Exile And Homecoming

“Luca, I’m expelling you from the party. I’ve already grown bored of playing with you.”

Just as I returned to our usual inn after exploring the dungeon and earning some money like always, Adolf—the leader of the adventurer party I belonged to—said that to me.

“…Huh? W-why all of a sudden? Playing with me? What do you mean you got bored?”

“Gyahaha, your face looks awful. You didn’t seriously think we considered you an equal companion, did you? You were just so useless that it was funny, so we picked you up. But even your incompetence stopped being amusing, so we don’t need you anymore. Thanks for the laughs until now.”

Adolf laughed for a while with a face that looked as if he truly despised me, then turned his gaze to the other party members beside him.

“Well, Luca is completely useless after all. If he’s not entertaining, he’s worthless.”

“I’m tired of seeing how incompetent Luca is. We don’t need him.”

Even the other two companions besides Adolf, Jeanne and Rora, looked down at me with eyes full of contempt.

“I-I thought you guys were my comrades…”

“Hey Luca, you and us are in different positions. You’re not even a party member anymore. It’s Adolf-san, got it? You can’t even understand something that simple? That brain of yours is pretty disappointing.”

Adolf tapped his head with his index finger while letting out a vulgar laugh. Jeanne and Rora also looked like they were enjoying watching me being ridiculed.

So… I was the only one who thought we were comrades… My body trembled with anger, and just before I swung a punch at Adolf and the others, I clenched my back teeth and dug my nails into my palm.

—Even if I attacked them, I’d just get beaten down.

“I… understand. I’ll… leave.”

I hated using polite speech with people like them, but if things turned violent I wouldn’t stand a chance, so I desperately suppressed my anger.

And just as I grabbed the door to leave the inn quickly…

“Hey, hey, Luca-chan? Aren’t you even going to say a word of thanks to us for feeding you all this time?”

Adolf called out to me.

“…Th-that’s…”

When I instinctively turned back and looked at the three of them again, three sets of scornful gazes rained down on me all at once.

…Why the hell should I thank people like you!

That was what I wanted to shout, but it was also true that the reason someone useless like me had been able to live as an adventurer until now was thanks to Adolf and the others, so I bit my lip and lowered my head while enduring the frustration.

“Thank you… very much… for everything until now.”

Somehow forcing those words out, I dashed out of the inn without waiting to see their reactions. I ran and ran through the familiar streets until I was far from the inn, then collapsed onto the ground in an alley.

“Ugh…”

Why is this body so useless? No matter how much effort I put in, I never become capable of anything.

My anger toward Adolf and the others and my anger toward my own incompetence swirled inside my body and exploded, and I slammed my fist into the ground as hard as I could. The skin on my hand tore and blood poured out, and the pain made me calm down just a little.

Whenever I made a mistake before, they laughed at me, and there were even times when I alone wasn’t invited to meals—but that party had been the only place I belonged, so I had closed my eyes to the discomfort.

—Did I never have a place to belong anywhere?

Once I realized that, it felt like all my motivation drained away, and strength left my body.

When I was twelve, my village was destroyed by an unknown curse, and everyone except me died. My family, my friends, my home—I lost everything… Even so, I wanted to reduce the number of people who would suffer like me even a little, so I desperately looked forward and became an adventurer.

But for all that effort to lead to this situation now… I don’t even have the energy to keep trying anymore. With a body that can’t grow stronger no matter how much effort I make, I probably can’t survive as an adventurer.

“Why was I the only one who survived… If only I had just a little more power.”

What should I do from now on… It would be extremely difficult for an orphan like me with no home to find someone willing to hire me. Even if I survived on day labor, I wouldn’t be able to secure a place to live and would probably end up on the streets.

…Eventually I’d drift into the slums and either starve to death or get kidnapped by human traffickers.

If I let this chance pass, I might never be able to return to my village again. I hadn’t gone back even once since it was destroyed, but everyone is sleeping there.

“I want to see everyone…”

I muttered that quietly, wrapped cloth around my bleeding fist, and slowly stood up. Then I left the royal capital with nothing but the clothes on my back.

The village where I was born and raised was about a day and a half away from this city on foot. It was already starting to get dark, but if I left now and kept walking, I should arrive during daylight two days from now.

There were no shared carriages going to a ruined village, so walking was the only option. Inside my shoulder bag were a water pouch, dried meat, and hard bread—enough to survive for about a week.

And there was the one-handed sword I bought with the little money I had left. I couldn’t fight monsters, but I should at least be able to scare away wild beasts.

Fighting down the fear that threatened to freeze my legs as I walked alone outside the city, I forced myself forward toward the village that existed only in memories.

Early in the morning three days after leaving the royal capital, I finally arrived at the village. A day and a half on foot was for ordinary people; with my stamina, there was no way I could walk that quickly.

“Haa… I’m seriously exhausted.”

It was impossible to keep walking for three days without sleeping, so I rested along the way, but I slept wedged between narrow rocks to avoid beasts or monsters, so my entire body hurt, and bugs had bitten and chewed me all over.

Even so, despite being in such terrible condition, the sight spreading out before me made the hardships of the past three days feel worthwhile. I really was glad I came back to the village.

The village now consisted only of decayed wood, and the sight stirred sadness, but since several years had passed since that incident, the happy memories of the past came back, making it feel as if everyone was pushing me forward.

“I’m not alone… am I?”

The thought came naturally. Everyone was probably watching over me, and there were people in the royal capital who cared about me too. From now on, I would cherish those people even more.

As I slowly looked around the village to revive memories from every place, my eyes suddenly fell upon the mountain behind the village. I used to go into that mountain often with my father when he hunted.

How nostalgic… I loved this mountain. If you went a little deeper inside, there was a small stream where we used to play in the water. Since I’d come this far, I might as well go see that stream too.

The paths that once existed when the village was alive were naturally gone, so I pushed aside the grass with my sword as I moved deeper in. When the hand holding the sword went numb, I pushed the grass aside with my bare hands or my bag instead.

—And while I was walking like that, something caught my eye.

“What is that? …Some kind of statue?”

The statue had fallen sideways and was half buried in the ground. It was covered in thick moss, with vines wrapped all around it.

For some reason I felt sorry for the statue, and on a whim—truly just a whim—I decided to clean it up. Perhaps unconsciously, I wanted to entrust it with watching over this village.

Whatever the reason, I reached out and dug the statue out of the ground, first removing all the vines wrapped around it. After scraping away most of the moss, I dragged it toward where the stream should be.

Several dozen minutes later, a clear stream flowing just like it used to appeared before my eyes.

“How nostalgic.”

Yes, this river. I loved this place. This spot had remained just the same as back then.

The unchanged, nostalgic scenery settled my heart, and with a gentle feeling I carefully washed the statue clean.

After several dozen minutes of struggle, I succeeded in making the filthy statue shine like it was brand new. Feeling a sense of accomplishment, I pulled it out of the river and used my last bit of strength to place it on a flat rock on the riverbank.

“Is this a statue modeled after some kind of god?”

It felt like I had seen it somewhere before, but I wasn’t particularly devout, so I didn’t know which god it was. Still, it didn’t seem like an evil deity, and since I had gone through the trouble of cleaning it, I might as well pray.

Thinking that, I knelt in front of the statue and formed an awkward prayer posture.

—And suddenly, my vision was dyed completely white.

After a few seconds the light faded, and when I cautiously opened my eyes, there was… a woman so beautiful she seemed not of this world.