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48 - The agony of Heinz Hankstein

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Heinz Hankstein was thinking, ‘Why did I get Farmer as my Job?’
Even now, he still can’t accept it.

But his parents were happy instead.
Because, even though he is a farmer, he is a rare fire-element farmer.
Fortunately, or perhaps ironically, Heinz's parents understand how important fire-element farmers are.
They also told Heinz their importance and gave him confidence.

Still, Heinz himself was not convinced.
Why isn't my Job a Swordsman like my father? He thought.
He was ridiculed by his friends who didn't know the circumstances. In the school, the way people treated him has also clearly changed. Even the teachers’ attitude also changed.
Thanks to Heinz's father's court rank, there was no noticeable bullying, but still, all this happened just because he was a farmer.

Heinz was truly amazed.
After all, this so-called trust, was it only to that extent?

Christoph, a Job adherent with whom he was barely connected through exchanges at the school, and Randy, who caused a broken engagement scandal, as well as Sedoor who was disinherited because his Job was Appraiser, all of them, with him, suddenly decided to form a party as adventurers.
His father told him that in order for Heinz to raise his level as a fire-element farmer, he would have to work as an adventurer and raise his level through monster subjugation and dungeon investigation.

To be honest, Heinz's inner thoughts grow wild at that.

People around him mocked him for having Farmer as his Job.
His parents expected him to be a rare fire-element farmer.
In fact, once you know what it's like to be a fire-element farmer, it's nothing but harsh.

Christoph and the others, who didn't seem to understand Heinz's position, cheered him up by saying, “Even if you're a farmer, if you have fire magic, you can be active as an adventurer.”
Inwardly thinking that these guys also looked down on him because he was a farmer, Heinz invisibly isolated himself.

Anyway, desperate to raise his level, Heinz took on requests to defeat monsters, and actively fought as a vanguard, but.
Even though his Job and magic level has increased, the essential agriculture related level has not increased.

(Damn it, in other words, farming-related skill levels won’t go up even after I defeat monsters...?!)

Having no other choice, Heinz asked a farmer within W Country, explained the situation and was able to rent a piece of land.
But... it was then.
That suddenly, Christoph and the others appeared at the field where Heinz was working, and bowed their heads.

“I'm sorry! Heinz! I didn't know about your circumstances...”

For some reason, Christoph and the others had learned the position of Heinz's Job and made a settlement on the matter.
Apparently, the adventurer who accompanied them on their quest that day told them.
Heinz also memorized the adventurer's name――Josiah.

After that, Christoph and Sedoor started to come to help Heinz with working in the field.
Randy, on the other hand, has become immersed in adventurer activities.
Randy had an optimistic attitude that being an adventurer was more fun than messing around with dirt, but from Heinz's point of view, he felt that Randy was unusually proactive.

That Randy, who has never been interested in anything including both the engagement and school lessons.
When he asked why, Christoph said that Randy was being taught various things by Josiah.
Christoph and the others have also learned the wisdom of being adventurers from Josiah, and it seems that they have become more active in adventurer activities.

(What the hell is that...)

He didn't know anything about what Randy was doing or what kind of person the rumored Josiah is, but he was excited. And yet, that also makes him more desperate.
Heinz felt envious of them. And he also began to wonder ‘What the hell am I doing’.

When Randy and the others, who had been doing dungeon investigations, invited Heinz to investigate a C-rank dungeon.
Heinz suddenly remembers.
The so-called standards.
That the minimum requirement for fire-element farmers is the ability to get through a C-rank dungeon solo.

Forming a party of four or more is compulsory, but Heinz forced his way into a C-rank dungeon by telling them he was going ahead.
In order to ascertain his own strength.
The results were miserable. Monsters keep popping up one after another and he can't deal with them as he usually would. When he was seriously wounded because of a gap that opened when his stamina couldn't catch up.

Along with a dazzling flash, a single magician appeared.
From his appearance of gray-streaked ashen hair and old-looking face, Heinz knew that it was Josiah who he heard from Christoph and others.
As soon as he appeared, countless light magic flew around and annihilated the monsters around Heinz.
Even the remaining magic nullifying monsters were mowed down with his distinctive wand.
It was over in the blink of an eye.
It was so impressive that he thought Josiah could easily conquer the dungeon on his own.
Heinz was in despair, thinking that it would be useless if he wasn't at this level.

He can’t afford to just leave like this.
He thought they would continue the dungeon investigation because Josiah had recovered him, but Josiah suggested they retreat.
He said he is a magician, not a healer. That his healing is not perfect, and since he has bled a lot and is anemic, it is impossible to conquer the dungeon.

Furthermore, he was told that the report of the dungeon's failure might not only be his father's responsibility, but also Christoph’s and the others’, who had been entrusted by his father to help his son.
As a finishing blow, Josiah made a verdict, “I’ve seen countless people like you with my own eyes, idiots who would die like this” “If you keep doing unreasonable things like this, you'll just die.”
When a real adventurer told him with a sharp look in his eyes, Heinz had no choice but to hang his head and obey.

☆

Since being taken to hospital, Heinz has been lethargic.
His wound has healed, but there’s nothing he can do about his mental state.
He received a letter from his father, but he tore it up and threw it away without looking at the contents. Christoph and the others also come to visit, but he is too ashamed to face them.

While he was at a loss, Christoph and the others came to visit him again today.
Heinz couldn't believe his ears when the nurse said, “Josiah-san really wants to apologize to Hankstein-sama.”
What on earth did he have to apologize for?

“I don't want to meet Christoph and the others, but... Josiah is fine.”

It was because he didn't think Josiah had any prejudice about Heinz being a fire-element farmer.

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