# Side Story (13)
The Hero Party.
Recently, I've come to have a certain doubt about them.
No, to be precise, they made me have doubts.
"Luna, you said you were a Hero Party from another world, right?"
"That's right! We're a Hero Party that once saved the world in the past!"
"I see. But lately I've been thinking... that's not a lie, is it?"
"...!!"
Luna looked at me as if she'd heard something she shouldn't have.
"U-Uncle... are you doubting me right now?"
"No, honestly it's just hard to believe."
"What part is hard to believe?! You better explain within 10 seconds!"
So if we can't communicate, she immediately resorts to violence?
Luna raised her fist high in the air, threatening me.
If I didn't tell the truth, that fist would probably land on my face.
But I had to say it before I died.
"Well, there's no way someone who lies on the floor all day eating potato chips and watching TV is a Hero."
"That's prejudice! Heroes have the right to enjoy a peaceful daily life too!"
"But you don't do the dishes or laundry? Aren't you enjoying your rights a bit too much?"
"Th-that...!!"
Luna bit her lip and fell silent, unable to refute.
Still, Luna had gone too far.
She'd eat meals and run away leaving dishes on the table, leave cookie crumbs on the floor mat, and even secretly order late-night snacks using my phone at dawn.
"No matter how I look at it, it doesn't seem like something a Hero would do..."
It was enough to revoke her Hero qualifications in my heart.
Luna raised her voice indignantly, as if she felt wronged.
"What does Uncle know about Heroes! You've never even been a Hero!"
"That's true. But Heroes appear in comic books and novels, don't they?"
They save people in danger and defeat threats before they arrive.
And Heroes feel a sense of mission about this and always smile.
Luna raised her hand high as if she wanted to refute my words.
"Uncle! Uncle has seen fake Heroes! There's a real Hero right here in front of you! Heroes have time to rest after work too!"
Her actions are faker than anyone's, though.
Yet Luna insists she's a real Hero.
I decided to save my words, thinking she might explode if I provoked her further in this situation.
However, Hare seemed to have more to say to Luna, as she popped out from behind me and started speaking.
"U-Uncle. She doesn't do any housework at all... She needs to be scolded... She's too lazy..."
"N-no! It's because this world is too comfortable! I'm not lazy!"
Luna insisted she wasn't lazy.
Was that really true?
I asked Luna lightly.
"Luna, what did you do after waking up today?"
"I woke up, woke Estia! Ate! Had snacks! And was watching TV!"
"So basically you did nothing?"
"I-I was planning to do something from now on!"
*Scurry—*
Luna got up from her seat and started pretending to do something.
What exactly was she planning to do now?
I decided to watch her out of curiosity.
"F-first...! I was going to clean! Wh-where's the vacuum cleaner, Hare!?"
"Kitchen corner."
"Thanks!"
Luna brought the vacuum cleaner from the kitchen corner and started cleaning the floor.
Perhaps because it was cordless, it looked very convenient, and maybe because of her excellent physical abilities?
She finished cleaning the floor in an instant.
"Right, you should clean up the cookie crumbs you dropped on the floor."
"A-actually, I was planning to clean it from the start...! Now I can watch TV again, right!? The drama is about to start!"
*Please, tell me I can watch TV!*
Luna looked at me desperately, wanting me to say those words.
But I had no intention of letting Luna have her way.
"Luna."
"Y-yes!"
"I'll give you a mission."
"Wh-what is it..."
Luna seemed frightened by the word "mission" and shrank back.
Was this really the state of the Hero who saved the world?
I handed Luna a card for her diligence rehabilitation and said:
"Go to the mart and buy a block of tofu."
And also.
"Together with Estia and Saten. I'll stay home with Hare."
At those words, Luna pouted and raised her hand.
"...Can I buy tofu and snacks too?"
"It's fine if you buy a reasonable amount."
"...I'll go and come back quickly before the drama starts."
Was it because I said she could buy snacks?
How unusual for her to listen so well.
Luna went outside with Saten and Estia without resisting.
It wasn't that I was worried about sending her alone—I sent them together because Saten and Estia were cooped up in the house too much.
And so, the house was left with just Hare and me.
"U-Uncle wanted to be alone with me too, right...? I-I've been waiting, Uncle... C-come... Come here...!"
Hare seemed to have some strange misunderstanding as she grabbed my hand and tried to enter the room.
I stopped Hare and said:
"Hare."
"Y-yes...!"
"Let's go out and tail them."
"...Yes."
I was worried they might end up at the police station if I didn't watch them.
We began tailing Luna like that.
"Uncle really is Uncle..."
Hare muttered that while putting on her shoes.
The world is a paradise of curiosity.
There are things that make you think *'What's that?'* and when you solve that curiosity, there are other things elsewhere that make you think *'What's that?'*
Objects and a world I'm seeing for the first time.
It was a world perfectly suited for a Hero.
"Right, a Hero should live in a world like this! A very interesting and peaceful world!"
I like it even more because it's the world Uncle lives in!
However, Saten seemed to think differently from me.
Saten focused on a screen showing strange graphs and said:
"That's because you, Luna, only look at the bright side. Dark sides exist countless times in this world too."
"Hmph, don't act like you know everything, Saten. You don't know much either!"
"I know much more than you."
Always gloomily doing computer stuff in her room.
Always talking like she's on top!
I don't like how she's alone at the top in an equal world.
"Sigh, but I have to endure. I can't get scolded by Uncle."
I sighed and walked down the street.
I tried my best not to let my gaze wander to the objects around me.
Because I remembered what Uncle had said.
*'It's good to satisfy your curiosity. But you have to be careful. Sometimes things that make life convenient can threaten your life.'*
At first, I didn't understand those words well.
Why would things that make life convenient threaten your life?
But once you walk down the street, you can understand.
Cars.
These guys are 10 times more dangerous than carriages.
They can definitely kill people with weak bodies.
Like people with weak bodies like Saint Estia—
"...Wait."
"What's wrong, Luna? Do you smell something delicious again?"
"N-no, that's not it! Where did Estia go!"
"She's right next to... She's not here."
"Y-you, I'm confiscating that!"
What are these red and blue graphs anyway!
I confiscated the pad from Saten's hands and closed my eyes.
I opened my senses to find the mana felt around me.
*'There's one person.'*
Since Earth people don't have mana, I could easily find Estia's location.
Fortunately, she was at a safe distance from the cars.
"Estia, what are you doing there? I told you not to wander off!"
"Don't order the Saint around! I'm looking at that!"
What is that?
I turned my gaze in the direction Estia's finger was pointing.
There, a boat was hanging in the air, moving back and forth.
The people riding it were screaming.
I realized what it was.
"Hehe, it looks fun!"
"C-cruel...!! There are torture devices in this world too...!! Estia was watching that...!?"
Those people screaming in terror?!
I pulled out the wooden sword I'd hidden on my back.
"I-I have to save those people—"
"Calm down, Luna. Why did you bring that wooden sword in your clothes?"
But Saten stopped me from trying to save people.
Could Saten be in on it too?
Sensing my killing intent, Saten sighed and answered.
"Calm down first. What are you, a caveman? Think smartly like a modern person. There's no way that's a torture device."
"Then what is it! People are screaming!"
"They're screaming because they're excited. And what they're riding is a 'Viking.' It's an amusement ride."
A-an amusement ride?
Those screaming people are really making noise because they're having fun?
I couldn't understand those people at all.
But unlike me, Estia seemed to understand.
"It looks fun...! I want to ride that too...!"
"Not today. We came to run an errand, not to play. Let's finish quickly and go home."
"Why!"
"Because if we don't go quickly, my money will disappear."
"My fun is more important than your money!"
*Sigh—*
Saten sighed again and said:
"Then let's ask Uncle next time. To go to an amusement park."
"Amusement park? What's that!"
"An amusement park is a space with lots of rides like that. That Viking is on the weak side."
That's considered weak...?
I felt slightly scared.
But Estia nodded and closed her mouth at the mention of more fun things.
The situation seemed to be over, so I hid the wooden sword I'd taken out back inside my clothes.
"Then shall we go buy tofu now!"
"Yes, let's. But first, give me back my pad. If you drop it, it's your responsibility."
"A-alright..."
I obediently handed the pad to Saten.
Saten turned on the pad with an interested expression and focused on the screen.
However, not long after, she pressed the power button on the pad.
"Huh, what's wrong, Saten?"
"..."
"Saten...? Why aren't you answering! S-Saten...!?"
And then, Saten froze in place.
Holding the pad in her hand, she just walked without saying anything.
In that situation, I instinctively felt:
*'Don't say anything, Luna...!'*
That I absolutely must not touch Saten right now.
And so, until we arrived at the mart, Saten remained expressionless and didn't say a word.