, and what she could exploit.

It seemed like these thoughts were intrinsic.

“Have you experienced holding a sword before?”

“…Just once last time. When I was scouted by the Knights.”

“Sylvester Knights, huh.”

The Hero nodded affirmingly.

Sylvester Knights.

They were deeply related to me.

He made Luna, who was lying on the ground, stand up.

“For now, having a match with me seems pointless. Starting with basic training-”

“What?! Why? Just once! I think I can win if we do it just once more!”

“No, you’ll need to do it at least a thousand more times. It’s annoying.”

“That’s not true! I think it’ll be over with just one more time!”

Her pride had shot through the sky.

If he taught the Hero in this state she would certainly ignore all his advice.

Surely, the Hero would grow in a strange direction.

He replied to the Hero as if he had no choice.

“…Just once. If you lose, listen to my words quietly. Obediently follow the training too. Got it?”

“Yes! Understoooood!”

The Hero ran towards the fallen wooden sword.

Maybe because her hair was golden, the sight of her picking up the wooden sword was like a golden retriever.

She confronted me again in a clumsy stance.

…This was a bit hard to watch.

“Move your front foot one span forward, and pull your butt back. Support your body with your legs.”

“Don’t order me around! I’ll do it myself!”

Stubbornness.

In most media, Heroes also had stubborn personalities.

They always acted as if their thoughts alone were right.

Saying things like ‘This is right!’, ‘This is the right thing to do!’

Before Luna met her official Hero party that stubbornness had to be shattered.

“I’ll concede the first move. Come at me first.”

“…You’ll regret it.”

“Listening to you, it sounds like you’re a sword master..”

The Hero seemed trapped in her own world.

Perhaps that confidence came from receiving a proposal from the Sylvester Knights and being praised.

‘You have talent! How about joining our Knights? With you, becoming the Knight Commander will be a breeze!’

While they might have said something like that.

The word ‘talent’ turned people into frogs in a well.

Truly, it was like a curse.

He spoke to the Hero who was being cocky relying only on her talent.

“Come. I’ll properly show you your skill level.”

“I, I’m coming! Don’t regret it!”

Thump thump.

The Hero began running towards me like a blinded racehorse.

Despite receiving advice a moment ago, her posture was still a mess.

And with that messy posture, she raised her sword high.

A downward slash.

Drawing an arc, the sword was swung towards the ground.

It was a natural attack as if connected by a single line.

However,

“A downward slash starting from an unstable posture has too large of a motion.”

“Huh?”

The aimed part was good, but the result was a failure.

He slightly twisted his shoulder and dodged the wooden sword.

With a difference thin enough for a sheet of paper to fit through.

At that sight, the Hero’s blue eyes widened.

However, it was already too late by then.

It was the time for me to lunge into her space.

“Swordsmanship is important. And life is important too.”

Behind his lunging body, a wooden sword was ready.

It would immediately rush towards the Hero if I just gave the signal.

The Hero also seemed to grasp that, as the composure disappeared from her usually lively eyes.

‘I’m going to die.’

The Hero, with instincts stronger than anyone else’s, must have felt it.

That the strongest instinct was the survival instinct.

As the Hero’s blue eyes darkened, she sensed the crisis.

However, there was nothing she could do.

Because she was weak.

Like that, his attack was fired at the Hero.

Tap.

“Ouch!”

A dull impact resounded.

The Hero’s empty voice flowed out.

“Wha, what. Am I alive..?”

“It’s a flick. There’s no way I’d kill you.”

“But, but you really tried to kill me just now…”

“Not at all. You just misunderstood on your own.”

At those words, the Hero sat down on the spot as if her legs gave out.

There were slight tears in the corners of her eyes.

For such a Hero.

He gave her one helpful piece of advice.

“You don’t seem to have any talent to be found. At this rate, it’ll take 30 more years.”

“…”

“A swordsman with no talent like this. It’s the first time I’ve seen one.”

“Hic.”

At my words, a waterfall began pouring from Luna’s blue eyes that had tears welling up.

Now that she properly faced her own skill level she’d be able to sharpen her swordsmanship keenly.

‘Pain is necessary for growth.’

He wished for the day she would defeat him to come quickly.

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“Uwaaaaah..!!!”

Bang bang!

Luna, lying on the bed, kicked the innocent blanket.

It was because she remembered what happened during the afternoon.

“Me! Having no talent!? Uwaaaaah..!!”

Luna kicked the blanket hard with each word she spoke.

Mister Jun-woo.

That kidnapper!

He said he was going out for a bit, so there was no one to stop her rampage.

“No eye for talent! Kidnapping people! What a good person! He’s a completely bad person!! I was stupid for mistaking him!!”

Spewing out the resentment from the afternoon, Luna kicked the blanket over and over.

That day.

The talent that she had never doubted even once after being offered by the Sylvester Knight Commander was shattered.

Her wound also stung painfully.

“I have no talent..? Just watch..! I’ll definitely defeat you! What do you mean stay still! Live in that dirty living room forever, you psychopath!”

She would definitely take revenge!

Luna decided to forget that filthy living room in her memory.

For her, there was only moving forward.

‘Always keep the sword with you. It will help with your sense.’

Recalling Lee Jun-woo’s words, Luna gripped the wooden sword hung on the wall.

And retracing the fight from the afternoon, she began to correct her posture.

Phew.

“Did that mister do it like this..? No, it’s a bit different… Is it because of the difference in physique..? Then the posture that suits my body is…”

Luna recalled that sparring scene in her mind.

What posture suited her?

What posture was the most efficient for attacking the opponent?

Considering one by one, she gradually began to take shape from her clumsy posture.

“No, this might be better…”

Little by little.

To the point where it seemed like 1cm moved in 10 minutes.

Like a caterpillar wriggling, she corrected her posture.

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Evening.

The capital where liveliness faded and tired ghosts roamed the streets.

The kidnapper Lee Jun-woo calmly walked the streets, blending in with them.

‘The Hero is probably practicing alone by now.’

Finding her own shortcomings, slowly dissecting where she went wrong, and finding the answer.

That was the Hero’s talent.

All he had to do was throw problems at the Hero.

There was no need to deliberately teach her the solution, as she could find it on her own.

Leaving her alone was Lee Jun-woo’s consideration in his own way.

“…But there’s nothing to do even if I go out.”

He should have just laid down on the sofa.

A hint of regret seeped out, but Lee Jun-woo decided to just walk around the capital.

He liked the night air, so it was rather nice.

“Sigh…”

Inhaling the cold night air, Lee Jun-woo looked around the streets of the capital.

There were adventurers just like himself, and there were also happy-looking families.

While there were people who looked happy, there were also people who looked unhappy.

‘How do I look in the eyes of other people?’

Lost in thought, Lee Jun-woo had that small idea.

With a stoic expression and not even knowing the reason for why he was living, he wouldn’t be seen as a happy person, so would he be seen as an unhappy person?

Lee Jun-woo fit the expression of living because he couldn’t die.

‘Your soul is dead, so you can’t return to Korea. Live here, Jun-woo.’

‘If you defeat the Demon Lord’s and make a “wish” that grants anything, you might be able to return.. But that belongs to the Hero’s party.’

Recalling Minerva’s words and walking the streets aimlessly, a voice with a tone that tickled the ears began to reach Lee Jun-woo’s ears.

“Ma, matches for sale~”

“…?”

“Buy a pack of matches~”

The unique voice of a match-selling girl was coming from somewhere.

Hearing those words, a question arose in Lee Jun-woo’s mind.

‘What era is this to sell matches? No one will buy them, right?’

If it was a remote rural village, it would make sense, but in the capital city of Gransia, there was absolutely no demand for matches.

Because even commoners could cheaply light a fire using lamps powered by magic stones.

There was no one who bought matches or sold them.

‘But why is she selling matches in the middle of the night…?’

The voice of the match-selling girl piqued Lee Jun-woo’s curiosity.

He walked towards the source of the sound.

On a dark evening street where people passed by, there was a match-selling girl in shabby clothes.

“Ah, Mr. Adventurer..! Would you like to buy a match? It might help with your adventure..!”

The match-selling girl smiled kindly.

She was wearing a red hood, but her light pink hair peeked out from the hood.

The basket in her hand was filled with countless matches.

Judging by her appearance, she seemed to be a girl around the same age as the Hero.

Lee Jun-woo asked out of curiosity.

“How much for a pack?”

“1000 peri. I’ll specially give you two for Mr. Adventurer!”

The match-selling girl seemed to have a warm heart.

Despite the cold weather, her smile held happiness.

Even with her shabby appearance and selling matches, she hadn’t lost her happiness.

And above that smile.

A familiar-looking window appeared.

The answer sheet.

The answer sheet was absolutely necessary.

Lee Jun-woo immediately checked the answer sheet.

The future if he chose option 2.

…

The view blacked out, and a different scene unfolded in front of Lee Jun-woo.

The surroundings were dark, dyed in a bloody color, and he had no idea where this place was.

Thud-

The light turned on, and a woman appeared in front of him.

‘The match-selling girl…?’

The small match-selling girl who looked kind earlier had disappeared, and a grown woman with madness who seemed to have lost her mind appeared.

She muttered something to herself, then raised her head.

Her red eyes soaked in blood stared at me.

‘What, what’s with those eyes…’

Something.

Something was dangerous.

As if the me in the future also judged so, I started running away, turning my back.

With sticky blood clinging to my shoes, I ran at top speed.

However, was it because my desperation was lacking?

‘I finally found you.’

The woman picked up my rolling head.

The last thing I saw was the match-selling girl gently hugging my severed head.

With the final sight of the girl’s happy smile, as if standing in a flower garden in a blood-stained alley.

The answer sheet closed its pages.

…

That kind-looking match-selling girl will kill me and hug my head?

“This crazy…”

It was the same as with the Hero.

That girl would kill me somehow later, and to prevent that, I had to kidnap her.

Without hesitation, he clicked on option 1. Kidnap the match-selling girl.

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