I Kidnapped the Hero Party – Chapter 26

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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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“…I think I need an explanation, Hare.”

To think this would happen.

I never imagined such a thing would occur at home.

I recalled what had happened before coming here, I was on my way to Minerva’s library.

‘What is this.’

She told me to come and then suddenly told me to go home, what on earth was she saying?

However, judging by Minerva’s urgent tone, it didn’t seem like a joke.

If it was really a joke, she would mix informal speech in the problem.

When posing important problems, Minerva used formal speech.

‘…Then, does this mean it’s important now.’

For now, I quickly turned my body around and confirmed the correct answer for problem 1.

The moment Hare helped Estia escape was captured in the vision I saw of the future.

However, Hare’s expression as she watched Estia from below didn’t look good, in her hand was a button that would make electricity flow.

‘This is dangerous.’

If I was not careful, the Hero’s party might collapse.

Hare was about to press the switch to make electricity flow.

At that moment.

‘Just like I saw in the future.’

Tap-

Now.

In my hand, just as I had seen in the future, was the electrical switch Hare was about to press.

Although I didn’t bother to look at the future for option 2, if I had chosen 2 without knowing anything…

‘Estia would have died 100%, and the Hero party’s Demon Lord’s subjugation would have ended in failure.’

It was a future that must never happe, and Hare, who was about to carry it out.

“Ah, Mister th-that’s not it..”

I had to scold her, who was wearing an expression of deep regret.

Before that.

‘…First, I should stop Estia’s escape.’

Even if electricity wasn’t flowing, if she fell from there by mistake, she might die instantly.

I made eye contact with Estia sitting on top of the fence.

“Do-Don’t come! Leave me alone! Yo-You kidnapper big brother! Aren’t you afraid of the Goddess-”

“You’re noisy, Estia.”

“N-No! Don’t grab me! Aaah-!!”

She was as noisy as a monkey.

I slung Estia, who was trying to climb over the barbed wire, over my shoulder.

She was shrieking loudly.

Carrying the noisy Estia, I approached Hare.

“…Hare.”

“Y-Yes… Mi-Mister.”

Hare, was excessively shrinking as if scared.

She put her hands together in front, took a polite posture, and tears were dripping onto the floor.

I spoke to her with an icy tone.

“You were trying to do something interesting while I was gone.”

“N-No… I-I wasn’t doing it for fun…”

“Don’t make excuses, Hare. For now… I need to put Estia down and have a talk with you alone.”

When I said those words, Hare’s body trembled countless times.

It was a pitiful sight, but I didn’t particularly feel sympathy.

‘…A mistake is a mistake. Whether it succeeded or failed. Her intention itself wasn’t good.’

I wanted things to proceed peacefully but this way, the Hero’s party wouldn’t form smoothly.

I reluctantly decided to give Hare a great ‘punishment’.

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“Le-Let go…! I-I need to go to the church-!!”

“Enough, just sleep for a while, Estia.”

“Eck-”

Thud-

My ears hurt.

After knocking Estia unconscious, I immediately headed to Luna’s room.

The door was unlocked with a key, and the magic barrier fixing the door had been released.

‘…Was it Saten?’

There was no way Saten helped Hare out of pity for Estia.

It seemed that Hare, who appeared to be the leader of this incident, had persuaded Saten.

I didn’t know what method she used, but I could ask Saten directly later.

For more detailed information…

“Sniff, Mi-Mister… I-I’m sorry… Sniff…”

I could ask Hare directly, who was following behind me.

Wiping her tears with her hands, barely following behind me, Hare was shedding so many tears that I worried she might become dehydrated.

For now, I carried Estia on my back into Luna’s room.

Luna, who was sitting in a chair, jumped up with her eyes wide open.

“Mister! Estia is… Wh-What’s wrong? Why is Estia in this state?”

“I knocked her unconscious.”

“What? Well, from a kidnapper’s perspective, escape would be infuriating… I understand.”

Luna tried to understand this incident from my perspective as a kidnapper, despite being the very person who was kidnapped.

It was quite a Hero-like behavior.

Anyway.

“Luna. Why didn’t you try to escape?”

“Ye-Yes? Me?”

“Yes, you. Why didn’t you try to escape even though you had the opportunity?”

This was a bit unexpected.

Luna must have been utterly exhausted following our repeated harsh training.

If she had the chance, she could have escaped with Estia.

‘Why on earth didn’t she escape?’

From my perspective of becoming a kidnapper, I was curious about why Luna didn’t escape.

“We-Well, about that…”

Luna scratched her head for a moment.

Then, with a slightly flushed face, she answered.

“Be-Because money comes in…? If I escape from here, the support for my family will disappear too. You know my family’s address, and I don’t know what you might do…”

“Do I look like that kind of person?”

“Ah, no~ That’s just a figure of speech! A-Anyway, it’s definitely not because I like it here that I didn’t escape! Just, money! It’s because of money! You understand, right? Don’t misunderstand at all!”

Luna spat out words like a machine gun, and I liked the reason why Luna didn’t escape.

‘Because of money…’

More precisely, it would be because of her family.

The fact that Luna didn’t escape even though she had the opportunity was something to be praised highly.

Therefore, while I decided to give Hare a ‘punishment’, I decided to give Luna a ‘reward’.

Right in front of the regretful Hare for her to see.

“Luna, you did well.”

“…What? Why is Mister praising me…? Is today the day the world ends…?”

I guess I hadn’t praised Luna enough, However, now was the time to praise her.

Pat-

“You did very well. Even though you had the opportunity, you didn’t escape. In that sense, I’ll reduce the intensity of your training beginning tomorrow.”

“Huh?! Re-Really…?! You’re not lying…?!”

“Of course, we’ll start sword training tomorrow, and for your family… I’ll provide an additional 500,000 peri from now on.”

At those words, Luna’s blue eyes sparkled like sapphires.

She seemed very pleased.

“Re-Really…?! Wo-Wow-!! What day is today! Mister has changed! Wow-!”

If Luna had a tail, it would probably be wagging vigorously from side to side.

She looked like an excited Golden Retriever.

In contrast, Hare wore an expression full of despair.

It was joy and sorrow intersecting.

Hare’s actions were seriously wrong, so to correct them, a strong shock was necessary.

‘The action of trying to kill someone can never be forgiven.’

Especially since it was Estia, who would become their future companion.

I had to give Hare a strong shock so that she would never do such a thing again.

‘This should be enough.’

I stopped patting Luna’s head and decided to turn around and leave the room, entrusting Estia to Luna.

“When Estia wakes up, explain things well to her, Luna.”

“Yes, yes…! Thank you, Mister…! No, is it right to thank you…? Anyway! Thank you!”

Luna bowed her head, expressing her gratitude.

“Um, before you go, could you come here just once?”

Then, as if she had something to say to me, she made a sign with her hand for me to come.

‘…What is she trying to say?’

I followed Luna’s request and brought my ear close, she carefully whispered in a small voice to my ear.

“Um… Please don’t scold Hare too much… I think she did it because Estia looked pitiful… Hare is kind, you know…”

“She is kind.”

That child was kind.

But, it was a twisted kindness.

Luna seemed to be saying this because she didn’t know that Hare had tried to kill Estia.

Still, I had to scold Hare, so after vaguely answering ‘Alright’ to Luna’s words, I left the room.

Bang-

The door closed.

Silence flowed between Hare and me.

“…”

I went down the stairs without saying a word.

Hare followed behind, and just as I was about to head to Hare’s room.

Grab-

Hare grabbed my ankle and started pleading.

“Mi-Mister… I-I did wrong… I-I didn’t mean to do that… I-I was just not feeling good-”

“So, are you saying you tried to kill your friend because you weren’t feeling good?”

“N-No… I… She sa-said she would report… I-I was trying to protect you, Mister…!”

“Who’s protecting who? You protecting me? That’s quite funny, Hare. It’s presumptuous behavior.”

It was presumptuous behavior.

In the first place, it was Hare who helped Estia escape, and the biggest problem was that she sincerely tried to lead the other person to ‘death’ in the process of cleaning up her own mess.

‘The act of helping a friend escape is a good action in itself, but…’

Hare’s intention behind that action was rotten to the core.

She absolutely did not try to help Estia because she felt sorry for her.

I looked down at Hare, who was lying on the floor holding my ankle.

“Sniff, I’m sorry… I-I did wrong… Don’t abandon… Sniff… me…”

She was pleading while shedding tears.

Hare, whom I thought was kind, attempted sinister actions behind my back.

How should I interpret this situation?

For now, I decided to lift her up from the floor.

I didn’t like seeing her continue like this.

“Get up, Hare.”

“I-I’m sorry… Hare is a bad child… Hare is a bad child… I’m sorry…”

“…Sigh, forget the rest. I’ll just ask one thing. I won’t ask anything else, and I’ll hide it from the others, so just answer this.”

Why did you try to help Estia escape?

At that question, Hare raised her head.

Then, she answered with sincerity.

“…If one person disappeared, mo-more attention would come to me…”

“What does that mean?”

“With four people, attention sniff… goes to other children… But if o-only I remain… attention will… only come to me… sniff…”

Selfishness.

Jealousy.

Greed.

Hare seemed to have tried to help the other children escape with such emotions.

Her attempt to kill Estia in the process was presumed to be an impulsive action.

‘Still, trying to kill a friend cannot be justified.’

I lifted Hare, who was lying on the floor as if collapsed.

Not in the sense of forgiveness, it was to give ‘punishment’.

“Hare. I think you know what your mistake was.”

“…Y-Yes, I did wro-”

“Sorry isn’t enough, Hare. It’s appropriate to receive a direct ‘punishment’ for this action.”

“…Mi-Mister? Wh-Why are you pushing me…?”

I pushed Hare’s back, forcibly putting her into her room.

Then, I closed the door as if I would never open it again.

From that closed door, Hare’s sorrowful voice leaked out.

-Mi-Mister…? Wh-What is this…?

“…Take some time to think in there. I’ll bring food at the usual time.”

-Ye-Yes…? Mi-Mister…? Do-Don’t go… Don’t leave me… I did wrong… I-I’m sorry…! Do-Don’t abandon me…! Please, Mister…! Mister…!!

Ignoring Hare’s pleading voice, I locked her room door with a key.

I heard the sound of her banging on the door, but I deliberately ignored it.

Hare needed this kind of strong shock therapy.

‘She should be able to give up her feelings towards me, and she won’t try to betray her companions again.’

As if agreeing with my words, Minerva delivered an answer through a problem.

There was no need to hesitate.

“The confinement will be for 14 days.”

Hare needed time to think, and a lot of time at that.

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