Betrayal

I looked at this new face with slight astonishment, then quickly observed my comrades. Almost everyone looked worried. Sana remained with her head down, Lilith looked annoyed out of the window, Marie handled one of her stuffed animals, with her own indifferent gaze, and only Morgiana and Erick stared at me. I just raised my eyebrows. The young girl made a curtsey, an attitude testifying to an upbringing very different from the villagers.

" Hmm? Replacement?"

"I am honored to meet you, Sir Anesidora."

I stared, dumbfounded, at my comrades and saw their reaction. Marie was still playing with her stuffed animal, but I think she would really have fun if her eyes weren't fixed on the wall, Morgiana kept her arms crossed, Sana stared at the floor and Lilith inspected her hammer. Leon never took his eyes off me.

"What... what does that mean?"

"I'm impressed that you look so surprised. I'm actually doing you a favor, We, Shining Sword, have the ambition to become the best Emissary team in the world, and for that, we need to progress quickly, so we can't just waste time in this little village, You know, as a hero, I have a duty to help the world, as a leader, I have to carry our team's name to the top, so we have to redefine our goals as a team."

Indeed, Leon belonged to the most popular and versatile hero class. It had only one evolution but compensated by the overwhelming level of its attributes, it was basically the most potent base class. He was the one who carried the team to our debut after all, and thanks to him our power increased considerably, but that's also where the problem lay.

"I understand that, but why should I be substituted? We've always worked as a team and I don't really see the need to pull myself out..."

Erick chuckled and looked at me mockingly.

" Are you serious? Don't you see the need? What exactly have you been doing all this time? Do you think we can't succeed without your debuff?

"...What do you mean? Every job has meaning, just because I can only debuff in battle doesn't mean..."

"AH! Shut up! Look at this."

Erick took out his dagger and concentrated, soon a purple aura covered his weapon.

"Is it..."

"Yes, it's, 'poison skill', from the black snake the last time."

I quickly understood the situation. Erick belonged to the rogue's branch, generally characterized by stealth attacks and mainly debuffs. However, the difference between an assassin and his evolution was the power of his attacks.

An assassin uses debuffs but a shadow focused on the power of his blows, a shaman would always be more effective than an assassin in the field of debuffs in short, what reason would he have to voluntarily handicap himself if he wanted to be the best in the world?

" You see? Now that I also have a debuff, what use are you now? You were useless before but now you're just pathetic.

"... It looks useless because the monsters and rifts around the village are low-level, when you meet more powerful opponents, you will see my usefulness!"

I looked at my comrades as if to beg them to reconsider their decision. A burning feeling shot through my heart and through my brain, forcing me to fight against myself not to reveal my emotions. Morgiana spoke in her turn.

"Helpful? You've been asked for weeks to hunt monsters from your branch and improve your skills, but you always refuse, you said your ridiculous magic tricks were better right? Why do you change your mind now? "

"I... I was just..."

"Can't explain yourself? Better stay quiet, you're a disgrace."

My shoulders slumped and my face twisted in sadness. Liliana walked over to me and took my hand in hers, I stayed on guard because as a debuff I felt like this angel-looking being could try to exorcise me and I was in enemy territory.

"Please everyone, this is not what we agreed on.  I've heard what you did with and for everyone and I don't want to cause the destruction of such a great bond. We decided to have a sort of test, and depending on the result, we will keep you."

I didn't know how to react to this, several thoughts crossed my mind just now but this little angel brought me back to reality.

I looked at my comrades for a moment, the irony of being defended by a stranger was amusing.

"A test? To let me stay on the team?"

"Yes, the latest rift level rating is down, its dangerousness is officially E-rank, and some teams are on their way from nearby towns to deal with it, which means if Shining Sword manages to stop the rift, we will be a recognized E-rank team."

"Then... If it's officially E-rank, I should be useful, it's the time to show our full power... But you're willing to get rid of me?"

Lilith sighed deeply in annoyance.

"We told you that you just had to do the raid well, stop whining and go train, we agreed to give you 2 days."

I clenched my fist and shook my head.

"No... I understand you all, It's true that I hampered the team for too long, I wanted to do my best but it's clear that I don't have my place."

This time, all the members turned to me, Sana looking stunned.

"W-what are you saying? We said You just have to do better in the next raid, please, it's time to get serious."

"I am. You're right, I'm not trying to play the victim, I understand that I'm a burden on you. As an avatar, it takes too much effort for me to get stronger, I'm just going to slow you down, and it's true that my habit of only gaining ridiculous powers is an insult to your name."

A small laugh was heard, Marie, at the back of the room tried to hide her reaction by coughing.

"Oi, stop this right now, just apologize and go do some training you idiot!"

"Lilith, it's pointless. He's nothing like before, if he doesn't even want to try, I refuse to keep teaming up with him." Morgiana said coldly, we always had an ambiguous relationship so I wasn't really surprised.

"Please, sir Anesidora... Everyone is a little tense so don't do that, please, I'll help you train."

I was amazed by the kindness and generosity of this angel, in other circumstances, I would have liked to team up with her, but the door was wide open now. Leon put a bag on the table.

"Well, that will make our job easier. Here is an indemnity for your services rendered for Shining Sword, since it is decided that you can leave now, you are officially free."

He gestured to Erick who took the bag and threw it at me, but way too far for me to retrieve it. However, the bag suddenly appeared in my hand without my moving.

"Well, so it's been an honor to work with all of you and… Huh? It's not money, it's got rocks and papers in it!"

Erick chuckled and Leon sighed, I quickly realized it was deliberate but seeing the slightly surprised looks from the others it was obvious they didn't know.

"Look closely, there are a few rooms inside. Of course, we had to remove some costs for accommodation, food, celebrations for Liliana's arrival..."

"What?!" The girl exclaimed at Erick's statement.

"... So you're stealing from me too?"

"It's not a robbery, this money comes from the work of the team, and since you are deemed useless you don't deserve more than that."

"... Okay, but then, we can agree that it's a theft, you take what belongs to me."

"So what? If you have something against it, come take it." He said, pointing his dagger at me.

The tension was palpable at that time, Erick and I had the distinction of loving each other like water and fire, in the world of emissaries, pointing a weapon at another emissary was a declaration of war, and the identity of the person in front was an added motivation for me.

We were face to face but before I could respond, a slap reminded me of my situation.

"… Sana?