★ Point: Rokuto keeps trying to get kicked out of the party so he can awaken his hidden power, but everything he does just makes Honoka, Marlunn, and Shion love him even more. Even though he's not great in a fight, Rokuto's Storage ability, cooking, hard work, and kindness make him the heart of the party and someone the whole town respects. The conflict peaks when Oatmeal, who's jealous of him, accepts demon power and kidnaps orphanage kids to lure Rokuto out. Thanks to Rokuto's courage and the strength of Honoka and the others, the kids get rescued and Oatmeal's defeated. After that, their party gets offered a spot as a Hero Party candidate and plans to visit the capital. Rokuto sees it as a fresh chance to finally get kicked out, while all three heroines are even more determined to protect him, love him, and never let him leave the party.
Characters:
MC: Azuma Rokuto
Heroine 1: Honoka Alled
Heroine 2: Shion Glanz
Heroine 3: Marlunn Marcy
Others:
Oatmeal
★ The story starts when Azuma Rokuto dies at fifteen, just one day after starting high school. The death happens because of a goddess's mistake. To make up for it, the goddess gives Rokuto a chance to live again in a fantasy world.
★ Rokuto isn't reborn as a baby. He's sent over in a body his own age and gets an ability called Storage. It lets him open up a separate storage space to put all kinds of stuff in. The goddess also tells him another ability inside him will awaken once he goes through a "classic otherworld event."
★ Since Rokuto's knowledge of fantasy worlds comes from light novels and stuff like that, he jumps to his own conclusion right away. In his head, that event has to be the moment a party member who's seen as useless gets kicked out by their teammates. After getting driven out, that character's hidden power awakens, makes him super strong, lets him beat every enemy, and surrounds him with beautiful girls.
★ That belief becomes Rokuto's main goal. He wants to get kicked out of his adventuring party so he can awaken his special power and start a new life as an overpowered protagonist.
★ But a year into living in that world, his wish still hasn't come true.
★ At sixteen, Rokuto lives in a big house with his three party members: Honoka, Marlunn, and Shion. They got the house as a reward for a job the party finished. Even though their lives are already pretty comfortable, Rokuto still sees himself as the most useless member.
★ In battle, Honoka handles the front line with her two swords. Shion fights with a sword and all kinds of magic. Marlunn does healing, protection, and body buffs. Meanwhile, Rokuto just carries supplies with Storage, cooks, and does the housework.
★ In Rokuto's mind, that division of roles is a clear sign he'll get kicked out someday. He can't understand why his three teammates keep him around when they could recruit someone stronger in combat.
★ What Rokuto doesn't realize is that the three girls don't see him as a burden at all. To them, Rokuto is the center of the party.
★ Honoka loves his cooking and enjoys everyday life with him. Marlunn values Rokuto's kindness and how sincerely he accepts her. Shion loves him as a man, even though Rokuto still thinks of Shion as a guy best friend since he doesn't know Shion is a girl. The three of them even purposely hide their full abilities from everyone so they won't get too famous and won't have to leave the starter town where they live with Rokuto.
★ That shows when they have breakfast after finishing a long quest. Rokuto's made a much fancier meal than usual to thank his three teammates for their hard work. When he puts himself down again and says his contribution isn't much, Honoka immediately shoots that down. According to Honoka, their trips go smoothly because Rokuto carries all the supplies, keeps the food fresh, sets up places to rest, and gives them hot meals after fighting.
★ Without Rokuto, the party could probably still beat monsters, but their journeys wouldn't feel like home. Honoka even calls Rokuto the center of the party and says she'll never leave him.
★ Marlunn feels the same way. As an elf who doesn't age like humans, Marlunn gets praised a lot for her beauty and long life. But the guys who approach her are usually interested in her status as an elf, or imagining the perks of having kids with her. Rokuto's different. When their talk touches on marriage, he says if he married Marlunn, he'd choose her for who she is, not her race.
★ Rokuto says it with no intention of proposing, but to Marlunn that line means a lot. From then on, her wish to marry Rokuto gets even stronger.
★ Shion shows her interest in her own way. She often pulls Rokuto away when other girls approach him. Shion has also bathed with him a few times with a towel wrapped around her. Rokuto doesn't think of it as romantic since he still thinks Shion is a guy, while Shion takes advantage of that misunderstanding to stay as close to him as possible.
★ After Rokuto falls asleep, the three girls hold a secret meeting. There, they admit they all love Rokuto. Honoka wants to keep Rokuto safe and hopes he'll depend on them more and more. Marlunn wants to become his wife. Shion wants to make Rokuto realize one day that she's a girl, and also change his view of small-chested girls.
★ Even though they're rivals, they still follow internal rules so nobody goes too far and wrecks the party's balance. One thing they agree on without any argument is that Rokuto can't leave them or get taken by another girl.
★ One day, the party goes to the Adventurer Guild in the starter town called Iikan Akan. They take on several goblin extermination jobs that've been ignored because the pay's low. Villages keep suffering from goblin attacks, so they decide to take the jobs even though the profit isn't big.
★ On the way, Rokuto's Storage really shows what it can do. It has a huge capacity, keeps food in good condition, and lets Rokuto know everything stored inside. The coachmen even compete to offer him free rides since he can store their cargo in an instant.
★ Rokuto has also tried using Storage offensively by storing attacks or magic coming at him. The experiment did manage to put attacks into the storage space, but their effects keep happening inside. Fire burned the stuff in there, and water soaked everything in storage. Since he carries the party's supplies, he doesn't dare risk using that method in a real fight.
★ When Honoka asks why Rokuto wants fighting power so badly, he answers honestly. Rokuto dreams of saving beautiful girls and building a harem. When asked how many he wants, Rokuto says maybe three.
★ Honoka happily accepts that answer because, without Rokuto realizing, their party already has exactly three girls who love him. Even though she personally wants to monopolize Rokuto, Honoka can accept Marlunn and Shion being around as long as the three of them stay his closest people.
★ When they face a goblin horde, the party's real strength starts to show. Shion freezes the ground to slow the enemy down. Honoka moves super fast and slashes goblins one after another. When a bigger red monster shows up, which is actually a young ogre, they still finish it off in no time.
★ Their ruthlessness toward monsters isn't just about getting the job done. Any threat near Rokuto is something to be removed as fast as possible.
★ Along the way, Marlunn explains she doesn't like fighting or seeing people get hurt. That's why she spent hundreds of years mastering healing and protection magic. Rokuto says that just having Marlunn around makes everyone feel safe. If Marlunn is ever in danger, Rokuto says he'd even use his body as a shield.
★ That makes Marlunn hug him and bring up her wish to get married again. Shion, seeing how close they are, gets so jealous she almost burns down the forest around them.
★ After wiping out the goblins, they don't go straight home. Marlunn heals the villagers for free. Rokuto hands out cupcakes to the kids and food and drinks to the adults. That small act shows again why people like him. Rokuto isn't strong in battle, but he can calm people down after they've gotten through something scary.
★ In that village, the village chief's daughter, Chibusa, mocks Rokuto as a useless porter. Then she tries to get close to Shion because she thinks he's a handsome guy. When it's just the two of them, Shion shows a totally different side. She reveals she's a girl, that she only loves Rokuto, and threatens to burn Chibusa and wipe her out if she insults Rokuto again.
★ Chibusa apologizes, terrified out of her mind. Rokuto doesn't know about Shion's threat and thinks Chibusa's dad scolded her.
★ Back at the guild, the party runs into Oatmeal. Oatmeal openly insults Rokuto and challenges him to a fight. Honoka, Marlunn, and Shion almost attack him, but the guild master stops the fight and punishes Oatmeal.
★ The guild master then asks them to take a request at the Kafun ruins. A dungeon there is full of hard-skinned monsters, difficulty C, bothering miners and material gatherers. Before they leave, the guild master privately questions the three girls. He's already noticed their abilities are way higher than what they report.
★ The party once beat a rush of B-rank monsters, including young ogres, in just minutes. Their success rate and evaluations are also nearly perfect. According to the guild master, they could be top adventurers in the capital. But they chose to stay in the starter town and hide their strength.
★ The guild master guesses the real reason is Rokuto, and he's right. The three of them want a life with Rokuto more than fame.
★ In the Kafun dungeon, Honoka, Shion, and Marlunn dominate the fight again. Honoka cuts through hard-skinned monsters like their bodies are made of tofu. Shion uses fire, wind, and water magic to hit enemies' eyes or legs, then slashes monsters that try to run away. Marlunn keeps their stamina up with healing and body-buff magic.
★ Rokuto doesn't want to just watch. Together with Marlunn, he's made a smoke bomb that releases a paralyzing substance for monsters but is harmless to humans. After getting permission, Rokuto throws it into the middle of the monster pack. The smoke paralyzes them so Honoka and Shion can finish off the rest.
★ Even though his role proves useful again, Rokuto still thinks he's the weakest. He even imagines using that smoke bomb if he ever gets taken hostage. That line changes the mood instantly. Honoka says she'd cut off the arms and legs of anyone who dares touch Rokuto. Marlunn would protect the kidnapper with a barrier before they die so she can torture them freely. Shion would rather quietly handle everything so Rokuto never finds out what happened to whoever threatened him.
★ Rokuto just takes it as them being overly caring, not as a sign of obsession.
★ The request that should've had a one-week deadline is done in just two hours. They spend the rest of the time eating Rokuto's homemade tonkotsu ramen and playing cards. To Rokuto, it's yet another fun day that doesn't bring him one bit closer to getting kicked out.
★ He finally realizes a problem, he's been doing all his jobs way too diligently. Ever since being moved to a strange world with no money, family, or identity, he got used to working hard to survive. He's never neglected cooking or housework. A useful and responsible person definitely won't suddenly get kicked out.
★ Rokuto comes up with a new plan. He'll lower his friends' affection for him bit by bit, without actually hurting them. He doesn't want revenge or anyone suffering, he just wants them to feel that parting ways with him is the best choice.
★ His first attempt is on Honoka. Rokuto deliberately doesn't make breakfast and says he's feeling lazy. Instead of getting mad, Honoka checks his temperature thinking he's sick. When she finds out he's fine, she accepts his decision and suggests buying breakfast together. Honoka says she can buy food outside, but Rokuto's cooking is still her favorite.
★ Rokuto then tries saying he isn't needed since they have enough money to buy food. This time Honoka pulls both his cheeks and makes him apologize. Not because there was no breakfast, but because Rokuto thinks he's not needed.
★ At the bakery, the shop owner assumes Rokuto is Honoka's boyfriend. Seeing a chance to lower Honoka's opinion of him, Rokuto deliberately acts like her boyfriend. He praises Honoka's personality, says he's always watching her, notices her perfume and light makeup, then calls her even prettier.
★ All of that just makes Honoka happy. She links arms with Rokuto and says being together really is fun. After leaving the shop, Honoka warns him that if he talks like that again, she'll take it seriously. Rokuto misreads the warning as a sign his plan is working.
★ His next attempt is breaking the party rule that bans work or monster hunting on days off. Rokuto goes alone to the edge of the forest planning to look for weak monsters. Honoka finds him right away. When Rokuto admits he was about to break the rule, Honoka calls him a naughty kid who needs punishing, then tickles him until he gives in and promises not to enter the forest.
★ Without Rokuto knowing, Oatmeal is hiding there. He'd been following Rokuto and planned to challenge him when no other party member was around to protect him. Honoka showing up ruins that plan.