Ch.95Chapter 95. Even a Broken Clock is Right Twice a Day

Lucy was in a bad mood for many reasons.

Even though she knew Lin’s attention was elsewhere since they arrived at the Holy Kingdom, she had quietly followed along. But even after the confrontation with the Pope ended, he remained too busy handling the aftermath to catch a break.

Why was he taking care of those ungrateful people?

Yet Lucy couldn’t whine to him about it.

Because it was Lin’s choice to do so.

Though she was angry at their attitude of expecting him to take responsibility for them, she didn’t speak out or show her frustration because she herself had been saved by Lin’s kindness toward those in need.

She always fell asleep listening to his heartbeat, but Lucy had to admit she’d been feeling lonely lately.

Today was no different.

After the incident with Arsil’s vegetable porridge that everyone pretended not to notice, morning came and the sun rose high in the sky.

A single imperial legion from the Empire arrived at the Holy Kingdom.

“We come by order of His Excellency Duke Airan Dekarun, Acting Political Officer of the Empire and Commander-in-Chief of the Demon Army Front!”

The person leading the army was none other than Garin Dekarun, the Duke’s consort.

They quickly took control of the Holy Kingdom and created a respectful yet somewhat threatening atmosphere that made both the wealthy and common people comply.

Of course, this was possible because they had brought supplies as a relief measure.

Unfortunately, when they reported that the warehouses where money and food had been stored were emptied by former Holy Knights, Garin also looked troubled.

“Tch, what more do they want after taking the city without bloodshed?” Lucy grumbled from behind.

The mage quickly covered the hero’s mouth.

“Luciana, the army that came with Garin is Duke Dekarun’s private military force. It’s not the Empire itself.”

“Duke Dekarun is the only person who can stand against the Imperial Princess and the Shield Knight. It wouldn’t hurt to cooperate closely with him,” Lin added.

Lucy nodded obediently and kept quiet.

After that, everything was the same as before.

Lin prepared food for the people while Lucy organized the lines.

Ravin occasionally spoke with people in line, making jokes to ease their tension.

Some wealthy individuals, upon learning that Ravin was the ruler of the commercial city of Valtercrois, asked if they could migrate there and if he could help them settle.

“I’ll consider it positively. More capitalists and merchants in a commercial city are always welcome.”

All of this must have been decided after discussions with Lin.

Lucy knew that Lin and Ravin were having close discussions every night while she waited alone in the tent.

It couldn’t be helped.

Without combat, she had no use.

Was this how Lin felt during their journey to defeat the Demon King?

Lucy found herself caught in a wave of melancholy.

Time continued to pass quickly, and soon it was evening.

Lin made sandwiches for the first time in a while using jam and bread obtained from Garin.

Arsil snatched the sandwich Ravin handed her and devoured it instantly, crying and laughing like a madwoman.

So what Lucy had been holding at the Imperial Palace banquet was indeed made by Lin.

After reflecting on the past and wiping away her tears and the jam from her mouth, Arsil soon returned to her blank stare.

Yes, if there was one thing that bothered Lucy most, it was Arsil.

The reason she kept noticing her wasn’t complicated.

While the mage and the thief left her alone, wondering how long she would remain in that state, Lucy couldn’t stand Arsil’s presence out of irritation.

Being extremely sensitive to anything concerning Lin, Lucy had noticed that he occasionally checked on Arsil’s condition from a distance.

She wondered if the Saint was aware of this fact.

Finally, Lucy couldn’t ignore Arsil any longer and approached her.

Unlike with Lin, Arsil didn’t even glance at her this time.

Leaning against a tree trunk a short distance away, Lucy called out to her with an attitude.

“Hey.”

The hero was surprised by how much more hostile her own voice sounded than she had intended.

“Have you apologized to Lin for all your whining?”

“Leave me alone…”

She wanted to leave her alone.

But there was only one reason Lucy was meddling.

“You know what? Tigria and I still haven’t been forgiven by Lin.”

“…”

There was no response, but Arsil’s shoulders trembled noticeably.

The Saint knew well that the hero wouldn’t lie about something like this.

“That makes sense. I was the one who criticized and tormented him the most.”

She felt gloomy despite bringing up the topic herself.

She regretted mentioning it.

“It took a long time for him to even acknowledge that I had done something wrong, even though I’ve been begging for forgiveness ever since he saved me.”

Ironically, when they received that acknowledgment, both Lucy and Tigria had cried with joy.

Lucy realized once again that she still had a long way to go.

Her head hurt.

Who was she to give advice to anyone?

“So you should apologize to Lin as soon as possible, even if it’s difficult right now.”

She had said what she needed to say.

Lucy stood up.

“…Thank you.”

“Thank you? For what?”

“For saying that for my sake.”

What was this child talking about?

Lucy tilted her head in confusion.

“It’s not for you, it’s for Lin.”

“…What?”

“With or without you, with or without me, Lin is suffering enough. I’m telling you to apologize quickly and go your own way instead of lingering here in Lin’s sight and making him worry.”

From the beginning, Lucy had never cared about anything except Lin.

The reason she spoke to Arsil was because she knew Lin would suffer if things continued this way.

Speechless at Lucy’s coldness, Arsil finally found an outlet for her emptiness and hollowness—directing her anger at Lucy.

Flaring up, Arsil walked up to Lucy and pushed her.

“Huh?!”

“You… you knew everything from the beginning, didn’t you?”

“What are you talking about?”

“You knew! That the porter was Lin! That Lin and I had a deep relationship!”

“Deep relationship? I don’t know about that nonsense. Yes, I heard everything from Ravin when he scolded me not to mess with him. What kind of relationship you, Lin, and Ravin had. And what happened to that alley.”

She really did know.

Arsil felt her anger rising and gritted her teeth in disbelief.

“Why didn’t you tell me!”

“Lin didn’t want that! He said he would tell you himself when the time was right!”

“If you had told me earlier, I wouldn’t have done those crazy things in the Zramun Archipelago, at the Imperial Palace, or in the Holy Kingdom!”

Lucy was dumbfounded.

She wondered if Arsil was in her right mind saying such things.

Sadly, Arsil had stopped growing in every way except physically after being forcibly made a Saint and separated from the Lee family and Lin.

Trained only to defeat the Demon King and put on a pedestal, she remained childish without Lin beside her to guide her.

Of course, no one knew this fact, including the hero.

Lucy was starting to feel her temper rising.

“If you know, that means Tigria knows too, right?! How nice! While I was doing foolish things and growing distant from Lin without knowing anything, you must have been laughing at me!”

“Arsil!”

Lucy finally exploded.

“Look at Lin!”

Grabbing Arsil by the collar, Lucy began spewing facts that even she hadn’t wanted to face.

“Look at Lin whose arm is rotting because of our mistakes! Neither of us ever treated Lin as a comrade! You and I were the same. We are sinners. Because we hated him for not participating in battles after defeating the Demon King! So… we made him catch a unicorn with his bare hands… and let him be infected by demonic energy! You didn’t even heal him!”

“…I thought the power of demonic energy would disappear when the Demon King died.”

“Whether that’s true or not, you should have healed your comrade who was in pain! Even after that, even after coming all this way, you never once tried to find Lin or care about fixing his arm!”

Due to her shouting, the hero’s party members began emerging from their tents one by one.

First Ravin, then Tigria, and finally Lin.

Except for Naidrian who was out on patrol, everyone had come outside and was watching Lucy’s fierce outburst.

“You said my speech and behavior were rough and improper, that I wasn’t acting like a hero? Arsil, you’ve always rejected and ostracized anyone you didn’t consider your person in a way that’s not befitting of a Saint! This is the result! I lost my limbs, and you ended up like this!”

Panting heavily, Lucy noticed Lin’s quiet gaze and released Arsil’s collar.

This was bad.

She had shown Lin an unseemly sight.

How ugly and unpleasant it must be to see two sinners fighting.

However, contrary to Lucy’s concerns, Lin calmly called to her.

“Lucy, come here.”

“Lin, I…”

“Thank you.”

He meant it.

If it had been up to him, he probably wouldn’t have said anything and just let things be.

Lin was grateful to Lucy for saying what he had wanted to say.

Clink-clink-clink!

And for the first time in a long while, one of the chains wrapping around his heart turned red and broke free from its shackle.

Thanks to the warmth from that spot, Lin was able to suppress the anger he usually felt.

“Lin!”

Thanks to that warmth, he could endure the sight of Arsil kneeling on the ground and lowering her head shamefully.

“I was wrong…! I really didn’t know it was you. If I had known you were Lin, I would never have done that. It’s all my fault. Please… so…”

“Arsil.”

“Yes, Lin! Say anything you want. If you want to hit me, that’s fine too. I’m really sorry for hurting you in the archipelago…”

“Are you asking for my forgiveness because I was the porter of the hero’s party?”

Please say no.

I don’t want to be disappointed in you anymore, Arsil.

“Of course! If I had known it was you, I would never have done that. Never!”

But Arsil easily betrayed Lin’s last hope.

Lin closed his eyes.

If it hadn’t been for Lucy just now, several more of Lin’s chains would have corroded black.

“Arsil.”

“Yes, yes!”

Lin felt his mind growing distant.

“Then I can never forgive you.”

“Why? Why! Lin, I said I was wrong! I really was wrong. Tell me to do anything. I’ll do whatever you say! I have only you now. The alley is gone, and Ravin hates me because of my stupid actions…!”

Arsil crawled over and clung to Lin’s pant leg.

“I was wrong. I was wrong, so please…!”

“Haa…”

A sigh escaped him without his realizing it.

At that sigh, everyone froze.

“I’m so sick and tired of hearing ‘I was wrong’ by now.”

Those words of lament froze everyone in place.

“Ah…”

As Lin stepped back, Arsil fell forward pathetically.

The blood in her veins felt cold and sour.

An unbearable, heavy pain rose in her chest as if she had been struck by a massive hammer.

With even her tears dried up, the Saint despaired.

“Lin… please…”

“I found them!”

Just as she was about to make one final plea to Lin, Naidrian, who had been out on patrol, rushed urgently into the camp.

“I found them! The children from the slums!”

“You found them? Weren’t they sacrificed in the Pope’s magic?”

Surprised by this unexpected news, Ravin asked while trying to calm his surging emotions, and Naidrian nodded brightly.

“Yes, when all the adults disappeared that night, the priests who were with us sensed something was wrong and took the children to a nearby shelter!”

“That’s wonderful! Well done, Naidrian! Really well done!”

“It’s thanks to the priests.”

Naidrian, who had been hugging Ravin in joy, soon noticed the gloomy party members and Arsil sobbing on the ground, and carefully read the atmosphere.

“Um… did I come at a bad time…?”