Ch.46Chapter 46. About Sewage Alley (1)

“Why did you have the porter beaten there?”

“His gaze kept lingering on me. It was unpleasant, and he wasn’t properly listening to the Hero. I instructed them to take action because I noticed the Hero was uncomfortable.”

“That porter is the Hero’s sore spot. What woman wouldn’t fall for a man who risked his life to save her? The reason she goes berserk whenever she sees me is because she wants to impress that man. How could you have him assaulted right in front of the Hero!”

Rinasien found it strange to hear him raising his voice at her.

The man who was always composed and never flustered was now anxious.

That fact alone made her newly aware that even the Shield Knight was merely human.

When Rainfold dismissed her like that, Rinasien couldn’t hide her surge of anger.

“What’s the big deal about some mere porter!”

“Mere porter? Whatever his role, he is still a legitimate member of the Hero’s party!”

“I’ve never heard of a porter being part of a Hero’s party!”

“What…?”

“I said I’ve never heard of it! Not once!”

Only then did Rainfold remember that the porter would disappear on his own whenever the party stayed at the imperial palace or in cities, naturally rejoining them when it was time to depart.

As Rinasien said, he had never once shown his face at any official gathering.

And the Hero’s party had never mentioned him or looked for him in public.

Suddenly, Rainfold recalled that only the Hero’s party had been surprised when the porter was beaten, and he realized this was a blind spot created by coincidence and arrogance.

Even Rainfold himself, convinced of the Hero’s death, had only said that Lucy, with her limbs severed, had fallen off the cliff.

If the Demon Sword had seen this scene, he would have been dumbfounded.

Very early in the Hero’s party’s formation, Arsil had once argued with the Imperial Princess about assigning a civilian as a porter.

Even if it was a minor incident from two years ago, it clearly showed how authoritarian and self-absorbed the Imperial Princess was to have forgotten it, and that Rainfold, who hadn’t properly mentioned the porter’s existence, was cut from the same cloth.

“You expect me to stand by while some porter leers at the Imperial Princess’s body and ignores the Hero’s speech?”

“Please!”

Rainfold cut off the Imperial Princess’s words with a shout.

Seeing Rinasien’s surprised eyes, he tried to calm himself as much as possible.

“Please speak with more dignity. Is it appropriate for the Imperial Princess to use the vocabulary of underlings?”

“Are you saying mere words and expressions obscure my nobility! I am Rinasien Karlun!”

Rainfold’s face turned grim.

How dare a woman shout at a knight?

But the experienced politician wore a mask of smiles and gently reasoned with her.

“Because you are noble, you must perfectly master how to survive among the many who seek to tear you down.”

“……”

“I apologize. With the grand council approaching and the Hero being an unpredictable variable, I was rude due to my sensitivity.”

As Rinasien was fuming, she took a deep breath and lifted her chin when the Shield Knight apologized.

“If you are to be my husband, conduct yourself accordingly.”

“I will keep that in mind.”

Though his temple throbbed, Rainfold bowed his head.

In the end, he too was her subject.

Thinking she had made her point sufficiently clear, Rinasien softened her tone.

“We have much to discuss, but let’s do so after our emotions have settled.”

“Your words are wise. I shall take my leave now. Have a good night.”

“Wait.”

She caught his arm as he was about to leave, gently stroking it with her fingers.

As if to convey that despite her anger, her affection remained unchanged.

Rainfold also softened his heart at this quintessentially feminine gesture.

After kissing the Imperial Princess on the forehead, the couple gazed at each other before parting.

Watching them from a corner, Tigria quietly moved her pen across her notebook.

‘Even in relationships of genuine love, there’s a tendency to establish hierarchy. They quarrel because of it, but leave room for reconciliation.’

After pondering for a moment, she added one more sentence.

‘Is this truly genuine love?’

—

Lin had a headache.

Not that his head was aching, but the part that had been hit really hurt.

This was a problem.

His swollen cheekbone area was burning, but Lin left it alone and sank into contemplation.

Enemies were everywhere, and even though Lucy was strong, there were limits to how much she could protect him from multiple foes.

What should he do?

When he sighed, Lucy responded.

“Lin, what’s wrong?”

After having a dispute about the need for treatment, Lucy was now calming down, breathing softly in Lin’s arms, who had refused treatment to the end.

She too had a lot on her mind.

‘I’m not being helpful at all.’

Though she was improving bit by bit, she still had a long way to go.

Earlier, she hadn’t expected they would openly hit Lin.

The more she tried to do well, the more her body stiffened, and she let her guard down at crucial moments.

She felt frustrated and pathetic with herself.

“It’s nothing. Just feeling a bit stifled.”

“Is it because I’m clinging to you? Should I move away?”

“No, it’s not that. It’s just that such a grand place doesn’t seem to suit me.”

So being in a spacious room feels awkward, but having a beauty like Lucy clinging to him is fine, apparently.

Though he was being sarcastic, Lin had almost given up resisting due to Lucy’s persistent attachment.

“Is this your first time in a place like this?”

Though he had stayed in a separate room at the Protek family, Lin had been unconscious due to illness, so that didn’t count.

“You’ve always stayed in places like this in cities and at the imperial palace, right?”

“Um… I always stayed separately.”

“Eh?”

“Huh?”

“Separately…?”

Noticing Lucy’s unease, Lin smiled slightly as if to tell her not to worry.

“A porter needs to gather information or purchase necessary items to prepare for the next journey. Being inside a palace or castle puts too many restrictions on movement. I would find a suitable opportunity to stay at an inn in town and move around freely.”

It was half by choice and half by circumstance, but Lin concealed the truth.

Thanks to that, he had been able to do many things.

For instance, disposing of miscellaneous items obtained from defeating monsters to fund Naidrian’s research and sending mail.

Strictly speaking, it wasn’t a lie, so Lucy didn’t notice.

Bang bang bang

Someone was knocking on the door.

Very roughly.

Bang bang bang bang!

He tried to ignore it, but the knocking continued relentlessly.

“Sigh, who could it be!”

Annoyed at having their time together interrupted, Lucy trudged to the door.

Fling!

“……”

She closed it again.

Her heart was pounding.

What? Why is she here?

Why, of all times, is she here now?

While she was confused, wondering if she had seen wrong, an icy voice came from outside the door.

“Open it.”

Lucy, startled, took several deep breaths before carefully opening the door.

“Hey there.”

The visitor slid in with an impudent air.

Sensing the mischievousness hidden within her innocence, Lin smiled.

“I’ve been waiting for a man like you.”

“Actually, I too… AAAAAAHHH?!”

The woman, who had been reciting the code phrase from their memories, screamed upon seeing Lin’s swollen cheek.

“What happened to you!”

Lin waved his hand dismissively.

“Hello, Ravin.”

The ruler of Valtercruz, Ravin the Siph, was here at the Imperial Palace of Jedo Kaulan.

With her ponytail that had grown back.

“I must be crazy to have entrusted Lin to you.”

“…Sorry.”

Even the headstrong Lucy was like a mouse before a cat when it came to Ravin.

Her only acknowledged rival and an unbeatable competitor.

Though she hadn’t mentioned it, the small pouch Lin wore as a necklace contained Ravin’s ponytail.

Perhaps it was thanks to Ravin’s wishes contained in that ponytail that Lin had remained safe through all those misfortunes—depressing as it was, even Lucy couldn’t deny it.

“I’m glad I came right away after hearing the news upon arrival. I can’t believe you left his injury untreated.”

Ravin, horrified at Lin’s condition, disinfected the wound with the medical supplies she had brought and applied gauze.

Lin, whose face had been seriously swollen, fell asleep as soon as the treatment was done.

On Ravin’s lap.

Though it was an enviable position, Lucy was busy being scolded while kneeling beside Ravin.

“I believe you swore never to let him get hurt?”

“Uuu…”

“Don’t just cry, speak. Do you think I’m Lin? Think I’ll go easy on you if you show tears?”

“No…”

“Tell me everything that’s happened so far.”

Lucy explained the whole story.

Everything from the Zuramun Archipelago to their arrival at the imperial palace.

“I thought I could protect him by staying close and being vigilant. That I could block all attacks…”

“You should have considered all possibilities. Your arrogance is excessive. You should have gone beyond vigilance to prevention.”

Ravin deliberately kept her voice down so as not to wake Lin, who had just fallen asleep.

Though Lin had developed a habit of falling into deep sleep due to recovery from magical contamination, Ravin had no way of knowing that.

“I acknowledge your efforts. But I clearly said you had to do well. Effort without results is worthless.”

“What should I do? I want to do well, but I don’t know how. It feels like I’m in darkness. I want to protect Lin, but I keep getting baited and penetrated by enemies. Please tell me. I know you dislike me, but please teach me how, even if you think of me as just a tool to protect Lin.”

In a way, Ravin was the person Lucy trusted most after Lin.

It was possible because Lucy lived for Lin, and Ravin was also a girl who loved Lin, so their interests aligned.

“You say Lin kept staring at the Imperial Princess?”

“Unlike himself, he just kept looking without paying attention to his surroundings.”

“Sigh…”

Was it lingering attachment or hatred?

Lin had said he no longer liked Rina.

His matter-of-fact answer without any hesitation was surely sincere, but who knows what happened in the actual moment of confrontation.

‘We will use everything. The Demon King, the Hero’s party. To protect him, to save him.’

The words of the one who sent her here kept echoing in her mind.

“Trust no one but Lin. Not even me, not even yourself. For Lin’s sake, even you must become expendable.”

She swallows.

Her throat burns.

“Me and those guys, we’re all just fools indebted to Lin.”

She couldn’t decide whether she should tell this or not.

“I’ll tell you an old story.”

[You should listen. It’s very, very important. It’s related to the first and last regret.]

Following Ravin, the hedonistic Demon Sword whispered unexpectedly.

Lucy found this old story extremely ominous.

“A story about Lin and me, Arsil, and Rina. About Imperial Princess Rinasien.”

But it was an offer she simply couldn’t refuse.

“You have no choice. Listen. And you must become a sword for Lin.”

Calmly yet heavily, the past flows from Ravin’s lips.

Back to those days of old, when they were young.

Back to the time when the Sewage Alley still existed.

Back to when they were innocent boys and girls in that filthy alley.