I Became a Burden to the Conscienceless Party

“Jim, I’m sorry. I said I would protect you… I guess I’m really a useless person after all.”

Esmeralda shuddered at the gloomy voice.
Milia moving through the flames looked as if she didn’t care what happened to her surroundings.
With each of her steps, amorphous black liquid remained, writhing and sticking to the surroundings.
As if viscous, the amorphous substance clinging to the building walls and floor seemed to be continuously emitting heat, instantly engulfing the surroundings in flames.
She was collapsing the interior of the fortress city with fire tactics using her individual strength.

‘Wow! We don’t have to worry about siege warfare in the future! Now I just have to worry about myself! Damn it!!’

Her mental state looked infinitely unstable, and it seemed like she would collapse the fortress city of Senova as it was if someone didn’t stop her.

“Esmeralda! I’m sorry? I must have said something unnecessary to Milia!”
“Tina?!”

The amorphous substance writhing around Milia. And the unquenchable flames sticking to the exterior walls of the building.
And Tina, who was nimbly avoiding those flames.
Esmeralda grasped the situation in an instant. It seems that Tina, who is the second fastest after her, had checked Jim’s whereabouts first.
It would have been good if it had ended there, but Tina ended up sharing that information with another party member. And to the person who should never have been told.
The result was Milia’s rampage.

“Retreat from this position!”

And during that brief moment of confusion, Esmeralda eventually lost sight of the people in black.
To be precise, she had no choice but to let them go. Because she was the only one who could stop Milia here.

“Ugh!”

Should she subdue Milia who had started to rampage, or should she find Jim who had been kidnapped by the people in black?
It was a difficult choice either way. To others, it might seem like a more accurate judgment to abandon Jim and stop Milia.
But at least for her, it was a problem with an obvious answer.
In fact, the two are no different.
To stop Milia’s rampage, Jim’s existence would be needed anyway.

‘What on earth did he do to make her so obsessed?’

Esmeralda shuddered.
He did have a handsome face that looked like he might have seduced a few women, but she never imagined it would be to this extent.
She shouldn’t have scoffed when Jim was trying to ingratiate himself with the party members using all sorts of sweet talk to blend into the party.
One party had been shattered just by Jim’s way with words.

“Tina, go and retrieve Jim. Suspicious people wearing black in broad daylight took him away. …And they probably couldn’t have gone far due to injuries.”

Esmeralda who had been persistently attacking Jim, and the people in black who had suddenly started protecting him.
You could say they were lucky.
If they had tried to run away regardless of the hostage, it would have been difficult for Esmeralda to block the escape of the people in black.

“Jim?! Wouldn’t it be better to give up? That mere baggage isn’t worth more than a person’s life…”
“Not that baggage.”
“This is serious! I got it!”

Esmeralda thought as she adjusted her grip on the holy sword.

“Sigh… I really didn’t like that bastard’s name from the start.”

Making people confused and all.

We escaped from the hero.
It should have been something to rejoice about, but the atmosphere wasn’t like that.

“Boss, are you really going to do this? You saw the hero’s appearance earlier, didn’t you? She wasn’t someone we should be worried about. She would surely do the right thing even without us doing this…”
“You fool. That’s precisely why we must do this.”

With a thud, I heard someone falling.
Hey, why are you allies fighting each other? Get along, get along.
Of course, there are unavoidable aspects due to military discipline, but it was just one piece of frank advice, wasn’t it?
What’s the problem?

“We’ll kill this guy.”

…I guess I’m the problem?
My mind snaps to attention at the words I hear.
Aren’t these bastards plotting whether to dispose of me or not right now?
To be honest, I thought it was strange from the start. It’s not an excuse, it’s really true.

“Even if the hero is mentally mature, her inability to discard a piece of baggage like this will become a weakness. You know how much of a poison an incompetent ally can be on the battlefield, don’t you?”
“…”

Shing!
The sound of swords being drawn was heard from all around. It seems they’re not demons after all.
It seems that an unidentified human force that envied me is trying to take my head.
I knew this would happen. This is why I wanted to quit the hero’s party.
Somehow, when you belong to the hero’s party, you have three enemies.
The blind swords of the demons.
The indiscriminate swords of the dragon race.
And the snake-like cunning swords of humans.
It’s just a sword festival.
The hero who controls dozens of swords would have enjoyed seeing this. Damn it.

“Untie the sack.”
“Yes!”

While I was pondering what to do, the sack was untied and bright light seeped in. These crazy bastards. Come to think of it, they did this in broad daylight.

“…At least you should know who’s killing you before you go.”

What’s with this guy?
I shouldn’t say this, but he’s a real fucking idiot.
If it were me, I would have just stabbed the sword while keeping him in the sack, but whether he has some useless hero psychology or what, he’s trying to bestow a final mercy.
In the first place, they’re bastards trying to kill someone they kidnapped.
Do they think they have some greater cause?
I couldn’t help but sigh.

“Humans are really frustrating, aren’t they?”
“What are you trying to say?”

I didn’t say I was frustrated because I was trapped in the sack. What I found frustrating was human nature.

“You’re a race that can’t be honest with yourself, always making excuses, and yet can’t shake off regret quickly, aren’t you?”
“Hm… That’s true.”

The leader of the people in black, whom I had mistaken for the execution team, let out a chuckle as if agreeing with my words.
He must find his own double standards ridiculous. And the fact that he can’t fix it even though he knows it.
I understand.
That’s just how humans were.
This is why they can’t unite and internal divisions occur.

“I’ll give you a chance. If you can defeat us, you could say you have some qualifications.”

Why are they so indecisive?
Why can’t they commit fully?
Why do they become fools who can’t lean completely to one side?

“If you were going to kill me, you should have done it from the start. If not, you shouldn’t have done this in the first place.”

What are you guys?
Are you prosperous enough to reverse your choices like this?
Only the strong can make such leisurely choices.
Power is fine, strength is fine.
It was these half-hearted guys who released me into the sunlight with their half-hearted choice.

“So that means you guys don’t have the qualifications yet.”

Black Magic – Six Realms Manifestation
[Hell Realm – Misery]

Hesitation always tends to jump out of the box.
People don’t understand what disaster is in it until they experience it.

The moment I used black magic. Did the opponent realize I was a demon?
I had such thoughts as I looked at the corpses of the people in black who had their necks cut off while trying to say something.
From the start, I’m not just a simple demon soldier but an officer.
It means that mediocre people who aren’t heroes can’t stop me.
These foolish guys missed a golden opportunity without even recognizing their opponent.

That’s why. I didn’t particularly want to exchange words. Those who are neither here nor there always die first.
These guys were the same.
I didn’t listen to their screams or their excuses.
Is that why?

“Oh, fuck?”

After posturing for a while on top of the human corpses, I belatedly discovered something shining in the bosom of the man who seemed to be the leader.

“Why is this turned on?”

It was a magic tool for situation reporting connected to somewhere.
As a clever demon, I can figure out who’s behind this current situation.
Since this is human territory, it must be something humans did. And from the words and actions of the human bastards before they died, I could tell they were military personnel.
Yes, it’s the military. It’s Felheim Senova.
That one-eyed bitch hag, I didn’t like her from the start, I knew this would happen. Oh my…

“…Anyway, the objective has been achieved. Let’s get out of here.”

It’s a gain anyway since I’ve escaped from the hero’s grasp. The great demon Jim’s ploy using foolish humans.
When I decided to think of it that way, I felt good for no reason.

“Haha, freedom!”

So I ran through the forest.
Exactly 30 minutes later, I was dragged away with Tina holding the nape of my neck.

“Jim, thank goodness. You’re safe?”
“Ah, thank you for worrying about me, Lady Milia. I survived thanks to Lady Tina coming in time.”
“What did I do, I just brought you back as you were running away in a hurry. But you’re lucky? How did you manage to escape all the way there?”
“Haha, that’s right.”
“…”

Esmeralda remained silent, not knowing what to do with Jim.
She wants to kill him. Right now, even. But, having just confirmed how the hero’s party would fall apart if he disappeared.
Jim had to be kept alive after all.

‘No, but this bastard…’

[Note: He’s anxious, wondering if Felheim Senova might have discovered that he’s a demon.]

‘Really, how far do I have to clean up after this idiot? What the hell did he do…’

Does this bastard have no thoughts?
Esmeralda felt her blood pressure rising at Jim’s appearance, which showed no sign of caution. Jim was just grinning, unaware of this.
Of course, Jim must be feeling equally anxious inside…

‘No, but this bastard…’
‘No, but this bitch…’

Esmeralda acting like a fool and Jim acting like an innocent baggage carrier.
The two looked at each other and thought.

‘How can you laugh in this situation?’
‘Your comrade almost died and you’re laughing?’

Birds of a feather flock together.