Ch.62XX Tina (7)

# XX Tina (7)

About Lug.

At first, I definitely disliked him.

No, did I think I disliked him?

I didn’t know the reason well. I think I probably found it unsatisfactory that someone with no abilities was joining the hero’s party. That was a concern, but at the same time, it was also a question Tina was asking herself.

‘Am I really someone who belongs here?’

When the hero’s party was formed.

A question that never left her mind.

When Tina first met Esmeralda, she just thought she was amazing.

Isn’t it incredible that a commoner girl around her age was a hero?

That was the extent of her impression.

When they talked, they could communicate, and the hero from fairy tales was just a girl similar to her age.

Tina might have started treating her comfortably at some point.

But that wasn’t the case.

The title of hero wasn’t something so light.

She continued to swing her sword every day even after meeting Tina.

Tina secretly trembled at the fragments of talent shown by a girl who had just picked up a sword for the first time.

Esmeralda, who said she was holding a sword for the first time, was certainly clumsy at first.

But as days passed, the tip of her sword became sharper, and the trajectory it drew began to become beautiful.

Tina finally understood.

The person she thought was no different from herself was actually the most special being in the world.

‘So this is what it means to have the makings of a hero. She’s on a completely different level from me…’

Tina was the first person to join the hero’s party. It was surprising how the information network of <The Eye of Truth> was faster than both the Celestial Temple and the Magic Tower.

That’s why she realized it late.

‘The Saintess of the Celestial Temple and the joint prodigy of the seven Magic Towers?! What is that?!’

She seriously began to feel inferior when she learned about the members joining the hero’s party.

As someone who became a successor through misunderstanding, she couldn’t help but feel inadequate. She was not actually smart and had only guessed by intuition. It was then that she began to worry about her qualifications.

‘I don’t belong here, do I?’

A position she was pushed into by others through the illusion of being excellent.

But had she ever actively tried to correct that?

She jokingly said she was lucky and just guessed by intuition, but she never once said she wanted to step down from that position.

And now she was here.

Standing alongside people who clearly seemed extraordinary.

‘Can I do well? Can I contribute as a representative of The Eye of Truth among such amazing people?’

She had such thoughts.

It’s inevitable that she would be ridiculed. But she couldn’t let <The Eye of Truth> be ridiculed because of her.

However, the wall of reality was high, and she was still ordinary.

So she revealed to her companions that she just had good intuition.

Because there might be regrets later. At least she was honest with her companions.

But Esmeralda comforted Tina, saying she preferred it that way.

She said that even if someone is smart and knowledgeable, nothing beats natural intuition on the battlefield.

She told her it was better because she had good intuition.

‘Esmeralda was surely sincere. I also thought intellectually that it would be better that way, but…’

The remnants of anxiety in her heart didn’t disappear.

She didn’t show it and always acted truthfully, but her internal worries grew day by day.

She even started learning knowledge that she had to learn under the pressure of <The Eye of Truth> because she wanted to, to the extent that a mere back-alley pickpocket grew to be called a scholar.

It was to not disappoint her companions.

She was trying to blend into the hero’s party by disarming traps, acting as a scout, and doing various other tasks.

Yes, that was probably why.

Why Tina was uncomfortable with Lug joining.

She said she had let go of it in front of Esmeralda, but she was still feeling inadequate.

And she was annoyed by Lug, who was in a similar situation to her.

“You know, if you keep following us like this, you’ll surely die?”

A young man who lost his home when his village was destroyed. It’s not strange for such a young man to rely on the hero’s party and want to repay their kindness.

A common heroic tale. And Esmeralda is the protagonist of a heroic tale.

So Tina thought there was nothing strange about the situation.

But behind heroic tales, there are also plenty of stories of those who failed to become heroes.

Among them, there were even absurd endings where a young man who followed to repay kindness ended up dying in an attack.

Yes, Tina was worried about Lug.

“You’re a porter, right? But if you get out of breath just from this, what are you going to do?”

She didn’t say it directly, but she put pressure on Lug in various ways.

It was probably because she was unconsciously overlapping herself with Lug.

She, a mere back-alley pickpocket, and Lug, from a rural village.

The two had the same starting point and were far less special compared to the other party members.

So while pushing Lug, she couldn’t help but expect.

“Why are you trying so hard?”

“Because I said I would repay the kindness.”

“You could die doing that, you know? Have you ever thought that you might be holding us back?”

“I think about it all the time. I am holding you back. Even now, you’re adjusting the marching speed to match my pace.”

“And you’ll repay the kindness that way?”

“Someday. That’s why I won’t neglect my efforts.”

“Hmm…”

A textbook answer.

But she liked it.

The sight of a young man who, like her, had no special qualities but didn’t get discouraged and kept trying.

He always made an effort. Even when it was hard, he didn’t give up.

He carried many of Esmeralda’s swords in her place.

She could trust and rely on him.

He opened Millia’s heart.

Millia would pout when Lug wasn’t in sight.

He made Eirene’s face bloom with smiles.

Eirene’s smile, which had seemed like she was wearing a mask, became much more diverse.

Tina could see all of this. She had good intuition after all.

That Lug had changed everyone. And that “everyone” included herself.

She didn’t know, but she could tell.

‘You are…’

Before she knew it, Lug had become special to her too. She couldn’t take her eyes off him as he proved her worries wrong as if they were nothing.

Lug had now become an indispensable figure in this hero’s party.

A hard worker who couldn’t do anything and couldn’t even fully fulfill his role as a porter.

Such a person, through continuous effort, had become an indispensable existence to the party.

That image provided an answer to Tina’s long-standing worries.

‘You’re a much better person than I am.’

She came to like Lug.

A feeling she wouldn’t yet call love. It was admiration, familiarity, respect, and compassion.

Lug had become indispensable to this party. Not just to others, but to Tina as well.

Then what about herself?

Surely there must be someone who thinks she is indispensable to this party too?

No, she already knew. She just didn’t want to acknowledge it because of her feelings of inadequacy and self-denial.

“Esmeralda, we’re friends, right?”

“Of course! If I had to pick my closest friend, it would be Tina.”

“I see… Then what would you do if I said I was leaving the party?”

“…Huh, you’re leaving? You can’t… That would be really troublesome…”

“Haha! I’m just kidding.”

Esmeralda tried to stop Tina, her face turning pale. Her friend relied on her the most.

She was special. She had become special.

The insignificant pickpocket had become someone indispensable to the hero’s party.

No, even if she wasn’t a special person, she could do special things.

And the one who made her realize this was none other than Lug, a mere porter.

At first, she didn’t like him.

She was dissatisfied with his behavior.

She didn’t like seeing him weak and incompetent.

But she liked seeing him make an effort, and she would worry when he wasn’t in sight.

Yes, Lug had become an indispensable part of Tina’s life.

His existence was proof that Tina belonged in the hero’s party.

Just like how she had worked hard to blend into the hero’s party at first.

Tina thought Lug’s complaints resembled the period when she had them too.

Yes, it was a sickness of the heart that would eventually be okay. If Lug was suffering from that.

“So, Lug, let’s stay together. Don’t say things like quitting.”

All she had to do was support him when he wavered, to prevent him from falling. That’s how Tina, like the other party members, had prevented Lug from escaping.

Lug shed tears of blood at this cruel treatment.

***

But even she couldn’t control the emotions that began to overflow.

She, who had sought recognition from the hero’s party, now only wanted recognition from Lug. She began to see everything else as interference.

In such a situation, Lug’s direct question made Tina ecstatic.

Tina looked at Lug with tender eyes and said,

“You’re asking if I’ll really grant everything? I’ll grant everything you wish for, as much as I can. How about it?”

“Ooh.”

Lug’s original goal was to escape from the hero’s party.

If he followed Tina out of the hero’s party, the rest would be much easier.

Eventually, the time would come when he would have to leave Tina’s side too, but Lug was willing to make that investment.

He absolutely wasn’t distracted by the “everything you wish for” part. But if she’s offering, it would be rude not to accept.

As always, Lug rationalized and moved according to his feelings.

“Hehe.”

Tina had changed.

Aside from the wings and tail that had sprouted on her back, her personality seemed to have changed significantly. Her desires were maximized, and she had become honest.

Her usual lively demeanor was nowhere to be seen, and now she was even exuding a seductive atmosphere.

Looking at such a Tina, Lug thought of the word “noona” despite her small build and chest.

Indeed, it was revealed that a woman’s charm doesn’t just lie in her chest.

“Lug, don’t follow Tina, come to me and I’ll let you touch my chest.”

“Yes, Miss Millia. I’ll be right there. Hey! Miss Tina, please let go. Miss Tina is not in her right mind right now!”

But big things come before small things.

Just as he had decided before, this time too, Lug followed his impulses. His heart, without standards or beliefs, acting solely on his feelings at the moment, was like a reed.

“Hey, you bastard…”

Tina’s flame-like tender feelings cooled down in an instant.