Chapter 1 - Expulsion and Withdrawal

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“You are hereby expelled from this party, effective today!”

Those words came from our leader, Albert, on the night we were celebrating the completion of a major request. It was during the afterparty.

But the target of that declaration wasn’t me—it was my best friend, Rolo, who was sitting right beside me.

“Uh…”

Caught off guard, Rolo faltered, his eyes darting around in confusion.

Sitting next to him, I gave Albert a sharp glare.

“Explain yourself, Albert.”
“There’s nothing to explain. With the results of our latest job, we’ve finally been officially recognized as a State-Sanctioned party. And yet, you expect me to keep someone with no real ability around any longer?!”

Was he drunk? Albert snapped, clearly agitated.

“We already settled the matter of Rolo staying in the party a long time ago. Did you forget that, Albert?”
“No, we didn’t. I’m declaring it right here, right now—Rolo Mercia, you’re out!”

Albert’s voice echoed through the tavern. Thanks to that, all eyes were suddenly on us.

“Yulg is right, Albert-san. We all agreed to keep working with Rolo, didn’t we?”

With a gentle tone, Fimia—the only girl in the party—tried to calm him down, but Albert refused to back off.

“There’s no place for incompetence in Silhasta, the party I lead.”
“You’re calling Rolo incompetent? Are you seriously saying that?”
“Of course I am. He’s been a burden this whole time.”

I always thought he was a bit thoughtless, but I never imagined he’d go this far.

What the hell is he thinking?

I couldn’t understand it at all.

“Listen up, Yulg. That goes for the rest of you too. This is a decision made by me, your leader. I won’t tolerate any objections. We’re going to be a State-Sanctioned party now. We have to tighten things up in areas like this.”
“…Fine, I heard you.”

With a small sigh, I nodded at Albert, who made it clear he wouldn’t take no for an answer. If he was that dead set on it, then nothing I said would change anything. This wasn’t the first time we’d gone through this same argument. Any further discussion would be utterly pointless.

“That’s how it is, Rolo. Pack your things tonight and be gone by tomorrow morning.”
“…Yeah. I understand.”

With that, Rolo stood from his seat.

“Everyone, thank you for everything. We won’t be adventuring together anymore, but I wish you all the best.”

That was all he said before walking briskly out of the tavern. An expulsion like that, in front of so many people. By tomorrow, the whole town would be talking.

“Will Rolo be okay…?”
“Forget about him. Let’s focus on what comes next. I’ve actually already reached out to a potential new member.”

Albert spoke with a certain gleefulness in his voice. I waved him off casually and got to my feet. I couldn’t stand to look at this idiot any longer.

“This killed the mood. I’m out.”
“Hey, come on, Yulg. Don’t be like that. I get that you and that deadweight were best friends, but still—”
“You know that and you still can say that with a straight face, Albert. What a piece of work you are.”

Whether he understood the sarcasm or not, Albert just gave me a vague grin. I tossed a gold coin onto the table to cover my drinks, then turned and walked toward the tavern exit—where Rolo had vanished just moments before.

♦

──The next morning. I found Rolo at the southern gate of the town, all packed and ready to go, and called out as I jogged over.

“Hey, Rolo. Heading out already?”
“Yeah. I’m going back to Marhas for now. After that, I’ll figure out what to do.”
“Gotcha. Well then, let’s go.”

I hefted my travel pack onto my back and gave him a broad grin. Rolo tilted his head slightly in confusion.

“Huh?”
“What’s wrong? You’re not going?”
“That’s not it. Why are you in travel gear, Yulg?”
“To go with you, of course.”
“Wait, what? What about the party… What about Silhasta?”
“I already filed the withdrawal paperwork at the Guild last night. No way I’m trusting my back to some self-righteous bastard like him.”

At my words, Rolo stood there slack-jawed. Come on, it’s not that surprising. Guess I wasn’t exactly a model of reliability in his eyes…

“You can’t do that! Yulg, you’re one of the named members of the state-sanctioned party Silhasta!”
“Doesn’t matter. I didn’t become an adventurer for stuff like that.”

People might call me something grand like “Skysunder” or whatever, but it’s not like I named myself that. It just got officially recognized by the Guild at some point. I don’t feel any attachment to it now, and it’s not something I need to cling to for the rest of my life.

To begin with, I was nothing more than a delinquent brat who just followed along with this childhood friend of mine—Rolo Mercia.

Just a few years ago, I was a troublemaker causing all sorts of problems in our rural hometown of Marhas. Frustrated by the suffocating atmosphere of the countryside, I’d started to act out, and it was Rolo who pulled me out of that spiral just before I was about to be run out of town. That’s how I ended up becoming an adventurer.

——“I’m kind of scared to go alone. Would you come with me?”

Those words were such a lifeline for me.

Thanks to Rolo, I was able to figure out how I wanted to live before I got kicked out of the village. He gave me the push I needed to reflect on who I was and what I’d done.

Even after arriving in the big city, Advan, the first time I’d ever been outside the countryside, I was constantly messing things up, clueless and clumsy. And every time, Rolo was there to pick up the pieces.

It’s because of him that I’ve made it this far.

Before I knew it, I could honestly say that Rolo’s dream had become my dream too.

…Which is exactly why I couldn’t accept what happened last night. I can’t forgive it.

If someone like Rolo—my friend and savior—is being kicked out, then that’s more than enough reason for me to leave the party myself.

“Geez. Once you’ve made up your mind, you never back down, huh, Yulg?”
“Glad you know me that well.”

Rolo let out a small sigh and gave a wry smile. I grinned back.

No matter how he complains, he’s always soft when it comes to me.

“Well then, I’m counting on you, Yulg.”
“You got it.”

And so, the two of us walked together into the morning light.

Strangely enough, it was the same sight we saw when we first left our hometown.

===

Author’s Note:

Thank you very much for choosing this work out of so many others (‘ω’)!

I hope you enjoy it!