The NTR Party Disbands
Normal to Regend
From ordinary to legend.
When had I first put this party together? As best I can remember, it was back when we were still academy cadets. Looking at it now, even the fact that we'd mixed up the letters L and R when we wrote the name is a pretty funny memory.
A party that had lasted a full ten years had long since shed its awkwardness, and only proper professionals remained. And becoming professionals meant becoming adults. Put another way...
"Hnnngh...♡ Sunu.... I'm... really busy right now.... Hnngh?!"
"Yeah... okay."
No. Never mind. What was I even about to say?
I hung up the phone and quietly let out a sigh.
Aigoo, damn. That's just hot. Straight-up scorching.
The sounds coming through the other end of the line had nearly gotten a rise out of me below the belt. Even after ten years of knowing each other, those little whimpers still made me register her as a woman without meaning to. Black guys really are something else, I guess. Looking at how he'd reduced a self-proclaimed alpha woman to a whimpering bitch in a single go only drove the point home harder.
"Na-ri says she can't make it today. Should we just draft the strategy ourselves for now?"
"The strategy, huh..."
She was staring at her phone with a thoroughly uninterested tone. I snuck a glance at what she was doing and saw her chatting with someone from another party.
"The Hero... that's an S-Class party, right?"
"Could you not look at my phone?"
"Oh, sorry— wait, you thought I was actually gonna say that?"
"What?"
Who the hell does she think she's looking at like some kind of idiot?
"People ought to have some basic manners with each other. Even so, staring at your phone and doing other stuff during a strategy meeting is a little much, don't you think?"
"Mind your own business."
"Wow..."
Look at that attitude. I genuinely wondered how a girl like this was going to survive once she joined an S-Class party.
And The Hero— that was the guy, right? The one from three classes after ours. He'd made a whole racket about how it was the age of talent or whatever, and thinking back on what that Hero bastard had shown us, he really was one hell of a lunatic. How crazy do you have to be to already be clearing S-Class dungeons as a cadet? Considering our own party was barely scraping by at A-Class, I was just glad we weren't from the same class. If we had been, I'd probably have given up entirely— party and all— and just quit.
Still, she'll figure it out somehow.
This was a girl who'd ground her teeth raw since cadet days, determined never to lose the top rank. She'd probably do just fine in another party with that stubborn grit of hers.
I let out a small breath and looked around.
"...Where's A-yeong? You're here by yourself?"
"A-yeong's in the bathroom right now, taking care of business."
"With that porter guy, by any chance?"
"Huh? How'd you know?"
How'd I know? How do you think I knew.
"Sorry I'm late... was I very late?"
"No. Not that late..."
One look at her and the answer was written all over her face. I had nothing left to say, so I just stared at A-yeong in silence.
"...Is something wrong?"
"Nothing. Just— you've got hair stuck to your mouth."
".............."
Honestly, the hair wasn't even the real problem. The cloudy fluid trailing down from under that ridiculously short skirt, the flush rising oddly across her cheeks, the slightly unfocused eyes, the way her body kept twitching at irregular intervals— putting it all together...
I'd appreciate it if you two did your affection at home...
Still, I couldn't quite bring myself to tell her to stop. A girl who'd treated men like stones her whole life had finally found a guy she genuinely liked and was going this far for him. What was I supposed to do but understand and let it slide?
At least you're still normal. That's a relief.
Our team's sole remaining conscience. Choi Ji-yeon. Calling a thief our conscience was pretty funny, but given the current state of things, that was exactly what she was.
I sighed quietly and started briefing them on the upcoming dungeon.
"The dungeon we're raiding this time is the A-Class dungeon Behemoth's Labyrinth. Special notes are the same as what I mentioned befo—"
"—Sorry, Captain. The boss is calling me, so I'm gonna head out?"
"Hey, wait, are you seriously just— leaving?"
Three minutes into the briefing. Our last shred of conscience walked right out of the party.
It was our team's reality— strangely lyrical, metaphorical, and yet completely straightforward.
So... this was it, then.
Should we just disband the party?
Even a guy like me has some sense of social awareness. And with that awareness, this was simply not a state of affairs that could be managed anymore.
The so-called warrior was currently buried under a black guy, moaning her head off. The so-called mage was angling for a transfer to another party. The so-called healer was ducking out mid-meeting to go screw her boyfriend. And the so-called thief had just job-changed into some big shot's house cat.
A situation that could collapse at any moment without anyone being surprised. And that gut feeling of mine turned out to be right on the money.
"You're... leaving the party?"
"...Yeah."
"...Yeah."
"...Yeah."
"...Yeah."
Same day. Same hour. Every single one of them handed me their party withdrawal forms together.
"Haah..."
I'd had a feeling. I'd always figured a day like this would come eventually. I sat still in my seat and looked at the four of them.
"I'm sorry... I can't live without Michael anymore...!"
The manly warrior who'd always stood at the front lines beside me with her sword in hand had become a woman so full of love she called her boyfriend every day just to share it.
"It is so that I may serve the Lord."
The nun who'd always taken care of our bodies from the rear, trembling with fear, had found a man to lean on and finally found her peace.
"Well, I mean, there's no real need to keep the party going anymore, right?"
The thief overflowing with hungry ambition, who'd always shouted money, money, money, had been chosen by some high-ranking figure and become a thoroughly tamed cat.
"I've said it before— I'll do whatever it takes for my own growth."
The mage who'd always fixed her eyes solely on the top rank had left her little pond behind and was joining the S-Class party The Hero.
"Still, no matter how you look at it, dropping this on me out of nowhere doesn't make any sense."
A half-muttered remark. All four of them stayed silent. They probably knew it themselves— how completely absurd this whole stunt was.
"We're not operating as individuals right now. We're a party. And do you think we're still academy cadets like back then?"
Back in our academy cadet days, disbanding a party had been free and easy. As academy affiliates, the responsibility imposed on us only went as far as cadet-level, and nothing beyond that was demanded of us. But once you entered society— and especially once you'd climbed to an A-Class party— the story changed completely.
"What about the Yuseong Group? You know the contract with them is still in effect, right?"
We'd entered society. We'd become adults. That meant taking responsibility for our own actions.
"Do you think we're some slapped-together E-Class or D-Class party? We're A-Class. A-Class. A party in the top one percent."
You think the fallout from a party like that suddenly declaring disbandment is going to stop with just us?
I raised my voice and tore into the party members. And then...
"...Even so, I don't think I can let that man go."
"Nothing outside the Lord matters."
"Wellll, 'that person' said they'd handle everything for me, so?"
"This side's already got The Hero's people taking care of the formalities, so don't worry about it."
Answers of every color. But if they had one thing in common, it was that all of them had made up their minds. If their resolve was this firm, there was nothing more for me to say.
"Fine. Go. Get out."
But before you leave— take this with you.
I opened my phone and firmly pressed the transfer button.
"This is..."
"Money?"
Look at her, reacting instantly. No wonder they call her a money-crazed cat.
I turned off my phone and continued calmly.
"I gave up the party room we were using."
"What...?"
"It's not like we're going to need it anymore, right?"
"That's... true, but..."
A look of clear displeasure. As a mage, she'd insisted she had a better eye for property and had personally chosen the party room herself— so the news that I'd given it up clearly rubbed her the wrong way. But with the party disbanding, what reason was there for the party room to stick around?
"I also split up the remaining party common funds and materials equally and deposited everyone's share."
"Sunu..."
"I handled the Yuseong Group contract on my end too, so you can all do whatever you want."
Normally there would have been penalty fees and all kinds of friction. But with a relationship going back roughly nine years, we'd managed to get through it without any major conflict.
Though it looks like I'll have to stick around a little longer myself.
Well, I was a rootless duckweed with nowhere else to go— so staying behind was actually the better deal for me.
............
"...What are you all staring at?"
The party members looked at me without a word. I flashed a grin and spoke to them.
"What, did you think I was gonna grab your pant legs and beg you not to leave?"
Sorry, but I'm not that weak a man. And it's not like I can't do anything without you people around.
"You guys are all leaving to chase after what you actually want, right? Who am I to stand in the way of that? If anything, I'd rather cheer you on."
"Sunu..."
A tear fell. Na-ri, crying. How had a self-proclaimed alpha woman and warrior ended up so teary? The thought that this, too, was a change that came from meeting a man was both amusing and a little bitter.
I'd liked her once. But attraction and love really are different things, I suppose.
I nodded, stood up from my seat, and called out.
"This is my final order as party leader."
The choice you've made— don't waste time regretting it. Give it everything you've got and push forward.
"I'm sorry... I'm so sorry, Sunu...!"
"I... no. For me, there is only the Lord."
"...Coming out with that all of a sudden makes this unnie feel a little guilty."
"I was already planning to, even without you saying it."
Hey. Are you really gonna be like that to the very end? Are you a goddamn sociopath?
"...When you need to buy scrolls. Commission me and I'll give you five percent off."
"Hah."
Now that— that was pure you.
I gave a small round of applause and stood up from my seat.
So this is the end of this place, too.
It was a long-standing bond, so there was a touch of melancholy— but more than that, I blessed their futures. Their behavior had been pretty damn shitty, sure, but it hadn't been an entirely bad connection either.
For all the time we'd built up, for all the bonds we'd accumulated, I simply clapped and sent them on their way...
"Huh?"
Videos of them getting railed had arrived in my inbox from the party members' boyfriends.
...Were they seriously telling me to use these as side dishes?