V1 Prologue

Translator: yAmi

Prologue - I was expelled from the brave party, so I gave them my all and now they are trying to recruit me again. But it's too late, sorry.

"Hey, Ed. You don't have to come back tomorrow."

"What?"

It has been almost a year since I set out on a journey to defeat the Demon King as a member of a party of heroes. We were now at the inn of a town where we recently chose as our new base of operations. The old man who is our scout in the party suddenly confronted me. He loves his alcohol and his face was once again flushed red from the drinks but his drunkenness was somewhat different from usual and he seemed a little unhappy.

"What's the matter? Uh, you said I don't have to come, does that mean I get to rest for tomorrow?"

"Idiot, no. It's not just tomorrow, it starts from tomorrow. I'm saying we don't need you anymore."

"No, no, are you drunk? Suddenly saying that......"

"It's not sudden at all. We've talked about this many times when you weren’t around. This is what we have decided together."

"Decided together……what?"

"............"

".........Sighhh"

I turned my head away from the old man, who was tipping his mug of alcohol with a sullen look on his face, and looked around at the faces of the others. The younger girl in the priest's garb has a sad expression on her face, while the lady mage with the pointy hat on her head sighed with an exasperated look on her face.

"Oh, this guy is joking again.......right, H-Hero? He is kidding, right?"

"......No, we’re serious."

As a last ditch attempt, I called out to the Hero decked out in shiny armour. However, the answer from the Hero was the same.

"Hey, Ed. You were definitely a talented person. That's why I invited you to the party, and everyone was happy to have you. And you’ve done really well after joining us too. Now that I think back about it, there were many things that you've helped us with and taught us.”

"Then…"

"But—!"

The Hero's tone changed sharply as he interrupted me.

"But what about recently? You've been slacking off on the work you've been given, and you've been fooling around with the time you used to spend training. While everyone else is improving their skills for the tough battle ahead, you are just..... You are the only one who has remained at the same skill level ever since you joined. Still, we have been trying to look out for you. We thought that perhaps, you would get motivated again and be as active as you were in the past. But your selfishness now…… You’ve reached the limits of what we can tolerate."

The Hero explained bitterly. I looked around restlessly. Nobody looked like they were about to say anything to help me. They simply remained quiet.

Well, I guess that's natural. My attitude lately has been just as the Hero had pointed out, and above all, everybody seemed to have noticed this about me and have already come to the same conclusion.

"Oh, I see... Then I'll......."

"Yes. Ed...... As such, we are expelling you from the hero party."

His voice was calm, as though he wanted to convince himself that it was the right decision. When I heard that, I could not help but......make a big smile and shout to myself.

"Hell yeaaaaaaah!!!"

Ring ring ring!

"Successfully met conditions. Ten minutes before you are sent back."

"E-Ed!? What is wrong with you?"

"Why are you so happy? Are you too shocked at being expelled?"

As I stood up from my seat and struck a pose, the hero and the lady mage called out to me. Both of them looked at me as if they didn't understand what I was saying, but I paid no attention to them and replied in a good-natured voice while slapping them on the back.

"No, no, I'm perfectly fine. It's just that this was what I always wanted. Oh, yeah. Before I leave, could you please take this?"

Then I reached into the air. A black hole appeared. I stuck my hand into it and pulled a bunch of paper out and placed it on the table.

"W-What? What is that!?"

"Hey, is that by any chance, a dimensional storage? You were capable of using it?"

"Not exactly, but I guess it's kind of similar."

I replied, full of smiles, at the surprised scout and the magician. By the way, as the name ‘dimensional storage’ suggests, it's an ultra convenient skill that allows the storage of many things. There are only 3 known people who could use this skill. Unfortunately, none in the hero party possess such a rare skill.

But like I said, this wasn't the dimensional storage skill. It's a Banished Skill that only I have in this world. I call this skill, Storage Box, and its effect is that it can retain its content across different worlds. ......Well, let’s leave it at that for now.

"Why didn’t you tell us? If you have such a skill, we could have various ways of making use of it—"

"Take it easy. Rather than talk about that, how about reading this?"

"Is this an instruction manual?"

The Hero looked down at the sheets of papers I pulled out as he muttered

"That's right. Based on the information I've gathered from the battles I've been in, I've put together a list of efficient training methods, ways to acquire new skills, and things like that. So if you guys want to increase your skills and strength from hereon, feel free to take reference from these.

"Um…, I don’t recognise the names of these magic that I should be able to learn, according to these."

In contrast to the magician woman who read my manual with a quizzical look, the priestess who read my handwritten notes wore a serious expression as she raised her small hand and asked a question.

"Oh, some of the skills you would be able to learn through future growth, or by exploring and unsealing magic in some parts of this world? The details are on a separate sheet, so you can read in further details later."

When using the Banished Skill, "Rainbow Glass", a person's latent talents could be discerned. Combining this with my other Banished Skills, I managed to gather information like this.

Well, it's only a latent talent, so the person in question would have to work hard to actually acquire it. ......Though, this girl is an earnest young lady, so I'm sure she will be able to reach the future self she wishes.

"I see. Thank you for explaining, Ed."

"Oi, Ed. What's this all about?"

In contrast to the priestess who thanked me in a straightforward manner, the old man scout called out to me in a low, dusky voice. When I turned my head to look at him, he slapped the paper on his hand and glared at me.

"What is this ridiculously elaborate map? What's more, it has hidden passages and traps that even I didn't notice before?"

"C’mon, it's useful to have a map, isn't it? So, take that as a parting gift. Well, it only contains the places we’ve been to, so it may not be all that useful."

"What are you talking about? Of course a map can’t be drawn unless you’ve been there! More importantly, how did you do—?"

"Please stay calm. Such special techniques are my secrets. You see, I'm no longer part of the Hero’s party too."

"Ugh…alright."

When I pointed this out, he could only make a bitter expression. People would typically hide their trade secrets to themselves, and if somebody tried to pry into it, it could lead to a fight to the death. It was only natural that the old man who abided by such unspoken rules would not try to press further on the issue.

In the first place, all this information gathering was only made possible with my Banished Skills, so it wasn’t a trade secret or a technique that anybody could use. It was the result of my Banished Skill, "Auto Mapping", which automatically records the places I’ve been to while displaying it as a map that only I can see. Then with another Banished Skill, "Copy and Fake", that allows me to copy what I can see, I created those maps.

When I first obtained this skill, I was thinking, "Man, what am I to do with this that only allows me to copy exactly what I see," but upon further thinking, I realised there were many practical ways to use it. Yup, this skill is really useful.

"......I am sorry."

"Ehh!? Why apologise, Hero?"

The Hero abruptly lowered his head to the degree where he almost smashed into the table.

"I had no idea that you were doing all this work...... Please forgive me for my lack of insight."

"I'm sorry, Ed. I should have known that hard work is something that one accumulates without needing others to be aware of. It should have been so obvious and yet we tried to expel Ed......"

"Damn, I must have lost my edge too. You’re a kid who's only lived half as long as me and yet you’re doing a much better job. How could I have lectured you without knowing anything. I'm sorry!"

"No, no, no, no! Please raise your head, everyone! I didn't mean to have you all apologise by sharing all these! It's just that you've all been so good to me, and I wanted to be of some use to you after I leave..."

I replied in a panic, as my former comrades apologised in turns. But seeing me like that, the lady mage let out a sigh as if in disgust.

"Huh. You idiot, of course we’re retracting on expelling you. Would that be any idiot, including myself, who would say anything different now?"

The lady mage gave a self-deprecating smile, while the others tried to force a smile.

"Yup, nobody would dare to expel you now. Please Ed, I’m willing to bear this shame and ask you sincerely, please come—"

"Ah…sorry, it really is impossible now. I’m sorry."

"...I see. I guess so. It really is too overbearing for us to have first expelled you and then ask you to come back..."

"It’s not like that. I have my own circumstances…… Ah, look at the time…Then let’s leave it like that! I look forward to you guys defeating the demon king! So, good luck!"

It somewhat weighed on my conscience to leave the Hero confused like this, but there wasn’t the time for all this now. I hurriedly ran out of the tavern without letting them finish their goodbyes and ran towards the back alley where there was nobody. It would have been a disaster if someone decided to follow me and stop me, but fortunately or in some ways, unfortunately, I managed to reach a deserted area.

"......Phew. Okay, I think I’m good to go here."

Even though it was a world I would never return to, it was not my intention to cause a scene. As I caught my breath and turned my attention to the virtual timer in my head, I noticed that there was less than a minute left.

Oops, that was too close. Well, it's good that I made it in time. I didn't seem to forget anything. Well, even if I had, I have no way to get it back.

It's about time.

"Three...... Two...... One...... Executing world transfer."

A voice that only I could hear announced, and in that very moment I was successfully sent out from this world.