Healing Life After Deserting the Hero Party: Episode 1
The Constellation's Selection
"How did things end up like this."
I muttered to myself and gazed into my glass.
My face reflected upon the rippling liquor.
Inside the glass was a man with white hair and blue eyes.
"Who is that."
Anyone seeing this would say I was a madman.
Because I was looking at my own face in the glass and asking who it was.
But.
It couldn't be helped.
It was truly unfamiliar.
"Was my hair always like this."
I touched my shaggy hair, grown thick from not cutting it for so long.
In the past, it had been glossy and smooth.
Now it looked like all the nutrients had been sucked out, as if it could fall out in clumps at any moment.
"Look at these eyes."
Eyes that looked like a blue sea and the universe had been placed within them.
That's what people used to say when they looked into my eyes in the past.
Of course, not anymore.
The sparkle that once filled my eyes could no longer be found.
To the point that it wouldn't be strange to say someone had plucked out rotten fish eyes and transplanted them.
My eyes reflected in the liquor were filled with nothing but emptiness.
Sparkle.
Even in eyes devoid of soul, there was still something that sparkled.
Ssk.
I rubbed my eyes quickly before anyone could see.
Tears that welled up constantly.
Since this had been happening frequently for some time now, I was no longer bewildered.
…….
I had asked myself how things ended up like this.
But in truth, I knew the answer.
The Hero Party.
That was the beginning.
People born and raised in one place who didn't live ordinary lives, but chose the path of fighting demonic beasts that threatened the world.
In the world of Pandea where I lived, those who learned magic and swordsmanship instead of smithing and crafts were called Heroes.
And the minimal group formed by Heroes with the same purpose was the Hero Party.
"A Hero… It feels unfamiliar now."
I spoke as if it were someone else's business, but I too was a Hero and currently belonged to a Hero Party.
Nevertheless, the reason the word Hero felt unfamiliar was simple.
I was still fighting demonic beasts, but my purpose had completely changed.
Money.
Currently, the sole purpose of my demonic beast hunting was money.
The past me who fought to protect the Empire's princess and defend the kingdom was no more.
Nowadays, if it didn't seem profitable, I wouldn't even look at a demonic beast sleeping right beside me.
Because my stamina was already at rock bottom, and I didn't have even a shred of strength or will to waste on pointless things.
If it were for my own spending, that would be one thing.
If I could earn like a dog and spend like a dog, I wouldn't have minded.
Even if I earned it through hardship, spending it would be enjoyable and rewarding.
But, very unfortunately.
The money I earned was not mine.
Seria and Mint.
Heroes who had formed a party with me long ago… No, they were money ghosts.
- Lian, tomorrow is the day I have to pay for my magic lessons.
- Lian, the general store is in the red again this month. I have to cover tomorrow's supply costs.
"Kiaaaaaack!!"
Crash!!
At the auditory hallucination that seemed to ring in my ears.
I unknowingly overturned the table in front of me.
"Hey, Hero-nim! What's wrong?"
"Hey Lian! What's with you again? Eat quietly!"
Ah.
"S-sorry!"
At the approaching waiter and the rebukes of nearby Heroes.
I quickly picked up the overturned cups and dishes.
"W-would you like to order something new?"
"Y-yes!"
To Mary, the employee who asked carefully, I apologized once more.
And received the menu Mary handed over.
"……."
The menu had various items.
Wild Boar hind leg roast, Giant Lobster steam, King Octopus salad, and so on.
Dishes that whetted the appetite just by looking at them.
*Drool.*
They looked delicious.
I thought this every time I saw them, but I had never ordered such dishes even once.
# 200,000 Sid.
At the price that seemed to ask how dare someone like me look at it.
Holding back tears, I lowered my eyes to the very bottom.
"One Millipede Liquor… please."
"…Yes, one Millipede Liquor."
After making a fuss, she sent a cold glance as if saying it's that again today.
Mary, having taken the order, moved away.
# 3,000 Sid.
Looking at the price of the liquor, I felt needlessly miserable.
I closed the menu and let out a sigh.
"Life, huh."
It wasn't that I couldn't earn enough to eat a hind leg roast.
I was a ranker-grade priest fairly well-known in the city, and I earned quite a bit following along to fairly high-level dungeons even if they weren't diverse adventures.
It's just that after giving this and that to the party, nothing was left.
- Why don't you just quit and live your life?
I heard this quite often.
Those who said this were always solo-play-focused Heroes who had never formed a covenant party.
They don't know a damn thing!
Covenant Party.
Seria, Mint, and me.
The party formed by the three of us had a covenant on it.
It was different from a normal party that could be formed and disbanded at any time.
Because the Covenant was a binding system strictly designated by the Empire.
Forming it was a choice, but breaking it carried tremendous penalties.
Especially for the party leader.
First, money and honor.
All Sid earned up to now would be halved, and for failing to fulfill duties as party leader, I would have to pay a fixed amount of Sid to the party members until death.
On top of that, the fall in reputation with various organizations built up during my Hero life, and the label of a leader who abandoned his party would follow me for life.
"……."
Of course.
I could endure such penalties all day long.
Because if I could just escape the mud pit I was trapped in, I didn't care about losing all my money and everything else.
But even this wasn't my freedom.
The Covenant wasn't something I could break just because I said I'd endure the penalties.
# Breaking a Covenant requires the consent of the majority of party members.
- Let's stop here.
I had nicely suggested several times that we go our separate ways and live happily.
It didn't work at all.
The result was a massive failure.
- What are you talking about right now? How could you? Is that all our time together meant to you!? I can't do it!
- Right, right! I'm really disappointed, Lian! I definitely can't agree either!
Seria and Mint had raged, foaming at the mouth.
……It must be because it would decrease.
Even after breaking it, I'd pay Sid for life, but compared to what they received now, it would be absurdly little.
If that happened, the two wouldn't be able to maintain most of their current spending.
So they had absolutely no intention of letting me go until I rotted and crumbled.
- What? Just run away! Abscond and go to another city!
That was the advice a Hero who'd run a dungeon with me a few days ago had given.
Choked up.
If I could, I would have done it long ago!!
# If a party leader goes into hiding, flees, or evades without fulfilling Covenant responsibilities, they shall be severely punished under Imperial Decree Article 1.
Grit.
I can't…!
I'd become a fugitive for life.
A life where I couldn't reveal my name proudly anywhere, with a nationwide warrant issued, having to hide in the darkness for fear of being recognized.
What I wanted was an adventure that made my heart pound with excitement.
Not a life where my heart pounded anxiously because I might get caught.
- Don't do it.
- Why?
- Don't do it, damn it!!
I recalled the senior Hero who'd grabbed me and stopped me when I said I was going to form a covenant.
I should have listened to him then.
Thinking I would be different.
- When you form a covenant, the Hero Association provides various support and benefits! Contribute to the Empire's covenant party growth rate!
The Hero Association's lies that added all sorts of conditions and gave only a pittance in support funds after I actually formed it, and.
- Lian, let's grow the party like this if we form a covenant!
- If we form a covenant, things like this are good! It'll definitely help our party!
- Since our party has good synergy, it would be good to form a covenant and try adventures on this route!
I had fallen completely for Seria and Mint's sweet coaxing and ended up forming the covenant.
"Sniff."
I stuffed my fist into my mouth to stifle the sob trying to escape.
I hadn't expected much from the covenant.
I had formed it just like any other covenant party, wanting to have closer bonds and pulse-pounding adventures while hunting demonic beasts.
At first, the two had actively agreed as well.
Drip.
I didn't know then.
That Seria and Mint were so skilled at acting.
- Let's rest today, that place is too dangerous.
- This city is so nice. Let's settle down here.
- Adventure? Why do something so dangerous. What route? When did I?
It was an incredible change in attitude.
The two changed drastically as soon as the covenant was formed.
The two immediately started slacking off and eventually settled down right in the city where they'd formed the covenant.
Of course, they refused to go demonic beast hunting using excuses that it was dangerous, painful, and scary.
"Sigh."
I tilted the newly arrived glass and turned my head.
# Hero Tahikan has defeated a legendary demonic beast!
# The Urato Hero Party has discovered a new island, Shaina!
The giant magic orb inside the tavern.
Through the orb, the adventures of Named Heroes were being broadcast.
Swoosh.
Resting my chin on my hand, I quietly gazed at the orb's images.
Even though we were the same Heroes, they looked so far away.
I had once dreamed of becoming such a Hero.
At the distant feeling I got watching the images.
I opened my mouth unknowingly.
"I'm jealous."
* * *
"O God!! Are you not there!!"
After drinking heavily, there was a set course.
A small chapel located between the tavern and my lodging.
Always coming here to pray before returning to my lodging was my regular course.
Today too, I shouted loudly in the space devoid of any answer.
"Can you truly not hear me!!"
Even though I knew I wouldn't be heard, I shouted once more.
"Hoo!"
The moment I tried to turn my body with a slightly refreshed heart.
["Have you called for a shining being?!" it asks.]
!?
I turned around at the words flowing into my head.
Flash.
It was a blinding light.
Light so intense it was hard to look at properly.
Someone was inside the light.
A c-cat!?
To be exact, it was a child with cat ears.
With short blonde hair, chubby cheeks, and large, sparkling eyes.
It looked more like a baby than a child.
"W-who are you!?"
Perhaps because of the halo spread behind her.
Honorifics came out automatically.
Perk, perk.
["I am the God of Sacrifice, Devotion, Camaraderie, and Love! The greatest of gods!" says the Constellation.]
C-Constellation!?
It was a type of Constellation I had never heard of.
Just the word 'Constellation' nearly made my eyes pop out.
The reason Named Heroes' adventures could flow out from the tavern orb was simple.
They had been chosen by a Constellation.
Because a Constellation had selected their adventures as the greatest.
It could be seen as a virtuous cycle where they were chosen because they were outstanding, and grew stronger because they were chosen.
Gulp.
Selection, no, had I been chosen!?
"Have you chosen me……?"
I asked carefully, swallowing dryly.
Perk!
The Constellation nodded as if to say yes.
"W-why!?"
I hesitated about asking.
I was too curious.
Heroes chosen by Constellations usually possessed absurd swordsmanship or magic, or abilities equivalent to them.
If not that, they had achieved tremendous feats.
In contrast, I.
Was a walking healing potion……!?
My job was a Priest.
And at that, a Priest pushed into the role, the ultimate pushover of a class.
As such, I had no swordsmanship or magic.
Since I was just earning money in the city every day, I had no tremendous feats either.
No matter how much I thought about it, I couldn't think of a reason to be chosen by a Constellation.
["I highly regard the devotion and sacrifice you have shown for a long time!" it says. "I shall recite it now, so listen well."]
I listened quietly to the Constellation's words.
My surprised heart began to calm gradually.
What the Constellation recited was none other than…….
Everything I had done since forming the covenant party until now.
["From the sacrifice of giving up your desired class to become a Priest, to the devotion of throwing away the life you wanted for the sake of the party until now! The Constellation says it was deeply moved."]
The world's greatest sacrifice and devotion…… no.
It felt like winning first place in a chump contest.
["Moreover, since you prayed earnestly at the chapel every night, I could not help but come!"]
Nice drunk praying.
By the way, it can't hear me.
Listening to the Constellation, one thing became clear.
The Constellation couldn't see into my heart.
If it had seen that, instead of being moved, it would have dropped a lightning bolt.
["The Constellation says such devotion and sacrifice must be rewarded, and it shall give you a gift!"]
Thump.
My heart began to race at the word 'gift.'
I didn't know what grade the Constellation before me was.
Usually, a Constellation's gift held tremendous power.
Flash.
As the Constellation twitched its ears and waved its arm.
Golden light seeped into me.
["It says this is the only one in the Constellation's world. I can give it because I'm the greatest god!" it says proudly.]
Once all the light had seeped in.
Vivid golden letters floated before my eyes.
[You have acquired the Transcendent Box!]
[Transcendent Box]
# You can place either a skill or an item inside and spin it!
# One skill or item of the highest grade from the same category will appear!
# Obtained skills and items are bound! Skills are learned immediately upon acquisition, and items cannot be discarded or sold.
# Transcendence points are consumed with each spin!
# To fill the gauge, you must defeat strong demonic beasts or achieve feats!
Hol—!?
To think one highest-grade item was guaranteed.
No matter how hard it was to fill the Transcendence points, it was an incredible box.
"Thank you!"
At the absurd function description.
I immediately prostrated myself before the Constellation.
["The Constellation says it is happy because you are happy, and smiles brightly!"]
I remained prostrated for a moment.
["It says since you have sacrificed and devoted so much, this is not enough. The Constellation says it shall grant one more wish!"]
Flash.
I raised my head sharply at the word 'wish.'
"Is anything possible?"
[The Constellation nods. It says it is the greatest among gods, so everything is possible.]
"Perhaps."
Normally, I would ponder for a long time about what wish to make.
But since it was something I had thought about almost every day, I opened my mouth without hesitation.
"Is it possible to return to the past?"
[…….]