Chapter 3

---

It was two days after Flamm had been sold by the slave traders.

Naturally, she did not appear in the castle's basement when the assembly time came.

Jean waited for the right moment when everyone except her had gathered, then spoke before the transfer.

"Flamm has returned to her hometown and won't be joining the journey anymore."

"Eh?"

The first to react, surprisingly, was the hero Kiril.

His eyes widened as he stared intently at Jean.

The remaining four only showed small reactions.

Witch Eterna slightly furrowed her brow, Warrior Gadio let out a "hmm," Saint Maria looked down at the floor and bit her lip, and Archer Linus muttered, "Maybe that's for the best."

"Why do you know that, Jean?"

Kiril's voice trembled as he asked, and Jean showed a pained expression for a moment.

He had thought that once she left the party, she would be completely erased from her mind.

But it wasn't that simple.

Flamm's presence, which had nested in her heart, continued to interfere.

"It's because I persuaded her. She realized it was impossible to continue the journey. She herself felt it deeply, so she decided to return to her hometown on her own."

"On her own..."

"Yes, so forget about her. She wasn't really useful anyway, right, Kiril? You said that yourself, didn't you?"

"U-um, yeah."

Jean thought he was the right man for Kiril.

At 28, he was much older than the 16-year-old Kiril, but what mattered wasn't age, but talent.

If he were to leave a legacy, he preferred someone equally or more excellent.

He had always thought this way, even before the journey began.

And then he met Kiril Swetika, the ideal "material."

However, the first person she got close to in the party was not Jean, but a talentless, powerless, and useless girl—Flamm.

They had come from similar rural areas, which likely helped them empathize with each other.

His pride was wounded.

He felt a stronger anger than ever before in his life.

Why did Kiril choose Flamm over him, when they, the talented, should be drawn to each other?

So, to guide things in the right direction, he started working hard.

Effort was Jean's forte; he had earned his position as a sage through his talent and immense effort.

For him, separating Kiril from Flamm and pushing Flamm to the brink was easy.

"Then you shouldn't feel nostalgic, right?"

Jean approached Kiril, put his arm around her, and said,

"…Yeah."

Kiril nodded slightly.

By now, he had managed to make her acknowledge that "Flamm was incompetent."

The obstacle was gone.

Sold into slavery, she wouldn't appear on the main stage again.

Even if her presence lingered in Kiril's heart, it wasn't a concern. He just needed to guide her heart in the right direction and scrub away the stubborn stain named Flamm.

No one else in the party questioned Flamm's departure.

The Return spell activated, and the room was enveloped in light, transferring the six members back to their last checkpoint.

Jean was excited, like a child the night before a field trip, at the prospect of a journey without the burden.

---

"Hey, Kiril, Jean, wait up!"

Linus's irritated voice echoed through the territory of the demons.

How many times had he called their names now?

"…Sorry."

Kiril stopped, turned to Linus, and apologized, clearly dejected.

Jean approached her, patted her back, and said,

"You don't need to apologize, Kiril. Linus, we don't need to slow down anymore, right?"

"Hmm. I've been saying this all along, but I wasn't just slowing down for Flamm. This is enemy territory; we need to ensure our safety as we move forward!"

"Our combined strength is invincible!"

His confidence was proportional to his power.

Indeed, if ordinary monsters or demons tried to ambush them, they would be easily repelled.

"What if the Three Demon Generals attack? It's better to be cautious. Don't you think?"

The mention of the Three Demon Generals left Jean speechless.

They were the direct subordinates of the Demon King, who commanded the demons.

Only two of them, Bloodstorm Neigus and Will-o'-the-Wisp Tsayon, had been encountered in battle.

Both were as powerful as the hero, especially in the potency of their magic, which Jean found life-threatening.

"Understood, then slow down."

"Ugh…"

Jean had no choice but to comply.

Flamm was gone, so he thought the journey could now proceed faster—his broader strides were a clear indication of this.

Kiril, on the other hand, was clearly preoccupied, with no attention to her surroundings.

All she could think about was Flamm.

She had said terrible things, hurt her deeply, and then they had parted ways. A friend, or rather, someone very important to her.

Without the bright and cheerful Flamm, she would have been crushed by the pressure of being a hero long ago.

And yet—

"…I'm ungrateful."

Even if she regretted it, Flamm wouldn't come back.

The only thing she could do was defeat the Demon King and save the world.

Her teammates couldn't help but notice her state.

Linus, who had just advised Jean, moved next to Maria and sighed.

"I still have a lot to learn."

"What's wrong, Linus? You seem unusually lacking in confidence."

"Something about the atmosphere? I was pretty harsh on Flamm too, and I thought her absence would change things this much."

"Indeed, Kiril looks very down, and Jean is overly eager, Eterna seems in a bad mood despite her usual demeanor, and Gadio hasn't said a word."

Flamm's efforts to be useful and help others had unknowingly brightened the party's atmosphere.

No one could blame Linus, as even Flamm herself hadn't realized it.

"How about you, Maria?"

"…I…"

Maria hesitated.

Linus looked at her and asked,

"Troubled?"

"Maybe."

"I thought you and I were the least involved with Flamm."

"I talk to Kiril a lot. At the beginning of the journey, most of her conversations revolved around Flamm."

When Kiril talked about Flamm, she always seemed happy and content.

Listening to her, Maria couldn't help but smile.

"I see… When Kiril is down, it affects the whole party."

At 16, Kiril was still young, but she was undoubtedly a key member of the party.

Without her, defeating the Demon King, let alone the Three Demon Generals, would be impossible.

"Saying this in front of a nun of the Origin Church might be inappropriate, but—"

"I don't mind what you say, Linus. You're always a bit tactless anyway."

"That's not much better… Anyway, when I heard Flamm's stats, I thought, 'How can the Origin, the creator god, make a mistake?'"

Hearing Linus's self-reproach, Maria smiled proudly.

"The Origin would never make a mistake."

Seeing her smug expression, Linus was captivated by her cuteness.

With her blonde hair, fair skin, and clear demeanor, Maria was his ideal type in every way.

"…It seems she had a role to play in the party. Still, we can't stop moving forward."

Bringing Flamm back now was out of the question.

It would upset Jean, and it would be cruel to drag her back into this dangerous journey after she had been freed from it.

They had to move forward without her.

"You're right, Linus. We are tasked with the noble mission of destroying the demons. No matter what, we must complete it—"

Maria said this with strong resolve.

But Linus had his doubts.

Was her true motivation really to save the world?

He sensed a darker, more troubled emotion lurking beneath her seemingly pure heart.

Opening it would end everything.

Linus couldn't bring himself to delve that deep yet.

---

Flamm's cooking duties were now rotated among the party members.

On the first day, Gadio, the S-rank adventurer most experienced in camping, took the lead.

"I can't guarantee the taste."

Despite his modesty, the meal made from local monster meat, while rougher than Flamm's, was still delicious.

Most members were satisfied, but Jean alone frowned.

Many monster meats have a unique odor.

While herbs were used to mask it, the flavor was still detectable to those sensitive to it.

"Gadio, can't you do better with this meat? It was cleaner before."

"Don't expect too much from me."

"Flamm could do it, and you're an S-rank adventurer."

Jean's condescending tone didn't faze Gadio, but Eterna, standing nearby, narrowed her eyes irritably.

Despite this, she didn't lose her temper.

"She prepared the meat in advance to cater to those who dislike the odor."

It wasn't a snide remark, just a fact.

"…Haha, that was a waste of effort."

Jean, clearly flustered, forced a large piece of meat into his mouth.

He chewed with a pained expression, trying to endure the lingering odor.

Gadio snorted and focused on his meal.

The rest of the dinner was silent, unlike the past when Flamm would initiate conversation to break the awkward silence.

---

After dinner, unless there was an attack, they wouldn't move at night. The time before bed was free for each member.

Kiril, Linus, and Gadio maintained their weapons, Maria prayed to the Origin, and Eterna meditated.

Jean, who used to drink sweet herbal tea while reading magic books, now had to make his own tea since Flamm was gone.

Unfamiliar with the process, he fumbled with the equipment until Linus, unable to bear it, approached.

"You can't even do this?"

"Shut up, this is a task for a servant."

"Upper class, huh? Here, let me do it for you."

This was a deeply humiliating experience for Jean.

He, the kingdom's most renowned mage, had to rely on someone else for a simple task that even Flamm could do.

He crossed his arms, tapped his foot, and waited for Linus to finish.

"Here, it's done."

Jean took the steaming teacup, took a sip, and immediately spat it out.

"What is this? It's terrible."

"You… I made it for you, and you react like this! I just did it normally!"

"Bad is bad. It's bitter and the aroma is awful. How did you make this?"

Frustrated from the earlier meal, Jean raised his voice at Linus.

To Linus, who had tried to help, this was incredibly unfair.

He understood Jean's arrogance but couldn't tolerate this.

"Can't even make a decent meal?"

That was the final straw.

Linus's anger exploded, and he lunged at Jean, but Eterna, passing by, said in her usual lackadaisical tone,

"Flamm adjusted the brewing and flavor to suit each person, that's why it was good."

She skipped away, leaving Jean fuming.

"Ugh… Why that useless…!"

Crack!

He threw the teacup to the ground.

The porcelain shattered, and the liquid splashed Linus's feet.

Jean, without apologizing, left the scene.

"Hey, Jean!"

Linus called out, but Jean, lost in his anger, didn't hear.

He had no choice but to clean up the mess, gathering the shards and placing them aside.

"This teacup was expensive. It's probably nothing to Jean, though."

He dried his wet pants near the fire, feeling gloomy.

Linus, 24, was an S-rank adventurer like Gadio.

Having survived in a merit-based world since childhood, he had far more experience than his peers.

His instincts were warning him.

"The atmosphere is bad, like a party on the brink of collapse."

The most common reason for a party of adventurers to disband isn't a monster attack or financial issues, but interpersonal conflicts.

"I hope nothing fatal happens before we reach the Demon King's lair—"

Despite his prayers for a smooth journey, his extensive experience told him it was unlikely.