Chapter 3

"Ryan, weren't we friends!?"

Ryan, seated in his chair, glanced at me with those cold, icy eyes.

I know those eyes.

They are the eyes of the hero Ryan when he sends monsters to their doom.

"This Dawn Lion Corps, which started with four of us, now has seven members. Each of them is renowned both domestically and internationally."

Ryan looked at his wives on either side.

"Rushfeld is the highest-ranking black magician, the Black Gold Magician. Jolienne is the highest-ranking white magician, the Saint. We have grown together in this party we created."

Then... Ryan paused and glanced at me.

I know what he wants to say.

"But you... are still weak."

Those words...

pierced my heart.

Yes.

I am weak.

Incredibly weak.

Extremely weak.

For example... even against the weakest monster, a goblin...

I struggle in a one-on-one fight.

And from the age of 15, when I became an adventurer, to now, over 30 years old...

No matter how hard I trained, I remained weak.

So probably, for the rest of my life, I will always be weak.

By design, there are no plans for me to become strong (really?).

"Weaklings... are not needed in my party."

It feels like this moment has finally arrived.

I already knew this, even without being told.

"I see..."

I looked up at the sky.

I wasn't completely unprepared for a day like this.

But... despite everything, I thought that Ryan and the others...

would stay with me until the end of this journey.

But...

Why now...

at this timing?

"The moment we defeated the Demon King, we are now heading to the capital for our triumph."

The hero Ryan said this with pride.

"If a weakling like you is part of our group, the people in the capital will look down on us, right?"

Yes... it was supposed to be just a little more...

before this journey ended.

We defeated the Demon King...

dispersed the pursuing monsters...

and finally escaped the Demon King's dungeon.

After we left...

the Demon King's dungeon, having lost its master, disappeared like the other dungeons that lost their masters.

And all that was left was to cross the continent, sail the sea, and return to the capital,

and everything would be over.

"Albus, I'm sorry, but this is where we part ways. Please accept it."

With that, he introduced my replacement.

"My sixth wife, the dancer Miri. From now on, she will take your place."

And so, I was...

expelled from the hero's party...

right after defeating the Demon King.