The Hero Luna's Awakening (3)
Hare emerged from the room where she had been confined, and she had changed one hundred and eighty degrees. In a very good direction.
“Ah, Uncle. I finished cleaning… Did I do well…?”
“…Yes, you did well, Hare.”
“Hehe…”
Originally, when I saw the already-clean living room, I would only think, Oh, Hare must have cleaned. But after reflecting in that room, Hare now came to report to me after finishing her chores. It seemed like she was doing it to earn praise.
The most surprising part isn’t even that.
Before entering the room, Hare had disliked the other children. She glared at everyone except Luna, clearly wanting to drive them away and keeping them in check. So what about the current Hare?
“Ah, Uncle. I’ll go give them their food. This plate is for Saten, right?”
“Uh, yeah. Go ahead.”
She was now voluntarily doing things for the other kids. She woke up early to help prepare meals, and it seemed she had properly understood the instruction to get along. There wasn’t a trace of negative emotions like jealousy or greed.
She was especially kind to Estia, who had made a mistake.
“Estia has been eating a lot lately… So take a little from my plate, Uncle. I’m fine with just a small amount.”
She smiled with the same pure, innocent expression she had when I first met her. As more children joined us, her face had grown darker and darker, but now Hare looked bright again, as if she had returned to her original self.
The room of reflection is surprisingly effective.
Seeing Hare change so much in such a short time, the effect of the room of reflection seemed undeniable. I felt like I could use it again in the future.
“…If Estia can’t control her withdrawal symptoms, locking her in that room might be an option.”
“Huh…? Uncle, what did you say…? You’re going to confine me again…?”
“Ah, no, Hare. I wasn’t talking about you. I meant someone else.”
At the word “confinement,” Hare’s eyes lost their light for a moment, only to regain it after my explanation. Did she really hate going back into that room that much?
I had entered the room of reflection many times myself, but it seemed Hare never wanted to set foot in there again.
“By the way, why hasn’t Luna come down yet?”
Training time had already passed by zero minutes and thirty-seven seconds. Normally, Luna would either come out one minute early or be no more than ten seconds late. Today, however, was an exception. She still hadn’t left her room.
I stood quietly and spoke to Hare, who was staring at me with her bright, round eyes.
“Hare. Could you go upstairs and call Luna for me?”
“Luna? Y-yes! I’ll go call her!”
Thump, thump— Hare climbed the stairs with her tiny frame, which was still under 150 centimeters.
In the future she was tall and slender, so she’ll probably grow later.
I sincerely prayed in my heart that Hare would one day become an excellent thief for the hero party. That she would be able to annihilate all the Demon Kings.
As I watched her climb the stairs, I offered a desperate prayer from the bottom of my heart.
…Still.
That one Demon King. The one who took Aina’s life. I prayed that I would be the one to kill him.
“…How dare she steal Uncle’s time. Luna is a bad girl.”
Hare headed toward Luna’s room, finally unleashing the anger she had been holding back. In front of Uncle, she would always be a good girl. But when the other kids were around, it was fine to be bad. That was exactly what Hare wanted.
“As long as Uncle doesn’t catch me… I just need to be meticulous and cunning…”
Hare, who had reflected in a very strange direction, entered Luna’s room, which Uncle had left open. An bizarre scene unfolded before her eyes.
Hare muttered in a startled voice.
“Wh-what…? What is this situation…?”
There, something difficult to explain with words was happening.
Luna was lying face-down on the bed, covering her ears. Beside her, Estia was chattering away nonstop. If one were to compare it to animals, it would be like a hamster tormenting a golden retriever.
Hare asked the two girls, who seemed completely out of their minds.
“U-um…? Uncle told me to call Luna down… What’s going on…? Why is Luna covering her ears like that…?”
“I-it’s a revelation from the Goddess! The Goddess will save us!! Luna! What is the Goddess saying?!”
“What… is this kid even saying…?”
Hare ignored Estia’s words and turned her gaze toward Luna on the bed. Luna was clutching her ears with a pained expression and shouting.
“It’s too loud—!! Stop talking to me—!!”
Who! Who keeps talking to me!
Luna screamed in distress. Estia kept babbling beside her, “If it’s auditory hallucinations, maybe you like Holy Water too!?” throwing out strange nonsense.
Hare couldn’t understand this chaotic situation at all.
“Th-there are two noisy kids… It’s even louder now…”
“You were an addict just like me! Luna! To meet a fellow sufferer here! I’m so glad!”
“S-so loud—!”
Luna, still covering her ears. She couldn’t hear Estia’s words at all right now. Because of the voice rising from within her mind.
-Wake… up… Hero.
“I’m awake! Stop! Stop waking me up—!”
-Bear the ‘burden’… Hero.
“Wh-what is that…!”
A voice ringing from her heart. And in her head, something shrouded in mist kept flickering. It appeared and disappeared like a hallucination.
“Mist… I can’t see it clearly… A sword…? Is it a sword…?”
It looked like there was a golden sword behind the mist… Something she could almost grasp but couldn’t quite reach. The image of a sword kept floating in Luna’s mind, accompanied by a spine-chilling voice. Between the words came screams, pounding in her head so intensely that Luna could barely endure it.
I-I can’t listen to this anymore…
Ah, her eyes were slowly closing… The moment she felt like she was about to lose consciousness.
“Luna? What are you doing over there?”
“Uncle? Huh? The voice… stopped? What’s going on?”
Lee Junwoo had come upstairs because Luna was late for training. The moment he arrived, the voice that had been tormenting her subsided easily.
Luna removed her hands from her ears and looked at Junwoo with wide, startled eyes.
“Wh-what? Why did the voice stop…?”
When Uncle came, the voice stopped. What? What is this situation?
Junwoo asked Luna, who was standing motionless by the bed.
“What were you doing that made you so late, Luna?”
“Ah, no, it’s just… I heard a strange voice, so I was resting for a bit—”
“Resting…? The agreed training time has already passed by six minutes and fifty-four seconds. You broke your promise.”
“Ah, when I said resting, I didn’t mean—”
“Since you’re six minutes late, you’ll run six laps around the yard before we start.”
“Eh…?”
That’s ridiculous! This is tyranny! Luna didn’t have the courage to say any of that out loud.
“I’ll… run the six laps…”
She had no choice but to be dragged away by Junwoo and run around the yard. Hare watched Luna being taken away with envy, while Estia stared with eyes full of confusion.
And most importantly, strangely enough, the bizarre voice no longer reached Luna as long as she was with Junwoo.
…What was that creepy voice? It doesn’t come when I’m with Uncle…
Luna asked herself, but she had no idea. Well, I can just ask Uncle later. After all, there was almost nothing Uncle didn’t know.
Without even realizing it, the kidnapped Luna had come to rely on Junwoo.
I finished Luna’s training and completed the last item on the schedule—Saten’s lesson. The emotion class was proceeding smoothly.
“Saten, you now know all the types of emotions, right?”
“Joy, anger, sorrow, and pleasure. They are broadly divided into four categories, with further subdivisions within them, correct? I understand everything.”
Saten spoke in a haughty, confident tone. However, her expression lacked its usual certainty. The girl whose head never lowered when talking about magic now had her chin slightly dipped. It was a new side of the usually arrogant and prideful Saten.
“Are you not confident about emotions, Saten?”
“No, it’s not that I lack confidence. It’s a matter of probability. The chance that I will regain my emotions is far too low.”
“Looking at the way you underestimate your own chances, I’d say you lack confidence.”
“…”
Saten closed her mouth. Since it was true, she had nothing to say in return. Her face was expressionless, but behind it, clear irritation was visible.
…Did I push her too hard?
Even without emotions, one could still feel annoyance and boredom. Saten was like a bomb that could go off at any moment. I decided to wrap up the lesson quickly.
“Anyway, today’s class is over. If you have any questions, feel free to ask. If not, I’ll be leaving now.”
“…I have a question. Has a letter arrived from my family?”
“I’ll go check today.”
“Hmm, I see. I’m curious about their reaction to the hand I sent. Also, please send this letter as well.”
Flutter— Saten handed me a sheet of paper. Once again, it was written in blood, and the content was so extreme that even I had trouble reading it aloud. If anything, it had evolved further.
I asked Saten in a dumbfounded tone.
“…Are you really planning to send this, Saten?”
“Yes. Is there a problem?”
Problem. There were many problems. Saten had written the letter in her own blood, and the content was designed to rip her family’s hearts to shreds. If I were in their position, my mind would have shattered into pieces. It was that bad.
“…The false claim that they sold you to a brothel. You think that’s fine…?”
“Yes, it’s fine. Rather, I’m curious. I wonder how the family will react this time. Will they try to search every brothel in the country? Or will they give up looking for me and simply ignore it? Will they pretend not to hear the rumor that the eldest daughter of the prestigious Sicilia family is working in a brothel?”
Saten spoke with a faint smile. Behind that expressionless mask mixed with a smile, I could glimpse a fragment of the emotion she was hiding.
…She wants revenge on the family that abused her.
Saten. Behind her mask, a small spark of vengeance had begun to take root. It smelled familiar. Like someone of the same kind.
Using the same method as last time, I sent the letters to the Sicilia family through a beggar.
“P-please use me again next time, my lord…!!”
“Yes, go. And I have one question. Who handles Holy Water around here?”
“H-Holy Water, sir? Usually the church distributes it if you donate… but recently the supply has been low, so the price has gone up quite a bit…”
“The price doesn’t matter. Is there any supplier other than the church?”
“Th-there is, of course… I-I’ll look into it! I’ll let you know the next time we meet!”
“…Good. I put in a little extra today. You may go.”
“Th-thank you…!!”
The beggar snatched the money and disappeared into the distance. He would probably drink today. A beggar living on alcohol after losing the will to live. His only joy in life was probably the drink he had before bed. Just like me.
“…Two letters. One is a reply from the Sicilia family. The other is from Luna’s family.”
A response to the fake hand Saten had sent. I wondered what their reaction had been. I returned straight home, lay down on the sofa, and opened the letters.
The Sicilia family’s reaction was fierce.
Did you think we would be frightened by something as trivial as a hand? You are mistaken, man behind the mask.
We have heard that you recently kidnapped a saintess as well. How dare a Grimoire bastard think of negotiating with the Sicilia family?
There will be no compromise. Five million pera is the final offer.
It was aggressive. Had Saten expected this kind of reaction? Even before checking the reply, she had thrown an even stronger move at the Sicilia family. I didn’t know what ending Saten wanted for them, but I could instinctively feel that it would not be a good one.
“There’s no magic treatment… Nothing to review. Next is Luna’s family letter.”
The last letter Luna sent had been full of concern for her family’s well-being and happiness about living well. So their reply would probably be similar. Thinking there wouldn’t be much to review, I opened the letter from Luna’s family.
However, it took less than ten seconds to read.
Because there were so few words written on it.
“…This is.”
The letter contained only a single dry sentence. It was asking about Luna’s well-being, but it was written in the worst possible form Luna never wanted from her family—worry.
Luna, where are you right now?