Chapter 63
"That's enough! The winner is Rento!"
Roger-san made the formal declaration, bringing the duel to a close.
"Rento-san!!"
Rinka rushed out from the crowd and wrapped her arms around my back.
"It's okay. You're okay. Right? Right?"
Rinka clung to me, tears streaming down her face.
The emotions surging inside me slowly settled.
"Yeah... I'm calm now. Thank you."
"I'm so glad!!"
"You saved me again."
I thought back to last night.
Back then, too, I'd been consumed by anger and nearly lost something important to me as a person.
Rinka had been the one to stop me.
And now, again...
If Rinka hadn't stopped me, I would've killed Misa.
What was happening to me?
I couldn't believe that I could lose myself to anger like that...
Just as I was about to sink into a whirlpool of thoughts――
"Hey! You did it, Rento!"
"Roger-san..."
Roger pounded me on the back, bringing me back to my senses.
"I thought you might show them some mercy at some point, but you saw it through without holding back."
"...Wasn't I too harsh?"
Partway through, I'd been driven by anger so intense I couldn't believe it myself...
I hadn't intended to go that far...
"If you'd healed them with potions and then tormented them endlessly, I'd say you'd gone too far. But considering what they did, that was about right."
"I see..."
"Those wounds can be healed with potions or healing magic. For an adventurer, they don't even count as injuries."
"Right..."
"To begin with, three B-rankers taking on one D-ranker is ridiculous. People might blame them for being so pathetic, but no one's going to blame you, Rento."
Roger-san's words reassured me a little.
But I'd made Rinka cry, too. I needed to be more careful from now on.
Why had I become so aggressive...?
I never got like this when I was fighting monsters.
But when it came to Guy and the others, I just couldn't rein myself in...
I didn't feel guilty about it, but the feeling that I was no longer myself left me unsettled and anxious.
I was about to get caught up in dark thoughts again when――
"You were amazing, Rento-kun. You were so merciless, it gave me the shivers."
"Gahaha! You made me a lot of money!"
"Rento-kun, I'd like to talk to you later about your magic."
"That's why I said Rento had it in him."
The members of Meteor Shower, including Namilia-san, had gathered around us.
The other adventurers soon joined them.
"Hey, you're strong, kid!"
"What was that barrage of magic? That's cheating!"
"Kid, I won thanks to you. Much appreciated!"
"If you were that strong, you should've told us sooner. I'm flat broke now!"
"Want to go dungeon diving together sometime?"
They all said whatever they pleased, but everyone was warm toward me.
An outcast, kicked out of my party.
Somewhere deep down, I'd feared they looked down on me.
I'd worried they'd be put off by how far I'd gone today, too.
But...
"Come on, everyone's acknowledged you. Say something to them."
"Y-yes."
Prompted by Roger-san, I stepped forward.
"Everyone! I was kicked out of the Sky-Cleaving Sword. But I'm going to start over as an adventurer alongside Rinka, who's standing beside me. I hope you'll continue to treat us well."
When I finished speaking, I bowed my head.
Silence fell, and just as I started to think I'd messed up――
Cheers erupted like a boiling wave, and applause thundered around me.
"We're the ones who should be saying that!"
"Well said, Rento!"
"Don't let those guys get to you!"
In that moment, I truly felt that these people had accepted me.
"You're still a little stiff... but I guess that's just how you are, Rento."
"This is all thanks to you agreeing to be the witness, Roger-san. I can't thank you enough."
"I only gave you a little help. You won this for yourself, Rento. You should be proud."
There were two reasons I'd asked Roger-san to be the witness.
The first was so I could thoroughly thrash those three in front of a crowd.
For people as proud as them, there could be no greater humiliation.
My 【Forced Collection】 couldn't take away their pride, after all.
The other reason was as a safeguard.
I hoped I wouldn't need that safeguard, but they really were genuine idiots...
And then――there was a third benefit I hadn't anticipated.
I never imagined everyone would welcome me so warmly.
Until now, people had kept their distance, treating me like a sore spot. But in a single day, that distance had shrunk considerably.
They'd accepted me as one of their fellow adventurers.
Roger-san might be modest about it, but I'll never be able to thank him enough.
――Someday, I need to repay this debt properly.