Chapter 32
“There's no need.”
At the sound of my voice, everyone's gaze turned toward me, and the noisy guild fell dead silent, the air taut with tension.
“You... Rento?”
“Yes. It's been a while, Roger-san.”
“What did you mean by what you just said?”
“I'm deeply grateful for your concern, Roger-san. As an adventurer, I have the utmost respect for you. But—”
“Don't tell me you're going to rescue her?”
“No, that's not what I meant...”
I placed a magic stone on a nearby table.
It was the Quad Skeleton's magic stone.
“That is...”
Roger-san seemed to understand at once.
“Yes. It's the Quad Skeleton's magic stone.”
“You?”
“Yes.”
“What about the girl named Rinka?”
“I rescued her safely.”
“I see. That's good to hear.”
A wave of relief swept through the guild.
Meanwhile—Rinka's party members reacted differently.
“N-no, that's a lie. There's no way Rinka could be safe!”
“Y-yeah! That's right! We made sure to lock her up!”
“You locked her up?”
“Ah... Th-that's...”
“............”
Roger-san fixed a stern gaze on the female mage who'd let that slip.
Cowering like a mouse under his gaze, the mage stumbled over her words.
She desperately tried to come up with an excuse, but under Roger-san's pressure, no coherent words came out of her mouth.
The other two also fell silent, unable to say anything.
“Rinka, that's enough.”
When I called out to her, Rinka, standing beside me, pulled back the hood of her cloak.
“R-Rinka...”
“No way...”
“............”
Their faces instantly went pale, as if they'd seen a ghost.
“............”
Rinka silently glared at the three.
That was far more effective than anything she could have said.
“I'll explain the rest—”
Once I'd finished explaining the whole situation—
“I see.”
Roger-san glared at the three.
His murderous aura was so overwhelming that the pressure from before seemed like child's play.
Even the uninvolved onlookers watching events unfold stopped moving and broke out in a cold sweat.
“Eek...”
The three's legs gave way, and they slumped to the floor, trembling violently.
According to Rinka, all three were D-rank.
At that rank, there was no way they could withstand Roger-san's pressure.
Roger-san walked toward the male swordsman, who was looking up at him from the floor.
The swordsman desperately backed away, but the distance between them kept shrinking—
――Swish.
The sound of the air parting.
By the time I realized what was happening, Roger-san's sword had stopped just short of the man's face.
A thin line of red blood trickled down the man's cheek.
Most people probably hadn't even seen him move.
They stood frozen, mouths agape.
The only ones who remained calm were the members of 'Meteor Shower'.
They looked down at the three with disgust.
“R-Roger-san, that's enough...”
The female staff member was the first to move.
She stepped between Roger-san and the three.
“Hmph—”
Perhaps he'd lost interest, because Roger-san withdrew his sword and turned his back on the three on the floor.
Then he looked at me—
“Rento, keep the night after tomorrow free.”
He said it without waiting for my reply, then started walking toward the entrance.
“Hey, let's blow off some steam. We're going hunting.”
The members of 'Meteor Shower' followed behind him.
“Rento-chan, how've you been?”
“Looks like something happened, but you haven't been broken yet.”
“Long time no see!”
“Hang in there!”
The group called out to me, then left the guild just like that.
As ever, they didn't care about my circumstances.
But for some reason, that made me incredibly happy.