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Chapter 1

Those without a role will be expelled from the party

「Russel. I think you can’t come with us anymore.」

For a moment, I didn’t understand what my longtime childhood friend sitting in front of me had just said.

「The reason… you already know, right?」

「……Yeah, I think.」

No, I knew.
I knew that one day this would happen.

The four of us have always been together since we were just kids.

My black hair, which was rare in the village, might be a little off-putting for the adults, so that’s why they were keeping their distance from me.
But then, a boy of my age but with a bigger frame invited me to play with him.
He was Vince, a guy whose red hair reflects his personality.

We grew up clashing tree branches against each other every day tirelessly and we never get bored of it.
By the time we had wooden swords for practice, both of us had grown up, and I was starting to get more wins against Vince.

One day, Emmy, who had also started playing with Vince and me, would come at us holding her own tree branch she found herself, with her blue eyes peeking out between her long blonde hair.
Emmy surprisingly did well in this mock sword fight, perhaps because of her talent with swords.

Often watching us from nearby was Jannet, whose languid eyes were hidden by her blue hair. She was always reading her books, but she never seemed to be bored or missed a time observing us.
She was quiet but she was by no means a gloomy girl and she always gave us advice on our faults and shortcomings and treated our injuries.

The four of us were always together as if it was natural.
And we have also promised to form an adventurer party together to venture into dungeons before we were called to the 『Goddess Selection Ceremony』.

Goddess Selection Ceremony.
It is a ceremony in which a person who has reached the age of sixteen receives something called a job, an ability each person have, from the Goddess.

The abilities given to each person are very strong and there are absolutely no disadvantages.
It is a ceremony where the Goddess herself gives you the option to increase the skills you learned with your effort.
You may choose the job that was bestowed to you, or you may take up another job that makes use of your talents.

And without exception, we also received abilities from the Goddess.

【Hero】 Vince.

【Holy Knight】 Emmy.

【Sage】 Jannet.

And then there’s me, the 【Saint】 Russel.

It was too impactful of jobs for four young people from a rural village to receive.
I was given the job, or rather, the role, of a Saint by the goddess, and as someone with this role, I have the responsibility of supporting everyone in the party as a key member of the party.
Or so it should have been.

Let me say it again.
There is no disadvantage in the job itself, which is given to each of us.

In the conversation between Vince and me, who has already given up on staying in the party, Emmy suddenly joins in.

「W-Wait, Vince! How could you say that?! Kicking Russell out of the party is just—!」

「Even I didn’t want to do it either!」

「Then why?!」

「”Why”, huh. Then, Emmy, let me ask you this. Has the 【Priest】 Russell been playing an active role lately? Can you tell me when was the last time you received his healing magic, huh?」

「Ugh! That’s…」

Vince was being sarcastic by deliberately rephrasing my actual job to a lower-level version of it.
But even Emmy, who was trying to defend me clamped her mouth shut at his words.

But he’s right.
My healing magic as a 【Saint】 was, as it turned out, completely useless.
The reason is very simple and cruel.

As adventurers, your levels would increase as you dive into dungeons.
The three of us who always has been strong since we often engaged in sword practice back in the day for sure, but even Jannet has become strong with her reading as the base of her abilities as a magician.
In short, everyone was too strong that no one has ever been injured.

So I, who didn’t even wield a sword, can’t even be compared to Vince and Emmy.
Even so, I think I was still able to play an active role in the upper level as an ordinary warrior wielding a staff of the 【Saint】.

However, before I enter the middle level of the dungeon, something happened that changed my fate.

【Hero】, 【Holy Knight】, and 【Sage】, which the three of them have, are very excellent jobs.
They are versatile and useful for the party in any situation.
No matter if someone is injured or they themselves are injured.

That’s right… 【Hero】,【Holy Knight】,【Sage】, all of them have learned the healing magic, “Heal”.
I still remember the feeling of the ground beneath me collapsing when the 【Sage】 Jannet, who was excellent in offensive magic, was the first to learn healing magic.

In turn, I became useless in the party where no one is injured or in any danger.
And I had no offensive magic whatsoever to attack.
Like this, the gap between my level and the others was widening.

Because the only thing I can do is cast healing magic, I no longer have a role in this party.
And yet, I still receive equal daily meals and a share of the rewards as everyone else to the extent that I can buy something for myself.

Then Vince added to convince Emmy.

「And you were in a bit of danger yourself because you had to jump in to protect him earlier today, weren’t you, Emmy? …..Hey, Emmy, if you keep this guy in the mix any longer, you’re probably going to die at some point, you know?」

「…….」

「You know, I don’t think Russell can even win against Emmy anymore. In fact, he might get hurt for just bumping into her」

I’ve been listening quietly up until now, but as expected I can’t let that one slide.
Even I still have my own pride in winning against them in our mock matches since our childhood.

「We’re not talking about fights between an adult against a kid here, so there’s no way I would get hurt」

「Oh, really? Then why don’t you give it a try? If you’re hurt, you’d better give up everything and go back to the village. Since life as an adventurer doesn’t suit you anyway.」

「Fine, let’s do it.」

「This is alright with you too, right, Jannet?」

「That’s…. right. There’s just no way he would get hurt just by bumping into me. And if Russell is weak enough to get hurt with just that, I also think that he shouldn’t be in the party either.」

Jannet, who had been listening silently until now, gave her affirmation when asked by Vince.
I see, Jannet is also on the side of kicking me out, huh.
I couldn’t see whether she was annoyed or worried about me from her expressionless face.

I picked up a wooden sword that was propped nearby, which is only used by Vince and Emmy these days, and looked at Emmy.
Emmy, who was still bewildered with the whole situation, held the shield with her left hand, which is not her dominant arm.

「Alright then, Emmy, hold that shield up. Because I won’t miss.」

「Un, I have no problem with that but… please don’t push yourself too hard, okay?」

I’m sure those words expressed her sincere concern for me.
But for me.
That line was enough to make me lose my cool as if I was completely being looked down.

「…..Here I go!」

Before even hearing her response, I took a big step forward and struck her with my two-handed wooden sword from above my head with great force.
It’s a blow that combines my physical strength with the weight of my body as well as the weight of the wooden sword, and it’s powerful enough to make a normal girl stagger even if she’s holding a shield with both hands.

Emmy’s face drew closer and my eyes met hers.
As I recognized the light that emits from her shield, I was thinking about something else.
It had been a long time since I had seen her this close.
Emmy, who used to be a little brat, has grown up this much, huh.

—It was already nighttime when I woke up.
I looked at my room, relying on the moonlight coming in from outside the window, and saw that the familiar room our party was staying in was deserted.

Have I been asleep all this time… no, that’s wrong.
Did I pass out….?

I moved the blanket over my body and found luggage for one person nearby and a bag of gold coins, enough to live on for a reasonable amount of time.
Other than that, everything else was gone.
The wooden sword, the loot from our dungeon diving, and my three childhood friends.

This is when it really hit me, that I had been expelled from the party.