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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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After Estia consumed the holy water, Estia’s voice saying ‘I don’t want to be alone…’ could no longer be heard after some time had passed.
“He-Hehic… Heh…”
Drip drip-
Drooling from her mouth.
Estia made only pleasure-filled breathing sounds without any movement.
“Estia.”
“He-Heh… Hehehe…”
She seemed to be feeling good, as occasional laughter could be heard.
Did drinking one bottle of holy water make her unable to maintain consciousness and go limp like a doll like this?
Cradled in my arms like a marionette with its strings cut, Estia lay limp with her eyes hazily open.
“He-Hehe… Uh, hehe…”
“These symptoms from just one bottle. The effects of holy water aren’t that strong…”
If the amount of holy water she drank today had been a drug sold on the regular market, it would have been close to a lethal dose.
However, Estia didn’t die, nor did she show any particular abnormalities in her body.
“Then, is the most dangerous symptom of holy water its ‘addictiveness’?”
Addictiveness.
The body constantly craved holy water, and pain arose if it was not consumed.
Such highly addictive substances could not be quit by one’s own power, and the more they were consumed, the more one’s mind was scraped away.
“Holy water with strong addictiveness that gives harmless happiness to the human body…”
Even my future self couldn’t overcome it.
The addictiveness of holy water must certainly be fatal.
More than that…
“Now, I’ve been by your side long enough, why don’t you sleep in the bed, Estia?”
“Ehehe… Hehic…?”
Was that an answer?
It would be much more comfortable to sleep in the bed than cradled in my arms.
Carrying Estia, I carefully laid her down on the bed.
“Ah, ahhh… Heh…”
Even the smallest action seemed to transmit pleasure, as Estia let out a joyful voice.
To think the Saintess of the Hero’s party would be in such a state.
The future really looked bleak.
After laying Estia on the bed, I took off the hood she was wearing.
“This will make it a bit easier for you to breathe.”
“He-Hehe… Uhehe…”
“…I’ll take that as a thank you.”
She probably wouldn’t remember this when she woke up, just like last time.
Now I needed to look for a house to live in Henesys.
I turned around to leave the room.
However…
“…Estia?”
“Uh, uu… Heu…”
“…Let go of my hand, I’m busy.”
Was her unconscious mind manifesting?
Estia grabbed my hand as I was trying to leave and wouldn’t let go.
Squeeze-
She held on desperately with all her strength, as if she absolutely didn’t want to let go.
I muttered softly to Estia, though she was unlikely to hear.
“Let go of my hand and sleep comfortably, Estia.”
“Euu…”
I had no choice, I carefully extracted my hand from Estia’s grip.
Then, I gently placed it on her chest.
A slightly more comfortable breathing sound flowed from her mouth.
It seemed she had finally lost consciousness and fallen asleep.
“Sleep well, Estia.”
“…”
“If possible, may you have the best dreams.”
Leaving that small whisper, I carefully left the room.
In front of it was a figure I had felt watching me for a while, waiting for me.
The girl who had been watching me through the crack in the door.
Hare.
I asked Hare as if nothing had happened.
“…Hare, do you have something to say?”
“Mister, I saw everything.”
“…From when to when?”
“From beginning to end.”
…I hoped she didn’t misunderstand.
Hare’s expression was not good.
She stared at me with dull red eyes that had lost their vitality.
If I had to describe it, it was similar to a rose just before wilting.
Hare looked at me with those eyes filled with despair and asked,
“Mister, Hare is a good child, right…?”
“…Of course. You are indeed a good child, Hare.”
If she didn’t develop other feelings for Estia after seeing this situation, she could remain a good child.
Hare nodded at that answer and continued.
It was a bit creepy.
“A good child. Hare wants to be a good child, Mister…”
“…I see, I hope you remain a good child.”
“If Mister likes it, I like it too… Th-Then, for Hare to remain a good child… I should pretend I didn’t see what just happened, right…?”
“Pretend?”
There was no need to pretend.
Estia was just sick, and I only hugged her to comfort her.
It would be different if Hare saw it as ‘man’ and ‘woman’ instead of ‘Mister’ and ‘child’.
I explained just in case.
“Hare, just in case, let me tell you. What you saw is a misunderstanding. Estia was sick, so I just hugged her to comfort her.”
“…I understand, Mister. Is-Is that what I’m supposed to say…?”
No.
That’s not it.
“That’s not it, Hare. Estia was really sick-”
“Oh, I get it Mister… Hare understands everything… So-So… You don’t need to say any more.”
Hare’s tone was cold as she cut off my words as if she didn’t want to hear any more.
She seemed to have fallen into a world of her own, and as if she wouldn’t give me a chance to clear up the misunderstanding, Hare started running away towards her room in the distance.
Leaving just one sentence.
“Mister. If… If you need someone to hug… Hug Hare instead of Estia… I-I haven’t done it before… but I’m prepared because I’ve seen it a lot…”
“Hare! It was a normal hug! That’s not it, you’re misunderstanding-”
Bang-!
Hare hid in her room, closing the door.
I understood how she misunderstood.
But wasn’t it too much to not even give me time to clear up the misunderstanding?
‘More than that, I think this is the first time Hare has cut off my words.’
Was she that shocked?
Well, seeing that scene while harboring such feelings for me, it might be natural for her to be shocked.
Still, it didn’t particularly matter.
‘If Hare has truly repented, she won’t do anything. However, if she only pretended to understand her mistake, she’ll certainly try to harm Estia.’
This could be an opportunity to confirm Hare’s true feelings.
It would be good to check if Hare was a ‘good child’ or a ‘bad child’.
If Hare turned out to be a bad child…
It wouldn’t be bad to give her time to think alone again.
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The next day, Estia opened her eyes to noisy sounds.
“Uh, umm… My head… Where am I this time…?”
What’s this?
Why am I lying here?
Looking around, she saw an unfamiliar room and an unfamiliar bed.
It was a very well-maintained room.
Estia shouted in surprise at this unfamiliar room.
“Co-Could it be! Kidnapped again?! Was I kidnapped again?!”
More than that, her body felt refreshed, so she must have drunk holy water?!
Estia got up from the bed and headed towards the door.
In front of the door stood a girl she had seen somewhere before.
“Your name was… Hare?”
“…”
Why was she here?
Hare was quietly leaning against the wall with her eyes closed, without saying anything.
“Wh-What’s this…? Well, I wasn’t kidnapped again… Is she sleeping? She won’t be happy sleeping while standing.”
‘Well, I don’t need to care, she’ll handle herself.’
Estia tried to leave to ask Mister what had happened.
One step.
Two steps.
And, three steps.
When she stood in front of Hare…
Thud-
“Ah, aah-!!”
Crash-!
Estia fell down with a loud noise, it felt like something had tripped her leg.
“Wh-What? What did I trip on..?!”
There wasn’t anything to trip on?!
There were no objects around that she could have tripped over.
If she had tripped on something, it could only be…
Hare’s leg.
“You, you…!! Hare! You just tripped me, didn’t you?!”
“…”
“Apologize! You bad child! Th-The Goddess won’t overlook your sin! You’ll certainly pay for this!”
“…”
Will she really?
Hare slowly opened her eyes.
The emotions hidden in those eyes were anger and jealousy.
However, unlike before, they were calmly restrained emotions.
Hare tilted her head and asked Estia,
“You’re saying I tripped you…?”
“Ye-Yes! The Goddess saw everything!”
“…It’s okay.”
“…What?”
“It doesn’t matter even if that Goddess saw…”
Hare looked down at Estia, who was relatively shorter with a cold and hateful expression.
Estia was momentarily frightened.
“If Mister didn’t see it. That’s enough for me…”
“You, you…! I thought you were nice when I first saw you…!!”
“Hare is a good child…”
But not to you.
You who wag your tail at Mister and try to take him away from me.
You are my enemy.
Hare brought something small she was holding to Estia’s neck.
“You committed the sin first yesterday… I didn’t want to get angry like this either…”
“Yesterday? Wh-What sin did I…?! Uh, uwaah…? A-A knife…?”
“So. Don’t tell Mister about today…”
Hare wanted to remain a good child.
‘You can do that, right?’
In the thinking room, she had pondered how not to get caught by Mister.
As a result of that contemplation, Hare came up with ‘silencing through threats’.
And today was the moment to put that idea into practice.
‘I’ll make sure you never cling to Mister again…’
As soon as she woke up in the morning, she took a dining knife from the kitchen and waited in front of Estia’s room.
It was her first time using it in practice, but she threatened Estia very skillfully.
And to that threat…
‘A-A knife… N-No… I’m sc-scared…’
Estia had no choice but to submit, she nodded slightly out of fear.
Seeing this, Hare smiled with satisfaction and left.
Estia slumped to the ground and blankly watched Hare leave.
-Everyone, pack your things. I’ve found a house, so we’re moving.
Even though she heard Mister’s voice.
She couldn’t properly come to her senses.
“Th-This…!! Wh-What sin did I commit…! I-I didn’t do anything…?! Wh-What! You heretic! Yo-You, the Goddess won’t let you get away with this! You bad child!”
She, who couldn’t remember the previous day, felt this situation was so unfair.
However,
‘So. Don’t tell Mister about today…’
Because Hare threatening her with a knife was too scary, she decided to keep this incident to herself.
Estia was a coward.
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The previous day, I had been looking around Henesys for a suitable house for sale.
From places with good surroundings but too small for 5 people to live in, to houses that weren’t cleaned but just right for 5 people.
‘Take me too! I-I don’t want to hear hallucinations!’
I had been going around Henesys with Luna, who didn’t want to be separated from me.
‘Mister-! I want to eat that!’
‘That too-!’
‘And this!’
…A lot of money was spent, so I wouldn’t take her out next time.
Anyway, Luna could say she enjoyed the city of Henesys in her own way, and our new house was selected after going around like that.
The price was very cheap because it was in poor condition.
Luna whispered softly while looking at the house we had seen yesterday.
“…Mister. This is the worst of all the houses we saw yesterday.”
“It’ll be good once we clean it up.”
“Th-The grass is so overgrown! And the mansion is completely run-down?!”
“It’ll be good once we fix it.”
“Uwaaah-!!”
Luna screamed.
Judging by the reactions of the others, Luna was the only one opposing.
“Waaah… A mansion with Mister…”
Hare liked it.
“…”
Saten was silently reading a book.
“Bi-Big brother! Wh-What are you looking at!”
“Big brother…?”
“Ah, no, that’s not it…”
Estia seemed to have no thoughts.
She also looked scared of something.
She didn’t seem to remember yesterday’s events clearly.
“Anyway, we’ll be staying here from today. It’s a very nice place with 6 rooms and even a yard.”
“Wait a minute-!!”
Did she have some complaints?
Luna asked loudly in protest,
“Then! Who’s going to clear all this lush grass?!”
“You can clear it, Luna.”
“Eh…?”
I had things to do.
Luna could pull out the grass as part of her strength training.
Estia, might try to escape while I’m away…
Hare would be perfect to watch her as a form of reflection.
“I’m going out for a bit. Hare. Please watch Estia well.”
“Yes!”
Hare seemed to have sorted out her thoughts from yesterday well.
Her answer was full of confidence, without any negative emotions.
‘She didn’t understand that it was a misunderstanding… Did she resolve it in another way?’
For now, Estia’s reaction was a bit sour.
Before officially moving in, I needed to visit the library briefly to properly understand her past.
I decided to explain this to the children.
“I’ll fix up the house when I get back, so you all rest in the yard for a while. And Luna.”
“Eh?”
“Do the strength training you haven’t been able to do for a while diligently. Pull out all the grass before I come back. Can you do that?”
“I can’t! How am I supposed to do all this! And I’ll hear hallucinations when you leave!”
Of course you can’t do it all, that’s how much I want you to pull out.
I spoke to help Luna focus on her training.
“If I see even one blade of grass when I come back, I’ll increase the intensity of your training.”
“Ps-Psychopath! I take back thinking you were kind! Mister is completely bad! So mean!”
“…”
What’s new about that?
Ignoring Luna’s voice behind me, I thought about Estia.
‘Even if not a complete cure, I should be able to alleviate it somewhat.’
To see Estia’s past and find a solution, I went to meet Minerva after a long time.
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[Well ig now the drug dealer gonna go find out what the junkie loves lmao]
