Ch.23Chapter 23. The Demon Hero Party’s Recruitment Offer

At the break of dawn, Lin, who had just had a confrontation with Lucy, was sitting with his knees drawn up on the roof of the Thieves’ Guild building.

Connected to the underground waterways, the building was impressively tall, ranking among the five tallest structures in Valtercrois.

“There’s something satisfying about looking down from here.”

Despite his words, Lin had always been in a position of looking up.

Or chasing after someone’s back.

Neither Arsil, nor her, nor Lucy, nor the rest of the Hero’s Party had ever stood shoulder to shoulder with him.

Recently, Lucy had been by his side, but looking sideways or downward was still unfamiliar to him.

“The view is quite nice, isn’t it?”

“Well, I’m not sure what I should be focusing on.”

The Information Officer, who had approached without notice, sat down beside him and gazed into the distance.

Lin concealed his surprise and casually agreed.

Why is this guy here instead of Ravin?

This wasn’t according to plan.

“It’s not about examining something in detail. It’s about taking in the entire landscape from this height, like looking at a painting.”

“Hmm, I don’t quite understand your explanation.”

“Just see the whole picture, as much as your eyes can take in.”

“The whole picture… But the Thieves’ Guild makes its living by digging out small, detailed pieces of information, doesn’t it?”

“Those pieces come together to form the whole, so it’s fine, isn’t it?”

This side of the story keeps changing in details, and it’s killing me.

Lin rubbed his face dryly and looked up at the sky instead.

Looking down really didn’t suit his nature.

“Where’s the lady who was with you?”

“She’s sleeping.”

“That’s a lie.”

With surprising confidence in his assertion, Lin glanced sideways to see the Information Officer grinning.

“Yesterday, while I was guiding you, that lady’s eyes never left you for a moment, did they?”

“She was just looking for me, her only companion in an unfamiliar place.”

“No, no, no. When someone comes to a strange place, they don’t normally match their walking pace, stride length, and even their breathing rhythm with someone else.”

Lucy did that?

Lin hadn’t noticed and didn’t want to know.

But now he understood why she had expressed her discontent to him at dawn.

Lin found Lucy’s attention too overwhelming.

“We had an argument.”

“What? The two of you? About what?”

When he told her he needed to be alone in the morning for a mission, she immediately refused.

‘I’m telling you it’s for a mission.’

‘What kind of mission?’

‘Like last time, checking if there are any demons around, or anyone else who might wish us harm.’

‘I can do that with you.’

‘We are doing it together. I’m asking you to watch my surroundings from a short distance.’

‘How is that doing it together?’

Lucy had burrowed into Lin’s side and quickly embraced him.

‘How can we be together if we’re not physically together?’

With her lips pouting, Lucy had dug in her heels.

No matter how much Lin shook her off or tried to walk and run around the room with her clinging to him, she wouldn’t budge.

‘Lucy, why won’t you listen?’

‘Why are you trying to push me away? Who are you meeting at the crack of dawn? We were just embracing, and now you want to leave? It was just getting good… If we had continued a little longer, I could have marked all of Lin with my tongue…’

‘Huh? What did you say?’

‘…I don’t care. I don’t like it. I won’t let go. Lin is mine. I’m everything to Lin. We don’t need anyone else.’

Lin needed to get to the roof immediately to witness the dawn event with Ravin.

He desperately tried to persuade Lucy.

‘Lucy, I think you’ve forgotten that we’re being hunted by our former companions.’

‘If Lin wants, I can reverse that. Make them run from us, and we’ll be the ones hunting them.’

Nonsense.

To defeat the DLC final boss, the Hero’s Party needed to remain intact.

‘The Imperial Princess is suspicious and has eyes and ears scattered throughout the empire. Ravin has surely figured it all out. I need to get as much information as possible from him through our connection.’

‘And I can’t be there?’

‘Lucy.’

Lin sighed.

‘I know you kept clenching and unclenching your fists while staring daggers at Ravin yesterday.’

‘…Then I won’t use my fists.’

That’s not the issue.

He couldn’t delay any longer.

Not only was the information about the Imperial Princess’s underlings important, but he also needed to start preparing for Arsil.

Naidrian’s wish had been set in motion long ago, so that was fine, but Arsil’s wish couldn’t be prepared for in advance and was only possible from now on.

In any case, he needed to free them from the Shield Knight who held them on a leash under the pretext of wishes.

Otherwise, they would continue to side with the Imperial Princess and the Shield Knight, interfering with Lin and Lucy until the end.

But Lucy refused to let go.

After trying to reason with her and using force, Lin found Lucy clinging to him with reddened eyes.

If it came down to pure strength, Lucy could easily drag him around, but she was restraining herself to avoid hurting him.

Left with no choice, Lin played his trump card.

‘Lucy, since we’ll be apart for a while, if you can bear with it, I’ll give you time alone with just the two of us whenever you want later.’

‘That’s meaningless. I want to be with Lin all the time.’

‘In any situation, if Lucy wants, we can be alone together right away.’

Lucy listened to Lin’s heartbeat as she considered his offer.

Despite appearing stubborn, she always calculated whether she could push her demands before acting, so she knew how extraordinary Lin’s proposal was.

Finally, Lucy carefully asked Lin.

‘How long can we be together?’

‘Um, as long as we’re apart from now?’

‘I don’t like that.’

Lucy shook her head.

‘One day. A whole day alone with Lin, just the two of us.’

‘One day?’

‘And you have to do everything I want to do. No right of refusal.’

Lucy’s deliberation had already consumed too much time.

Dawn was breaking.

Lin had no choice.

‘Alright.’

‘Pinky promise.’

‘We need to pinky swear too?’

‘Yes.’

As they linked pinky fingers, Lucy smiled brightly.

‘If you break the promise, I’ll break both your legs and carry you around for the rest of your life.’

With this dramatic compromise, Lin was finally able to sit on the roof.

In exchange, Lucy completely concealed her magical power and hid somewhere nearby.

When she was determined to hide, even Naidrian had trouble finding the Hero.

“She told me not to talk to other women.”

“Ah… That’s a very simple and characteristic reason.”

But things had gone awry.

It was the Information Officer who greeted him, not Ravin.

Fortunately, before Lin could ask, the Information Officer handed him a letter.

“The boss actually spotted you first, but she’s tied up in the office with an envoy from the Guild Alliance.”

“What’s this?”

“Two forged IDs, one hair dye because that lady’s hair is too noticeable, five sets of women’s underwear that the boss bought after roughly estimating the size, and finally, a request from the boss personally to you.”

“A request?”

“She says you need to earn your keep.”

The Information Officer stretched and yawned.

“Haa~h! Well, I’ve delivered everything, so I’m off to bed. I’ve been up all night since yesterday.”

“Ah, wait.”

Lin rummaged through his pack and handed the Information Officer a couple of small spray bottles.

Taking them with confusion, the Information Officer asked what they were.

“Deodorizer. A very effective deodorizer.”

As a demonstration, Lin sprayed it on the front and back of the Information Officer.

Though he hadn’t mentioned it, the woman who worked in the underground waterways had been emitting a stench strong enough to make one’s nose sting.

Shortly after applying the deodorizer, the smell was completely gone.

“My goodness.”

The Information Officer sniffed her sleeve with a look of amazement.

“No matter how much I washed, the smell wouldn’t go away…”

“I’m glad it helped.”

Lin’s expression remained neutral as he handed over the deodorizer.

“You’ve worked hard, Information Officer.”

However, the Information Officer gave Lin a sidelong glance while holding the deodorizer.

It was a mischievous angle, like a cat or fox tilting its head slightly.

“Adora.”

The Information Officer revealed her name with a smile in her eyes.

“It’s Adora. Information Officer Adora of the Thieves’ Guild.”

Before Lin could respond, she spun around.

“Thanks for the deodorizer, Mr. Lin.”

She walked away, swaying and waving her hand.

Now that he looked, Adora’s skin was as white as Lucy’s.

Was it because she was confined to the underground waterways?

She was a character with a subtle presence, but she had never appeared during his previous life as Mr. Lee.

“Lin, did you tell that woman your name?”

“No, I rarely tell people my name. Usually just my surname is enough.”

“Then how does she know your name?”

But Lin, who had eavesdropped on the office yesterday using his skill [Advanced: There’s a Wiretap in My Ear], had a pretty good idea.

“Lucy, have you told anyone my name recently?”

“Um…”

“It was Ravin, wasn’t it?”

“…Yes. I’m sorry.”

“We’re being hunted, so we should be careful about telling others our names.”

“I’m sorry…”

To comfort the dejected Lucy, Lin opened his arms.

Lucy immediately rushed into his embrace, burying her face in his chest.

As he patted her back, Lucy quickly brightened up and purred like a black cat.

Lin opened and read the letter Adora had given him, then handed it to Lucy after a moment.

Lucy read the letter with a puzzled expression, but by the end, she frowned and crumpled the paper.

“Lucy, what did you think of that Information Officer, Adora?”

“I don’t like her, but I didn’t sense any demonic energy from her.”

This is going to get complicated.

For the first time in a long while, Lin returned to his old habit of talking to himself.

“Ah, this wasn’t in the plan.”

If the Information Officer had been something hostile to us, it would have been an easy checkmate.

The letter contained what Lin had predicted and was wary of.

[To Mr. Lee, someone sent me this party invitation.]

Ravin seemed to have gotten frustrated while writing, as there was a large ink blot.

[I’ve provided everything you needed, so you’d better earn your keep.]

“Ha, so it’s finally come.”

And enclosed was an invitation with red lettering on a black background.

[To you who desires something, Ravin the Thief, we extend an invitation to join the Demon Hero Party.]

Demon Heroes.

They could be considered the demonic version of the Hero’s Party.

Like the Hero’s Party, they referred to each other by their class rather than names, but each one was a formidable and troublesome opponent.

The new characters and main antagonists of the DLC had begun to move.