I Was the Scout for the Hero’s Party

The continent was torn apart.
Everywhere the Demon King’s army went, flames rose and marks of sin were left behind. These were evidence of unspeakable slaughter and indelible sin, as the monsters who had once been persecuted and hunted gathered under the Demon King who vowed to stand above all beings and create a world where monsters could live in peace.

The Metel Kingdom, the continent’s final bastion situated above the Merden Forest (the only land route connecting the western and eastern parts of the continent), hastily performed a hero summoning ritual and successfully called forth a hero from another world.

“A hero has appeared to fight against the Demon King’s army!”

King Mayers III of the Metel Kingdom, anxious about the constantly retreating frontlines, quickly recruited talented individuals from across the continent to form the hero’s party. The Elven Kingdom, Dwarven Kingdom, the Mido Federation of beast-people, and the Holy Theocracy responded to Metel Kingdom’s request, fearing they would be next if Metel fell. Soon, numerous talented individuals gathered in Metelheim, the capital of Metel Kingdom.

A knight who trained with the sword his entire life in Merden Forest, a master of lightning magic from the Mido Federation, a martial arts expert wearing gauntlets forged by dwarves themselves, a renowned chef from across the continent, and a genius bard from the Elven Kingdom’s prestigious Bard Academy.

Experts from various fields flocked to Metelheim with diverse motivations—a sense of justice, honor, status, money, and more. After rigorous skill verification and lengthy deliberation, a six-person party centered around the hero was finally formed.

The brave and righteous hero from another world, Yoo-jung Lee.
The captain of the Metel Kingdom’s royal guard with the continent’s strongest endurance, Gracey.
The blessed saint from the Holy Theocracy, Isabel.
The cat beast-person mage Maya, the only disciple of the ancient mage Kelph and unrivaled in wind magic.
The archer Adrian, called the “Divine Bow” in the Elven Kingdom for raining arrows upon enemies.
And… me, Austin, who became the scout for the hero’s party.

A scout is a support class that conceals themselves, identifies enemy positions, records them on maps or sketches, explores nearby terrain, and provides crucial information to allies. Broadly speaking, the role extends beyond mere reconnaissance to include guiding the party, removing traps, concealing campsites, and assassinating key enemy figures from the flanks during combat—tasks suited for those who can move quickly.

Being the only male in the party, I felt a strange sensation and was somewhat dazed when I was selected and met the other party members and the hero.
“Why me?” or “How dare someone like me?” I might have thought.
Well, honestly, I acknowledge that my skills aren’t that bad.
No, wait, fuck that—even with the continent’s top experts gathering, why me?

I inherited various skills and knowledge from my father, who was a mapmaker with the Adventurer’s Guild, and my mother, who was a renowned hunter in the kingdom. I was recognized in my unit when I served in the Metel Kingdom Rangers, so I’m confident my scouting skills and knowledge surpass most.

But that’s based on my limited worldview. Judging by continental standards, there must be others better than me, right?

Besides, as the only male in the party, it might be an enviable position for some, but for 18-year-old me, it was an incredibly burdensome role.

But well… except for me complaining, there wasn’t much friction among the other party members.
Though the party atmosphere was initially awkward due to me being the only male, thanks to my desperate efforts to keep talking non-stop, the party members gradually bonded, the atmosphere improved, and the awkwardness between me and them disappeared.

“Austin. You talk too much.”
Right… without pretenses…
“Austin! When will the food be ready?! Hurry up! I’m hungry!”
…without pretenses…
“Austin. How could someone as weak as you get into our party?”
…without…
“Oh my, Mr. Austin. For such minor wounds, you should use a potion… sacred power isn’t something I can use infinitely, you know?”
“Seriously, typical of a mediocre ranger background, always exaggerating pain.”
…The problem is they’re too honest.
Fucking bitches.

“Adrienne. So there might be enemies hiding here…”

After climbing a nearby mountain to observe enemy positions, surveying the surrounding terrain to identify potential ambush spots, and returning, I was getting chewed out again today without fail.

“Ah, enough! They’re probably just small fry from the Demon King’s army. Do you think we’d lose to them even if they ambushed us? Put that map away!”

The arrogant Adrienne snapped, followed by Gracey who approached with her heavy armor clanking.

“Your problem is that you’re too afraid. Why not have some courage? We are strong. We won’t fall to mere ambushes.”

Do these idiots have no learning capacity at all?

“Ah… no… sigh… Don’t you remember when you got ambushed last time because none of you woke up for your watch shifts? If you’re too careless…”

“Enough. Just cook the meal already. Other party members are starving because of you.”

“Exactly! Why do you always need to do that useless scouting? Scouting delays mealtime… don’t you care that we’re hungry?”

Then why don’t you double as the scout yourself?

This stupid bitch only knows how to shoot arrows, not how to use her brain for things like terrain exploration.
Then again, she’s a monster who can make dozens of arrows rain down with a single shot, so what use would she have for scouting techniques like me, whose limit is shooting bolts with a crossbow? She probably thinks she just needs to fight by showering arrows.

…That seems to be her thinking, and it appears the saying that big-chested blonde elves are often fools is true.

You need to know enemy positions before deciding whether to shoot or not, but who does she think provides that information?

Seeing Adrienne, who has excellent combat skills but virtually no knowledge of person-to-person combat or scouting and reconnaissance, treat me with contempt makes my blood boil.

I sighed in frustration and nodded halfheartedly, which finally prompted Gracey and Adrienne to leave.
I watched their backs for a moment before trudging to the campfire to prepare the party’s meal.

Soon, the delicious aroma of stew wafted from the pot, and party members who had been maintaining equipment or chatting nearby began to gather.

After desperately trying to satisfy their picky palates, my cooking skills had become comparable to those of restaurant chefs in Metelheim.

‘Damn, the meat is all gone…’

Looking at the meat glistening temptingly in the stew, I quickly distributed portions to the party members and picked up a bowl.

As I lifted the ladle, eager for the delicious stew that would rejuvenate my body exhausted from scouting, Maya, our party’s mage, sat down to my right, twitching her cat ears.

“Austin. Thanks for your useless work today too. Eat this.”

Maya, dismissive as always, handed me a hard piece of bread and jerky, then took away my bowl.

“Uh… huh? Maya…? What is this…?”

“Oh! About that, Mr. Austin.”

As I asked with a puzzled expression, Saint Isabel, who was practically inhaling her stew across from me, wiped her stew-covered mouth and smiled.

“While you were out doing your unnecessary scouting instead of preparing dinner, we discussed among ourselves and decided that since you contribute the least to the party, from today on, we’ll serve you separately. It’s an unavoidable measure to save our remaining preserved rations, so I trust you won’t have any complaints.”

“…What the fuck, that doesn’t make any sense.”

As I tried to argue in disbelief, Gracey, sitting to my left, grabbed my arm tightly and spoke.

“Do you have a complaint?”

“No, I made the food but I can’t eat it? Of course I have a fucking complaint…”

-SQUEEZE

“Do. You. Have. A. Complaint?”

“…I was about to, but thinking again, you’re right. Haha!”

This crazy woman with monstrous strength, supposedly the continent’s toughest, has unlimited power as evidenced by the incredibly heavy armor she usually wears—enough to snap tree trunks.

I try to pull my arm away, but it doesn’t budge at all; rather, it feels like my arm might come off instead.
She could probably snap my arm like a twig.

“…Can you let go of my arm?”

“Hmm. I believed you would understand. We originally planned to provide only bread, so be grateful for the jerky.”

“Yeah. Thanks so fucking much. I’m about to cry.”

My tear-soaked bread was salty enough that it didn’t need the salted jerky.

…I’m fine. Just think about the mountains of gold and treasures we’ll receive after defeating the Demon King.

As I was tearing at the stone-like bread, moistening it with my tears, the hero Yoo-jung Lee, who had already emptied three bowls of stew while sitting next to the saint, picked her teeth and spoke.

“Austin! Today’s food was terrible again! How many times do I have to tell you to add more meat when making stew?”

After eating all the meat herself, she was spouting nonsense again. I gave up responding to the hero’s words.

The hero Yoo-jung Lee, who could generously be described as having a free-spirited personality, was a beauty with flowing black ponytail that contrasted with her masculine behavior.
The problem is she only looks good on the outside.

“…If you’re done eating, I’ll start cleaning up. It gets harder to wash dishes after dark.”

Having filled my hungry stomach with rock-like bread and salty jerky, I stood up to prepare for dish-washing as the stew pot showed its bottom.

…I wanted to eat that meat stew too.

While I was moving the dishes, Hero Yoo-jung stared at me for a while before smirking and speaking.

“Oh, Austin. Today’s battle was so tough that I and the others are too exhausted to stand watch… you’re still energetic, right?”

“…Hey. Wait. Don’t tell me you guys—”

“I’ll leave it to you then!”

Watching them shamelessly dumping all the night watch duties on me before heading into their tents, I let out a hollow laugh and sat back down on a log.

Maya, who was naturally slow at eating, handed me her completely empty bowl only after all other party members had gone into their tents.

“…Austin. Um… if you get sleepy while watching… you can wake me up. I’ll take over.”

Maya tossed that single sentence at me before leaving, and soon I was alone beside the campfire, watching shadows flicker.

“…Take over… as if you wouldn’t throw a fit if I tried to wake you.”

Maya hates nothing more than being woken up during sleep.

I stared blankly at her retreating figure, muttered some curses, then turned my gaze to the dark night sky.

-Sizzle sizzle

-Crack crack

Along with the sound of burning logs that sounded like sizzling oil, and the sparks flying from the campfire into the air, the sounds of insects carried on the wind from somewhere.

Staring at the dark night sky in the quiet atmosphere, I could see the stars distinctly displaying their own shapes, faintly shining, densely dotting the sky like freckles.

Looking at the Milky Way twinkling in contrast to my miserable situation, I felt utterly pathetic.

…Is this the role of a scout in the hero’s party, or am I just a housekeeper tagging along?

Entering the hero’s party as a scout at eighteen and now at twenty-one, I’ve spent about two years of the past three following the hero and party members, doing all sorts of chores and being treated like a dog.

There have been difficult moments over that time, and in this solitary atmosphere, all the negative emotions that had been piling up rushed over me at once.

“…What am I even doing with my life?”

I joined the party with the ambitious goal of “defeating the Demon King,” envisioning a successful future for myself, but I’m not even treated like a person.
It wasn’t like this from the beginning.

For the first year or so, we built friendship and solidarity, maintaining a warm and humane atmosphere in the party.
But now…

Of course, I don’t fail to understand them.
We’ve faced countless dangers and challenges.
Hero Yoo-jung was just an ordinary person in her world before being summoned, I’ve heard.

Brutal fights of kill or be killed. A chicken race where stopping means death, and only running ensures survival.
A kill-or-be-killed situation demanding merciless judgment, a three-year period stained with blood.
It would be stranger for someone not to be stressed in such a situation.

I suppose I just happened to be the target for them to vent their stress.

I pulled out a sharp dagger from the sheath on my thigh.
The keen blade made a chilling sound as it slid out of its scabbard. Perhaps due to our long time together, it still bore faint bloodstains from the countless bloodsheds over the past three years that wouldn’t wash away.

I turned the dagger to reflect my face.
The eighteen-year-old me who set off on adventure with sparkling eyes was nowhere to be seen; instead, I saw a laborer who rubs his tired, hollow eyes and does only menial tasks.

“…I just want to run away somewhere.”

If I endure until we defeat the Demon King, as I’ve been doing so far, we might really be able to kill the Demon King.
Over the past three years, we’ve killed four of the eight legion commanders who were the Demon King’s closest aides.
But.
I’m too exhausted.
I’m sick of your constant disrespect and contempt.
I’m fed up with you all who, at some point, stopped covering for me, stopped healing me, and only spout venomous words.

…Should I leave the party?

As a scout for the hero’s party from the prestigious ranger corps, I’ve heard that ranger applicants have increased recently because of me.
…Maybe if I go to the ranger instructor I know who’s serving in the capital, I could rely on her a bit.
That woman… no, the instructor particularly cared for me.
At least I won’t be mistreated like now.

‘…Well. If you want to see the world that badly… if that’s what you really want, then you should do it.’

When I said I wanted to break out of the narrow world of rangers and see the world, the instructor worried but reluctantly gave her permission.
‘But, if… if you change your mind, come find me.’

I looked at the tent where shallow breathing sounds were coming from and fell into thought.
…Even so, having gone through thick and thin with the party members for some time, I hesitate a bit.

‘What’s the point of that useless scouting anyway?!’
…I was just doing my best for the party.

‘Just come and cook, Austin.’
I’m the party’s scout, not a housekeeper.

‘What do you even contribute?’
“…Fuck.”

With all those shitty memories flooding back, I didn’t hesitate any longer and started packing my things.
I don’t have a specific destination in mind, but going to the capital Metelheim and temporarily staying with the ranger instructor doesn’t sound bad.

“…Right. It’s better this way. It’s time I lived my own life too.”

Having traveled lightly armed for quick reconnaissance, I didn’t have much to pack—I just strapped the short sword to my waist, hung the crossbow and bag on my back, and left the dishes behind as I stood up.

If it seems like I don’t contribute anything, then it won’t matter if I’m gone either.

‘I can’t take this anymore. Deal with the Demon King yourselves, and don’t look for me.’

After taking out a piece of leather and writing a farewell message with charcoal, I walked away from the campsite without looking back.

I’ve concealed the campsite well, and they’re superhuman, so they should be fine.
Let’s see how you manage on your own.