Enter Labin the Thief
The man was none other than a member of the Thief Guild.
As mentioned before, the setting of Chapter 2, the commercial city of Waltercroix, was a place ruled by a coalition of various guilds.
The Thief Guild was one of the pillars of that coalition.
To progress through Chapter 2's story properly, players actually had to talk to every single NPC at the entrance of Waltercroix to find a member of the Thief Guild.
This was due to the game developer's notoriously unfriendly design.
If you mindlessly approached the guards inspecting people at the city gates, they would only repeat the same line telling you to wait in line. The only hint was a single Thief Guild NPC standing suspiciously alone in the bushes.
Rin, who had wasted a whole hour on this back when he was Lee in his past life, knew that this was the only way to enter Waltercroix.
He had tried to find another way if possible, but in the end, he gave up and conformed.
Since he usually complained about how the details differed from the game, he couldn't really complain about things proceeding as they originally did.
And to be clear, the details of Chapter 2 had already changed.
The password Rin had just spoken to the man didn't exist in the game.
Normally, players had to hand over an exorbitant amount of money or bargain with their items to gain cooperation.
Of course, things would likely have been different if they had chosen the Thief as their final party member and successfully cleared DLC Chapter 1.
But since Lee, the reincarnated soul, had only played as the Porter, there was no way for him to know.
In the first place, the Thief's role was to die in Lucy's stead when she was betrayed, allowing her to be rescued, so it was questionable if she could have even made it this far.
"Stop right there!"
As they followed the man into the sewers on the outskirts of Waltercroix, a girl dressed as an adventurer blocked their path.
"The Saintess?"
"A total bitch."
"Who's that?"
"It's Ziol, the outer district informant. You know my face, do you really have to be so strict?"
The girl asked, and the man answered.
Lucy whispered to Rin in an impressed voice.
"I really like that password."
Rin only smiled, though he had his reasons.
When Ziol grumbled, the girl frowned and scolded him.
"For a thief, you complain too much. Hiding our identities and disguising our faces is our daily life."
"Yeah, yeah. Should I pin a medal on you, my lady Intelligence Officer? I guess those recruited through special combat trials really are different."
"Ziol!"
"And you, Officer, stop blabbing my name. Those guys will remember it."
"Who are they?"
The girl lightly ignored Ziol's protest and gestured toward Lucy and Rin with her chin.
Ziol flared up, but he didn't want to inhale any more of the sewer's characteristic stench.
"The ones from the password."
"Really?! There are two of them?"
"No, just the guy over there."
"Ah, makes sense. The Boss wouldn't be bisexual."
"Don't say things like that in front of the Boss."
"So what? People badmouth the king when he's not around."
She refused to lose a single argument.
Ziol, the veteran, did not like this new recruit who had entered through the special trial.
And he liked this sewer even less.
"I'm done here. Follow the Intelligence Officer from now on."
Before Lucy and Rin could even reply, Ziol turned around and walked away.
Their hospitality is terrible. Should I tell her about it?
No, that would just be unnecessary meddling. I'll pass.
"This way, please."
The girl called the Intelligence Officer at least spoke politely.
"You smell."
But this time, Lucy was the rude one.
It wasn't a groundless accusation; the girl was covered in patches of slimy soot, and the sewer stench clinging to her was twice as strong.
"It can't be helped. I'm more of a sweeper than a guide."
"A sweeper?"
When Rin asked, the girl sighed.
"All sorts of creatures invade the sewers. If we leave them alone, they'll follow the waterways right into Waltercroix and cause a ruckus. The guards refuse to come down here because of the smell, so someone has to squat here and clean them out periodically."
"That sounds tough."
"Yeah, well..."
The girl, who was used to hearing nothing but sarcasm, wore a subtle expression.
Lucy didn't like that.
"Just guide us quickly. The smell is giving me a headache."
"I'm sorry, but this is my maximum speed. Because..."
The girl suddenly flicked her hand toward Lucy.
In the blink of an eye, a thrown weapon flew past and pierced a bat behind Lucy.
Thud!
The monster bat exploded, spraying its blood all over Lucy.
"Since I'm protecting you from the shadows, this is the best I can do."
Rin hadn't noticed because she was leading the way, but the girl's arms and hands were moving incessantly.
If one listened closely, the wet sounds of flesh tearing and weapons embedding themselves could be heard.
"Oh, really?"
Lucy wasn't about to back down.
Before anyone knew it, she had caught a bat and casually tossed it at the girl.
"Ugh?!"
Though it looked like a careless throw, she had precisely targeted the moment the girl created an opening by throwing a weapon at other monsters.
The flustered girl tried to hastily retreat, but before she could, the edge of Lucy's hand sliced through the bat.
Slash!
Why did the edge of a bare hand make such a sound?
It was cut so cleanly that the bat only split in two and began to bleed sluggishly after hitting the ground.
"If you did it like me, your clothes wouldn't get dirty, and you wouldn't smell so bad."
Staring blankly at the bat, the girl smirked.
"Then why don't you do it?"
"What did you say?"
"Lucy, stop!"
"Are you taking her side right now?"
"I'm not taking sides. You started it, Lucy."
"You saw her splash blood on me first!"
"You provoked her with your words first."
In the past, he wouldn't have dreamed of speaking to her like this.
But he had to stop her from causing unnecessary trouble.
"Why are you taking her side?"
Lucy felt deeply hurt by this.
"Rin, you're my only ally."
You know I'm already yours.
"You're my best companion."
You know that if you tell me not to do something, I'll end up listening to you.
"You're my...!"
"I'm sorry."
Surprisingly, it was the girl who bowed her head.
Yet, Lucy felt a cold chill settle in her chest.
Her female intuition was telling her.
This girl apologized on purpose.
"You are important guests, and I was lacking."
"You don't need to go that far."
"Please, just don't tell the Boss!"
"Alright. I won't say anything, so please raise your head."
"Really?"
Having achieved her goal, she stood up straight with a bright smile.
Lucy found the sight detestable.
Judging by the way she bickered with the man named Ziol, she wasn't the type to bow down without gaining something.
Above all, the fact that she was a 'woman' displeased her the most.
The only woman allowed to walk and talk alongside Rin had to be herself.
Rin wasn't ignorant of Lucy's inner thoughts.
If Lucy kept acting like this, their journey ahead would be anything but smooth.
Her obsession and dependency had crossed the line.
As he pondered how to resolve this, the Intelligence Officer gave him a quiet tip.
"You know, pushing her away too much will only backfire."
Before Lucy could say anything, the girl took the lead and walked ahead.
Rin tilted his head at her retreating figure.
Come to think of it, was there a character like that in the Thief Guild DLC?
There wasn't enough time to search his memories.
He had to soothe Lucy right now.
"Lucy."
"……."
It was no use. She was thoroughly sulking.
"Do you want to... hold hands?"
"……."
"It's pretty dark around here, so I thought it might be a good idea."
"……."
Though her mouth was shut tight, she kept glancing at his hand out of the corner of her eye.
Even if the advice came from a suspicious thief of an Intelligence Officer, it was true that Rin had been keeping too much distance lately.
Since he had distanced himself even more than before right after recovering, he figured it was natural for Lucy's obsession to worsen. Gathering his courage, he reached out to her.
"It's because I want to hold it."
It was an action taken with extreme caution and great resolve.
Saying I want to hold it... that's so self-conscious. Saying that to a girl, there's no way it'll work—
Squeeze.
It worked.
"Don't wash tonight. I'm going to sleep while breathing in your scent."
It was super effective!
"I scolded you earlier because you were too worked up. I'm sorry."
"...It's not something you need to apologize for, Rin."
It's all that girl's fault.
Still, Rin had been the one to ask to hold hands first.
With just that, Lucy's sorrow melted away like snow.
Rin, on the other hand, felt nothing but awkwardness.
No matter how obsessed and dependent she was, was it really okay to act like this with a girl—especially the leader of the Hero's party?
Once Lucy completely broke free from this obsession and dependency later on, wouldn't she look back on these actions with embarrassment?
It was always thoughts like these that kept Rin at a distance.
During their journey to subjugate the Demon King, the Hero's party had openly loathed even touching him.
"Alright, we've arrived!"
In front of a blackened, discolored door, the girl knocked in a specific pattern.
"This connects directly to the guild house. Once you go in, you'll be guided straight to the Boss."
"Thanks."
"Don't mention it."
The girl winked playfully and added a postscript.
"Be sure to tell me how it went later, okay?"
"How it went?"
"Consider it payment for me bowing my head first."
Of course.
Even that apology was calculated.