Translated by KuroNeko Edited by Omkar
“Get out. I’m sorry, but I’m not interested in incompetence.”
For Lewin Citry, it was a word he never expected to hear. Despite being at a busy plaza in the kingdom’s capital, the surrounding noise disappeared at once. Lewin was startled and fixed his gaze on the guy in front of him.
He was a young man with golden hair that reached down to his shoulders and a neat face. The slightly tilted eyes seem disdainful, and the lips were distorted in a mocking fashion. He was clad in superb steel armor and held a longsword in a highly ornamented scabbard at his waist.
Kress Veritoa. They grew up together and knew each other well as they were born in the same village. No——that was precisely the intention.
“We don’t have much of a choice. You can’t even tame a single demon despite being a <b>[Demon Tamer]</b> . It’s pointless to keep you in the party.”
The person next to Kress said, as Lewin was utterly frozen in the presence of such a shocking scene. She had wonderful chestnut hair and a nice face. Her entire body was covered in a beautiful white robe. Mea, She is an adventurer and a friend of Lewin.
But now she has a cold expression on her face and a thin mocking grin.
“I’m certain I am. But…that’s why I’ve tried to help you guys in other areas. That’s why I’ve trained to use a variety of weapons.”
“Yeah, I guess so. But…what difference does it make? Hey, Kress.”
Kress sniffs loudly, as if on purpose, after being shaken by Mea.
“Such a thing would only be useful if I, the ‘Sword Master’, Mea, the ‘Self-Defense Artists,’ Van, the ‘Knight in Holy Armor,’ and Serene, the ‘King of Wise Spirit’ all worked together. After all, no matter how good you are, a jobber who can’t put his abilities to use is worthless.”
When the name of his other childhood friend was mentioned, Lewin cowered involuntarily.
“I know…it’s possible.”
He continues to talk while clenching his hands and biting down an itch for himself.
“My job has the potential for a class change to become a high rare job like Kress, Mea, and Serene. And I’ve already met one of those requirements.”
“That’s what you call <b>“Multiple Tame Execution,”</b> isn’t it? Well, it’s true that the specific number is unknown, and I’ll give you a fair amount of credit for struggling to accomplish it while other Demon Tamers were giving up because they can’t accomplish it no matter how hard they try. So, how did you manage to execute it in 10,000 times?”
Despite her words, Mea’s face had a mocking expression. So what, you say. Kress’ response was likewise curt.
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“So? You had two requirements. When will the other be accomplished?”
“… T-that’s.”
Lewin couldn’t think of anything to say. He was completely unaware of what he was getting himself into.
“Use <b>“The Oracle,”</b> Lewin. Check it out. What does it say there?”
Kress grimaces and demands, despite the fact that he is undoubtedly aware of the outcome. Having no choice, Lewin focused his attention.
A flurry of white letters swirled in front of him. This was only visible to people who were granted a job or a high-rare job by the God who created the world, and it was believed to be a word from Her .
It can tell you a variety of things as well as, if preferred, the current state of the job.
Under the “Demon Tamer” sign, two lines were lined up.
<b>“Class Change Requirement. One. Multiple Tame Execution: Achieved. Two. Encounter with ??: Unfulfilled.”</b>
“I think it can be fulfilled by encountering some kind of demon… I don’t know what that is.”
“I guess so. So when are you going to find out what that something is?”
Kress stares at Lewin, who remains silent, as if taunting him.
“You’re a childhood friend of mine. That’s why I held off. But I’ve reached the end of my rope. We can’t afford to keep guys like you at our party for much longer.”
“… Because you were chosen to be ‘hero’?”
Lewin muttered a few words and stared straight at Kress.
“Is it because our party was awarded the title of ‘hero’ by the government the other day?”
“Not ‘us.’ I was chosen. I was chosen because of my many accomplishments as an adventurer.”
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Kress wrinkled his brow in discomfort.
“You were just awarded on behalf of the party. It’s not just you.”
“No. It’s only because Kress was there.”
Mea shakes her head loosely, and Kress sighs heavily.
“Well, I don’t care to talk about that now. Okay? A hero’s party is a special type of adventurer. They play a vital role in defeating and sealing the Demon King, the entity that leads the Demon Tribe and is currently trying to rule the whole world. In exchange, they are promised high prestige and honor, as well as a huge treasury subsidy to support the trip. However, there is one thing that needs to be fulfilled in order for them to be active as a heroic party. You know what I’m talking about——Lewin?”
He probably went out of his way to ask Lewin since he wanted to make him more aware of the problem by having him express it directly. Despite his concerns about Kress’ intentions, Lewin had little option but to obey.
“… Must be A rank or higher adventurers only.”
“Exactly! There is a pecking order of adventurers according to ability and performance. I’m the highest, S rank. But you, Lewin, are two ranks below me, B, am I right?”
Despite his frustration, Lewin could only nod his head in agreement.
“I’ll give you credit for getting to rank B with no skills available.”
“Well… Sure, there are a lot of adventurers, but there are only about a thousand of them, B rank.”
“Ah. Not usually. ——It’s just a desperate, tearful effort by the ordinary people.”
Kress and Mea looked at each other and let out a chuckle.
“But that has nothing to do with this. After all, a B-rank is still a B-rank. Of those 1,000, a select few (about 100) are promoted to A rank, and only a handful of them can become S rank adventurers.”
“That’s what I mean. In other words, you’re not even close to me, an A-ranked girl, much less Kress, an S-ranked guy.”
“Ah. That’s why they don’t belong to a hero’s party. Isn’t that right?”
It was definitely a persuasive argument. The rest of his buddies obtained A’s a long time ago, but Lewin’s remained the same. Those who are unable to put their skills to use are not allowed to advance to the level of B or above.
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That was the view of the Adventurers’ Guild——the organization that oversees adventurers.
“I can’t keep a B-rank guy in my party forever, even though I’ve made it all the way to being a hero. You’ll leave, won’t you, Lewin? No——as a hero, I order you. Get out of my party, now.”
“… But you, me, and Serene made a promise a long time ago. We all agreed to work together to bring peace to the world.”
“I don’t have much of a choice. You fell short of my expectations. When I found out you were a Demon Tamer, I thought you were a real charmer, but I’m disappointed in you.”
Unable to say anything back to Kress, who sighed with an exaggerated gesture, Lewin turned over.
“So I’m leaving you here. If you want to hate me, go ahead and hate me. I don’t give a shit about you, because you have no power.”
“… And the rest of the party, you say?”
“Yes. It’s not just me and Kress. Van, and Serene for that matter, said they had no choice.”
Mea leaned over Kress’s body and bent her lips with an insulting look in her eyes.
“Well, that’s what I mean. Goodbye then, Lewin. I’ll take care of Serene. You’re just another adventurer at best, waiting to hear about my deeds.”
With a high pitched laugh, Kress leaves Lewin with Mea. Lewin could only look at his friends, who had been standing shoulder to shoulder not long ago, as they moved away from him.
“If only I… I had the power…”
Feeling helpless, he muttered to himself, “I’m so helpless, I can’t do anything…” as his words faded away into the void.
*****
The inn tavern “Hanenekotei” in the town of Oren is popular not only with locals but also with travelers from other regions. In particular, the stew, in which beef is stewed in a thick, spicy sauce and a half-boiled egg is dropped into the stew, is extremely popular among adventurers, and is almost always sold out by the time the restaurant opens in the morning.
Adventurers, whose main occupation is fighting the deformed creatures—demons—that exist all throughout the world, say that the stewed beef stew served at this restaurant is exceptional after a fierce battle.
The taste of the stew, which is normally orgasmic, was no longer as pleasurable to Lewin now.
“… Ha.”
A heavy sigh escaped from his lips.
It has been about two weeks since he left Kress and his party.
Tíers, the most developed capital of Listěria, the country where Lewin and his friends are located, has a large population of adventurers, which means that the cost of lodging is high. That is why they came to this city, which is quite far away, to work as an adventurer.
Despite the fact that he can’t use his skills, he’s still a B-rank adventurer, consequently he has no trouble earning money. But the loneliness didn’t go away any time soon. The ideal he had been striving so hard to achieve disappeared suddenly and unexpectedly——
He appears to need more time to recover from the shock.
“Ah, god… Demons alone are a nuisance, and now we have to deal with a demon tribe as well.”
“That’s right. They had been somewhat quiet until then, but after the Demon King showed up, they became very active. What a pain in the ass.”
Two men and a woman dressed in armor sat in front of him, discussing with stern looks on their faces.
“But this is the eighth Demon King, right? No matter how many Demon Kings a hero defeats and seals, there is no end to them.”
“I shudder to think what would happen if the old Demon King, who was sealed away, were to somehow resurrect.”
“Well, yes. And if something should happen, the heroes and those with high-level jobs will take care of it.”
They went straight to another topic and began to get excited about the demons they had defeated the other day.
“The Demon King and the Heroes, huh?”
It felt like a story from some faraway world. When he was a child, he had no doubt that he was the one who would save the world with Kress.
According to an old legend——
It is said that the Goddess Alfra, who created everything in the world, created “Spirits” and “Demons.”
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The spirits were given the responsibility of managing all things in the world, and the demons were entrusted with the governance of the entire world.
However, the demon tribe was selfish and constantly fought with one other, eventually destroying the beautiful land with the tremendous power granted to them by the goddess.
The goddess was so saddened by this that she rained a torrent of thunderbolts on the demons, slaughtering many of them.
On top of that, she then created people like Lewin and his colleagues. To prevent repeating the demon tribe’s tragedy, she weakened their bodies and strength to the point that they can’t exist without supporting each other.
Humans accepted each other’s hands and began to live in harmony, precisely as the goddess had intended.
The surviving demons, on the other hand, loathed the humans who had gained control of them and began attacking them.
The frail mortals were no match for these powerful monsters. The goddess was concerned that their survival was being jeopardized, but she couldn’t go out and chastise them again.
This is because Alfra had lost a lot of power as a result of the previous purges.
Instead, she used what little power she had left to give qualified individuals the ability to do what she described as “jobs” or “high-rare jobs.” It can be a potent demon-fighting weapon, bestowing superhuman physical abilities on the person who has it and allowing him or her to perform a variety of unknown techniques known as skills.
However, it was still not perfect.
The Demon King, the king of the demons, was still torturing mankind with his vicious nature and immense strength. The goddess was prepared to wear out even her own life, and she created something.
It was a supreme treasure that forever sealed the Demon King’s actions. The goddess bestowed it on the world’s strongest and bravest man. After a fierce battle, he and his comrades overcame the Demon King and sealed him with the Supreme Treasure.
The demon tribe progressively lost strength after losing their chieftain and eventually went into hiding.
As time passed, other Demon Kings appeared, but each time, the chosen people repeated the same thing to maintain the peace. Eventually, those entrusted with fighting the Demon Kings came to be known to as “Heroes”’ in allusion to the humanity of the first generation——
The above is a summary of the scriptures propagated by the Alfra religion, which is based on a belief in the Goddess Alfra, who is now influential throughout the world.
Since he was a kid, Lewin had heard stories from the priest at his village’s church and had memorized the contents entirely. Perhaps it will come in help someday in his quest to defeat the Demon King. That’s what he thought.
When Lewin was a child, the eighth Demon King was born, and numerous human nations have since come under his dominion. The Demon King’s and his subordinate demon tribe’s invasion of various regions of the land went unabated, and a resolution to the situation was sought as soon as possible.
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However, each country has its hands full dealing with the demon tribe and cannot even afford to allocate personnel to the Demon King, which is the most important issue. That is why they bestow the title of “Hero” on exceptionally gifted adventurers and entrust them with defeating the Demon King.
If they fought and weakened the Demon King, the “Treasure of the Goddess” kept in Garland, the continent’s most powerful country, would sense it and activate it, sealing its existence.
The hero’s party will be remembered as Heroes if they successfully defeat the Demon King.
This, in turn, would help revitalize the country’s strength, as Garland, here in Listeria and throughout, would be able to take advantage of the new opportunities. Adventurers with exceptional powers were recruited as heroes and sent forth to battle the Demon King one by one.
As a result, many children hear about the accomplishments of the former heroes from adults and come to idolize them. Lewin was one of them.
(So we swore to each other. When we grow up, we’re going to be an adventurer, and we’re going to be the hero.)
The fact that his childhood friends, Kress and Serene, were given “Sword Saint” and “King of Wise Spirit” respectively——and even Lewin was given “Demon Tamer,” in other words, they all received high-rare jobs or jobs, also added to this.
Job holders can find this out by praying before the statue of the goddess in the church. The letters would come to life in their head. According to the church, the word seems to come from Alfra.
Jobs can also be classified into several broad categories based on the skills they use. For example, those who have been given the gift of swordsmanship are “Swordsman,” those who have received the blessing of protection are “Warrior,” and those who have the power to quickly smash anything with their bare hands are “Martial Artists.”
And the Demon Tamer was a rare and powerful job that, albeit not as rare as the high rare, could command fearsome demons. Following Kress and the others, there was nothing more appropriate for a hero’s party.
If this is not a decree given by the Goddess Alfra, then what is it?
That is why, in order not to be outdone by Kress and his colleagues, Lewin continued to train and attend the church.
He also researched as much as he could about the demon tribe and prepared for the coming time.
“The result is, the expulsion from the party, and I’m alone…”
The humiliation and shame that he had been trying to forcefully erase from his thoughts began to pile up, and Lewin grew more and more depressed.
“… No, yeah. I can’t keep this up forever.”
But after a while, he shakes his head. With all his might, he stood up.
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“That’s right. I have to stay positive. There’s no point in mourning the past forever.”
He slaps both cheeks hard with his hands to get into the spirit. Notwithstanding his forcefulness, he was able to rouse himself and change his mind.
“Not everything is over yet. If only I could change classes…!”
He hasn’t met all of the demons yet. If he tries one kind at a time, one day, for sure, he will find a demon who can fulfill his requirements. It may be a tremendous road, but it was better than being disheartened here.
“Alright… Let’s do it!”
Because he intentionally shouted to sprit up himself, the guests around him looked at him to see what was going on.
Although it was a clumsy attempt to force the matter, it was surprisingly effective. The melancholy feeling he had earlier had lessened markedly.
(… Once that’s decided, eat what I want and let’s go!)
Lewin shovels down his stew, pays for it, and leaves the inn.
The sky was clear. It was somewhat as if they were congratulating him on his new life.
“Yes. I guess I’ll go to the Adventurer’s Guild first and get a request——”
So muttered Lewin, as he began to walk away.
Read only at Travis Translations