Chapter 1
"Rent, as of today, you're out of the 'Sky-Cleaving Sword'!!"
The one who declared this at the inn we used as our base was Guy, our party leader and my childhood friend.
The 'Sky-Cleaving Sword'—the name Guy, a swordsman, had given our party.
――A sword that would one day cleave even the sky.
It was a childish name, to say the least, but back when we were younger and close, I found it endearing.
But five years after we formed the party, now that we'd grown as adventurers, an irreparable gulf had opened between me and the other three.
"Are you serious?"
"Heh."
Guy gave me a mocking smile.
"You're useless to us now. You're an eyesore, so get the hell out of our sight!!"
Useless, huh...
It hurt, but I couldn't deny it.
My Magic Repository... Guy and the others had no more use for it...
At fifteen, we received Gifts from the Creator God in the Coming-of-Age Ceremony.
Guy and I were born and raised in the same village, along with Misa, the girl I'd promised to spend my future with.
The three of us left our village to become adventurers—and underwent the ceremony at a church in a large city.
Guy received the Swordsman Gift.
Misa received the Mage Gift.
Their Gifts weren't rare, but they were perfectly suited to adventurers.
Mine, on the other hand, was an unfamiliar Unique Gift called the Magic Repository.
Unique Gifts were given to only one person in the entire world.
Each one was powerful enough that receiving one practically guaranteed success as an adventurer.
The Magic Repository was no exception; it was an absurdly powerful Gift.
At least for the first year or two...
"I should've cut you loose sooner. You should be grateful I let you stay in the party this long!!"
Guy spat the words out, flanked by two women.
On his right was El, the party's other member, a Healer.
And on his left was Misa, my former lover, who'd been with me since we were children.
The moment she decided my Gift had outlived its usefulness, she left me—the man she'd promised her future to—for Guy.
Now they were both Guy's women, fawning over him and trying to win his favor.
The fact that I was facing all three of them alone said everything about how I was treated in the party.
"I'm sure there's a party much better suited to you, Rent-san. Goodbye~"
El said this with a smile.
But her smile was directed at Guy, not me.
She didn't even look my way.
When I first met her, she was a sheltered girl who knew nothing of the world.
She mistook Guy's thoughtless, bossy nature for the manly ability to take charge, and fell head over heels for him, like a hatchling imprinting on its mother.
"The thought that an incompetent like you was my childhood friend and former fiancé makes me sick. Never show your face to me again."
It was long ago that Misa and I exchanged words of love.
Now she and El were rivals for Guy's affections.
She even called what we'd had "a stain on her past."
"...I see. You're really going that far."
Under their three contemptuous stares, I clenched my fists until they drew blood――.