I Kidnapped the Hero Party – Chapter 17

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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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“Mister…? Who is that next to you…?”

Chilly-

Hare couldn’t welcome Jun-woo.

To be precise, she couldn’t welcome the woman holding hands with him.

Seeing Jun-woo and Saten holding hands together, Hare felt extremely unpleasant.

I have to separate them.

“F-First. Come inside, Mister. It’s cold outside…”

“Alright, Saten, you come in too.”

So her name was Saten.

Jun-woo and Saten were about to take off their shoes and enter the house.

At that moment.

‘Th-This is my chance..!’

Bump-

Hare naturally pushed Saten, who was holding hands with Jun-woo, and took her place beside him.

Suddenly pushed, Saten fell to the floor.

She exhaled in disbelief.

It was a situation she had never experienced before.

“…Huh?”

“Mi-Mister! How was the party today, was it fun..!?”

There, mission accomplished!

Mister didn’t notice!

Hare, who had taken the place beside Jun-woo smiled a winner’s smile and glared at Saten.

‘You shouldn’t be next to Mister. This is my place.’

Coldly.

With a warning meaning not to approach Mister.

If there was one mistake Hare made, it was that Saten wasn’t going to let this situation slide.

‘Why did she push me?’

Saten, who had no emotions, couldn’t understand what this situation was at all.

So she immediately asked Jun-woo.

“Mr. Kidnapper. That child pushed me, why do you think she pushed me?”

“…Hare? Did you just push Saten?”

“Wh-What..? N-No, that’s…”

Th-That bad girl…!

How dare she report to Mister…!

Hare hadn’t particularly gotten angry even when she was reported for stealing.

Because that was wrong behavior.

However, now when Saten reported that she had been pushed, Hare became uncontrollably angry.

‘What if Mister gets disappointed in me..?’

That was the reason.

“Hare, did you really push Saten?”

“Th-That…”

No, I didn’t do that.

She fell on her own.

Hare wanted to lie like that to escape the situation.

But she had promised Mister.

To never lie.

Hare had no choice but to bow her head.

“…I’m, I’m sorry. I, I pushed her, Mister.”

“Friends should get along well. What’s the reason you did that, Hare?”

“…Honestly, I don’t like her.”

She wore a gorgeous dress and had jewels adorning her whole body.

She had a noble appearance.

Saten shone to anyone who looked at her.

In comparison, Hare wore ordinary clothes and had no accessories.

She had a malnourished appearance.

Even for the kind Hare, it was a structure that couldn’t help but make inferiority well up.

“Why did you bring her, Mister…? Did you kidnap her too…? Why…? Are we not enough…? I-I’ll try harder, Mister… I’ll, I’ll study more too… You don’t ne-need to bring her…”

Hare was afraid of losing her place.

Thinking she might be better at studying, and afraid Mister might abandon her, Hare pleaded to Jun-woo as if clinging to his trouser leg.

“I-I’ll work harder-”

“Hare. That’s enough.”

“What…?”

“I have no intention of sending Saten back. You’re a good child, so you can get along well, right? Apologize directly to Saten, not to me.”

But Jun-woo’s voice was firm.

He showed no signs of backing down, and Hare was frustrated by his voice.

“Come on, apologize, Hare. Pushing her first was wrong, wasn’t it?”

“…Mi-Mister.”

“Go on, Hare.”

She felt hurt that Mister didn’t take her side.

She knew she had done wrong, but she couldn’t help feeling hurt.

With no choice, she approached Saten.

“…”

“In our family, when someone does wrong, they slap their own cheek. Come on, apologize once.”

“…I’m not going to slap my own cheek. I’m sorry for pushing you.”

Grind-

Hare gritted her molars and offered an apology first.

Saten was puzzled by this apology method that didn’t involve self-slapping, but she decided to ignore it as she didn’t want to waste time.

“Well done, Hare. When you’ve done something wrong, that’s how you should apologize.”

“Yes… Um, I’ll go to my room now, Mister.”

Hare hurriedly went to her room, feeling humiliated.

Then, lying on the bed, she covered her face with a pillow.

“I hate Mister… I-I waited, but he brings another girl… He was bad…”

Still…

The worst one was that girl.

She made her look like a bad child in front of Mister.

“Saten.”

Grind-

Hare decided to never forget this day.

And someday, she would take revenge.

She steeled her heart, which had been unusually weak.

The thief of the Hero’s party was a greedy child.

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I guided Saten to a room located on the second floor.

The structure was identical to Luna’s room.

“This is your room, Saten.”

“Hmm, it’s larger than my room. Not bad.”

“What?”

This 5-pyeong room was larger than hers?

How many rooms were there in the Sicilia mansion?

However, looking at Saten, it didn’t seem like she was lying.

There was no reason for her to lie about her room.

‘She really must have had a bad past.’

Judging Saten’s words to be true, I tapped the desk and said.

“For now, you’ll stay in this room and learn magic from me. The duration is until I decide it’s time. You can’t leave the house during that time. Is that okay so far?”

“Yes, it’s no different from my family. I understand. But I have one question.”

Was this her first question as a disciple?

Then, it would be right to answer as a teacher.

“Alright, what’s your question?”

“Why did you try to kidnap me? If money was your goal, you wouldn’t have given me such a room. Mr. Kidnapper-”

“…Call me Mister.”

“Yes, Mister. There’s no reason for your actions. Why did you try to kidnap me?”

Reason.

Saten seemed to be asking out of genuine curiosity, not anger.

A question to satisfy curiosity and knowledge.

I explained to such a disciple without lying.

“You’ll become an excellent mage later.”

“Everyone who has met me has said such complimentary words. And they said I would become not just an excellent mage, but a great mage.”

They say geniuses are arrogant.

Her arrogance was piercing the sky.

“And there’s one more reason.”

“…What is it?”

“Well, that’s…”

The fact that you’re the mage of the Hero’s party.

I decided not to say it out loud, as the crazy Saten might think I was a crazy person.

Instead, I decided to set one condition.

“That reason. If you get along well with your friends, I’ll tell you the reason.”

“…That’s unnecessary. But I’ll give you high marks for piquing my curiosity. It’s quite effective.”

It was fortunate that I managed to brush it off.

Saten nodded with an expression that seemed to be considering something, saying she would try to make an effort.

However, I didn’t think Saten would get along well as I said.

“Well, that’s all we’ll talk about today. It’s late, so you should sleep now.”

“It’s only 1:30 AM. What do you mean? I still have a lot to say.”

“1:30 AM. It’s late.”

“…What? What do you mean? If it’s 1:30 AM, it’s time to move-”

“1:30 AM is late at night. It’s when everyone is falling asleep.”

“…”

Saten stood still with an expression as if her common sense had been denied.

I wondered if I had said something strange, but I didn’t feel any uneasiness at all.

Saten had a blank expression.

To give Saten time to think alone, I closed the door and came out.

Then, on my way back to the living room, I pondered.

“Saten Sicilia. That child…”

What kind of path had she walked and lived?

Saten, a child of a noble family.

However, all of her behaviors were somehow…

Her screws were loose.

And it was a very important part’s screw.

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The next day early in the morning, I felt someone’s gaze on me while I was sleeping.

I opened my eyelids with difficulty and checked who it was.

Dreamy triocular greeted me.

“Saten, what’s the matter so early in the morning…”

“You’re awake. I woke you up because I have something to say.”

“…When someone else is sleeping, you don’t need to stare at them to wake them up, just shake the sleeping person’s body.”

“Yes, I understand.”

Did she really understand?

Only Saten would know that.

So, why did Saten wake me up this early in the morning when there was still a dark blue tinge to the sky?

“What did you want to say, Saten…”

“Do you know why I asked to be kidnapped?”

“…You wanted to run away?”

“Half right, half wrong. Actually, I was curious.”

“Did you have to say this right now…?”

I’m dying of sleepiness…

Even more because of the alcohol I drank before going to bed last night.

Still, since I was up, maybe I’d listen.

“Yes, I’m very curious about this curious content you speak of. Tell me quickly…”

“Yes, well…”

Saten began to whisper the content to me as if telling me a secret.

Hearing her answer, I couldn’t help but open my eyes wide and wake up from sleep.

The reason she asked to be kidnapped was that…?

“You were curious about how your family would react…?”

“Yes, I’m curious. How will they react if I disappear? I was so curious about that.”

So, Mister you need to help me.

Saten said this and handed me a piece of paper.

It was a letter written in messy handwriting.

If there was something unusual, it was that the writing was in red?

Like someone’s blood.

No way!

“Sa-Saten. You now..!”

I immediately grabbed Saten’s hand.

Red blood stained my hand.

Her hand was already covered in blood.

There were traces of self-harm on her palm.

‘Saten..’

Even changing her handwriting on purpose, she had written the letter with her own blood.

It was behavior that was beyond normal by any measure.

“There was no need to go this far…”

“There is a need. To see their reaction, we need to deceive them thoroughly. Mister, you just need to send this letter to the Sicilia family.”

First, stopping her bleeding was the top priority.

While immediately wrapping a bandage around Saten’s finger, I checked the contents of the letter.

It was a letter threatening the head of the Sicilia family, Lennon.

The letter was written in Saten’s blood demanding money, with a threat to kill their daughter depending on the standard.

Seeing my facial expression and confirming that I had read it all, she grinned and said.

“How much is my value to my family, and how will they react to this? Will they regret, be sad, or be annoyed? I want to see their reaction, Mister.”

Saten’s eyes were serious.

They were eyes speaking the truth.

And looking at those black eyes, I was certain.

This child was severely beyond the range of normality.

‘Saten. I need to see her past.’

As quickly as possible.

What kind of life Saten had lived, and why she behaved like that.

I had to know.

She was off-track, too off-track.

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