I'd known, deep down, that a day like this would come.
(Ah, well.)
Even knowing that, it still left a dull ache in my chest when the day finally arrived.
"Sorry, Tricia," Eagle muttered, unable to meet my gaze. "I need you to leave the party."
The person saying it could not even look me in the eye, weighed down by his own guilt. Behind him, meanwhile, the blonde woman standing at his side looked as though she had just won a hard-fought battle.
"I mean," Anetta chimed in, her voice dripping with artificial sympathy, "no matter how many times I tell you, you just can't get along with me, right?"
(That's a two-way street, you know.)
The thought crossed my mind, but I kept it to myself. Once things had reached this point, there was no fixing them. Trust had already broken between us, and an adventurer party could not survive without that. We were people who entrusted our lives to one another every time we stepped into danger.
"Besides..." Eagle continued, forcing some firmness into his voice. "We don't really need a Healer anymore."
I had filled that role in the party. Eagle was our swordsman and leader, while Anetta—the woman smirking at me as though she had already claimed victory—was our Sorcerer. Together, we had been a three-person party.
In this world, roughly one person in five could use magic, so it was not considered anything unusual. Among those magic users, people who specialized in healing were known as Healers. Anetta was the balanced type, capable of handling both offensive and healing magic without trouble. I, on the other hand, excelled at healing and little else.
That was not unusual. Like most Healers, I lacked the offensive power needed to keep up once parties started challenging stronger monsters. At higher ranks, a Sorcerer's basic healing spells were often enough for emergency treatment, while serious injuries could be handled later at a clinic. If you could not protect yourself, eventually you stopped being an asset and started becoming baggage.
Still, that was not the real reason I was being thrown out.
"Don't bother coming up with a bunch of excuses," I snapped. "Just be honest and say you want to be alone together so you can flirt."
"Wh—!" Eagle's face turned bright red. "N-No, that's not it!"
(Getting all flustered... I wonder if they'll even be able to make it in the future like that.)
Eagle and Anetta were involved. Eagle had desperately tried to hide it, but Anetta had dropped hints so often that even a blind person would have noticed.
"S-Sorry..." Anetta said, tears gathering in her eyes. "We, we didn't intend for things to become like this at first!"
Her trembling voice might have sounded convincing if the blush spreading across her cheeks had not betrayed her excitement. Unable to hide it, she covered her face with both hands.
Eagle was good-looking enough. With his reddish-brown hair, orange-tinted eyes, and tall, lean build, he had always attracted attention. His swordsmanship was solid, and his prospects as an adventurer were bright. On top of that, he was humble and kind, which had earned him plenty of admirers over the years.
"Haa..."
A sigh escaped me.
More than anything, I regretted not refusing Anetta outright when she had asked to join the party.
Mixed-gender adventurer parties were common enough, but many of them eventually fell apart once a couple formed. Someone got jealous, a breakup turned everything sour, or the balance of the group simply collapsed. That was why so many recruitment notices specifically asked for members of the same gender. Adventurers valued trust above everything else because their lives depended on it, so party breakups caused by personal drama were never welcomed.
Even so, Eagle and Anetta had chosen to risk it and cast me aside.
...Though I doubted either of them understood how serious that choice really was.
Eagle and I had come from the same orphanage. We had grown up like siblings, left together, and spent years working as a two-person adventurer party. Feeling irritated after watching him get swept away by a girl who had appeared out of nowhere was only natural.
But it was too late now.
There was nothing left for me to do.
"Fine," I said, my voice cold.
"...I'm sorry," Eagle whispered.
"Then, as we agreed, I'll be taking the party savings."
"Hah!?" Anetta shrieked, dropping the act so quickly it was almost impressive. "What are you talking about!?"
"We decided it from the beginning, didn't we?" I reminded her, keeping my tone flat.1 "We even have a magic contract. If the party splits two-to-one and someone has to leave, the one gets to take the entire party savings and walk away."
Most adventurer parties maintained a shared fund. Expenses for equipment and supplies used by everyone came out of that pool, making it a joint wallet of sorts. Our party had been depositing a quarter of every reward into savings, which was far more than most groups set aside. Back when it had only been Eagle and me, we had saved a full third.
As a result, the amount sitting in that account had become rather substantial.
"That much is fine, isn't it!" Eagle insisted, guilt finally pushing him to take my side.
"Then let's go right away."
I had plenty I wanted to say, but arguing here would only create problems later if they tried to back out of the agreement. Keeping things official was the smarter choice.
"I'd like to transfer all of the party's savings to my personal account!" I declared to the teller.
"Understood," the clerk replied. "Then, please have every member of the party sign this form."
The Adventurer's Guild offered account services for its members. Unlike a bank, there was no interest, and both account creation and withdrawals came with fees. Even so, most adventurers used it because their money remained safe from theft and could be accessed even after moving to a different town or street.
The guild employee handled the situation with perfect professionalism. They had probably guessed that something had happened within the party, but not a trace of that thought appeared on their face as they processed the paperwork.
Looking thoroughly dissatisfied, Anetta signed her name.
The moment the final procedure was completed, every coin in the party fund became mine.
"Well then," I said, smiling brightly, "this is a formal goodbye!"
"Ah, yeah..." Eagle mumbled.
He clearly had no idea why I seemed to be in such a good mood.
(Well, it was about time to call it quits, anyway.)
I had been preparing for this for quite a while.
(Since I can't live as an adventurer forever, there's no helping it.)
Healers rarely reached the highest ranks. Most retired sooner or later, so I had always expected to do the same. This was earlier than planned, but thanks to the party savings, I could move forward immediately.
I swept my black hair back and tied it into a ponytail, and as the familiar weight settled against my back, I finally made up my mind. My obsidian-black eyes gleamed with a spark of anticipation.
(Aim for that passive income!)
It was the kind of income that arrived without constant labor, something I had dreamed about in my previous life.
(Of course, I'm longing for it in this life, too!!!)
Careful not to let the other two notice, I smiled to myself.
Summary:
Tricia is dismissed from her adventurer party by Eagle and his new lover, Anetta. She maintains her composure, relying on a pre-existing magic contract to claim the entire party savings as her exit payment. Tricia then secretly prepares to pursue her true goal of generating passive income.
Trivia:
Tricia and Eagle were childhood friends from the same orphanage.
The party's savings rate was unusually high compared to other adventurer groups.
Magic contracts are legally binding in this world.
Tricia is aware that healers often become obsolete for high-ranking adventurers.
The guild system is professional and detached regarding internal party conflicts.
Translation Notes:
1 ↩ A legally enforceable magical agreement that prevents signatories from reneging on specific terms or conditions, often used by adventurers to govern money and party dissolution.
Notes:
• Tricia - The protagonist of the series. A pragmatic and resilient C-Rank healer who was recently cast out of her former party. Though she presents herself as an average adventurer, she secretly possesses exceptional healing expertise and the rare skill Reset, which can reverse physical damage. An orphan with dark hair and obsidian eyes, she carefully conceals her true abilities to avoid exploitation. Guided by memories of a past life, she has a deep appreciation for modern comforts and values her independence, privacy, and stability. Rather than dwelling on her dismissal, she is quietly relieved by it and now focuses her intelligence and planning skills on building a reliable source of passive income in Edimbia.
• Eagle - A former party member of Tricia who betrayed her, leading to her expulsion from their previous group. A swordsman with reddish-brown hair and bright, orange-tinted eyes who grew up with Tricia in an orphanage. He is gentle but easily swayed and burdened by guilt. An adventurer and former party member of Trisha.
• Anetta - A blonde, manipulative Sorcerer who uses offensive and healing magic. She successfully positions herself as the romantic partner of the party leader and pushes Tricia out. A member of Tricia's former party who displayed frustration and hostility toward her. An adventurer who joined Trisha and Eagle's party.