I Became a Burden to the Conscienceless Party

In the end, according to Jim’s scheme, the hero, Esmeralda, set out on a journey with Jim alone. Jim already has bad rumors surrounding him both inside and out.
No one would be pleased with Jim’s journey to his hometown.
In fact, if the hero had some backing or belonged to a group, this would have been a matter that could be flatly refused.
But the image she had built as a hero so far made it impossible for her to do so.
She is a person who moves with good intentions.
Therefore, she cannot refuse a request made by a comrade shedding tears.
Of course, Jim’s evaluation, which was already scraping the bottom, will plummet even further because of this.
But if Jim succeeds in escaping as planned, that will all be meaningless in the end.

‘Ugh, how annoying.’

Esmeralda smiled brightly while observing Jim, who was following behind her with a small backpack.
Despite having been a baggage carrier for a long time, he was visibly sweating profusely from just this much weight.
It’s not strange since he was originally a magic-type, but…

[Tireless Stamina Lv. 2]

Still, his physical strength was too poor.

‘Is there any meaning to that characteristic?’

Jim is the first to get tired among the hero party members. Of course, he might be slightly better in stamina compared to Milia the magician and Irina the clergy.
But basically, because he carries luggage, he consumes more stamina than those two.
Still, the two characteristics that developed from somehow rolling along as a baggage carrier.
Even then, the level of the characteristics is low.

[Comprehensive Estimate: Lv. 274]

To the extent that there’s no change in the level of the comprehensive estimate.
It would be fair to say that Jim’s physical and mental growth was almost non-existent.
Of course, the comprehensive estimate isn’t high just because the level of characteristics is high.
That’s just a measure of the skills that can be shown in battle. In reality, even if there were a string of characteristics, it doesn’t mean the comprehensive estimate would be high.
Of course, the higher the characteristic level, the higher the probability of being strong.
But Jim’s comprehensive estimate was strangely high to some degree.
The combat-related characteristics Jim has are just common magic and black magic. Even then, it’s just a drop in the bucket compared to Milia.
But that’s why it was strange.
Compared to when they first encountered Jim, Milia had a higher level of common magic than Jim from the start.
Black magic was similar.
Yet Milia was weaker than Jim. She has other magic too, but Milia’s comprehensive estimate was around 200.

‘I need to check that someday too.’

Probably because of a single characteristic.

Blue Blood Lv. 1

A characteristic she had never seen or heard of.
That’s why she couldn’t know.
Although she had grasped the extent of Jim’s abilities so far, this characteristic was still unconfirmable.
An unidentified characteristic that gave Jim an unbelievable comprehensive estimate despite being level 1.
Of course, she recently learned that the black magic Jim uses feels different from other demons, but…

‘There wasn’t a big enough difference to feel it as a threat.’

Power befitting the level of black magic. That’s why Esmeralda had no choice but to keep an eye on Jim’s only characteristic.
So she used Jim as bait.
Sending blind arrows or slightly pushing him when a dragon uses its breath.
Most of Jim’s reasons for wanting to retire were provided by Esmeralda.
Of course, she didn’t intend to kill him, so she did it on a razor’s edge.

‘Doesn’t that bastard know what characteristic he has?’

Esmeralda looked at Jim following behind her with drowsy eyes. His legs were trembling, and it seemed he would reach his limit soon.

“Shall we rest here for today?”
“…Y-Yes, let’s do that.”

Jim was already too exhausted to form proper sentences due to Esmeralda’s forced march.
It was Esmeralda’s intention.
If he’s this tired, he won’t think about sneaking away at night.
She always pushed him hard like this when moving alone with Jim.

“Then rest. I’ll prepare the tent and dinner.”
“I, I, I…”
“Haha, I said rest.”

Esmeralda smiled bitterly and forcibly sat Jim down on a nearby rock.
Jim, forcibly seated like that, couldn’t get up again. He had reached his limit as per Esmeralda’s plan.
Jim is a demon spy. He has been selling their information all this time.
But his act as a baggage carrier is always sincere. The principle that the most useless person does the most miscellaneous work hasn’t changed even until now when he’s thinking of escape.
That sincerity might be why he hasn’t been caught so far.
Yes, that might be why Esmeralda hasn’t killed him.

‘Ah, come to think of it…’

While tidying up the surroundings, Esmeralda glanced at Jim again as if something had suddenly occurred to her.

‘Jim has never tried to kill us even once until now.’

Even when Jim was stronger than her.
Even when he wasn’t.
There were plenty of opportune moments to strike, like during meals or while sleeping.
Esmeralda was confident she could deal with it even so, but it must have been different from Jim’s perspective.

“Really.”

Esmeralda muttered in a cold voice while observing Jim’s behavior.

“You’re a coward.”

The modest camp of the two.
Esmeralda set up the tent, heated up some preserved food for dinner, and then stood watch.
Originally, since there were two people, they should take turns, but Esmeralda doesn’t fully trust Jim.
Moreover, Jim had already reached his physical limit, so he was in a state of being half unconscious.
Esmeralda was leaning against a tree alone, looking up at the moon.
This time alone was the most precious to her. A time when she could be herself.

“Sigh…”

The country girl Esmeralda died the moment she grasped the holy sword.
She must continue to live as a hero from now on. Acting with a stupid expression and wielding a sword for people.
After sighing miserably while looking up at the moon for a while, Esmeralda quietly lowered her head.

“It was faster than expected.”

In front of Esmeralda’s eyes, an old man had approached.
They were gradually getting closer to where Jim’s fake hometown was.
Since she had expected that if demons were to make contact, it would be around this time, Esmeralda didn’t panic and drew her sword.

“It seems you came alone. Well, I guess that means you’re confident?”
“I heard the hero was stupid, but facing you directly, it seems that’s not entirely true.”

The two people facing each other with a campfire between them.
Despite the situation, Jim was sleeping soundly in the tent.
Esmeralda glared at the opponent while trying to ignore the tingling sensation.
The opponent was standing with his hands behind his back, his back straight, as if he didn’t care what she did.
One of her powers, the Emerald Tablet, showed rough information about the opponent.
If we were to extract only the most important…

[Name: Eleven]
[Race: Demon] [Title: Corps Commander]
[List of Characteristics]
Unique Swordsmanship Lv. 82
.
.
.

[Comprehensive Estimate: Lv. 812]
[Note: He is interested in you. Run away.]

Esmeralda belatedly checked the rank insignia on the opponent’s collar.
Three stars. An undeniable general-level executive corresponding to a Major General.
The worst crisis in history.

“Sigh, life really sucks.”

Just looking at the comprehensive estimate, he’s at least twice as strong as her.
Of course, since the numbers of the comprehensive estimate couldn’t be simply compared, it wouldn’t be strange even if the actual gap was not just twice but three or four times.
There was a reason for his composure.
The very fact that he’s an elderly demon is rare to see.
Being old means having survived.
For demons, this principle was a clear truth more than anything else.

“If you run away, I won’t chase you. The mission assigned to me isn’t to subjugate you. At this age, you see. Overtime work becomes tedious.”
“Wow, really?”
“But, leave that friend behind.”
“It’s regrettable, but I have no choice. Goodbye, Jim. It was fun while it lasted.”

Esmeralda immediately sheathed her holy sword and stepped back.

“Don’t you think I might be lying?”
“What else can I do but believe you? I have to believe, right?”

Of course, Esmeralda wasn’t a fool who blindly trusted demons.
She just had a means to be certain.

‘It’s regrettable, but I have to give up. Seeing that even a corps commander is involved in keeping Jim, this won’t end easily.’

Fighting a corps commander to prevent a demon spy from escaping is too much of a losing battle no matter how you look at it.
Honestly, Esmeralda doesn’t know if Jim is worth that much, but now there’s nothing she can do even if she ponders.
Esmeralda thus left the sight of Corps Commander Eleven.

The 11th Corps Commander of the Demon King’s Army, Eleven, slowly entered the tent.
He saw Jim still sleeping in an unconscious state.

“…”

Eleven couldn’t understand no matter how much he thought about it.
What’s so special about this youngster who can’t even detect his killing intent?
Why did he have to receive a recommendation to resign just for asking one question?
He had decided to live his life loyal to the Demon King’s Army. That was an unwavering belief even if the generation of the Demon King changed.
But now, he hesitated whether that was the right thing to do.
In the Demon King’s Army, position and power come from strength.
Is there a reason to give special treatment to a mere soldier with no strength?
Demons originally should mercilessly cut off the weak, even if they are family. In fact, most demons did so, and it was the same for nobles who received proper names.
Therefore, Eleven thought there must be something he didn’t know.
That he might have been immature. That there might have been something he couldn’t see.
And that was something that was half-confirmed through the words of Lilith, the Demon King’s aide.

“I don’t understand. I really don’t understand.”

Lilith confidently said he would understand when he met him. But now, even with a sword at his neck, the other party doesn’t even think of waking up.
He’s sleeping obliviously.
Then whose problem is this?
Is it him who can’t see Jim properly?
Or is it the other fools who are pouring manpower and resources into Jim, mistaking him for the Demon King’s illegitimate child when he’s weak and useless?
Whatever it is, he just needs to check.

“If you are truly a special existence, you should be able to block this much. If you can’t block it, then it’s right for you to disappear like this for the sake of the Demon King’s Army.”

Eleven raised his sword and swung it down towards Jim’s neck.

Clang!
The sound of metal hitting metal.
Eleven looked down at Jim and then slowly raised his head to look at the girl who had blocked his sword.

“I clearly gave you a chance, yet you throw away your life like this?”
“…I was trying to take that chance as much as possible.”

[Note: He intends to kill Jim.]

“No matter what, I can’t leave a comrade to die.”

Esmeralda, as always, jumped into an unfavorable fight.
If Jim returns to the Demon King’s Army, it can’t be helped.
But if Jim is in danger of dying because of Esmeralda’s choice, she will risk her life to protect him.
No, even if it’s not her choice, if Jim is placed under unreasonable threat, she will raise her sword.

“It’s because I’m a hero.”

A hero is someone who saves the innocent. That’s why she had to raise her sword at this moment.
She is not on the side of humanity.
She is not on the side of demons.
She was on the side of the innocent, and.

“If I, who set out to save the world, can’t even protect a comrade, wouldn’t the title of hero weep?”

The current Jim was certainly innocent.
Even if that was by the standards of the Demon King’s Army, not her own.
She was a hero who couldn’t tolerate unreasonableness after all.