At This Rate, Rin Will Die
She had lost count of how many mornings she had greeted in the Zramun Archipelago.
In the private room provided by the Protec family, Lucy spent every single day doing nothing but nursing Rin.
She would gaze at him endlessly, brushing back his fallen bangs, listening to the beat of his heart. When sleepiness overtook her, she would curl up against his chest and drift off.
No one else set foot in this room besides Lucy.
It was a tyrannical arrangement, in a way, but no one dared protest against the savior of the archipelago.
If anything, the islanders only left gifts wishing for their swift recovery, knowing the battle had been fierce enough to leave every member of the Hero's party—save for the Hero herself—severely wounded. There was not a shred of resentment.
But to Lucy, none of it mattered.
Even now, whenever she closed her eyes, that desperate moment replayed vividly in her mind.
"Why won't the bleeding stop?!"
No matter how much holy power she channeled into him, Rin's bleeding would not cease.
Whenever they tried to remove his mask to examine him properly, Lucy had flown into a frenzy to stop them.
Having learned from the incident in Waltercroix that Arciel and Rin already knew each other, Lucy absolutely refused to let them see his face.
As Rin's condition failed to improve despite her pouring every ounce of her strength into him, Arciel had cried out in despair.
An innocent man was dying because of her mistake.
Even if it was just a porter she had looked down upon, the crushing weight of guilt was immense.
"Medic!"
Reinhold had screamed himself hoarse calling for a healer, desperate to prevent a death within the Hero's party.
"Luciena, please! We can't assess his condition properly without taking off the mask!"
"Try it, and I'll tear off your head instead of your legs, Nydrian!"
Lucy and Nydrian had bickered back and forth, preventing a proper examination.
With the situation only deteriorating into chaos, the mage had stepped forward.
"Move. Blood loss is critical. Transfusion required first."
Tigria had cataloged the blood types of every party member and kept emergency supplies ready since their journey to defeat the Demon King.
Her preparation finally bore fruit.
After setting up a blood transfusion on one side and an IV on the other, Tigria used magic to diagnose the inside of Rin's abdomen.
X-ray, Penetrate, Detect, Shock
Using a brief burst of high-voltage electricity to instantly cauterize the bleeding internal organs, Tigria wiped the sweat from her brow and stepped back.
"The bleeding stopped..."
Relieved that Rin was finally out of immediate danger, Lucy burst into tears.
"Why did my holy power do nothing...?"
Arciel muttered blankly, devastated by the fact that she had been useless until the very end.
A wave of regret washed over her for her sheer incompetence, unable to clean up the mess she herself had caused.
"It is because of the demonic energy corroding the porter's arm,"
Tigria explained as she packed the emergency medical supplies back into her inventory.
"Demonic energy and holy power are polar opposites. Above all, since the demonic energy is the greatest threat to his life, the holy power was entirely consumed just trying to suppress it."
"Then it should have at least purified it, but there wasn't even a sign of that."
"It is the Demon King's demonic energy. And over two months have passed since then. It will not be easily purified."
And all of this is just a hypothesis.
With those final words, the mage collapsed onto the floor.
Having had her neck bitten by Denarua and subjected to various mental assaults, Tigria was utterly exhausted.
Indeed, not a single person there was not running on empty.
"If it pleases you, I would like to offer our saviors proper lodgings,"
"If it means staying with those bastards, I'll pass. Besides, you drew a blade against my companion. I don't need anything from you."
Gendry bowed his head at Lucy's sharp rebuff.
Ganal, now freed from her hypnosis, stepped in to defend him.
"Please, honored savior, appease your anger. If you wish, we can prepare separate rooms for everyone. Once you have recovered your strength, we will offer a formal apology."
A strange gleam flickered in Reinhold's eyes.
He had heard she was the daughter of an influential family on the archipelago who had been hypnotized into acting as a maid, and her elegant, archaic way of speaking pleased him.
If nothing else, he wished Linasien could speak with such noble grace.
"The one who deserves your gratitude is not me, but the Hero."
"Are you truly the Hero, Lady Luciena Estelle? I was deeply saddened to hear that you perished along with the Demon King, so to see you safe and sound is a true blessing..."
"Hey, do you people only express gratitude with your mouths?"
The 4th Hero, Luciena Estelle.
To reiterate, one of the reasons she ranked first in the Arrogant Saga popularity polls was her unfiltered, foul-mouthed tongue.
"I said I don't need it. I only need a place where my companion can lie down. I'm leaving."
"S-Savior!"
As Lucy turned to leave, the mage tried to persuade her.
"The porter needs a comfortable place to lie down. He has multiple fractures in his left ribs, and his internal organs are damaged. Breathing will be difficult for him."
"And?"
"We will find lodging elsewhere entirely."
"..."
"Judging by the actions of the Demon Hero party, the porter is a person of utmost importance."
A person of utmost importance.
Those words left a bitter taste in Reinhold's mouth.
Lucy had already stolen the spotlight by vanquishing the demons with a flashy display of the Holy Sword. Now, with every sign pointing to the porter's significance, there was no way Reinhold or the imperial authority could garner any attention.
"Bring us to the best room. Let no one else enter. I will be the only one by his side."
"Yes, Lady Hero!"
But he could endure this.
Had he not tolerated the nauseating position of being Lucy's fiancé for over two years?
The one who stood victorious in the end would claim all the glory.
With that in mind, his current patience was a virtue necessary for ultimate success.
Watching Lucy and the members of the Protec family walk away, Reinhold gave Tigria an order.
"Send word to the imperial palace. Tell them we have found the Hero."
Rin showed no signs of waking up.
However, the physician brought by the Protec family assured her that it was mostly due to extreme fatigue and accumulated stress.
Lucy took complete charge of caring for the unconscious Rin.
She adjusted his body to prevent sores and wiped down his bare skin with a damp towel.
"Our roles have completely reversed."
Back then, Rin was the one who washed me.
Perhaps those days when she had no limbs were actually her happiest.
The days when it was just the two of them, when she could whine and lean on him to her heart's content.
The days when his eyes were fixed solely on her.
Knock, knock.
"It is Tigria."
"Piss off."
"Understood."
The Hero's party visited almost every single day.
They were shameless, insisting that now was the time to join forces once again.
"Luciena, I know our very existence is unforgivable to you. But the current situation is..."
"Say one more word, and I will march straight to the Elven Forest and burn it to the ground."
"..."
Nydrian never came back after that.
"U-Um, I just... wanted to say I'm sorry."
"When are you going to give me your right arm?"
"..."
Arciel stopped visiting as well.
"Lucy, it's been a while since we talked alone—*cough!*"
"Who the hell is Lucy to you?!"
Reinhold, fully aware that he might die if they crossed paths, couldn't bring himself to send the mage again. He had come in person, only to be grabbed by the collar the moment Lucy kicked the door open, and beaten to a bloody pulp.
"What were you thinking, calling her by her nickname?"
"...Didn't you call her that too?"
Thanks to everyone jumping in to hold her back, he was barely rescued before his skull could be cracked open.
When Arciel applied her holy power to heal him and asked him that question with utter disdain, Reinhold wanted to die of embarrassment.
But when pushed to the brink, people were bound to do crazy things.
Still, it wasn't entirely without harvest.
The fact that Lucy had controlled her strength while beating Reinhold meant she had no actual intention of killing the Hero's party.
In other words, she recognized the necessity of the party but simply couldn't bring herself to accept them emotionally.
From the next day onward, Reinhold sent Tigria.
Knock, knock.
"It is Tigria."
"Piss off."
"Understood."
She came once a day, at the exact same time.
Perhaps because Tigria had saved Rin, Lucy only told her to get lost without inflicting any actual harm.
When a week had passed like this, the Demon Sword Abyss spoke to Lucy.
"Shut up."
"I just need to get stronger."
"I just need to become overwhelmingly stronger."
She could not refute it.
Left speechless, Lucy gently caressed Rin's bare face.
Abyss had already enveloped the room in a dark shroud, ensuring no one could spy on them.
Lucy knew it too.
Alone, she was powerless.
Even if she stayed glued to Rin's side, enemies would somehow breach her defenses to harm him.
The only ones she could cooperate with right now were the Hero's party.
Her mortal enemies.
Her violently pounding heart urged her.
Kill them all. Especially Reinhold—rip him apart vertically.
Her head, heated by her racing heart, chimed in.
Yes, wipe them out as an example and go to Waltercroix. Protect Rin there with Labin.
Standing beside the thief might make her look pathetic, but there was no one who would guard Rin as fiercely as Labin.
Even if it wounded her pride, it was a hundred times better than Rin getting hurt.
She had reached a conclusion.
Slaughter.
But as she gripped the Demon Sword, Abyss spoke to her with unusual gravity.
"My decision is made."
"Spit it out. Now."
Knowing the information could trigger a complete rampage, Abyss grew tense.
"Go on."
Lucy did not respond for a long time.
Only when Abyss was about to writhe in frustration did she whisper softly.
"It's not fair."
"Why does only Rin... have to suffer like this? He struggled because of me throughout the entire subjugation of the Demon King, and even after saving me, he's done nothing but sacrifice himself!"
She wanted to swing her fists, but doing so might reduce the mansion to rubble.
Clenching her fists so hard they bled was all she could manage.
"It's too cruel! What on earth is the Goddess doing?! I don't care about my limbs being severed! I already know full well that I'm a pathetic bitch! But what about Rin? What did Rin do wrong? Shouldn't she at least save him?!"
Watching the man she loved suffer continuously was far harder to bear than the pain of having her own limbs torn apart.
Lucy screamed toward the empty air, toward the heavens.
"My life? I'll give it up as many times as she wants! It belonged to Rin from the very beginning anyway. So please, just save Rin!"
"The second... Even during the time of the second Hero, the Goddess herself stepped in and wiped out the world, and she said she wouldn't stand idly by next time either! Was that all a lie?!"
Abyss's voice sank low.
An irresistible force compelled her to listen to the Demon Sword.
"She moved? What did she do? Putting Rin on a fragile life support with the Holy Sword?"
Do you know?
That there was only one single possibility where you could survive after defeating the Demon King and make it all the way here?
Once you learn the whole truth, will you still be able to remain the arrogant Luciena Estelle you once were?
You will become worse than the Demon Heroes, and you will never be able to go back.
Your only ally.
Your greatest companion.
"..."
Those final words forced Lucy to make her decision.
Time passed.
Night fell once more, and yet another morning—she had lost count of how many—dawned over the Zramun Archipelago.
Knock, knock.
"It is Tigria."
"What do you want?"
Startled by the unexpected response, Tigria stood in a daze for a moment before quickly adding:
"We must join forces."
"Why?"
"Since the Demon Heroes have revealed themselves to the world, an era of war will return."
"Why?"
Lucy asked again, clearly unsatisfied with the answer.
After a moment's hesitation, Tigria decided to speak as honestly as possible.
"If not us, the world will perish. I... do not want to be destroyed."
Was the mage always capable of speaking like this?
Lucy had thought she shared many conversations with her companions during their journey to defeat the Demon King, but there were still so many sides to them she didn't know.
Then again, it's because I never knew what they were truly thinking that I ended up with my limbs chopped off.
"Bring the entire Hero's party to this door."
"...Understood!"
Having finally opened the door to negotiations, the mage ran swiftly back to their lodgings.
The joy radiating from her receding footsteps irritated Lucy.
To soothe her soured mood, she lay down beside Rin.
His closed eyes felt so cruel.
As she rested her head against his chest to listen to his heartbeat, a rough hand wrapped around her shoulder.
"Ah..."
It was Rin.
"You've made a difficult decision."
"It's for you."
"Why? Because I asked you to save the world?"
"Yes. Because it's what you wanted, Rin."
"I see."
He pulled her shoulder closer, warmer and gentler.
"I'm sorry, Lucy. For forcing you to do something you hate."
"No, not at all. What my only ally, my greatest companion, my Rin wants... is what I want too."
His voice was sweet.
Hearing his voice for the first time in a week, tears welled up in her eyes.
"Can you hold me a little tighter?"
"Yeah."
"More. Harder."
"Like this?"
"Yes. I love it."
Lucy buried herself completely in his embrace.
Rin whispered to her.
"Are you ready to go save the world?"
"Of course."
Because saving the world meant saving Rin.
I'll fix everything so that you never have to suffer because of my stupidity again.
When that time comes, will I be allowed to show you these shameful feelings of mine?
Even if only contempt and rejection await me at the end.
I...
Rin...
You...
Bang, bang!
"Luciena! It's Reinhold. May I come in—"
"Everyone except you, get the hell in!"
Ah, right.
I absolutely have to kill that shield knight.
That comes first.
Lucy's eyes flashed crimson for an instant.