An S-ranked Party’s Burden Tamer, I Awoke My True Power by Having My Familiar Killed - Chapter 3

“Huh? What the…”

As soon as Fade entered the floor boss’s room, he froze in place.

It wasn’t only Fade. Everyone in the party froze.

“Oi oi, the rumor definitely said the floor boss was a Minotaur but…”

“This is… the god-slaying dungeon…”

“…yeah.”

There was a reason the faces of every member of the party distorted into a visage of fear even when they had as much ability as they did.

“It’s a Minotaur but… 5 of them!?”

“Run away!”

“It won’t matter where we run! We have been these guys’ targets ever since we entered the floor boss’s room!?”

“We’ll be safe if we get off the fifth floor! We have to get away from here.”

“Yeah, all the same, beating five of them is impossible.”

A Minotaur, a monster that had the highest rank, A-rank, for danger. A horrible monster that was able to slaughter a great number of adventurers with its overwhelming offensive abilities. For many adventurers, it’s the last thing they would want to fight other than a dragon. And with 5 of them here, even Fade’s S-ranked party had to find a way to escape however it could.

“We have to run!”

“Fade! What do I do with the luggage?!”

I called out to Fade as we started running. I was carrying the luggage for now, but if we left it behind, two people could probably escape while riding Rei….

“It’s obvious, isn’t it? Even if you die, our stuff had better be in perfect condition!”

“What are you talking about? The luggage doesn’t matter right now!”

“Yeah… for now just run.”

Their opinions varied, but for now I decided to run with the heavy luggage of 5 people. Naturally, doing this made me slower… but I was going to do my best for the party.

“Shiiiiit! How did this become such a disaster!? Meiro! Didn’t you say you were a genius?”

Roig shouted while running. Meiro answered with the same disinterested voice as always, even while out of breath.

“If someone sacrifices himself, we’ll be able to survive.”

I felt her line of sight naturally turn towards me.

“Oh! Isn’t that great?! The perfect person is right here, you know!”

“Huh? Are you serious!?”

“That’s right, Roig-san! How could we do that?”

“Well then Quella, will you be the one to die? Huh?”

“That’s…”

Even as she sounded apologetic, Quella only said as much and gazed at me.

‘Dammit… what are these guys talking about? They are seriously trying to make me bait so they could run away. I have to do something’

Meanwhile, the three people I was talking to had quickly run even further ahead of me.

“To be honest, Land, once we were done traversing this dungeon, I planned to kick you out of the party.”

“Huh?”

I guess I already knew that it was a possibility. But why say that now?

“But Land, there’s something you can do even now to change that view.”

“Something?”

Rei and I were already falling behind because of the luggage. I was thinking that Fade had come to the back of the party as its leader, but it seems that I was wrong. Shit! Is this guy really doing this?!

“Rei!”

“It’s no use. I will be the one who becomes a hero. There’s no way you can achieve something like that.”

“Gah…”

I tried to reach out my hand to Rei and escape, but I was too late.

“This is for the good of everyone.”

The handle of Fade’s sword rammed into my stomach and I immediately lost my breath. Naturally, my feet stopped moving as well.

“Don’t feel bad; rather, you have been a burden up until now.”

Fade added as he ran off.

“As it is, you’ll die as a legend in an S-ranked party. Rest assured that we’ll spread your tale far and wide.”

“Wait…”

It was no good. I couldn’t speak.

‘Dammit… The Minotaurs are drawing closer. I’m seriously done for.’

But before long, I stopped thinking about myself.

Fade, who had betrayed and abandoned me.

Roig, who hated me from the start.

Meiro, who only recognized me as someone who could cook.

And even Quella who, despite her kind heart, only thought of me as a burden as well based on that final face I saw her make at me.

In short, none of them ever looked at me. No one recognized me. My effort, my work, it seems that as far as my party was concerned, they needed none of it.

When I think about it, if I don’t resist and I’m finished off quickly, the Minotaurs will be able to catch up to the others, won’t they? Thoughts like that crossed my mind. It seemed that I had lost any lingering sentiments towards them.

Being constantly alert of my surroundings without rest must’ve made my body tired, as I was attacked by fatigue all at once.

‘Well, that’s fine. I can rest now.’

Just at the moment that I had thought so…

“Kyuaaaaaaa”

“Rei?”

Right in front of my eyes, Rei stopped and turned around, before rushing towards the Minotaurs.