The Hero Party Wiped Out?
The battle at the goblin settlement ended, and once again the Hero Party’s achievements were praised.
Sometimes I thought, “If only I could use my real strength…” But I couldn’t leave the people of the South Territory as the kingdom’s sacrificial victims forever.
“As long as the Hero Party continues, I’ll stay their clown...”
After that, the Hero Party members got full of themselves from piling up accomplishments. Crown Prince Erason kept picking fights with me for no reason, and Hero Waltz mocked me too...
My fiancées were on the Crown Prince’s side, so not only did they say nothing... they treated me like dead weight.
On top of that, the knights and adventurers serving as shields, always getting injured, would often take out their frustration on low-rated Julius with punches and kicks.
The Hero Party watched and laughed their heads off.
(You guys really got nothing funnier than your own faces...?)
Only Almeria looked worried and at least tried to stop them... but even that just made the others heat up more.
After a while, maybe they got bored... and left.
“Yeah... if I don’t release my abilities, it still hurts. I’ll pay you back several times over later. Ow, ow...”
Once no one was around, I smoothly stood up, stopped my self-sealing, and healed myself with recovery magic.
What a troublesome curse. Once the South Territory is cleansed of it... the plan begins.
Time passed, but the Hero Party was still doing the same princess-play nonsense. No sign of growth whatsoever.
The only thing leveling up at explosive speed was the drunken celebration after every subjugation...
They never trained, relied completely on talent, and after seeing all kinds of adventurers, even I could say they were utterly hopeless.
The only one even slightly decent was Almeria.
Even Almeria had stopped improving lately, maybe slacking off. She’d fallen way behind that girl now.
Apparently she hadn’t even written letters back...
---
[Subjugation of the Magic Beast Orthros]A certain monster suddenly appeared in one of the villages.
The beast was called Orthros... a black dog body, snake tail, two heads, swift movements, and extremely violent.
Each head could breathe fire. Ordinary adventurers had no chance against it. It was said only top-tier adventurer parties could subjugate one.
There was no way this was something a princess-play party should be messing with for fun...
A real adventurer party, with skills honed through risking their lives, experience, and teamwork, would only barely be a match for it.
And yet nobody stopped them. Hero Waltz, whose nose had grown so high from pride it could’ve been the World Tree. The ignorant young lord Crown Prince, drunk on the glory he’d enjoy after the kill. The princess with sky-high pride and low chest...
And so the expedition to defeat Orthros was decided.
Well... cruel as it sounds, a few guards were probably going to die.
If people saw me, I couldn’t release my real abilities (curse reasons), so it was unfortunate, but they were knights and adventurers getting paid for this. They’d accepted that risk.
And I couldn’t reveal my true power either.
And right now, we were fighting Orthros.
The knights and adventurers couldn’t even pin it down. They were already unconscious.
The guy who punched me got his torso bitten.
The guy who kicked me got burned alive.
The guy who laughed at me got trampled flat.
The Hero Party too, everyone except Almeria was already knocked down.
The Crown Prince’s shield had shattered, and he was sharing a hot, deep kiss with the ground.
Hero Boy’s sword had melted to the hilt in the flames, then he’d been blown away and embedded into a tree together with Milian. (There was a human-shaped hole in the trunk. What is this, a manga...?)
Elizabeth got struck by Orthros’s foreleg, her bow snapped, and she vanished into the forest.
And the only one left standing, Almeria, was crying while trying to heal them.
Then the remaining knights charged in to protect Hero Boy and the others, and everyone except Almeria ended up becoming best friends with the dirt.
“Ahhh... what idiots. If you’re weak, you should’ve stayed around the capital playing adventurer games and avoided getting hurt. Morons to the bone. Since everyone’s unconscious, guess I’ll do it...”
I pulled every potion I had from my coat and handed them to Almeria.
“You’re in the way, so hurry up and run. Weak as hell, but you still jump in and get hurt. Maybe you’ve got more talent for clowning than I do!”
I shooed them away with my hand, Almeria included.
I’d gotten word earlier that the curse processing was complete. That should mean the curse binding the South Territory had been dispelled.
Guess it’s time.
I’ve got no use for the Hero Party anymore!! Time to undo the seal...
[Release]Power overflowed from inside my body.
I clenched and opened my fists, checking the feeling. Then I released my mana.
Ahhh... been a while.
I could go all out now.
Though something like Orthros wouldn’t even count as a warm-up...
Orthros suddenly sensed the mana pouring from the human before it, but chose not to flee.
It gathered strength and mana in its legs and closed the distance in one burst.
One of Orthros’s signature movement arts: Shukuchi, a high-speed step so fast it looked like it shortened the ground itself.
But Julius’s Shukuchi was even faster.
He was already gone.
“Over here, mutt!”
Before it realized, Julius was behind Orthros with a bow drawn.
A beautiful bow curved in white lines.
He pulled back a glowing string.
A softly shining arrow appeared...
The arrow pierced its front right leg.
At the same time, its front left leg froze solid by magic.
Before it even realized it, a spear stabbed through the rear right leg.
Its rear left leg was cut down by a sickle.
Before it could feel the pain, its torso was smashed by a fist.
Its tail was struck by lightning.
And finally, its heads were severed by a golden blade glowing red.
All of it happened in an instant.
Orthros couldn’t comprehend it.
Neither could Almeria.
And just like that, Orthros’s life scattered.
---
Julius, Supreme Commander of the adventurer clan Shiranui, was known by the title:
“Black Army”
Black hair, black eyes… Julius alone possessed combat power greater than an entire army corps, and thus earned that name.
He used every kind of weapon and magic.
He could fill every military role by himself.
The class everyone mocked, “Job Changer”.
Its effect let him experience many different professions and make them his own.
Took time, though.
Almeria watched Julius fight without even having time to blink.
He was already on an entirely different level from them...
Now she understood what Julius had meant when he said theirs was just playacting.
Until now, she had never doubted the Hero Party’s strength.
She had even believed they were superior...
She had been arrogant.
“Julius... umm...”
“What? You’re still here? Hurry up and heal these idiots... Ah, but actually, perfect timing. Make it so Hero Boy and Narcissus Highness are the ones who killed Orthros.”
He stabbed the Crown Prince’s sword and Hero Boy’s spare sword into Orthros’s corpse.
“.. Why? If you just said you defeated it, everyone would finally…”
“No thanks!! I wouldn’t be happy getting praised alongside trash like you people. Other than my family in South Margrave House, I don’t care about anyone else. Too much hassle...”
“Later~”
He turned his back and waved one hand behind him.
Well then.
Time to head home.
“So that’s it... Julius has no intention of forgiving us in the Hero Party...”
Tears spilled from Almeria’s eyes.
Just like that beautiful Moon Enchanting Flower, you won’t shine on me anymore, Julius...
What do you think about this chapter?
