"Aamir, where the hell have you gone .........!

Taking the confused leaders with me, I headed to the armor shop, a place where beginners among adventurers head to.
And the moment I realized where I had brought them, a look of unconcealed humiliation spread across the leaders' faces.

''You've got to be kidding me! Why are we here: ......

The next moment, the leader yells at me, revealing his emotions.
Sabelia-san has the same expression as the leader.
Apparently, dealing with a beginner's armor shop, that was more humiliating to the leaders than anything else.

''We're not a top-notch party anymore, Sword of Lightning,''

Nah!

Huh!

...... But the next thing I said, the leaders were stifled by my words.

It was a reality that someone had to point out.
But even though I knew that, I felt guilty about the looks on their faces.

'...... No, I must say that we are not only not top-notch, we are poorer than those adventurers. Now is not the time for us to be picking and choosing armorer's shops for our pride and such.

But I ignore the guilt and pile on the words.
We've confiscated most of our possessions, and if we're not good enough, we have only enough assets to lose to even novice adventurers.
It's not something that will change by escaping reality.
...... If we stop here for mere pride, we can't change.

But we're not done yet.

The next moment, with those words, I thrust my arm out towards the leaders.

'Where's .........?'

Why: "Why: ......

For a moment, the leaders look dubious at my sudden action.
But they are shocked when they see something in my hand.

The thing in my hand was enough money to buy a beginner's armor.

Normally, there was no way I could have had this kind of money.
In any case, not all of my wealth was taken, but I don't have enough money to buy armor.
Besides, no one would even want to lend me money for the current lightning sword.
Knowing this, the leaders couldn't hide their astonishment.

''Actually, this money was given to us by Lila and the others. When I was asked to come to the party.

.................. yeah,

I told those leaders.
At my words, despair appeared on the faces of the leaders and Mr. Surberia.
Did they think I was going to tell them that I wanted to leave the party with this money?
But I smiled at those leaders and shook my head.

'But I said no.'

Yes, I was never going to be in Lila's party.
It wasn't that Lila-san's party was weak or anything like that.
On the contrary, Lila-san's party would be one of the most powerful in the royal capital, let alone the labyrinth city.
Besides, I had a lot of respect for Lila-san, and I felt close to her.


But it was the leaders I admired at first.


The first time I joined the party with the Sword of Lightning and conquered the labyrinth is a scene that remains in my mind.
At that time, I was fascinated by the way the leaders and Miss Serveria fought.
In hindsight, it was probably just me being weak.
It's not that the leaders have any substandard skills.




You have to be sure that you're not the only one.




Because I was going to continue to hide in the labyrinth together with our leaders.

I laugh with those words to the leaders.

Borrowing money from someone who refused to attend a party, an act that would not be admired.

I understood that it was a terrible and shameful thing to do.
Still, for the sake of the leaders, I swallowed my shame and asked Lila for help.

'But with this, we can start over.

At my words, the leaders' eyes focus on the currency in my hands.

'We may have done things we shouldn't have, but we can still make amends and start over. But we can still make amends and start over.

So I cut off my words and laughed.

'I don't think you'll ever earn a lot of money right away when you equip yourself with this money. But let's give the money back to Mr. Lausto, just a little at a time. For what we've been unjustly taking from you until now.

Huh!

At my words, the leaders look down and shake their shoulders.
It's as if they regret what they've done until now.

''Let's return the money to Lila-san and reward her once she has accumulated a little more room in her savings. Gratitude for lending me money in this situation.

As I piled those words on top of each other, an image of what was to come flashed through my mind.
With the equipment that this money can buy, I may not be able to earn as much money as I would like.
Still, if I apologized to the people who bothered me every day, thanked those who helped me, and worked hard, I might be able to become a first-class party again in the end.
And if that happens, maybe I'll be able to appreciate myself a little better.
I laugh at the thought.


............ huh?


......... But the next moment, I was left speechless by the expressions on the faces of the leaders as they raised their heads.

What the leaders had on their faces was anger that they didn't even try to hide.
And I stopped thinking for a moment.

'Screw you! We're the victims!

Huh!

...... It was a deadly gap.

The next moment, I fall to the ground with a shock to the head.
The blood trickles down my slippery face and I feel my consciousness fade away.

'We're still top-notch adventurers!

...... And with the last of the hysterical leader's cries, my consciousness was cut off.