Ch.118Chapter 118. Lin and Their Crossing Paths (1)

After the victory on the demon army front, the hero party departed for Lowellina with the advance team.

However, Naidrian stayed behind with the rear guard along with Airan, making the flimsy excuse that she wanted to examine the vegetation in the area.

“Commander-in-Chief, I have something to tell you.”

Although Naidrian had sent a letter to the imperial palace, having been at the demon army front, she couldn’t be sure if her correspondence had arrived properly.

Therefore, she intended to make certain by also informing Airan about the porter’s embezzlement that she knew about.

“The hero party must have already departed, Naidrian?”

“I have something I wish to tell only to you, Commander-in-Chief.”

“…Speak, then.”

Airan, who was handling the post-battle cleanup and standing guard against potential threats, looked extremely tired.

Though she clearly suspected this would be some useless complaint or grievance, Airan still maintained an attitude of attentiveness.

“Actually…”

After taking a deep breath, Naidrian explained about the porter’s embezzlement.

She explained that he had been keeping all the hero party’s spoils from their journey for himself and had recently been disposing of them as he pleased in the Holy Kingdom.

When the archer finished speaking, Airan’s expression had hardened severely.

“Does anyone else know about this?”

“N-no.”

She instinctively lied.

Though partly overwhelmed by Airan, there was also no guarantee that the imperial palace had received her letter, so from her perspective, it wasn’t entirely untrue.

“Naidrian.”

“Yes.”

“Do you truly believe the porter committed embezzlement?”

“Pardon?”

When she received such an incredulous response, Naidrian sensed that something was wrong.

She had lowered her voice considerably, making Naidrian think she was agreeing with her, but Airan was actually frowning at her.

“You saw the porter trading demon parts in the Holy Kingdom?”

“Yes, that’s correct.”

“And that was the scene of embezzlement?”

“Yes.”

“Doesn’t that seem like a rather careless transaction for someone committing embezzlement?”

“…Well, if you think negatively, anything can be used as evidence that it’s not.”

“Conversely, that means anything can be used as evidence that it is.”

Even just handling the aftermath of the battle was a mountain of work.

Yet complaints about the porter kept coming in.

It wasn’t the porter’s fault.

Airan bitterly felt that all of this was her own fault for failing to properly protect the porter.

“Naidrian, have you ever seen the porter receive funding when the hero party visited the imperial palace or other cities?”

“…No, I haven’t.”

“That’s all I can tell you.”

Unfortunately, how much funding each hero party received, or whether they received funding at all, was classified information.

This situation was incredibly frustrating because she couldn’t directly reveal it.

Moreover, since Airan herself had determined the funding allocations and received the emperor’s approval, one slip of the tongue could reveal that Naidrian received the least funding of all.

Instead, Airan offered another solution.

“I hear you’ve been refusing to speak with the porter recently? Is this the reason?”

“…Yes, it is.”

She scribbled coordinates on a piece of paper, tore it off, and handed it to Naidrian.

“What’s this?”

“A request from the porter. He said if you go there, you’ll understand his true intentions.”

Though she accepted the paper reflexively, Naidrian hesitated about what to do.

Irritated by this hesitation, Airan waved her hand dismissively, ordering her to leave.

“It’s also my order. Visit this place immediately, then return to Lowellina. We have much to do ahead.”

—

It took a full day to arrive at the location.

Carrying only light baggage, Naidrian traveled alone at an elf’s pace, hurrying to reach the northern front region.

All she could see was desert.

And not the kind with fine, swirling sand, but rather a desert scattered with gravel.

What could she possibly confirm here?

Proceeding with suspicion, Naidrian soon stopped in her tracks.

“My goodness…”

Before her eyes stretched a vista of green.

Small trees, about the height of a child or reaching an adult’s waist, formed a small forest.

Faced with the dense plantation that had never known human touch and had no paths, the elf couldn’t stop expressing her amazement.

“How could a forest exist in such a desert region…?”

Feeling her botanist’s curiosity surge, Naidrian frantically explored various parts of the forest.

Soon, however, she was even more surprised than when she first discovered the forest.

These small trees were familiar to her eyes.

The shape of the leaves, the stems, even the roots.

These plants were none other than Naidrian’s very first experimental specimens that she had researched in the beginning.

The seeds she had put up for sale in Valtercrua to spread them throughout the world, which hadn’t sold for a long time until suddenly a man bought them all.

She had been so happy that she even wrote about it in a letter to Investor Lee.

Those seeds had taken root here on the northern front, holding the possibility of becoming a new elven forest.

“With these, we won’t need new land!”

The elf was overcome with emotion at the vast expanse of green earth.

For a long while, Naidrian couldn’t speak.

Then she heard the clamorous sound of an approaching carriage.

“Ah! Here you are, Elf Naidrian, archer of the hero party.”

A golden carriage, painted entirely in gold.

The World Postal Service had finally appeared before the elf with Lin’s letter.

“What brings you here?”

“A letter! From Investor Lee himself.”

“Please give it to me quickly!”

As she urged him, the World Postal Service snickered and handed over the letter.

His attitude was very poor, unlike before.

Despite feeling something was off, Naidrian quickly took the letter.

Investor Lee—seeing the name written on the envelope, Naidrian’s heart was already filled with affection.

[To my dear Naidrian,

I always read the letters you send me multiple times and cherish them dearly.

Whenever I see the hope contained in your letters, my heart too grows warm.]

I feel the same way.

Once this difficult journey ends, I will definitely go to meet him.

Whether brief or long, she wanted to spend the rest of her life by his side.

[The news that your research is nearing its final stages was the best news of all.

I want to see the world dyed green with you as soon as possible, to walk through it together.

I want to show this great achievement of yours to people of both the present and future.]

Every sentence touched her heart deeply.

Whenever she read his letters during difficult times, she couldn’t shake the feeling that, despite not knowing his face, only Investor Lee truly understood her.

“You need to read it to the end. Only then will my letter service duty be complete.”

As Naidrian closed her eyes, clutching the letter to her chest, the World Postal Service urged her on.

Strange—usually he would deliver the letter and leave immediately.

But the next passage made Naidrian’s heart pound heavily.

[You said you wanted to know about me and meet me. Very well.

I’ve been thinking the same thing.

Now that all research has reached the final stages, I should naturally meet you as an investor.

However, I have one concern.]

Concern?

Could it be that Investor Lee was worried about his appearance?

That wouldn’t be a problem at all.

Naidrian had fallen for his heart.

I need to finish reading this and write back to tell him it’s fine.

[I worry that if I reveal who I am, you might reject me.]

Once again, I must emphasize that you don’t need to worry about that, Mr. Lee.

[I’m nervous even as I write this, because now I must tell you who I am.]

Whoever you are, I absolutely…

[My name is Lee Lin, the porter of the hero party who has been journeying with you.]

“What… did you say…?”

[As my personal information becoming public would be problematic, I’ve kept it hidden even within the hero party.

For this, I am truly sorry.]

She read the same sentence over and over again.

It clearly stated that he was the porter, Lee Lin.

[I am also the one who purchased all your first experimental seeds in Valtercrua.

You said they were trees that could stubbornly grow even in barren land, so I believed they would grow well there too.

I believed no one would claim ownership of that place.

Therefore, I am letting you know the location where I planted the seeds.]

And the coordinates written matched exactly with those Airan had given to Naidrian.

‘It’s a request from the porter. He said if you go there, you’ll understand his true intentions.’

“No… no… NO!!”

Naidrian denied it again and again.

This couldn’t be true.

Her only confidant turned out to be the porter she so despised?

The person who had comforted her heart and sometimes made her feverish with excitement?

Only then did Naidrian realize why the porter had been trying to talk to her.

He wanted to tell her this.

That he was Investor Lee.

Confusion, not joy, filled her mind.

As she tried to make sense of the situation, she suddenly remembered the letter she had sent reporting Lin’s embezzlement.

“Mr. Postal Service! The letter! What happened to the letter I gave you?!”

Something was seriously wrong.

Was it really embezzlement?

As Airan had suggested, if he had simply called the postal service briefly to make a transaction, he would have been more cautious if it were embezzlement.

Moreover, Lin had now become an Item Master and could easily use skills like Presence Concealment.

She had seen him use it with her own eyes during the battle with Denaruah.

“Oh, that letter? I delivered it very safely~ to the Crown Princess.”

“What…?”

Thud. She collapsed to the ground.

She had been rash.

She should have investigated more thoroughly.

Regardless of whether embezzlement occurred or not, all the money she had received from Investor Lee until now had been procured through those transactions.

“What should I do? What should I do?”

Tears flowed.

Her instincts and intuition were sounding alarms.

That she had made a terrible mistake.

No matter how she thought about it, she was no longer convinced that Lin had committed any wrongdoing.

“There’s still more to the letter.”

“I know!”

[If after receiving this letter you feel like talking to me, I will probably be in Lowellina by then.

Perhaps we’ll even be in the City of Romance together.

Please, when you’ve made up your mind, come speak to me.

I’m sorry for deceiving you all this time.

The porter of the hero party who believes in your potential more than anyone, Lee Lin.]

“Ugh…! *sob*…!”

Why am I crying?

I don’t know.

The whole world felt hopeless.

“I have to go, I have to get to Lowellina…”

Her body trembled so much that it wouldn’t be strange if she collapsed at any moment.

Nevertheless, Naidrian stood up.

Clutching the letter, she stood and ran.

She ran and ran.

She quickly became out of breath, but Naidrian didn’t stop.

The distance from here to Lowellina was considerable.

She had to run without rest.

“What am I supposed to do?!”

Even as she cried and shouted, she didn’t stop.

Because,

In a corner of her heart, and in her clever mind, the fear that she might have falsely accused someone who was a benefactor to both herself and her race was spreading like ink.

“I’ll come right away… I’ll come quickly… Please just talk to me, Lin!”

Repeatedly calling out a wish that couldn’t possibly reach him, the elf wiped away her tears in the wind.