# 68. The Hero Party Needs Training (6)
Underwear.
An important item that covers a man's lower body.
Why is it here?
I considered every possible scenario.
*Swept away by the wind? The underwear walked here on its own? Mistook the room by accident?*
As if.
No matter how much I thought about it, that was absolutely impossible.
I tried to deny reality, but this situation pointed to only one thing.
*Hare stole my underwear. This is an undeniable fact.*
I don't know what she intended to use it for...
And I don't particularly want to imagine it.
But the evidence is right before my eyes, and even if I don't want to think about it, the situation can be inferred.
Unmade bedding.
Underwear hidden beneath it.
In this situation, it's clear that Hare slept with the underwear last night.
"Haah..."
I swallowed dryly.
"Even if she's going through puberty... this is too much... To think she'd steal underwear..."
My head throbbed.
How am I supposed to process this situation?
I tried to think as rationally as possible, but my headache remained the same.
I looked around to see if Hare had stolen anything else.
"Just the underwear on the bed. Nothing on the desk... nothing in the closet either. So the underwear is the only thing Hare stole."
Why would she steal my underwear when there are expensive items in the house?
Dependence on me?
Or perhaps adolescent curiosity?
*...I don't know. I can't understand without talking to her directly.*
I'm not a mind reader—I can't know what children are thinking.
But I can understand where Hare's behavior originated.
It's clearly an action stemming from 'dependence.'
Since she can't be with me late at night, she must have reduced that dependence with underwear that carries my scent.
And since I told her not to show her feelings toward me, she's deliberately acting behind my back.
Of course, this was closer to speculation, almost delusion.
"If my speculation is correct... did I corner Hare into becoming an underwear thief?"
Hare is always watching me, and she moves according to how I appear to her.
I'm already no different from a mirror to Hare.
My actions influence Hare and make her move.
In the end, I had no right to punish Hare.
I put the underwear I was about to confiscate back on the bed.
"...I can't be certain, but if my speculation is correct, I can't scold you."
Then it would be better to leave this underwear here and not leave any trace of having entered the room.
If she commits a bigger theft later, I'll scold her then.
But this time, since I'm partly at fault, I'll let it slide.
And later...
"Treating the dependence would be most ideal, but that's too far off, so it would be better to confiscate the underwear and give her my shirt instead."
Because underwear is too explicit.
Men's underwear would definitely have a negative impact on Hare's developmental environment.
So, I'll plan to retrieve the underwear another day, not today, and left the room.
Fortunately, I didn't sense any of the children in the hallway.
Unaware that her room was being searched.
Hare was diligently cleaning the dining room windows.
"W-working hard on cleaning...! I-I'll definitely get Mister's prize...! F-fighting...!"
Squeak- Squeak-
Regardless of the high windows, Hare used her agile body to clean them diligently.
And beside such a Hare was a girl even more full of enthusiasm...
"Prize-!! I'm definitely getting the prize-!! I'm definitely getting the Holy Water-!!"
"Eek... That scared me..."
Estia was cleaning the windows so enthusiastically that even Hare was startled.
She was focused on window cleaning to get Holy Water as her prize.
That sight was enough to instill a sense of urgency in Hare.
"...She's working harder than me. Th-that won't do...!"
I will...!
I'll do the best...!
Only I will get praised by Mister...!
If it were before, she would have pushed Estia's back as she cleaned the windows diligently.
But now that she realized she shouldn't do that, Hare decided to compete fairly and squarely.
"Th-the prize is mine...! I-I can clean faster...!"
"Wh-what-! He's giving everyone prizes anyway, you idiot-!"
"No...! Not everything can be equal...!!"
That world doesn't exist...!
Even if the treatment is the same, the value changes differently in one's heart...!
There's always a top and bottom...!
*I'll never go down to the bottom again...*
Hare bit down hard, determined not to lose.
Her life had always been close to a competition where winners and losers were decided.
Hare focused even on small things, always thinking of Mister.
Even if not in society, to be in the upper class in his heart.
*I'll always be with Mister...!*
Just the smell isn't enough...!
So that Mister can acknowledge me...!
I have to work hard...!
Hare's thoughts were simple.
But if you looked closely, they were thoroughly twisted.
*I don't like being alone... I-if I have Mister's scent... I'll be less lonely, right...? I'm sorry, Mister...*
The night is long and dark.
But if I have Mister's scent, my heart feels warm.
Hare, who stole underwear from the hanging laundry, started from such a twisted heart.
Because she had learned of a world where she wasn't alone.
Estia lowered her tail seeing Hare speed up even more.
"Hmph...! F-fine! You work hard! I just need to clean enough to get Holy Water~"
This isn't losing at all!
I'm just retreating for a moment!
Without bending her stiff pride, Estia reduced her window-cleaning speed.
Then, anticipating the prize she would soon receive, she inflated her happiness.
"Lately when I drink Holy Water, I feel even better~ Should I say it's warm? Anyway, all the Holy Water is mine! Hehe!"
Estia cleaned the windows with great anticipation.
What the two wanted was different.
But they checked each other's speed with sidelong glances and cleaned the windows diligently.
"There's no water."
"I'll go this time. Next time you go..."
"Yeah, good idea! You're pretty nice! Should I share some Holy Water when I get my prize!?"
"Mister said not to drink it, I'm fine..."
"Not knowing about this good stuff, tsk... You don't know what you're missing!"
Chatting and keeping each other company when bored.
Without realizing it, they were gradually becoming comfortable with each other.
Just as Lee Jun-woo intended, the two were in a very hopeful situation.
Though Luna and Saten were close to despair.
"I have to get lots of praise from Mister...!"
"Hehe, all the Holy Water is mine-!"
Of course, the two with clear objectives had no particular interest in despair.
There were no problems in Estia's room.
Literally no problems at all.
"The room of the most problematic one has no problems. How strange."
Should I say it was so problem-free it was suspicious?
I searched Estia's room for the longest time.
But there was nothing particularly outstanding or problematic.
"Of course, it would be different if Holy Water were involved..."
Thinking conversely, if it weren't for the Holy Water, Estia might be normal.
Her innate personality also seems optimistic.
She might have had a healthy personality like what I saw in the past.
If only that experiment conducted by the Church hadn't happened.
"There was nothing particular to see here..."
I opened the door to Saten's room, which I couldn't predict at all.
Creak-
"Does she always live with the curtains drawn? Why is it so dark at this hour..."
My vision is already dim with only one eye.
It's too dark.
I approached the wall to turn on the room's light.
However, a window that appeared on my retina blocked my way.
[The dark state would be better. Check directly to see why.]
[1. Turn off the light and search.]
[2. Turn on the light and search.]
Since Minerva sent this warning when I tried to turn on the light.
It would be wise to check the answer for option 2.
I immediately checked the answer.
The problem was simple, so it didn't take long.
"She installed a security spell in case someone else entered..."
That means.
There's something she doesn't want to be discovered.
There's a secret she wants to hide from me.
I slowly began searching Saten's room.
"Magic-related books on the desk... and on the bed..."
"Meow... Meowww..."
A cat sleeping and snoring.
BlackMeow was just sleeping soundly, not caring that I had entered.
Well, it's actually a good situation for me.
As I searched without waking BlackMeow as much as possible.
What caught my eye was none other than the bookshelf with books lined up.
I felt something instinctively awkward there.
"It's not magic. But it feels similar to magic."
Not formed by magic.
But a substance similar to it exists somewhere between those books.
Probably a 'catalyst' that manifests magic.
An object containing magical power must be somewhere.
I focused my eye and followed the flow of that catalyst.
"Non-elemental Magic Volume 1 is... not it, The Love Story of the Knight and Princess...? Not this either..."
Ah, this is it.
The flow of the catalyst was this notebook.
I pulled out a notebook from between the books.
Catalyst.
In other words, the magical power of Saten's blood was surging and leaking from there.
"How much blood did you use for magic, Saten?"
Feeling such doubt, I opened it to see what contents it held.
There, contrary to my expectations, was not a magic formula but a diary written in blood.
And the moment I carefully read its contents.
My thoughts stopped for a moment.
No, they had to.
The experimental observation diary written inside was shocking.
"She investigated my actions... observed me... conducted experiments when I wasn't around..."
Repeating those meaningless results over and over.
Saten was creating my missing eye.
Even continuously cutting her own wrist.
I was more shocked by Saten's experimental log, created to make my eye, than by the realization that Hare had stolen my underwear.
This transcended what could be accepted as affection.
It was behavior close to madness.
"I was misjudging the situation."
I knew the Hero Party wasn't normal.
But more than I thought.
They weren't normal.
I don't know why Saten did this.
But this time, unlike Hare's case.
"I need to ask for the reason."
It seemed I needed an in-depth conversation with Saten.
No matter what, the Hero Party had to maintain basic human ethics.