An Old Man Was Kicked Out of the Hero’s Party, Had His Woman Stolen From Him, and Suffered a Terrible Experience, but He Becomes the Strongest After Being Given the Ability to Use Necromancy by the Former Demon King. - Episode 5

　I didn’t like it.

　I just didn’t like Gil Clark, whom I exiled.

　Even though he’s weaker than I, he acts like I should rely on him for everything.

　He may have thought he was acting like a reliable friend, but I didn’t like his attitude.

　Above all, the fact that he is so fawning despite being older than me.

　Even though I’m making fun of him, he just keeps grinning and takes a step back because he’s not a hero, which I don’t like.

　She was probably trying to give me the gift, but I don’t like that kind of consideration.

　I don’t want to become an adult like that.

　A life just supporting someone else is crap.

　I always want to be the main character.

　There is no lie in these feelings.

　But my companions should also be the main characters.

　The hero party I lead should be respected by all people.

　That is the destiny of the chosen ones.

　I’m not interested in old people’s stories of hardship and how great things were in the past.

　I want a great guy right now.

　The reason he slept with Celia Belstan was that he didn’t like Gil Clark.

　I thought that if I stole his childhood friend and lover, his attitude might change a little.

　I thought he would show his naked hostility towards me and attack me. I thought he would fight me in earnest.

　If that was the case, I still thought he was an interesting guy.

　But he gave up easily.

　He admitted his weakness, readily admitted the fact that his girlfriend had been seduced, and left.

　He was truly a boring man, no matter what.

　Luna Alcia protested to me on the day I kicked her out of the party, but I didn’t care.

　You said you would regret kicking Gil Clark out.

　Regret?

　Me?

　Of course not.

　I am a hero. I am the strongest man in humanity.

　There’s no way I’d feel any regret for someone who couldn’t keep up with the fight against those monsters.

　Even as I held Celia at night, I remembered Gil Clark.

　His face keeps flashing in my mind and won’t go away.

　One reason is that I’m sleeping with his wife, but there are other reasons as well.

　I know why.

　I realized that in the end, I wanted to fight him.

　Not as a party, but as enemies.

　I guess I wanted to deny everything about him.

　Only by denying everything about him can I truly affirm myself.

　His existence is denying me.

　That’s how much he and I were like oil and water.

　The day after Gil Clark left the party, I somehow understood what Luna had said.

　He was wandering through the forest when he came across a giant chimera.

　We immediately prepared for battle, and as soon as we spotted them, we attacked.

　Without its usual decoy, the Gigant Chimera was breathing fire in all directions and was unable to prepare to cast spells.

　I, too, was struggling to find an opening to attack.

　Because it had so many heads, the fire was even reaching Luna Arsia, who was in charge of healing.

　I had no choice but to become a decoy.

　The only way to defeat him was for me to act as a decoy and have Celia attack with magic.

　Why must I, the hero, do something like this?

　I couldn’t help but curse in my mind, but there was nothing I could do now that there was no one to act as a decoy.

　If only Gil Clark were there at a time like this, he could act as a decoy so I could attack.

　Why do I, this me, have to do something so mundane?

　Sh1t, I’m an idiot.

　I can’t believe I even wanted Gil Clark back for a second.

　I was angry at myself for even thinking something like that.

　We don’t need a guy like that.

　That’s right. The hero’s party doesn’t need such a useless person.

　It will only be a hindrance.

　In the end, I acted as a decoy for the Gigant Chimera while Celia used magic to defeat it.

　Damn, it’s humiliating.

　I have no choice but to be the decoy.

　After the battle ended, Luna Alcia came running up to me.

“That’s why I told you. If you banish Gil, you’ll regret it.”

“noisy!”

　I didn’t want to hear that story.

　Maybe I should just banish him.

　He didn’t spoil her just because she was a woman.

　No, stay calm.

　If we banish even the monks from here, who will heal us?

　For now, just turn a blind eye to their rude remarks.

“We need to fill the hole he left.”

“Do you know anyone?”

　Celia asked me that, but I couldn’t answer.

　Even someone like that is still above the average adventurer.

　You’ll likely find it though…

　Wait a minute.

“If we go east from here, we’ll find the adventurous city of Arcamidia. Let’s recruit some adventurers there. It’ll be easy to find someone to fill the gap left by Gil Clark.”

“I wonder if it’s that easy to find.”

“The tournament will start soon. Whoever wins there can join us.”

“That’s right. Then maybe we can fill the hole left by Gil.”

　Once Celia was convinced, Luna interjected.

“What would you do if Gil were in a tournament and won?”

“When that time comes… I’ll join in and crush them.”

“Why go that far?”

“Because I don’t like him.”

　There are some things in this world that are simply incompatible.

　I guess that’s me and him.