Ch.18Chapter 18. Enter! Ravin the Thief

The man was none other than a member of the Thieves’ Guild.

The setting for Chapter 2, the commercial city of Valtercrois, is as mentioned earlier, a place governed by a coalition formed by various guilds.

The Thieves’ Guild was one of the major pillars of this coalition.

In fact, to properly progress through Chapter 2’s story, you had to speak to every NPC at the entrance of Valtercrois to find a member of the Thieves’ Guild.

This was due to the game company’s unfriendly design.

If you mindlessly approached the guards conducting inspections at the city gate, they would only repeat that you should wait in line for your turn, and the only hint was a suspicious Thieves’ Guild NPC hiding alone in the bushes.

Lin, who had wasted an hour on this in her previous life as “Lee,” knew that this was the only way to enter Valtercrois.

Nevertheless, she tried to find other possible methods but eventually gave up and complied.

Since she had been complaining about how the details differed from the original game, she couldn’t really criticize when things proceeded as they were supposed to.

And to say in advance, the details of Chapter 2 had already changed.

The password Lin had spoken to the man earlier didn’t exist in the game.

Originally, you had to either pay an enormous sum of money or negotiate with items you possessed to gain cooperation.

Of course, things might have been different if you had chosen a thief as your final party member and successfully cleared DLC Chapter 1.

But Lee from her previous life had only played as a porter, so there was no way to know.

To begin with, it was questionable whether the thief could have made it this far, since their role was to die in place of Lucy when she was betrayed and then rescue her.

“Halt! Halt!”

As they followed the man into the underground waterway on the outskirts of Valtercrois, a girl dressed as an adventurer blocked their path.

“The saint?”

“She’s a fucking bitch.”

“Who are you?”

“Ziol, outskirts informant. You know my face, do you really need to be so strict?”

The girl asked, and the man answered.

Lucy whispered to Lin with an impressed voice.

“I really like that password.”

There was a reason for everything, but Lin just smiled.

When Ziol grumbled, the girl frowned and scolded him.

“How can you say such things as a thief when hiding our identities and disguising our faces is our daily routine?”

“Yeah, yeah, should I pin a medal on you, my dear Information Officer? You special combat recruits are certainly different.”

“Ziol!”

“Information Officer, stop blurting out my name. Those people will remember it.”

“Those people?”

The girl casually ignored Ziol’s protest and nodded toward Lucy and Lin.

Ziol was irritated but didn’t want to smell the distinctive stench of the underground waterway any longer.

“The owners of that password.”

“Really?! There are two of them?”

“No, just the man over there.”

“Ah, right. The boss couldn’t possibly be bisexual.”

“Don’t say such things in front of the boss.”

“What’s the big deal? They say even the king gets badmouthed behind his back.”

He never gives an inch in conversation.

Ziol, the veteran, didn’t like the newly recruited special combat girl.

And he liked this underground waterway even less.

“This is as far as I go. From here on, follow the Information Officer there.”

Even though Lucy and Lin hadn’t responded, Ziol immediately turned around and left.

What terrible hospitality, I should report him to the boss.

But that would be seen as meddling, so I’ll hold back.

“This way, please.”

The girl called the Information Officer at least used polite speech.

“You stink.”

But this time, Lucy was rude.

It wasn’t an unfair complaint, as the girl had sticky soot all over her body and reeked of the underground waterway’s stench.

“It can’t be helped. I’m more of a cleaner than a guide.”

“A cleaner?”

When Lin asked, the girl sighed.

“All sorts of creatures invade the underground waterway. If left alone, they’d travel through the waterway into Valtercrois and cause havoc. The guards refuse to come here because of the smell, so someone has to stay here and clean up regularly.”

“That must be tough.”

“Well, yes…”

The girl’s expression became subtle, unused to hearing anything but sarcasm.

Lucy didn’t like that.

“Just hurry up and guide us. The smell is giving me a headache.”

“I’m sorry, but this is as fast as I can go. Because…”

The girl suddenly flicked her hand toward Lucy.

In the blink of an eye, a throwing knife pierced a bat that had been behind Lucy.

Thwack!

The monster bat exploded, splattering its blood on Lucy.

“Since I have to protect you discreetly, this is my limit.”

Being in the lead, they hadn’t noticed that the girl’s arms and hands were constantly moving.

If you listened carefully, you could hear the sounds of things being pierced and torn.

“Oh, really?”

Lucy wouldn’t back down.

She casually threw a bat she had somehow caught at the girl.

“Ugh?!”

Though it seemed carelessly thrown, Lucy had precisely targeted the moment when the girl created an opening by throwing knives at other monsters.

The surprised girl tried to hastily back away, but before she could, Lucy’s hand blade sliced through the bat.

Slash!

Why would a hand blade make such a sound effect?

The cut was so clean that the bat only split in two after hitting the ground, slowly oozing blood.

“If you had done it like me, your clothes wouldn’t have gotten dirty, and the smell wouldn’t have soaked in so badly.”

The girl, who had been staring blankly at the bat, smiled brightly.

“Then why don’t you do it?”

“What did you say?”

“Lucy, stop it!”

“Are you taking her side now?”

“I’m not taking sides. You started the argument first.”

“You saw her splatter blood on me first!”

“You provoked her with words first.”

In the past, he wouldn’t have dreamed of saying such things to her.

But he had to stop her from causing unnecessary conflict.

“Why are you taking her side?”

Lucy felt deeply hurt by this.

“You’re my only ally, Lin.”

You know you already have me.

“You’re my best companion.”

You know that in the end, I’ll follow what you say.

“You are my…!”

“I apologize.”

Surprisingly, it was the girl who bowed her head.

But Lucy felt a chill in her heart.

A woman’s intuition told her:

This girl apologized on purpose.

“You’re important guests, and I’ve been very inadequate.”

“You don’t need to go that far.”

“Please don’t tell the boss about this!”

“Alright. I won’t say anything, so please raise your head.”

“Really?”

Having achieved what she wanted, she straightened up with a bright smile.

Lucy found it detestable.

Judging by her skill in arguing with Ziol, she wasn’t the type to bow without gaining something.

Above all, what Lucy disliked most was that this person was a “woman.”

Only she should be able to walk and talk alongside Lin.

Lin was not unaware of Lucy’s feelings.

If Lucy continued like this, their journey ahead would be far from smooth.

Her obsession and dependency had gone too far.

As he was pondering how to handle this, the Information Officer whispered a hint to him.

“Pushing her away too much will backfire, you know?”

Before Lucy could say anything, the girl took the lead and moved forward.

Lin tilted his head at her retreating figure.

Come to think of it, was there such a character in the DLC Thieves’ Guild?

There wasn’t enough time to search his memories.

He needed to comfort Lucy right away.

“Lucy.”

“……”

Wrong approach. She was seriously upset.

“Want to hold hands?”

“……”

“It’s pretty dark around here, so I think it would be better.”

“……”

Though her lips were tightly sealed, she glanced sideways at his hand.

The advice had come from a thief whose very existence was suspicious, but it was true that Lin had been keeping too much distance lately.

Since her recovery, he had been more distant than before, so it was understandable that Lucy’s obsession had intensified. Gathering his courage, he reached out his hand to her.

“I want to hold your hand.”

It was an extremely cautious and brave action.

Saying he wanted to hold her hand—how self-conscious.

To voluntarily tell a girl he wanted to hold her hand, there’s no way it would work…

Grip.

It worked.

“Don’t wash today. I’m going to sleep while smelling Lin’s scent all over me.”

Super effective!

“I was too harsh earlier because you were so excited. I’m sorry.”

“…Lin doesn’t need to apologize.”

It’s all that girl’s fault.

But Lin had offered to hold hands first.

With that, Lucy’s hurt feelings melted away like snow.

Lin, on the other hand, felt awkward.

Even considering her obsession and dependency, was it really okay to be like this with a girl, especially the hero who led the Hero’s Party?

What if later, when Lucy completely overcame this obsession and dependency, she became embarrassed by these actions?

Lin had always kept his distance because of such thoughts.

During the journey to defeat the Demon Lord, the Hero’s Party had openly avoided contact with him.

“We’ve arrived!”

In front of a blackened door, the girl knocked in a specific pattern.

“This connects directly to the guild house. Once inside, you’ll be guided straight to the boss.”

“Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it.”

The girl playfully winked and added:

“Be sure to tell me your feedback later, okay?”

“Feedback?”

“That’s the price for me bowing first.”

So that’s how it is.

Even that apology was calculated.

Lin couldn’t hide his displeasure at her direct mention of feedback.

“Oh my, there seems to be no guard inside. How strange~! In that case, I’ll let you in right away.”

The quick-witted girl swiftly twisted the door open and urged them in.

Reluctantly, Lucy and Lin glared at the girl as they entered.

“Have a pleasant stay~.”

As soon as the door slammed shut, Lucy exhaled an uncomfortable sigh.

Lin was about to agree with a sense of unease when—

“Hey!”

A husky, energetic voice called out to him.

“Lee!”

Lin shrank back, and Lucy froze.

“How long has it been? First time since our filthy hometown was destroyed? Let me see your face!”

Lucy’s grip tightened.

Lin felt the pain in their clasped hands.

But the other person unhesitatingly pulled back his hood and cheerfully patted his shoulder.

As his vision cleared, Lin could finally see the person properly.

Silver hair with a hint of blue.

Sun-tanned brown skin like Lin’s.

A slender but well-proportioned beauty with good curves and perfectly placed hips, smiling broadly.

Originally, he had planned to meet her alone after arriving.

Lin cleared his tight throat and greeted her.

“It’s been a while, Ravin.”

“Long time no see, Lee!”

It was time to introduce her.

Her name was Ravin.

Coming from the back alleys, she had no surname.

But she did have an alias.

Ravin the Thief.

The greatest thief alive.

And in his previous life, she was the thief of the Hero’s Party who received overwhelming popularity and selection from players compared to the porter.

Now that Lin had joined the party, she was the head of the Thieves’ Guild in the commercial city of Valtercrois.

She was also the person responsible for bringing to light Valtercrois’s other name—the Lawless City.