25. Do You Want to Escape...? Should I Help You...? (1)
Hare is weak-hearted.
So then, was Hare weak-hearted from birth, or did she become weak-hearted later?
The answer lies in the latter.
Hare is the type who became weak-hearted over time.
'Tsk, that Hare girl acts too high and mighty. She thinks she's some kind of princess.'
'She should live according to her station. We're all trash here. She acts like she's not trash too.'
The gossip of the neighborhood women working in the red-light district.
Hare could hear it even from far away.
Due to her innate excellence in 'senses,' her hearing was so sharp that she lived hearing words she didn't need to hear.
'Warm bread for sale! Would you like some bread?'
'Tsk, this would be hard to eat.'
Clearly, it was an expression that said they didn't even want to talk to me.
And she could sense through intuition whether people disliked or liked her.
Since there was no one in the world who liked beggars, she could also grasp the fact that everyone in the world disliked her.
The innate ability granted to Hare.
It slowly killed her heart.
And now.
Hare realized the moment had come to properly utilize that ability.
"By any chance, do you want to get out of here...? Should I help you...?"
-Huh, huuh...? You'll help me...?
"Yeah, I'm Hare. I'll help you get out."
We can avoid being caught by mister.
If I make maximum use of the information obtained through my senses, and if mister just leaves his spot, we can escape.
'And, if one person disappears...'
If I reduce the competition by one, mister's attention toward me will grow even more.
If it's a very easy target, it would be right to send that child out first.
'Saten has no intention of leaving, so I can slowly drive her out. Luna is stupid, so it's fine to leave her alone.'
I don't like how she clings to mister often, but...
Still, Luna isn't too bad.
'If I could send her out, I'd want to, but...'
Hare had finished organizing her thoughts.
To put it into action, she just needed to wait for the person in question's answer.
Specifically, Estia's answer.
Estia, who had fallen into silence, asked suspiciously.
-...You'll let me out? How?
"I, I know mister well."
-...How well do you know him?
"Mister wakes up at 6:30 AM and immediately goes to the bathroom. It takes about 13 minutes. Then, after washing his face lightly, he heads to the kitchen. There he prepares breakfast and trims vegetables and-"
-Ah, okay. That's enough. I get it. I understand.
Estia had never seen the face of the girl beyond the door.
However, for some reason she was scared, to the point of getting goosebumps.
-Who remembers someone's daily routine so creepily...?
"...What did you say?"
-Oh, nothing.
I shouldn't make eye contact when I get out.
Estia instinctively sensed this.
However, Estia's doubts were not yet fully resolved.
-Okay, let's say you know that oppa well. What will you do next? Just knowing isn't the end. You said there's electricity flowing through the wire fence. There's no real way to get out.
Oh, did I say that kind of smartly?
Having finished speaking, Estia felt somewhat satisfied.
Hare was bothered by the term "oppa," but decided to answer her question for now.
She had to finish the conversation before mister noticed.
"...There is a way out."
-What is it?
"The front gate is firmly closed so you can't get out that way, but instead, you can climb over the fence."
-That's why I said there's electricity in that fence-
"There's a button that can turn it off... If we turn that off, it's possible..."
If you press the button, no current flows through the chains hung at the very top.
Since she had seen mister press the button, if she steals it and opens Estia's door...
"You can get out."
-Oooh... If I escape, I'll give you a box of Holy Water! You're kind!
Hare's confident declaration.
Estia detected hope in her voice.
Hmm.
Is this enough?
"You don't need to study letters anymore from now on, Hare."
"Yes, already...?"
That's right.
Hare had already mastered all the letters, and there were no letters she couldn't read.
If I continued to teach Hare letters like this...
'She might accumulate 10 more question rights and find out everything about me.'
Hare, who gained six at once.
That was an unexpected result.
To prevent that from happening again.
Starting next week, it seemed better to teach Hare dagger techniques.
'In that sense...'
I approached Hare, who was holding a book, and asked.
"By any chance, is there anything you're curious about?"
"Th, that means I should use my question rights...?"
"...If you don't want to use them, you don't have to."
"N, no! I've prepared them, so I can do it now...!"
Prepared.
Rustle-
Hare pulled out a piece of paper from under the desk.
It contained a total of 5 questions.
'...How many times did she rewrite this?'
Though only 5 questions were written,
The paper was densely filled with writing.
Hare tightly grasped that question paper in her hand and began asking me questions.
"What's mister's favorite food?"
"Food? If alcohol is included, then alcohol."
"Mmm, alcohol... I don't like it when mister drinks..."
Hare had an expression that seemed displeased.
Then, she lowered her gaze and started the next question.
"Has mister ever been in a relationship...?"
"...A relationship? Is that what you're curious about?"
"Yes, I'm curious..."
Hare covered her face with the question paper.
She looked embarrassed.
'I did date before falling into this world.'
When I was young.
I did try it during high school.
I wondered if I should count that as dating.
But if I had to answer.
"I have."
"...I see."
...The reaction isn't good.
Hare's tone in answering was subdued.
However, the gloomy emotion was brief.
She continued questioning.
"Then. Among the four of us, who do you like the most...?"
"..."
I couldn't answer that question rashly.
Answering who I like the most is not a very wise thing to do.
No matter what the criteria, it's an act of ranking.
And for Hare, who has feelings for me, it was even better not to answer.
It would be best to deflect.
"I like all of you."
"...I'll move on to the next question. Do you have plans this evening...?"
"I do have plans. I'll be out for about an hour."
She could have just asked about plans without using a question right.
Why did she use a question right at such an important moment?
For the intelligent Hare's actions, it was a bit disappointing.
And then, the long-awaited final question.
Hare, with only one question right remaining, asked lastly.
"The woman in that picture frame who looks close to mister, who is she...?"
"..."
Her.
She could be called my teacher, someone who treated me specially.
Though she's no longer in this world, if I were to answer honestly about her...
"Nerdia Aina. My comrade, my teacher, my friend."
And.
"The person I loved."
Hare covered her face with the paper, so I couldn't see her expression.
However, I felt I knew without seeing.
That she was hurting.
"Was that a sufficient answer?"
"...Yes, it was, mister. That's enough now..."
I hurt Hare for the sake of maintaining proper distance.
-Hare. I'm going out for a bit. Rest comfortably.
"..."
For the first time, Hare didn't respond to mister's words.
Kwang-
The front door closed.
Hare should be moving now to get Estia out.
But she didn't want to move.
"I feel bad..."
I don't feel good.
I feel bad.
My chest keeps throbbing.
After hearing that mister had loved someone, Hare couldn't feel good even if she wanted to.
Somehow...
"I feel like something was stolen from me..."
She had learned that love was beautiful.
But why did mister's love feel so bad?
No matter how perceptive Hare was, she still couldn't realize the identity of her own feelings.
She was young and lacked education.
Hare, who had been lying in bed for a while, spending time in emptiness.
She suddenly realized.
"Oh, right. Mister went out...? I, I don't have time..."
N, now I really need to move.
I need to quickly get the other kids out of the house.
The other kids aren't needed.
They're not needed in this house.
Hare opened the door and headed to the living room.
She already knew the location of the key that locked Luna's room and the electricity button for the fence.
"Mister always went to Luna's room and made the sound of lifting the sofa... It's under the sofa..."
It should definitely be here.
Hare bent down and checked under the sofa.
'Found it.'
She discovered one key and a switch with a square button.
Hare grasped them in her hand and headed to Luna's room.
However, the problem was from now on.
"Security is the issue..."
There's a door.
It must be opened using a key.
It must be opened using magic.
The latch fixing the door must be removed.
"...It's easy but difficult."
At least opening the door using the key was possible.
It was a very easy task.
The biggest problem was magic.
The magic fixing the door was the issue.
'...I can't use magic, to solve this...'
I don't like it, but I have no choice.
I had no choice but to ask her.
"...Saten. Help me."
"Why should I? How annoying."
I really hate cooperating with her...
But still, I have no choice.
I have to do it for mister's sake.
With this, even Saten can cooperate.
Hare confidently declared to Saten.
"...I'm going to help the others escape. I need your help."
"Why should I? You're interrupting my reading. Go away."
"...You want to learn magic from mister, right? Then, it would be more efficient to drive out two people."
"Hmm, not bad words for a bug. Efficient, you say. Try explaining."
If we send out two people.
The attention for those two will naturally turn to us.
If we do that, you'll have more time to learn magic.
At the reasonable proposal, Saten thought carefully.
"The benefit of doing it is greater than the benefit of not doing it."
Saten, who moves extremely calculatingly.
Without long deliberation, she got up from her seat and headed to Luna's room.
After observing the door carefully, she slashed her wrist and splattered blood on the door.
Then she shouted.
"Take blood as nourishment and release the barrier."
Crash-!
With the sound of something breaking, the barrier fixing the door disappeared.
At that moment the door opened and Luna and Estia revealed themselves.
Estia shouted, reveling in her freedom.
"Haha-!! Thank you, Goddess-!! I will come to pray-! Glory be on high-!!"
However, unlike the excited Estia, Luna's expression didn't look happy.
Rather, she looked troubled.
Luna carefully said to Hare.
"...Hare. I, I'm not going. This doesn't seem right."
"What's not right, Luna...? You've been wanting to leave all along..."
Saten was cutting the chains on her legs with Blood Magic.
However, Luna had no intention of leaving the room at all.
The reason wasn't that she liked this room, but for another reason.
"I, I can't leave here! The financial support to my family will be cut off!"
It was a realistic reason.
The support sent to her family would be cut off.
That meant her family living in the countryside would starve to death.
'I have to protect my family... and my younger siblings... I'm the eldest daughter of the family...'
A sense of responsibility as the eldest daughter of the family.
Luna couldn't take a single step out of the room.
Meanwhile, time passed, and mister would return soon.
'...Luna will be fine. Yeah, it's okay not to drive her out...'
Later, when everyone else is driven out and there are three of us.
I'll drive her out then.
In the end, Hare decided to give up.
Saten and Luna returned to their rooms, and what remained was Estia, trembling with her hands as if anxious.
Hare commanded her to follow.
"...Follow me. I'll help you escape."
"O, okay...! But you look less scary than I thought? With pink hair and kind of cute-"
"...What did you say?"
Chill-
Hare glared at Estia with glowing red eyes.
Along with mister's truth, her plans kept going awry, so her current state wasn't good.
Cracks were beginning to form in her glass mentality.
Estia flinched in surprise and played dumb.
"N, nothing~ Nothing at all~ Sh, shall we escape~?"
Whistling, Estia followed behind Hare.
They passed through the stairs, through the living room, and reached the entrance.
Opening the door, they went out to the yard.
In the yard stood a tall steel fence, and above it was barbed wire with magical power swirling around it.
Hare looked at it and pressed the button.
Beep-
Then the current stopped, leaving only the sharp barbed wire.
"...Climb over there and escape."
"Why did this oppa make the fence so high! My athletic ability is completely terrible!"
"...I'll lift you up."
Hare's mood worsened further.
She lifted Estia's body and raised her so she could grab the fence.
The process was too difficult for Hare.
'H, heavy...'
It was hard work for Hare, who had no strength to begin with.
However, it had to be done.
Hare squeezed out every ounce of strength, even the strength from nursing, and lifted Estia to that height.
A distance Estia could reach if she stretched out her hand.
"Es, escape...!!"
Estia grabbed the end of the fence and gradually climbed toward the top of the barbed wire.
The barbed wire was sharp and painful, but Estia didn't care.
'Once I get out, I'll definitely drink Holy Water...!!'
Because what she wanted was clear.
Was that why she could display superhuman strength?
Eventually she climbed over the barbed wire and regained her freedom.
Then she shouted vigorously.
"Haha-!! Escape! Escape! Apostle oppa is dead now~ How many Holy Knights do we have! Over 800 of the Church's Holy Knights will be mobilized! Haha-!!"
"Huh...?"
What did she just say...?
Holy Knights...?
Kill mister...?
Hare wondered if she had misheard and asked.
"Wh, what did you just say...? What will you do to mister...?"
"Of course he needs to be punished! Even if he's an Apostle of the Goddess, kidnapping is a crime. He must be punished! Our Holy Knights will do that! Hare, was it? Don't worry too much! We'll come rescue you too! Hehe-!!"
Estia shouted as if happy.
However, her voice no longer reached Hare.
'I, I made a mistake... If I let her out... I didn't know a report would come in...'
Stupid.
Idiot.
I shouldn't have made this mistake...
Hare tapped her head.
Nevertheless, since the situation hadn't changed, she thought about how to change this situation.
Ironically, the key was right near Hare.
'...If information doesn't leak outside, it won't be a crime.'
Because people know, a crime becomes a crime.
'If there are no witnesses, a crime isn't a crime.'
The button.
If I make the current flow.
Mister won't die.
Instead, that child will die, but...
'It's okay. This is better than mister dying...'
A, a person will die, but it's okay...
For mister's sake, Hare will become a bad child anytime...
Hare placed her finger on the button.
With just a little force, that child would die.
No?
I can save mister.
It's not killing that Estia, it's an opportunity to save mister.
'Mister is more precious to me. If mister isn't in the world, I have no reason to live.'
My savior, mister.
No one else can ever hurt mister.
Hare, who had already finished her own rationalization.
Hare tried to apply force to her finger on the button.
At that moment.
A cold man's voice was heard from behind her.
"Hare, what's going on here?"
"M, mister...? Wh, why are you here...?"
Mister's voice, sounding tired as if he had run from far away.
Mister turned his gaze, grasping the situation.
At the end of that gaze was Hare's hand.
Hare's hand trying to press the button that would make the current flow was captured.
"Ah, aah.. Mister, it's not that.. I, I'm not-!!"
"...I think some explanation is needed. Hare."
"..."
Hare had become a bad child right in front of mister.
She felt like she wanted to die right now.