The Female Hero Party That Exiled Me, All of Them Are Mentally Broken - Chapter 3

The wheels rattled as the carriage rolled along, and two weeks later, I finally arrived.

I had reached a frontier town far away from the royal capital.

A gentle breeze brushed my cheeks while carrying the earthy smell of soil and grass.

I no longer had a home to return to.

My parents had already passed away, and there was nowhere waiting for me with a warm welcome.

But I also couldn’t go to the royal capital, where prices were high, and ID checks were strict.

So I chose this Frontier Town, “Dead End,” which was close to my hometown village.

I had visited it once before on a quest with the hero party, and I had fallen in love with the beautiful scenery surrounded by nature.

Stepping off the carriage onto the cobblestone streets, I was surprised by how lively the town was, even for a frontier town.

The smell of grilled skewers drifted from the stalls everywhere, and cheerful laughter hit my ears.

Around this town, there were many unexplored dungeons. Adventurers hoping to strike it rich were always coming here.

“What should I do now?”

I muttered quietly, but my words disappeared into the noise.

I had no money and no connections I could rely on.

It was overwhelming, but I couldn’t just stand still if I wanted to survive.

So, I decided I would try too.

I would live by my own strength, like the other adventurers.

I asked a kind-looking traveling merchant for directions, and he told me where the adventurer guild was.

After passing through the main street, I saw a huge stone building.

A giant emblem of a crossed sword and shield hung on the roof, and veteran adventurers were constantly coming and going.

I pushed open the guild’s heavy wooden doors with a creak.

Even someone useless like me… I hoped there was something I could do.

With that thought, I walked to the reception desk.

“Um. Can I become an adventurer? Even someone like me?”

I asked the receptionist nervously.

I expected her to refuse me.

After all, I was the useless burden even the world’s strongest party had abandoned. But.

“Yeah, of course. You’re welcome here.”

The receptionist smiled warmly and handed me a sheet of parchment.

I took the quill she gave me and wrote my name and my job, “Enchanter.”

When she held the parchment over a crystal orb, it glowed softly, and my guild card was issued.

“Yes, you are registered.”

“Thank you so much. What’s the first job I can do, even for someone like me?”

“Hmm, let’s see.”

The receptionist glanced at the guild’s job board, and that’s when it happened.

“Someone, please help. Old man Orlock got badly hurt in the dungeon.”

With a loud bang, the door burst open, and a young swordsman ran in as he was shouting.

Supporting him was an older adventurer, battered and worn.

The wounded man groaned in pain, and he immediately filled my view.

The air was thick with the sharp smell of blood and pus.

His leg was cut so deeply that bone was visible. It was clear to anyone that he was on the verge of retiring as an adventurer.

“I can only do so much, but please. Let me use my magic.”

I knelt beside his fallen leg and held my hands gently over it.

I cast a spell to speed healing and calm his mind.

A soft light wrapped warmly around the veteran adventurer’s wounds.

“W-what is this!?”

Orlock suddenly stood up with a loud clang and shouted.

The pain from an old injury that had troubled him for years vanished instantly. Even the damaged flesh was fully restored.

The other adventurers around us murmured in disbelief.

“T-t-t-this is a miracle. Thank you, thank you so much.”

Orlock fell to the floor while clutching my legs and crying loudly.

I was a little confused, but seeing how the Frontier people were so kind and expressive, I just smiled quietly and thought they were exaggerating their joy.

◇

The days that followed were full of surprises.

The guild master was impressed by my powerful enchantment magic, and they welcomed me as a personal buffer.

Since being exiled, three months had already passed in the blink of an eye.

In the room at the inn the guild had provided, I took a spoonful of warm stew.

The sweet potatoes and rich flavor of the meat slowly sank into my stomach.

I flopped onto the soft bed, and the clean smell of the sheets tickled my nose.

Relaxed in both body and mind, I let out a deep breath.

“Here, I can finally be useful to someone.”

Tears of relief rolled down my cheeks.

I was no longer anyone’s burden.

Looking up at the starry sky outside the window, I quietly decided that I would live peacefully in this town.

◇

While Alphonse slept peacefully, the ruins of the Demon King’s castle had become nothing but an empty wasteland.

Hero Yuria, female knight Naitsu, and saint Serara were covered from head to toe in sticky blood.

“You were in my way.”

With a sickening squelch, Yuria crushed an orc’s head in her bloodshot hands.

After defeating the Demon King, hordes of pests had appeared and tried to stop them from reaching Alphonse.

The three of them were furious as they spent three months hunting down every last remnant and left not a single piece of flesh behind.

“Alphonse-sama. Aaah, Alphonse-sama.”

“Wait for me, Al-kun. I’m coming to get you.”

Serara embraced the empty air with a look of ecstasy, while Naitsu licked the blood off her sword with a twisted grin.

They had searched the world without rest, and today, they finally had pinpointed the faint remnants of Alphonse’s magic drifting in the wind.

“I finally found you. I’ll never let you escape again.”

Yuria’s grin stretched almost to her ears.

After having pushed past their limits, the three of them kicked the ground with such insane speed that the earth itself seemed to quake beneath them.

Their mad dash toward the frontier town where their beloved Alphonse slept had begun.