Chapter 17
Chapter 17
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 17
Chapter Title: Most Problems Are Solved with a Single Firm Resolve (1)
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Most problems can be solved with a single firm resolve.
Jenny's disaster of a party had been formed five days ago.
In that time, they had somehow managed to complete four missions.
The missions weren't particularly difficult—just clearing out an orc settlement, that sort of thing—but for a brand-new hero party, their mission frequency was remarkably high.
Jenny was the promising star, of course, but there were reasons on the Empire's side as well.
"These days, the young heroes and hero candidates refuse to do grunt work."
"Even those who graduated last year and formed their own hero parties throw tantrums like, 'Don't make us hunt orcs—let us fight demons instead!'"
It all boiled down to the heroes' and hero candidates' sky-high pride.
They talked as if they could casually slice through great demons or dragons.
No, they truly believed their power was at that level.
But even after enduring the academy's grueling training, they were still fresh graduates.
You couldn't assign absurd missions like demon extermination or dragon subjugation to rookies like that right out of the gate.
Besides, such missions were rare to begin with.
But Jenny was different.
"Yes, understood."
She carried out whatever missions were assigned without complaint.
Even if they were trivial small-scale subjugations that a hero didn't strictly need to handle.
The upper echelons of the Imperial Army thought to themselves:
'Instead of wasting time persuading the others, why not just dump everything on Jenny? She's reliable—not just among rookies, but even compared to established heroes and hero candidates.'
As a result, her party had been saddled with a brutal schedule of four missions in five days.
Of course, Jenny had no complaints about that.
She'd become a hero candidate precisely because Kane had suggested it might suit her.
To her, Kane was a god.
Four missions in five days? What was that compared to doing it all for Kane?
She'd show him she could complete four missions in a single day as the perfect hero.
That was her mindset.
So she had zero issues with the sheer volume of missions.
In fact, she was thrilled at the thought of proudly reporting to Kane how she was steadily becoming his ideal hero.
The problem was...
"Fuck! Why do I have to hunt filthy orcs? Even back in my hero party days, we never did this low-level shit!"
"Hmph... I can't sully my great magic by touching mere piglets. You lowly peasants handle it."
"Oh! Unknown orc brethren, if you embrace the faith of Sera the Goddess, you too can be saved!"
...Her party members, who spewed every conceivable complaint and refused to do any real work.
A haughty noblewoman who fancied herself refined and superior.
A magic supremacist who believed nothing surpassed sorcery in this world.
And even a lunatic zealot trying to convert orcs instead of killing them.
'Did I commit some grave sin to get stuck in this chaos?'
Jenny found herself pondering deeply.
Top of her grade.
She'd shattered academy records across every category.
Yet this was how she was treated?
After the party introductions, she'd asked the assignment staff directly.
What criteria had they used to form this group?
The response she'd gotten was...
"Uh, well... The higher-ups said... that you'd be able to handle anyone, Miss Jenny..."
"...Pardon?"
In other words, they'd dumped all the time bombs on her—the ones no other party would accept, or who might cause trouble if excluded.
Why?
Because she was overflowing with talent and skill as a hero candidate.
They figured it was fine to stick her with personality disasters or major problem children.
'...Then just fire them, you higher-ups.'
Of course, she knew they couldn't arbitrarily dismiss heroes or hero candidates.
Each one was a key national asset, so they tried to accommodate issues as much as possible.
But this was too much.
One bomb, maybe—but three?
'Is there really no decent adult besides Big Brother Kane?'
Sain and Scarlett were around, sure, and a few others.
But by Jenny's standards, anyone below Kane was trash.
Anyway.
No, fine.
She could tolerate it up to this point.
It was just the usual mess from incompetent adults.
She was already a complete all-rounder in martial arts, magic, divine power, and even various academic subjects and knowledge.
She could handle everything solo without these party members.
And her stats were exceptional to boot.
It was a relief if they just stayed out of the way instead of interfering with their subpar movements, heels, and spells.
Jenny endured by telling herself whiny do-nothings were better than amateur trolls who bungled everything.
But even she had a limit.
"Hold on. That path has signs of crushed grass and trees everywhere. It might be a route where monsters stronger than orcs lurk. Be careful."
"Huh? What nonsense is this peasant spouting? Nothing threatens the great mage that I am. Who taught you that useless survival crap anyway? Heh, obvious—a lowly idiot who needs survival skills!"
"......"
She could stomach him calling himself a 'great mage' despite inferior magic prowess, or dismissing non-mages as lowly peasants.
That bullshit was tolerable.
"What? Poison ivy? Why bother learning useless herbology? That's for pathetic commoners. I'm immune to most poisons anyway! Impressive, right?"
"......"
Even him thinking he was cool while hitting on her—she could ignore that.
"Everything but the Goddess's teachings is garbage! Forget that trash and heed Her words!!"
"......"
Demanding blind faith, rejecting orders because they weren't 'divine'—that too she endured.
Kane had mellowed her personality somewhat, but she was fundamentally gentle and timid.
She just stayed silent and let it slide.
But... they crossed the one line she absolutely wouldn't tolerate.
They insulted her master.
Kane.
"...You're no longer needed."
"Huh?"
"What're you saying, you peasant?"
"Are you finally abandoning all to devote body and soul to Sera the Goddess?"
Even as Jenny showed a stern face she'd never revealed before, they didn't grasp the gravity.
"I'm heading out first. Handle the rest yourselves."
Only when she turned and left without hesitation did Osta Serild sense something was wrong and grab her.
"W-Wait. We're in the middle of the forest. Going alone..."
As he said, this was Pablovka Forest—the Empire's largest great forest, called a massive dungeon in itself.
A place where you'd inevitably get lost without expert navigation or detection magic.
And home to monsters that made even heroes tremble, beyond just orcs.
"I can manage alone."
Jenny didn't care.
She knew the paths, had detection magic regardless, and could even beat or flee from a dragon if needed.
But the problem was...
"...W-What about us?"
As Osta Serild asked uneasily, Jenny swept her gaze over the three and replied.
"...Figure it out with your 'great' skills, 'great' magic, and 'great' divine teachings."
With that, she vanished completely into the underbrush.
"H-Hey! Jenny Harkur!"
Osta called desperately, but she didn't return.
"Hmph, who needs some peasant like her? No issue."
"For a hero candidate and apostle of the Goddess to abandon us so irresponsibly! She'll incur divine wrath!"
Unlike the anxious Osta Serild, the magic supremacist and zealot still didn't realize the severity.
...But they would soon enough.
That they were candles flickering in the wind, one breath from extinction.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ "Hm? Miss Jenny...? Why are you back alone...?"
Rodoss Rector, the officer handling mission assignments and reports for hero and hero candidate parties, blinked in confusion.
He distinctly remembered her party leaving as a group of four.
Yet only Jenny returned.
Total wipeout?
Or mid-mission abandonment?
Either way, a major incident. He shot to his feet.
"W-What happened...!"
"...I'll handle things alone from now on."
Jenny cut him off with a low voice.
"Pardon?"
He'd never seen her so subdued. Rodoss panicked.
But she pressed on, ignoring it.
"I don't need party members anymore. They're all dead weight. I can handle missions solo."
"Uh, w-well... What do you..."
Stunned by the sudden declaration of independence, Rodoss fumbled.
Questions flooded his mind.
What happened?
Why is she this furious?
What about the others?
How'd it come to this?
His head spun. Jenny, sensing it, summarized crisply.
"...So, they contributed nothing to the mission. And they insulted my master... my teacher!"
She'd been calm until mentioning her master—then her face twisted into a demon's rage.
"How dare those worthless scum, who don't even know Big Brother's face or name or greatness—how dare they!!"
"M-Miss Jenny?!"
It took several minutes for her to calm down.
"So I'll operate solo from now on. Please approve it."
She didn't expect much from recruiting new members anyway.
And with her skills, approval was certain—or so she believed.
"Uh, y-yeah... I'll put in the request."
Having tasted her fury, Rodoss nodded meekly, a bit cowed.
Anyone who knew her usual gentle self couldn't imagine this.
It felt like standing too close might get you scorched.
He half-expected her to draw her sword if denied.
That desperation colored his report.
And between that and Jenny's proven prowess, approval for 'solo operations' came through.
This wasn't unprecedented, really.
History had seen overwhelmingly talented heroes declare independence before.
Jenny's father—the Empire's, no, the world's strongest hero, now a star in the sky—Harkur had received such permission too.
With that precedent, approval came relatively easily.
Oh, and as a side note:
"Hah... hah... W-We survived, fuck...!!"
"Ughhh... Magic... magic is trash... waaaah!"
"G-God... the Goddess... there's no such thing...!!!"
The hopeless trio barely escaped the great forest on the brink of death.
And from that day on, their behavioral issues were completely cured.