I Became a Burden to the Conscienceless Party

Chiiiiik.
I lightly strike a match to light a fire, then ignite the demon realm tobacco.
How long has it been since I’ve had tobacco?
I shudder at the sensation permeating my internal organs and nod.

“Whew… Ah, yes. This is it.”

After taking a long drag, I slowly exhale. I wanted to savor this aftertaste as long as possible.

“…Damn it all.”
“No, Lieutenant Colonel. You shouldn’t say such things. You know how much I’ve suffered…”

My name is Jim.
A soldier of His Majesty the great Demon King.
An officer belonging to the 5th Corps.
The reason I, such a person, have come all the way to the human realm instead of the demon realm and am running around is none other than this.

“What suffering? You just had a great time fooling around with women.”
“…I didn’t enjoy it. Far from enjoying it, do you know how dangerous a tightrope I’ve been walking between those women just to protect myself?”

I have an appearance relatively close to human among the Demon King’s army.
That’s because I’m a half-blood between human and demon.
Perhaps because of that? Our corps commander, who was wondering how to best utilize the rare half-blood soldier within the corps, made a harsh decision.
Namely, to infiltrate the hero’s party.

“But wasn’t it good? I heard they were all pretty.”
“I thought so too, once upon a time.”

I took a deep drag of the tobacco and answered with a frown.

“But you know, this hero’s party. There wasn’t a single normal person to begin with.”

But when I actually did it, it wasn’t like that.
As time passed, I even thought they might have been trying to kick me, a half-blood, out of the army. Well, it’s possible, considering I was a despised existence even within the corps.

“But I tried my best in my own way, you know?”

I thought I’d need some kind of sob story to infiltrate the hero’s party, so I did some acting.
Since it was an important mission, my requests wouldn’t be denied.
First, I created and destroyed a village in the direction the hero was moving. The purpose was to make it look like there had been a village there.
As I sat in the ruined village roughly made with trees, sure enough, the hero came.

-Sob sob! The monsters living in the forest reduced the village to this state! Even if I want revenge, I don’t have the strength! Please. Hero, I beg you…! Please…!

I already knew the hero had good character thanks to the efforts of our intelligence department.
The hero readily agreed to my conditions and, along with her companions, went to defeat the Hydra we had placed in the forest.
Seeing the hero and her companions return covered in blood, I put on my best performance with a dejected expression and a single tear rolling down.

-Thank you, Hero. With this, the village people can rest in peace.
-Ah, no. I just did what was natural?
-I see. So for the hero, this was just a natural thing to do.
-Ah, that’s not what I meant…
-I’ve already lost everything. Hero, please allow me to repay my debt to you.

The good-natured hero couldn’t bring herself to refuse an ugly man shedding tears at a ripe old age.
And so, I became the hero party’s baggage carrier. Of course, at that time, I was stronger than the hero and her companions.
I am Jim, a proud lieutenant of the Demon King’s 5th Corps.
A ragtag group that struggles with mere Hydras is no problem at all.
With such thoughts, I infiltrated the hero’s party, only to see hell not long after.

-Breath! Watch out!
-Kyaaaaargh!

Our demon race’s enemy wasn’t just the hero. No, rather, the hero was merely a variable; the real enemy was someone else.

-How dare you lowly mortals!

It was the dragon race.
The dragon race, due to their uniquely arrogant and violent nature, were seen as a threat not only to demons but also to humans, elves, and dwarves.
His Majesty the Demon King must have left these ragtag groups alone to keep those dragons in check.
Usually, if there’s a common enemy, you’d think they’d unite to fight, but what’s this?
Those crazy humans started inciting that they couldn’t cooperate with demons. What’s more surprising is that this incitement worked perfectly, and the dwarves and elves sided with the humans.

-Haaaaaaaaaap!!

Dragons are threatening beings.
At least among demon soldiers, you’d need to be at least a field-grade officer to have a chance of winning in a one-on-one fight with them.

And when I saw the hero defeat such a monster, I realized something was seriously wrong.

-Uwaaaaaargh!

It’s fine when fighting demons. They don’t attack me seriously anyway. Given the nature of my mission, the acting continued even there.
Even if they attack me, it’s only to the extent that I don’t receive fatal wounds.
Of course…

-Where do you think you’re going!
-Kuhek! Mere humans…
-Mr. Jim! Are you alright?

They were all killed by the hero’s hand. She had become too strong.
Not just the hero, but her companions too.
And I remained the same. In other words, it was a situation of a shrimp getting its back broken in a fight between whales.
While demons might be acting, the dragon race are crazy enough to indiscriminately reduce everything to ashes.
It’s hard to survive in such a situation while hiding the fact that you’re a demon.

-Hero.
-Yes, Mr. Jim! What is it?
-I think this is as far as I can go.
-Huh? What do you mean…
-I’m too weak to continue this journey with you. I’ll surely just be a burden.
-Well, Mr. Jim is Mr. Jim (Burden). What else could you become besides that?
-This isn’t about my name.
-Oops.
-Anyway, I don’t have the confidence to continue this journey anymore. Will you accept my resignation?
-Huh? I don’t want to.

Riiiiip!
The hero tore up my resignation letter right in front of my eyes while smiling brightly.
Seeing that, I finally realized.
I had thought the hero was just a bit slow. She was too kind and didn’t know how to be suspicious.
But that wasn’t it. It wasn’t naivety, it was madness.

-Mr. Jim will continue to travel with us from now on.
-…
-So, Mr. Jim, no matter what happens, we’ll protect you, so you don’t need to worry about such things.

She thought the reason I wanted to quit was due to an inferiority complex.
She didn’t even consider the possibility that I might physically fall behind.
Why? Because I’m a proud member of the hero’s party.
Even if someone like me wanted to quit out of fear, to her, it would only sound like a lie from a baggage carrier ultimately sacrificing himself for the hero’s party.
Seeing that bright smile, I made up my mind. To escape from here.
The hero may have a human form, but she’s not a being that can be reasoned with.

“It took three more months after that to be able to escape like this…”

I explained the current situation through a secret communication with the Demon King’s army and declared my mission abandoned. Perhaps because of what I had done so far, the corps commander allowed me to abandon the mission.
Still, considering what was gained for sacrificing one lieutenant, it must have been a worthwhile harvest.
Anyway, after the communication went back and forth, I successfully escaped on the set date, avoiding the hero’s attention, and that’s the situation up until now.
After all that hardship, of course the demon realm tobacco tastes sweet.

“You brought everything, right, Jim?”
“Of course. Now you just need to take care of the burden that is me, Lieutenant Colonel.”
“That’s not funny.”
“Ah, yes.”
“Is there anything else you forgot?”

Perhaps because the escape was successful without any issues? The Lieutenant Colonel asked casually while watching the soldiers pack their belongings.
I packed all my personal belongings and anything that could be evidence.
The same goes for the current state of the continent that I learned through the hero’s party.

“By the way, this is well made. Maybe this could completely destroy the hero?”
“Well, if your opinion is true, it’s certainly possible.”

I bent down to examine the dead doppelganger. The pain-filled expression and blood-soaked body are impressive.
I wonder what expression the hero, who had been rejecting my retirement saying she would protect me until now, would make if she found this?

“…”

Thinking about it, I didn’t feel entirely good about it. It seems I’ve been influenced to some extent during the journey of nearly two years. But it’s all over now.

Now I’m going to live my own life.

“Ah, by the way, Lieutenant Colonel.”

It was just as I raised my head after confirming the corpse of the doppelganger made as my substitute.

“Huh?”

Swoooosh!
The head of a demon soldier who was erasing traces around us flew off.
Frozen for a moment at the sudden situation. The Lieutenant Colonel, who grasped the situation even before me, draws his sword.

“It’s an attack!”
“Ah! Found you. Mr. Jim, are you alright?”

Brilliantly shining blonde hair and emerald eyes sparkling like jewels.
In one hand, she holds a holy sword emitting a soft golden light.

The hero, Esmeralda.

She appeared with her usual silly-looking smile.

“…”

The hero’s combat power has already far exceeded our expected range.
Even the Lieutenant Colonel would struggle against the hero. To begin with, the 5th Corps was more of an intelligence organization than a combat one. Except for the corps commander, there aren’t any particularly strong individuals.

Slash!
The demons surrounding the hero are annihilated by the hero’s playfully swung sword, making their encirclement meaningless.

“This is as far as we go.”

The Lieutenant Colonel clicks his tongue and immediately grabs my collar.

“If you come any closer, I’ll kill this guy! Hero, Esmeralda. You value your companions, don’t you?”
“Lieutenant Colonel…”
“Shut up!”

As I looked up at the Lieutenant Colonel in this unexpected situation, he immediately covers my mouth with his rough hand and shouts.

‘You’re not one of us anymore.’
‘…!’

There’s no chance of winning. To begin with, it was a covert unit to smuggle me out, so it’s hard to expect much in terms of combat capability.
The hero, Esmeralda, frowns as she sees me captured by the Lieutenant Colonel, but then stops in her tracks.

“Hehe, well done. Drop the holy sword right now. Otherwise, this guy’s head and body will part ways with heaven and earth, you know?”
“…”

The hero drops the holy sword to the ground. The information that she values her companions is undoubtedly true. Perhaps if we use this, the Lieutenant Colonel might be able to defeat the hero.

“Kick it this way.”
“Wait…!”
“I told you to shut up!”

No. We can’t let her send the holy sword this way.
Does the Lieutenant Colonel not know? The characteristics of the holy sword? That can’t be, right?
Perhaps to avoid revealing his relationship with me, the Lieutenant Colonel doesn’t allow me to open my mouth.

Thud.
The holy sword kicked by the hero rolls on the ground and falls right in front of the Lieutenant Colonel.
And finally, I could understand the Lieutenant Colonel’s intention.

“…”

A complicated, determined look in his eyes.
The Lieutenant Colonel seemed to mumble while looking at the holy sword, then spoke in a voice only I could hear.

“Survive. On the battlefield, that’s what it means to win.”

Stab!
As soon as those words ended, the holy sword that had fallen to the ground moved as if it had a will of its own and pierced through the Lieutenant Colonel’s heart in one go.

“Ah…”

The Lieutenant Colonel who was holding me loses strength and collapses.
He died to hide me.
In case the me who might be left behind might be suspected of colluding with demons.
To prevent such thoughts, he made me into a complete victim.

My mouth tasted bitter.
To think he’d die for a mere subordinate… No, he was a born soldier.
If things continued like this, everyone would die anyway, so he chose the path to save at least one person.

“Wow, that was dangerous.”

The hero, Esmeralda, approaches me with the same smile as usual.
Yes, that silly-looking smile that’s always grinning.
I shudder at the sight of the hero smiling while covered in blood from head to toe.

“But we’ve defeated all the demons, so don’t worry. Let’s go back to the tent now, shall we? Mr. Jim.”

A blood-stained hand reaches out towards me.
I had no choice but to grasp it.