VIP Chapter 206: Kicked Out of the Team
“After saying that, which was more like chasing her away than letting Shuna choose herself…”
Will finally dared to look up at Shuna.
It was because he was afraid that Shuna would glare fiercely at him before he even finished speaking.
But contrary to his expectations, Shuna, who usually watched him and waited for him to finish speaking, turned her face away today.
It seemed she wasn’t angry about Will’s words. She gazed out at the bustling streets and the passing crowds of the continent from a distance.
Shuna’s profile had a cool kind of “beauty.”
She was like a reliable senior sister who would always stand by you, but was quite willful at heart.
Even though he had been telling himself that Shuna was his good buddy, he found it hard to see such a sister as a buddy whenever he looked at her face.
“Hmm… Are you sure you’ll be fine without my help from now on?”
“That… um.”
Will nodded, but he was lying.
He did want Shuna’s help.
She and Liya, when she was at her peak and in her element, could both sustain only minor injuries. Based on this alone, Will was confident in her strength.
However, facing the Royal Family and Treya, who possessed the mysterious “Demon Power,” Will felt it was unnecessary for Shuna, as a member of the Royal Family, to get involved.
His mindset was somewhat similar to Teacher Liya’s when she advised him not to interfere.
After all, the Entak Royal Family was too corrupt. He instinctively felt they wouldn’t let any “ordinary person” who interfered get away.
Moreover, Shuna had already been injured because of him once, and he felt too embarrassed to see her get hurt again.
More importantly…
Shuna’s gaze, which had been elsewhere, returned and settled on him.
— Will had never understood why Shuna was so willingly willing to put herself in danger with him.
She had not only continuously expressed her desire to join his Adventuring Team,
but she was also willing to go with him to various high-difficulty Dungeons.
She had even saved his life numerous times.
It was as if…
She had no other “wishes” in this world. Forming a team with Will and exploring various Dungeons together was the sole meaning of her life.
Perhaps he was overthinking it.
Shuna, who appeared so sociable and capable as an Adventurer, might have simply moved past the pursuit of “achievements” or “material possessions” in Dungeons and just wanted to have some fun.
“Really? I thought with my abilities, you’d definitely need someone like me on the team for logistics and would beg me not to leave.”
A flicker of “disappointment” crossed Shuna’s face. It wasn’t feigned, and because of that, it was only fleeting.
Looking at Shuna like this…
Will suddenly remembered some memories that had not been very clear before.
This description, for the mindset of “someone,” described: treating forming a team and entering Dungeons with others as the most important thing in life, but others thought he didn’t demand anything from the team, wasn’t serious at all, and was just looking for fun, someone who could be kicked out at any time.
It was so familiar, it was as if he were reciting it verbatim.
This…
This was a description of the Protagonist, Xiu, from the Original Work.
Being kicked out of a team was precisely because of this “illusion.”
And the reason why he cared so much about the “Shining Star” had never been told to anyone.
Because, even before the Shining Star, he regarded it as his lifelong endeavor and the deceased “Captain” as his most important friend. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have become so obsessed later on.
Speaking of which, he had noticed before that Shuna’s hair color, eye color, the school she attended, and her age unexpectedly matched.
Now he knew for sure about the disappearance of the Original Work’s Protagonist.
Thinking further, more matching elements emerged—
The time she “by chance” joined the Shining Star also coincided with the time the Protagonist rejoined the Shining Star described in the Original Work.
Her role was logistics—although the reason was that he had instilled some strange things in her when he wrote her a letter.
Her identity as a “God-Attuned” was also exactly the same.
The number of God-Attuned individuals was not large—due to its special nature in the world’s setting.
…
Could it be…?!
The only thing that didn’t match was her personality. Xiu, whether in the former Shining Star or later in “Will’s” team, did not have a cheerful personality like Shuna.
If that were the case, would “kicking her out of the team” at this “wrong” point in time even work?
“Okay. I understand. You’re saying this for my own good.”
Shuna didn’t seem to notice that Will’s mind had raced through so much in that short time. She simply stretched lazily.
Her expression was as relaxed as usual, as if she had expected this.
“You… saw through me.”
“Since it’s your decision, then… I shouldn’t stay either.”
“It’s okay, I taught you, I know you very well.”
“You won’t be completely controlled by the other party like last time, will you?”
“No.”
“You won’t be drugged and lose consciousness like last time?”
“Really not!”
“You won’t be stripped bare and drained like last time?”
“This time, I have the advantage!”
Shuna even giggled upon hearing this.
“Alright, if you insist on going to the Capital, at least hire some muscle or ask your father for help?”
“…You sound like my mother.”
“Ehh, good boy, say it again? Never mind, it’s like I’m interested in your scummy father.”
…
The jokes seemed to be over here.
The two, who were both skilled at witty banter, fell into silence.
“Then let’s part ways here. See you again if we have the chance. Oh, you can still write letters, but you don’t need to use an alias anymore. Just write to the Adventurer’s Guild addressed to ‘Shuna’.”
“Yeah.”
“I’ll go this way, and you can go out that way. There’s a carriage that goes to the Capital.”
“Okay.”
“Then, see you again if fate allows. As the Captain, don’t forget to find time to deregister me at the Guild, otherwise, I won’t be a free Adventurer, and finding commissions will be difficult.”
“That might have to wait until I get to the Capital. Wanted Posters were just put up here, so I don’t dare go to the Adventurer’s Guild in the city center.”
“Alright.”
This time, it was Shuna’s turn to reply with a single word.
“Fine, every journey has an end. Goodbye!”
Shuna waved her hand, turned around, and walked out towards the busy street with its comings and goings of people.
Her retreating figure grew smaller and smaller in the light, finally disappearing into the light at the end of the road.
Will didn’t rush off. Instead, he stood still and observed for a moment.
Shuna might be the type to walk away and then suddenly turn back and hug him, saying, “I was kidding.”
But…
She didn’t.
After that lock of black hair blended into the crowd, she never reappeared.
It seemed…
This was “Will” forcing her out of the team, wasn’t it?
But the timing was quite different from when Xiu was forced out of the team in the Original Work.
She…
She really wasn’t the Protagonist of the Original Work, was she?
For some reason.
Will truly hoped that this was the case, that she was just Shuna, with no connection to the character in the Original Work.
Perhaps because…
For a very, very long time, while communicating with “S,” he had treated her as someone completely outside the story.
She was someone who truly belonged to him socially, someone who belonged to his story.
If he were told now that Shuna was a “gender-bent protagonist,” he might feel that “fate” was even more unfair.
In his fate, the people involved were always inseparable from that predetermined, arranged story.
