—————————————————————–
Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
—————————————————————–
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
After Lee Jun-woo left the house.
Hare lay quietly in her room.
“He said he’d be back soon. When is he coming…?”
Thump-
Hare got up from her bed and checked the clock.
Only 10 minutes had passed.
“…Time is moving slowly.”
Why aren’t you going faster?
You bad clock!
Hare blamed the innocent clock.
She felt lonely and bored, so she left the room to soothe those feelings.
“I haven’t been to the study yet…”
The study.
Strangely, there were many books in this house.
Bookshelves and books that filled an entire room.
Hare randomly pulled out one book.
“Hmm, how do you read this? Hmm,”
She frowned and stared intently at the letters in the book.
But her eyes only hurt, and she couldn’t read the letters in the book at all.
Hare hadn’t gone to school, so she couldn’t even read basic letters.
“Mister must have read all of these… I want to read too… I wonder if he’ll dislike a child who can’t even read letters…?”
Shrink.
Hare blamed her own incompetence and dropped her shoulders.
The study doesn’t suit me.
Thinking this, Hare left the study.
Then she checked the clock again.
“Only 12 minutes have passed. When is he coming…?”
Tick- Tock-
Hare blankly stared at the moving clock.
The second hand was moving at a constant speed.
She puffed her cheeks and blew at the clock, but it didn’t move any faster.
Having no choice, she decided to look around the house again.
This time, the upper floor.
The upper floor where the cheeky child lived.
“There’s another room next to it…”
Luna.
That was the name of the girl who trained with Mister every day.
Yet she was an arrogant child who complained and was never satisfied.
Hare stood in front of Luna’s room door.
Various locks were on the door.
“Mister really did kidnap her… Even keeping her confined…”
Still, I still like Mister.
It’s okay even if Mister is a criminal.
It’s okay because I’ve committed countless crimes too.
Thinking this, Hare was curious about what Luna was doing, so she put her ear to the door.
“…”
-Th-This! You psycho mister! Why do you make such good food again! It’s so annoying! It keeps going into my mouth!
“Mister isn’t a psycho. He’s a kind mister. She’s saying strange things again…”
-Hm? What’s that, who’s outside!?
Luna immediately reacted to Hare’s presence.
Though startled by Luna’s voice, Hare had no intention of backing down.
“Mi-Mister isn’t a psycho.. He-He has emotions..!”
-Oh, it’s Hare… More importantly, what are you saying? Not a psycho, has emotions. That mister was completely a machine.
“He-He’s not a machine! Let me tell you what happened to me…”
Hare explained to Luna what had happened to her, to assert Mister’s innocence.
Helped by buying matches.
Helped with Ness.
Helped with Kyle.
Helped with Grandmother’s matter.
Now that she said it out loud, Hare realized she only had memories of being helped.
“You see! Mister is absolutely not a bad person!”
-…What’s this, why is he being a sweet mister to you?
“Sw-Sweet…?”
-It means he treats you sweetly like a precious person.
“…A precious person.”
Am I Mister’s precious person…?
“Wow…”
Hare’s mind quickly began to turn into a flower garden.
A fantastic flower garden that no one could intrude upon.
Luna’s voice poured cold water on Hare, who was smiling happily while imagining.
-But, why is he like that to me? Kidnapping me as soon as I arrived in the capital, tying my legs so I can’t escape, and even making me do such hard training. Why is he treating me so harshly? Isn’t it too much? No, it is too much! It’s really too much!
“That.. I don’t know either. Mister must have some reason, right?”
-Ah, right. You were on Mister’s side. Tch, there’s no one on my side here! I’m a total outcast!
“Outcast…”
In the past.
Hare, who had been called an outcast in her neighborhood, felt pain in her heart at those words.
Even though she had cursed Mister, that child must be lonely in some way too.
The kind Hare spoke in a small voice to Luna.
“…Don’t say outcast. I-I’ll talk with you. But. If you curse Mister, there will be no conversation.”
-Oh, really?! Really?! I knew it! I felt like you were my little sister from the first time I saw you!
Luna shouted excitedly.
From beyond the door, Luna’s cheerful footsteps could be heard.
‘Did I say something unnecessary…?’
Hare began to regret it.
But since Mister said to get along well…
I guess I should try to get along well.
And so, in front of the room where the Hero was confined.
The Hero and the Thief formed a subtle friendship.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
After talking enough with Luna and having her energy drained, Hare was waiting for Jun-woo in front of the clock.
The moment the hour hand pointed to 1.
Creeak-
The door opened, and Jun-woo came in.
Hare greeted him with a bright smile.
“Oh, you’re back. Mister..?”
“…Yes.”
Jun-woo answered weakly.
Did something happen?
Hare carefully approached Jun-woo.
A pungent smell of alcohol vibrated from him.
“…Did you drink?”
“A little. I did drink.”
“It doesn’t seem like just a little…”
You seem as drunk as the people sleeping in the alleys…
Hare supported Jun-woo as much as she could with her small body.
Until she laid him down on the sofa in the living room.
Thud-
“Be-Be careful not to fall! There are glass bottles lying around on the floor! Okay?!”
“…”
“Mister…?”
Jun-woo didn’t answer.
He had already closed his eyes and was sleeping.
Jun-woo, had drunk a lot at a bar after talking with Minerva.
Hare looked at him with worried eyes and covered him with a blanket.
“Sleeping like this must be uncomfortable… It would be more comfortable to sleep in your room…”
Even though there’s a spare room, why are you sleeping here like this…
Hare stared intently at Jun-woo’s sleeping face.
Mid-twenties?
He had a late twenties appearance.
Though he was growing a beard covering his face, if he shaved, wouldn’t he have a handsome face?
Hare muttered softly.
“Is he a big brother rather than an uncle…?”
I wish he was a big brother.
Because then it’s a bit closer…
Hare looked at Jun-woo’s face like this, then checked the state of the living room.
“…”
Freely scattered trash.
I must clean this up tomorrow.
It will be helpful to Mister.
Hare clenched her fist tightly.
And then, she moved her gaze to the desk.
There was a small frame standing on the desk.
“Why is there a frame here…?”
Weren’t frames usually hung on the wall?
Hare carefully picked up the frame.
In the photo, two men and three women were smiling happily together.
Among them was Mister in his younger days.
Especially, he seemed to be much closer with the woman next to him-
Tap.
“Ah, Mister. Were you awake…?”
“Hare. Go to your room and sleep. It’s time for bed.”
“…Yes.”
Hearing Jun-woo’s sudden words, Hare left the living room and headed to her room.
Jun-woo’s expression somehow looked sad.
‘Who was that woman…?’
Throb.
Hare became curious about Mister’s past.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
“Today’s training is over. Good work. Luna.”
“…”
What, is she dead?
The corpse gave no answer.
I carried her on my back and laid her on the bed.
I was proud of Luna who always followed the training unconditionally, even though she shouted that she didn’t want to.
“You’re doing well, Luna.”
“Zzz…”
I stroked the head of Luna who had fallen asleep, and left her room.
As usual, Hare was watching that scene.
She muttered while puffing her cheeks.
“…It’s not that different from me. Luna lied.”
“About what?”
“Ah, it’s nothing. Hehe.”
Hare laughed it off.
Not knowing what she meant, I stroked her head.
‘It’s time for Hare to be educated too…’
Well, let’s do some tests first.
“Hare.”
“Ye-Yes..!!”
“You’ve been watching Luna’s training usually, do you want to do it too?”
“…!!”
At those words, Hare’s eyes lit up.
Was she waiting for training?
It seemed that Hare had felt left out that only Luna was training.
It was time for Hare to grow too.
“Follow me, Hare. Today we’ll do a simple test.”
“Te-Test. Okay..! I-I’ll do my best..!”
Her spirit was good.
I moved to the space for Hare’s test.
A space filled with abundant knowledge.
The study.
Hare was scheduled to be educated here for the time being.
“St-Study…”
“Hare. Can you try reading this?”
“Um.. Well.. Ju-Just a moment..! I can read..”
“If you can’t read it, you can say so. I won’t be disappointed by something like this.”
“…I can’t read it.”
“At all?”
“…Yes, not at all.”
Shrink.
Hare shrank her shoulders as if dejected.
I straightened her shrunken shoulders again.
“It’s natural for everyone to not be able to do it at first. You grow gradually. Always be confident.”
A thief must always be confident.
They must light the way, see through traps, and make decisions for the party.
For that, personality and knowledge were necessary, and what Hare needed now were these basic things.
‘To put it negatively, Hare lacks the basics…’
But those basics could be taught.
I took a book from the bookshelf.
The book I received from Minerva when I was learning letters in this other world.
It was a ‘Basic Word Dictionary’.
“Hare. From today, you’ll study this book with me. Are you disappointed that it’s different training from Luna?”
“No-No. I’m happy just being with you, Mister…”
Hare muttered while lowering her head shyly.
For her who lacked human affection, it must be good to be with someone like me.
I stroked Hare’s head.
“Yes, studying will be boring. But, for now, just follow along. Is that okay?”
“Yes! It’s okay…! Bu-But. Luna said she trains because of a ‘reward’… Don’t I get one…?”
“…Is that what you call a reward?”
Reward…
From Luna’s perspective, it was a reward.
I answered Hare’s question lightly.
“Then if you follow the study well, I’ll give you a reward too. How about that?”
“Th-That’s good..! Is it a reward I want…?”
Nod.
When I nodded, Hare’s eyes filled with enthusiasm.
Was a reward that good?
I asked Hare.
“What kind of reward do you want, to be so eager?”
“Th-That’s…”
Hare hesitated.
After pondering for a moment, she covered her face with the word dictionary and answered in a small voice.
“I-I wanted to ask about things I’m curious about you, Mister…”
“…I see. I understand.”
She was a young child.
It was an age to be curious.
I understood Hare.
In the end, I decided to give her a reward by having a test with her once a week, and if she got 100 points, I would answer her questions.
And Hare’s studying appearance today was…
“Hare. Let’s stop studying for today-”
“Te-Ten more minutes! I-I need to get 100 points!”
Although it seemed like she might be pushing herself too hard.
The sight of her studying on her own was very pleasing to see.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
thats pretty cute ngl