As innocents suffered I only thought of myself.
Yet I judged Gladius and Mary as selfish when I was the same.
It’s too late for one as rotten as me.
My determination is steeled.
“Foil, you really alright?
“Y-Yeah… anyway, could you help me with something?”
I request some generic favor from Mei.
Looking somewhat puzzled, still she assents before taking her leave.
I watch her departing back.
This is for the best. At least Mei is away for now. Only summoning Yu remains. I promptly gather the other two as well.
“Wonder what’s going on Foil… And everyone’s gathered too?”
Entering the room, Yu sees me then notices the other two and frowns slightly.
Gladius and Mary, who had conveyed the content first, had mischievous smiles on their faces.
Yu looked at me with a face full of questions. I look at Yu with an expressionless, scornful gaze.
Yu, if you resent, then resent. If you hate, then hate.
Hate this such a terrible friend.
The only way I can… cherish you.
“Yu, I will expel you from this party.”
Looking straight into Yu’s eyes, I uttered the words of parting.
“Huh…? Foil, why are you…?”
“Sorry, this is something I decided long ago. I’m expelling you from this party. The other two also agreed with my plan. We don’t need useless companions.”
“But, I’ve done a lot for the party too. And yet…”
“Don’t make me laugh, puppet boy. You have no accomplishments, no power, yet you remain in this party, it’s preposterous.”
“Indeed. It’s some kind of mistake that you, who can’t use magic and are of no use, are a companion of the esteemed hero party. Humans without jobs should know their place.”
Gladius and Mary, who were in the same room, looked at Yu with scornful eyes containing contempt.
They did not refute what I had said. Rather, they nodded with delight. Although I had some thoughts about their attitude, it was convenient for now.
“Here’s a bag of money for you. You can live anywhere with this. So get out of here quickly.”
“Wai…wait a minute, Foil. You can’t just…! We were talking normally until just now!”
“That’s right. And that’s when I realized, as Mary said, it’s not appropriate for someone like you to be in the hero party.”
“Of course. We have a mission, and we were chosen to fulfill it. And yet, for someone like you who has no accomplishments to be here, it’s unpleasant.”
“I knew I wasn’t suitable to be in this party. But still, in my own way, I tried my best to be helpful to everyone…”
“Anyone could do the things you do. Hey… I get it, Yu. In this world, the job is everything.”
“- I know!”
Yu’s face distorted in despair, anguish and pessimism.
No, that’s not true. I really…!
No, I can’t take it back. I’ve decided this.
“I can’t keep company with a [Classless] like you, Mister Yu Protagonist.”
Decisive words of parting.
Unable to withstand those words, Yu left the scene without even taking the money. My companions who remained laughed as they watched him go.
Among them, I stared fixedly at Yu’s receding back.
“Fii-kun! What’s the meaning of this!?”
After hearing from the innkeeper that Yu had taken his luggage and disappeared, I was standing on the stone bridge when I heard an angry shout.
Even without turning around, I knew who it was.
I turned around.
“Oh, it’s you. Mei-chan. What is it about?”
“What do you mean ‘what is it about’!? You expelled Yu-kun, what’s the meaning of that!?”
“There’s no special meaning. I meant exactly what I said. He is unsuitable for this party. So I kicked him out. That’s all there is to it.”
“Why!? I don’t understand! Weren’t the three of you getting along well together until yesterday!? You knew too, didn’t you, Fii-kun!?”
“It doesn’t matter. It’s something anyone could do, not just Yu.”
It’s a lie. I know how much Yu has thought about us, scouted and kept watch for us, and smoothly managed things. There’s no one better than Yu.
But I cover it up with lies.
Though Mei-chan was furious, my words gradually made her voice smaller, and she looked down.
“Hey… why? Until yesterday, the three of us were getting along well. I don’t understand, I don’t understand. Fii-kun, please tell me what happened. Why… Why would Fii-kun be like this…!”
“No, I’m still the same, now and before. We have a mission to defeat the Demon Lord and save the people. In such a situation, someone like him—”
I cut my words off there.
If I say this, there’s no turning back.
My heart beats rapidly. It feels like I can’t breathe. Say it. Say it. Say it…!
“We don’t need useless people.”
I said it.
Was my voice shaking? Either way, there’s no taking it back now.
With a slap, a high pitched sound rang out. Mei-chan had slapped my cheek. Her eyes were filled with what seemed like sadness or frustration and tears.
I have the sudden urge to wipe those tears for her, but I was the one who made her cry. I don’t have the right, so I clench my fist tightly.
“You’ve changed, Fii-kun. You didn’t used to be like this in the past. You were a kind person who thought of everyone and pulled them along.”
“You can’t stay a child forever, Mei-chan. And I haven’t changed.”
“–Liar.”
READ THE ORIGINAL TRANSLATION AT GADGETIZEDPANDA.COM
Mei looked at me with sorrow in her eyes, and said in a voice filled with sadness and contempt.
“I’m going after Yu-kun. I can’t leave him alone.”
“I see.”
“I’m also quitting the party. I never got along well with the other two in the first place anyway. With Yu-kun gone and even you changed like this, I can’t stay there. I don’t want to.”
“…I see.”
It’s as I expected Mei-chan would do.
I lower my head.
“Goodbye, Foil. I thought you were my precious childhood friend.”
As she was about to pass by my side, seeming to part ways decisively, I murmur softly…
“…Please take care of Yu, Mei-chan.”
Looking surprised, Mei-chan glances back at me as I hastily take my leave from that spot.
(Ahh, they say first loves never come true, but this sure is painful.)
As I run, the pain in my heart is greater than that of my slapped cheek.
I sit curled up alone in a deserted alley.
“Haa…haa… Heh, haha. Hahaha… Ugh, uwaa…”
I don’t raise my voice in sorrow.
This is something I chose myself. So…
With Mei-chan accompanying him, Yu will surely be fine. She will be his support and light the way for him.
I will… be fine too.
I’m alright.
It’s okay.
So this is the last time I’ll cry. From now to the end, I just have to fully carry out my role–
Gladius and Mary’s reaction to Yu and Mei leaving the party as well was simple.
“It’s understandable that a powerless puppet boy is unsuitable for this party. Strength is justice. That woman who follows such a weakling is simply third-rate trash.”
“To begin with, it was inappropriate for a commoner with vulgar manners like her to stand shoulder to shoulder with the distinguished likes of us, the hero party. Especially that poverty-stricken girl, being a magic user like myself, she was an eyesore. Oh, of course Sir Foil is an exception! You are humanity’s hope who will defeat the Demon King, Sir Hero!”
Gladius, who considers only strength to be everything and spares no contempt for the weak.
Mary, who joined this party only as a noble to gain a new status for herself.
Basking in the delight that they themselves are the hero party who will crush the Demon King, they look down on the common people. Their arrogance in thinking that they of all people will save the world makes me nauseous.
But I’m the same. I’m also falsely posing as the hero. Even so, I’m still the hero now. That’s why I have to play the part.
“That’s right, the weak ones are not needed for the sake of the people. We have to be the ones to save the world.”
I hide what’s in my heart and force a smile.
Pasting on this false smile and covering up my false heart with this false strength.
Together with them, I continue traveling down this road. Even knowing that ruin lies at the end of it.
To the very end, I will continue to play this role.
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