Since ancient times, the world of Ivylon has been plagued by a divide between humans and demons. The humans, under the blessings of the holy goddess of nature, contained a divine energy that enhanced their affinity with the elements. The demons, desiring the divine powers of the humans, began to feed off of human souls. For eons, humans were trapped in a vicious cycle of survival, defenseless against their predators.

 

But from the darkness grows a glimmer of hope. And from that glimmer grows a radiant light.

 

The first hero had descended like an angel from heaven, bearing an affinity to divine energy never seen before. With the immense power of the hero, the humans were able to push back the demons and forge their own safe haven, the kingdom of Diverre. Thanks to the efforts of the first hero, humanity was able to harness their divine energy, and demons soon became a threat of the past.

 

Until the unification of the demons under the demon king. 

 

Although played as a glorious battle, the outcome was obvious. After all, the old hero was already nearing death’s door, but the demon king was a youth in his prime. In the end, the confrontation was more like a teenager bullying the elderly. Without the hero’s overbearing halo of strength, the humans quickly realized that they were, without a doubt, going to lose!

 

Time was running out. Pressed by the approaching demon army, the ancient head mage made a last stand for humanity. It was a theoretical spell, with no successful experiments. But this old man had the sheer willpower necessary to make it happen. 

 

If a hero is needed to defeat the demons, then just forcefully summon one!

And so, with the summoning of the second hero, the kingdom of Diverre fended off the demons once again.

From that day forward, a custom was enacted among the humans. It was too dangerous to attempt survival without a hero, so every time the current hero died, a new one was summoned in. Somewhere down the line, an additional holy priestess was summoned to support the hero. Though generations passed, yet no hero has ever been able to defeat the ancient demon king.

When she first heard all of this, Juno Yu thought she was going to be the one. 

Well, not she. They, technically. 

As the holy priestess, Juno’s role was delegated to healing and casting strengthening spells on her allies. But even with her slightly disappointing powers, she wanted to at least have faith in the summoned hero.

 

‘Haruki has been my best friend since childhood! I trust in his power.‘

 

Looking at the scene before her, Juno wanted to go back in time and slap herself in the face.

 

A trashed village. Fires spreading. The sound of screaming floating in the air.

 

A girl with scrapes all over her body. Another one with tears all over her clothes. And yet another one with tears in her eyes, all clinging onto one figure.

 

“Good job everyone, we beat the demon!”

 

‘Good job? You call THIS a good job? My dude, we could have just let the demons pillage this place and there would have been less damage.’

 

“Sir Haruki!” Yet another girl approached the completely average-looking guy. Her crimson hair flowed elegantly and occasionally brushed the side of her waist, which was shaped by a skirt that barely reached past her thighs. Honestly, Juno would have called her quite beautiful.

 

That is, if she wasn’t such a bitch.

 

“Hey, Haruki. Hi, Alice.” Juno approached the two, just as the girl moved in to pull onto the boy's arm. Alice Ennendare was, to put it nicely, extremely paranoid of her relationship with the hero. Like a spoiled brat who has always been given what she wants, she always latches onto Haruki, and gets jealous of others easily. As Juno has never really cared about Haruki’s love life, she thought she could just let it be.

 

Little did she know, this young mistress is also prone to misreading situations!

 

Apparently the concept of “friendship” doesn’t exist in Alice’s small, flowery brain. Seeing Haruki acting close to Juno (because they were, in fact, friends), Alice felt an urgent necessity to get between the two. Even if it was not, in fact, necessary.

 

Juno, caring little for the mundane affairs of the harem, thought that all she needed to do was clear up the misunderstanding eventually. It’ll just be some stupid banter, nothing that she really needs to worry about. After all, it didn’t really matter whether or not Haruki’s affection for Juno was growing, since she didn’t want it in the first place.

 

So pray tell, why was this lady so scarily dense?!

 

By “eliminating her rivals,” it seemed that Alice truly meant to “eliminate” them. And as the strongest mage in the party, the threat of “elimination” was more than just a minor inconvenience for Juno. Stray fireballs, demons that “slipped by,” hazardous environments, and much more! Every day on the battlefield, it seemed like Juno had to battle two sides at once! 

 

And to make matters worse, the hero hasn’t so much as touched the territory of the demons! The farthest he’s gone is the outskirts of the kingdom! And it’s been… ten months?!

 

‘If this goes on, I’ll be in my eighties by the time we even get to the demons’ castle!’

 

With this sort of dysfunctional hero party, just how has humanity been surviving all this time?!

“Ah, Juno! Thanks for the heals today, you’re a lifesaver!” The casual remark from the hero jolted Juno back to reality. Ignoring the glares from the young mistress on the side, Juno could see the horrible shape the hero was in.

 

“Thanks for the heals? That’s it? What about all of the buffing spells I casted? I used up so much mana that I almost threw up! And after that, you still let a demon through that I had to beat without any mana! If you have all this time to pick up girls than you should be using it to level up, n-“

Juno was interrupted by a sharp laugh from the young mistress.

“Ok, chill, it’s not like you did anything, holy priestess. Maybe you should stop standing there being useless and actually fight!” As if purposefully attacking the healer wasn’t enough, Alice had to add insult to injury every time!

 

“Alright, girls, don’t be so hostile! I love you both for what you do, ‘Kay?”

 

“Sir Haruki, you understand! Those demons were so tough to beat, weren’t they?”

 

Juno had enough of those two. Angrily, she headed back towards the inn they were stationed at, hoping it wasn’t destroyed in the battle.

 

---

 

As she went up the stairs of the inn, Juno accidentally walked straight into someone.

 

“Ah! Sorry.”

 

Juno, you’re back! Where is everyone else?” The girl was petite, but not extremely young. Her figure looked more like a teenager’s and her emerald-green eyes carried a disappointed gleam, evoking mixed feelings in Juno. 

Among the hero’s harem, there are quite a few girls that rarely get any attention. In fact, most of the harem is simply left behind and forgotten, for either being too weak or too boring. Vie Parlor was one of these forgettable characters. Usually left behind at the inn or whatever lodging the party was stationed at, the elf was tasked with management of the equipment, not that there were many to begin with. Her short, bobbed hair had a childish feel to it, and the way she talked exuded a “little sister” vibe that invited people to protect her. For this reason, Juno really pitied her. 

 

“Nothing much. The usual.”

 

“So… Miss Alice again?”

 

“...Yep.” Perhaps it was due to the little sister feeling she got from Vie, but Juno was more open with the elf than any other person in this world. As such, Vie knew of the troubles Juno had to go through, and was always there to comfort her. Comfort, however, only went so far.

 

“A demon got through to me, and I had no mana.” At this point, Juno was too tired to care about appearances, so she broke her posture and slumped down on a bed. The demon had appeared behind her suddenly, so she didn’t have time to prep. As a result, while the hero was flirting with girls, the healer was beating a demon over the head with a staff. In the end, although she didn’t suffer from any life-threatening injuries, Juno had no mana left to heal herself, so she was covered in bruises and scrapes.

 

“Here. Mana potion.” Vie handed Juno a glass bottle with a light green liquid in it. Although she was an archer, Vie was especially good with making potions, so the party was never short on them. Unfortunately, it was also another reason to leave her behind. 

 

Juno chugged the potion down and let the energy flow through her body. Elves were classified as demons, but they had an affinity with divine energy that other demons did not, so they were more or less accepted into human society. Even so, many humans still disliked them. In retrospect, this girl really was the most pitiful person Juno had ever seen. Which made Juno’s waver her mind yet again.

 

“Hey Vie?”

 

“Yes?”

 

“I think I’m gonna quit the party.”

 

“Huh?” 

 

The holy priestess has never separated from the hero. In recorded history, at least. Frankly speaking, the two are supposed to be a pair. But with this type of worthless hero, it might actually be better to try to take on the demon lord with someone else. After all, if Juno’s buffs alone have carried the party through almost every one of their fights, she can do the same with some random adventurers. 

 

“Sorry, but I’m tired of this. I’ll tell the others during dinner.” 

“...” Vie looked downcast, striking Juno in the heart once again. If there was one thing that Juno felt bad about, it was leaving Vie alone. 

 

“Please take these potions, then.” Vie took out a bag filled with potions of all colors. “This is the strengthening potion, this is the mana potion, this is the health potion…”

“Vie, do you want to come with me?”

 

Juno stared into Vie’s eyes. Truth be told, she wasn’t sure if Vie wanted to be in the harem or not. If she did have unrequited love for Haruki, Vie would be even more pitiful.

 

“No, it’s alright, Without a healer, they need someone to heal the team, right?”

 

‘So in the end, she wasn’t willing to leave the hero…’

 

Just in time, a bang could be heard from the front door of the inn, followed by the smell of freshly cooked food.

 

”Alright everyone, dinner’s ready!”