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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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Before sunrise, as dawn transitioned into morning, a small figure with yellow hair stood by the front door.
“I-I curse you! A Hero’s party that abandons its Hero has no hope!!”
Tears streamed down Luna’s face as she shouted, her voice filled with fear and indignation. The injustice of being banished, of being rendered powerless, was overwhelming.
A heavy bag thudded onto the ground in front of her.
“L-Luna… goodbye… I packed a lot of food… so… ration it carefully…”
“Hare! This isn’t right! Q-Quickly! Convince Mister! Tell him he can’t abandon me!”
Hare shook her head sadly.
“If I… disobey… he might abandon me too… I-I’m sorry…!”
“B-But…”
“G-Goodbye, Luna…! Take care…!”
Hare waved goodbye, joined by Saten and Estia from the window. Seeing them, Luna finally broke down, sobbing uncontrollably.
“H-How could he… after all the effort I put in… I-I hate you, Mister…!”
All the effort she had made to atone for her mistake.
For two weeks, Luna had worked twice as hard as usual. Her muscles ached, her mind screamed for rest, but she hadn’t given up.
She was determined to earn Mister’s forgiveness.
Luna sank to her knees, her sobs echoing in the empty courtyard.
“A-And after all that… b-banishment…? H-How could this happen…? W-Won’t Mister even show his face…?”
Where was Mister?
Even now, she wanted his forgiveness. Did he truly not want to see her?
Luna looked around the house, but there was no sign of him.
“H-He must really hate me… I-I’m sorry, Mister… I was wrong… P-Please… give me another chance…”
“Another chance for what?”
Creak-
Just as Luna had given up hope, the front door opened behind her, and Mister’s voice filled the air.
He stood there, arms laden with bags, looking down at her with a bewildered expression.
“…Why are you on the floor again?”
“B-Because… you said you were kicking me out… You said it would be best if I left home… and to come to the front door tomorrow morning… you’re chasing me away… Waaaah…”
The familiar headache returned.
‘…She misinterpreted it like that?’
Lee Jun-woo steadied himself, facing the sobbing Luna.
“Luna, you’re misunderstanding.”
“Y-Yes…? Sniffle…”
“When I said it would be best if you left home, I meant that there’s nothing more I can teach you here.”
“H-Huh…? T-Then… I…?”
“I didn’t expect this to happen while I was out buying new bedding… You’re coming with me, Luna.”
I’m not abandoning you.
Lee Jun-woo’s voice was firm as he hoisted the heavy bags onto his back.
Luna, stunned, couldn’t move.
“You’re not kicking me out…?”
“I never said I was.”
Luna, who had imagined herself the tragically betrayed heroine, now felt a burning shame. She wanted to bite her tongue off.
Of course, she didn’t. Going somewhere with Mister wasn’t so bad after all.
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‘It would be best if you left home.’
I hadn’t expected her to misinterpret that. We arrived at the Adventurer’s Guild and looked around.
“Where did all the injured people go?”
Luna wondered aloud.
Hare, who had tagged along, replied curtly,
“…They’re healed. Mister and Estia worked hard.”
“Oh!”
Indeed.
Thanks to Estia’s divine power, everyone injured by the Demon Lord had been healed.
Some of those with severe soul damage experienced a side effect of involuntary laughter, but since it wasn’t a physical ailment, it could be considered a complete recovery.
‘Well, maybe not completely, considering how many people experienced the side effect…’
Anyway, the Adventurer’s Guild was back to normal. I walked towards the quest board.
‘Which one would be good…’
A quest for Luna and Hare, the two members responsible for the party’s frontline combat. I couldn’t always be by their side.
A quest that provided a good learning environment would be ideal.
I selected the most suitable quest from the board.
“This is the best option.”
A simple subjugation quest. No elaborate preparations needed. We could leave immediately.
I called out to Luna and Hare before heading to the receptionist.
“Luna, Hare. We’re leaving… but where did you two go?”
They were huddled together, whispering, in front of a different section of the board. I approached them.
“We’re leaving now, so follow me.”
“Y-Yes, Mister!”
“Y-Yes…!”
They quickly fell into step behind me. Before turning away, I glanced back to see what they had been looking at.
It was a notice I was all too familiar with.
“Cecilia and the Church… a dragnet…”
Because of the healing, I suppose.
We might have to relocate again.
The bounties on Saten and Estia had increased fivefold, and there was a new reward offering ten times the bounty for anyone who brought in their killer.
The tone of the Cecilia family’s notice was also much more aggressive.
[Find Cecilia Saten. Dead or alive. Bring her body to me, and I will pay you whatever you want.]
“…The head of the family seems to have lost his mind.”
He wanted to eliminate her, to erase her from his thoughts entirely.
Was that it?
Unsure, I kept my thoughts to myself and headed towards the guild’s reception desk.
Silence hung in the air as we walked.
A relationship devoid of emotional connection.
If this continued, what would become of the Hero’s party?
‘…It wouldn’t end well.’
Because of me, we had lost valuable time. But these tangled emotions needed to be addressed, for the sake of our future.
I approached the desk with Luna and Hare, the quest form in hand.
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“That will not be possible.”
The receptionist’s sharp voice was firm. Her refusal was absolute.
“Why not?”
“Those without an adventurer rank cannot participate in quests. Even if you are a Ruby-rank adventurer, it’s against the rules.”
“…Why?”
“Guild Master’s orders. He instructed us to assign adventurer ranks to the children you bring.”
This was a waste of time. I reluctantly agreed to comply with the receptionist’s demands.
It would make things easier when I eventually vouched for the Hero’s party, so it wasn’t a bad idea.
“Luna, Hare. You’ll have to take the test.”
“Alright! I’ll get a perfect score!”
“M-Me too…! I’ll get a higher score than Luna…!”
The rank assessment test.
Luna and Hare followed the receptionist towards the testing area. I tried to follow discreetly, but Hare rushed back to me.
“M-Mister…! I have something to tell you before the test…! It’s… really important…!”
“Important?”
“Yes…! I saw something at the market…!”
Hare beckoned me closer.
‘A whisper?’
I didn’t have much time, but since she insisted it was important, I leaned in. Hare took a small breath and whispered in my ear.
“You see, at the market, I…”
“Hey, kid! The test is starting! Hurry up!”
The receptionist’s voice interrupted her. Hare hesitated, looking disappointed.
“I-It’s really important…”
“Tell me after the test.”
“O-Okay…! I’ll… finish quickly…! Wait for me…!”
Hare ran towards the center of the training ground where the receptionist was waiting. I sat down on a nearby bench to watch their test.
The test seemed to be the same as always.
“…A sparring match? Who’s their opponent?”
“Even if they are the Hero’s party, this opponent won’t be easy, Jun. He’s the strongest and most physically fit of our new recruits…”
A familiar voice spoke from behind me. This time, I remembered it.
“Irina. You’re still in Henesys?”
“…Did your memories return?”
Irina, clad in her knight’s uniform, approached with a surprised, rather than cold, expression.
She seemed to have noticed the change in my demeanor. I patted the seat next to me.
“Let’s sit and talk. I have some things to ask you.”
“…Alright.”
Irina hesitated for a moment before sitting down, her gaze fixed on the floor, a nervous tremor in her posture.
Her reaction suggested she shared the same thoughts as the Hero’s party. I addressed her in my usual tone.
“Irina.”
“I-I’m sorry, Jun. The truth is-.”
“No, there’s no need to apologize. I won’t ask why you hid information about Aina. I’m sure you had the same thoughts as the others.”
Irina had subtly withheld information about Aina when we had dinner together. She must have been the first to think that way.
‘Aina is a painful memory. It would be better for him to forget.’
I understood.
I truly did.
And because I understood, I didn’t want to discuss it any further.
“Let’s forget about it. I don’t mind.”
“N-No, it’s more than that-.”
“Let’s just watch the test. Is that your knight recruit?”
Irina nodded silently.
Changing the subject seemed to have worked.
“…Thanks to you and the Saintess, people have returned to their normal lives. But some of the knights stayed behind to maintain order. Those two showed promise, so I kept them with me to gain experience.”
“And the Guild Master’s request?”
“That’s purely the old man’s hobby. He said he wanted to see the future of the Empire.”
“…I suppose worrying about the future of the nation is a common trait among old men.”
Some old men believed that any act of kindness directly contributed to the nation’s happiness.
I knew it wasn’t always the case, and that their intentions were good, but it still irked me.
“Who appointed them the arbiters of the Empire’s future?”
“…I am Sir Sylvester, a knight loyal to the Empire. Jun, be careful what you say about the Empire-.”
“It’s starting.”
I interrupted Irina, my attention drawn to the training ground. The first test was between Hare and Sylvester’s new recruit, a physically imposing young man.
“Your disciple is at a disadvantage, Jun. He’s the strongest and most physically fit of our new recruits… a truly remarkable young man…”
“Be quiet, Irina. I need to concentrate.”
How much had Hare’s combat abilities improved?
Mentally, she was… unique. But we had been together for over a year. She had become accustomed to fighting people and had gained proficiency with weapons.
How would she fare against a trained knight?
‘Compared to a knight, how talented is Hare?’
That was the question I was most curious about.
“Alright, you two! Begin the sparring match! No lethal blows!”
With the receptionist’s signal, Hare’s test began.
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