I Became a Burden to the Conscienceless Party

It was the moment I carefully tucked away the gift imbued with nightly beneficial grace given by Milia into my bosom.

“What’s that? What’s that? What are you hiding right now? Why are you looking around so suspiciously?”

Tina, with a lewd expression, pops out from my side and plays a trick.
While I’m trying to stop the thief-like girl from reaching into my bosom.
That thief-like girl grins and says:

“Could it be an erotic book? Pufufu, well, I guess it can’t be helped then.”

Correct answer.
She’s still the thief-like girl with good intuition.
Like a criminal confessing to a crime, I took the book out of my bosom and held it up in front of Tina’s eyes.

“…”

Her face instantly turns red and her smile disappears.

“Ah, umm… Th-that’s right. It really is… W-well, it happens, right?”

Usually, she shows an arrogant attitude, but in fact, she has no immunity when it comes to this area.
The saint, Irina, looks innocent but seems to know everything, and Milia gives such books as gifts, so she must have abundant knowledge.

“Ahaha, what was I thinking. I thought you might be hiding some secret communication magic tool because you’re a spy or something. Ahahaha.”

That’s the correct answer too.
How on earth can she pinpoint only the core like that?
There is a magic tool connected to the Demon King’s army in my bosom. It’s something made by the Magic Order, so even Milia hasn’t detected it… It’s quite impressive.
Of course, I don’t confess this time.
It’s not something to laugh off.

“Uh, well. Right. I need to clean up around here. Phew, why is there so much trash in the base camp?”

Tina awkwardly made excuses and moved away. Then she started cleaning up the trash (corpses of dead demon soldiers) in the base camp.
For some reason, tears started flowing.

Fortress City Senova.
The frontline city existing between the demon realm and the human realm. This was the hero party’s current destination.
So why did the hero party, which aims for a small elite force, come to a fortress city teeming with soldiers?
It was to deliver strategic supplies to the fortress city.
Being a border area with the demon realm, the chances of being attacked before reaching the destination are high for ordinary supply units, so the intention is to make sure the supplies are delivered by the small elite hero party.

“Huff… Huff…”

And when it comes to supplies, what else could it be?
It’s none other than the role of me, Jim, who is in charge of being the baggage carrier for the hero party.
Today, I’m not the baggage of the hero party, but the baggage carrier Jim.
The wording sounds a bit strange, but… well, what does it matter? I have no complaints about my name.
How can I be dissatisfied with the name I gave myself when I came into this world?
Even though I’m a magician, which is considered an intellectual profession in the Demon King’s army, once I started as the lowest member of the hero party, I have no choice but to do physical labor.

“Mr. Jim, you’re working hard. If it’s too difficult, I’ll take over later.”
“…It’s fine.”

Although Esmeralda said such kind words, I don’t believe her.
She says that, but she has never actually taken over even once.
In fact, when it’s time to switch, she just declares a break.
What a bitch.

Yes, I don’t want to make a delicate young girl pull the cart either.
Moreover, isn’t this the only way for me to earn my keep, being so useless that I should be called baggage, not a baggage carrier? Although they say it’s strategic supplies, it somehow ended up being just one cart’s worth.
The horses that were supposed to pull this cart were all slaughtered in the earlier attack.
Originally, I would have been luxuriously driving the cart, but what can I do?
My fate was ruined the moment I infiltrated the hero party.

“Ah, damn those demon bastards. It’s really infuriating. Really infuriating.”

Usually, it would have been an act, but today I was sincere.
If it weren’t for these bastards’ attack, the horses wouldn’t have died. Anyway, those who just swing swords on the battlefield all lack common sense.

“Ahaha, I’m sorry. If we had been a little more careful, this wouldn’t have happened…”

Hero, you’re included so I won’t forgive you even if you laugh so innocently.
Why did you fight there and cause all this commotion? Do you have some grudge against me? You’re going to be a terrible boss, not allowing retirement after all this.
Hero, I curse you!

“Wow, but your strength has increased a lot compared to before? Jim, you’re cool!”
“…I-is that so?”

Tina says, looking at my forearm with half-closed eyes.
It’s sexual harassment, but I’ll let it slide. Because I think so too. I was getting a more robust physique day by day.
Wasn’t I someone who entered as a specialist in the Demon King’s army? I didn’t do physical labor except for minimal training.
I must have become stronger than before by filling that gap in the hero party.
It’s natural when you’re constantly running away from dragons attacking the hero party.

“At first, I thought you were some weak magician because you were so feeble. I wonder if it would have been more convenient for us if that were the case?”
“…”

Tina, hitting the mark without fail today as well. My heart aches at her casual words.
It’s quite extraordinary that such an idea occurs to her when I was disguised as a villager.
Indeed, the second most dangerous person in the hero party after the hero might be this self-proclaimed archaeologist thief-girl.

The hero, Esmeralda, cheered on Jim, who was pulling the cart with his bare hands while sweating profusely.
Just by tormenting him, the demon spy, Esmeralda could gain the vigor to live on.

‘You’re working hard today too. Yes, you have to work hard to live…’

Pleasure.
Esmeralda couldn’t hold back the twitching at the corners of her mouth and broke into a smile.
Anyway, it’s just that a bit of self-interest mixed into the smile she wore while cheering, so no one could notice.

“Hehe.”

The hero’s somewhat twisted nature.
But there’s no one to blame her.
She’s acting as a pure and stupid country girl, after all.

“Wow, but your strength has increased a lot compared to before? Jim, you’re cool!”

There was someone who joined in on Esmeralda’s joke. Esmeralda looked at Tina, who had suddenly appeared beside Jim and sat on the cart.
Although adding her wouldn’t make a noticeable difference to the cart’s weight, she didn’t miss how Jim’s expression soured for a moment.

“At first, I thought you were some weak magician because you were so feeble. I wonder if it would have been more convenient for us if that were the case?”

And the unfailingly intuitive words she always throws out. Even Esmeralda’s heart sometimes sank at those jokes.

‘It’s really amazing.’

[Name: Tina]
[Race: Human] [Title: Archaeologist]
[List of Characteristics]
Dagger Skills Lv. 62
Search Lv. 22
Detection Lv. 42
Trap Disarmament Lv. 34

[Comprehensive Estimate Lv. 312]
[Note: She’s in a good mood imagining the city they’re about to arrive at.]

The only conscience in the hero party.
A girl whose outside matches her inside.
Until Jim came, Tina was practically Esmeralda’s only escape.
Isn’t she an angel compared to those who see people as experimental subjects or materials?
Of course, Tina has her problems too. The intuition I mentioned earlier is the issue.

-Irina is a saint, right? So does she like, incite people and brainwash them?

Because her intuition was too good, she couldn’t distinguish between what should and shouldn’t be said.
She probably thought it was a joke, but to others, it could sound like provocation.

-…Y-you mean persuasion and evangelism, not incitement and brainwashing, right Tina? Let’s be careful with our word choice.
-Haha! I was just joking!
-Fufu, Lady Tina, you make interesting jokes. But you shouldn’t say such things in front of others, okay? The inquisitors might take you away.

Esmeralda’s heart still sinks remembering Irina’s cold expression at that time.
Of course, even that fell apart because she started blurting out dangerous statements without thinking.

“Ah! I think we’ve arrived.”

Esmeralda, who had been watching the conversation between Tina and Jim for a while, pointed to the castle visible in the distance.
As the magician Milia had said, they seemed to have already gotten quite close.

“Now we can finally get some proper rest. Let’s all hang in there and go?”

At last, they arrived at their destination for this journey, the fortress city Senova.

The fortress city Senova was a strategic stronghold located on the frontlines.
Therefore, naturally, it was also a place exposed to all sorts of schemes while receiving the strongest offensives from enemies.

“Still, we arrived on time. Luckily, it seems there are no demons around. Phew, what would we have done if there was a battle today? Right, Mr. Jim?”
“Y-yes, that’s right.”

Esmeralda smiled brightly at Jim, who was pulling the supply cart with difficulty. She knew.
That all of this was thanks to Jim.
It was because Jim had asked the higher-ups not to attack today, as he didn’t want to get hit by stray arrows.

‘It’s funny that they listened to such a request… No, it’s just a coincidence. It’s right to think that they had no plans to attack today originally. Yes.’

Anyway, Esmeralda and her party reached Senova without any particular interference.
The purpose was to supply goods to Senova, where supplies had been cut off due to enemy containment.
Yes. This stage is where the baggage carrier Jim’s performance stands out!

“Is this all…?”

These were the words of the supply officer who had first enthusiastically welcomed the hero party.
The fortress city Senova was quite a large city. And the supplies that came for such a city were just one cart’s worth.
How could anyone be happy with this?
Even when reports come in that a supply unit was attacked and suffered near-annihilation, more supplies usually come in than this.
That’s because an entire unit is mobilized for supplies in the first place.
It was just strange that the hero party came for supplies with just one party.

“This damn… Urgh…”

The supply officer almost let out a curse but barely held back.
The other party is the hero and her party.
Although the supplies are crap, if he were to blurt out curses here, his head might fly off cleanly too. The supply officer decided to somehow smile and express his gratitude.

“Thank you… No, but who can this amount stick to their nose…”

It wasn’t easy.
His true feelings that came out without him realizing.
The supply officer tightly closed his eyes and imagined his bleak future.

“Ah! Of course, this can’t be all, right? Milia? Let’s bring it out.”
“Hm? Here? Wouldn’t it be better to go to the supply warehouse?”
“Just a little, just a little.”

Seeing Esmeralda’s bright smile, Milia began to unfold her magic with a blank expression.
Colorful magic circles embroider the air and disappear repeatedly.

Thud!
The huge magic circle thus completed.
A massive wooden box fell from its center.

“Here! This is just a part, and there are five more boxes to come!”
“Oh… Ohhh!”

The supply officer finally brightened up at the sight of the huge wooden box, which seemed to be worth at least three cart loads just by itself.

“????”

And Jim, who was watching this, began to shake his pupils like a person who had lost his country.