61. Sick Mister! Let's Take Care of Mister! (7)
Thud thud thud thud—
Luna and Hare were running away from a stranger on their short legs.
Why on earth is she chasing us?
They shouted with a sense of injustice.
"Why, why are you chasing us!? Saten and Estia are over there!! Why does it have to be us!!"
"I, I don't know...! I don't know either...! Ugh, uugh...! Please save us, Mister...!!"
Luna and Hare at least had basic stamina from being trained by Mister.
However, the physical difference between children and adults was impossible to overcome.
Even taking two steps was no different from one step of an adult.
Moreover, the stranger's physical abilities far exceeded theirs.
"That person!! She seems trained! She's not even tired!!"
"Don't, don't look back...! We, we don't have time to— Kyaaah...!!"
Grab—
Hare screamed as she was lifted into the air.
Though Hare had the fastest burst speed, her stamina had dropped from running so long and she was caught immediately.
The strange woman holding Hare with one hand shouted toward Luna.
"Stop, Lunacia Luna. Will you abandon your friend?"
"Ha, Hare!!"
"Sa, save me, Luna...! I, I...! I can't die here...! My grave should be next to Mister...!"
"...Mister, you say. An interesting way to address him."
The strange woman chuckled.
Luna stopped her fleeing steps, looking at Hare flailing in the air.
It was the moment she instinctively realized this had to be resolved through dialogue.
"...What do you want, you kidnapper!"
"I'm not the kidnapper. I simply wish to have a conversation with you."
"A, a conversation?!"
You caused all this chaos just because you wanted to talk to me!?
Is she a stalker after being a kidnapper?!
Luna gulped nervously and answered.
"...First, before we talk! Put Hare down. She's in pain!"
"Her resistance is fierce, but I'm not hurting her. You answering my questions comes first."
I will never relinquish control.
The strange woman held the upper hand, and she had a firm, almost noble-like presence that made it difficult for Luna to deal with her casually.
Under that pressure, Luna nodded.
"...So, what's your question."
"Just two very simple questions. First. Do you remember me?"
"Wha, what!!?"
Swoosh—
The strange woman removed her hood and met Luna's blue eyes.
Subtle silver hair and silver eyes.
The Knight Commander of the Sylvester Knights who exuded a noble, lofty atmosphere.
Sylvester Irina.
Luna and Hare, recognizing her identity, shouted in surprise.
"The, the person who tried to scout me!! Why are you here?!"
"The, the person in Mister's photo...!! Mi, Mister's old comrade...!"
"So you do remember me. And the pink-haired one knows my identity too. Then here's the second question, Luna."
Irina brought her face close to Luna's and asked.
Luna could feel a kind of fear.
"Was our knight order that bad? Was our knight order worse than that guy, Jun? Was our knight order so bad that you'd follow one person? We said we'd support you, so why didn't you come? Did you not like the Sylvester Knights? Why did you abandon us and choose Jun? You could have grown to become the next Knight Commander—"
"Hiik—!! Stop!! Stop talking! You're scaring me!!"
Irina of unwavering determination.
Having questioned Luna's sudden disappearance, she investigated and reached Aden Village, where she obtained information that they had left for the Dungeon City Henencia.
And also the fact that they were with Jun, her former comrade.
"I didn't know that guy had become a criminal who kidnapped two children..."
"Mi, Mister isn't a criminal...!"
"Right! Right! Mister is bad but he's not a criminal!"
"Quiet, chicks. Just answer my last question."
"You just said you'd only ask two questions—"
"Quiet."
Ignoring the children's protests.
Irina posed her final question to the children.
Her former comrade, Jun.
"Where is that guy who kidnapped Cecilia Saten and Estia?"
As the Emperor's shield protecting the Empire.
She couldn't overlook the fact that her former comrade had become a criminal who kidnapped children.
*...Is this right? Is it really okay to bring her?*
—It's a comrade you haven't seen in a long time, Hero. It would be very good to make a place for her, you know?
*...I hope not! I'll never trust you again!*
—I only speak for the Hero Party's sake. Don't doubt me.
*You have no credibility when you say that along with screaming sounds!*
Sigh—
After conversing with the Holy Sword, Luna exhaled and looked back.
The silver knight.
Sylvester Irina.
The person who had tried to scout her in the past was following behind.
*Adventurer rank Aquamarine. And Mister's old comrade...*
Someone who investigated and followed me because she wanted to ask why I didn't join the Sylvester Knights.
On the outside, she seemed to have a solid spirit of chivalry, but...
Seeing that she was Mister's comrade, that lady probably isn't normal either.
Is it really the right answer to bring that lady to Mister?
With such doubts, they arrived in front of the house and saw two figures in the distance.
"Someone help! I, I've become a slave—"
"Be quiet, Dog-stia. When we get home, Mister will take off the leash. Just stay quiet until then."
Saten controlling Estia with a leash.
She met Irina's eyes with a curious look.
She seemed to have grasped the changed atmosphere at once.
"You there. You were Mister's old comrade, weren't you?"
"Correct. You saw that old photo too, I see."
"Yes, I did. But you were prettier back then than now."
"...Knights don't care about appearance."
I don't care...
I don't care at all...
Age is just a number...
"Phew..."
Irina steadied her mind from the sudden attack and followed them toward her old comrade.
Though they had met at the last banquet, they hadn't properly talked.
She planned to have all the conversations they couldn't have this time.
*Though it'll be closer to an interrogation. But a conversation is still a conversation...*
The circumstances of her old comrade who broke the law and kidnapped young children.
She should at least hear him out once.
Placing her hand lightly on the sword at her waist, Irina arrived at the door.
Hare stood on tiptoes and knocked on the center of the door with her fist.
Knock knock—
"Mister...! We're coming in...!!"
—Yes, come in with your guest.
"...So you knew. Just like old times."
Creak—
Jun, who had miraculously grasped future events since the old days.
Facing that unchanged ability, Irina opened the door.
"..."
She momentarily lost her words upon seeing her former comrade.
*Why...? He was fine when I saw him last time...?*
He looked like he had caught a cold.
And one eye covered with an eyepatch.
Even without seeing behind the eyepatch, she could sense through his presence.
Irina felt a pain in her chest and asked.
"Jun, did you lose your eye...?"
"Cough— It ended up that way somehow. Anyway, what brings you here? Did you come to see Luna?"
"At first, I thought it was a kidnapping case and headed to Aden Village. But it wasn't a kidnapping. I came because I was curious why the one who would become our knight order's ace chose the path of an adventurer instead."
...But I was kidnapped.
That's actually what happened!
Luna wanted to correct her, but the atmosphere between the two seemed unusual, so she held her tongue.
Hare, roughly grasping the situation, spoke to the children.
"Thi, this isn't a place for us to be... Let's run away..."
"Let's put the food we bought in the kitchen."
Patter patter—
And so the Hero Party closed the door and went outside.
At least visibly.
"Mister's old comrade! I, I'm not that curious, but! I want to listen anyway!"
"Mo, move... I can't hear..."
"Shh, quiet. Focus."
"...I want to do it too. If I don't, I'll feel left out..."
The four pairs of ears of the Hero Party stuck motionlessly to the door in the hallway.
Lee Jun-woo and Irina roughly noticed, but.
They decided not to particularly care.
It was content they could hear anyway.
"So you came to Henencia because of Luna. Is that what you're saying? You didn't know I was a kidnapper?"
"I didn't know. I investigated the house you used to live in, but nothing came up."
"I didn't leave any traces."
"Are you bragging about criminal acts in front of the Sylvester Knight Commander?"
"...You could see it that way."
"..."
Irina stared at Lee Jun-woo without saying anything.
She couldn't understand why her former comrade had become like this, losing an eye, kidnapping children, and doing strange things.
*...Is it because of the shock of losing Aina? To replace her?*
No, that can't be it.
He's not the type to use people as replacements.
Then...
"Hey, Jun."
"What."
"By any chance, are you planning to raise the children to make a harem?"
"..."
What kind of thought process does one need to have to say something like that?
Lee Jun-woo couldn't understand at all.
"...That's nonsense, Irina."
To Lee Jun-woo, who was full of thoughts about training the Hero Party and sending them away, Irina's words were nothing but bullshit.
Lee Jun-woo explained in the most aggrieved voice he could muster.
"I had a reason for kidnapping them. Don't misunderstand."
"If that reason is a harem—"
"I said it's not. And kidnapping the children would have been more helpful for them. The noble families and the Church were rotten."
"..."
A kidnapping with a reason?
Normally, criminals should be captured and taken to the knight order.
And there, they should be interrogated until they tell the truth.
But now that she faced Lee Jun-woo, who had become a kidnapper, she couldn't do it.
*...His eye is injured, and he even caught a cold. Damn bastard. Tormenting me to the very end.*
As memories and feelings from the past surfaced.
Irina couldn't arrest Lee Jun-woo, who was in poor condition.
The feelings she had given up in the past remained in one corner, tormenting her who had chosen the path of chivalry.
Did he notice Irina's heart as she bit her lip in contemplation?
Lee Jun-woo coughed and spoke to Irina.
"Cough— Want to eat a meal after so long?"
"...Are you making it? In that physical condition?"
"Yeah. The kids can't cook anyway. Neither can you."
"...I'll eat. But."
That doesn't mean I won't arrest you.
You'll have to explain properly, Jun.
Otherwise, I might have to arrest you, my old comrade.
"...I'll have to cook well to avoid being arrested."
To Irina's voice, Lee Jun-woo answered in the same voice as the old days.
It was a moment when they both felt nostalgia for the past.