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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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The children all received suitable rewards for their wishes.
‘Training all day is the best!’
Luna received the reward of training all day.
‘A picnic with Mister… Nice…!’
Hare received a picnic to lift her spirits.
‘He, hehehe… Holy water… All mine…!’
Estia received a bottle of holy water.
They each expressed their wishes without hesitation, and as a result, the Hero’s party, excluding the mage, Saten, received happy rewards.
After discussing the rewards and enjoying a delicious meal…
Hare, who had requested a picnic with everyone, went back to her room.
Her expression wasn’t exactly happy.
“Going on a picnic with Mister is nice, but…”
Click-
“I’m not alone…”
Initially…
Hare had planned a trip far away, just the two of them.
‘Mister said he would grant my wish…! He’ll definitely agree…!’
But the “memory of that day” resurfaced, preventing her from proceeding.
If she suggested going alone with him, he would definitely tell her to sort out her emotions again.
So Hare changed her plan to avoid suspicion.
She decided to include the other children.
That was why Hare wasn’t happy.
“I wanted to go alone with him, without being interrupted…”
It was disappointing.
But at least she could go somewhere with Mister.
She had to be content with that.
Hare clenched her fists, trying to shake off her negative emotions.
“I’ll just have fun on the picnic…! That’s good enough…”
Clench-
Being greedy only led to greater losses.
Hare, who had learned from her past mistakes…
Lay down on her bed, determined to enjoy herself.
There, she had a treasure hidden away.
“Hehe… Mister’s scent…”
With this…
My heart feels at ease.
Hare hugged it tightly, savoring the faint scent that lingered on it.
It filled the void in her heart that she felt when she was alone.
Hare closed her eyes, a sense of warmth washing over her, and muttered,
“I like you, Mister… Thank you for becoming my family… I’ll work harder, Mister… I’ll never disappoint you…”
Slowly drifting off to sleep…
Hare fell into a slumber, enveloped by Mister’s scent.
In that moment, the stench of the back alleys, her past hell, didn’t cross her mind.
“Together… forever… Mister…”
Hare never wanted to go back to that place.
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I decided to grant their wishes one by one.
I only had one body and couldn’t fulfill multiple wishes at the same time.
The children needed to decide on an order.
“Decide on an order among yourselves. Let’s be fair and use a majority vote.”
Estia protested at my words.
Her voice was filled with indignation.
“I don’t need an order! Just give me holy water! Give it to me now!”
“Give it to me…? Use honorifics when speaking to Mister, Estia…”
“No, I only use honorifics for the Goddess! So give me holy water, brother!”
Estia held out her hand, her expression full of confidence.
Her nostrils flared, as if she was about to snort with pride.
But I couldn’t give Estia holy water yet.
“Estia, you can only drink holy water in front of me. So you need to wait your turn. Decide on an order quickly.”
“Th-That’s impossible! I-I need holy water now…!”
Estia’s hands trembled like an addict’s.
Were the withdrawal symptoms already kicking in?
If her hands were shaking, she had five days at most.
But she still had some time.
“Decide on an order, Estia.”
“A-Anyone want to… give me their turn!? Just give it to me! I’ll share holy water with you when I escape this place!!”
“Stop talking nonsense and decide on an order.”
“U-Ugh…”
She finally gave up.
Estia groaned and returned to Luna and Hare.
She asked them again if they would give her their turn, but they refused, their own desires taking precedence.
“Fairly! We’re going to decide the order fairly!”
“Th-That’s right…! Mister likes fairness…!”
…Hare understood me well.
As she said, I valued fairness.
‘I can’t treat Luna, the Hero, fairly…’
But despite my actions, I strived to treat them equally in my mind.
Experiencing discrimination as a child could leave a lasting scar, even into adulthood.
I was trying my best to treat the children fairly, excluding Luna, who carried a heavy burden.
As I pondered those thoughts, the children seemed to have decided on a method to determine the order.
They glared at each other and shouted the starting phrase of the game.
“Don’t hold back! One, two, three!”
Rock, paper, scissors!
Slap-!
They thrust their hands forward, accompanied by cheers.
Some cheered…
Some sighed…
As their fates were decided, Estia screamed in agony.
“This is invalid! Invalid! This is outrageous!!”
“Hmph, who threatened you with a knife and told you to throw rock?! Estia loses! Estia is last! We won, Hare!”
“B-Bad Estia…! Use honorifics when speaking to Mister next time…!”
Estia threw rock.
Luna and Hare threw paper.
Unlike the two, who were enjoying their victory…
Estia trembled, her fist clenched, refusing to accept reality.
“My fist can even break through paper-! Th-This isn’t real-! I-I’m the Saintess-!!”
“Hare, let’s decide the order quickly!”
“Y-Yeah…!”
Wise choice.
Luna and Hare wisely decided not to engage with Estia.
And so, the battle to decide the order between the two began again.
In a tense atmosphere, unsure of what the other would throw…
Hare spoke, glancing at Luna,
“D-Don’t hold back…! R-Rock…!”
“Paper!”
“P-Paper…!”
Bam-!
They thrust their hands forward with confidence.
The battle to decide the order…
The children’s expressions were so serious that it felt more intense than a dungeon raid.
‘Who won…?’
I approached them to confirm the results.
A space where victory and defeat coexisted.
I looked down, and there it was… the outcome.
“Hare, you won.”
“Y-Yes…! Mister…! I won…! Hehe…!”
Luna threw paper.
Hare threw scissors.
Hare won the right to decide the order.
And as I expected, Hare…
“F-For the first time…! I-I get to choose my reward first, Mister…!”
Chose to go first.
It was an expected outcome, considering Hare’s impatient and impulsive nature.
Next…
“Luna, what number are you?”
“I’m number 2, of course! The longer we wait, the worse it gets!”
Luna chose number 2.
And naturally, Estia, who was pushed to last place…
“N-No! Holy water-!! My, my holy water-!!”
Could only wail in despair.
And so, the order for the Hero’s party’s autumn picnic was decided.
As for the location…
‘I should ask Minerva for recommendations.’
I wasn’t familiar with tourist attractions.
Minerva would be the perfect person to ask.
Hoping that nothing would go wrong on the picnic…
I watched the Hero’s party, their emotions a mixture of joy and despair.
‘They seem to be getting along well.’
The bond between the Hero’s party was stronger than I thought.
The library, which I hadn’t visited in a while, was unchanged.
The only difference was that there were more books.
I greeted Mieng with a nod…
And walked towards the inner sanctum where Minerva was.
Minerva was lying in bed.
“…Minerva.”
“Coo…”
“Minerva.”
“Hmm… Hmmm…”
What time was it?
Why was she sleeping?
I still couldn’t understand Minerva’s sleep patterns, even after all these years.
I shook Minerva, who was sleeping with a cone hat on her head.
“Hey, Minerva. Wake up.”
“Hmm… Hmmm…? What is it, Jun-woo… When did you get here…?”
“Just now.”
“You should have told me you were here… Yawn…”
…I did.
Minerva stretched and got out of bed.
Then, rubbing her sleepy eyes, she asked,
“So… why are you here…? Yawn…”
“I need to know a location. A place where I can take the Hero’s party for a picnic.”
“Ah, you’re talking about that…? The reward the rogue asked for… Hold on a sec…”
Shuffle- Shuffle-
Minerva, still drowsy, walked towards the bookshelf like a zombie.
“…It’s a bit better when she’s quiet because she’s sleepy…”
“What was that, Jun-woo…?”
“Nothing, it’s nothing.”
“Hmm, is that so…?”
Glare-
Minerva gave me a suspicious look, then turned her attention back to the bookshelf.
“It should be here somewhere… Ah, found it…! Take a look at this and decide… I’m going back to sleep… I’m sleepy…”
Yawn-
Minerva yawned, as if truly exhausted, and lay back down on the bed.
There was a book on the desk, the one Minerva had placed there.
There was no explanation.
“The title is… The Future of the Hero’s Party’s Picnic…?”
Had Minerva already read most of the futures and selected this one?
That would explain why she was so sleepy.
She always got sleepy after using her divine powers.
“…Thank you, Minerva. Even though you’re asleep and can’t hear me.”
I thanked Minerva for her gift and read the first page.
“The first future is…”
A tourist attraction in the dungeon city of Henesys, “The Ruins of Lost Time.”
It was a historical site said to have been built by people 1,000 years ago, presumably for worshipping the Goddesses.
However, the architectural style was similar to that of the present day, despite the 1,000-year difference.
“What is this? It’s not a story about the future, it’s a guidebook?”
There was too much unnecessary information.
I skimmed through it, focusing on what kind of future unfolded when they visited the tourist attraction.
At the bottom of the page, there was an unexpected future.
-Lee Jun-woo injured, Luna awakened, Hare traumatized. The reason is Grimoire. They are monopolizing the tourist attraction for ‘money.’ This location is not recommended.
Grimoire was monopolizing the tourist attraction.
And we would encounter them there.
That was the future that awaited us.
Hmm.
‘…Grimoire isn’t a threat to me. If I’m injured…’
It must mean I was injured while protecting the Hero’s party.
I decided to cancel “The Ruins of Lost Time.”
I turned the page.
-Luna injured. Estia escapes. Saten suffers excessive bleeding. The reason is the enraged Grimoire. They are searching for children for experimental subjects, and the Hero’s party has become their target. This location is not recommended.
…Damn it.
Was Grimoire stationed at every tourist attraction?
I turned the page, and then another… but Grimoire consistently appeared at every location.
It was a miraculous 100% attendance rate.
“…At this rate, we can’t go anywhere.”
The picnic…
Should I cancel it?
I could already picture Hare’s disappointed face.
‘She must be looking forward to it…’
The risk was too high, so I had no choice but to cancel the picnic.
With those thoughts in mind, I closed the book and was about to head home.
But…
There was one…
Glimmer of hope.
The last page.
Another future unfolded there.
-No injuries, no casualties. The process should be smooth as long as the great Minerva helps. This is the best option. However, someone who knows Jun-woo is there.
“Someone who knows me…?”
Except for that unsettling detail…
The tourist attraction on the last page seemed like the best option.
“Thankfully, I won’t have to see Hare’s disappointed face.”
The Hero’s party’s picnic.
Decision made.
The departure time…
“Tomorrow.”
Postponing rewards only led to frustration.
The Hero’s party would depart…
Tomorrow.
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