"You're such a dimwitted fool! How many times do you need to drag

me down until you're satisfied?"

The one who rebuked me as soon as I arrived at the inn was Elma,

my childhood friend-cum-girlfriend.

Elma was a beautiful girl who was chosen by the Holy Sword and

had been raised as a saintess, and I had been partying up with her

as her luggage carrier.

No, it was probably more correct to say that 'I had been made to'.

In this world, you would receive a skill from the Goddess the moment

you were born.

A skill was like a talent that asserted control on your life, and Elma's

skill, who eventually became a saintess, was "Sword Saint".

She had been overflowing with talent since the moment she was

born.

On the other hand, my skill was "Substitute".

It was just a skill to take damage on someone's behalf.

Honestly, it was a useless skill.

But it was enough to protect Elma, the village's hope.

Should something happen to her, I could immediately substitute for

her.

That was why the villagers had placed me to always be by her side.

For the sake of the village's hope, my parents, too, had gladly

accepted the arrangement, not minding the fact that their son would

get hurt.

Thus, from an early age, we had always worked hard in training

together.

That said, I had just kept receiving the wounds that Elma received

during training in her place, though.

But thanks to that, Elma's growth was remarkable.

It was natural.

Because no matter how hard she trained, Elma would not be hurt at

all, only her abilities improved.

And Elma probably had took that for granted.

That was why she had become so selfish, I thought.

"It can't be helped. I'm not as strong as you. I was doing my best to

protect the luggage."

"Oh, right! You've been really useless since long ago, after all! That's

why you're only qualified to be my fake boyfriend! Ahhh, so irritating!"

"It's not like I want to be your fake boyfriend…"

She probably only wanted to create a moving tale such as a knight

who protects the saintess, for the most part.

Publicly, I was supposed to be Elma's lover.

Moreover, the setting was that I had fallen in love with her and had

left the village with her to protect her.

Elma cared a lot about appearance, so she probably wanted to

gather popularity with such a romantic development.

In fact, Elma's popularity was huge.

In addition to the moving tale I had mentioned just now, she had a

very beautiful outward appearance, her sword technique was top

class, and she gently treated everyone indiscriminately– she'd

naturally be very popular with all of that combined.

That was why she showed her true nature only when we were alone

like this.

She probably accumulated a lot of stress from being a saintess.

She had been selfish since a long time ago, but recently it had

become particularly worse.

"I'm sick of going to that kind of ridiculous place, to begin with! If you

have something to say, then say it clearly! You're a man, aren't you!"

"..." To be honest, there were a lot of things I wanted to say.

However, Elma was a saintess.

The saintess was the hope of the people.

Without her, this world would be overrun by monsters.

That was why, I didn't say anything.

Because if I bear with it, everyone would be happy.

"Anyway, for how long are going to stay in my room!? This inn has

only one room available, so you go sleep outside somewhere

already! You useless!" (Elma)

Yeah——I'd been thinking about this for quite some time now.

"——Alright. I'm done with you. You can do whatever you want now."

"…Huh? Eh?"

She probably didn't understand what I had said out of the blue.

Elma's mouth was agape, stunned.

So I said again in an easy to understand manner. "I'm saying that our

party is over, right here, right now. I'm useless, right? Then, just go

find another, useful boyfriend. I'm already at my limit babysitting

you."

"W-what!? What did you say!? Rather, I was the one babysitting you,

wasn't it!? Even though you're just a good-for-nothing who can't do

anything without me!"

"That's right. So thanks for everything. I'll leave all the luggage, so

take care of it. Well, it's mostly yours, though," I said, before starting

to turn my back on Elma.

When I did, Elma shouted with a disbelieving expression. "What,

you're serious!? I'm the saintess, you know!? You think you can just

say that and leave!? Hey!?"

"Farewell. I hope you can meet a good guy," I said, closing the door.

Immediately after, the impact sound of a pillow thrown and "You've

gotta be kidding me!" echoed from inside the room.

Then, having left the inn, I stretched my back while walking alone on

the street illuminated by sunset.

It sure was refreshing when I thought that I didn't have to entertain

her selfishness anymore.

The problem was what should I do from now on....

"Let's see." I opened up my status.

Status was the visualization of your ability values, which you got

when you were born, like skill, and it contained your basic ability

values such as attack power and defense power, as well as detailed

information of your skill.

『Skill——"Immortality": Instantly heals received injury, including

death.』

So, my skill had changed from "Substitute" to "Immortality".

My skill probably evolved because I had always been receiving

Elma's injuries in her stead.

This was why I broke up with Elma.

From henceforth, I was no longer just a good for nothing.

――My name was Exa.

The man who could do anything, for I was 'immortal'.