Author's note:

Before I begin, I just want to let you all know that this book is a rewrite of another book I read years ago. It's called "The Right Path" by saphire982. It's about Kazuma's team leaving him for them to fight in the front lines against the demon king.

To me, it's a really good book since it tackled a generally original idea at the time, even if it's abandoned now.

I'm just, so attracted to they're idea and execution of this scenario, and is actually the reason why I started The Journey To Becoming Stronger. A book of the same idea, just flipped.

I hope they're not mad at me for rewriting their book, but it pains me to know that one of my favorites will never be continued. I'm here to retell the story, and hopefully conclude it. I guess in some ways, this is alternate universe to TJTBS, heh. This is probably another way so that I won't get burnout as well. Just a little side project.

Anyways, don't expect this book to get a lot of updates since I'm still focusing on TJTBS. So with that out of the way, enjoy.

Chapter 1: Parting Ways

It was nighttime. The bright half moon was shining down upon the vibrant lights of the Royal Capital of Belzerg. The city was large, much larger than any of the towns inside the kingdom. Befitting for such a regal and important city.

Among those that observed the shining moon and its beautiful stars was Satou Kazuma. An adventurer whose level was currently at 21, and is wearing rather lavish clothes for someone like him. In his hand, was a drink served at the party he was attending. The party itself revolved around the celebration of the Kingdom's anniversary, also marking the birth date for the first King, Belzerg.

His expression was mixed. You couldn't tell if he was enjoying the party or not, especially so since he was all alone, leaning against the rails of the balcony. There were many reasons as to why his expression was hard to decipher, but one of them stood out from the rest.

"Adventurer."

This, was definitely one of them.

Behind his back, a feminine sounding voice had called out to him. Not by his name, but rather his career choice.

"What is it, Claire?" He looked behind him, his facial expression now turned into that of annoyance.

"Your party. I'm gonna be taking them in." She said straight forward. Her voice lacked any type of emotion.

"Ha?" Kazuma could only let out a verbal laugh. Heck, it wasn't even a laugh. It was moreso a verbal noise he made out of genuine surprise. "Excuse me, did I hear that correctly?"

"Your party, I'm taking them to the front lines to fight against the demon king's army." She said it again, this time with venom laced in words.

Kazuma snickered a bit. "BAHAHAHAH!" Before bursting out laughing, his eyes wide open while pointing a finger at her.

He couldn't believe it. Really? The royal army, the most trained men and women amongst the kingdom, wanted to take in his party of all things to the front lines? Oh man this is the greatest joke of all time!

"Dude, your not serious right? Your taking them to fight alongside the army? Fuckin good joke my dude!" He laughed some more at the absurdity of things, holding on to the railing for dear life. Truly, he was bamboozled by the expertise of Claire's tomfoolery.

Claire just looked at him with even more venom in her eyes, glaring at the man in front of her. "I'm not joking, adventurer."

"Haha, haha... wait, you're serious?"

She growled. "Of course I'm serious. I'm not wasting my time just to entertain you, adventurer."

"You can't do anything without them. You're just a useless tool riding along with them to get all the credit towards your name. A lousy adventurer who doesn't know his place." She added. "Honestly, I don't know why they still keep you with them."

Kazuma just smirked at her. "Tch, good luck with handling those three. They're essentially useless without my help."

"They're in there eating delicious food and drinks because I was there to keep them from doing dumb shit. We would've been all dead if it weren't for me. So have fun trying to get them to do things." He finished.

He knew that what he was saying was egotistical. But it did hold some semblance of truth. Honestly, he could only imagine where they'll end up if he wasn't there. Megumin would probably still starve at an alleyway, searching for food. Darkness probably would've given up on adventuring as a whole simce no one wanted to take her in. And Aqua? She'll probably be a slave debt till the world comes to an end.

But, he was just riding of the fact of what he saw. He didn't know what his party was thinking all this time. Maybe they were smarter than they seem. If so, then he would gladly give all of his assets to the kingdom if that were true. It just didn't seem plausible.

Claire sneered at this claim. "We'll see about that." Before she turned away from him and walked back into the ballroom.

Kazuma snorted after their exchange. Truthfully, he really couldn't see the reality of them fighting without him. He could only imagine the following scenario.

Darkness would head in without a moments notice into the battlefield. She would be a moaning machine as she gets pummeled by demons and the like. Aqua would definitely be there to sit and cry, not taking any orders from the commander. She would then run around and scream that she doesn't have any booze with her, demanding the army to give her some. Finally, Megumin would launch an explosion out of nowhere, destroying the battlefield and plopping down on the ground, remaining useless for the entire day.

It was a nightmare scenario. One he wished to never see, but glad that it will never happen. Since he was sure that his party would never leave him for some stupid death wish. He did get closer with them after all. Even if their personalities can get a bit... overbearing. Surely, they would never ditch him.

Right?

Nah! There was no way. Kazuma eased himself as he sunk the fear inside his heart down. He drank the crimson liquid he held for so long. He shook his head at the thought.

"Ah, I need to forget about her. That bitch of a knight really thinks she can scare me huh? Tch, we'll see."

Kazuma walks back into the ballroom. Maybe he could start conversing with Iris or Rain. Yeah, that'll do it.

And so, Kazuma easily forgot the threat, or rather, claim that Calire had made earlier. Seeking into the comforts of wine and talks with the royal princess and her teacher.

"Man, where the hell are they?"

Kazuma grumbled as he took another sip of his ale. In front of him was a plate now littered with bones and mess since he finished devouring it minutes ago.

Currently, Kazuma was sitting at Axel's guild hall, the usual place he and his party would hang out at. Speaking of his party, they were nowhere to be seen. Not beside him, not even anywhere inside the hall. Or even, anywhere in Axel.

It had been a couple of days now after he returned to Axel from the royal capital. He was sure his party mates would follow him back home and finally get out from the palace, but it seemed that they wanted to stay a bit even after the parties over. No biggie. He understood it quite well, really. Maybe they wanted to get a few more drinks and explore the city more. Maybe even go out to shop for a bit. It was a holiday after all.

So he let them be, opting to go alone and head back to his mansion. While he was leaving, Aqua, Megumin, Darkness, Iris, Rain and Claire were all there to wave their goodbyes and give salutations for the man. But at that moment, he saw out the window was Claire giving a wide and devious smirk at him. Something that just fueled anger within him.

He ignored it, thinking that she was just a thorn in his place to ruin the moment. But another detail he noticed while he was leaving was that his party mates were looking away from him, hiding something from him. He didn't know why, but he could feel it was that of shame and sadness.

He made many theories as to why that is. Many of which didn't make a lick of sense. But who could blame him? He just wanted to beat around the bush and not even acknowledge that one theory. We all know what he's thinking about.

Yes. The thought of them leaving him was still out of the question. It was ludicrous to even fathom that possibility.

He brushed that thought away, opting to focus more on waiting for his party members to meet him.

Apparently, after a few days of vacationing, they're finally going back to Axel. But before they went to the mansion, Kazuma received a letter telling him to meet them up in the guild hall. So that's why he was here in the first place, waiting for his comrades to tell him whatever info they plan to tell him.

"Geez, who invites someone to breakfast when they themselves are late." He grumbled as he saw his clean plate with his mug of ale to the side, the mug itself nearly out of liquid.

Off to the sides, Kazuma could see a few people, particularly women, looking at him in both pity and disgust.

"Aww, look at how pitiful scumzuma looks! What's the matter, waiting for a date but the girl stood you up?" This one girl however, snickered while her friend beside her added, "Pfft, man what a pitiful site."

"Trashzuma!"

"Scumzuma!"

"Pedoneet!"

"Grr..." The man in question can only look on with anger, his teeth gritted with one another and fist balled up. "I swear to god, if I didn't have such a bad reputation, I would've kicked you all to a pummel." He grumbled.

"Oh no, he looks angry. Don't tell me your going to dropkick me?"

"Or are you going to steal our panties?"

The two women looked at him with fake fear, obviously taunting the man to do something.

Kazuma reacted by doing what they told, extending his arm out and wriggling them in a perverse manner. "Whose stopping me from actually doing it though?" He smirked as he looks at them with malice.

"Ahh! Come on Alice let's get out of here!" The girl screamed in fear as she pulled her friend away.

"Trashzuma!" The girl in question following suite, before insulting him as they did so.

"Tch, fuckin bitch."

He looks away as he stared at his mug of ale, trying to deter away from the judging looks of adventurers who watched his little squabble.

"He truly is a piece if shit"

"Fuckin trash."

"Scum."

"God I fucking hate this place sometimes!" He takes a sip of his ale, the mug finally being finished at last. Yet still, no Aqua, Megumin, or Darkness in sight. "And where the fuck are these guys anyways?!"

"You know what? I'm done waiting." Kazuma got up from his seat. "Waste of time." He placed some eris on the table, not intending to pay up at the counter.

But as he got up, the heavy doors of the guild had begin to creak open, and what came out was a very familiar oversized hat and beautiful silky aquatic hair.

He immediately yelled at them. "Took you long enough!" His team garnered his attention and looked at his direction.

After some apologies were given, they sat down at where Kazuma previously sat at. Kazuma asked, "So what did you want to tell me about?"

"..." No answer came out from the three.

"Um, hello? What's wrong with you guys?" He had seen many weird things in life, but he definitely hasn't seen his party be so quiet before. They look timid. Maybe a bit shy or nervous.

"Listen Kazuma, we have something very important to tell you." Megumin opted to step forward and speak up. Her right hand rubbing her left arm, her eyes looked downwards. She's obviously nervous with what she was about to say.

Kazuma observed they're weird behavior. They were very fidgety. Their eyes darted from anywhere but his eyes. Overall, they seemed to be emitting some sort of guilt or shame, like they want to be way out of here as soon as possible.

Kazuma, being the intelligent man that he is, draws to one simple conclusion as to why they're behavior seems like that.

"Listen guys, I understand." He said, his eyes closed and manner calm.

"You do?" Darkness perked up, finally seeing him eye to eye.

"Of course."

"But... As much as it is sad to say coming from me... I do not love you all."

"...What?" The three all expressed verbal confusion.

The girls took a moment to process the information, to really take in on what Kazuma has said. "WWHHAAATTT!!??" Before screaming in utter disbelief at the miscommunication.

"I'M SORRY GUYS! BUT IT'S JUST NOT MEANT TO BE!" Kazuma was in sheer euphoria. Finally getting a (not really) love confession. A triple one at that.

The onlookers in the guild, who foresaw the entire debacle, grew differing emotions.

The men mostly, looked on in jealousy. How could this man take their precious waifus away from them? Many had crushes in the girls, especially with Aqua and Darkness. (Sorry Megumin, your just underage) With this revelation, they took out their weapons, and looked at him menacingly.

The women however, saw this as just a shitty rom-com. Of course, no matter how shitty the drama is, you'll still want to watch in and get invested. And so, the women of the adventures guild that oversaw this cheered on the three women to not give up. To not give in to the grueling man that they supposedly had fallen in love with.

With all this misunderstanding, the three girls of course had to shut down any claims.

"Kazuma that's not it! We're being serious here!" Megumin shouted, her face blushed red.

"Oh..." Kazuma immediately looked down at the table, trying to hide his embarrassed face. "Fuck me, I really got to stop jumping to conclusions."

"So um... What do you want to tell me again?" He asked, a bit shyly this time. Something very foreign from the perverse man.

"What we want to tell you Kazuma is..." Darkness was the one to speak up this time. Though, her tone of voice sounded reluctant. She hesitated a bit, before continuing with, "Myself, Megumin and Aqua are..."

"We're leaving the party."

Darkness said the final blow. Megumin and Aqua both look down at the ground, not daring to even face the man they're about to abandon.

"W...What?" Kazuma just let out a whimper in response. He was truly in shock at the turn of events. It was now his turn to take his time to process the information.

With his mouth agape, he closed it back up and continued by asking, "Really?"

"We are." This time, Megumin was the one to answer him.

"Listen Kazuma, it's not like you were a bad leader or something..." Darkness began to say her excuse, clearly too guilty to even form some words since her voice sounded really shaky.

"Nor are you a bad person..." Megumin continued, her tone being the same as the blonde crusader.

"We just got a better offer." Finally, Aqua was the one seal the deal. After being silent throughout the entire conversation, she finally spoke up. Her tone being, once again, no different to the other two girls.

"Oh."

So that's how it is eh? That's all he is to them. A job offer. They only joined his party so that they could have a way to sustain themselves. So that they could have a roof above their heads. Once a new offer comes in, a wage much higher than they gain currently, they leave him immediately. Throwing him under the bus was a fitting phrase. A phrase which came from his old world.

"Tch, what a joke."

"Fine, alright then." He got up, his face being expressionless now. "Good luck on your journey then." He smiled. Though, it was hard to believe that it was genuine. It looked very forced and fake.

"W-wait, Kazuma-" Megumin tried to stop him, trying to make him listen to more of their excuses.

But Kazuma wouldn't budge. "No no, it's fine, really. I know I'm just a burden to you all, so please..." He closed his eyes.

"Fuck off." He then left, his eyes opened to give them a glare.

He walked away, leaving the girls stranded and by themselves.

The bystanders who looked on were silent. They had heard what happened, and were too shocked to say anything. Kazuma's party had been infamous in Axel due to their nature and also being the heroes of the town. So to hear their party had split up, made them gasp in shock. That just never thought it would happen.

"..." Kazuma opened the doors of the guild, before walking out and leaving it open for all to see.

"What the? You again." Outside, Kazuma met the person who started it all: Claire.

"So, still think I'm joking?" She said, a shit eating grin on her face. "Listen adventurer, you won't be seeing them again. Not anytime soon at least." She said, her face now serious.

She walked up to him, her stern face not facing away from his eyes. "You don't deserve them. You don't deserve the credit. You are just a pile of trash, following behind their shadows."

"I hope to never see you on castle grounds ever again."

She walked away, going to the carriage that was set for his "party members". Supposedly leaving to the front lines.

"Kazuma..."

Behind him, he heard Megumin call out his name. "Please listen, what she said wasn't true."

"Then..." He didn't even look back. His body was still facing the carriage in front if him. "Please show me any evidence that prove what she said wasn't true." His voice sounded coarse, as if holding something inside him from showing.

"It's um..."

"Kazuma, err..."

"I guess I should thank you for getting me out of debt? hehe..."

"Don't talk to me." Kazuma left, leaving the girls stranded again.

Kazuma walked at a steady pace, before walking a bit more faster. Until finally, he was fully sprinting back home.

"Wait Kazuma!" It was too late. He was long gone now. He ran until his body wasn't even visible anymore. "Kazuma..." Megumin whimpered, her voice cracking in sadness as she uttered his name under her breath

The flood gates were out. Kazuma's face were stained with tears as it flowed down from his eyes.

"Fuck."

His feet hit hard in the ground as he ran towards his one and only place were he could let out in private: his mansion.

"I look really pathetic, don't I?"

Suddenly, he could feel his foot hit something on the ground, thus making him fall face flat. His body dragged on the ground due to his momentum going forward.

Since his tears slightly blurring his vision, he couldn't see the dirt road clearly. Thus, when he ran as fast as he could, he didn't see the rock on the ground.

"... Fuck..." He sniffed his snot up, cussing as he did so. "I fucking hate this world!" He grabbed his knee in pain. His tears hit the ground under him.

He slowly got up, his body hurt, but mostly on his knees that hurt the most. He walked, his body limped forward.

"Shit..." He sniffed, his face red and nose stuffy. His eyes were blood red.

Eventually, he had reached his mansion. Outside, the area around him was beginning to rain. Heavy and dark clouds had arrived in Axel. How fitting for a day like this.

He opened his door, before shutting it behind him. Now that he was alone, he knelt down at the entrance before sitting down and leaning against the door, resting his legs and looking up at the ceiling.

Sniffles were heard, and the sound of crying began to travel throughout the mansion. He balled his fist and punched the door behind him, ignoring the pain he delt to his hand.

He didn't care. No one was here anyways. If there were, he wouldn't be in this compromising situation right now. But he thought wrong, as there was one person in the vicinity of the mansion. More accurately, one cat.

"Meow." Chommuske, Megumin's pet cat, was still here. She heard Kazuma's cry and appeared from their couch. She walked up to him, meowing in the process.

"Chommuske..." He whispered, the cat walked closer to him, giving Kazuma the opportunity to pet her. She purred from his gentle touch.

"At least I still have you." He smiled a bit. Even if was so tiny and miniscule, you would have a hard time to even spot it.

He pet her even more, before she jumped on his lap and settled down on it.

"I can't really adventure now since their gone." Right, they are the heavy hitters after all. They caused the most damage. The cat looked at him in confusion. Cleary, she didn't understand human language nor did she understand the situation he's currently in.

"Guess you were right eh Claire?" He let out a tired smile. Defeated by the turn of events that transpired today.

"What am I going to do now?" He asked, petting Chommuske as he did so.

"Guys?"

Back in Axel, the trio had went inside the carriage. The destination being what Kazuma had guess earlier: The front lines.

"What is it Megumin?"

"Did we di the right thing?"

The question they all had in their minds was brought up. Truthfully, all of them didn't know the answer to it. Actually, they do know, but they're not sure if it's the right one.

Megumin was nearly on the verge of tears, really trying to hold it in. She had made the decision to leave Kazuma due to various reasons. The first being her reputation.

Back in her village, she was known throughout as being the "Joke Mage". A crimson demon who, instead of aspiring to become a powerful sorcerer, ended up becoming a suicide bomber. Who, in most cases, was entirely useless.

The village, her classmates, even her own family looked down upon her choice of only obtaining the explosion spell. Behind closed doors, she could even hear her parents tell Komeko, her little sister, to not follow the footsteps of her elder sibling.

To be more precise, she just wanted praise from her parents. No matter what she did, wether it be joining a full party, killing a demon king general, destroying the Destroyer, saving her hometown, she didn't get anything from them. Not even a simple thank you or acknowledgements.

So with joining the front lines, she hoped that in achieving killing the demon king, she can finally be recognized as a fully fledged mage, a crimson demon, and most importantly, be recognized for her greatness by her family.

Though, there was this aching feeling that she wouldn't get what she had hoped for. Especially since the price she payed for this, was leaving the one and only man who had accepted her choice in life. Leaving the only man she loved.

For Darkness, she had no other reasons than following her friends path and protecting her family name.

Wherever they went, she goes as well. She just couldn't imagine where the crimson demon girl and the lunatic priestess would end up in if she wasn't there to keep them at check. Usually Kazuma was the one to look after them, but, she knew that he wouldn't be there when the choice was given to them.

To back track a bit, Claire was the one to present the deal to them. Join the frontlines and achieve victory for the Kingdom. Megumin and Aqua were the ones to agree first while Darkness was the last. She had thought before hand what would happen if she wasn't there to help her comrades. Knowing the fact that she will abandon Kazuma as well. But if she didn't join them, then odds are that they will potentially get themselves killed or trouble the battlefield.

Weighing the odds, she chose Megumin and Aqua.

On her other reason, her family name would be much better off with helping the military and potentially killing the demon king than staying with a man whose reputation is quite problematic. She knew how important the Dustiness name is to the kingdom, and knows how responsible she is to protect it. By leaving Kazuma to join the front lines, she could improve her family name and gain respect from her peers.

Though, she knew how cruel that reasoning is, and opted to lean towards the first. Even then, she didn't know if that was the right choice or not.

Finally, Aqua only wanted to go home. Ever since she came to this world, she hated it everyday and wanted to go back to where she could laze around in peace and not have to worry about the troubles of the mortal realm.

But, as much as she did want to go back to heaven, she knew deep inside that she hated that place as well.

She hated the angels, she hated the gods and goddesses. She hated everything about that place. She also knew how much the angels, god and goddess hate her as well. Even with all these stumbling thoughts, she still wanted to go back home.

Even at the price of betraying her first ever "friend". Can she even call him that? Were they even friends in the first place?

She didn't know. She knew how much Kazuma hated her spending habits and clueless nature. She knew how much problems she had caused for him and his team. She knew how much she had abused and tarnished his name for her own sake. Deep inside, she knew how much he hated her.

Such conflicting thoughts, that the girl couldn't understand on her own.

Darkness, after a few seconds, answered Megumin's burning question.

"We don't know."

Megumin looked conflicted, and then asked her, "Darkness, how do we know that we made our parents proud?"

"I..."

"Don't know."

The carriage sped on as it passed the forest, leading towards the east of the kingdom, where the border between Belzerg and the Demon King Empire are contested.

To be continued...

Author's note:

Wow, two AN in one chapter?

Anyways, hope you all like the first chapter. I didn't want to go too long since I want to get this chapter out ASAP and because I want to rest a bit in ease. I hope I did justice to the original author, saphire982, with this rewrite. Again, I really don't want to take full credit since it is their idea after all. And, if you're reading this saphire982, I love your book and thank you for making it.

I also want to thank TheOneBehindTheVeil for telling me some kind words on my latest chapter in TJTBS. It really does mean a lot to me so thank you. Thanks to YTshasmeera as well for sticking around TJTBS for so long, your comments are awesome.

That is all from me, hope you enjoyed reading this and I'll see you later.