“Is this really the shrine of the goddess…?”

It was a simple, rugged cave. 

Arsil felt more unease than awe as a holy woman when she saw the goddess’s emblem carved at the cave’s entrance, which was a straightforward, one-way structure.

Her unease was compounded by Naidrian, who had found the cave using tracking skills. 

The two instinctively knew that Lucy and Lin had been here.

“We’ve found it.”

Tigria, who had been casting detection magic, discovered signs of a fight between Lin and a succubus. 

Despite a day having passed, Lin’s blood formed a dark red puddle, the charred corpse of the succubus lay nearby, and shards of broken glass crushed underfoot.

“It appears to be from a vial of holy water.”

“I know.”

Because she had made it herself. 

Prayed to the goddess and blessed it to create the holy water. 

As far as Arsil knew, only one person in this world had holy water. 

The porter. 

Holy water wasn’t something that could be mass-produced like in a factory; only a saintess could create it with the goddess’s blessing, and it remained effective only as long as the current saintess was alive. 

She had spent a whole week making three vials of holy water, which she had entrusted to the party’s porter as a precaution.

“It seems to be a lower demon. The corpse remains…”

“The power: the demonic energy hasn’t dissipated.”

“Impossible…”

The mage spoke calmly, the holy woman bit her lip, and the elf swallowed hard. 

The harsh reality they didn’t want to face had revealed itself in the worst form. 

The hero was alive and had regained his strength. 

And the demons? 

They still existed, presumably hiding all over the empire.

“I’ll report this to the royal family.”

Arsil wanted to stop Tigria’s matter-of-fact attitude from reporting. 

She had no concrete evidence, but she felt she had to. 

But she knew Tigria wouldn’t listen. 

Arsil and Naidrian sighed simultaneously. 

They had specifically requested Tigria for the subjugation squad. 

Regular soldiers would panic and spread rumors if they encountered demons and were less than useless as meat shields. 

Encountering the hero and the porter could reveal what happened on the day of the Demon King’s subjugation, so Arsil had left the church soldiers in the capital and secured the mage’s cooperation. 

But the emotionless mage wasn’t proving very helpful.

“This blood is the porter’s. However, apart from this demon, no other corpses can be detected. Therefore, the porter, though severely injured, managed to defeat the demon and escape with Lucy.”

“A mere porter defeating a demon? It must have been the hero.”

Tigria shook her head.

“If it were the hero, she would have obliterated it with the holy sword or torn it apart with her hands.”

“The hero has no arms.”

We tore them off ourselves. 

She swallowed the unsettling afterthought.

“By the way, how do you know it’s the porter’s blood?”

“I regularly analyzed and checked the blood information of all party members for emergencies and health management. Comparing this blood with the accumulated data confirms it is Lin’s.”

“I don’t recall providing you with my blood.”

Tigria shrugged at Naidrian’s suspicious glance.

“We often bled during battles.”

Relieved it wasn’t directly drawn from her body, Naidrian felt somewhat reassured.

“I didn’t want to know, but since everything is confirmed, let’s withdraw.”

Subjugation leader Arsil ordered a retreat, but Tigria continued to stare at the blood puddle with thinly veiled interest.

“I’m very curious.”

“About what?”

“Why does Lin go to such lengths to save and protect the hero?”

On the way out of the goddess’s shrine, the mage couldn’t hide her excitement and kept chattering.

“Even on the day he ran from us, there was little a non-combatant like him could do.”

“That guy hid the ultimate skill scroll, Teleportation Art. I thought it was just a legend.”

“The ultimate skill scroll isn’t important. What matters is that he decided to oppose us and save the hero. It’s fascinating that Lin, who struggled to protect himself in battle, had the courage and motivation to act.”

“You’ve piqued my curiosity as well.”

Arsil’s rebuttal and Naidrian’s agreement with her curiosity made Tigria unusually smug. 

She knew others might not notice, but she was very excited and said something she wouldn’t normally say.

“It’s love.”

“What?”

“Lin’s actions can only be explained by love for the hero.”

“Oh my, hearing the word ‘love’ from you, Tigria!”

“…”

As her hypothesis was immediately dismissed, Tigria fell silent. 

Love. 

It had to be pure love. 

Confiding in others was risky. 

The mage decided to keep silent again.

“So, who is Lin?”

Arsil’s question left Tigria dumbfounded. 

Who is Lin? 

“You mean the porter, right?”

“That’s what I understood too.”

When Tigria collected the blood samples from the hero’s party, the only one obtained differently was the porter. 

Because of his passive role in battles, getting Lin’s sample on the battlefield was difficult. 

So she had directly asked him, but Lin had initially refused.

“It’s for emergencies and health management.”

“Sorry, but I’m not comfortable with others looking after me.”

“Neither am I.”

To Tigria, Lin was somewhat unusual. 

Their attitudes toward others were completely different, yet there was a subtle similarity. 

It was the first time Tigria had felt a sense of closeness.

“People who’ve known even a bit about me have tried to exploit it.”

“Then I’ll give you my secret in exchange for your blood. But you must keep it to yourself.”

“…”

Without waiting for an answer, Tigria shared her secret. 

Lin had been flustered and covered her mouth.

“Does anyone else know?”

“Only you.”

For some reason, knowing Lin was the only one aware of her secret made her feel good.

“It’s too big a secret to give just for blood.”

“I think so too.”

“You told me without even asking.”

“Whether this deal ends here or continues is up to you.”

“Fine.”

After some contemplation, Lin had to share two secrets to balance the deal.

“My name is Lin.”

“Not very valuable information.”

“I grew up in the same village as the holy woman.”

“That could interest some people.”

The deal was concluded. 

Compared to Tigria’s grand secret, Lin’s information felt trivial. 

Lin also knew Tigria wouldn’t talk about it unnecessarily, which is why he revealed it, though not completely honestly.

“Lin.”

“Yes.”

“Were you close with the holy woman?”

“… We were acquainted.”

“If you tell her, the party’s attitude toward you will improve.”

“No, absolutely not.”

“Understood.”

It was strange. 

Unlike Tigria, who remained indifferent, the other party members treated the porter harshly. 

He had said he didn’t want better treatment, so there was no need to interfere. 

But Tigria questioned again soon after.

“Who else knows your secret?”

“Some, but not many.”

That’s a bit annoying.

Since then, Tigria had started calling the porter by his name when they were alone, though it didn’t mean she paid more attention to him.

“Hey, Tigria!”

This time it was different.

“Who is Lin…?”

“He’s the porter. I found out by chance. Hope this answers your question.”

“…You speak so rudely.”

If his actions were solely driven by love, Lin was enough to capture all of Tigria’s interest.

Fascinating. 

The emergence of a new subject of observation, besides the Reinhold, excited Tigria.

“Sigh, we confirmed the demon’s existence, but the hero’s revival is still just a suspicion.”

“The holy sword pierced the royal palace’s ceiling. The cave’s ceiling was also pierced.”

“Still, we need to see it ourselves…”

Annoyed by the two interrupting her thoughts, Tigria shoved Naidrian aside and led the way to the destination she had found with detection magic.

Finally arriving, Arsil and Naidrian were left speechless.

“This… damn it…!”

It was a clearing, forcibly created by pressing the mountain ground. 

It wasn’t vast, but the surrounding trees were uprooted and scattered, the ground deeply dug up. 

This was the mark left whenever Lucy used her tremendous strength to leap with all her might.

“I told you in the palace.”

Tigria, with irritation, declared again.

“The hero has returned.”