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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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“Luna, where are you right now?”
That single sentence was written in Luna’s family’s letter.
The handwriting conveyed a sense of urgency.
“…If they’re asking where she is now, they must have realized that Luna isn’t with the knighthood.”
If Luna had been with the knighthood, there would have been no need to ask where she was.
It seemed an investigation into Luna’s kidnapping was underway.
Luna, was supposed to join the Sylvester Knighthood.
Since Luna hadn’t joined them after arriving in the capital, it was assumed that the Sylvester Knighthood had caught wind of this and started investigating.
They had probably contacted her parents in Arden Village during the process.
“Hmm, this is a troublesome situation…”
The Sylvester Knighthood was known for its tenacity.
They would likely trace Luna’s movement path and discover that she had been kidnapped.
They were a group that relentlessly pursued and found criminals, never giving up.
Even their motto was along the lines of ‘Never give up. Persevere through evil and stubbornness.’
But the most troublesome thing was…
“It would be even more annoying if Irina found out I’m the kidnapper.”
My former companion, Irina of the Silver Knights of Sylvester.
As righteous as she was stubborn and bothersome.
If Irina personally conducted the investigation, it would only be a matter of time before our hideout was discovered.
‘Tch, should we start moving soon?’
Since we were short on rooms, it might not be a bad idea to use this opportunity to move.
I asked Hare, who was peeking at me from behind the wall in the distance.
“Hare, come here.”
“Yes, Mister!”
Hare ran over with a bright expression at those words.
Then, she tilted her head as if wondering why I had called her.
“Do I have something to do…?”
“It’s not so much a task as something I want to ask. How do you feel about leaving the capital?”
“I-I’ll be happy with whatever Mister wants! Anything is fine!”
…
There wasn’t much point in asking Hare’s opinion.
For now, I needed to deliver these letters to their owners.
I got up from the sofa.
Hare followed closely behind me.
The first place I entered was Saten’s room.
“Saten, I’ve sent the letter. And here’s the reply letter-”
“Yes, please leave it there.”
“…Alright.”
Perhaps because Saten was focused on her book, she spoke in a disinterested tone.
At that sight, Hare’s expression frowned slightly, but I felt nothing since I understood Saten’s situation.
The book Saten was reading was titled ‘Between Ice and Fire.’
It was a romance novel.
‘…I’m glad I cleaned up the study.’
It was fortunate it wasn’t an erotic novel like last time.
No matter what, reading such novels at the age of 14 wasn’t quite right.
Now she would probably read mostly wholesome novels.
I decided to leave the letter on the desk as Saten had said.
Before that, I had something to ask her briefly.
“Saten.”
“Yes.”
“What do you think about leaving the capital?”
“Hmm, is someone on our trail?”
“Something like that.”
We were about to be tracked.
It would take time, but it was clear that the Sylvester Knighthood would eventually find our house.
Irina was the epitome of an unyielding knight, after all.
At my question, Saten briefly took her eyes off the book and spoke in an indifferent tone.
“Can I only learn magic from you in the capital?”
“No.”
“Can I only send letters to my family from the capital?”
“…No.”
“Then, it doesn’t matter. I only care about magic, books, and lessons. As long as my curiosity is satisfied, that’s all.”
Curiosity.
That could be said to be the reason for living for Saten, who had no emotions.
Now that I had Saten’s opinion, I left the room so as not to disturb her further.
Hare, seeing this, asked curiously.
“Mister, is Saten always so arrogant…?”
“Did Saten seem arrogant to you?”
“Ah, no. I was fine with it… I just wondered if you might have found her arrogant…”
“That’s probably because Saten is too honest.”
“…Honest?”
“She doesn’t lie and speaks truthfully about what she feels, that’s why Saten is a good child too.”
“…Hmm, I understand.”
Honestly, I wasn’t sure if she was really a good child, but Hare’s expression didn’t look very comfortable at my words.
She probably couldn’t understand Saten.
The deceitful thief.
The truthful mage.
The thief and the mage were opposite in nature.
It would be impossible for them to get along well.
“Well, that’s enough about Saten. Now we just need to go to Luna-”
We just needed to go, but…
Strange sounds kept coming from Luna’s room?
What were they doing in there?
Some clattering and noisy sounds were leaking from Luna’s room.
“…I should go check quickly. Estia might be going berserk-”
“Ah, Mister! Le-Let’s go together…!”
Ignoring Hare who was shouting something, I quickly opened Luna’s room door.
The clattering sounds had quieted down a bit.
Ever since Hare remembered the location of the key, I always kept Luna’s room key in my pocket.
I took out the key from my pocket and checked what was happening inside.
The scene unfolding in the room was quite a spectacle.
‘…Has Estia gone berserk?’
Estia, with her small frame, was on top of Luna who was lying down.
The two girls were on the bed, moving vigorously.
Estia, who was grunting as if struggling, shouted as soon as she saw me.
“He-Help me, kidnapper…!! Sh-She’s gone crazy…!!”
“Le-Let go-! I told you to bring Mister-!”
“…”
It seemed the one who had gone berserk was not Estia.
It appeared to be Luna.
‘What on earth happened…?’
I needed to find out what had occurred.
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The incident started with Luna.
After finishing training and going up to her room, Luna took a shower as usual.
“What did he say I lacked in today’s training…?”
What was it…
Luna poured water from the basket over herself.
Splash-
Cold!
“Ah, right! I remember! He said I lacked everything!”
Did he say my swordsmanship was flashy but not practical?
That I had too many unnecessary movements, exposing my weaknesses.
It was something like that.
“Hmm, swordsmanship is fun but difficult… Is Mister’s explanation hard to understand?”
-Shall I… teach you… swordsmanship…?
“Wh-What…! Who’s there…?!”
In the middle of her shower, that chilling voice suddenly started speaking to Luna again.
The one that had been quiet when she was with Mister.
It was speaking to her again.
-Do you… want to be good at swordsmanship…? Are you ready… to bear the ‘burden’…?
“Wh-Who are you?! Who are you to talk to me…?!”
-You’re curious… about me? I am…
“Sh-Shut up…! Be quiet!”
When the strange voice spoke, eerie screams could be heard between its words.
Someone’s agonized voice, screams begging to be saved.
Luna felt like her mental strength was being chipped away each time she heard the voice.
-…I’ll help… you. Before that man… comes.
“St-Stop! Don’t talk…!!”
She kept hearing voices begging to be saved.
Luna covered her ears in pain every time she heard those voices.
However, the screams showed no sign of stopping.
She hastily put on clothes while still wet and left the bathroom.
“Be quiet-!!”
“Eek…!! I-I didn’t say anything, Luna?! Really, I didn’t say anything at all!”
Estia, who had been imagining the taste of holy water while lying on the bed, jumped up in surprise.
Just like before, Luna seemed to be out of her mind, shouting in pain.
“Mi-Mister… Call Mister, Estia… I-I think I’m going crazy…”
“O-Okay! I’ll go call him!”
Estia scurried off on her short legs.
Oh?
“But how can I call him when the door is locked?”
She hadn’t even run a meter.
The door was locked, so she couldn’t call Mister.
Luna clutched her head in pain.
“Ah, aah-!! Stop-!! Stop talking-!!”
“Yo-You’re worse than me… St-Stop moving! You’ll hurt yourself!”
Luna thrashed about in pain, banging into things around her.
Estia tried to restrain her as best she could.
She straddled Luna, pinning her down on the bed.
It looked like a scene from a martial arts match.
“St-Stay still! I-I’ll pray for you! May the Goddess protect you and bestow happy holy water upon you, I bless you to live only for happiness-”
“Ge-Get off-!! Stop talking-!!”
It was a scene of madness.
Even a passing citizen would have been able to tell that these two were not in their right minds.
Who could stop this chaotic scene?
Just as she thought that, the door opened and…
“He-Help me, kidnapper…!! Sh-She’s gone crazy…!!”
“Le-Let go-! I told you to bring Mister-!”
Jun-woo appeared.
Luna stopped her rampage.
“…Huh, I can’t hear it anymore?”
Luna turned her gaze towards Jun-woo.
Though her pupils were shaking, she could intuitively understand the truth.
‘When I’m near Mister, I can’t hear the voice, and…’
It doesn’t hurt either.
Luna got up from the bed and hurriedly approached Jun-woo.
The solution to this symptom lay with him.
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“Hmm, so that’s what happened.”
“That’s not just ‘what happened’! I really almost died! This is really serious!”
“I-I feel like I’m dying too… Give me holy water…”
Estia was sprawled out on the bed, exhausted from restraining Luna.
Jun-woo couldn’t see Luna’s berserk state, so it didn’t fully sink in for him.
However, he was looking at the situation seriously.
“…You say you heard someone’s voice?”
“Yes! Screams and a voice like scraping metal! I keep hearing it! It doesn’t happen when I’m with you, Mister.”
“Did you perhaps drink any water Estia gave you-”
“No way! Absolutely not! I didn’t drink anything!”
Luna answered firmly.
If that was the case, what could be causing her symptoms?
Auditory hallucinations.
However, she didn’t hear the voice when she was close to Jun-woo…
Hare saw the situation differently.
‘Is she faking an illness to get Mister’s attention…? That was my idea first… Should I cancel my plan…?’
Of course, that was just Hare’s own thought.
Jun-woo pondered for a while and came up with an answer to this symptom.
“Let’s try an experiment.”
“…Eh?”
“Stay right there.”
Jun-woo left those words and exited the room.
He moved further away until Luna was out of sight.
‘…Is it fake?’
Nothing was happening.
Jun-woo felt something was off as he went down the stairs, and just as he put his foot on the last step.
-Aaagh-!!
Luna’s scream rang out.
Jun-woo immediately reacted to the scream and went back up to Luna’s room.
In stark contrast to the scream he had just heard, Luna was there in a calm state.
“What on earth…”
“Ah. Mister. Don’t leave me. Absolutely not… I-I keep hearing strange sounds…”
Luna frowned and covered her ears, saying she never wanted to hear it again.
Judging by her reaction, she seemed to be genuinely hearing those chilling sounds.
Jun-woo eliminated the possibility of it being fake.
“…Alright, Luna. I believe you.”
“Y-Yes.”
Luna felt terrified by the hallucinations that kept coming.
Therefore, she held the hand of Jun-woo, who was the most reliable person here.
“I-I’m not holding your hand because I like you… I-I’m just scared so I’m holding the hand of the oldest person here… You understand, right? Don’t misunderstand…!”
“…Yes, I won’t misunderstand.”
Jun-woo patted Luna’s head.
Hare felt uncomfortable, but she didn’t show it because she was in front of Mister.
At that moment, Estia suddenly sat up in bed.
“Wait a minute!! Kidnapper! Don’t run away! Talk to me!”
“…What do you want to talk about?”
“Listen to my demands! Living here is too uncomfortable-!”
“Alright. I’ll give you holy water soon. If you behave quietly just for today, I’ll give you holy water.”
“Huh? How did you know I wanted holy water! Really? Really? You’ll really give it to me? You’re not lying? You’ll die if you don’t give it to me? I’ll die if it’s a lie? Really? Can you see my hands shaking?”
“I don’t lie.”
Jun-woo, feeling dizzy, quickly ended the conversation with Estia.
He had too much to think about right now.
“W-Well then. I’ll stay quiet. Since you said you’d give me holy water. You must keep your promise! Got it!?”
“I got it.”
“Good!”
Estia struck a victory pose, her golden eyes shining.
The Saintess became very simple when it came to holy water.
Seeing this simple behavior, Jun-woo could fully understand how to raise Estia.
‘Holy water is the key to Estia.’
More importantly…
Luna’s situation tonight was the biggest problem.
Jun-woo stroked Luna’s head and said,
“Luna, in that state, you won’t be able to sleep in your room.”
“Y-Yes… That’s right…?”
“Then, sleep next to me tonight. There’s no other way.”
It was correct.
However, the implication of ‘sleeping next to’ him was too shocking.
“Eh…? Sl-Sleep next to you?! A-Are you a pervert?! Are you trying to ruin me?!”
“Mi-Mister…? Wh-What do you mean by sl-sleeping together…?”
The two children were shocked.
[T/N: Lmaoo u guys know i pick the craziest shit but this stuff keeps surprising me]
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Common TL W