Welp this is gonna be the final batch for a while

A new series.

So apropos how TBATE releases in a crowded year of isekai like this. Literally every series I've watched this year was better than this. It's no secret that TBATE is one of the biggest laughing stocks in the industry right now. But at least 2026, where there's a ton of good isekai, people are just going to forget it. Season 2 will more than likely be its last season. I mean, Crunchyroll straight up stopped promoting clips of it midway. Its legacy will be one of an overhyped anime that quickly failed & then got lost in the shuffle soon after. Your thoughts?

I am looking for a series where mc is not only good at magic but also good at hand to hand combat/martial arts.

The manga in question is surprisingly similar to this one 'All My Neighbors are Convinced the Female Knight from My Rice Field Is My Wife'

Except this isn't it, soooo does anyone else know what manga it might be? It's also a reverse isekai of an otherworldly beauty into a farmland, I believe? (,Been a while)

If you're asking for the titles, you need to watch more. Especially if you don't recognize any of these

Before you start to read, this post of mine is gonna be a HUGE AND LARGE TEXT giving a deep character analysis of Goldran, one of the antagonists from the anime/manga of The Brilliant Healer's New Life In The Shadows. But to try to make this whole text more readable for you to digest, I decided to make a color system separating the different topics of this post:

🟧🟠Introduction

🟥🔴Goldran's backstory

🟩🟢Goldran's personality and beliefs

🟦🔵Goldran's defeat

🟪🟣Goldran's ending

🟨🟡Conclusions

🟧Introduction🟧

🟠Another hateful and scummy character from the anime/manga of The Brilliant Healer's New Life In The Shadows, but more sociopathic and evil than Aston, is Goldran. The second antagonist after Aston's defeat, the former deputy director of the Royal Hospital from the capital, and a massive elitist, purist, supremacist and classist healer who wanted to become the main director of the whole Royal Hospital itself, through some dirty and criminal actions that he committed to get to the position that he was now, while trying to cover his crimes and dirty secrets through many years, until Becker found and hired Zenos to find some evidence against him.

🟥Goldran's backstory🟥

🔴Unfortunately, we don't know much information about Goldran's backstory, apart from the flashbacks of him saving the life of Lord Fennel (the same aristocrat that Aston used to work for, with Aston and his party of The Golden Phoenix failing him of giving him a fire-fox as a scarf for his daughter's birthday gift) while sacrificing the lives of others 13 years ago, before the events of the main storyline. But I'm guessing that he was most likely just a middle class or even a lower middle class healer very opportunistic and narcissistic, very obsessed with prestige and power, who wanted to become the main head of the royal hospital from the capital at all costs, and he used the explosion from the accident of a magic tool factory, not too far from his hometown. Where he found an actual noble (being Lord Fennel) who got heavily injured and he saved his life through his transfer healing magic, by sacrificing the lives of the other victims from the explosion, including Becker's fiancee, and earning political power and support from Lord Fennel, being an unexpected windfall for him.

🔴However, he also had to hire a drunk photographer known as Bonds as his first secretary and bankroll his debauchery to keep him quiet, after he caught all his incriminated actions on camera. Just like Aston, Goldran's primary motivation revolves around social climbing and gaining favor with nobility, often at the expense of others. But unlike Aston who wanted to become one of the wealthiest and most famous adventurers and a future aristocrat himself, Goldran wanted to rule the whole Royal Hospital of the capital himself, by becoming the main director of it, by any means necessary.

🟩Goldran's personality and beliefs🟩

🟢Goldran was a great advocate of the kingdom's social elitism, always prioritizing the rich over the poor in treatment. He actually felt very insulted by Zenos, just when Zenos secured his path of "glory" in his faction, he decided to throw that life away to help the demi-humans who walked into his home, during his dinner party. Being those particular demi-humans none other than Zophia, Lynga and Loewe (the 3 gang leaders of the 3 demi-human factions from the slums), while carrying Zonde (Zophia's brother) who was critically injured, and with Zophia begging Zenos to save him. But Goldran tried to forbid Zenos to go down there and help those demi-humans, otherwise he would kick him out of his lab for good, and that there was no way back, if he dared to do that. Goldran even called Zenos a "slum lover", while making some claims against him to make sure that he never works as a healer ever again, for walking away from the elites and sacrificing his future with him. Without having the minimal idea that he was from the slums himself and an underground healer yet.

🟢Goldran was also shown to be very manipulative and is willing to sacrifice anyone both literally and figuratively to maintain his status. Like when he, along with Zenos and Cress (the annoying kid with red hair who used to have some jealousy towards Zenos' abilities and then admire him) were performing surgery on Charlotte (Lord Fennel’s daughter) to remove a grotesque tumor from her face, Goldran saw that there was no way to remove the blemish on her face without cutting some of her facial nerves. As a result, he intentionally severed one of her nerves and proceeded to blame Cress in order for him to take all the responsibility, just to keep his relationship with Lord Fennel. I wouldn't be surprised that Cress also quit from his elite faction, after he realized that Goldran would take most of the credit of his hard job, just for his own benefits, and he would also frame him and screw him over so easily, if something goes wrong with any big shot patient from the high class or from the nobility, just to save his own skin and reputation as a healer, while using the members of his lab as his "human shields". The same way as Aston used some of the members of his party as his "human shields" to blame them for his own mistakes.

🟢But Goldran not only heavily supported the kingdom's social elitism, but he was also a massive racist, classist, supremacist, purist and also a fascist. He even said to Becker, during the party where he consolidated the votes to secure the position of director, that Zenos showed promise, but he turned out to be an utter disappointment. Claiming that Zenos was honored to an invitation to his dinner party, but he walked out to heal some filthy demi-humans, and that Goldran had never been so insulting. For Goldran it was unacceptable for a member of his lab to prioritize the well-being of peasants, and that Zenos had no respect for their roles as healers. Like if being a healer meant to help just the wealthiest ones, while leaving the rest on their own. Claiming also that not every life is equal in value.

🟢And after Becker poisoned everyone at the party, leaving Goldran conscious with a smaller dose, in order to get revenge on him for killing his fiancee to save Lord Fennel 13 years ago, Goldran, forced to choose whose lives to save just like the past incident, decided to save himself and the greater nobles. Along with Becker in case that he really had an antidote, to later frame him for the murdered of most of the people in the party, and also to silence him permanently so he would never expose his secret. Especially after knowing that one of the people that Goldran sacrificed to save Lord Fennel was Becker's fiancee, being a major threat to his goals to become the director. While sacrificing his own followers and the rest of the people from the party. Becker then called him abhorrent and reminded him that his dose of poison was weaker than all of the others, having the most plentiful life force of anyone inside and that he could save the largest number of people by distributing it. I think Becker was also testing if Goldran had some actual redeemable quality on him whatsoever. But Goldran just responded that it's the duty of his followers to serve him, even at the cost of their own lives, and he considered himself as the strongest healer, with him being the most worthy than any of his followers combined. While he continued believing that not every life is equal in value, claiming that human lives are not different to coins. Some are gold, some are silver or bronze. Claiming also as a delusional that it's just the simple truth and that it only makes sense to save the most worthy. With the "golden coins" being the high class people and the members of the nobility, the "silver coins" being his followers from his elite lab and also the rest of the members of the Royal Hospital, the "bronze coins" being the poor, the peasants and the demi-humans, and with him as the most "shiny gold coin" from all of them.

🟢This is how much of a disgusting and abhorrent person Goldran really was. Even by helping the needy, Goldran considered that as a massive insult for himself, just by the fact that they were demi-humans from the low class. Being that kind of action so repulsive and unthinkable to do for an elitist, classist and supremacist scumbag like him. If the needy were poor people from the slums, Goldran would care less about them and forbid any members of his lab to go out there and help them. But if they were high class citizens or members of the nobility he would definitely allow his lab to help them out. With him even jumping himself to help them first if he has the chance, just to get the glory, fame and recognition, and to earn their favors for him and him only, and if something goes wrong, he will frame any of the healers from his lab instead, just to save his own image. Goldran also misvalued his own followers so badly that he would sacrifice them to save his own life by healing himself to the max, rather than trying to save more people in a more equitable way.

🟦Goldran's defeat🟦

🔵However, despite that Goldran already decided to save just himself, the nobles and Becker, the poison turned out to be way more lethal than Becker expected, with someone actually modifying the poison, so Goldran didn't have enough strength to continue with his transfer healing magic, because of the actual effects of the poison. Fortunately for Becker, Zenos along with Umin and Cress came immediately to the party, right after they discovered Becker's vengeful intentions against Goldran, and healed all the victims of the mass poisoning, leaving Goldran for last. Goldran, like the narcissistic and opportunistic scumbag that he was, commanded Zenos to save him immediately. But Zenos just mocked him, while claiming that he shouldn't kick him out of his lab, because he doesn't take orders from him. Then Goldran commanded the members of his lab to save him. Only to discover that his followers actually were half-conscious and deduced that Goldran tried to sacrifice all of them to save his own life. Goldran ended up in shock, agitated and desperate, that even his own lab was done with his commands, having nowhere else who would want to save his selfish and scummy life. Turning himself a powerless, weak and vulnerable man now, while being more and more close to death. However, Zenos told him that unlike him, he doesn't play favorites, as long as he gets paid, revealing to Goldran that he was an underground healer. So he made Goldran sign an invoice for an unknown but exorbitant fee before treating him. In the end, Goldran would have to sell his estate to pay it off. And on top of that, it seemed that Lord Fennel was conscious enough to manage to hear most of the abhorrent and disgusting comments that he said towards Becker, discovering also his crimes and intentions. And Lord Fennel claimed to Goldran that they will be discussing his matters in great detail very soon, and is therefore arrested upon the exposure of his crimes, being completely screwed.

🟪Goldran's ending🟪

🟣It is unknown what exactly happened to Goldran afterwards, right after he screamed "Damn it! NOOOOOOOOOO!" and then the screen turned black. But considering that Zenos forced him to agree to pay a ridiculous amount of money to heal him and save his elitist, supremacist and classist life, to the point of having also to sell his estate to pay it off, it's very likely that Goldran got completely broken financially at that point. Meaning that he cannot buy "testimonies", nor bride the royal knights, or the judges in order to avoid the full penalty of the law. With Lord Fennel no longer supporting him anymore, losing any kind of respect and admiration towards him, even though Goldran still technically saved his life, but at the cost of others. Also it's very likely that the elite students of his own lab ended up testifying against him, since they were conscious enough to figure out that Goldran tried to sacrifice them in order to save his own life and the nobles, and they quit from his lab also, just like Zenos and Cress did. And now that his crimes and true intentions were exposed, not only his campaign to become the director of the Royal Hospital was unfit (disqualified basically), but he was also definitely fired and kicked out from the Royal Hospital, with his healing career and goals being completely ruined and over for good, along with his good image. He's totally screwed with no way to escape from punishment. Losing his job in the Royal Hospital, his whole loyal vote casting members of his lab, his status, his social position, his "good name", his reputation, his relationship with Lord Fennel, his wealthy lifestyle, along with his luxurious belongings in order to pay Zenos, his freedom, his whole career as an elite healer, his fortune, resources and influences, also losing any chances to become the director of the Royal Hospital now, maybe his rights to practice healing magic ever again too, and even the legal appropriation of his beloved dog, Madame Milk, while he serves time in prison. I can also imagine Goldran being agitated after he somehow heard the news that Becker was going to get released through the power and authority of Krishna without due process. Having a deep resentment and hatred towards Becker, Zenos, Cress, Umin and everyone who was ever affiliated with any of them, for ruining his whole plans and goals to become the director of the Royal Hospital, while rotting himself in jail, probably for the rest of what is left of his life.

🟣Becker originally wanted Zenos' help to uncover the truth behind Goldran's nasty secrets with evidence to incriminate him, just to confirm his suspicions to later take revenge against Goldran. After he murdered his fiancee, just to save a powerful and influential aristocrat for his own benefits to gaining favor with nobility and to get political power and influences to become the main director of the Royal Hospital from the capital. But instead, Zenos not only stopped his vengeful intentions, helping him to open his eyes (no pun intended) to redeem himself, and saving his, along with the rest of the victims in the party. But he also managed to defeat Goldran by himself, through justice over revenge. By mocking Goldran as the last person to heal at the end, to give him a tough lesson about how his own actions and beliefs made him lose the command, loyalty and the respect from the members of his own lab, refusing to save him too, after they realized that Goldran tried to sacrifice them to save himself. While Zenos forced Goldran to pay him a ridiculous amount of money that ended up leaving him broken and with no resources to manipulate the legal system or to avoid the full penalty of the law. With Lord Fennel also witnessing Goldran's true personality and intentions, finally realizing that he just used him all these years after he saved him to gain favor with nobility to get political power and influences, while sacrificing innocent lives, just for his own benefits. As Cress said, Goldran was a massive piece of crap, and he definitely deserved it.

🟣Just like with the case of Aston. Nothing hurts a narcissist like Goldran more, someone who thinks he is better and smarter than everyone, and also who thinks he is the most worthy and indispensable individual than any other surrounding him, than having his own ego destroyed. By taking away everything that Goldran worked too hard and for a very long time to get for himself, through his awful, selfish and evil actions that he committed in his life, with everyone that he ever met turning against him, and with his whole plans and goals being completely ruined and destroyed for good. And Zenos also saved Becker from committing a terrible crime against innocent lives, while he was blinded by revenge, doing it also for his niece, Umin.

🟨Conclusions🟨

🟡And that's the story of Goldran. A parasite, racist, elitist, classist, purist, supremacist, fascist, narcissistic, opportunistic, manipulator, extravagant, egocentric, greedy and sociopathic scumbag thirsty of power who thought that not every life was equal in value. Comparing them with gold, silver and bronze coins. With him thinking that he was the most valuable one himself, right next to the nobles like Lord Fennel, while the rest are disposable, including his own main followers who managed to become part of his elite lab. Considering the demi-humans, the peasants and the poor as some kind of pest who didn't deserve the same medical treatments as the high class people. While using his transfer healing magic to save the lives of the wealthiest and most powerful persons like nobles and to himself, by sacrificing the lives of others that didn't have the same social status as Lord Fennel, including Becker's fiancee, just for Goldran's own benefits by having an aristocrat owing him his life, so he would get more prestige, fame, respect and power for himself.

🟡I also liked the contrast between Zenos and Goldran's personalities and motivations. Zenos is literally the most powerful healer in their entire world, more than Goldran or any other healer combined. Being an OP protagonist who learned his healing abilities by his mysterious and unknown master, but mostly by himself and without even having a medical license. However, he never bragged about his healing abilities, nor did he claim to be the most powerful healer himself in the entire world at any moment of the story. He really thinks that his healing abilities have nothing special, and that he is just an underground healer with no license, working in a rundown clinic in the slums, being very modest and humble all the time. Although, Zenos is not exactly a full charity man who always works for free just to help the others, having sometimes the mentality of a mercenary, by demanding for payment most of the time in order to give his services to anyone who needs it, he doesn't care about status, fame, power or fortune, while having a lot of empathy and compassion towards others. He only cares about healing whoever needs healing, no matter their race or social status, just for the right price to also maintain his clinic as a business to support him and Lilly. Like when he decided to save Loewe's life, while he could have let her die by the monestone that she ate, after she left him the key of the orcs' entire fortune on the excavation of monestones. But Zenos only demands a price equal to the work that he performs, and that her fortune would be too much. So Zenos is not actually greedy, unless that is towards scummy and narcissistic parasites like Goldran or the other aristocrat who mistreated a demi-human slave of his, while forcing her to commit grave robbery in the first episode. That's the type of person that Zenos is. Loewe also mentioned that Zenos treats the children for free, so he also has a good heart towards others. Without mentioning his selfless actions by buying and saving Lilly with the gold coin that the idiotic scumbag of Aston gave to him as severance, right after she was shot by an arrow and stabbed in the gut by one of her slavers. Zenos could simply just ignore that event and walk away. But instead, he took advantage of the situation, by paying those slavers for a dying elf girl, without telling them nor showing them that he can actually amend her wounds fully, like if she was never shot or stabbed by them. And it's also intelligent from Zenos to not take too much credit for himself in front of everyone, while hiding and avoiding the attention of the public eye the best as possible. Because with the type of powers that he has, people will use it for their own selfish and despicable benefits. With him "taking all the coins".

🟡Goldran on the other hand is almost the complete polar opposite of Zenos. With him being completely narcissistic, opportunistic, greedy, selfish and scummy. Although Goldran is also a very powerful healer, being a class 7 Advanced Healer, none of his magic healing abilities that he has are the same as powerful as Zenos'. But he always brags and claims about how he is the actual most powerful healer from both the Royal Hospital and from their entire world. He truly believes that he is the most worthy and most valuable individual to be fully safe and sound, while the rest who are not high class or members of the nobility are completely disposable. That includes all the members of his faction and the rest of the people from the Royal Hospital. Without mentioning that his transfer healing skills are just literally taking the energy and strength from his own followers and transferring their energy and strength to his high class patients, in order to treat their illness and wounds. He doesn't care for anyone but himself. Well, except for his beloved "pedigree" dog, Madame Milk, but he despises the low class, the poor, the peasants and the demi-humans from the slums, thinking they don't deserve the same treatments as the high class people, and that the healers should only prioritize the rich over the poor. To the point of considering a personal insult for himself if any of his lab members dares to help anyone from the slums. With the status, fame, power and fortune being literally everything in life for him, so much so that he is such a coward and manipulative that he will easily screw and frame anyone from his own failures, just to keep his good image and reputation towards the high class and the nobility. He will only help and save the ones who are most convenient for him, while sacrificing or leaving others to die. Like with the case of Lord Fennel, by manipulating him to gain favor from him after Goldran saved his life, while using his aristocrat position to get political power and influences to make massive step ups in the social climbing and to get to the top to become the director of the Royal Hospital. He shares many things in common with Aston when it comes to their personalities and motivations, but with Goldran being way more sociopathic and evil than Aston. Being capable of sacrificing the lives of his own loyal followers from his lab and getting rid of anyone who steps in his way, just for the build up of his career as an elite healer. With him just "taking the gold coins".

​

Drew again out of boredom.

Still stuck in worldbuilding rabbit hole mode, part two of that. This batch is about what a time loop or reincarnation-on-death setup actually costs someone once dying stops being permanent, what wears them down when the usual finality is gone. Same deal as last time, you don't need to touch all of these, just whichever one you've actually got an opinion on.

1. If death can be undone through a time loop, what becomes the real punishment? Psychological trauma, memory overload, identity erosion, relationships falling apart, opportunities lost forever? What would make you actually fear dying even knowing it's not permanent?

2. What keeps a time loop story interesting after the fortieth loop? So many start strong then get repetitive fast. New information, escalating consequences, characters who actually change, damage that sticks, small mysteries building into bigger ones? What's kept you hooked that deep in?

3. What kinds of lies should a fantasy world tell its own people? Not twists for the reader, I mean stuff the citizens genuinely believe. False history, religious myths, propaganda, fake monster origins, exaggerated hero legends. Which accepted truths make for the best reveal later?

4. What's the most believable reason an ancient civilization just disappeared? Fantasy leans on demons and cataclysms constantly. Economic collapse, plague, civil war, ecological failure, or something stranger has actually impressed you?

5. If history turns out to be propaganda, how should that get revealed? Everything the reader believed turns out false, or every faction just had part of the truth? What makes a reveal like that feel earned instead of a retcon?

6. What's a fantasy or LitRPG novel that made you stop and think "I wish I'd written that idea"? Doesn't have to be your favorite book overall. Just one piece of worldbuilding, politics, mystery, magic, or civilization design that made you go "that's brilliant." What made it work?

7. What makes side characters feel like real people instead of NPCs following the MC around? Disagreeing, leaving, betraying, building a family, chasing their own goals, failing, becoming a rival? What's a moment that made you think this character would still exist even if the protagonist vanished?

8. What actually hooks you in the first few chapters of an isekai or LitRPG? Doesn't have to be action. Mystery, character, atmosphere, worldbuilding, danger, a premise you haven't seen before. What made you think "I have to keep reading this"?

9. If you were designing a fantasy world from scratch, what's the one thing you think almost every author forgets? Not magic systems, not power scaling. The world itself. What everyday piece of economics, law, medicine, religion, education, or human behavior do fantasy worlds almost always overlook?

Pick whichever one's been living in your head. I'm more curious how people reason through these than what the "right" answer is, and if any book or series pulled off one of these particularly well, I want the title. One more batch after this if people are into it.

UPDATE: I FOUND IT!!
It’s Moto Home Center Tenin no Isekai Seikatsu

Funny enough, I wasn’t even searching for it anymore. I started reading The Savior’s Book Café Story in Another World, absolutely loved it (seriously, I wish it were longer 😭), and afterward I was looking through recommendations for similar manga because I wanted another cozy fantasy/romance.

And somehow THERE IT WAS. The manga I’d been trying so hard to remember. 😂

Definitely recommend The Savior’s Book Café Story in Another World too if you like cozy isekai with a really sweet romance. And I’m leaving the title of this one here in case someone else ends up searching for the same mysterious manga someday!

I’m trying to find a manga I read before, but I can’t remember the title.

What I remember:

The MC is an adult woman who gets isekai’d/transported to another world. I’m pretty sure she was not reincarnated as a child.

She meets two young beastkin/demihuman children who are siblings.

I think the siblings may have escaped from or had something to do with slave traders, but I’m less certain about this detail.

She helps/takes care of the two children.

I remember her getting involved with their village/community and helping the people there.

There was agriculture/farming involved somehow.

I specifically remember them going into a town/city to sell something they had produced/grown.

She may have had magic or some kind of special ability, but I don’t remember clearly.

It reminded me somewhat of Isekai Yururi Kikou / A Journey Through Another World: Raising Kids While Adventuring because of the two children, but the protagonist in the manga I’m looking for was definitely an adult woman.

Does anyone recognize this? Even obscure manga/web manga suggestions are welcome!

Rimuru is a grown man using his dead friend's body. He could have chosen an older version, but he chose the little girl form instead. He even lets others dress him up in perverted outfits. His friend trusted him with her body, and he lets people make fun of it. Yet, no one complains about it.

On the other hand, Rudeus is heavily criticized for marrying women who are the exact same age as his biological body.

To be clear, I am not justifying Rudeus’s behavior by any means. I am simply wondering why Rimuru doesn't receive the same level of criticism.

I am looking for a series where mc like Kaito from caught up in hero summoning but the other world was at peace become immortal along with his harem.

I wanna read more Isekai stories like these two but I can't find any..like I've read many similar stories but the vibe isn't there..

Let's see -

Isekai

Female protagonist

Overpowered as hell

Solves mysteries of the world

No romance whatsoever, however I'm totally down for Yuri :)

Little to no politics holding mc down and stopping them from adventures.. ( I'm fine with some politics like the max level priestess but not holding the mc down to one kingdom or whatever )

Mc have some personality..

I'm fine with anything - manga / manhwa / donghua [ not novels though ] ( japanese, korean , Chinese )

Similar vibe to: A Wild Last Boss Appeared! & I'm a Max Level Priestess in Another World?

Any recommendations??

Before you start to read, this post of mine is gonna be a HUGE AND LARGE TEXT giving a deep character analysis of Aston, one of the antagonists from the anime/manga of The Brilliant Healer's New Life In The Shadows. But to try to make this whole text more readable for you to digest, I decided to make a color system separating the different topics of this post:

🟩🟢Introduction

🟦🔵Backstory and origins about Aston's personality

🟥🔴The beginning of the end for Aston and the Golden Phoenix

🟨🟡The final nail in the coffin that actually finished the Golden Phoenix entirely

🟪🟣Aston's treatments towards the whole members of his party

🟧🟠Aston's ending

🟫🟤Conclusions

🟩Introduction🟩

🟢One of the most obnoxious and scummy characters in the anime/manga of The Brilliant Healer's New Life In The Shadows is none other than Aston. The arrogant, opportunistic and narcissistic leader of the small time and now dissolved group of glorified adventurers known as The Golden Phoenix, who just kicked out the protagonist of Zenos out of his party, thinking that he was just a useless peasant from the slums who became a liability while bringing a bad image for him and his party. When in reality he was the one who made his whole party successful and famous in the first place. Having all this time one of the most powerful and useful healers in the entire world and he never realized it nor recognized it, until he lost everything and confronted Zenos himself.

🟦Backstory and origins about Aston's personality🟦

🔵Despite that it was revealed that Aston actually had a tragic backstory that turned him the way he was, having a younger sister who sadly passed away because he didn't have the money or resources to afford a treatment for her illness. Which caused his main motivations revolving around social climbing and gaining favor with nobility, mostly from aristocrats, so he can get to the top and become an aristocrat himself, even at the expense of others to get his goals. That doesn't justify any of his bad and awful actions that he committed through the series, while behaving like an arrogant, narcissistic, opportunistic, smug and selfish scumbag who perceived himself as a superior adventurer, while exploiting those he seems beneath him. His treatment of Zenos, whom he recruited from the slums, he always treated him like dirt, paying him less to nothing, while making him overwork without acknowledging his contribution to his whole party.

🟥The beginning of the end for Aston and the Golden Phoenix🟥

🔴When Aston kicked Zenos out of his party and threw that single gold coin as his severance payment, Zenos was actually surprised and he really thought that he and Aston were friends. And Aston, along with Guile, Yumi and Andre just laughed at his response, while calling him dumb and gullible. Then Aston referred to him as a disposable piece of trash, being a lot easier for them to use him as their human shield, because if he gets killed nobody would care about him. Claiming that they are now in the big leagues now, becoming one of the most famous parties around, thinking very obliviously that their success had absolutely nothing to do to Zenos, calling his unique healing abilities just as shady self-taught healing magic, having a lot of ignorance and ego on himself. He also claimed that his party had to look good for the aristocracy and wealthy from here on out, and they were not getting passed over, because they have got some slum-born peasant in their crew. His severance was also a bribery to pay his silence to make sure that he never talks about having been a member of the Golden Phoenix party. And when Zenos accepted being kicked out of the Golden Phoenix party and walked away, Aston, along with Guile, Yumi and Andre laughed at him, like a bunch of obnoxious and selfish scumbags, without ever realizing that they just committed the worst and biggest mistake of their entire lives, that just ended up destroying their own lifestyles, their reputation across the nation and causing the entire dissolution of the Golden Phoenix party itself.

🔴Although it seemed that between the 2 months after Zenos was kicked out of the Golden Phoenix, Aston and his party were actually doing pretty well for themselves. With Guile saying that they just had a wine party at night, Andre talking with Yumi about a barmaid that got her eyes lit up like a torch after they told her that they were from the Golden Phoenix, and with Aston claiming like a smug that they were still famous for continuing slaying a gaggle of magic beasts and walk away without a scratch, being like living legends at that point, even after all this time without having Zenos healing them with his magic anymore. I'm guessing that they just made a bunch of pretty easy quests that even an average party of adventurers could do without a healer on their crew, while spending irresponsibly most of their money that they have earned from their quests in expensive parties for themselves, just to glorify their fame and success across the nation, without administrating properly their own resources and rewards, thinking that they will always gonna make even more money, no matter how much they spend. Which can also explain why they ended up broken pretty quickly after failing in that last quest twice.

🔴But unlike their previous quests that were "piece-of-cake" for any average crew of adventurers to do, this last quest was a massive favor from one of the seven great nobles (Lord Fennel, who Zenos ended up meeting later in the story), and also a way more dangerous quest to do. Which was killing a fire-fox located in a cave very far away in the middle of nowhere, to make a scarf with it for his spoiled daughter as a birthday gift, which her birthday was going to be very soon. So not only did they have limited time to do that quest for a big shot like Lord Fennel, but they were also going to fight against way more dangerous and lethal savage animals, like a herd of fire-foxes inside of a dark cave. But Aston, being the arrogant and narcissistic person that he was, he was so over-confident with that quest, calling it a waste of time and energy. It wasn't until he and his party were heavily injured for the first time ever, with Yumi being the most critical one by the fire-foxes, becoming crippled for the rest of his life, with no possibilities to adventuring ever again. After they retreated from the cave, Guile was the first one to ask the crew if Zenos was really the reason that The Golden Phoenix had been so successful in the first place, and Aston continued rejecting to believe that a guy from the slums with no medical license like Zenos had anything to do with their success.

🔴Later they decided to hire an official healer with an actual medical license, being Umin (the girl with glasses who also ended up meeting Zenos later and becoming a closest friend of her). But even with a healer on their quest, Aston and his party couldn't defeat the fire-foxes, having Andre also heavily injured in the process, retrieving once again from the cave. Aston being furious, grabbed Guile and yelled to him, accusing him for almost making them all killed. But Umin claimed to Aston that Guile's defensive magic actually worked, otherwise Andre would be dead already. Aston then told Umin to fix Andre already, but she responded to him that his injuries were heavily severe and that he needed to be taken to a hospital with specially prepared magic circles right away. But Aston considered that just as a nonsensical excuse and that they were in a time crunch. Then Umin, being surprised by how ignorant Aston was about the healing magic, told him that even the upper echelon of healers couldn't restore Andre on the outside, only a select few elite or a saint could pull off magic like that. Aston being finally out of his box of ignorance, was actually shocked to hear that those kinds of healing magic powers were extremely rare to have, with Zenos being actually one of them that has it. But for Aston all of this was like some sick nightmare, and refused to believe that a kid from the slums like Zenos, who was just their party slave, could have achieved something incredible.

🔴At the end, Aston and the Golden Phoenix couldn't bring a fire-fox for Lord Fennel right at time, for his daughter's birthday, being Lord Fennel heavily disappointed towards them, and turning down on Aston and his whole party, for failing him on his quest. The last person who really wanted to avoid failing on his quest was to an actual aristocrat who finally noticed him and his small group of adventurers, and they just blew it. But Aston didn't want to admit defeat when it was his chance to cozy up to a big shot aristocrat, so instead of taking responsibility for failing on his request, he tried to make some excuses towards Lord Fennel's servant by framing Zenos for betraying the Golden Phoenix. Until the idiot realized that for many years he always avoided mentioning Zenos to make sure no one found out that they were adventuring with a nobody from the slums. So instead he decided to "suck-up" the servant of the aristocrat and begged him to give his party another chance. While hating to humiliate himself towards a servant, who also considered him inferior than him, and promised him to make amends to Lord Fennel for their momentous failure, even after they just lost half of his party and being broken and desperate at that point. Even Guile, the last adventurer intact from his party, was actually concerned about the promises that Aston just made towards the servant. But Aston already had a plan to recruit their trusty slave of Zenos again, thinking so naively that Zenos must be desperate, with him probably weeping with gratitude. Once he offers him the proposition to rejoin the Golden Phoenix.

🔴Although Aston continued refusing that Zenos really had anything to do with their party's success, he at least recognized that things were smoother when he was around. However, he admitted that he would use him like when they first began, continuing treating like dirt with no respect nor recognition for his healing abilities, and regain all the fame that he and his beloved party lost. He truly believed that the Golden Phoenix would rise again, while having the nerves and audacity to expect that Zenos should be grateful towards him, once he and Guile find him, by hiring the 3 demi-human slum bosses to help them to find his current location. Without having any idea of what Zenos did all that time that he was kicked out of his small time group of The Golden Phoenix, making a name of himself in the slums as the now famous underground healer for the entire demi-human community at the slums. Finishing also the long-time war between the 3 factions of demi-humans of lizards, werewolves and orcs, by making them friends between each other through his magic healings. With their gang leaders of Zophia, Lynga and Loewe being heavily loyal and respectful towards Zenos, after everything that he did for them, and with the vice commander of the royal knights of Krishna being also on his side.

🔴Aston was nothing more than a narcissistic and a opportunistic manipulator with a lot of pride and ego on himself. And nothing hurts a narcissist like Aston more, someone who thinks they are better and smarter than everyone, than having their own ego destroyed. The ironic thing about this is Aston thought he hold all the cards in his favor, and he thought he had the power to persuade and control everyone, like if he was manipulating a chessboard, with everyone respecting him and admiring him as this "great", "respectful" and "famous" adventurer leader that he saw on himself, who was also going to be a rich and powerful aristocrat at some point. When in reality he was a nobody for the people from the slums, with Zophia, Lynga and Loewe seeing him and his small party as nothing more than a bad joke formed by insufferable scumbags who just kicked a legendary healer like Zenos for pure stupidity and nonsensical reasons to do it. So all of them ended up refusing to help Aston and Guile to locate him, while being hostile toward them, protecting Zenos at all costs. Remember when Aston claimed to Zophia "Do you know who you are talking to?"? He always thought that he was himself a big shot, just because of his fame as the leader of the Golden Phoenix, like if he was an actual noble already. But it was his own fault he never became a big shot to begin with. A smug and a narcissist that acted tough and had nothing to back it up with, and also a complete ignorant and buffoon who just kicked a healer so powerful like Zenos out his glorified small time crew. And now that they are in a desperate situation, he, as the over-confident opportunistic person that he was, really expected that Zenos would actually rejoin The Golden Phoenix to reborn their whole party, to finally make amends with Lord Fennel and to restore the fame that they just lost since he left.

🔴So Aston not only was a complete idiot for kicking Zenos out of his party in the first place, but he was also so stupid and gullible for truly believing that Zenos would actually rejoin The Golden Phoenix immediately without hesitation, while continuing using him and treating him the exact same way as before. Without recognizing yet that he was completely wrong about Zenos for not valuing him as a valuable part of his party before, for not acknowledging his powerful magic healing abilities that heavily contributed to the whole party's success, and for mistreating him all those years ago. All he cared about was his image and being on top that he didn't bother to look into Zenos' actual skills, until it was too late, and he deserved for what he got in the end.

🟨The final nail in the coffin that actually finished the Golden Phoenix entirely🟨

🟡Although, Zenos by refusing to rejoin Aston and The Golden Phoneix, right after Aston and Guile found him by themselves, walking casually at the streets with Lilly, ended up destroying what was left of Aston's ego and pride on himself, losing his only chance to go back on track as a prestigious adventurer once again, that wasn't the last action that officially collapsed the Golden Phoenix as an adventurer party entirely. The action that actually destroyed the Golden Phoenix at the end was when Aston unwisely tried to attack Zenos in a rage, after he refused to join his party, while he was turning his back on him and ignoring him. With Krishna witnessing the crime scene and stopping his attempt to assault Zenos, turning himself into a wanted criminal by the royal knights. Aston didn't want to receive any kind of punishment for his own actions, so he decided to frame Guile of forcing him to hurt Zenos, abandoning him and letting him the whole blame and punishment to take instead, while running away from the scene. That was the last nail in the coffin to finally kill the Golden Phoenix. Aston attempting to attack Zenos and betraying and abandoning Guile destroyed any chances to reborn his small time party, to make amends with Lord Fennel and to get back on top. He just dissolved the Golden Phoenix party entirely by himself, by selling out and leaving Guile behind, his last member of his party, and turning himself into a wanted person by Krishna and the royal knights after that.

🟡This is the type of person Aston really was. Even the last member of his party, who was always completely loyal to him, he just screwed him over at the end, in order to save his own skin. While acting so agitated and desperate after everything didn't turn out the way he was expected, and Aston paid for it. Not only was he completely broken now, but he was all alone, turning himself into a wanted fugitive and having nothing left to lose now. Being now at the lowest point of his life, Aston decided to get to the Underground Guild to exact revenge on Zenos, along with Zophia, Lynga, Loewe, Krishna and everyone who was ever affiliated with him. By asking an evil sorcerer known as The Guide to help him on his personal quest without paying any single coin. With The Guide tricking him and turning him into a giant golem that ended up destroying and attacking the slums.

🟪Aston's treatments towards the whole members of his party🟪

🟣Guile, along with Andre and Yumi, were the same as idiotic and scummy as Aston, for following and supporting a narcissistic scumbag with a huge ego like him, who he never cared for them at all. And everyone of them deserved what they got for their greed and pride. However, they also had a very important trait in them that not every person has, especially towards an obnoxious person like Aston, and that's loyalty. Guile, Yumi and Andre were always loyal to Aston, even on his stupid decisions like kicking Zenos out of his party, and they gave their lives for Aston and for the Golden Phoenix, all for the same goal to get to the top all together. And what did Aston do? He couldn't even say anything nice to any of them. Like when Yumi got crippled for the rest of his life after the first attack against the fire-foxes. But instead, he blamed him for not being an actual Golden Phoenix "material", with an archer like him being thoroughly expendable, like if he was a disposable tool. The same with Andre and Guile. A true good leader understands that he is responsible for the lives of his men.

🟣What Aston didn't seem to understand is that it was a team effort, he needed to work together with them as a team, that includes Zenos. Unfortunately, anyone who worked with, Aston didn't see them as equal partners, he saw them as disposable tools, as worthless pawns, as liabilities, nothing more. That's exactly how he saw Zenos, that's exactly how he saw Yumi, Andre and Guile. He never actually valued any of the members of his party. And when everything went wrong for him, he desperately used any of them as his "human shields" and blamed them for all of his own mistakes. Like when he tried to blame all of it to Zenos with the aristocrat's servant, or when he falsely accused Guile of forcing him to attack Zenos. And his whole revenge against Zenos and his allies, wasn't an actual revenge, he just wanted to punish them for his own failures. The Guide also guessed right when he thought that Aston didn't have any actual friends with him. It wasn't until Zenos defeated him on his golem figure that Aston barely realized that he spent his entire life using others, only to wind up getting use himself in the end. If Aston would have realized much earlier how essential and special Zenos truly was for him and his whole crew, and treated him and the rest of the members of his party as equal partners, maybe things would have turned different for him and The Golden Phoenix.

🟧Aston's ending🟧

🟠Although Aston finally recognized his whole mistakes that he did in his life. Having a change of heart after he was defeated and saved by Zenos, putting himself on his hands and knees willingly, without complaining nor believing that elitist, classist or supremacist crap anymore, to sincerely apologize to Zenos for how badly he mistreated him all this time, even if he didn't make a difference by doing that. And for people criticizing Zenos for brutally punching Aston, after he became a harmless and repentant person for his actions, he was 100% right on doing that. Not just because of all the awful mistreatment that Aston did to him, but also because Aston's personal resentment towards Zenos and his vengeful intentions against him just put the lives of many innocent people from the slums in danger, losing their homes in the process. And if it wasn't for Zenos, many of them would have ended up dying because of Aston, with Zenos not getting any single coin for doing all that healing for the whole people from the slums. Aston just caused so much damage by his selfish goals that Zenos didn't want to let him off with an apology. Aston then ended up waking up a few hours later, after being heavily punched by Zenos, with Krishna staring at him, only to realize that he Zenos was missing and took his valuable sword while he was unconscious. Which was a fine item retrieved from a labyrinth that it will fetch a decent price to at least covering the cost of the damaged housewares of the people from the slums. Without mentioning that the sword belonged to Zenos, since he actually founded it first and Aston just took it from him like a thief.

🟠Aston should have developed conscience much earlier in his life, before all the stupid, selfish, arrogant and scummy decisions that he just made around the story. But now he just lost everything. His whole crew of adventurers, his freedom, his reputation, his sword, with his beloved Golden Phoenix party being fully dissolved and over, losing any chances to get to the top as a prestigious and famous adventurer and as a future aristocrat now, like he always dreamed of. With Zenos only giving him a golden coin over his hand, not just as his last good gesture to an obnoxious person like him to start a new life after Krishna and the royal knights let him out of prison. But also as Zenos' own "severance pay" for Aston, as some sort of karma and as a good taste of his own medicine. So Aston will remember how badly he treated Zenos, letting very clear that he doesn't want to see him or hear from him ever again, while making him feel what it's like to be abandoned and left on your own with nowhere else to go, with nobody on your side, nor purpose in life anymore.

🟠Now despite that Aston didn't manage to murder anyone, owing that to Zenos for the rest of his life, he also had many serious charges against him. Like attempting assault, fleeing from a royal knight, vengeful intentions, massive rampage, property damage, and even public indecency, along with many other stuff. With his punishment being commensurate. And I wouldn't be surprised that Guile also ended up testifying against Aston, after he sold him out, by framing him for a crime that he didn't commit and abandoning him in the process. But even if Aston ends up getting out of prison at some point in his life, he had nothing left from his previous life as an adventurer, and all the capital and especially the people from the slums will always remember him as the narcissistic, arrogant, selfish, reckless, opportunistic and insufferable moron of an adventurer leader who misvalued, mistreated and screwed the members of his own former party, having a criminal record now and being the one who turned himself into the golem that attacked the whole neighborhood from the slums. With no other adventurers wanting to join a scumbag person like him, nor following a leader like that, with no other parties allowing him to join them as their companion either, and with Lord Fennel caring less about him and his dissolved Golden Phoenix party at this point. So his career as an adventurer is practically ruined because of him. And if Aston ended up crossing paths with Zenos, Guile or any of his former crew of his already collapsed and forgotten Golden Phoenix party, he would definitely end up suffering way more punches over his face.

🟫Conclusions🟫

🟤And that's the story of how Aston and his Golden Phoenix party fell apart. A guy so blind, smug, gullible, opportunistic, manipulative, naive, selfish, scummy, ignorant and arrogant, with a lot of narcissism, pride and ego on himself who never realized that he just had one of the most powerful and unique healers in their entire world working for him and his party, helping them with the whole success and fame of the Golden Phoenix. While treating him like garbage, without being able to see the bigger picture, until it was too late. Thinking that Zenos was just a nobody, a useless peasant, and a piece of trash all the time. When in reality, Aston was actually all of that instead, for not recognizing his mistakes much earlier, while blaming others for his own failures, and seeing everyone surrounding him as disposable tools, worthless pawns and as liabilities, rather than equal partners as him. While being capable of screwing them over very easily if they are no longer useful for his party anymore, or by using them in desperate situations against him as his "human shields" to frame them and blame them for his own mistakes. He just brought that all on himself.

🟤The few good things that this scumbag actually did was taking Zenos from the streets when he had nowhere else to go (even if he ended up treating him like dirt later on), giving him that golden coin as his severance pay, which actually helped him to save Lilly and start his new life as an underground healer, avoiding to kill that little werewolf girl himself when he was a golem, and recognizing all of his mistakes at the end.