If You're So Great, Why Don't You Go Catch It Yourself?
Just as light exists, so does shadow.
A Hero's party should exist to defeat the Demon King or some equally evil being.
"Is it really okay for us to just go like this?"
In the dimly lit bar, the girl with ash-colored hair quietly eating her meal asks the group with a hint.
"What do you mean by that?"
The answer came from the burly man who was shaking out his messy, unkempt hair.
He had a giant axe slung over his shoulder, looking extremely threatening. But the girl continued as if unfazed by the man's attitude.
"Ten years. A whopping ten years. Ten years is enough time for the land to change, yet during that time, not only haven't we defeated the Demon King, but we haven't even found the Demon King's tail. Is that even logical?"
"Are you trying to say that the Hero's way has a problem? Just a healing spray?"
The girl's eyebrows furrowed slightly at the word "healing spray," but none of the people in the room noticed it.
"What exactly is the problem? Helping out is good, right? Helping people in trouble, defeating the Crystal Dragon that threatens villages because it has nothing to do with the Demon King, that's fine once or twice. But we've been running a Hero's party for ten years, doing nothing but this nonsense?"
The girl's tone rose.
And along with that, the red-haired man's tone, who had questioned the girl earlier, Alec, also rose.
"This is... because we're pampering the Saintess."
"Are you going to hit me? Go ahead and hit me. It seems the northern barbarians can only solve problems by beating them."
Clang!
The chair Alec was sitting on slid past Grace's side and flew to the wall, hitting it.
"Alec!"
"But Hero. This is the hole that's been poked right now..."
"Hmph."
The man who was about to charge in anger, Alec, was stopped by the blond man who was eating his meal right next to him.
Although the height difference was more than double, Alec didn't react to the blond man's shout and quietly returned to his seat.
"Grace."
The blond man who had quietly sat Alec down spoke to the ash-haired girl with a hint.
"Yes."
"Of course, I understand you can't understand your frustration. But we're a Hero's party, right? It's only natural to help those in trouble."
"That's right. If you see someone in immediate danger, you have to save them."
The man's face lit up when he saw the ash-haired girl's changed attitude towards him, Grace, as if she understood him. No, it was about to.
"But that's something that can be left to the kingdom's adventurers or mercenaries even if it's not us. We have to deal with the root cause of that, the Demon King."
"You know the Demon King isn't the kind of being you can just go find and kill. You have to prepare properly..."
"Prepare? What preparation? If you had prepared while roaming around the villages around the kingdom doing relief activities, you would have cut off the Demon King's head five times?"
Grace slammed the table roughly. The woman who had been quietly sitting, Alec, and the staff who had been drinking behind him stood up and pointed a weapon at her.
"Wh-what Grace!" "Are you crazy? What are you doing right now?"
"You're talking about preparation. Actually, isn't it scary? Having the top prodigy of the Magic Tower, the successor to the greatest warrior from the north, and the Saintess herself, and not thinking about going to see the Demon King for ten years. Is that even logical?"
Grace's voice was rough, like someone possessed, as she protested to the two people pointing weapons at her and the blond man.
"I didn't join the Hero's party to do this! We have to defeat the Demon King quickly so that peace comes to the world and I can go home!"
Her possessed voice echoed several times in the quiet bar.
The first to break the silence was the blond man who had quietly stood up from his seat.
"...Yeah. I did say that to return to the world, peace has to come to the world."
When his mouth opened, a tremendous pressure as if the surrounding air had frozen pressed down on the air.
The others in the bar, including Alec, couldn't even lift their heads due to the man's aura, but Grace didn't yield at all and quietly met the man's gaze.
"You might feel superior through Hero activities, but it's different for me. I want to hit this crazy world as soon as possible and go home."
"Then, why don't you go catch the Demon King yourself."
The blond man's casual remark.
"...Huh?" "Kyle?"
That was a huge bomb declaration to the other party members except the man and Grace.
"Calling me a coward? Yeah, that's right. I'm a coward. If I die, how will the world be? A coward who can't even muster the courage to meet the Demon King once, as you said. So, if you want to defeat the Demon King, do it yourself. Or go look for another famous party."
"Are you serious?"
"I'm serious. Of course, I don't disrespect your abilities. I don't disrespect your thoughts either. But if that's your mindset, I don't think I can be with you anymore."
The blond man, Kyle, said that and quietly sheathed his sword, then went up to the second floor of the bar.
The woman holding the staff, Alisa, hurriedly emptied the glass she was drinking and followed him up. In the bar, only the owner, me, and Alec remained.
In the bar where silence returned, Alec quietly opened his mouth to Grace.
"Are you crazy?"
"What."
Screeech-
With the sound of the chair being pulled, she stood up and went up the stairs to pack her bag.
"Where are you going?"
"To pack my bag."
"Then, if we leave the party here, where are you going?"
Alec's face, when he turned his head, was already one of resignation.
I looked down at Alec with a half-dazed expression and spat out without hesitation.
"I'm going to defeat the Demon King. Alone."
"Was that serious?"
"I'm the type who acts immediately once I make a decision, unlike others."
Hero, peace, whatever, all crap.
I'll defeat the Demon King even if it's just me. And I'll escape this damn world and return home.
Definitely.