Chapter 35
“This is the seventh time...”
“Seventh time?”
“I’ve been kicked out of a party...”
We went into an eatery near the guild, and drinks and food were brought to our table.
Before touching her food, Rinka began to speak.
Her expression was still stiff.
The lunchtime rush had passed, but a cheerful atmosphere still lingered in the restaurant—except around the two of us.
Darker than a moonless night.
As if to shake off that heavy atmosphere, I gathered up the remnants of cheerfulness drifting through the restaurant and tried to make my face reflect them.
“For now, let’s eat.”
My voice couldn’t have been more awkward, but I hoped the food—more extravagant than usual—would make up for it.
Was it my smile?
Or the aroma that went straight to her stomach?
I couldn’t tell which did the trick, but Rinka gave a small nod and reached for her food.
“What do you want to do from here, Rinka?”
She kept chewing until there was nothing left in her mouth.
Slowly, slowly, taking her time.
What emerged from her now-empty mouth was resignation.
The resignation of a younger sister whose older sister had taken her favorite doll.
“Honestly, this has broken my spirit. Just like my sword...”
When your spirit is broken, you can’t keep being an adventurer.
Would she retire just like this?
The glimpse I’d caught of her swordsmanship during the battle with the Quad Skeleton.
It seemed a shame to let that talent go to waste, but if that was her decision, no one could stop her.
“But... even so, I can’t quit.”
I thought this was an adventurer’s resilience: even with a broken spirit, they get back up.
But I was wrong.
What followed was heartrending anguish, wrung from the depths of her soul.
With her head bowed, Rinka barely managed to squeeze out those words.
“My Gift won’t let me...”
A blessing bestowed by God.
She was imprisoned by that Gift.
Just like I had been until recently.
“It is my fate to keep fighting until the day I die.”
Her suffering and mine were different.
It would be arrogant to assume I understood.
All I could offer her was how I felt.
“I’ve struggled with my Gift, too.”
Rinka raised her face, which she’d kept lowered.
“It caused me so much pain. I was kicked out of my party. I hated my Gift—I hated it so much, and yet... it was my Gift that saved me.”
I couldn’t make the irresponsible promise that someday her Gift would save her, too.
“I don’t know why, but because of your Gift, you have no choice but to keep adventuring. If that’s the case, why don’t you form a party with me?”
“But someone like me...”
“I can’t tell you all the details just yet, but my Gift is meant to support other people. Maybe I can help you.”
“I’m weak. I’ll only hold you back, Rento-san.”
She’d been kicked out of seven parties.
Those memories made her give up, telling herself, “It’ll just go wrong again this time.”
“You can get stronger. Strong enough to show those people who never saw your worth what you’re really capable of.”
“How can you say that with such certainty?”
“That’s thanks to my Gift, too.”
“...”
“I didn’t ask you to form a party because I pity you. It would benefit you, but it would benefit me, too.”
“You, too, Rento-san?”
“Yeah. You’ll get stronger, and I’ll get something in return.”
“Something in return...”
“I’m not asking you to trust me right away. How about giving it a try for just one day?”
“...All right.”
Rinka smiled faintly.
“You saved my life, Rento-san, so I’ll try believing you.”
“Thank you. And I look forward to working with you.”
“Likewise. I look forward to working with you.”
And so, Rinka and I agreed to form a party on a trial basis.
We’d talked for so long that the food had gone completely cold.
I apologized to the cook in my heart.
The reason it was still delicious even after it had gone cold wasn’t just the cook’s skill—