I Kidnapped the Hero Party – Chapter 16

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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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“Hurry! They couldn’t have gone far! Find them at all costs!”

In the banquet hall, the Black Raven Knights were moving busily searching for Saten.

Lennon, the head of the Sicilia family, was more annoyed at the ruined party than worried about Saten.

Lennon shouted firmly at the moving knights.

“Move. The kidnapper couldn’t have gone far. Find Saten immediately. It’s an order from the Knight Commander.”

“Ye-Yes..! Understood, Lord!”

The knights departed to search for the kidnapper.

Renen, feeling something odd about Lennon’s words, asked.

“…Father. I have a question.”

Lennon looked at his son Renen with an expressionless face.

A question at such a busy time?

He answered with an annoyed tone.

“We don’t have time, so speak quickly.”

“…I’m curious why you think Saten was kidnapped. Couldn’t that demon have run away? She’s an ungrateful one who doesn’t know the kindness we’ve shown her.”

“Do you truly think Saten ran away, Renen? If so, you still don’t know that demon.”

“What do you mean…?”

“That demon will never run away. Tools don’t know freedom.”

Tool.

It was the term used for Saten, who was used as the family’s magic storehouse.

Lennon thought that Saten, who had never experienced freedom, would never run away on her own.

“In that sense, Renen. Do you think a magic golem is human?”

“…No. A magic golem is just a tool that moves with magic stones. It’s definitely not human.”

“Then, isn’t that child Saten also a ‘tool’? Just a tool that can’t feel emotions. No different from a magic golem.”

“…”

If feeling emotions was what made one human, Saten, who couldn’t feel emotions, was not human.

Lennon’s eyes were filled with hatred as he said this.

“She was a tool we kept because she was useful, but I hope she returns quickly. I don’t know who stimulated that demon’s curiosity, but when the time comes, that child will soon return.”

“…You’re right, Father.”

Renen agreed with his words.

That child would definitely return.

Saten had lived without knowing freedom, and her home was here in the Sicilia family.

They firmly believed that the tool that had left home would experience the harshness of the outside world and return.

“We’ll have to give her a harsh punishment when she returns.”

And they didn’t even think that they would later regret this moment.

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The Hero party’s mage, Saten Sicilia.

That was the name of the girl in my arms.

I didn’t know what her past was like, but I could be sure of one thing.

“Saten Sicilia.”

“Yes.”

“Aren’t you afraid of me?”

“Should I be afraid of you?”

She was definitely crazy.

Her screws were not just loose, they were completely gone.

She didn’t tremble even with a kidnapper right in front of her.

Even Luna, the Hero now lying in her room, trembled when I kidnapped her.

This mage either didn’t know the emotion of fear, or she was comfortably nestled in my arms feeling the cool breeze.

She even tapped my arm as if urging me to move faster.

‘What kind of past does she have?’

Luna was Village Person A.

Hare was an alley thief.

What kind of life did the mage live to have such a personality?

Maybe I should ask.

“Good family, looks, talent. You shouldn’t have anything to envy, but did you want to run away?”

“Hmm, do you think I lived a happy life?”

“If you grow up in a wealthy family, most people turn out to be good individuals. Am I wrong?”

“That’s prejudice. A terribly bad prejudice.”

Saten said this and then went back to appreciating the scenery.

She was still expressionless.

She was a woman I couldn’t get a grasp on at all.

‘Still, I could understand two things.’

First was that she didn’t live such a happy life.

Seeing that she called it prejudice, I could understand that information.

And second.

Emotions.

Saten had no emotions.

‘It’s certain. Saten has no emotions.’

Perhaps it would be more fitting to say her soul was empty.

In our short time together, I couldn’t find any negative emotions like fear, terror, anger, or sadness in her.

The same went for positive emotions like joy and happiness.

Even when she smiled, it looked like she was forcibly using her muscles to do so.

It felt like an unnatural act, like she was wearing a mask.

Anyway,

“Now, I think this should be far enough.”

Tap.

I released the invisibility and stopped walking.

Saten, seeing that I had stopped, raised her head curiously and asked.

“What are you doing, Mr. Kidnapper? You need to kidnap me, remember? I still remember your face, you know? If you don’t want any trouble, you’ll have to kill me unconditionally, right?”

“No, that’s not it.”

“What?”

“There are guys following us nearby.”

Tailing.

At first, I thought it was the knighthood’s tracking team.

However, the subtle atmosphere they gave off was different from orthodox knights.

In my memory, guys with this kind of atmosphere were…

Grimoire.

It was clearly those guys who worshipped the Demon Lords.

“That gloomy and unpleasant atmosphere was always you guys.”

“Wow, you noticed? You’re quite sharp, aren’t you?”

“…I don’t like sharp guys.”

Two men jumped down from the rooftop to the ground.

One was skinny and had a frivolous voice.

The other had a huge body and a solemn voice.

I had heard of them before.

‘Was it Fatty and Weakling?’

That was roughly how I remembered them.

“The recent Grimoire duo. I know of you from rumors. First-class believers?”

“…You know quite a lot? Then, you must know we have this too?”

The frivolous man took out a book from his breast pocket.

A black grimoire.

The name of that book was ‘Grimoire’. It was the same as the name of the organization.

Using the Grimoire allowed one to use powers bestowed by the Demon Lord.

Well, it was a book with such ominous power.

“First-class believers. Up to apostles. I’ve known for a long time that they possess Grimoires.”

“Kekek, you know annoyingly much? This won’t do. You have to die. We’ll ta~ke that kid next to you.”

“I never said I’d go with you. You don’t arouse any curiosity in me at all.”

Saten shot hurtful words with an expressionless face.

The reaction of the frivolous man, who seemed to have a weak mentality, came immediately.

“Fuck. We were going to take you easily because you’re going to be part of the Hero’s party, but your words are a bit harsh? Are you too young, or can’t you grasp the situation?”

Wait.

Hero’s party?

“…Wait. Did you just say Hero’s party?”

“Kekek, since you’re about to die anyway, I’ll tell you specially. That woman you’re holding. She’s actually the mage of the far future Hero’s party~ But, our Demon Lord says the Hero’s party will kill him? So, we believers have to kill that woman or send her far away. The Demon Lord is our god.”

“…Su. Don’t spread information.”

“What does it matter, we’re going to kill them anyway. It’s better to die knowing than to die without knowing, kekek.”

..Do they think they can kill me?

The frivolous man grinning.

His name was Su.

What a pretty name that didn’t match his frivolous face.

From their perspective, I must have looked like a pushover.

“Being treated like this, it does feel bad.”

“What are you going to do even if you feel bad~? Are you going to fight~?”

The two men drew weapons from their Grimoires.

The frivolous man a long rapier, and the solemn man a huge greatsword.

So, it really was Fatty and Weakling.

I could say they had chosen their concept well.

“You’re playing according to your looks, huh.”

“…This bastard. I’ll send you to the Demon Lord in death.”

“Wait, before that. Which Demon Lord do you worship?”

“We worship the Demon Lord of Greed, ‘Grid’. It’s also the one you’ll meet soon.”

…They’re not worshipping that traitor.

It was a shame, but they were guys who worshipped another Demon Lord.

If that was the case, there was nothing particularly to dig out from killing them.

‘The Demon Lord of Greed among the five Demon Lords… How annoying, they know about the Hero’s party.’

The other Demon Lords didn’t get along well, so information exchange wouldn’t happen.

I spoke arrogantly to the guys running towards me with rapier and greatsword raised.

“I understand well that you’re looking for the Hero’s party. But it seems you haven’t read the revelation carefully. Do you remember what was written at the back of the Grimoire book?”

“We don’t care about that stuff!!”

They probably didn’t remember.

That revelation was a downgraded version of Minerva’s ability, and people rarely read book pages to the end.

It was telling since the mage was here.

It couldn’t predict their future.

As the tip of the sword entered my field of vision, I checked Minerva’s problem.

Perhaps because they were guys Minerva disliked, she gave me a very simple problem.

Putting the answer sheet aside, I clicked on number 2.

The reason was obviously for Saten behind me.

I wanted to show her magic, and honestly, I was much more confident in magic than swordsmanship.

“Saten Sicilia, didn’t you say you were a genius mage?”

“Yes, people call me that.”

“Is that so? The genius I know was even more amazing than you.”

She.

She who taught me magic was a genius.

The remnants of her magic remaining in my memory began to emerge faintly.

Free-spirited, boundary-crossing, and efficient magic circles.

Drawing on the canvas of my mind, magic circles floated in the air.

Right now, I was demonstrating magical skills identical to hers in my memory.

‘You must live, Jun. I, you…’

Her last moment, with blue hair fluttering, trying to say something but stopping.

Along with that faint emotion, mana wrapped around my fingertips.

And it gently transferred to the magic circle in the air.

As a gentle breeze brushed my fingertips, the magic circle activated.

“Disappear without a trace. Lonely dust.”

Whoosh-

The wind emanating from the magic circle enveloped the bodies of the two men.

They didn’t realize it, but the parts of their bodies touched by the wind were decomposing into dust without a trace.

It was the final moment of the Grimoire members who didn’t even notice their own death.

Saten was blankly watching that scene.

“This is how you use magic.”

It took 5 seconds for them to completely decompose.

But the time Saten spent looking at the space where they had disappeared exceeded 5 minutes.

Blankly.

Whether she was analyzing or recalling memories, she just stood still looking at that spot.

Then, as if she couldn’t find an answer, she turned her head to me and asked.

“You said earlier that there was a genius even more amazing than me.”

“Yes.”

“Where is that person?”

“Dead.”

“I see.”

Saten had no particular reaction to hearing about death.

My heart ached a little as I uttered those words myself.

Still.

I held out my hand and said to Saten.

“If you’re curious about that magic, I can teach you.”

“You’ll teach me magic? Why?”

“Just because.”

“…What?”

“Because you’re a mage.”

It was a sentence with many implied meanings.

Because you’re the Hero party’s mage.

Because you can perfectly acquire her traces.

Because that magic is the last trace she left in this world…

Saten, not knowing those meanings, looked at my hand with suspicious eyes and then.

“If you’ll teach me, I guess I’ll try learning.”

She took my hand.

It was the moment the third companion of the Hero’s party joined.

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“Mister must be having fun at the party..? There must be many prettier nobles there than me, and Mister might forget about us… What should I do..? What if Mister abandons us, Luna..? What should we do..? What should we do..?”

-St-Stop!! Let’s just sleep, Hare..!! What time is it now..!!

“12:56. It’s been 4 hours and 34 minutes since Mister left… Mister hasn’t returned yet..”

-It’s time for me to sleep…! I’m not interested in Mister, so stop..! Stop it..!!

“…Luna isn’t interested in Mister. Then, never have interest. Luna is an ungrateful, arrogant child.”

Hmph, I won’t play with you.

After 3 hours of continuous delusions about Jun-woo.

Luna, who had been listening to all of it, could finally regain her freedom as Hare left.

“Mister, when are you coming back..”

Hare headed to the living room, Jun-woo’s nest, to wait for him.

She could get a strange sense of comfort there because it was full of Jun-woo’s scent.

“My heart feels at ease… It feels good…”

While he was gone, Hare had done some cleaning in her own way, so the living room was quite clean.

The sofa where Jun-woo slept.

Hare felt cozy and enjoyed his scent.

“Hehe…”

I wish I could live this happily forever…

Experiencing happiness for the first time, Hare felt like she could die right now without regrets.

Hare was passing time looking at Jun-woo’s old appearance in the frame on the desk when.

Creak–

The sound of the door opening rang out.

“Oh? Mister must be back..!”

Reacting to the sound of the door opening, an excited Hare hopped along.

To welcome Jun-woo back from the party!

“Mister..! You’re back..!”

However,

“…Mister? Who’s that next to you..?”

Thud-

Hare felt as if a huge rock was crushing her heart.

Two people holding hands.

Because Jun-woo, returning from the party, was not alone.

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