# 75. Hero Party! Let's Go on a Picnic (4)
A gaze filled with malice.
That person, whose gender I couldn't determine, was staring directly at me.
Luna pointed at the children with her finger and shouted.
"M-Mister! Aren't they in danger!? They're too close to that person!"
"..."
She was right.
If that person near the children decided to act,
there was a very high chance Hare, Saten, and Estia would get injured.
If things went wrong, they might even be fighting for their lives.
After all, I couldn't even properly sense their presence.
"...This is quite a serious situation."
"R-Right?! It's dangerous! There's no choice...! Mister, please let me draw my sword!"
"Stay still, Luna. It seems they have no hostility toward you all."
The situation was still dangerous.
However, the unidentified person was only showing hostility toward me.
I slowly moved forward and spoke.
"Hey there, I don't know who you are, but if you have business with me, how about we have a chat?"
As I approached slowly,
the person's outline became clearly visible.
*A skilled beggar?*
Their face was hidden by disheveled hair.
Their body shape was also obscured by a cloak.
Just as I couldn't determine their gender,
the person chuckled and answered me.
"A chat sounds good. But that's something you shouldn't be saying."
A woman.
The voice was a delicate woman's voice.
And from somewhere,
it was definitely a voice I'd heard before.
From my memory, it was probably...
"The monk. Are you that guy's family?"
"So you remember. You conscienceless bastard. You survived instead of my brother, and you dare come here?"
...I didn't know that.
How was I supposed to know you were here?
I wanted to say that, but
since the children were near her, I held my tongue.
*I never imagined Daniel's older sister would be here...*
The monk Daniel, who met his death at the hands of the Demon King of Envy.
His older sister, 'Danuel,' was a skilled adventurer with a 'Topaz' rank.
And she deeply despised Irina and me for surviving instead of her brother at that place.
Danuel, who could be called a "bitter connection," glared at me fiercely and muttered.
"I was disappointed we couldn't have a proper conversation back then. How about we have a nice, thorough chat now?"
"..."
Luna, not reading the atmosphere, chimed in from beside me at Danuel's words.
"T-Talk it out! That's right! Talking is always good!"
"...Luna, 'chat' here doesn't mean with words."
"Huh?"
"A physical chat. A bodily conversation."
As soon as I finished speaking,
Danuel crouched down and took a stance to charge at me.
Behind her, Hare, Saten, and Estia tried to stop Danuel by pulling on her, but it was completely useless.
The nickname she was called during her adventurer days, 'Fanatic Danuel,' wasn't given for nothing.
I spoke to Luna, who was standing dumbfounded beside me.
"Luna."
"Yes?"
"Right now. Run over there."
She's coming.
Danuel's target was only me.
The moment Luna moved aside and escaped the danger zone—
"You could have saved my brother, couldn't you?!! You conscienceless bastard. You let my brother die!! And you dare come to my territory?!!"
"...You're not in your right mind."
Danuel began charging toward me at high speed like a crazed lunatic.
Her entire body as she charged was wrapped in blindingly bright Divine Power.
*Do only crazy people believe in the Goddess's Church? Or do people who believe in the Goddess's Church go crazy...*
Which one was the correct answer?
I didn't know the answer, but if it were Minerva, wouldn't she have said something like this?
*The Goddess's Church is just crazy, okay? People are completely innocent!*
I didn't know where it went wrong, but
first, I needed to save my own life.
I drew the sword from my waist that I'd brought just in case.
"Since the children are watching, I'll take it slow."
With those words, the battle began.
Fanatic Danuel.
According to her brother Daniel, who was once in my party:
*My sister is strong. She's called a fanatic who fights while wrapping her body in Divine Power. The problem is she has a twisted personality and is crazy... but she does protect me and is a good person.*
Thinking about it now, I should probably retract that last part about being a good person.
Currently,
Danuel throwing Divine Power-infused punches at me was not good at all.
If I got hit, I'd be bedridden for at least a month from the destructive force.
"You squirrel-like bastard. You're good at dodging, just like how you didn't even come to my brother's funeral?"
"I had my reasons back then."
"That's not my problem. I need to get some revenge for my brother."
"...Why are you taking that revenge on me?"
"Because there's a possibility you killed my brother. Even if it's just a 1% possibility!!"
CRASH—!!
Danuel, who wouldn't listen to reason.
She slammed her fist into the ground.
If I hadn't dodged, my body would have been shattered for sure.
I swung my sword with the blade reversed toward Danuel's abdomen.
"Aaagh—!!"
Danuel screamed as if in pain.
However, I was puzzled.
Even though it was a distance she could have dodged, Danuel didn't avoid it.
*Could it be...?*
As if my uneasy premonition was correct,
I couldn't pull out my sword that had struck Danuel's abdomen.
"Y-You quick bastard... You can't move now, can you...?"
Drip drip—
Both of Danuel's palms were bleeding red.
She had endured the pain to grab my sword.
The nickname Fanatic Danuel wasn't given for nothing.
Danuel wrapped her fist in Divine Power and shouted at me.
"Got you, you bastard..."
"..."
This is bad.
Danuel began throwing a Divine Power punch with all her might.
If I took that punch at this distance, it would probably lead to instant death.
However, I didn't take any action.
—No injuries, no deaths.
Because I trusted Minerva's prophecy.
As I watched the fist gradually approaching before my eyes,
feeling the mist of death slowly approaching me,
the seed of change began to bloom from Danuel's hand.
"...Don't touch Mister. Stop right there."
"Using the blood flowing from my palm. You brat using Blood Magic. You'd better cancel that magic right now."
"Before that, withdraw the Divine Power in your hand first."
Saten deployed Blood Magic using Danuel's blood.
Thorns blooming from Danuel's hand prevented her from moving.
Saten was sweating profusely, as if it was difficult to maintain.
Of course, thanks to that,
I was able to save my life.
"Thanks to you, I saved my life, Saten."
"You rat bastard!"
THWACK—
I abandoned my sword and ran toward the back where the children were.
With one eye missing now,
there was no chance of winning in close combat against a 'Topaz' rank adventurer.
"Kids."
"Yes?"
"Let's run."
DASH—!!
I picked up Saten and Estia and tucked them under each arm.
It was to run faster.
*In my current state, I absolutely can't win.*
If the children weren't here, I could respond with wide-area magic, but
today's purpose was a picnic.
Even if something unpleasant happened in the middle, it would be enough to end happily.
"Y-You bastard!! Stop right there—!!"
"If it's not a physical conversation, I'll stop."
"You crazy bastard—!!"
Who's calling who crazy?
Without looking back, I attempted to descend the mountain with the children.
"Wh-Whoa! Run!!"
"R-Run, Mister...! Th-That person isn't normal...!!"
DASH DASH DASH—
Feeling like we'd encountered a wild animal on the mountain,
we quickly ran downward.
Behind us, loud crashes echoed as she chased us.
Her movements showed no intention of giving up.
"U-Ugh... Goddess, please watch over me, Estia, and kill that wicked human chasing us...!!"
In the midst of such urgency, Estia clasped her hands together and prayed.
She must have been desperate, squeezing her eyes shut and trembling.
Does she hate the thought of me dying that much?
Just as I was seeing Estia in a new light...
"Mister who gives me Holy Water can't die, Goddess...!! If Mister dies, I won't be able to get my Holy Water...!!"
...That moment of seeing her in a new light never came.
Estia definitely saw me as a Holy Water vending machine.
But perhaps because that prayer was sincere, choices began to appear before my eyes.
It seemed Estia's prayer had somewhat worked.
[A crazy woman is chasing you. You can't win as you are now, right? If you don't want to die, choose.]
[1. Send the children ahead first.]
[2. Show her Estia.]
There wasn't even time to think about the choice.
I immediately opened the answer sheet in my mind to check.
The answer sheets for both options 1 and 2.
*Option 1 is sending the children ahead first... and I die. This is close to a wrong answer.*
Option 1 was a typical sacrifice ending.
A wrong answer that appeared quite often in the answer sheets.
Now that option 1 was confirmed as wrong, I opened the answer sheet again to check option 2.
*I don't know what to use Estia for, but... I'll show her first.*
If I held up Estia like a shield and showed her to Danuel...
...
This is the correct answer.
I acted according to the answer sheet without hesitation.
"Estia."
"Huh? Why are you calling me! In such an urgent situation! Just hurry up and move!"
"Excuse me for a moment."
"Wh-What are you doing!! Let go of me—!!"
Flail flail—
Estia, lifted into the air, struggled, telling me to put her down.
Danuel was approaching from ahead, and Estia had no choice but to stare at Danuel while being held by me.
"Eek—!! Using me as a shield—!! You kidnapper—!!"
I'm dead!
Estia screamed in shock.
But there was no need for that.
In the answer sheet I saw, Danuel's reaction was...
"Huff— You rat bastard... Standing still and using a child as a shield? You piece of trash... No, wait. This Divine Power is...? A S-Saint...!?"
Very good.
A Saint.
To Danuel, a fanatic who believed in the Goddess's Church, Estia's existence
was similar to the Goddess herself.
THUD—
"...I greet the Goddess's representative."
"Wh-What! Oppa! This person knelt down!?"
"Finally, we can talk."
Danuel's appearance, having spent who knows how long on the mountain.
To Danuel, who had finally come to her senses after kneeling, I quietly muttered.
"...Let's wash up first and then talk. You smell."
To understand why this former party member's sister and top-tier adventurer was doing this here,
it seemed we needed to have a conversation.