The „weakest“ me who was unfairly dismissed – Chapter 1

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1. Expulsion.

My name is Ruin Jade. I’m fourteen years old.

I’m from a small village in the middle of nowhere called Dono’s village, but I’m currently living in a large city called Grezesta, which is one of the five largest cities in the kingdom, and I’m working there as an employee of the Healer’s guild.

The reason why I’m working in such a large city, even though I am from a remote village and have no connections, is because my „gift“ is a rare one.

The gift is a blessing from God that comes to any person on his or her tenth birthday.

In general, the gift is an ability that lets you learn a skill that can be used by using magic power, such as learning „slash“ that allows you to able to perform a powerful blow or learning „fireball“ to be able to create a fireball. Most people use gifts to learn skills.

Most people can use these ordinary skills through gifts, but in this world, there are rare skills that can only be learned through certain gifts.

The skills that can be learned through such gifts are commonly refered to as „rare“:

One of the main features of rare is that it can be used without using magic power.

For example, you can use skills that are powerful for battle, such as „learn magic faster“ or „can wear all equipment“, or you can „see the amount of magic power your opponent has“ or „see tomorrow’s weather“, which are non-combat skills.

But the skill I was given as a gift was „rare“ and rather practical.

The name of the skill is „Plant Master“.

If you get appraised, you can find out what it is to some extent, but this is literally all I could find out from the appraisal.

At first, it was thought to be a bad skill because it was so unkown, but later it was discovered that this gift could appraise plants, and it turned out to be a „rare“ and somewhat useful skill.

Once it was discovered that it was rare, things progressed quickly, and I was offered a job at the Healer’s Guild, where I work now, by order of the government, and I had to accept it regardless of my will.

My father passed away before I could remember, and my mother was forced to raise me by herself, dying before I was even nine years old.

From that point on, even though I was very young, I managed to survive because of help from everyone in the village, so working for the Healers’ Guild was a very good deal for me, even though it didn’t reflect my wishes.

The only regret I have is that I won’t be able to visit the graves of my parents, but I can’t say that in order to live….

It’s been about five years.

I’ve been using my skill „Plant Master“ to sort medicinal herbs for use in this Healer’s guild, and the environment has not been flattering.

The main reason for this was the strong selection mentality that prevailed in the Healers’ guild.

Healers need to have a high level of expertise, so commoners with neither time nor money to spare can’t become healers.

That’s why there are only nobles on the staff of this healer’s guild, except for me.

That’s why all the discrimination was directed only at me, and I was abused to an unimaginable degree.

Not only did I have to do all the chores, but I was also subjected to daily barrage of abuse as an outlet for their stress, and I even had the experience of wandering around on the verge of death during a clinical trial for a new potion.

I’m from a remote village, and I’ve had my fair share of abuse, but this kind of abuse was very severe, and even so, even if I wanted to, I don’t have a choice to run away because I don’t have anything, except for the gift that is „rare“.

I had been working hard just to survive on my meager wages, but my days were finally coming to an end.

The day before, I had taken care of a bunch of chores that had been thrust upon me, and I had barely gotten any sleep when I was summoned early in the morning by the Guildmaster, Brandon Gage.

Even though I was expecting to be snubbed as usual, I struggled to move my heavy legs to get to the Guildmaster’s office.

„Excuse me. It’s Jade.“

„You can come in.“

After knocking four times, I told him my name, and the Guildmaster’s low voice came back from inside.

However, there was none of the usual grumpiness in his voice, on the contrary, he sounded a little happy.

„Ruin. I’m glad you’re here.“

The Guildmaster seemed to be in an unusually good mood and his expression was cheerful, as I could sense from the sound of his voice.

It was also the first time he called me by my name.

I was inwardly scared by the gap between the two, but the Guildmaster continued to speak without regard to my feelings.

„To cut to the chase, Ruin is fifteen years old today, right?“

When the Guildmaster said this, I glanced at the calendar on his desk and saw that today was indeed my birthday.

Since my mother died, I haven’t celebrated my birthday properly, and I’ve been so busy that I haven’t had a time to pay attention to my birthday, so for the past few years it’s been normal for me to notice that I’ve gotten older after my birthday has passed by a few days.

„I guess so. Indeed, today is my fifteenth birthday.“

When I realized that today was my birthday, the fear I had felt earlier suddenly disappeared, and I replied briskly.

The Guildmaster seemed to be in an unusally good mood, probably because he was celebrating my birthday.

Fifteen is the age at which one is generally called an adult.

It was the first time I thought that it was a good thing I had worked so hard for five years, even though I was abused, if I could celebrate my birthday just for the year I became an adult on.

„Oh, I see. I knew it was Ruin’s birthday today!…. All right! Then, you’re fired.“

The Guildmaster said so with a big smile on his face.

I was expecting to be congratulated, but the words were the opposite of what I had imagined, and my whole body went rigid and I couldn’t think straight.

I repeatedly replayed the Guildmaster’s word’s in my mind, hoping I had misheard them, but no matter how many times I replayed them, the words “You’re fired“ kept echoing in my brain.

„Umm, I’m fired….?“

„Oh, yes…. You really are a slow guy, aren’t you? Once you’ve been told something, you should understand. Don’t bother me by asking the same thing over and over again.“

„Wait a minute! What did I do? I’ve been working for a long time without complaining, and I can’t accept that I’m suddenly being fired….!

For the first time, I raised my voice in protest to the Guildmaster.

I had decided that I would never argue or raise my voice, but even I couldn’t agree with this.

Looking back over the past five years, I can say with confidence that I have never done anything that would be disadvantageous to the Healer’s guild.

„Huh, the reason for your firing? It’s because you’re from a commoner family, of course. I had no choice but to hire you under orders from the government, but now that you are fifteen years old, that restriction is no longer there.

I was speechless at the shocking words coming from the Guildmaster’s mouth.

I was fired because I was born a commoner.

There’s no way you can be convinced by this reasoning, but you can’t argue with it because it’s…..

Because it means that there was no fault other than my own birth.

„And I’ll be kind enough to tell you that I’ve been sending in the lowest evaluation rating of you to the government every time, so no one is going to hire you. Pack your bags and go back to hometown, and go play in the dirt in a remote place like a commoner should. You are a born loser.“

I was furious with Brandon, who told me this with a joyful, lowly smile on his face.

…..I just don’t have the guts or the courage to take this anger out on him.

Brandon is right, I’m a loser at heart.

The only thing I can do is bite down on my bottom lip harder, and the blood starts running down my lip.

„You can go now…..Oh, and pack up your stuff and get out of the dormitory by the end of the day, too. If you don’t, the soldiers will arrest you for trespassing.“

„………I understand.“

I gave a small reply without saying anything back, I can only turn my back and leave.

Anger at the Guildmaster, anxiety about the future, shame at myself, and helplessness.

I felt so many emotions jumbled together that I felt like throwing up.

„Hey, Ruin! Won’t you at least thank me for hiring and taking care of a commoner with no knowledge?“
„……Ah, thank you……thank you.“

I left the guild leader’s office with an unimaginable sense of humiliation and a heartless thank you to Brandon, and shortly thereafter I was forced to leave  the Healers guild.