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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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Scamper- Scamper-
Luna and Hare ran with their short legs, trying to escape the stranger.
Why were they being chased?
They shouted, their voices laced with indignation,
“Wh-Why are you chasing us?! Saten and Estia are right there!! Why are you after us!!”
“I-I don’t know…! I have no idea…! U-Ugh…! Save us, Mister…!!”
Luna and Hare had undergone training with Mister, so they had decent stamina.
However, the physical difference between a child and an adult was insurmountable.
Two of their steps were equivalent to one adult step.
Moreover, the stranger’s physical abilities far surpassed theirs.
“That person!! She’s trained!! She’s not even tired!!”
“D-Don’t look back…! W-We don’t have time- Aaaah…!!”
Grab-
Hare screamed as she was lifted into the air.
She was the fastest among them, but her stamina had depleted after running for so long, and she was caught.
The stranger, holding Hare in one hand, shouted at Luna,
“Stop, Lunasia Luna. Will you abandon your friend?”
“H-Hare!!”
“S-Save me, Luna…! I-I…! I-I can’t die here…! I want to be buried next to Mister…!”
“…Mister, huh. That’s an interesting way to address him.”
The stranger chuckled.
Luna, seeing Hare struggling in the air, stopped running.
She instinctively knew it was time to resolve this through conversation.
“…What do you want, kidnapper?!”
“I’m not the kidnapper. I just want to talk to you.”
“T-Talk?!”
You caused this much commotion just to talk to me?!
After a kidnapper, now a stalker?!
Luna gulped nervously and replied,
“…Before we talk! Put Hare down! You’re hurting her!”
“She’s putting up a fight, but I’m not hurting her. You need to answer my questions first.”
She wouldn’t relinquish control.
The stranger held the upper hand. Her resolute, noble-like demeanor made it difficult for Luna to challenge her.
Feeling pressured, Luna nodded.
“…So, what’s the question?”
“I just have two simple questions. First, do you remember me?”
“W-What!!?”
Slowly…
The stranger removed her hood, revealing her face to Luna’s blue eyes.
Silver hair and silver eyes.
Exuding an air of noble elegance, the Knight Commander of the Sylvester Knights…
Irina Sylvester.
Recognizing her, Luna and Hare exclaimed in surprise,
“Th-The person who tried to scout me!! Why are you here?!”
“T-The person in Mister’s picture…!! M-Mister’s former colleague…!”
“So you remember me. And you, pink hair, also seem to know who I am. Then, my second question, Luna.”
Irina leaned in close to Luna and asked, Luna felt a sense of dread.
“Were we, the Sylvester Knights, that bad? Was Jun that much better than us? Were we so terrible that you chose to follow him? We even offered you support, why didn’t you come? Did you dislike the Sylvester Knights? Why did you choose Jun over us? You could have become the next Knight Commander-”
“H-Hieeek-!! Stop!! Stop talking! You’re scaring me!!”
Irina, the tenacious knight.
Puzzled by Luna’s sudden disappearance, she had investigated and reached Arden Village, only to find out they had left for the dungeon city, Henesys.
And that they were with Jun, her former colleague.
“To think that he would become a criminal who kidnaps children…”
“M-Mister isn’t a criminal…!”
“That’s right! That’s right! Mister is bad, but he’s not a criminal!”
“Quiet down, you chicks. Answer my last question.”
“You said you only had two questions-”
“Quiet.”
Ignoring the children’s protests…
Irina asked her final question.
Jun, her former colleague…
“Where is that bastard who kidnapped Sicilia Saten and Estia?”
As the Emperor’s shield, protecting the empire…
She couldn’t turn a blind eye to the fact that her former colleague had become a child kidnapper.
‘…Is this the right thing to do? Is it really okay to take her there?’
‘…Don’t you dare lie to me! I’ll never trust you again!’
‘There’s no way you’re convincing anyone while screaming like that!’
Sigh-
After talking to the Holy Sword, Luna turned around and sighed.
The Silver Knight.
Irina Sylvester.
The person who had tried to scout her in the past was following behind her.
‘Aquamarine rank adventurer. And Mister’s former colleague…’
She had investigated and followed her, wanting to know why she didn’t join the Sylvester Knights.
Outwardly, she seemed to be a knight with strong principles…
But judging by the fact that she was Mister’s former colleague, she probably wasn’t normal either.
Was it really the right choice to bring her to Mister?
As she pondered that question, she arrived in front of the house and saw two figures in the distance.
“Help! Someone save me! I-I’ve become a slave-”
“Be quiet, Dog-stia. Mister will take the leash off once we get home. Just be quiet until then.”
Saten was controlling Estia with a leash.
She met Irina’s gaze with a defiant look.
She had instantly grasped the change in the atmosphere.
“You. You’re Mister’s former colleague, right?”
“That’s right. You must have seen those old pictures too.”
“Yes, I did. But you were prettier back then.”
“…Knights don’t care about appearances.”
‘Don’t care about appearances… I don’t care at all… Age is just a number…’
[T/N: 0_0]
“Sigh…”
Irina gathered her thoughts after that sudden attack and followed them towards her former colleague.
She had seen him at the banquet, but they hadn’t had a proper conversation.
This time, she intended to catch up with him.
‘It might be more of an interrogation, but it’s still a conversation…’
As a knight, she had to hear the reasons why her former colleague had broken the law and kidnapped children.
Irina discreetly placed her hand on the sword at her waist and arrived at the door.
Hare stood on her tiptoes and knocked on the door with her fist.
Knock, knock-
“Mister…! We’re coming in…!!”
-Yes, come in with your guest.
“…So you knew. Just like in the past.”
Creak-
Jun, who had always possessed an uncanny ability to predict the future…
Facing that unchanged ability, Irina opened the door.
“…”
She was speechless, seeing her former colleague.
‘Why…? He was fine the last time I saw him…?’
He looked sick, as if he had caught a cold and there was an eyepatch covering one of his eyes.
She didn’t need to see behind the eyepatch to know what had happened.
She felt a pang in her heart and asked,
“Jun, did you lose your eye…?”
“Cough- It happened… somehow. Anyway, what brings you here? Are you here to see Luna?”
“At first, I thought it was a kidnapping case and headed to Arden Village. But it wasn’t a kidnapping. The girl who was supposed to be the ace of our Knights chose the path of an adventurer, so I came here out of curiosity.”
‘…But I was kidnapped, it wasn’t my choice!’
Luna wanted to correct her, but the atmosphere between the two was tense, so she kept quiet.
Hare, sensing the situation, said to the other children,
“W-We shouldn’t be here… L-Let’s run away…”
“Let’s put the groceries in the kitchen.”
Scamper-
The Hero’s party closed the door and escaped.
But…
“Mister’s former colleague! I-I’m not really interested, but! Let’s eavesdrop!”
“M-Move… I-I can’t hear…”
“Shh, be quiet. Focus.”
“…I want to listen too. I feel left out if I’m the only one not listening…”
The Hero’s party, now in the hallway, pressed their ears against the door.
Lee Jun-woo and Irina were aware of their presence…
But they decided to ignore them.
The conversation was something they could hear anyway.
“So, you came to Henesys because of Luna. Is that right? You didn’t know I was a kidnapper?”
“I didn’t know. I investigated the house you used to live in, but I couldn’t find anything.”
“I didn’t leave any traces.”
“Are you bragging about your crimes in front of the Knight Commander of the Sylvester Knights?”
“…You could say that.”
“…”
Irina glared at Lee Jun-woo, speechless.
She couldn’t understand why her former colleague had become like this, losing an eye, kidnapping children, and doing strange things.
‘…Is this because of the shock of losing Aina? Is he trying to replace her?’
No, that couldn’t be it.
He wouldn’t use people as replacements.
Then…
“Hey, Jun.”
“What.”
“Are you planning to raise these children and create a harem?”
“…”
What kind of thought process did she have to come up with that?
Lee Jun-woo couldn’t comprehend it.
“…That’s ridiculous, Irina.”
Lee Jun-woo, who was planning to train the Hero’s party and send them away, found Irina’s words absurd.
He explained, his voice filled with indignation,
“I had my reasons for kidnapping them. Don’t misunderstand.”
“If your reason is a harem-”
“I told you that’s not it. And besides, kidnapping them was probably the best thing for them. The noble families and the Church are corrupt.”
“…”
Kidnapping with a reason?
Normally, she would arrest a criminal and bring them back to the Knights and interrogate them until they confessed.
But facing Lee Jun-woo, who had become a kidnapper… she couldn’t do it.
‘…He’s injured, has a cold, and lost an eye. Damn him. He’s making me suffer until the very end.’
Memories and feelings from the past resurfaced, tormenting her.
Irina couldn’t arrest Lee Jun-woo in his current state.
The feelings she had suppressed when she chose to become a knight still lingered in a corner of her heart.
Perhaps sensing Irina’s internal conflict…
Lee Jun-woo coughed and said,
“Cough- Do you want to have dinner? It’s been a while.”
“…Are you making it? In your condition?”
“Yeah. The kids can’t cook. Neither can you.”
“…I’ll eat. But… this doesn’t mean I won’t arrest you, you better explain yourself, Jun. Otherwise, I might have to arrest you, my former colleague.”
“…I better make something good, then.”
Hearing Irina’s words, Lee Jun-woo responded with the same voice as he used to.
For a moment, they felt a shared sense of nostalgia.
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