Chapter 23: Wherever Eileen Is, That’s Where I Belong

Night had fallen, and the moon hung high in the sky.

After leaving the party, Helga found herself feeling unexpectedly light, like a burden had been lifted from her shoulders.

She wandered the quiet streets of the small town, hesitating over how she should go about meeting Eileen.

She must absolutely hate us now… me included.

If she rushed over rashly, chances were she wouldn’t even get a chance to see Eileen, let alone talk to her.

It was true that Eileen’s sudden departure from the team, ignoring all their attempts to stop her, had left Helga feeling hurt and upset.

But as time passed, that resentment had slowly faded.

Right now, more than anything, she just wanted to sit down with Eileen and have an honest conversation—lay everything out on the table.

Even if Eileen couldn’t forgive her in the end, at least she would’ve said her piece.

The streets at this hour were deserted and still.

The chaos from the recent monster attack had long since passed, and silence blanketed the town.

Helga stood under the moonlight, in the middle of the empty road, her gaze fixed on the inn where Eileen was staying.

But her feet refused to move forward.

She paced back and forth, unable to take that first step.

Helga had always been different from the others in the party.

She didn’t have any grand ambitions of making a name for herself or going down in history.

The only reason she’d joined Rainbow Covenant in the first place… was because Eileen had extended a hand to her during the lowest point of her life.

She’d believed back then that as long as she held onto Eileen’s hand, Rainbow Covenant would be her home. But now—how had everything fallen apart?

Eileen… what were you really thinking? Was it truly just disgust and boredom with us?

Her vision blurred slightly as memories from long ago began to resurface—

“Ah, sorry, Miss Helga, your magic power is certainly strong, no doubt about that—but we can’t afford to keep a potion guzzler in our party.”

“If you don’t use potions, you can barely cast a few spells.

Sure, that firepower is great for solo boss fights, but we mostly do routine monster-clearing near towns. What we need is a mage with stamina, not a burst cannon.”

That was the reality Helga had faced as a rookie adventurer.

Yes, in the adventurer world, mages and healers were generally highly sought after—they needed talent to be effective.

The least valued were fighters and rogues, jobs that were a dime a dozen.

But Helga hadn’t been a popular pick despite being a mage.

The reason was simple: her magical talent came at a cost.

Her spells were powerful, but they consumed enormous amounts of mana.

Just like that party had told her—Helga could only cast a few spells per outing.

Unless she chugged mana potions like water, her output was practically unsustainable. But those potions weren’t cheap.

At the rate she burned through mana, the reward from each mission wasn’t even enough to cover the cost of her supplies.

Just as Helga was curled up in a corner, gloomily chugging milk and questioning her entire life, Eileen appeared.

That silver hair—like the dawn breaking through the night—made her eyes light up instinctively.

She could still remember how Eileen had strode right up to her, slammed a hand on the table, and looked straight into her eyes with those burning golden irises.

“I heard there’s a girl here with insanely strong magical firepower, but no team’s willing to take her in. That you?”

“…I wouldn’t brag about having insane firepower, but if no one wants her, then yeah… that’s probably me.”

Helga had replied with a bitter smile.

“Perfect! We need exactly one mage for offensive spells! You’re in!”

Huh?

Before she could react, Eileen had already grabbed her hand.

Dragged along in a daze, she’d scrambled to snatch her mage hat from the table while blurting out in panic, “B-but my mana consumption is really high! I can only cast a few spells before I’m out! Unless I get really lucky—”

Her unique trait, Mana Backflow, was probabilistic.

If it didn’t trigger, she couldn’t fill the role of primary spellcaster at all.

She remembered it had been just past noon then, with the sun at its brightest.

Eileen’s silver hair shimmered in the sunlight as she moved, swaying gently in the breeze like it was laced with sparkling diamond dust.

“No problem at all!” Eileen had grinned.

“We want exactly someone like you! Our team’s going all the way to the top of the adventuring world—only the highest firepower gets to join us! As for potions? We’ve got you covered—take as many as you need!”

That was the first time anyone had ever needed her.

The warmth from that hand holding hers made her heart flutter uncontrollably.

She still remembered how Eileen had winked at her then, playful and bright.

Because Eileen was there, Rainbow Covenant felt like home. But now that she’s gone… is there any point in staying with that team anymore?

Sure, Eileen had always done some strange and baffling things… but looking back, had she ever really disliked them?

Hadn’t she already gotten used to it?

Helga looked up toward the room where Eileen was staying, her face troubled, and let out a long sigh.

From now on… I’ll have to wait for the right moment.

****

Meanwhile, Eileen was curled up on the soft, white bed, hugging her knees.

She couldn’t sleep—not that she expected to.

She didn’t particularly care whether the townspeople had thanked her. She didn’t care about the so-called mission rewards either.

But saving so many people… only to be mocked as if she were the villain—that still soured her mood beyond belief.

In her hand, Eileen held the letter she’d received from the Adventurer’s Guild staff before temporarily settling in this town.

She didn’t even need to open it to know what it said.

—It was a notice revoking her adventurer license.

Where had that S-rank Blackrock Dragon come from?

It had to be those wonderful ex-teammates who’d deliberately let it loose—just to humiliate her again.

Eileen knew better than anyone how terrifying Rainbow Covenant’s firepower was.

That magic beast, while labeled S-rank, was only mid-to-low tier among its class.

There’s no way it could’ve survived a full-force barrage from them.

Wasn’t it obvious?

They’d used the Blackrock Dragon to try to catch her in a moment of fear and disgrace, to see her face pale in terror, to watch her tremble before the monster—just to satisfy their twisted sense of superiority.

“And that squad captain who stirred up all that noise, huh… Eight or nine out of ten he was paid off by them.”

The whole thing was clearly a setup, designed to trap her in a perfect storm of isolation and helplessness—and they had succeeded.

“I’ve already been dumped and exiled, and they still won’t let me go? Just how much do these women hate me?!”

She had thought that backing off would bring peace, that never seeing each other again would be the end of it.

But no—they’d pressed in even harder.

The more she thought about it, the more furious she became.

No, she couldn’t swallow this!

She had to get revenge.

She’d make them pay for everything they’d done to her.

But how?

Eileen pinched her chin in thought.

Of course—she’d destroy the very thing they were most proud of: their adventuring team.

Easy to imagine, hard to execute.

Those girls were all born with monstrous talent, each one an overpowered powerhouse with ridiculous DPS.

What could an F-rank reject like her possibly do to win against them?

…But Eileen had one thing going for her.

She had money.

Just as she was deep in her evil scheming, the sound of chaos erupted from the street below her inn—shouting, clattering, chickens and dogs scattering.

She poked her head out the window—and immediately burst out laughing.