Lee Jun-woo's Future Series (9)
"Even if it's far away, I'll follow you. Please don't leave me alone."
Saten pleaded in the park as dawn was breaking.
Don't leave her alone, pay more attention to her than the other children.
And that voice reached the pink-haired girl who was secretly hiding.
"...Traitor."
Trying to monopolize Mister all to herself...?
Even though I'm holding back my desire to monopolize him too...
Saten, who used to talk about Mister with me.
"Is this how you're going to act...?"
Hare had been following Mister and Saten since they left.
She recalled what had just happened.
...
Late dawn.
Hare always listened toward Mister's room while trying to fall asleep.
More focused than usual in case an assassin might come for the tied-up Mister, her ears caught an unusual signal.
-Mister, are you there?
"...Saten?"
At this late hour...
What business does Saten have with Mister...?
Could she be doing something strange to Mister who's tied up with rope?
Hare controlled her racing heart while imagining all possibilities.
"Oh no... if I appear now... Mister will definitely suspect me..."
Not sleeping, just eavesdropping on someone else's room.
He'd think I'm an ill-mannered child.
I don't want to be seen that way by Mister.
Hare quietly pressed her ear against the wall and eavesdropped on their conversation.
-I'm going to sleep here tonight. Is that okay?
"Saten...?"
Right now...
Did she just say she wants to sleep with Mister...?
Something even I haven't done...?
"This black cat... is trying to steal Mister...?"
Squeeze-
Hare clenched her fist tightly to contain her anger.
Though she wanted to rush to Mister's room right away,
She took a deep breath and controlled her inner rage.
Emotional control was Hare's specialty.
"Still, Mister is refusing... thank goodness..."
Even if Mister refuses, I can't let my guard down yet.
Hare silently erased her presence and eavesdropped on their conversation.
-Estia is moving forward by sticking close to the teacher... Luna and Hare are training too... but thinking that only I'm standing still... it's not easy...
-You feel like you've hit a wall.
"So Saten has hit a wall..."
So that's why her personality has gotten even stranger...
Hare could hear both Mister's and Saten's thoughts.
"It's wrong to secretly listen to others' conversations, but..."
This is to protect Mister from Saten.
"It'll be okay...!"
Nod-
Hare convinced herself.
As she quietly observed the situation,
She noticed the two were getting up to go outside.
"I, I need to follow them...!!"
Saten might do something terrible to Mister who's tied up with rope...!
Hare recalled what Saten had said in the past.
'Hare, as you know, I use blood for my magic. I can use your blood too, but the effect is weaker.'
'...So? What are you trying to say?'
'But what if I used Mister's blood? If I used blood containing Mister's concentrated mana, wouldn't my magic's efficiency increase?'
'N-no way...!'
Absolutely not...!
I can't let Mister become a magic circle again...!
With that mindset, Hare followed the two heading outside in the late dawn...
Without being detected, she heard their entire conversation.
...
"This traitor. Trying to seduce Mister while I'm not around...?"
I can't stand it.
But I must endure.
Mister didn't notice I was following them, and if he found out, he would scold me.
To stay in Mister's good graces, I must endure.
"After the last incident, I was so heartbroken by the distance between Mister and me... I can't let that happen again...!"
In the end, Hare had to make a decision.
To bury today's events deep in her heart.
To not tell anyone to avoid being discovered.
To keep it to herself.
"Saten... I will never forget what you did today..."
Trying to have Mister all to yourself.
I'll never forget it.
Hare vowed never to forget today.
"My plan is for four years... so I'll be patient for now..."
Though she appeared to have set aside her greed,
She was the thief of the Hero Party, greedier than anyone else.
Just a different way of expressing it.
One's true nature never changes.
"Come on, Mister, say ah~"
"..."
"Slurp-! Being picky about food isn't good! Open your mouth quickly!"
I don't want to.
I genuinely don't want to eat.
I can't put that vegetable lump on the spoon into my mouth.
"Luna, are you seriously trying to kill me?"
"You won't die from eating this! Salad is good for your health!"
"The visual looks harmful to health though."
"I-it's just your imagination! Things that are good for you usually look strange!"
But why.
Why is the dressing-covered vegetable black?
Even sesame dressing isn't this black.
What kind of sauce did Luna concoct?
Seven days tied up with rope.
I still couldn't adapt to the children's breakfast.
"Come on! Just eat first and think later! Open your mouth!"
"..."
If I'm going to get beaten, better to get it over with quickly.
I reluctantly opened my mouth and let in the "salad."
"You ate it again today! How is it! Delicious, right!?"
"..."
"Your silence means it's delicious! Hare, we finally succeeded! Come on, applaud!"
"Yay..."
Clap clap-
There was absolutely no soul in Hare's applause.
Obviously because my expression wasn't good.
The reaction was predictable.
I gave Luna a firm evaluation of the taste.
"Luna."
"Yes!"
"I've reached my limit. If I keep eating food like this, I'll die tomorrow."
"T-that can't be! It's so delicious!"
Sniff sniff-
Luna smelled the salad.
"It smells delicious! This is definitely tasty!"
"Then you try eating it."
"W-well, since I put so much effort into it, it doesn't feel right for me to eat it, hehe... I'll just eat the steamed potatoes from the kitchen!"
...So she knows it doesn't look edible either.
It's annoying that she's only trying to feed it to me,
But I didn't feel like getting revenge on Luna who's like a little chick.
Taking revenge on a child would make me feel guilty no matter how I think about it.
I asked Luna as she placed the salad bowl on the desk.
"I think it's time to remove the bandages on my chest and untie the rope. I've rested enough."
"Hmm... is that so? Hmmmm..."
Luna pondered deeply like Sherlock Holmes.
After long deliberation, she turned around and headed for the hallway.
"Doctor! I'll call the doctor!"
"...Yes, do that."
Though she's a quack doctor.
Luna meant she would bring Estia, who could be called a Saint.
She left to call Estia, leaving only Hare and me in the room.
In that situation, Hare was the first to speak.
"...M-Mister. Are you feeling better now?"
"I was never unwell to begin with. You all just forced me to rest."
"B-but since you haven't done anything for a while... wasn't it nice...?"
"Nice, huh..."
Come to think of it.
Everything except the meals was comfortable.
Just lying in bed staring at the ceiling.
And occasionally when I was bored, the Hero Party would visit after training to keep me company.
"Twenty minutes of conversation was just right."
It got annoying and noisy if it went beyond that.
Still, if I had to evaluate this time...
"It wasn't bad. That's how I'd put it."
"T-then that means you liked it...!"
"If we interpret it positively, yes, that's one way to see it."
Hare smiled as if gaining confidence from those words.
Recently, she had perfectly mastered how to erase her presence, and her body was becoming more like an agile thief.
Hare's condition seemed to be at its best.
"Hare."
"Yes!"
"Don't cause trouble and just keep going like this. You're doing very well right now."
"Th-thank you, Mister... I'll work even harder...!"
Thank you...!
Hare clenched her fist as she exclaimed.
"Th-thank you, Mister... But... there's something I'm curious about..."
"Tell me."
"How is Saten... these days...? Nothing strange about her, right...?"
She was always a strange child,
But by high standards, Saten has been fine lately.
Just as I was about to answer Hare about Saten.
BANG-!
"Doctor! I brought the doctor! Saint Estia is here!"
With the feeling of an ambulance crashing through the door,
Estia made a grand entrance.
She quickly approached me and began touching the bandages wrapped around my chest.
"Hmm...! At this point...! I think it must be healed by now!"
"Aren't you being too casual about this?"
"It's not like I have vision! How am I supposed to know what's under the bandages! I need to see it! Brother! Take off the bandages quickly!"
"I-I'll help you..."
Hare stepped forward to slowly unwrap the bandages around my chest.
As the bandages gradually came off, the wounded area was slowly revealed.
However, for some reason, the Hero Party's reaction wasn't good.
"Huh...? Estia...? Didn't you use divine power?"
"I-I did! W-what's going on?"
"The bleeding has stopped... but the wound remains... it hasn't healed..."
Not healed.
Could that really be true?
Thinking they might be teasing me, I went to the mirror to check the wound on my chest.
I couldn't help but be surprised at what I saw reflected.
"Even though divine power was used... why is the wound still there...?"
An incomprehensible wound.
Divine power should have been more than enough to heal it completely.
Why did this result occur?
Unfortunately, only one cause came to mind.
Hare seemed to realize it too and spoke first.
"...The Holy Sword."
"W-what? W-why the Holy Sword?"
"...Because you cut Mister with the Holy Sword. It seems the wound isn't healing properly. Wounds from the Holy Sword don't return to normal even with divine power treatment."
"Uh, uhh...? T-that can't be..."
Luna stroked my wounded area as if denying reality.
However, the wound before her eyes was tangible and visible.
She eventually had to accept it.
"I caused a big wound on Mister's chest..."
Luna, with a face stained with guilt,
Hung her head and looked down at the floor.
She looked extremely distressed.