“Wait a minute! What do you mean by that!?”
In the adventurer guild a celebration was held after the suppression group, but meanwhile, Johann raised his voice.
“It’s been decided. Johann, you're fired.”
“Well it’s like that. It was decided in a meeting”, said Bruges as he sat down.
Bruges Anderson. The guild’s strongest warrior. Johann came to be working under this party leader. After all the battles he fought to bring down the Demon King, he acquired the title of [Hero].
Johan had been told personally that he should leave the party now.
“That’s right… Bruges said it, you're dismissed. Won’t you carry yourself outside? You’re an eyesore.”
“Agreed… I want you to quit as well”
“Bruges has been thinking about doing this for a long time now,” the two girls sitting at the table brought up, as they criticized Johann.
Mishi Pariston and Kene Riffness. Both of them are members of the same party. Or is that even relevant anymore?
All 4 members of Bruges’s party have an SSS-rank ability, their one goal was to carry out the suppression of the Demon King, and without it they wouldn’t exist.” Johann proudly thought he was one of those members.
“But… why are all of us saying this?”
“W-why? I, everyone… why?”
“Why, you ask? You… Your skill is somewhat…. don’t you get it?!”
“Uhm… you mean [Architect]?”
[Architect]. This is a unique skill that only Johann possesses. To build whatever building you like, in whichever place you like, is something only this ability can do. Even if other people don’t understand the skill, it has a lot of useful qualities.
No matter the location, you're able to secure it. Adventurers travelling out in the open are very grateful if they can avoid the wind and rain. And if you have a house you can lock, you could sleep through monster attacks without worry, in a nice fluffy bed to boot. The skill can also provide the user with the most necessary of furniture.
In addition, each member inside the building can have their abilities buffed. You'll pretty much be able to become strong simply by resting. So far, so good.
The second use, is being able to set traps inside the building. In the case enemies break in, if a large amount of traps are prepared, the attackers can be easily dealt with.
The practical uses are very strong, and if you use magic, enemies can even be lured inside. When building in a location, a trap house can be very effective.
Johann spent a couple of months in foreign lands, for the Demon King suppression mission. Producing bases for party- and guild members, playing a supportive role. He also built trap houses to attract more demons, minimizing the damage everyone took. He did not fight directly, but supported everyone from the backline.
But this didn't impress Bruges.
“Aaah, it’s like this. Your skill is architecture. A small fry skill that is FUCKING USELESS for battle!”
He changed his manner of speaking as he vented his anger at Johann.
“If the only thing you are good for is building things, you are useless! All my companions agree that the only good thing about your ability is its rank. We've thought this way for a long time now. You are not like Mishi and Kene who are fighting at the forefront! And like me, who brought down the Demon King! Summing it up, we don’t want to recognize someone like you in our group of heroes!”
“S-such a thing… I also tried my hardest to be useful!”
In fact, Johann worked way harder than any of his friends.
When the guild put up the Demon King suppression mission, his mission schedule was very unreasonable. “Build a base for all 78 parties in the Demon King’s land, within a week.” Even with an SSS-rank architecture skill, usually a request of that level would be impossible.
However, Johan worked without sleeping for days, to make bases for his colleagues. Thanks to that, they were able to invade the Demon King’s castle before being noticed by the enemy.
He also lightened the fighting burden considerably, with his trap houses.
But to Bruges, that all seemed useless.
“I don’t care about all that! When we were fighting for our lives, what were you doing?! Staying holed up in your base, looking at the battle like, oh good luck!”
“No! It wasn't like that! I was trapping things, repairing broken places, doing everything I could! I never skipped out on anything!”
"Huhhhhh? Could you explain that again? You are saying that… well those trap houses as you call it, contributed to lessen the number of the enemy?”
“Y-yeah.”
“I’ll accept that your bases were somewhat useful in the last few months, but in the battles with demons, you didn’t contribute anything at all! At any rate, the buffing effect of your bases weren’t considerable either, were they? Such a useless fellow, we won’t accept him as a friend, don't you guys agree?”
“That’s right!”
“You’ve said it well!”
And the adventurers shouted with all their might. Apparently, all the other guild members felt the same as Bruges.
In the midst of their lives of battle, only Johann felt at ease. It seemed that way at least.
In addition, Bruges kept showing the huge bruise on his right leg.
“And look at this bruise… due to one these traps set by you, I even got hurt! ”
“Ah! Me as well. I almost fell into a pitfall.”
“…I as well, fell into one once.”
“And how do you explain that huh?! Did you actually look at the location of these traps?”
They were traps prepared to halt the demon invasion. Of course, Johann warned everyone to be careful…
“If what we're saying is too difficult for you to understand. Then, this is the conclusion everyone drew up. If you don’t have the strength to fight demons, then we can safely say, THAT YOU ARE A NUISANCE!”
If an adventurer brings down a Demon, they are seen as capable. That is what all adventurers commonly think, not just Bruges.
But Johann has never defeated a demon with his bare hands. Because he didn't have the strength to do that, Bruges’s group loathed him.
“In short, you didn’t do anything. Nothing at all.”
“Really, we don’t have the free time to look after a freeloader.”
“Very unpleasant… get out….”
Listening to the jeers of what Johann thought were his friends, it felt like his heart was repeatedly stabbed.
Certainly, it was true he was useless in direct battle. It couldn’t be helped that this skill wasn’t suited for that, but trying to mend Bruges’s temper seemed to be beyond help.
“I didn't mention anything until now because the bases had some merit, but because I killed the Demon King already, there's no reason for you to be here. So right this moment, get out. Never show your ugly face again.”
“Ugh…”
Seems like the only one who thought they were friends was Johann.
He was holding back his tears, his shoulders quivering.
“I understand… I’ve had enough too, I won’t bother you any longer… ”
In addition to being hated by Bruges, living in this area with all the adventurers would be impossible.
Either way, for the moment, he should focus on finding a place to stay.
So while thinking, Johann stood up and left.
At that moment, Bruges said one more thing.
“Ah. The guild and bases you’ve made. We will take those.”
“Eh?”
“That accursed SSS-rank skill [Architect]. Even if there are no traps, those bases would be quite pleasant. We should get them.”
“How selfish…" Johann thought.
Johann was proud of and attached to the buildings he created. First class carpenters could create a top-notch castle, but Johann could do it in 3 days with his skill. The interior, even the trivial parts, were never overlooked. If the enemy got stuck in the traps inside the building, they would need to try their hardest to get out, and on the opposite end allies could relax. If a good plot of land was selected, it could even be used to observe the surroundings carefully.
Such are the lengths he went to. As far as Johann is concerned, you could say the buildings he created are like his sons. To relinquish them like that without a moment’s notice, is impossible.
Furthermore, Bruges wanted to take the bases of the person he called a nuisance. He wouldn’t hand it over to such a guy.
It was truly offending, and Johann tried to voice a complaint. But Bruges interjected.
“Just to be sure, anything you say is useless. It is not up to us. It’s a formal decision of the guild.”
“The guild’s…?”
At that time, a nice looking, gray haired man came up to Johann.
It was this town’s guild master.
“Is it difficult, boy? To give away the bases, to the ones who helped suppress the demon king? But, this cannot be negotiated anymore. The entirety of the guild staff reached a consensus.”
“N-no way… Why would you do such selfish things!?”
“It’s not selfish. I properly got permission, right? Both you and me would have to do that.”
And Bruges had the nerve to look at him with a disgusting smile. Everyone seemed to have raised their hands against him.
“Also, as reward for taking part in the mission against the Demon King…”
The guild master took a small piece of paper out of his pocket, and put it to Johann’s chest.
“Congratulations. Your status as adventurer has been revoked. You won’t have to fight demons any longer. Being able to stay home is the perfect reward.”
“That’s…. a lie right?”
Depriving an adventurer of their qualifications is the greatest punishment you could get, usually only imposed on exceedingly wicked adventurers. Those who received this punishment will never again be able to act as an adventurer, and they won't legally be able to use their skills. Only the adventurers who carry the burden of fighting against demons can use skills without permission.
At that moment, Johann understood.
Everyone in the guild was his enemy.
The guild personnel who were supposed to protect adventurers like Johann, all sneered at him.
“Well then. Your qualifications are now gone, that was all.”
“Huh?”
Bruges snatched the adventurers' card out of Johann’s pocket.
The card is extremely important for adventurers, it shows their status, their ability, and acts as their identification.
Bruges folded it in two.
“AAAH!”
The card that was folded beautifully right in the middle, left Bruges’s hands and fell down. But that wasn’t all, he trampled it, and grinded on it with his foot.
“M-my adventurer card….”
“Alright, with this you are fully an outsider. You’re not an adventurer from the guild anymore, you’re barely even human.”
Bruges grabbed the collar of Johann, and with his heroic strength, threw him towards the exit. And kicked him outside.
"At least now you’ve got a fitting place to stay."
The door closed, and was locked up with a clank.
Johann had no place to come home to…
Now, he finally understood the difference between him and Bruges’s group.
Johann only built trap houses, they defeated a formidable enemy.
Throughout the Demon King suppression mission, did the buffing inside his bases even matter?
Author commentsWe will begin the construction of the Demon King’s castle, thank you for your cooperation.
Next time, the little heroine will appear on stage. And will the hero group at some point consider entering the Demon King’s castle again?
Thanks a ton if you’ve read this. Never would’ve thought translating could be this fun, thank god my whims are usually good.
Editor commentsApparently I should write an editor note. I don’t really have the highest of hopes for this, but the plot so far seems it could be interesting and I find editing pretty fun.
Notes Johann Grecia – Main character, ex-party member of the hero group.Bruges Anderson – Hero, party leader of the hero group, the one who brought down the Demon King.
Mishi Pariston – Female party member of the hero group.
Kene Reefness – Female party member of the hero group. “Even if other people don’t understand the skill, it has a lot of useful qualities.” or これだけだと何が良いのか分かりにくいが、このスキルには冒険者にとって非常に捨てがたい利点がある。
this sentence is weird, 3 people looked at it but no one had a clue on how to translate this, we reworded it to our interpretations. “Really, we don’t have the free time to look after a freeloader.”
this actually says NEET in the source, but that just didn’t seem correct when i’m looking at the current setting. It could be a term there, but well i settled for something else.