A Popular Hero Without Limbs
Luciena Estelle.
The protagonist of Arrogant Saga.
Perhaps because she hailed from a ruined noble family of the Empire, she had been a mere soldier—one who possessed an easygoing personality that paid no heed to formality, and a natural talent that granted her formidable swordsmanship.
It was, in a way, a natural progression for someone like her to stand out during the first demon invasion and proudly become the Hero, chosen by the Holy Sword, Hnoni.
Among the game's players, the protagonist, Lucy, enjoyed unrivaled popularity.
Part of it was her appearance—her charming red hair tied in a ponytail, her tomboyish expressions, and a figure that, though usually hidden beneath her breastplate, boasted a voluptuous chest, a slender waist, and wide, flared hips. But more than anything, it was her dialogue, which perfectly voiced the players' inner thoughts, that accounted for her massive popularity.
"Am I your errand girl? How many times does this make that I have to go hunt monsters alone? What are your soldiers even doing?"
"You want me to buy something from the shop across the street? I'm the Hero, you know? You want me to run a grocery errand instead of fighting demons? Are you rich? Are you going to give me a massive reward?"
"Wait, you fell into darkness all because of a misunderstanding you had by yourself, and now you're blaming the villagers? I can't let this slide. Your childhood friend is still waiting for you, but if you two get married, her life will be ruined. I'll break the news to her gently, so you just die right here."
"If you're going to tag along on an escort quest, not swing your sword even once, draw all the aggro to get yourself beaten up, and drag a horde of enemies back to me, just go home. What? It's your family heirloom, so you have to retrieve it yourself? Fine, I'll just take that heirloom. Why don't you try retrieving it from me instead?"
It was a question that players of any game couldn't help but harbor.
What on earth can these quest-giving NPCs actually do?
Why do they give me these ridiculous quests?
Yet, swallowing one's tears and pushing through the annoyance to clear the story was the fate of all gamers, regardless of the genre.
Lucy was a beautiful heroine who scratched that itch, giving voice to the players' deepest frustrations through her dialogue.
However, even the players had to admit that Lucy's betrayal in the DLC was a long time coming.
Just as Reinhold had pointed out, she had constantly complained about the high-ranking officials of the Empire. She had repeatedly engaged in behavior that could only be seen as treasonous, frequently muttering about replacing or eliminating the Emperor and his key ministers.
Yet, Lucy wasn't always so harsh throughout the game.
Though she seemed like a total tomboy, raising her affinity and entering a romantic relationship revealed a classic tsundere side, creating a delightful gap moe.
At her core, she was affectionate toward her companions, quietly looking out for them. Beneath her blunt speech and bold actions lay a warm heart.
Above all, despite her grumbling, she always completed her quests diligently.
She also took special care of her companions.
She bonded with the Saint, Arciel, who had a mouth just as foul as hers, by sharing that she, too, had grown up in poverty, allowing them to understand each other.
Though she initially clashed with Nydrian, the High Elf burdened by the heavy responsibilities of her clan, Lucy eventually opened up to her. She confessed how difficult it was to bridge the gap between her true self and the expectations placed on her as the Hero, establishing a deep, mutual understanding.
As for the nearly emotionless mage, Tigria, Lucy would remember the items she stared at or the small snacks she found tasty and quietly gift them to her. Their relationship grew so trusting that she even managed to elicit a rare "thank you" from the mage.
And then, there was Reinhold.
The blonde, blue-eyed shield knight had bypassed Lucy's high aesthetic standards—her notorious weakness for good looks. From the moment she first saw him, her heart had fluttered. He was her first love, the one who had made her show her sweet, affectionate side first.
She had made no secret of her feelings, and when the Hero's party was formed and they eventually became engaged, she had been so overjoyed that she wept tears of happiness in secret.
He had protected Lucy devotedly.
He wouldn't even hold her hand lightly. When she dropped hints about taking their relationship further, he would reassure her, saying they should wait until peace returned so they could love each other fully without any anxiety about the future.
The most physical contact they had ever shared was a brief kiss on her forehead—given to soothe her jealousy when she caught him staring too intently at Renasien during their audience with the Emperor and the Crown Princess.
Even that had been enough to keep Lucy awake all night with a blushing face. Regardless, Reinhold was the fiancé who reminded her of her duty and stood as a reliable shield for her, both on the battlefield and in daily life.
She shared no real narrative with the porter.
In the game, they barely interacted, to the point where there were even comedic scenes where she forgot he was even there.
Needless to say, it was even worse in this reality, where the reincarnated porter was treated with utter contempt.
But how did things actually turn out?
Led by Reinhold, the man she had loved more than life itself, every single one of the companions she had treated so warmly betrayed her.
After severing her limbs one by one, they had busied themselves with lining their own pockets, their faces twisted in greed. Taking advantage of the chaos, the porter—whom she had always ignored and mistreated—had rescued her and fled.
It had all happened in the blink of an eye, but to Lucy, everything had seemed to move in slow motion.
Every single moment, from falling off the cliff to being submerged in the freezing water, played out in slow motion.
Yet her vacant eyes wandered through the void, unable to decide what they should even look at.
Splash!
The water was dark.
Rather than complete pitch-blackness, it was filled with a murky, turbid filth.
Against that filth, Lucy projected her past.
The days spent laughing, chatting, and bickering with her companions.
The days spent with the man she had loved from the bottom of her heart.
But tracing those memories back only led to the Hero's party, cutting off her limbs with cold, indifferent expressions.
It was a terrible nightmare.
A nightmare so vivid that the pain felt entirely real.
Let's close my eyes.
To wake up from a dream, I must close my eyes and fall asleep inside it.
When I wake up in my bed, I'll ask my companions.
If they were upset with me about something.
Now that the Demon King had been subjugated, they had all the time in the world.
They were companions she truly loved and cherished.
If they said they disliked something about her, she was willing to think twice before speaking and even fix her hot temper.
If I just close my eyes for a brief moment and open them, everything will go back to normal.
As if her wish had been granted, the moment she closed her eyes, she felt her body floating to the surface of the water.
Lucy let go of her consciousness with a faint smile.
She felt warmth.
She heard the crackling of burning firewood.
She also realized she was buried deep in soft bedding.
Of course.
It had just been a terrible nightmare.
She wanted to sleep a little longer, but a savory aroma wafted from somewhere, disturbing her rest.
Thinking it might be mealtime, Lucy opened her eyes and tried to sit up.
Or rather, she tried to.
"Ugh?!"
Something was wrong.
Her arms were short.
Her legs were short, too.
The parts of her body touching the ground burned with searing pain.
"Aaagh!!!"
"Hero?!"
Unable to bear the agony, she screamed.
A burning pain spread from the stumps of her limbs throughout her entire body.
As she thrashed around with her halved limbs, Rin, who had been boiling porridge, gasped in shock and rushed over to check on her.
"It hurts! It hurts!!!"
"Hero! Breathe!"
"Cough! Reinhold!!!"
Rin was just as panicked.
The sun had set, and the night was deep.
It was the hour when creatures that only active in the dark roamed the forest.
In such a situation, the combination of a campfire and Lucy's ear-splitting screams was bound to draw unwanted attention.
"It hurts!!!!!"
"Hero!!"
Her thrashing limbs had already been cleanly cauterized and sealed by Tigria's fire.
Yet, she writhed in agony, tormented by phantom limb pain.
Ideally, Rin would have let her scream and tire herself out until she calmed down on her own, but they were fugitives.
Left with no choice, Rin gathered her torso into his arms.
"No!"
"Shh, shh."
"Who are you?!"
"I'm the porter."
"Where is Reinhold? Where is my fiancé?!"
"Don't you remember? The shield knight and the rest of the Hero's party betrayed you."
"What...?"
"They cut off your limbs, claiming you were a threat to the imperial authority."
Her thrashing stopped.
Lucy stared at the porter with a look of utter disbelief.
"Are you back to your senses now?"
It wasn't a dream.
"My arms..."
Though the lengths of her two arms differed, they shared one thing in common: both had been severed above the elbow.
"My legs..."
Tragically, both of her legs had been cut off somewhere between her thighs and her pelvis.
In the end, the Hero Lucy had been reduced to a limbless cripple, without even joints to move.
"Ah..."
A hoarse lament escaped her lips, but no tears fell.
Her eyes, as dry as if the river had swept away all her tears, only grew more parched.
"Don't worry. You are alive."
"Alive?"
At the porter's whisper, Lucy filled her empty heart with rage.
"What's the point of just being alive when I'm a useless cripple?"
"Being alive is important. It means you have a foundation to start anew."
"How the hell am I supposed to start anything in this state?!"
"That depends on your choice. What is it that you want to do?"
"I want to die."
"I can't let you do that."
"You said it depended on my choice."
"I don't mean to hold it over you, but I saved your life. So please, don't talk about dying right in front of the person who went through the trouble of saving you."
"Did I ever ask you to save me?"
"You didn't look like you wanted to die."
"I didn't know you were such a smooth talker."
"Indeed. I believe this is the longest conversation we've ever had."
Her strength drained away.
Lucy couldn't understand why she was calmly conversing with the porter in this state.
She had expected her heart to ache and burn with more agony, but her mind was already beginning to adapt and accept the situation with frustrating speed.
Yet, that didn't mean the emptiness in her chest had vanished.
"What am I supposed to do now?"
"There are many things."
"I wasn't asking you."
"Revenge, for instance."
"Revenge... Ha..."
With this body?
The only part of her body left that could wield a weapon was her mouth.
Was she supposed to bite their throats out?
"I will help you."
"How can a non-combatant like you help?!"
"We just need to restore your body."
Her eyes trembled at the unexpected answer.
"Restore limbs that have already been severed and cauterized?"
"Yes."
"How?"
"In the north, somewhere among the peaks of the Frozen Mountains, lies the absolute recovery potion brewed and blessed by the Goddess herself."
The Elixir.
When it came to curing status ailments and healing all ills, the Elixir was the absolute rule of any fantasy game.
"Liar..."
"I am not lying."
"You're lying!"
Banging her head against his chest, Lucy fell back into a panic.
"This is all a dream."
She denied it.
"A dream that's just hard to wake up from!"
She denied it again and again.
To her,
"Let's say it is,"
Rin agreed.
"You were betrayed in a dream that's hard to wake up from."
Then, he forced her to face the reality within the dream.
"Then let's get revenge. Since it's just a dream anyway, wouldn't it leave a bad taste in your mouth to let them get away with it?"
He gently laid her back down on the bedding, then turned around to apply medicine to himself.
The spot where she had headbutted him was already turning a deep shade of purple.
"Who are you?"
He felt like a stranger.
Had his expression behind the mask always been like this?
The faint smile playing on his lips even as she wailed in agony, and those slightly drooping, weary eyes—everything about him felt utterly foreign to Lucy.
"I'm just a porter. Though I do technically carry the title of being part of the Hero's party."
Yet, for the brief moment he gave that answer, his face looked incredibly bitter.