S-Rank Adventurer Betrayed by His Fiancée in the Hero’s Party Sets Off on a Journey to Heal His Broken Heart ~The Strongest Betrayed Adventurer Ends Up Forming a Harem Party~ - Chapter 35: The Withered Blue Flower [End of Vol. 01]

Chapter 35: The Withered Blue Flower

[Side: Betrayed Adventurer]

The next day.

I sat inside a parked carriage, wearing a hooded cloak to cover myself.

It was a shared carriage, though barely anyone else was inside.

For once, I had stored away my usual magic swords.

“Before, just hiding my swords was enough to stay unnoticed… but now I have to cover my face too.”

Ever since my fight was broadcasted last night, people had started recognizing me even without my swords.

No matter how much I tried to keep a low profile, they knew I was Abel of the Four Swords.

And thanks to that footage—where I was smiling while mowing down enemies—I’ve officially become known as that crazy maniac.

“But hey, isn’t it a good thing? Now people know how strong you are, and idiots like before won’t mess with you anymore.”

“Isn’t it great~? Miss Alvia did a wonderful job recording you in action.”

That’s right. The footage that got spread around in the Guild News was actually recorded by Alvia during the stampede battle.

So that’s what she meant that day…!

After I had my talk with her, somehow, these three knew about the footage and suggested we use it.

One thing led to another, and they figured—why not spread it worldwide?

So I contacted Kamul and used one of the favors he owed me to get it featured in the Guild News.

That crafty old fox laughed and said I had “no greed,” but since it was valuable content for him, he promised to share some of the profits.

Now, I had yet another source of income.

“Oh yeah, Miss Alvia was something else earlier, wasn’t she?”

“The moment she heard Abel was leaving Cahel, she practically clung to him.”

Maria and Elmie chuckled as they recalled Alvia’s desperate antics.

Not exactly how you’d expect a Guild Master to act… but, well, I couldn’t really blame her.

Just a while ago, I had some errands to run at the guild.

And the moment I mentioned I was leaving Cahel, she latched onto me crying—

“Please stay a little longer! Just a bit more! I haven’t had enough of my fix yet!”

Of course, Elmie and the others had to pry her off me.

Seriously… that’s why they call her the unfortunate beauty.

Despite that little incident, I had accomplished what I came for.

And that was—

“It took longer than expected to get everything sorted, but… officially—welcome to the A-Rank party, Oathsworn Radiant Swords! …Though it feels weird saying that to an S-Rank like you, Abel. Looking forward to working together!”

Elmie beamed at me with a bright smile as she welcomed me.

That’s right—until now, I had only been a temporary member of the Oathsworn Radiant Swords, but today, I had officially joined for good.

I wasn’t just tagging along anymore.

I had made the decision to stay with them from now on.

“Welcome aboard~!”

“I’m so happy you’re joining us, Abel!”

“Yeah… thanks. Looking forward to it.”

As the three of them welcomed me, I couldn’t help but reminisce.

Back when Millia was busy with her duties or attending classes, I often joined these three to take on requests together.

Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine I’d officially become part of their party…

Just as I was lost in those thoughts, Elmie spoke up.

“We’re glad you joined the party, but… are you sure it’s okay to leave town so soon? We haven’t even collected the materials from the monsters you defeated yet, and no one’s even started processing them.”

It had been about a week since the stampede.

We hadn’t planned on staying too long, and soon we’d be leaving Cahel—or rather, the entire Kingdom of Sildiel—to head for another city, another country.

It might seem a bit rushed, but now that Millia knew about me, I wanted to leave the kingdom as soon as possible.

Even Ciel had urged me to leave quickly, saying “I’ll make sure you can contact me from any church along the way.”

“We’ve already collected the important stuff. The rest… I’ll just leave to the others.”

By now, requests had probably been posted for other adventurers to clean up.

Tasks like dismantling the beasts, clearing the battlefield, and burning the remains—

All of it had been left to them.

Right now, near Cahel, piles of monster corpses still littered the landscape, waiting to be dealt with.

“I wonder if this change is really for the best.”

“This is Abel’s classic S-Rank move~! He goes wild and leaves the cleanup to others. Wow, such a tyrant!”

“Hey, that’s rude. I’m not just dumping it on others; I’m giving them a good opportunity. It’s a win-win situation.”

In reality, this was a common scenario after an S-Rank adventurer made a mess.

Most of us weren’t exactly great at cleaning up after ourselves…

But for lower-ranked adventurers, this was a golden opportunity—

A relatively low-risk, well-paying job to collect materials and process the aftermath.

I used to rely on these jobs back in the day myself.

Of course, the guild ends up bearing the brunt of it.

Just yesterday, the bald-headed dismantler at the guild came at me swinging after hearing about the cleanup job.

Well, he’s got ten thousand monster corpses to deal with…

Good luck with that.

And it’s not just the guild workers.

Even the clerics responsible for purifying the remains have been stretched thin.

When I visited the church the past couple of days, aside from the guide lady, the place was practically empty.

Looks like they’ll be stuck with this mess for a while…

Since all I can really do is burn things down, I figured I’d leave sooner rather than later.

“It’s not like we’re in a rush, but leaving early wouldn’t hurt.”

“Speaking of which…”

Maria, sitting across from me, spoke up from behind Elmie.

“Abel, are you really okay with this? Giving up the magic swords…”

“You finally learned how to use magic and got stronger because of it… Isn’t it a waste?”

“Maybe… but still.”

…Without the magic swords, my magic output is practically zero.

I can barely use any magic at all without it.

A weapon this powerful is rare, and if I let it go, there’s no doubt I’ll become weaker.

Sure, I’ve gotten stronger compared to before, but without the sword, all that potential magic is useless—just a wasted resource.

But still—

“It’s fine. I only sought out the magic sword to save Millia. Now that it’s over, I don’t need to hold onto it anymore.”

This was my way of getting closure.

Thanks to these three, I was finally able to move on… but deep down, I still didn’t feel ready to truly move forward.

Letting go of everything connected to Millia—maybe that was the only way I could finally take that first step.

“…But thinking back, I realized I left behind quite a mess, huh.”

The past three years had been nothing but one struggle after another.

Even getting my hands on the magic swords was a journey filled with debts and favors, and there were plenty of other things I had left unfinished…

Honestly, I had way too much left to do to even think about dying back then.

“Things might get complicated from here on out… but still, I’m counting on you guys.”

“What are you even saying, Abel? Of course we’re with you. We’re a party now—together, always!”

Elmie accepted with a bright smile, not even asking about the details yet…

Hearing her say that made me really, really happy.

As we talked, the carriage finally started moving.

Since no one else was leaving town at the moment, it was just the four of us inside.

Our destination—

The southern maritime nation, Shunarte.

“Thanks for carrying all our travel gear, Abel.”

“No problem. My artifact has plenty of space, anyway.”

Most of our supplies for the trip to Shunarte were stored by me.

After all, my storage artifact, ‘White Phantom’s Vault,’ could hold an entire castle inside.

This much was nothing.

“Wasn’t it that ring of yours? It’s pretty amazing that it can fit a whole castle.”

“Yeah, but hey, what else do you have in there?”

Frey and Elmie leaned in curiously, prompting me to focus on the ring and check its contents.

Most of the things I had collected during our journey were already gone—either sent to the Hero’s Party or exchanged for money and sent over.

“Honestly, there’s probably nothing too interesting left… I sold off most of the valuables.”

But then—

“Oh… actually, I do have something left.”

As I looked through the contents of the ring, I noticed something—I still had a large number of Ixys flowers, those ever-lasting blue blossoms.

I used to send them to Millia little by little—a flower that symbolized “Eternal Love.”

Ciel once told me that Millia had no idea what they meant… and ended up throwing them away.

I had chosen them not just for their meaning, but also because they could be used as materials for magic items—and could fetch a good price in an emergency.

But in the end… she never even realized it.

I thought she would remember how we once looked them up together in an old book…

Maybe I was wrong.

“Oh, those are Ixys flowers, right?”

“Yeah… I used to collect them whenever I found them. But… oh well.”

As I pulled out the dark magic sword from the ring and let my magic flow into it—the vibrant blue flower in my hand slowly started to wither.

A flower that was supposed to never fade… was fading.

Just like the love I thought would last forever.

“It’s wilting…? Abel, is this… something you’re doing?”

“Yeah, I just… needed to do this.”

“You used to give those to Millia, right? Why not give some to us too?”

“Big sister would love to have one too~!”

“Ahaha. Don’t worry, I’ll give you some later.”

I was able to stay on my feet—to keep moving forward—only because of these three.

Without them, I would have collapsed and fallen into despair.

I clenched the once vibrant, now dry and brittle blue flower in my hand.

With a quiet sigh, I crushed it and tossed it out the window.

The carriage rolled on, leaving behind the remnants of the shattered petals, carried away by the wind, disappearing into the distance.

Volume One

A Withered Blue Flower for the One I Long For

A Secret Bouquet for the One Who Will Never Fade

—The End—