Shin no Nakama ja Nai to Yuusha no Party wo Oidasareta node, Henkyou de Slow Life suru Koto ni Shimashita

The series title is a little absurd but absolutely don't let that put you off. This is a great read that will surprise you with its depth and intrigue. Whilst the classic ingredients for a typical shounen fantasy are here (demon lord, strong mc, levelling up, etc) this story takes a somewhat different approach that works very well focusing on the typical "off-screen" antics of a herb store away from the main action.

That is not to say the hero-vs-demon lord storyline is completely ignored. The "main quest" activity not only progresses in the background but it stays relevant to the mc without becoming the primary focus. This grants a slower more comfortable story allowing more appreciation for the world, circumstances and relationships to develop. We're granted time to experience those antics that seem so out-of-place in the more typical grandiose story - events such as solving local mysteries, developing new things and cute relationship moments.

It's by no means a hugely complex and deep plot but contrary to how the title may suggest, there is a decent amount of drama and some interesting conflicts with the ever present threat of the Demon Lord still making its presence felt throughout. Underlying this is some great relationship and personal dynamics with mature attitudes and logical decisions. Best of all, it has clear and sweet (but not excessive) romance thread which is really endearing to see.

All of which is delivered with decent humour, good pace and a surprising amount of action. The art is clean, the dialogue coherent and character emotions portrayed really well. As something of a veteran of the genre, I was pleasantly surprised by this. Initially thinking it would be a bit of a light boring read before bed, the series has truly captured my interest and become something where each chapter is eagerly anticipated.

Will cut right to the point this manga is pathetic so much so it made me write my first review.

The story is lacking in every aspect from the lack of explanation about how although the mc starts as one of the strongest people that could fight side by side with (ok maybe not the hero but) the knights of the kingdom, to now be in such a pathetic state. the manga doesn't explain why he can't get basic skills or how important divine protection works cz to me it sounds like a job you pick and not "divine protection", the rest of the story is a basic as it can get.

The MC is the most pathetic mc ever from the fact that he is one of the best cooks but he thinks that he is useless or how he kills a monster that needs B rank PARTY but he says that he is weak. He is a bad person period he abandons his sister letting her believe that he is dead and allowing the "wise" mage to be left alone with her.

The "wise" mage is jealous of the brother, not childhood friend but the brother...

I gave this work a 10 because I can't give a higher score. The author did a wonderful job portraying Red and Lit's relationship, as you might've guessed from the title this manga is focused around the everyday life of the main characters. Great execution when it comes to the difficulties they face as they're becoming a couple, giving it a nice pace when it comes to building their character. Most importantly IT'S CUTE, do NOT believe anyone else when they try to convince you this is a bad series, if you know what genre you're looking for this is definitely one of the best to fulfill your pure love needs. A solid fantasy slice of life, VERY CUTE you need to mention important things three times IT'S CUTE.

Contrary to ManosP1's review, I think this manga is fantastic and completely underrated. The story is a little slow and most certainly not action-oriented, but that's something you can gather even just from the title. This manga is, in my opinion, a subtle yet adorable romance in the context of a fantasy setting. The real focus of this manga is on relationships, especially the friendship/romance of Red and Lit. Their romance actually moves forward at a wonderful pace, not too slow and not too fast, unlike a lot of other manga that string you along for 100+ chapters, only to end in a mere confession or kiss. Instead, both of these characters are honest about their feelings from the moment they come together. Without giving any spoilers, I will also say that these two actually advance their relationship beyond just liking each other and working together.

As for the "lack of explanation" about divine protections and skills, I don't really know what ManosP1 was talking about, it seems like they maybe just didn't read enough chapters to get to the explanation. I will say, the manga doesn't give an ELI5 explanation like a lot of other fantasy manga. However, it still makes it pretty clear how things work: a "divine protection" is one's specific role in life, as chosen by the gods. For example, Red's divine protection is "guide," meaning it was/is his job to protect lower-level heroes until they are strong enough to protect themselves. As for skills, the way they work is much like a video game, in that you can increase a skill whenever you level up; "common skills," are just that, skills that anyone can level up. These include mundane things like cooking and fishing (though only to an extent). "Intermediate skills" are similar in that anyone can acquire them but they usually are only necessary for adventurers or people with a higher level, such as "first aid" or "brewing." "Advanced skills," on the other hand, are skills only available to certain roles/divine protections. For example, someone with the divine protection "chef" would be able to increase their cooking skills beyond just the common level. As well, someone that is a "hero" role would have powerful swordsmanship/magic-based skills available to them.

The reason Red sees himself as weak is that he has no advanced skills to choose from (his divine protection of "guide" doesn't offer any) which means he has a limit to how helpful he can be, unlike his sister or the other adventurers who can continue to grow in power indefinitely. Especially since he was in the most powerful adventuring party in the world, he reached a point where he felt he was no longer needed and was only a burden. However, what this story tries to show us that even if his abilities aren't god-tier when it comes to combat or magic, he is still heroic because he is kind and caring towards those around him. As well, though he may not have any advanced skills, his experiences adventuring and his smart-thinking ( to combine the common/intermediate skills he does have) show just how versatile/helpful he actually is.

Overall, I recommend this manga to those who like realistic, straight-forward romance that doesn't beat around the bush, drown you in ecchi, or rush into things. However, I would not recommend this to anyone who wants another power-fantasy, harem manga where the OP hero just obliterates everything in his path and somehow attracts people to him without having done anything to deserve it.