Ch.14Chapter 14. Indeed, We Are the Best Comrades

The illusion continuously showed Lin his past.

Regardless, Lin paid no attention and kept moving forward.

“I’ll definitely come back here. I don’t know how long it will take, but I’ll definitely return. Lee, I… I hope you’ll wait for me.”

Annoyingly, the illusion was recreating important moments from his life.

Days from the past not even worth mentioning.

Those times that once made him dejected or lost in feelings of loss were of no help to his present situation.

After all, who would be swayed by the past when they were barely moving forward with a battered body?

Lucy, who was in relatively better condition, was staring wide-eyed, captivated by the illusions, but perhaps because of that, she remained quiet.

“How gloomy.”

His commentary was brief.

Though his gaze remained fixed on the path, the backgrounds of the passing illusions were all either gray, burning, or raining.

Looking at them all together, it seemed his life hadn’t been an easy one.

Moreover, the various illusions felt like a kaleidoscope of memories, which Lin found unwelcome.

“Hmm.”

Finally, he reached the end of the path.

The tedious journey was over.

At the end of the path stood a clearly high-quality glass bottle surrounded by a natural radiance, floating in midair.

“Found it.”

The elixir, a panacea, wasn’t a red potion like those commonly seen in other games.

It was a liquid with a paint-like texture, mixed with various colors.

Surprisingly, finding it was easy.

Lin approached, dragging his feet.

At some point, one of his legs had gone numb, making it difficult to walk properly.

Thinking that there might be lasting aftereffects, he picked up the floating elixir.

The radiance didn’t disappear, but it didn’t harm him either.

“…Damn.”

He sensed a presence.

Heavy, rapid footsteps.

The presence was approaching at an unbelievable speed with each passing moment.

Another detail had changed.

Without delay, Lin unwrapped the bundle and placed Lucy on the ground.

Pop!

When he opened the cap, a fresh fragrance flowed from the bottle.

Indeed, a panacea blessed by the goddess.

There was no time to marvel.

Quickly, he opened Lucy’s mouth and poured in the elixir.

“Urgh! Mmph…!”

She resisted slightly, but Lucy instinctively swallowed the liquid without much trouble.

Since there wasn’t much of it, he was able to make sure Lucy drank it all without spilling any around her mouth.

However, as soon as she drank it, Lucy screamed.

“Aaaaaaaaahhhhh-!!!!!”

“Ugh, Lucy…!”

He tried to tightly embrace her as she struggled desperately, but—

“What was that just now?”

The presence, no, the succubus, had arrived right behind him.

This is cheating, isn’t it?

This is the goddess’s sanctuary, so how can a demon creature enter without any restrictions?

“Answer me, human!”

Unfortunately or fortunately, Lucy had stiffened with her eyes rolled back and her back arched.

Steam was rising from her trembling body, and due to her earlier outburst, her clothes had come undone, revealing her large breasts, but Lin had no time to appreciate that.

Strange. In the game, when you drink the elixir, the screen goes black for a moment, and then Lucy’s limbs are automatically restored.

Then you leave the sanctuary with the recovered Lucy, engage in battle with the waiting succubus, and easily crush her—that’s how Chapter 1 ends.

Nothing was going according to plan or expectation.

Why are these things so oddly realistic?

Lin couldn’t help but laugh bitterly.

“You’re laughing?”

“Wouldn’t you laugh too? Nothing in life ever goes as planned.”

“I won’t fall for your clumsy attempt to stall for time. I’ll cut off that girl’s head first.”

“I’m the one with all my limbs intact, though?”

“I can deal with someone like you anytime. The problem is that girl who managed to hit me…”

“This is too much.”

“You dare interrupt me?”

The succubus’s eyes narrowed.

She was so dismissive of Lin that even as she reached for her pouch, she kept her eyes only on Lucy.

“No matter how weak I am.”

He pulled out a scroll.

“I can still kill a demon like you head-on!”

Lin tore the scroll and swung his arm like a sword, as if cutting through the floor.

“Severance: Spatial Separation!”

True to the skill’s name, a crack formed between Lucy and Lin, isolating the hero’s space from the porter and the succubus.

Being an ultimate skill, the succubus stared in astonishment at the space beyond the separation.

“Just a little more and I would have cleared Chapter 1.”

With success so close at hand, Lin’s blood was boiling.

It was the first time his usually calm self had been so excited.

“I’ll face you with all my might!”

Lin pulled out a prepared scroll and charged at the succubus.

“Viorio: Full Power—”

“Too slow.”

Slash-!

And his abdomen was hopelessly slashed by the demon’s claws.

—

Outnumbered and outmatched.

That phrase came to Lin’s mind.

What good were multiple ultimate skills?

He didn’t even have a chance to use them.

“How boring~”

Slash-!

“Kuhak!”

Her claws raked across his body again.

Blood spurted out, soaking the succubus.

The demon licked the blood that had splattered on her face and mocked Lin.

“I’ll praise your courage. You’ve got more guts than most men.”

Slash-!

“Kuk…!”

“If you weren’t so feisty, I would have given you the ultimate pleasure while draining you to death. What a shame.”

The succubus grabbed Lin by the neck and slashed him several times.

Lin was quickly covered in blood and reduced to rags.

So Lucy was right after all.

There were clear limits to what someone without talent could achieve through effort alone.

“At this rate, you won’t even have the strength to stand, so I can’t even enjoy you.”

He didn’t want to end like this.

He had thought his final moments would at least involve going down fighting in style.

“Now, if you answer my questions obediently, I’ll end this painlessly.”

That’s all he had hoped for.

That if he died that way, at least someone, like the hero’s party, would remember him.

“What exactly is that girl?”

In reality, even a low-ranking demon like a succubus couldn’t be dealt with.

Slash!

“Not answering?!”

Still…

“There’s something… that amazed me most… since coming to this world…”

“What nonsense are you spouting?”

“Here… when you drink a potion… the effect appears immediately… it passes through the stomach instantly… and flows through the blood…”

“Have you gone mad from blood loss?”

“No… listen carefully… this is important…”

“Ha! I told you not to try such clumsy stalling…”

“I… drank holy water earlier…”

“What?!”

I told you I could kill someone like you head-on.

Sizzzzzzle-!

“Kyaaaaaaah!!!!”

The holy water in Lin’s blood took effect.

The succubus’s body, covered in blood from her casual torture, began to burn.

“You little rat!”

Move.

Let’s hit her one more time.

The holy water had slowed the succubus’s movements.

Grabbing the arm of the demon who was trying to throw him, he smashed his last vial of holy water into her face.

Crack!

Whoosh-!

“Kyaaaaaaah-!!!!”

The fire caught properly.

The sacred flames didn’t harm Lin, who was human, but the succubus, engulfed in flames, rolled on the ground screaming.

“Aaaaaaaaaah-!!!!”

Cold.

Leaving the burning succubus, Lin leaned against the wall and gathered his tattered clothes.

Tssssssss

The effect of the spatial separation seemed to have ended, as the space where Lucy had been cut off was reconnecting.

The advantage and disadvantage of skills cast with scrolls was that they had a duration.

“You bastaaaaard-!!!”

The succubus’s wail was filled with resentment.

“This can’t be… I need to gather more energy to… revive the Demon Lord…!”

Her wailing soon subsided.

All that remained where the succubus had been was a charred female-shaped corpse.

At the same time,

“My hands… my legs…”

Lucy, awakened from the nightmare, stood up on her own feet and began admiring her body.

She seemed unable to identify her surroundings yet, as she was ecstatically feeling her newly regenerated limbs.

“That’s good.”

His vision was blurry.

The blood in his eyes made the whole world appear red.

“I told you, didn’t I? That I’d definitely heal you.”

It’s fortunate that he could keep his promise.

Lin decided to take comfort in that.

Lucy, finally recognizing him, bent down toward him.

“It seems… I’ve reached my limit.”

Lucy, you’re still naked.

He barely managed to drape the clothes he was holding over her shoulders.

“You’ll catch a cold…”

See, I did it.

I’m useful too.

I’m someone who gets things done.

Lin smiled with belated satisfaction, and…

“……”

That was the end.

His vision sank into darkness.

—

“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!!!!!”

The hero held the porter in her arms and wailed.

No matter how much she caressed his cheek or stroked his forehead, Lin didn’t move.

“Liiiiiiiiiiin!!!!!”

Despite her desperate calls, he gave no answer.

She couldn’t breathe.

Just when she had finally recovered, just when she had finally escaped being a cripple and could at last embrace him with her own arms.

“Goddess, please! Please! I was wrong. I’ll never be arrogant again! Please save Lin, please…!”

She who had arrogantly believed nothing was impossible for someone who had overcome death, now begged the goddess like a child, crying.

“Without Lin, it’s the same as being dead!!!!!”

She raged at the unresponsive goddess, and then—

“No, I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I’m sorry for getting angry just now. Please save Lin…”

Hastily repenting, she clung to the non-existent goddess’s trouser leg.

“Goddess… Goddess… please… I’ll even give up my revenge… Just give Lin back… Okay? If you just save Lin, we’ll go somewhere quiet where no one is and live just the two of us…”

After praying desperately for a long time, Lucy opened her tightly closed eyes, but nothing had changed.

Lin was still smiling at her.

“Huk…!”

Tears that had dried up from shock began to flow again.

What should she do?

The goddess had cruelly taken away what was hers, leaving only enemies under this sky.

“Lin…!”

Lucy began to give up one thing after another.

She gave up the dream of living just the two of them.

She gave up the journey they would take together.

She even gave up her revenge against the hero’s party.

She gave up becoming his lover right away.

She gave up confessing that she loved him, that she liked him.

Finally, Lin…

“Aaaah-!!”

She couldn’t give up.

Tears blurred her vision, and sorrow choked her throat.

Having let go of everything, Lucy kissed his lips.

His rough, coarse lips made her sorrowful.

“I miss it.”

If he were gone,

“A peaceful day… with this person… Please… Goddess…! Save him.”

Since neither the power nor the position of a hero was of any use,

“He is truly… the only person I love…”

She would offer it for him.

Kwaaaaaaah-!

The whole world was filled with light.

A reddish-golden light illuminated the cave.

What appeared before her, creating a huge hole in the ceiling with a thunderous sound, was—

The holy sword Hunoni.

As if entranced, she reached out and grasped it, feeling a warm energy flow into her.

Familiar power, the power she rightfully deserved as a hero.

With this sword and her recovered body, she could go back into the world, overthrow the empire, and punish the traitors.

But Lucy didn’t do that.

She blocked the energy from Hunoni and placed the holy sword against Lin.

[Won’t you regret it?]

A gentle voice asked her.

[You might never be able to become a hero again.]

“I am not a hero, just Lucy Ena Estel.”

Denying her status as a hero, Lucy made Lin embrace the holy sword.

“And this person is not a porter, just Lin. This Lin.”

Lucy wiped away her tears.

“That’s enough.”

[I’m sorry for giving you such trials, child.]

“Goddess.”

Lucy smiled brightly.

“Thank you for letting me meet Lin…”

Tears caught at the end of her smile fell onto Lin’s cheek, and the light of the holy sword enveloped him.

A warm, gentle energy was seeping into Lin.

His body, which had lost vitality and become stiff, relaxed.

The rigid smile softened into a gentle curve.

As his life returned, the holy sword lost its light.

By the time Lin blinked his eyes, the holy sword had shattered into particles of light and disappeared.

“Lucy?”

“Lin!”

Hearing him call her name, the hero embraced him.

“What happened?”

“It’s a miracle! The goddess saved you!”

The once cynical woman was more grateful than ever before.

“You saved me.”

“No, it wasn’t me, it was the goddess…”

“It’s thanks to you praying for me.”

At his warm gaze, the girl gently bit her lip.

Before melting into sweetness, she wanted to convey her feelings.

She couldn’t let him go like this.

“Lin, I… I love you…!”

“You really are my best companion.”

Ah.

The girl froze.

She suddenly remembered what she had begged to give up in order to revive him.

And also what she had done to him.

The label that had always haunted her followed her again.

“…Yes, of course!”

The girl smiled.

Hiding the heart that was being coldly cut.

Let’s thank the goddess.

The goddess who returned him.

“My only ally, my best companion…”

However—

“My… Lin…”

She couldn’t hold back the tears that lamented her unworthiness.