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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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The notebook was filled with detailed research notes.
Today, she had endured for an hour, meticulously observing and analyzing the reactions of the eyeball during the process.
It wasn’t something a girl her age should be doing.
“This is crossing the line, Saten.”
She had asked me before if Null Attribute Magic could preserve a living organism indefinitely.
Judging by the red ink in her diary, it seemed Saten had found a new hope that day.
It wouldn’t be easy.
The words were written in blood.
Had Saten concluded that awakening her emotions was more attainable than creating an eyeball with Blood Magic?
There were no further experiments documented after that entry.
I carefully closed Saten’s research diary.
Click-
“Should I be relieved that she’s no longer experimenting?”
There were traces of her planning to conduct experiments on other living beings…
But she hadn’t acted on them.
So the current situation was a relief, at least.
Making a mental note to have a serious conversation with Saten later…
I left her dark and gloomy room.
The sudden exposure to light made me squint.
“I like dark spaces too, but her room was too dark.”
She needed sunlight to grow taller.
Estia was currently the shortest, but…
Saten might end up being the shortest in the future.
As I walked towards the sound of the children’s voices…
My mind was ranking the Hero’s party in terms of abnormality.
“No matter how I think about it…”
Luna…
You’re the closest to normal.
It was meaningless for me, an abnormal person, to rank them, but…
Luna seemed to be the most mentally stable among the Hero’s party.
“And in last place…”
It would be Saten, of course.
She was the most intelligent and reliable…
But she was also the most unpredictable, like a ticking time bomb.
Estia would at least give a warning before exploding, chanting “Holy water! Holy water!” So the person I had to keep a close eye on was Saten.
And I was the manager, responsible for preventing the bomb from exploding.
I had been away for a while, so it was time to check on the children.
“…Anyway, I need to hurry.”
The children were prone to causing trouble if I took my eyes off them for even a moment.
With those worries in mind, I quickened my pace.
While I was away…
Hare and Estia were doing perfectly, as I expected.
“Th-That’s my spot…! M-Move…!”
“Hmph, what are you talking about? First come, first served!”
They were bickering and engaging in healthy competition.
And their friendship was blossoming in the process!
If I had just put those two, who weren’t close, in a room together, it would have been awkward.
But giving them a common, active goal increased the probability of them becoming friends.
It was a teaching method based on my experience as an adventurer, when Aina and I were trapped in a dungeon for four days.
“…We saw things we shouldn’t have seen back then…”
…No.
Stop thinking about the past.
The more cherished the memory, the more painful it became.
I approached the two, who were diligently cleaning the windows.
“Are you having fun cleaning?”
“M-Mister…! I-I did my best…! Look…!!”
Scamper-
Hare ran towards me and grabbed my sleeve as soon as she heard my voice.
She proudly showed me the window she had cleaned.
It was spotless.
“You did a good job cleaning.”
“Y-Yes…! I-I cleaned the inside of the window…! And the outside too…! D-Did I do well…!?”
“…Wait, you cleaned the outside of the window?”
Cleaning the outside…
Wasn’t that a bit dangerous…?
We were on the second floor.
She could have been hurt if she had lost her footing and fallen.
But Hare, who didn’t seem to have even considered the possibility of falling, tilted her head at me with a worried expression.
“D-Did I do something wrong, Mister…? You look upset…”
“…No, you did well, Hare. You even handled dangerous tasks.”
“He, hehe… Thank you, Mister…”
Hare smiled happily and asked for a head pat.
I stroked her pink hair and thought to myself,
‘If she was an ordinary child, I would have scolded her for doing something dangerous, but she’s the rogue of the Hero’s party.’
I shouldn’t judge a genius from an ordinary person’s perspective.
Hare probably didn’t even think about the danger of standing on the ledge.
She had exceptional balance.
Cleaning the outside of the window from the ledge probably didn’t seem dangerous to her at all.
Restricting Hare’s freedom would be like caging a bird that was meant to fly.
“Good job, Hare. You worked hard without getting hurt.”
“Y-Yes…! I-I worked hard…!”
Subtly…
Hare glanced at Estia and shouted,
“I cleaned more than Estia over there…! And I worked harder…!”
“W-We were cleaning together until just now! Y-You traitor-!! You’re backstabbing me!?”
Estia raised her voice, feeling betrayed.
They glared at each other, growling.
I stepped between them to mediate the fight.
“There’s no need to fight after you’ve finished cleaning. Stop it.”
“Brother, she started it! It was self-defense! Self-defense!”
“I-I was just telling the truth…! I cleaned more…”
“That’s enough.”
The important thing was that they cleaned together, not who cleaned more.
I was planning to reward them both for their hard work.
I patted their heads to end the fight.
“Hare, I understand you cleaned a lot. I’ll praise you for that.”
“Th-Thank you…! M-Mister…!”
“But don’t dismiss Estia’s efforts just because you cleaned more. Estia worked hard too.”
“I understand, Mister… I’m sorry…”
Dejected-
Hare hung her head.
Seeing that, I wanted to ask about the whereabouts of my missing underwear…
But I knew it would be detrimental to her emotional well-being, so I held back my urge to question her.
As I patted the children’s heads, Estia, the rebellious one, swatted my hand away.
“S-Stop it! I’m not a child!”
“You were acting like one just now.”
“I-I was just acting…! To get holy water! So give me holy water now! Give it to me!”
Her words contradicted her actions.
She held out both hands politely, clearly desperate for holy water.
I said to Estia, who was like a wild rabbit,
“Later. I’ll reward you after I inspect the mansion.”
“…You’ll give me holy water, right? If you don’t, I’ll run away! I’m serious!”
“You’re welcome to try. But the other children won’t help you.”
Luna, Hare, and Saten.
If Estia showed any signs of trying to escape, they would stop her and inform me.
They had no reason to leave this place.
“Y-You kidnapper…! T-The Goddess will never forgive you…!!”
“Unfortunately, the Goddess is on my side.”
“Liar-!!”
Believe it or not…
That was Estia’s choice.
Anyway, Hare and Estia had finished cleaning without any problems.
So there was no need to check on them further.
With those thoughts in mind, I was about to head towards the areas assigned to Luna and Saten.
But at that moment…
This… wasn’t exactly a problem.
I had told them to clean together, so Luna and Saten should be together.
And judging by the title of the problem… it wasn’t a problem, but…
“An order.”
An order.
Deciphering the intention of the sender, Minerva… this problem was more like an order.
I had received many orders like this during my days as an adventurer.
Something must have happened between those two.
‘It doesn’t matter which one I choose, so number 1. I won’t check the answer sheet.’
If I had misinterpreted the sender’s intention, Minerva would send another problem.
But even as I rushed towards them, no new problem arrived.
Which meant… I had interpreted it correctly.
‘Don’t get cocky, Jun!’
Minerva’s voice echoed in my head.
I ran towards the cleaning area assigned to them.
Passing through the long hallway and down the stairs… I saw…
“Ugh, it’s your fault!! Why aren’t you cleaning!! I need to get my reward!!”
“Get off me, peasant. Why should I help you get a reward?”
“Ow-!! Don’t pull my hair-!!”
They were rolling on the floor…
Pulling each other’s hair.
The most normal and the most abnormal.
The two extremes…
Were fighting, tearing at each other’s hair.
“Sigh…”
I sighed and approached them, trying to break up the fight.
“Let go, Luna. You shouldn’t fight Saten with your physical strength.”
“N-No! She started it! I’ll let go if she lets go first!”
“…Saten, are you going to let go-”
“No.”
…Right.
Neither of them was willing to let go.
They rolled on the floor, pulling each other’s hair.
What should I do with this Hero’s party?
I thought things would get better with time.
But for some reason…
My heart felt heavy.
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