—Raust—
When I was invited to a party, I was delighted.
I was told that the party was for newbies, so they didn’t have a problem with my lack of skill when I was invited.
For me, to be able to join a party was enough.
When I joined their party, even though just a temporary one, they were very kind to me.
They didn’t mind at all having me who was ridiculed by the adventurers in the guild, and I thanked them for having me in their party.
…… However, that festive time was over in no time.
The party I entered at that time was a newbie’s party.
——— But, without hesitation, they accepted a quest intended for an intermediate level party.
I was surprised, and also, worried.
I thought they were too confident after having a healer in their party.
I tried to tell them the danger of the quest, the fearsome monsters that would come out and attack us that my healing magic wouldn’t be able to help.
However, they looked to be full of themselves and said it would be fine.
…… I tried to stop them somehow, but, full of confidence, they didn’t listen to me.
And then, as soon as we entered the labyrinth for collection quest, we were surrounded by monsters known as Hobgoblin.
I blamed myself for not anticipating this situation and for not trying to stop them harder.
After all, the labyrinth was a hunting ground for intermediate level adventurers and above.
No matter how hard we tried, new adventurers wouldn’t be able to win.
And so, I moved to try to make the withdrawing formation, but when I tried to convey my intention…
「………Huh?」
… I was suddenly pushed from behind by someone which made me fell to the hobgoblins.
For a moment, I couldn’t understand what happened.
There was no monster behind me.
Yet I was pushed from behind; even though there was only one answer, I didn’t want to admit it.
「Alright, let’s go gather what we need while this guy become our decoy!」
「Yes! This guy is really stupid.」
「Yeah, seriously, to be fooled so easily!」
「Gh!」
… But I was forced to understand the situation by the words that came from behind me.
I was betrayed and pushed by my comrades.
No, that was wrong.
They never recognized me as comrades from the start.
I just brought to this place so they could use me.
I was about to crumble down when I knew the truth.
However, I still shouted to solve the other party members’ misunderstanding.
「Don’t go! Goblins have a tendency to attack the weak, but hobgoblins are different!」
That was accurate information from the guild’s library.
Despite being a higher species of goblins, hobgoblins had an entirely different tendency.
「Hahh-! Look at him begging for his own life!」
「So shameful!」
「Let’s go quick! Oy defect bastard, do your job as a decoy properly alright!」
However, the other party members didn’t listen to my words.
They tried to slip through the hobgoblins without noticing the hobgoblins were watching them.
Maybe their heads were filled with the thought of the rewards already, but their faces were full of smiles.
… And then they were easily killed.
◆ ◆ ◇
After the other party members died, somehow I was able to escape from the labyrinth, and through some series of event, I learned the truth.
That party, they were never a bad party.
They were adventurers that were already accepted by some people in the city, after the death of one of their comrade, they fell into financial difficulty and changed greatly.
Then, they received a piece of advice which told them to use me as a decoy so they could finish a collection quest with a decent reward, which ended up with their quick dead.
The adventurer that gave them that advice was someone who had been using violence on me many times.
That adventurer seemed to be speaking in a high spirit when drunk, giving that advice while thinking that it would kill me, that was what I heard from other adventurers.
…… I was overwhelmed by the truth.
It was my first party, I was joyful and hopeful, that was why when it was gone, the despair hit me much harder.
After hearing the story about the man that crushed that party, I didn’t remember how I acted.
I just knew I mourned for them and ran away from the guild…
「Here…is……」
… By the time I noticed, I was at the meadow which was the hunting ground for beginner adventurers.
However, this was not a place I recognized even though I often came to this hunting ground solo.
Apparently, I had run quite some distance away.
In order to reduce the handicap for not having a skill, I trained my physical strength every day, so I wasn’t too tired.
But, it was obviously dangerous to stay here.
Certainly, the meadow was a hunting ground for beginner, there were no strong monsters show up in this place.
However, that was only at the front, near the back, the magic became stronger and the monsters that came out would be more powerful and numerous.
If you went beyond the meadow, it was said even a hydra that was stronger than monsters from labyrinth’s depth would come out.
Of course, it wasn’t that dangerous here.
However, there was still a risk of dying for someone who was still below the lower-layer adventurers like me.
…… Still, even after knowing that, I didn’t want to leave.
My heart was filled to the brim by regret, I didn’t have the capacity to think about other things.
I knew this place was dangerous, however, somewhere in my mind told me that it was all just a dream.
Perhaps at that time, my head had stopped thinking due to the strong shock.
「Kyaaaaaaaaa!」
「Hah-!」
——— My mind returned when I heard sudden scream echoed from the distance.
「Gob-lin…?」
At that time, I finally realized there was a gathering of goblins in the distance.
There was a girl in the middle of that flock, apparently, the goblins were attacking a noble’s carriage.
For a moment I wondered why a noble’s carriage was in such a place, and who was the little girl inside.
However, I had no time to look for an answer to that question.
Now the goblins were distracted by the carriage and still didn’t notice my presence yet.
Before I got found out, this was the only time I could escape.
Right, that was how I judged the situation.
「———Kh!」
But then, I started to run in the direction of the carriage……
—Raust—
When I was invited to a party, I was delighted.
I was told that the party was for newbies, so they didn’t have a problem with my lack of skill when I was invited.
For me, to be able to join a party was enough.
When I joined their party, even though just a temporary one, they were very kind to me.
They didn’t mind at all having me who was ridiculed by the adventurers in the guild, and I thanked them for having me in their party.
…… However, that festive time was over in no time.
The party I entered at that time was a newbie’s party.
——— But, without hesitation, they accepted a quest intended for an intermediate level party.
I was surprised, and also, worried.
I thought they were too confident after having a healer in their party.
I tried to tell them the danger of the quest, the fearsome monsters that would come out and attack us that my healing magic wouldn’t be able to help.
However, they looked to be full of themselves and said it would be fine.
…… I tried to stop them somehow, but, full of confidence, they didn’t listen to me.
And then, as soon as we entered the labyrinth for collection quest, we were surrounded by monsters known as Hobgoblin.
I blamed myself for not anticipating this situation and for not trying to stop them harder.
After all, the labyrinth was a hunting ground for intermediate level adventurers and above.
No matter how hard we tried, new adventurers wouldn’t be able to win.
And so, I moved to try to make the withdrawing formation, but when I tried to convey my intention…
「………Huh?」
… I was suddenly pushed from behind by someone which made me fell to the hobgoblins.
For a moment, I couldn’t understand what happened.
There was no monster behind me.
Yet I was pushed from behind; even though there was only one answer, I didn’t want to admit it.
「Alright, let’s go gather what we need while this guy become our decoy!」
「Yes! This guy is really stupid.」
「Yeah, seriously, to be fooled so easily!」
「Gh!」
… But I was forced to understand the situation by the words that came from behind me.
I was betrayed and pushed by my comrades.
No, that was wrong.
They never recognized me as comrades from the start.
I just brought to this place so they could use me.
I was about to crumble down when I knew the truth.
However, I still shouted to solve the other party members’ misunderstanding.
「Don’t go! Goblins have a tendency to attack the weak, but hobgoblins are different!」
That was accurate information from the guild’s library.
Despite being a higher species of goblins, hobgoblins had an entirely different tendency.
「Hahh-! Look at him begging for his own life!」
「So shameful!」
「Let’s go quick! Oy defect bastard, do your job as a decoy properly alright!」
However, the other party members didn’t listen to my words.
They tried to slip through the hobgoblins without noticing the hobgoblins were watching them.
Maybe their heads were filled with the thought of the rewards already, but their faces were full of smiles.
… And then they were easily killed.
◆ ◆ ◇
After the other party members died, somehow I was able to escape from the labyrinth, and through some series of event, I learned the truth.
That party, they were never a bad party.
They were adventurers that were already accepted by some people in the city, after the death of one of their comrade, they fell into financial difficulty and changed greatly.
Then, they received a piece of advice which told them to use me as a decoy so they could finish a collection quest with a decent reward, which ended up with their quick dead.
The adventurer that gave them that advice was someone who had been using violence on me many times.
That adventurer seemed to be speaking in a high spirit when drunk, giving that advice while thinking that it would kill me, that was what I heard from other adventurers.
…… I was overwhelmed by the truth.
It was my first party, I was joyful and hopeful, that was why when it was gone, the despair hit me much harder.
After hearing the story about the man that crushed that party, I didn’t remember how I acted.
I just knew I mourned for them and ran away from the guild…
「Here…is……」
… By the time I noticed, I was at the meadow which was the hunting ground for beginner adventurers.
However, this was not a place I recognized even though I often came to this hunting ground solo.
Apparently, I had run quite some distance away.
In order to reduce the handicap for not having a skill, I trained my physical strength every day, so I wasn’t too tired.
But, it was obviously dangerous to stay here.
Certainly, the meadow was a hunting ground for beginner, there were no strong monsters show up in this place.
However, that was only at the front, near the back, the magic became stronger and the monsters that came out would be more powerful and numerous.
If you went beyond the meadow, it was said even a hydra that was stronger than monsters from labyrinth’s depth would come out.
Of course, it wasn’t that dangerous here.
However, there was still a risk of dying for someone who was still below the lower-layer adventurers like me.
…… Still, even after knowing that, I didn’t want to leave.
My heart was filled to the brim by regret, I didn’t have the capacity to think about other things.
I knew this place was dangerous, however, somewhere in my mind told me that it was all just a dream.
Perhaps at that time, my head had stopped thinking due to the strong shock.
「Kyaaaaaaaaa!」
「Hah-!」
——— My mind returned when I heard sudden scream echoed from the distance.
「Gob-lin…?」
At that time, I finally realized there was a gathering of goblins in the distance.
There was a girl in the middle of that flock, apparently, the goblins were attacking a noble’s carriage.
For a moment I wondered why a noble’s carriage was in such a place, and who was the little girl inside.
However, I had no time to look for an answer to that question.
Now the goblins were distracted by the carriage and still didn’t notice my presence yet.
Before I got found out, this was the only time I could escape.
Right, that was how I judged the situation.
「———Kh!」
But then, I started to run in the direction of the carriage……
