Ostracized (1)
For years now, the god had been angry with Han Maru.
And yet Maru offered his prayers to that god every single day. No matter that no answer ever came, he never once skipped his devotions.
“…To receive the grace of Lord Belkhran is an honor beyond measure. Please, do not forget me. Until the day Lord Belkhran's will spreads across all the world, I will press on with my mission without retreat. You have called me, and by that calling I shall strive to live as I ought.”
Having finished his quiet prayer to the water bowl set atop a rock deep in the forest, Maru rose to his feet.
“That god again?”
A woman's voice snorted from somewhere behind him.
“That heretic god whose name isn't even worth knowing?”
Maru turned around. Standing there was Natalie, tall enough and powerfully built enough that most men wouldn't dare cross her — a warrior of the very same Hero's party as him.
“She's not a heretic. She's Lord Belkhran.”
“Belkhran, whatever — you're a moron, you know that? Stop serving some no-name god and worship Lord Tyras like everyone else who matters. Seriously, you can't even fight, and now even the god you serve is trash. Unbelievable.”
Having just finished washing her face at the stream right in front of them, she went on her way, water droplets dripping from her cheeks. Being ignored by her was just another day.
“Not 'Belkhran, whatever' — Lord Belkhran. Belkhran, Conqueror of the Stars… Lord of the Stars.”
These days, the mood in the Hero's party was at its absolute worst. The warrior Natalie, the mage Lucy, the priest Yoris — all of them looked at Maru with the same contemptuous eyes, as if he were pathetic. Even Kiera, the Hero, his own girlfriend, seemed to be keeping her distance lately. Within the party, he was treated as nothing more than a pack mule.
And it wasn't hard to see why. Unlike his companions, each blessed with extraordinary power, Maru had nothing at all. Whenever battle broke out, he would scurry along behind the others, clinging to their protection.
But out of combat, the equation flipped. It was Maru alone who fought an endless war against every chore imaginable. Cooking, laundry, night watch — those were the basics — and beyond that, he hauled every last piece of luggage there was to carry. On the march, he would deliberately snatch the bags from his companions' hands so much as a small pouch never touched them, giving it his all.
When they reached a village or a city, securing an inn and a restaurant was Maru's job too. The food had to be genuinely delicious. The beds had to be comfortable, without a single bug. The prices had to be fair, no rip-offs. It sounded simple, but finding places that met all those standards was no easy task.
In the early days of their adventure, his companions had understood his effort, and the atmosphere had been good. They were loud and warm and overflowing with laughter — no different from any other happy party.
But as the journey stretched on, something changed. His companions turned cold, almost overnight. Eventually even the split of the spoils became a matter of grudging reluctance.
“Maru doesn't really do anything anyway, so he can just take a little, right?”
“…Yeah. Honestly, you all did the real work. I just ran around.”
And so three years passed, treated like a nobody by his own party. Even so, he endured. And endured again. It was for the sake of his girlfriend the Hero's smooth journey — and being with Kiera was, in itself, enough to make him happy.
He didn't like their contempt, but he had no desire to rock the boat, either.
As long as I'm fine, that's all that matters. These are members Kiera worked hard to gather, after all…
Picturing Kiera's face, Maru headed back toward the camp where his companions waited.
“Hurry up and get over here and cook already. God, I'm starving to death.”
The moment she spotted Maru approaching from a distance, Natalie snapped at him.
“Time spent praying to some beggar god would be better spent cooking, idiot.”
“Hehe, Lady Natalie. You should embrace him with a generous heart.”
“Save the sermons. Coddling that broken bastard for a hundred days wouldn't buy us a single coin.”
“We are companions. And companions are precious above all else.”
The middle-aged priest Yoris stepped forward to shield Maru, but Maru knew exactly what lay beneath. He was only playing the good man.
Yoris always spoke righteously out loud, but every time the others piled abuse on Maru, he would chuckle behind his hand and smirk. He seemed to savor this whole situation — savor, specifically, the sight of Maru's position, which allowed him to spew charity and pity to his heart's content as a priest.
“Lord Maru, please begin the meal at once. I am hungry as well.”
“Of course. I was thinking of making a braised dish with the dried fish today.”
“Ah, then mine must be made less salty, please. And the fish bones must all be removed, the head and tail cut off, and every scale removed so that none are visible. You've done it every time before, so it shouldn't be difficult for you, should it?”
“Yes. The head's already off anyway. It's dried.”
“Ah, I see. How convenient.”
Every single time. Yoris would put on that pleasant face and dump his tedious demands on Maru. Remove this, none of that, add more of this. Fastidious to the bone.
“My bowl must always be silver.”
“Of course.”
There was history here — once, when Maru's hands were full, he'd served the food in whatever bowl was at hand, and Yoris had flown into a rage and hurled the dish right in front of him.
“I will not eat food served in this! I am a holy priest!”
Anyway. Maru made his way over to the campfire and started digging through the pack of provisions.
“Hey. Mutt.”
Lucy, sitting in front of the fire, called out to him. A mage of about 160 centimeters, wearing a wide-brimmed, pointy-crowned hat. The youngest member of the party.
“……”
“Not going to answer?”
“I told you last time. Don't call me a mutt.”
“A mutt is a mutt. Flail all you want — a mutt's still a mutt.”
Maru let out a long sigh. God, this was exhausting. But he bit his lip and mustered his strength again. Every last one of them had the personality of a rabid dog — but their skill was recognized the world over. Kiera had to defeat the Demon King with these people at her side.
Just hold out until that day.
“So what is it about Kiera that gets you so devoted, mutt?”
“None of your business.”
“Powerless nobody like you, daring to look up at someone so far above you. That's what it is, right?”
Maru picked up a dried pollock, rose to his feet, and walked past Lucy, who was idly poking at the campfire with a branch to amuse herself. He went to the drinking water and filled the pot.
“So what happens if Kiera throws you away? You gonna kill yourself?”
Maru froze mid-motion and glared at her, face gone hard.
“Don't say crap like that.”
Then his eyes dropped. He wrestled with something for a moment, wavered — then looked back at her.
“I'd find some restaurant nearby and buy grilled venison — my stepmother's favorite — and eat it with her.”
“Why?”
“To tell her she was right all along. That I'm sorry. That I've reflected. That I've finally come to my senses. I'm not going to kill myself. Rather than waste time on that, I'd rather look after my stepmother, who's all alone.”
“Hahaha! Well I'll be — the mutt's a mama's boy!”
“Lucy! Let the bastard cook! I said I'm starving!”
Natalie bellowed from across the camp, her generous cleavage and firm, exposed abs visible even from a distance. Maru turned his gaze back to Lucy.
“You're in my way. Move. I'm cooking.”
Lucy tossed the branch she'd been holding into the campfire and sneered.
“I figured you'd snap at my question, but I didn't expect such a heartfelt answer. I'm curious what's going on in that head of yours, mutt. What are you thinking about these days?”
“Shut up. If you don't want to eat garbage food, leave me alone so I can focus.”
“For a guy with nothing going for him except that teardrop mole under his left eye, you sure run your mouth.”
Thirty minutes later, everyone sat gathered around the campfire, each holding a plate of pollock glazed brown with seasoning. Natalie tore into hers with her bare hands, heedless of the heat, while Yoris picked carefully at his with a spoon, eyeing every bite as if a stray bone might leap out at him. Lucy used magic to carve her pollock into neat little cubes and ate them one by one with her fingers.
Maru covered Kiera's portion with a cloth and set it somewhere safe. Natalie's brow creased slightly.
“What are you doing?”
“Saving it for when Kiera gets back.”
“She's not coming today.”
“She's not? I didn't hear that.”
“I did, mutt.”
Lucy cut in. “Think about it — she got invited by a Duke. How could she possibly just come back here? She'll want a hot bath, a nice soft bed to sleep in. Servants waiting on her hand and foot. Ahh~ must be nice.”
At present, Kiera had been invited to the local lord's banquet and was attending in her capacity as the Hero.
“What's gotten into her today? She's never been like this before. Going off to a feast alone. Staying out overnight, too.”
Maru's expression darkened.
“Without even talking it over with me.”
Natalie set down her half-finished plate. She picked up a grimy rag of dried skin and filth, wiped her hands, and looked around at all of them.
“I've got something to say to you all.”
What came out of her mouth was stunning.
“As of tomorrow morning, the party's disbanded. Everyone go find your own lives.”
“…What?”
Maru's heart lurched and plummeted. It was absurd. He'd swallowed every humiliation just to keep this party together, and now, out of nowhere, they were disbanding?
No. You can't.
For Kiera's sake, you all have to see this through to the end.
The words he never wanted to hear sent his emotions surging.
“Why is that your decision? Does Kiera even know?”
“It's already been settled with Kiera. She agreed.”
Kiera agreed too?
No way.
Right up until this morning, he'd heard nothing from Kiera about disbanding. She'd shown not the slightest hint of it before, either.
“What the hell is this out of nowhere? You putting on a one-woman show or something?”
At that, Natalie's corded arm moved. Her hand clamped around his collar and yanked him forward.
“You pig-eyed bastard. Do I look like I'm joking right now? Watch your mouth. Unless you want to get hit.”
“Khh! Koff!”
Natalie flung him back and released his collar, then went on.
“So when you wake up tomorrow morning, just pack up and leave. Each of you.”
“Wh-what's the reason? I never heard anything like that from Kiera! Koff!”
“The reason's me. Something's come up — personal. I can't travel with you anymore.”
“Then find someone else to replace you!”
“Kiera has no intention of that. She said since it's come to this anyway, we might as well disband the whole party.”
“That's insane!”
Despite the bombshell, Lucy and Yoris were, strangely, calm.
“Ahh~ so where do I go and freeload from tomorrow~ What a hassle.”
“I should look into whether there's a temple nearby. The scenery here is lovely, so I'm thinking of staying in this region for a while.”
Maru was reeling.
“You're leaving just me and Kiera behind after coming all this way? You don't care about everything you've all built together? The Demon King is right there — just a little farther!”
At his shout, Natalie snorted with laughter.
“Kiera's planning to tag along with other parties for about two months starting tomorrow. She says once she's finished the missions there, she'll come back to you. So you just go home and sit tight like a good boy.”
“What? I never heard any of that either…?”
“She's busy. She's the Hero, after all. And I guess she felt bad about telling you. It was obvious you'd cling and whine.”
“How is that clinging?!”
Lucy scrunched up her face.
“Ha. Mutt, quit yelling. My ears hurt.”