Ch.75Chapter 75. Love Rides on Letters

# Everything was nothing but an illusion.

The achievements on the battlefield, the cheers of the people, the friendship with comrades,

Especially, that foolish old love based on shallow appearances had now become an obstacle interfering with everything in Lucy’s life.

[“Only Lin matters.”]

The Abyss was right.

Lucy only needed Lin.

[“Isn’t it amazing? That he endured your torment throughout the journey?”]

I can’t breathe.

I can’t breathe through the pain that feels like my chest is being hollowed out.

[“Isn’t it wonderful? The sight of him grabbing the Demon King’s horn with bare hands?”]

My hands are trembling.

I clutch my head with my shaking hands.

[“And yet, with such intense will, the only one who saved you, who succeeded in saving you, was Lin!”]

“Ugh!”

I clutch my chest.

A sharp pain cuts through the center of my chest, not my solar plexus.

[“Look at the mask of your only ally.”]

The face you covered yourself because you couldn’t stand the sight of it.

Behind that mask, Lin hid all his wounds.

[“Look at the arm your best companion now has.”]

That arm, corrupted by the Demon King’s magic after being forced to grab the horn while being ridiculed for being a non-combatant.

With that arm, Lin took care of you when your limbs were severed.

[“Look at your Lin, who cannot say he’s in pain even when he hurts, who can no longer feel anger even when he wants to be angry.”]

All of this is the result you created, Luciana Estel.

[“You ungrateful thing.”]

“…!”

Having cried too much, tears now brought a burning pain as they flowed.

[“You cannot be forgiven.”]

“…No.”

Lin finally acknowledged that Lucy had done wrong.

Now I just need to do my best to beg for forgiveness.

[“You cannot be loved.”]

“Please don’t say that…”

Don’t take away my only hope.

[“Devotion to Lin, sacrifice for Lin?”]

Yes, then I might be forgiven, even a little…

[“But Lin isn’t by your side right now, is he?”]

Lucy abruptly rose from her seat.

Wearing a simple dress-like nightgown made of cotton, Lucy left her room aimlessly and began wandering around the imperial palace.

[“Hmm, I’ll leave it at that for now.”]

The Abyss, somewhat satisfied, stopped its long chatter.

From now on, it could leisurely observe the single-minded devotion of this girl it had molded.

“Lucy?! Why are you in your nightgown?!”

“Luciana! Where are you going dressed like that!”

Arsil and Naidryan appeared one after another, having received reports that the hero had been wandering around the palace since morning.

They had thought it was fortunate that she had been cooped up in her room for the past 3 or 4 days, but now trouble had erupted.

Arsil thought that perhaps lasting more than 3 days was already a miracle.

“I can’t find Lin… He was definitely in the room with me…?”

Lucy’s memory, having gone through too many cycles, was not intact.

With everything jumbled together, she was obsessed only with finding Lin.

“What are you talking about? The porter evacuated with Tigria because of the demon attack.”

“Evacuated…?”

“Yes.”

“Where to?”

“I-I don’t know. It was an emergency, how would I know?”

Arsil stammered at the bizarreness of Lucy just turning her head to ask.

“Bring him back.”

“What?”

“I said bring him back.”

“I told you I don’t know where he is!”

“Why don’t you know! Why! Why!”

He needs to be by my side!

Lin, everyone in this world is our enemy except for us.

He absolutely had to be by her side, by Lucy’s side.

Suddenly, a memory surfaces.

In the final moment, Lin’s nod indicating it was okay to send her away.

The sword that missed the magician and cut through the air.

Could it be that he was trying to abandon her because he hated her?

“I said bring him baaaack-!!!!!!!!”

In the end, the hero couldn’t hold on.

With eyes full of tears, she desperately looked around for the porter.

It had been a foolish choice.

She shouldn’t have sent him away, but her shallow pride had caused disaster.

“Haa… Haa…”

The dizziness made her vision blur at the thought of being left all alone.

She felt like vomiting from the anxiety that anyone and everyone might stab her in the back at any moment.

“Lin… Lin…! Where are you, please…!”

Hyperventilating, Lucy eventually began to sob loudly with tears streaming down her face.

“Liiiiin-! I was wrong… I was wrong… hic…!”

“Lucy, no matter what, the porter isn’t here. Give it up.”

“His name is Lin! He’s not just a porter!”

The saint tried to stop her, but the hero roughly pushed her away.

Clang!

When she finally pointed even the temporary holy sword Abyss at them, Naidryan and Arsil’s faces hardened.

Of all times, the hero had gone berserk when even the magician wasn’t around.

And in the middle of the court where many eyes were watching.

“Yes, yes, but Lin isn’t he—”

“Don’t call Lin with that filthy mouth of yours!”

“What are you going to do about it, you narcissistic bitch!!”

Even the foul-mouthed saint Arsil exploded.

She wanted to slap her, but her opponent was the hero.

She’d have a better chance of success cutting off her own arm and throwing it.

‘I have no choice.’

Just as the high elf Naidryan was quietly nocking an arrow coated with paralyzing poison,

Thwack!

The dagger thrown by the hero embedded itself in the wall right next to her face.

“Hero, what are you doing…!”

“You think I don’t know? Just like then, just like that day! Are you trying to stab me in the back again?”

Arsil swallowed hard.

What the hero was saying now was known only to them.

‘Damn, should the porter have been here after all!’

She felt stupid for thinking it would be okay to talk to her since she had seemed fine these past few days.

“Only Lin matters. Only Lin treats me like a person and thinks about me.”

The hero was becoming increasingly consumed by her own delusions.

As her muttering deepened, a black aura emanated strongly from her.

As the aura began to darken the surroundings, a desperate Arsil shouted.

“Naidryan, shoot!”

“Ah, really-!”

The arrow that flew with a whooshing sound was weakly caught and broken in the hero’s hand.

Even the arrow was consumed by the aura and crumbled away.

“See this? What are you trying to take now? You already took my limbs last time, so what will it be this time?”

“Hero, we don’t have such intentions…”

“Hmph, fine. I’ll do as you say.”

“Arsil!”

Naidryan tried to explain, but the loose-tongued saint couldn’t control her temper and provoked the hero.

“This time, I’ll take Lin from you.”

Time seemed to stop.

The hero stood frozen, staring at them without moving.

Her focus had long since disappeared.

As everyone held their breath watching the situation, Lucy slowly raised Hrungnir.

“Come to think of it… you… have never… apologized to me even once…”

The dark aura rose like flames.

Only red eyes glowed ominously within it.

“And now… you’re going to take Lin from me too…?”

“You talk too much!”

The saint also put on dragon-scale gloves.

As she wore them, holy power crackled like lightning, revealing its ferocity.

“Come on. One hit and you’ll sleep well. I’ll put you to sleep until we bring back the porter.”

In response, a violent storm of darkness raged as the hero screamed.

“I… can’t sleep without hearing Lin’s heartbeat-!!!!!!!”

The enraged saint and the head-shaking elven archer thus bared their teeth again at the hero who had already betrayed them once.

“You hid him, didn’t you? He’s mine! He’s only for me! Lin… Lin…! Without you, I…”

“Augh! Can you please quiet her down with a paralyzing arrow!”

“This is because you provoked her, Arsil!”

Before Naidryan could draw her arrow, she was struck in the ribs by Lucy.

“Huk…!”

Crackle

“…Aaaah- kk!”

Having been hit with full force, the archer couldn’t even scream properly as she rolled on the floor.

The pain of not being able to scream despite the agony was beyond imagination.

“Youuu-!!”

Arsil launched a flying kick with a roar.

“Would I seriously hit a comrade?!”

But Lucy immediately dodged and punched Arsil down.

The saint fell onto the marble floor, landing on her back first.

“Kheuk!”

“Comrade? Do you think that will work on me?”

Seeing Lucy raising her foot, Arsil quickly rolled to the side to create distance.

Despite being barefoot, Lucy’s calf sank into the ground, breaking the floor tiles.

“You all… are unnecessary… I only need Lin.”

[Great, let’s go partner! Shall we try a one-hit kill?]

“…Alright.”

She raised one hand to measure the distance to Arsil, while letting the other arm holding Abyss hang down.

The black aura began to swirl like a storm around Abyss.

Tsuaaaaaaaa-!!

A bizarre noise, different from when drawing holy power, could be heard.

Naidryan was incapacitated, and Arsil had injured her back and couldn’t move easily.

“Are you trying to destroy the imperial palace…?”

“No?”

“Then stop now…”

“I’m going to destroy everything except Lin and me.”

“You crazy bitch!”

Hastily drawing up holy power, Arsil couldn’t decide.

Should she attack the hero with this to prevent destruction? Or should she heal herself first and definitely buy time through hand-to-hand combat?

Meanwhile, Lucy, having finished charging, raised Abyss like a bell.

“Lucy, please!”

“I don’t need your pleas.”

Blood vessels bulged on her forearm and muscles stood out.

With all this strength, one swing would end everything.

As Abyss smiled grimly, anticipating the moment of destruction, a clear and cheerful voice interrupted between Arsil and Lucy.

“Letter~!!!!! Um… the recipient is our hero Luciana Estel! The sender is… just ‘Hero Party Porter’! Is the hero here? Letter! A letter from the porter!”

Tsuaaa….

“Me, me! It’s me! I’m Luciana Estel!”

As if by magic, the fully charged black aura disappeared, and Lucy jumped up and down like a child receiving candy, waving her hand at the world postman.

“Yes! Here it is. Well, since the recipient is so famous, we’ll skip verification, and is the sender a person with black bushy hair wearing a strange mask?”

“Yes, that’s right! He’s my only ally!”

“You two must be very close~?”

“Hehe.”

Smiling brightly, Lucy carefully opened the letter handed by the postman.

And after seeing the first line, Lucy couldn’t read any further.

[To my beloved Lucy.]

“Hehe… I… I… love you too, Lin… hehe…”

Those words, repeated countless times to herself, would never reach him.

Lucy, crying with joy she couldn’t contain, waved the letter at Arsil.

“Look at this~. It’s from Lin to me~.”

“That crazy bitch…”

While healing Naidryan who was coughing up blood, Arsil became completely fed up with the hero.

“Ah, are you perhaps High Elf Naidryan?”

“The one lying here is Naidryan.”

“I see. Um… there’s also a letter for Naidryan, so I’ll come back when she recovers.”

“Is that one also from the porter?”

“Are you the recipient?”

“No, not exactly…”

“Then I cannot tell you.”

Arsil couldn’t press further since it was a fair point, and focused on healing the archer.

Or at least, she tried to.

“To my beloved Lucy… To my beloved Lucy… To my beloved Lucy…”

Between the physically broken Naidryan and the mentally broken Lucy, Arsil heaved a deep, deep sigh.