CH 294

Episode 294 – Disbandment Notice

“Hmm. This is her house, but no matter how much I knock, she’s not coming out. Maybe she’s still sleeping?” (Rosalie)

“Then does that mean we won’t be able to see her today?” (Lewin)

“Wait a minute… Ah, the door is unlocked!” (Rosalie)

“Should I say that I kind of expected this from her? It seems kind of careless.” (Lewin)

“Well, even the best adventurers might not stand a chance against Aruna-san! Well, I’ll go wake her up, so please wait here, Lewin-san.” (Rosalie)

“Yes. Please be careful.” (Lewin)

It was pretty strange to have to tell her to be careful when we were the ones who had just entered uninvited, but Aruna was a heavy sleeper. Praying that she wouldn’t think we were suspicious and attack us, I stayed by the doorway while Rosalie went on ahead.

After some time passed while I waited there, I started to get a bit worried, but finally, Rosalie and… Aruna came out, dressed in only her pajamas. Her hair was a ruffled mess, and her eyes were only half open.

“Rosalie-san, I’m glad to see you’re still safe.” (Lewin)

“Yes! She didn’t wake up easily, but there wasn’t any danger to me!” (Rosalie)

“How could you guys say that when you were the ones who barged in here… So, what did you need?” (Aruna)

“…To tell you the truth, there’s something urgent I have to do, so I’m thinking about disbanding the party temporarily. I’m really sorry for bringing this up so suddenly.” (Lewin)

After a short pause, I told the two that I was planning to disband the party and bowed my head. As expected, I heard Rosalie draw in a gasp, as if she hadn’t expected it to be true.

“….Eh? Why are you suddenly thinking of disbanding…? We just made it to the 30th layer and even successfully made it back, didn’t we?!” (Rosalie)

“Tell me your reasons.” (Aruna)

I lifted my lowered head. Rosalie’s expression looked exactly as I’d expected, but Aruna’s face was unchanged, still as drowsy-looking as before.

“Yes. I will completely explain everything. While the three of us were clearing down to the 30th layer, Landaust was attacked by the Demon King’s Army.” (Lewin)

“I-I know that. That’s why I was helping out at the Guild today.” (Rosalie)

“Oh, okay. So?” (Aruna)

“To deal with the attack, several adventurer parties fought to protect Landaust from the Demon King’s Army―” (Lewin)

When I spoke to this point, I suddenly found it hard to breathe. I couldn’t help but vividly picture Ahmed’s cold face in the coffin.

Calm down. Keep your composure.

I had already decided to act normal, so I had to act it out to the end.

“They died, and one of those adventurers who died was my benefactor.” (Lewin)

“I-Is it the [Azure Alliance] that you mentioned before?” (Rosalie)

“Yes, there’s something I need to do because of that, so I’d like to temporarily disband the party.” (Lewin)

Having finally said it, I exhaled a deep breath.

“If I remember correctly, that adventurer party was the reason why you became an adventurer, right?” (Aruna)

“Yes.” (Lewin)

“Then there’s no reason for me to try and stop you. To be honest, the money was coming in nicely, and I really didn’t want to quit though.” (Aruna)

“In regards to money, I’m thinking of giving you both a certain amount. I’m planning to sell the items we acquired during our last Dungeon attempt as well as the plants I’ve been saving up.” (lewin)

“Then I don’t have anything to complain about.” (Aruna)

“Even if I tried to stop you, it wouldn’t change your thoughts, right?” (Rosalie)

“…..Yes. I’ve already decided.” (Lewin)

“S-Sorry. I don’t want to disband… But even though I don’t want to, there’s nothing I can do to stop it. In that case… I can only accept it.” (Rosalie)

“I’m really sorry.” (Lewin)

Once again, I bowed my head in apology. Aruna seemed to be convinced, but Rosalie only accepted it because she had no other choice. I spoke honestly and was expecting them to criticize me and blame me, but the fact that they didn’t made me feel even more guilty.

“S-So Lewin-san. Once you finish what you need to do, let’s form a party ag―” (Rosalie)

“That won’t happen. I don’t have any intention of staying in the same place forever. You were already prepared for this, right Lewin?” (Aruna)

“……Yes. All of this was my selfish choice, so I apologize for everything.” (Lewin)

“It’s decided then. This isn’t a temporary disbandment. [Sun Strelka] is disbanded. Well… it’s been fun. Thanks.” (Aruna)

After saying that, Aruna went back into her room. It was my own naive thinking that the disbandment would only be temporary, but Aruna closed that option off. I was going to be searching for a resurrection method that I wasn’t sure if I could find, so considering the fact that I might have ended up making them wait for a long time, I should be thankful to Aruna for saying that it was a full disbandment.

“H-How could this have happened? All of it… Everything was going so well. I thought we had finally become a party that could trust each other and overcome any difficulties, but… why?” (Rosalie)

“If you gathered us together to talk on such short notice, that means you’ll be leaving soon, right?” (Rosalie)

“Yes. I’m thinking of leaving Landaust by the end of the day.” (Lewin)

“Okay. I think I’ll try to talk to Aruna-san again myself. Lewin-san, please finish what you have to do without worrying about us. And… when everything is over, I would like to go Dungeon-clearing with you again.” (Rosalie)

“If you mean it, I’d love to party up with you again too. Really, thank you so much for everything, Rosalie-san.” (Lewin)

I could see that Rosalie still hadn’t completely sorted it out in her mind, but she still kept up a smile and gave me words of support.

I bowed deeply one last time and left Aruna’s house, leaving Rosalie behind.

I thought many times over whether or not I should really go separate ways from my friends and companions in an effort to find a resurrection method, which I wasn’t even sure existed. But despite everything, I couldn’t just go with the option of doing nothing.

I intended to keep the minimum amount of money and transfer the rest to the two of them, then walked towards Ponpokotei. With this, I decided to leave Landaust immediately after packing my belongings and finishing what I needed to do.