Chapter 8: I Ain't Asking You To Come Back


TL: Scaramochi


TL: I don't know whose point of view this is.


***


In the end, we finished the attack today without making much progress.


As we returned to the Adventurers' Guild to cash in the items dropped from the monsters, the adventurers around us sent us insulting glances and sneers.


"Hey, look at that group. Looks like Stardust was a mess today."


"You look dirty, aren't you covered in mud? The leader, who fights so brilliantly, is appalled to hear this."


"They're still stuck in the intermediate labyrinth, aren't they? And they're being chased down by the mook monsters in the upper levels."


"I thought they'd be going to the upper level soon after they finally got rid of the cowards and added Frey to the party to strengthen it, but I didn't expect them to weaken it."


"I mean, I don't know how she decided to make Frey a member of the party. That pesky fellow who was kicked out of Dragonhead and refused to join any of Gold's parties."


"That's right. I'm sure she's talented, but I don't want that self-absorbed minefield of a woman either."


"I was watching them attacking the intermediate labyrinth, and sure enough, Athena and Frey were having a fight. I mean, Athena isn't as strong as they say she is. I'm still better than her."


"What a party of promising new stars. What a great party of rising stars we've had!"


I never thought Stardust would fall so far.


"Aah! Don't you dare talk to me like that!　If you're looking for a fight, I'll buy it, so come at me, you cowards!"


"Stop it, Frey. Don't bother getting into their ring. And what's been said is true. There's no excuse."


"Damn it......."


Stardust's reputation after kicking Est out was mixed.


Est, who could only use enchant magic and just stood there, was scorned by the adventurers as a p*ssycat and a goldfish.


--- "Stardust could have gone higher, but Est was in the way. Why does Stardust have Est in its party? Est is ruining Stardust's reputation. Get the hell out of here, Est."


He was hurling such mindless abuse at Est.


So when they expelled Est from the party, the adventurers had high hopes.


--- "Finally, they've gotten rid of that lackey. Stardust will be even stronger now."


Everyone thought so.


But, Athena's newest addition to the party was the troublemaker Frey.


The adventurers were disappointed and dissatisfied.


--- "Why did you bring that selfish kid into the party, the one who was kicked out of Dragon Head? She's a problem child. Why did they let her in when the rest of the senior party had all rejected her as unruly? Is Athena out of her mind?"


They thought.


It was well known among adventurers that Frey was a problem child, so many wondered why Athena had included her in Stardust.


But, they also thought this.


--- "If she is that 'Golden', she can tame the 'Violent Dragon', can't she?"


Frey was known to have a difficult personality, but the adventurers also knew that she was capable.


So if they could tame Frey, Stardust was expected to finally approach the gold rank.


They were hoping that they might become the best adventuring party in the city.


But what happened when we opened the door?


Instead of moving up to Gold rank, they were stuck in the intermediate labyrinth. Moreover, they were having a hard time with the monsters in the middle and upper labyrinths, not in the lower labyrinths.


Moreover, many adventurers saw Athena and Frey quarreling with each other. It was obvious that the party was not doing well.


And to add insult to injury, the beautiful Athena, who had returned from the labyrinth without a speck of dust on her body, came back all scratched up and in a state of disarray. The name "Golden Flower" is lost.


Everyone said, "The star has fallen."


The golden, which had been racing upward in a straight line, had crawled to the ground in a daze.


Over the past month, Stardust's reputation has fallen to the ground.


Whenever I stop by the guild, the words of praise that I used to hear are now returned in the form of abuse and ridicule.


And in contrast to those of us whose reputation had fallen, there were those whose reputation had exploded.


"Hey, it's Est!"


"I heard that you just recently conquered an intermediate level labyrinth all by yourself. That's what the receptionist said."


"I was really surprised, wasn't I? No one would have thought that that punk would be so strong."


"I heard a rumor that you can now cast enchant magic on yourself, right?"


"It seems so. I know an adventurer who saw him fight and he said it was amazing. He said he was as good as a gold rank."


"He's been getting invitations from gold rank parties too, right? I heard he turned them all down for some reason."


"I wonder how he got so strong all of a sudden."


"I don't know, but Stardust did a waste of time. If they had waited for Est to get stronger, they could have been gold ranked by now. It's a pity that Frey got the bad end of the stick."


"No, maybe it's because Stardust didn't let Est do anything? He had potential to begin with, but they didn't make him stronger on purpose."


"'The Golden' was jealous of Est's strength?　Well, it's not impossible."


"Even so, it's interesting, isn't it? Est, who was being made fun of, is rising to the top, and Stardust, who kicked Est out of the competition, is falling."


"This kind of thing is called "juniors rising to the top" isn't it?"


You can say whatever you want. Look, my rabid dog is about to go berserk.


Well, I have no reason to make excuses because what I'm saying isn't wrong.


Athena knows that, so she doesn't say anything.


As the adventurers had said so many times before, Est had become as strong as a different person from a month ago.


He was even able to conquer an intermediate level labyrinth all by himself.


Rumor has it that he is now able to cast the enchant magic on himself that he could only cast on others.


I don't know why he suddenly awakened.


It seems from his personality that he wasn't hiding his power "like me". He must have been awakened by something.


He must have been awakened for some reason, even more so than Athena.


We saw Est fighting once from a distance, but he was really a different person.


I thought my eyeballs were going to pop out of my head. He was kicking the crap out of the monsters in the intermediate labyrinth in an instant.


He is one of the top ten adventurers I have ever seen. It probably won't be long before he becomes the best in the city.


At the same time that Stardust's reputation went down, Est's reputation went up.


Adventurers who had despised him turned around and praised him.


It just goes to show you that being an adventurer is really a meritocracy.


"Yes, I've finished redeeming the money. That's five hundred silver coins."


"Thank you."


"If you're done, can you leave? I'm in the way."


"......Est."


Just as we're finishing our redemption, along comes the rumored Est.


Aww, his cute face that was so pure and innocent has turned into a disgusting adult face.


I don't know why she kicked him out, but I didn't want her to get dyed like this.


Athena and Est's gazes cross.


Athena called out to Est, fearfully.


"I hear things are going well. I'm relieved."


"Relieved? What's the person who kicked me out talking about? Why don't you worry about yourselves instead of worrying about me? Stardust, you've fallen."


"--!"


He spits out words filled with contempt and vindictiveness.


Athena gasped at the words, which were not unlike Est, who was an Athena-loving boy.


Mirialia, Frey, and the other adventurers were astonished, but I wasn't.


Because this guy had the right to say.


"I'm telling you, it's too late for you to ask me to come back now. You're going to regret kicking me out, at best."


"Est, you're getting carried away."


"No. I'm sorry, Est, I shouldn't have called on you."


Saying that, Athena turns on her heel with a slightly downcast look on her face.


"Ugh."


"Damn."


Mirialia snorts and Frey clicks her tongue as she follows Athena.


I scratch my shaggy hair, looking at Est's sooty back as he cashes in his items for the receptionist.


I don't care what you say to us.


But it's too late for us to ask you to come back now, huh?


Don't get too excited, you'll be afraid of what will happen later.


You never know what will happen in the future.


You may never know, but I somehow knew you would wake up.


But I still followed Athena, not you.


You know why?


Because Athena is stronger than you.


And, unlike you, she's taking the high road.


You'd better get your head out of your ass now.


You'll be barking your head off before long.


And let me tell you something else.


"We're not asking you to come back."



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