Ch.119Chapter 119. Lin and Their Crossing Paths (2)

The City of Romance, Lowellina, was in the midst of festival preparations.

It was a celebration directly ordered by Airan to commemorate the victory on the demon army front.

Beyond the victory itself, the city was filled with joy and jubilation due to the minimal casualties suffered by Lowellina’s forces.

News had just arrived that Airan’s rear guard would be arriving this evening.

Once Airan officially declared the start tomorrow morning, everyone would be able to enjoy a festival worthy of the City of Romance’s name for several days.

Through the window of his lodging, Lin could see not only locals but also outside merchants being assigned and decorating their stalls.

Normally, Lin would have disposed of the demon parts from this battle during such leisure time.

But not this time.

He had stored everything in Cosmos in preparation for the battles to come.

Partly because he had depleted almost all of the material items he had stockpiled for the demon army front battle, but also because he no longer needed money.

With the main episode set in the Elf Forest now skipped, only the final chapter remained.

Therefore, after this festival in Lowellina, there was no reason to raise funds for what came next.

Knock knock

A knocking sound broke the silence of the room.

“Lin? It’s Tigria.”

“Come in.”

Tigria entered carefully to avoid making noise, and after closing the door, she seemed slightly surprised to see that Luci wasn’t there.

In fact, Luci was out, in very high spirits.

Seeing that the girl who had always stuck by his side was nowhere to be seen, Tigria’s heart began to beat faster at the realization that she was alone with Lin.

“Why did you call for me?”

“I have a favor to ask of you.”

“Anything. Just say it, Lin.”

After hesitating a bit, Lin rummaged through Cosmos.

“It might be paranoia, but lately I can’t shake the feeling that enemies are targeting me.”

“I agree with that.”

Lin’s hand grasped a skill scroll as he searched.

He wished he could use this himself.

He wanted to unleash this skill on his nemesis and end everything.

But the enemies he faced, especially the demon god and the shield knight, were obsessed with him.

Whoever appeared in the final chapter would be watching his every move, and might interfere at the slightest movement.

Eventually, Lin handed the skill scroll to Tigria.

[Judgment: The End of Selfishness]

Skill Description: Shatters the mental state of an unforgivable party member. Reduces MP or Energy or Divine Power to 0 and prevents recovery forever. Mental collapse comes as a bonus.

Flavor Text: “No other way. Must shatter this mental world.”

“What is this?”

“Using this skill will completely neutralize the target and collapse their mental world.”

“Why give such a powerful skill to me…?”

Luci was too mentally unstable to use it.

Arsil might miss the opportunity, unable to judge the right timing.

Naidrian wasn’t even a consideration since he disliked Lin and still seemed to be siding with the imperial princess and the shield knight.

He had considered giving it to Ravin to use after concealing her presence, but when attacking, she would inevitably reveal herself despite the concealment.

Her presence was as closely watched by enemies as Lin’s, and Denaruah had even deflected her attack and pinned her to the ground, making it too dangerous.

That left only one person.

Tigria was perfect—the most rational one who, despite being among the top protection priorities alongside the saint, could create opportunities with immediate response and firepower.

Ironically, the flavor text in the skill description matched exactly how Tigria used to speak before she learned emotions.

Even now, Lin was very uneasy about this skill.

This skill that didn’t exist in the original game.

When Efalter discovered it in the goddess’s sanctuary in the snowy mountains, Lin had assumed it was created by the goddess.

But the flavor text, which seemed to hint at the future, made him suspect that the goddess might not be the creator.

The pirated version that Mr. Lee, the reincarnator, had played was created by the demon god, and the goddess had barely noticed the demon god’s involvement in unsavory affairs.

This raised the unpleasant possibility that this might be someone’s scheme other than the goddess.

“Let me be clear. Use this skill without hesitation when the shield knight, Rainfold, shows that he has abandoned his humanity.”

“Lin, I don’t understand. Why suddenly mention the shield knight?”

Lin bit his lip.

Just mentioning the shield knight made his insides twist.

“Soon, I’ll be captured and taken to the imperial palace.”

“…?!”

“I can’t tell you the details, but that’s what will happen.”

In the DLC, if you fail to turn the hero’s party members back from Rainfold’s false contract in time, the imperial princess and shield knight start targeting those around the hero to get to him.

The first target aimed at the hero is the porter.

Since he had played the game as the porter route, it was inevitable.

Having failed to make Naidrian an ally, Lin would definitely be captured.

Resistance? He could try.

But that would only damage public opinion.

Since their goal was to bring down the hero step by step, he wouldn’t die immediately after being captured.

“So, when that time comes, will you rescue me?”

I’m sorry, Ravin.

I’m sorry, Luci.

I’m sorry, Arsil.

You three would never let me go if I told you this.

But that would lead straight to the bad ending.

That bastard must be incredibly powerful by now.

He’s about to devour the world.

“What do I need to do? Tell me everything.”

Tigria asked with a stern face.

Lin began with a faint smile, explaining about the gamble that would determine his fate and the world’s.

—

“Hmm~hmm~.”

Despite being alone in the streets away from Lin, Luci was in a good mood.

She was even humming, a stark contrast to her previous breakdown in front of Lin and everyone else.

But because her behavior then had been so shocking, Lowellina’s soldiers and citizens only flinched when they saw her, no longer approaching her with the same familiarity as before.

Partly because they realized through the recent demon army front battle that they had misunderstood Lin, but also because they feared upsetting the hero.

Luci didn’t care about any of that.

Instead, she was actively roaming the city, gathering information about what stalls merchants and residents were setting up and what events they were preparing.

Yes, Luci was planning her date course with Lin for tomorrow.

The promise Lin had made in Valtercrua.

The promise to spend an entire day just for her, just the two of them, could finally be realized.

‘You remember our promise from before, right?’

That was the first thing Lin brought up as soon as they arrived in Lowellina.

Luci had confirmed it with him several times, almost jumping with joy.

She had glanced at Ravin a bit nervously, but the thief didn’t seem to mind at all.

She seemed almost indifferent, which reassured the hero enough to cling to Lin.

“So there will be fireworks in the square tomorrow?”

“Yes, that’s right, Hero. We’re going to make it spectacular enough to go down in history.”

This was the best news she could have hoped for.

If the mood was right tomorrow, she might be able to convey at least some of her feelings to him under the fireworks illuminating the night sky.

Her heart swelled with hope for the first time in a long while.

However, that elated feeling didn’t last long.

“Um… Luci.”

Arsil appeared before her just as she was waiting for the crowd to thin out.

Even though the saint looked completely cowed, just seeing her face made Luci’s irritation rise.

“I’m busy.”

“I won’t keep you long! Just let me say one thing, just one!”

“Sigh, what is it?”

When Luci stopped, Arsil immediately bowed deeply.

“I’m really sorry for betraying you back then.”

“……”

But Luci felt nothing.

If it wasn’t related to Lin, the hero no longer cared about anything.

“I believe I said to offer your right arm if you wanted to apologize.”

“I’ll give it to you, my right arm.”

“Huh?”

Luci’s eyebrow raised at the unexpected response.

As she scrutinized Arsil with suspicious eyes, the saint quickly added:

“But right now, I need both arms to fight the enemy. When everything is over, this right arm—I’ll definitely give it to you!”

“……”

Does she even understand what she’s saying?

But there was no time.

To spend a happy time with Lin tomorrow, her plan needed to be flawless with no variables.

Luci had no mercy to spare for this apology that was all talk.

“Fine, whatever. Let’s see if you keep your word when it’s all over. If you try to back out then, I’ll tear you apart myself.”

“By all means. You can do whatever you want with me then.”

“Hmph.”

As she tried to pass by with a snort, Arsil stopped her once more.

“Um, Luci.”

“What!”

Finally losing her temper, the saint flinched but continued with what she wanted to say.

“Tomorrow… I heard you’re going on a date with Lin…”

“Yeah, what’s that got to do with you?”

“…Will you be okay?”

“What do you mean?”

Luci’s expression instantly turned grim.

“What do you mean by that?”

“This is Lowellina, you know.”

“It doesn’t matter. That disgusting music has been banned, and no one talks about those horrible times anymore.”

Arsil’s expression was quite a sight.

Her eyes were completely round, as if wondering if Luci was in her right mind.

“It’s different from before.”

“Wait, but…!”

This was meddling.

It was meddling, but Arsil felt she had to say it for Luci’s sake.

As she watched Luci’s cold back moving away, Arsil tried to call out to her again, but the thief who had appeared out of nowhere stopped her.

“Leave her be.”

“But Ravin…”

The thief watched Luci’s swaying ponytail and said in a flat tone:

“Let her enjoy it in her ignorance.”