# 20. Hello! Were You Kidnapped Too? (2)
Hare was taking a test for the first time in her life.
A very basic test of writing vocabulary words.
Lee Jun-woo announced the start of the test she had been waiting for and studying hard for over the past week.
"Now, you have 30 minutes to solve 15 problems. If you get them all right, as I promised last time, I'll answer all your questions."
"Yes, yes...! Mister...! I'm confident...!"
Hare clenched her fists and shouted confidently.
She had barely slept at night, studying instead, so her confidence was overflowing to the point of bursting.
The moment Lee Jun-woo handed her the paper as Hare anticipated the problems.
"Alright, begin!"
Hare began solving the problems with the greatest concentration of her life.
Her red eyes glared at the problems as if bloodshot.
Watching her, Lee Jun-woo thought to himself.
*...A perfect score is probably impossible.*
The test difficulty was high, after all.
In the first place, someone who didn't even know how to write learning vocabulary words in just a week and recognizing what words they were?
By Lee Jun-woo's common sense, it was completely impossible.
However.
"Mister...! I, I finished...!"
"What? Only 3 minutes have passed?"
"Yes...! I, I finished everything...! Please grade it quickly...!"
Hare stamped her feet, urging him to hurry.
What on earth is going on...
There's no way she finished it all in that time...
Lee Jun-woo checked the test paper with skepticism.
If the picture was a lion, she wrote the word "lion."
For "I □ that object," she filled in the blank with "want."
From what he could see, there wasn't a single mistake.
One hundred points.
It was clearly a perfect score.
"...Hare. How did you study to do this?"
"I wanted to know more about you, mister... so I studied hard... hehe."
"I see, you did well. Hare..."
She studied because she wanted to know more about me.
Though the motivation for studying wasn't wholesome, the result was good.
Lee Jun-woo patted Hare's head with a bewildered feeling.
Hare smiled as if she had gained the whole world.
"I, I like it... Please pat me more..."
"..."
It was like the heart of a parent whose child got 100 points on a test but isn't happy about it.
He was praising her, but Lee Jun-woo sensed something strange.
Hare lifted her head toward him and said.
"Ah. Mister... there's still time left, right...?"
"About 25 minutes left."
"Th, then what about the test problems...?"
"I already made them up to next month's—"
"Gi, give them to me right now...! I can solve them all...! Time is passing...! Quickly...!"
Hare sat back down at the desk and pounded on it—bang bang.
Though the difficulty was much higher than what he'd given her today, Lee Jun-woo decided to hand them over for now.
"Try solving as much as you can."
"Yes, okay!"
As if Lee Jun-woo's worry was nothing but dust.
Hare wrote answers on the test paper without hesitation.
Her small hands moved diligently, with movements that showed no sign of contemplation.
*Just how much did she study...?*
Looking closely, dark circles had settled under Hare's eyes.
Blood was even dripping—drip drip—from Hare's nose as she solved the test problems.
*I, I need to show my effort...!*
Over this past week, Hare had worked hard and memorized every character in the basic vocabulary dictionary.
The reason was none other than the simple promise that he would "answer her questions."
After finishing the problems, Hare reached out to Lee Jun-woo and shouted.
"Give me the next test...!"
"I finished it, next...!"
"Ju, just one more...!"
I want to know about mister.
With that single thought alone, Hare achieved a record of perfect scores on a total of 6 tests.
After the 30 minutes had passed.
Hare smiled and said.
"I'll be able to learn so much about you, mister...! Hehe...! I, I worked really hard for you, mister...!"
So please...
Praise me.
Praise me lots.
Praise only me.
Hare's red eyes watched Lee Jun-woo like a CCTV, as if she wouldn't let him go.
Facing that sight, Lee Jun-woo finally realized.
*This was a mistake. What she said about wanting last time wasn't knowledge.*
Jealousy, possession, greed.
Hare was obsessed with me, her kidnapper.
For a Thief who would eventually leave me, these were emotions she absolutely shouldn't have.
The office of the Cecilia family.
Cecilia Lennon sat in a leather chair, reading a letter that had arrived from the kidnapper.
"How absurd. To dare threaten our Cecilia family. What did the post office employee say?"
"...They said a masked man wearing a hood delivered the letter..."
"For a kidnapper to use his head... what a pathetic bastard."
The kidnapper's letter was stained with blood.
Pay the price for Cecilia Saten.
If you send a small amount, I'll kill your daughter.
After requesting an examination, the blood was confirmed to be Saten's, and Lennon pondered.
"...Saten. Since that child was kidnapped, what has happened to our Black Crow Knights' reputation?"
"Since she was kidnapped at an event hosted by the knights, our stock has dropped more than 30%, and escort requests are gathering at the Sylvester Knights."
"...Worthless bitch. Not a single bit of help from birth until now."
CRASH—!!
Lennon was furious.
He struck the desk and trembled with rage.
At his action, the knight delivering information flinched.
"...How far has the search progressed?"
"Ac, according to Sylvester Knight Commander Irina, they couldn't find any trace of the masked man. Perhaps he's a Mage."
"...The allocated budget is."
"We have a maximum of 10 million Peri remaining."
10 million Peri.
Is that child's value 10 million Peri?
Lennon marked an X over the 1000 written on the paper.
Then he wrote the number again to correct it.
"5 million Peri. With that much, the kidnapper will readily release Saten."
"Isn't that too little—"
"Then are you saying that child Saten has a value exceeding 5 million Peri?"
Lennon's pitch-black eyes glared at the knight.
Saten's existence was Lennon's sore spot.
In the family and knights, there was a rule that one must not praise her, only disparage her.
Only the magic teachers who occasionally visited praised her.
Though the head of the Cecilia family had clearly made the wrong choice.
The knight had no choice but to nod.
"...No. Though that child Saten's magical talent is outstanding, she doesn't have that much value. I'll entrust 5 million Peri to the post office."
"Yes, do as I say, and there will be no problems."
Lennon, who made a wrong judgment due to hatred.
He couldn't understand his mistake until then.
"Wh, what is this..."
Saying it was "the answer to 5 million Peri."
Until he saw Saten's finger enclosed with the letter...
Saten's thin, delicate hand that had arrived severed with fresh blood.
"Th, this is..."
It was no different from his wife's hand that Lennon had last held.
Lennon, who had despised Saten, worried about Saten for the first time that day.
Hmm.
"So my value to the family is 5 million Peri. I don't like it. Please send this to the family."
Saten said that and handed Lee Jun-woo a "fake hand."
Lee Jun-woo asked how she made it.
"It's simple. I use my blood to construct a body part and it's done. This fake hand has no difference from my actual body."
Blood Magic.
Magic that uses blood as a medium instead of mana, more powerful than other magic, and a school mostly composed of vicious spells.
"Then, that blood is..."
"My blood. Ah, I stopped the bleeding, so you can rest assured."
There were traces of self-harm on Saten's wrist.
Lee Jun-woo silently wrapped a bandage around Saten's wound.
And now.
Lee Jun-woo delivered that letter and hand to the post office.
Using someone else so as not to be caught.
"You delivered it properly, right?"
"Th, then...! The, the money...?"
"Here, take it."
Clink—
100,000 Peri.
By giving money to a beggar on the street and using them, Lee Jun-woo moved meticulously.
If the residence where the Hero Party was staying was discovered.
The damage would be unimaginably severe.
*If those children with unstable minds suddenly fell into the world...*
A catastrophe would occur.
They would wander lost and fall down a bad path.
And they might lose their lives to the Grimoire searching for them.
That was why Lee Jun-woo moved so carefully.
"More than that, you're not satisfied with even 5 million Peri. How much are you thinking, Saten?"
How much should he demand for her to be satisfied and stop her actions?
Lee Jun-woo was genuinely curious about where Saten's standard was.
He needed to know that properly to stop Saten's self-harm.
That meaning was also implied.
*...I delivered the letter. Hmm, should I go shopping before returning home?*
Since he had to prepare meals for four people.
Money and food were running out quickly.
Still, it was fortunate that 5 million Peri arrived from Saten's family.
That money seemed like it would be used well.
"Is this the taste of being a kidnapper...?"
Money falls in even when sitting still.
Let's buy ingredients for tonight's dinner with that money.
The moment Lee Jun-woo made up his mind.
A loud voice from people could be heard from the park in the distance.
It was a voice that seemed to be promoting something.
"Everyone—!! You must believe in the Goddess—!! She will lead us to salvation—!! Only by believing in the Goddess can you be happy in the afterlife—!!"
...What's that?
A group from a religious order conducting missionary work toward citizens.
Drawn to them, Lee Jun-woo approached where the sound was coming from.
There, a young girl was passionately speaking, and Holy Knights were guarding her from behind.
"We have sinned—!! The Goddess forgives those sins—!! And will guide us to infinite happiness—!! If you want happiness—!! Come to the Church and receive Holy Water—!!"
A girl praising the Goddess with a speaker in her hand.
A girl with white bobbed hair wearing the attire used by the religious order.
Her brilliant golden eyes met Lee Jun-woo's.
Lee Jun-woo looked directly into those golden eyes and thought to himself.
*...Isn't that a Saint?*
No matter how he looked at it, that girl seemed like a Saint.
Her back shone as if there was a halo, and her appearance preaching to citizens looked benevolent.
Decisively, judging by the stern atmosphere of the sturdy Holy Knights, he could only conclude she was a Saint.
The probability that she wasn't a Saint was...
[There's no such probability, you know? The religious order's group preaching to people in the park! Naturally, the future Saint is there too! What is Lee Jun-woo's choice?]
[1. Wear a mask, conceal your identity, and kidnap the Saint.]
[2. Betray Minerva and devote yourself to another Goddess's religious order.]
Even Minerva said 0%.
Lee Jun-woo looked at the Saint and thought to himself.
*Found her, the last puzzle piece of the Hero Party.*
The girl who looked like a Saint.
Without any twist, she was indeed a Saint.
It was the moment the kidnapper's radar detected the Hero Party's last companion.