Is This Team Built to Defeat the Demon King or to Win Him Over?

Blurb (2024.08.21):

A Luo is an orphan. He has never seen his parents for as long as he can remember, and most of his childhood memories are of the neighbors looking after him.

Everyone in the village is kind. By scrounging a bowl of rice from one house and a bite of vegetables from another, A Luo has managed to survive until now.

A Luo has a golden dream: to become the greatest archer in the world.

Everyone in this small village knows his dream. When he works at the tavern, people often tease him about how unrealistic it sounds, but he has never given up.

In this age, archers aren't in demand, and nobody ranks every archer in the world. So for A Luo, realizing his dream is a rather vague prospect.

Still, practicing day after day convinces him that he can make his dream come true.

Then one day, two people from another village come to the tavern where he works.

This is nothing unusual. The village where A Luo lives is a lovely place, neither too big nor too small, with fertile soil and beautiful scenery. It's also said to lie along the route to the Demon King's lair. Many parties heading out to defeat the Demon King stop here to rest.

Those two are just another such party.

At first, A Luo doesn't pay them any attention. The tavern owner, an uncle to him, asks as usual whether he practiced archery that day and listens as he talks about how far he still is from his dream. Then the other regulars praise and encourage him.

Afterward, the two outsiders come over to talk to him.

"If your dream is to become the greatest archer in the world, how about joining us?" says the cloaked hero.

Nobody ranks archers by combat ability. But the party that defeats the Demon King will be the strongest in the world, and each member will be the best at their particular role.

And being the best is the same as being number one in the world, isn't it?

After only a moment's thought, A Luo agrees.

He packs up his few belongings, and, raised on food from the whole village, sets out on an adventure to defeat the Demon King with the hero Balin and the priest Ruilionde.

They'll surely defeat the Demon King, and he'll surely become the greatest archer in the world. A Luo believes it as he looks at his two determined companions.

But that confidence is quickly shattered when they encounter their first monsters, not long after leaving the village.

The priest, who should have been healing from the rear, is surrounded by the monsters and suffers the first death of their journey. A Luo himself is facing monsters for the first time, and his hands shake so badly he can barely hold his bow. He is badly injured, too.

A Luo stares in shock as the hero, who should be charging fearlessly ahead, runs around in a panic, clutching his sword with tears in his eyes and screaming for help.

At that moment, only one thought remains in his mind:

Is it too late to leave the party?

Is this party here to defeat the Demon King, or to bring him snacks and curry his favor?

* Being killed by monsters drags you into a church, where you can be resurrected, so don't worry about anyone dying!

* No heartache, no angst, no darkness, no scheming, and no romance. Just adventure, friendship, comedy, and a lighthearted daily life.

* Inspired by Delicious in Dungeon and Frieren: Beyond Journey's End. Any similarities are purely coincidental. Sumimasen.

Thesis: Courage is humanity's anthem