# 5. The Hero Party. Kidnapping the Second Companion (1)
Hero.
Heroes depicted in various media are often portrayed as masters of swordsmanship.
They use the power of the Holy Sword to annihilate Demonic Beings and easily slice through giant boulders blocking their path.
Heroes who bear the burden of saving the world are portrayed as naturally gifted.
The Hero swinging a sword before me was no different.
"Hyah! Hyah!"
"..."
*Whoosh.*
The Hero making strange battle cries.
She swung her sword with a sloppy stance.
She even staggered as if about to lose her balance and fall.
From a distance, one might judge her to have no talent whatsoever.
However, it was quite ironic that all of the Hero's strange attacks were aimed at my vital points.
*'With this level of talent... she really is a Hero.'*
Solar plexus.
Liver.
Heart.
The Hero kept stabbing at vital points.
Her head didn't understand vital points, but her instincts seemed to be attacking them.
*'If I had to compare it, it's like an old building equipped with state-of-the-art facilities...'*
Her innate combat sense was acknowledged.
But compared to that, she had far too many exposed weaknesses.
Unaware of this fact, Luna acted cocky with confidence.
"Heh, how's that? You can't do anything, right?! I'm escaping today—"
"Nonsense. You have far too many unnecessary movements."
"Huh?"
*Thwack.*
The Hero's wooden sword, which had been swinging enthusiastically, suddenly stopped.
The wooden sword shot up toward the sky.
The Hero's body was rolling on the ground.
"Kyah!"
"Don't get cocky with such beginner-level skills. I can handle someone like you even without a sword."
"Ugh... Why am I on the ground...? What did you just do...?"
"I struck your wooden sword upward and kicked your off-balance leg. Your balance is terrible."
If this had been a real battle, she would have died.
*'That aside...'*
The most important talent.
Her talent was befitting of a Hero.
While attacking, her gaze always remained on my movements.
Where I would move, how she should attack next.
Such thoughts seemed naturally ingrained in her body.
"Have you ever held a sword before?"
"...Just once before. When I was scouted by the knight order."
"The Sylvester Knights?"
The Hero nodded as if that was correct.
The Sylvester Knights.
A knight order quite connected to me.
I helped Luna up from the floor.
"Well, sparring with me won't be of much use. Let's start with basic training—"
"What?! Why? Just once! If we do it just one more time, I think I can win!"
"No, you'd need at least a thousand more tries. It's bothersome."
"That's not true! I think one more time will do it!"
Her pride reached the sky.
If I taught the Hero in this state, she would surely ignore all my advice.
Clearly, the Hero would grow in a strange direction.
I answered the Hero as if I had no choice.
"...Just once. If you lose, listen to what I say quietly. Follow the training obediently too. Got it?"
"Yes! Understood!"
The Hero ran toward the fallen wooden sword.
Perhaps because her hair was golden, the sight of her picking up the wooden sword looked like a golden retriever.
She faced me again with a sloppy stance.
...This is a bit hard to watch.
"Move your front foot one span forward, and stick your butt back. Support your body with your legs."
"Don't order me around! I'll do it my way!"
Stubbornness.
In most media, heroes tend to show single-minded tendencies.
They always act as if only they are right.
'This is right!', 'This is the right thing to do!'
Before Luna met the official Hero Party, that stubbornness had to be shattered.
"I'll let you have the first move. Come at me."
"...You'll regret it."
"Just listening to you talk, I'd think you were a Sword Master..."
The Hero seemed trapped in her own world.
Perhaps such confidence came from receiving praise when offered a position by the Sylvester Knights.
*'You're talented! How about joining our knight order? With you, becoming Knight Commander would be quick!'*
Something like that, probably.
The word 'talent' that turns people into frogs in a well.
Truly, it's a curse-like word.
I said to the Hero who was sulking while relying only on talent:
"Come at me. I'll properly show you your skill level."
"I-I'm coming! Don't regret it!"
*Thud thud thud.*
The Hero began charging like a racehorse with blinders on.
Despite receiving advice just moments ago, her stance was still a mess.
With that messy stance, she raised her sword high.
A downward slash.
Drawing an arc, the sword was brought down toward the ground.
It was a natural attack, as if drawn in a single line.
However.
"A downward slash starting from an unstable stance has too large a motion."
"Huh?"
The targeted area was good, but the result was terrible.
I slightly twisted my shoulder to dodge the wooden sword.
By a margin thin enough for a sheet of paper to fit through.
At that sight, the Hero's blue eyes widened.
But by then it was already too late.
I had already slipped into her guard.
"Swordsmanship is important. And so is your life."
Behind my body that had slipped in, a wooden sword was ready.
If I gave the signal, it would immediately rush toward the Hero.
Perhaps realizing this, the composure in her always lively eyes began to disappear.
*'I'm going to die.'*
The instinctive Hero must have felt it.
Survival instinct is above all else.
The Hero's blue eyes deepened as she sensed the crisis.
But there was nothing she could do.
Because she was weak.
And so my attack shot toward the Hero.
*Thwack.*
"Ow!"
A dull impact sound.
The Hero's hollow voice flowed out.
"Wh-what? Am I alive...?"
"It was a flick. There's no way I'd kill you."
"B-but you really just tried to kill me..."
"Not at all. You just imagined it on your own."
At those words, the Hero sat down as if her legs had given out.
Tears were slightly welling up in her eyes.
For such a Hero, I offered one helpful comment.
"I can't find any talent at all. At this rate, it'll take another 30 years."
"..."
"A swordsman with so little talent. It's my first time seeing one in my life."
"*Hic*."
At my words, a waterfall began pouring from Luna's blue eyes that had been welling with tears.
Now that she had properly faced her skill level, she could sharpen and hone her swordsmanship.
*'Pain for growth is necessary.'*
I hoped the day she would beat me would come quickly.
"Aaaaargh...!!!"
*Bang bang!*
Luna, lying on the bed, kicked the innocent blanket.
It was because the memory of lunch came back to her.
"I! Have! No talent!? Graaaah...!!"
Luna kicked the blanket violently with each word.
Mr. Jun-woo.
That kidnapper!
He said he was going out for a bit, so there was no one to stop her rampage.
"No eye for talent! Kidnapping people! What good person! He's a completely bad person! I'm an idiot for being fooled!"
Venting her lunchtime resentment, Luna kicked the blanket repeatedly.
That day.
Because it was a talent she had never doubted since receiving an offer from the Sylvester Knight Commander, the wound hurt all the more painfully.
"I have no talent...? Just wait...! I'll definitely beat you! Like I'll just sit still! Live in that dirty living room forever, psychopath!"
I'll definitely get revenge!
Luna decided to forget that messy living room from her memory.
For her, there was only moving forward.
*'Always keep your sword with you. It will help with your sense.'*
Recalling Lee Jun-woo's voice, Luna grasped the wooden sword hanging on the wall.
And she began retracing the lunchtime fight, correcting her stance.
*Whew.*
"Did that old man do it like this...? No, it's a bit different... Is it because of physical differences...? Then the stance that fits my body would be..."
Luna recalled the scene of their sparring in her mind.
What stance suited her.
Which stance was most efficient for attacking an opponent.
Considering each one, she gradually began to form shape from her sloppy stance.
"No wait, this might be better..."
Little by little.
So slowly that perhaps 1cm moved in 10 minutes.
Like a caterpillar wriggling, she corrected her stance.
Evening.
The capital where vitality had faded and exhausted specters walked the streets.
The kidnapper Lee Jun-woo walked the streets brazenly, mixed among them.
*'The Hero is probably practicing alone by now.'*
Finding her shortcomings, slowly dissecting what went wrong, searching for the answer.
That was the Hero's talent.
Just throw problems at the Hero.
She could find the answers on her own without being told.
Leaving the place was Jun-woo's own form of consideration.
"...But there's nothing particular to do even if I come out."
Should I have just stayed lying on the sofa?
A handful of regret emerged, but Jun-woo decided to just walk around the capital.
He liked the night air, so it was rather nice.
"Haah..."
Breathing in the cold night air, Jun-woo looked around the capital streets.
There were adventurers like himself, and families that looked happy.
While there were people who looked happy, there were also people who looked unhappy.
*'How do I look in other people's eyes?'*
Immersed in sentiment, Jun-woo had such a small thought.
A man with an expressionless face who didn't even know why he was living wouldn't be seen as happy, so perhaps he looked like an unhappy person.
Jun-woo, for whom the expression "living because he can't die" was fitting.
*'Your soul is dead so you can't return to Korea. Live here, Jun-woo.'*
*'If I defeat the Demon King, with a "wish" that grants anything, I could return... but that belongs to the Hero Party.'*
Recalling Minerva's words, as Jun-woo walked the streets aimlessly, a voice with a tone that tickled his ears began to reach him.
"M-matches for sale~"
"...?"
"Please buy a box of matches~"
The discordant voice of a match girl coming from somewhere.
Hearing those words, doubt arose in Jun-woo's mind.
*'What era is this to be selling matches? No one would buy them, right?'*
If it were some remote countryside village, maybe, but in the capital Grancia, there was no demand for matches at all.
Even commoners could light fires cheaply using Mana Stone lamps.
There was no one who bought or sold matches.
*'But why is she selling matches in the middle of the night...?'*
The Match Girl's voice stimulated Jun-woo's curiosity.
He walked toward where the sound came from.
On a dark evening street where people passed by, there was a Match Girl in shabby clothes.
"Oh, Mr. Adventurer...! Would you like to buy some matches? They might help with your adventure...!"
The Match Girl smiled kindly.
Though she wore a red hood pulled over her head, her pale pink hair peeked out between the hood.
The basket in her hands was filled with countless matches.
Judging by her appearance, she seemed to be a girl around the same age as the Hero.
Jun-woo asked out of curiosity:
"How much for one box?"
"1000 Peri. Specially for you, Mr. Adventurer, I'll give you two!"
The Match Girl seemed to have a warm heart.
Though the weather was cold, her smile contained happiness.
Despite her shabby appearance and selling matches, she hadn't lost her happiness.
And above that smile, a familiar window appeared.
[Sudden Quest! A cold evening. A girl selling matches! This child will become the Hero's future companion! Lee Jun-woo, what is your choice?]
[1. Buy matches and kidnap the girl within 4 days.]
[2. Don't buy matches.]
Answer key.
I absolutely need the answer key.
Jun-woo immediately checked the answer key.
The future if he chose option 2.
...
His vision went dark, and a different scene unfolded before Jun-woo.
The surroundings were dark, stained with blood, and he couldn't tell where this place was at all.
*Click—*
A light turned on, and a woman appeared before his eyes.
*'The Match Girl...?'*
The small, kind-looking Match Girl from moments ago had disappeared, and a mature woman with a screw loose somewhere, filled with madness, appeared.
She muttered something to herself, then raised her head.
Blood-soaked red eyes stared at me.
*'What are those eyes...'*
Something.
Something's dangerous.
Perhaps the me in the future judged so too, as I turned around and began to flee.
Sticky blood clung to my shoes as I ran at top speed.
But perhaps my desperation was lacking.
*'I finally found you.'*
The woman holding my severed head rolling on the ground.
The last thing I saw was the final image of the Match Girl tenderly holding my severed head.
With the happy smile of a girl standing in a flower field in a blood-stained alley, the answer key closed its pages.
...
That kind-looking Match Girl will kill me and cradle my head?
"This is insane..."
Just like with the Hero.
That girl will somehow kill me later, and to prevent that, I have to kidnap her.
Without hesitation, I clicked option 1. Kidnap the Match Girl.