About Gutter Alley, Part 1
“Why did you order them to beat the porter back there?”
“His eyes kept lingering on me. It was unpleasant, and he wasn't even listening to the Hero's speech. Since the Hero seemed uncomfortable, I ordered them to take action.”
“That porter is the Hero's sore spot! What woman wouldn't fall for a man who threw away his life to save her? The only reason she flies into a rage every time she sees me is to look good in front of him. And you had him beaten right before her eyes?!”
Rinacien felt a sudden wave of unfamiliarity as he raised his voice at her.
He, who was always composed and unflappable, was now visibly anxious.
That fact alone made her realize once again that even the Shield Knight was merely human.
When Reinphold showed such blatant disregard for her, Rinacien could not suppress her rising temper.
“He is nothing but a mere porter!”
“A mere porter? Whatever his role, he is strictly a member of the Hero's party!”
“I have never heard of a porter being in the Hero's party!”
“Excuse me...?”
“I said I never heard of it! Not even once!”
Only then did Reinphold recall how the porter would quietly slip away whenever the party stayed at the imperial palace or in cities, only to naturally rejoin them when it was time to depart.
Just as Rinacien said, he had never once shown his face in public.
Nor had the Hero's party ever spoken of him, or looked for him in front of others.
Suddenly, Reinphold realized that no one besides the Hero's party had been shocked by the beating of the porter. He understood that this was a checkmate born of coincidence and arrogance.
Even Reinphold himself, convinced of the Hero's death, had only reported that Lucy, with her limbs severed, had fallen down the cliff.
If the Magic Sword had witnessed this scene, it would have found it absurd.
For in the very early days of the Hero's party, Arciel had confronted the Crown Princess, demanding to know why she had assigned a civilian as their porter.
Even if it was a minor incident from two years ago, the fact that the Crown Princess had forgotten it showed just how authoritarian and self-absorbed she was. It also revealed that Reinphold, who had never properly mentioned the porter's existence, was of the exact same breed.
“A mere porter was scanning the Crown Princess's body and completely ignoring the Hero's speech. Was I supposed to just stand by and watch?”
“Please!”
Reinphold cut the Crown Princess off and shouted. Seeing Rinacien's startled eyes, he tried his best to calm down.
“Please, speak with dignity. Is it fitting for the Crown Princess to use the vocabulary of the lower classes?”
“Are you saying mere words can obscure my nobility? I am Rinacien Carlun!”
Reinphold's expression darkened. How dare a woman shout at a knight?
Yet, the veteran politician wore his mask of a smile and spoke gently.
“Because you are noble, you must perfectly master the art of surviving in a den of ravenous beasts eager to tear you down.”
“……”
“Forgive me. With the grand council approaching and the unpredictable variable of the Hero appearing, my anxiety got the better of my manners.”
Rinacien, who had been seething, took a deep breath and lifted her chin as the Shield Knight apologized.
“If you are to be my husband, conduct yourself accordingly.”
“I will keep that in mind.”
Though a vein throbbed in his temple, Reinphold bowed his head. In the end, he was still her subject.
Believing she had driven her point home, Rinacien softened her tone.
“We have much to discuss, but let us look over it once we have calmed our excitement.”
“You are entirely correct. I shall take my leave. Have a good night.”
“Wait.”
She caught his arm as he turned to leave, gently tracing it with her fingers. It was a gesture meant to show that despite her anger, her affection remained.
Touched by this feminine display, Reinphold softened.
The two shared a gaze before he kissed the Crown Princess's forehead and departed.
Tigria, observing them from a corner, quietly ran her pen across her notebook.
Even between those who genuinely love each other, there is a tendency to establish a hierarchy. Thus, they conflict, yet they leave room for reconciliation.
Is this truly genuine love?
Rin had a headache. Not a metaphorical one, but a literal pain where he had been struck.
This was a bit of a problem.
Though the swelling near his cheekbone burned, Rin left it alone and sank into his thoughts.
Surrounded by enemies on all sides, even with Lucy's strength, there was a limit to how much she could protect him from a multitude of foes. What should he do?
When he let out a sigh, Lucy reacted.
“Rin, what's wrong?”
Since they had just had a minor scuffle over treating his wound, Lucy was currently resting in the arms of Rin, who had refused treatment to the very end. She, too, was lost in thought.
I'm not helping at all.
Though she was improving little by little, she still had a long way to go. She hadn't expected them to strike Rin so openly earlier.
The harder she tried to do well, the stiffer her body became, and she let her guard down at the most critical moments. She felt frustrated and pathetic.
“It's nothing. Just feeling a bit suffocated.”
“Is it because I'm clinging to you? Should I move away?”
“No, it's not that. It's just... grand places like this don't really suit me.”
He found staying in a spacious room awkward, yet he seemed perfectly fine with a beauty like Lucy pressing against him. Though it was a bit ironic, Rin had practically given up resisting since Lucy clung to him so obsessively.
“Is this your first time in a place like this?”
He had stayed in a private room at the Protec estate, but since he had been unconscious from pain, that didn't count.
“Didn't we always stay in places like this whenever we were in a city or the imperial palace?”
“Uh... I stayed somewhere else.”
“Eh?”
“Huh?”
“Somewhere else...?”
Noticing the sudden anxiety in Lucy's demeanor, Rin offered a small smile to reassure her.
“A porter has to gather information, buy necessary supplies, and prepare for the next leg of the journey. If I stayed inside the palace or castle, my movements would be too restricted. I just found the right moments to stay at local taverns and move around freely.”
It was half by choice and half by force, but Rin concealed the full truth.
Thanks to that, he had been able to do many things—like selling miscellaneous items obtained from slaying monsters to fund Nydrian's research and sending her letters.
Strictly speaking, it wasn't a lie, so Lucy didn't suspect a thing.
Bang, bang, bang.
Someone knocked on the door. Very roughly.
Bang, bang, bang, bang!
They tried to ignore it, but the pounding continued relentlessly.
“Sigh, who on earth is it?!”
Annoyed that their private time was being interrupted, Lucy stomped over to the door and flung it open.
“……”
She slammed it shut again.
Her heart hammered against her ribs.
What was this? Why was she here?
Why now, of all times, in this place?
As she stood there in utter confusion, wondering if she had misseen, a voice dripping with coldness drifted from outside the door.
“Open up.”
Flinching, Lucy took several deep breaths before cautiously opening the door.
“Yo.”
The visitor slipped inside with casual nonchalance. Sensing the mischievous playfulness beneath her innocent demeanor, Rin smiled warmly.
“I've been waiting for a man like you.”
“Actually, me too—waaaah?!”
As she recited their old password from memory, she caught sight of Rin's swollen cheek and shrieked.
“What happened to your face?!”
Rin waved his hand dismissively.
“Hey, Labin.”
Here in the imperial capital of Caulan, inside the palace itself, stood Labin the Thief, the ruler of Waltercroix. Her ponytail, which had grown back before she knew it, swayed behind her.
“I must have been out of my mind to trust you with Rin.”
“…Sorry.”
Even the self-righteous Lucy was like a mouse before a cat in front of Labin.
She was the only love rival Lucy acknowledged, an insurmountable competitor.
Though they hadn't spoken of it, the small pouch Rin wore as a necklace contained a lock of Labin's ponytail.
Perhaps it was thanks to that lock of hair, filled with Labin's earnest wishes, that Rin had survived so much misfortune. As depressing as it was, even Lucy could not deny it.
“I'm glad I came straight here after hearing the news the moment I arrived. I can't believe you just left his injury untreated.”
Fretting over Rin, Labin quickly disinfected the wound with the medical kit she had brought and applied gauze. Once the treatment was finished, Rin, who had been severely swollen, felt relieved and immediately drifted off to sleep.
Right on Labin's lap.
It was a position Lucy desperately coveted, but she was too busy kneeling beside Labin, getting scolded.
“I believe you swore you would never let him get hurt?”
“Ugh...”
“Stop whimpering and speak. Do you think I'm Rin? Did you think I'd go easy on you if you started crying?”
“No...”
“Tell me everything that's happened so far.”
Lucy explained the whole story. Everything from the Zramun Archipelago to their arrival at the imperial palace.
“I thought it would be enough to stay by Rin's side and keep watch. I believed I could block any attack...”
“You should have considered every single variable. Your arrogance is showing. You shouldn't have just been on guard; you should have prevented it entirely.”
Labin deliberately kept her voice down, fearing she might wake the sleeping Rin. Even if she hadn't, Rin's body was forced into a deep sleep to recover from the demonic energy erosion, though Labin had no way of knowing that.
“I'll acknowledge your effort. But I told you that you had to do well. Effort without results is worthless.”
“What should I do? I want to do well, but I don't know how. It feels like I'm trapped in the dark. I want to protect Rin, but the enemies keep baiting me and breaking through. Please, tell me. I know you hate me, but treat me as a tool to protect Rin and teach me how. Please.”
In a way, Labin was the only person Lucy could trust besides Rin. It was possible because their interests aligned perfectly: Lucy lived for Rin, and Labin was a girl who loved Rin just as much.
“Rin kept staring at the Crown Princess?”
“Uncharacteristically, he didn't pay attention to anything else. He just stared at her.”
“Sigh...”
Was it lingering attachment, or was it hatred?
Rin had said he no longer liked Rina. That dry, unhesitating answer had surely been sincere, but who knew what he felt the moment they actually stood face-to-face.
The words of the one who had sent her here continued to echo in her mind.
“Trust no one but Rin. Not even me, and certainly not yourself. For Rin's sake, you must treat even yourself as expendable.”
She swallowed hard. Her throat felt parched.
“Me, those other girls... we're all just fools who owe Rin everything.”
She couldn't decide if she should tell her this.
“Let me tell you a story about the past.”
You had better listen. It is very, very important.
It concerns the first and final regret.
Following Labin's words, the hedonistic Magic Sword suddenly whispered. Lucy felt an ominous dread pooling in her chest at the mention of this story.
“It's about Rin, me, Arciel, and Rina. The Crown Princess, Rinacien.”
“You don't have a choice. Listen. And then, you must become a sword for Rin.”
Calmly, yet with heavy gravity, the past began to flow from Labin's lips.
Back to the days when they were young.
Back when Gutter Alley still existed.
Back to the time when they were still innocent boys and girls in those filthy streets.