Declared Dead, Exiled, and Betrayed— Now I Walk Away, but I'll Save One Who Cared - Chapter 2

As I trudged toward the city gates, memories of the past flooded my mind.

This city was built around a dungeon.

No, rather, it exists because of the dungeon.

Inside the dungeon, countless monsters roam. Defeating them yields valuable drop items, but for adventurers, it’s always a life-or-death struggle.

To keep the economy running and support adventurers, a stable population is necessary. As more people gather, industries emerge, and naturally, cities form around dungeons.

But sometimes, monsters escape from the dungeon.

A few here and there can be handled by nearby adventurers.

But when hundreds or thousands pour out? That’s when things get bad. Entire cities have been destroyed in such events.

That’s what we call a Stampede.

There was a time when we didn’t understand why they happened and struggled to find a way to prevent them. Even now, they still occur on occasion.

But by now, it’s common knowledge: as long as adventurers regularly explore the dungeon and cull the monsters inside, stampedes shouldn’t happen.

That’s why cities ensure they always have a steady number of adventurers. The most skilled among them? They’re kept close.

Three years ago, my party, Flash, happened to be in this city on a security mission when a stampede struck.

It was brutal. Countless civilians perished. The lord’s wife and his heir—his eldest son—were among the dead.

And the one who slew the Orc King leading the stampede?

Me.

After that, the lord himself asked me to stay in this city. I accepted, dedicating myself to regularly entering the dungeon to thin out the monster population.

I even became engaged to Eranda, the lord’s eldest daughter, who had taken over as acting ruler after her grief-stricken father became bedridden.

Since I was expected to take over as lord someday, I took part in managing the guild and even helped train the city’s guards.

Eranda handled diplomacy and governance, leaving me free to focus on the dungeon.

Then, a little over six months ago…

My party ventured into the dungeon, as always—clearing the upper, middle, and lower floors.

That’s when Jekyll, the thief, triggered a trap.

The ground crumbled beneath us.

Spears and magic projectiles shot toward us from all directions.

Our formation shattered instantly.

I saw that Claire, our mage in the rear, was outside the trap’s range. That was good.

But Jekyll was dangling over the pit.

I used magic to switch places with him and fell instead.

As I plummeted, I caught a glimpse of Michelle, our knight, shielding Jekyll with her sword and magic.

There was no mistake.

That was exactly what happened.

And yet… this was the reward for my sacrifice?

It was beyond cruel.

“Stop right there!”

Lost in thought, I barely noticed the voice until the city guards called out to me.

Among them were a few men I had personally trained.

Leading them was Lyla.

I remembered her well—she had been eager to participate in my training sessions, and her skills were impressive.

But… she had also been clingy. Constantly trying to stay close after training, frequently inviting me to meals.

Her behavior always put Eranda in a foul mood.

“What do you want?”

“By order of Jekyll, leader of ‘Flash,’ you are under arrest for assaulting him.”

“Oh? So you’ve chosen to take the side of that scum?”

I hadn’t really paid attention to who was in the guild earlier, but from the way they spoke, these guys weren’t there.

“The only scum here is you! Jekyll saved the party from a disaster you caused, and yet you had the audacity to attack him? I’m disappointed in you!”

There was no reasoning with them.

They must have confronted Jekyll just as they were confronting me now.

Or maybe they were something more than just allies to him at this point.

I didn’t care.

“You really think you can capture me?”

Ten of them.

They really thought that was enough?

Back when I trained them, I had taken on far larger groups without breaking a sweat.

They had no idea who they were dealing with.

“A Fallen Man Like You Is No Match for Us! We’ve Trained Under Jekyll and Claire for the Past Six Months! Surrender at Once!”

The moment Lyla finished speaking, the guards drew their swords and charged at me.

What a hassle…

That was my honest thought.

There was no point in trying to explain myself—they wouldn’t listen anyway.

But surrender? Not an option.

Didn’t they just tell me to leave?

Dodging their swords was easier than avoiding the breath attacks of the monsters in the dungeon’s depths.

These were the same useless guards who had been completely ineffective during the last Stampede.

Even the lord himself, disappointed by their incompetence, had asked me to train them.

They couldn’t even handle regular orcs, let alone the Orc King.

No amount of training could make up for the fact that they had zero real combat experience. They had never even stepped into a dungeon.

I carefully disarmed them, making sure not to use magic. With a single strike from my hand, I knocked every one of their swords to the ground.

“Damn you…!”

Oops. I accidentally hit Lyla’s arm instead of her sword.

Her arm bent at an unnatural angle as she clutched it, glaring at me with fury.

“Realize it yet? You don’t stand a chance. Goodbye.”

I had no interest in dealing with them further. I turned and continued toward the city gates, leaving them behind.

I didn’t want to be accused of assault, so I casually cast a healing spell on Lyla’s arm as I walked away.

Seriously…

Was everyone in this city insufferable?