When I turned in the direction of the voice, I saw two of my coworkers, Gaizen and Pearl, waving as they approached.
"What are you two doing here?"
"What do you mean, 'what are we doing'? We heard you suddenly got kicked out! And then we found out that Rogue is the new leader now... None of this makes any sense!"
"Didn't Daniel explain it to you? It's as he said... I was deemed unfit to lead the 'Holy Sword of Heroes' by unanimous decision except for you two and Kanade. That's why I ended up like this. You've both been demoted too, but they guaranteed you decent positions. There's no reason for you to stick with me anymore.
"I don't care! I want to stay with Alf!" Pearl shouted loudly.
It was uncharacteristic of her. Normally, she was quiet, only interested in magic, and rarely asserted herself. I'd never seen her so serious before not even in the original story.
"Pearl... I'm grateful, but if you stay with me, Rogue will brand you a traitor, too. And when his unique skill, 'Grant Ability' is removed, your stats will plummet, and you won't even be able to use your own skills anymore. Just like me...'
I explained, showing them my guild card.
Of course, it was just a registration document without any detailed stats, but it showed my adventurer rank.
I'd been demoted from First Class to Fourth Class.
That alone should make them understand the consequences of betraying Rogue.
"I know. But I don't care!" Gaizen declared with conviction.
"What did you say?"
I couldn't help but ask again, taken aback by his words.
"If being Rogue's lapdog means I have to grovel for the rest of my life, I'd much rather go on adventures with you, Alf! It was way more fun that way!"
"Gaizen... you..."
I always knew he was a good guy, but I never expected him to say something like this.
In the original story, we were both destined to be cast aside, so I figured there was never any real bond between us.
"Me too!" Pearl chimed in. "Even if I can't use 'Infinity Mana' anymore, I'm still a sorcerer! I just want to stay by your side, Alf!"
Even Pearl... I couldn't believe how happy I was to hear that.
In the original story, Pearl had always looked up to Alfred like an older brother.
But despite her loyalty, that scumbag sold her off to slavers for money after he'd fallen from grace.
Remembering that filled me with regret, and I wanted to punch myself in the face... but it would hurt too much, so I didn't.
"Are you sure about this? You both benefited greatly from Rogue's abilities. Without them, your levels will drop significantly."
"To tell you the truth, we already quit the 'Holy Sword of Heroes' a while ago. Long before you were expelled," Gaizen admitted.
"What?!"
"Yes, just like Gaizen said. We told them, 'If you're going to kick Alf out, we're quitting too,' and left."
Unbelievable... They had already severed their ties to Rogue's skill.
They did all that just to stay with me?
I couldn't help it. Tears started welling up in my eyes.
"Alf, are you crying?"
"S-shut up! Of course not! It's just the sunset stinging my eyes!"
"We're indoors, you know?"
"Whatever! Look, I get it! Let's have fun together again!"
"Yeah!"
"Of course!"
And just like that, I reunited with my two former comrades, forming a party once more.
However, it was clear their stats had taken a hit. Their ranks had fallen, as shown on their newly updated guild cards.
Gaizen had dropped to Fifth Class, and Pearl to Fourth Class.
"I can't use 'Infinity Mana' anymore, but I can still manage some mid-tier spells," Pearl said.
Apparently, her natural magic power had never been that high to begin with.
Still, considering she was only 11 years old, she was remarkably talented.
"That's more than enough. Gaizen, can you still use 'Iron Wall'?"
"I can... but my stats are so low now that I can't move while it's active. I'm basically a sitting duck."
"Even so, it's still useful, right? I can't use 'God Acceleration' anymore either. We'll make it work."
"Alf, we're grateful to you for keeping the damage to this level."
"Why's that?"
"You gave us advice on how to prepare for a loss of abilities, remember? We took your words seriously, and it paid off."
"Exactly! It's like you could see the future. Alf, you're a genius!"
"W-well... I was starting to lose faith in Rogue, so I figured I'd better prepare."
In reality, I'd given them those warnings because I'd read the original story and wanted to avoid the bad ending. But I couldn't exactly tell them that.
Still, it seemed like they had taken my words to heart more than I'd expected.
I was impressed. It looks like we'll be able to manage somehow.
That aside...
"What about Shannon and Kanade?" I asked.
"They're still with 'Holy Sword of Heroes'," Gaizen replied.
"I see... That's fine, then."
"But both of them are doing everything they can for your sake," Pearl added.
"What do you mean?"
According to her, Shannon and Kanade weren't satisfied with my expulsion. They stayed behind, trying to overturn the decision.
Shannon was working to bring Rogue back to his senses, while Kanade was trying to convince the other members of the guild to support me.
"...I see. They're doing all that for me."
"Yeah, Alf. They're fighting for you."
"What do you mean by that?"
"Over the past year, you've changed a lot, Alf. I've always liked you, but Alf are now... I love him the most."
"Me too. You make me proud to stand by your side. I can go home and brag to my wife and daughter now. Before, I would've hidden the truth from them. Even this armor was a way to hide who I was."
Really?
It was true that the old Alfred wasn't a great guy.
He made enemies left and right with his arrogance.
But now, after just a year, they trusted me this much...
Yeah... I won't let Gaizen and Pearl get screwed over.
And the same goes for Shannon and Kanade!
I won't let the protagonist Rogue's convenient, plot-driven nonsense harm my comrades!
I made up my mind.
In this world, I'm going to live a fun, fulfilling life with all of them!
"Just wait, Rogue, and all your hanger-ons... I'm going to take everything from you!"
"Alf, I get Rogue, but what's this 'hanger-on' and 'take everything' talk?" Gaizen asked, confused.
"It's something akin to god in this world. I'm going to rebel against it. I'm not going to let them control me anymore! I'll change my fate! I'll use anything I can to do it as long as it's within reason. So, come with me, both of you!"
"Uh, sure... even though I have no idea what you're talking about."
"Me neither... But if you say so, Alf, I'll follow you anywhere."
Alright! I'm getting fired up!
Rogue, just like you took the 'Holy Sword of Heroes' from me, I'm going to take something precious from you too!
Determined, I led the two of them to a certain place.
The place where the main heroine of the original story resides...