"I'll be back."

In the end, Rabin left the hero party with Arsil to visit the Sludge Alley for a short while. Lin had no choice but to agree when Rabin asked him to trust her, as she intended to help Arsil, who had been acting out of sync lately. Besides, Naidrian had already left without permission, so a day or two without Rabin and Arsil wouldn’t cause much harm.

“Here are the coordinates.”

Surprisingly, Rabin still remembered the exact coordinates of the Sludge Alley. Even while working in Valtercrua, she had studied how to read and set coordinates, ensuring she could always return to the alley when necessary.

“Sorry I can’t go with you.”

“It’s fine. I’m only taking her along to straighten her out.”

Rabin looked at the charm hanging from Lin’s chest and forced a bright smile. In the dark and hopeless reality they faced, every time she saw that charm pouch, Rabin felt as though she were connected to Lin. Even though the charm was made of Lucy’s red hair, it felt as if the pouch tied Lin and Rabin’s hearts together.

“Ready?”

Despite the added burden of teleporting to a location without a receiving magic circle, Tigria activated the teleportation spell without issue.

“We’ll be back soon.”

“Alright.”

Lin gave Rabin a warm look but not Arsil, who stood beside her. She had hoped, desperately, that he would look at her, but in the end, Lin didn’t spare her a glance. Fiddling with the hairpin she had placed in her hair, hoping Lin would notice, Arsil vanished with Rabin in a flash of light.

After the brief brightness, the two were gone, having successfully teleported. Feeling a bit empty, Lin decided to take a walk away from the camp.

It was a late decision, but today, Lin planned to rest fully.

Some soldiers from Garin’s forces cast glances at him, wondering if he would cook something for them, but Lin had no intention of obliging. For several days, he had been using his own supplies to cook and feed the surviving people of the Holy Church. Garin and the Duke’s men had saved a considerable amount of rations because of it, so asking for more would have been greedy.

On top of that, Lin had paid for the rations set aside for the children who were in hiding. Garin, aware of this, sternly warned any soldiers glancing toward Lin not to bother him.

The soldiers hid their disappointment, licking their lips. The sight of the small group of cooks preparing large quantities of food carried a sense of sadness as well.

Lin kept walking.@@novelbin@@

It had been so long since he had taken such a leisurely walk that he couldn’t even remember the last time. Ever since he rescued Lucy, it had been one chase after another, running from or toward something.

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