I Became a Burden to the Conscienceless Party

The saint, Irina, who had crushed the heads of the demon remnants one by one, smiled brightly at Jim.

“Fufu, it seems Mr. Jim is afraid of bugs.”

It’s not so much that I’m afraid of bugs, but rather that I’m afraid of you who treat sentient beings as bugs.
Usually so gentle and kind, how can a person change so much in front of demons?
Jim put on the best smile he could muster.
He had to smile. If he didn’t smile, he would die. He instinctively judged so.

“Mr. Jim, if you’re that worried, shall I cast a bug repellent spell on you?”
“…No, I’m fine.”

Jim maintained his smile while firmly refusing.
Irina’s mischievous smile and fidgeting hands as if she was about to play a prank looked quite cute, like an ordinary girl of her age, but Jim knew that just touching those hands would be like getting hit by a celestial guardian.
The bright light clearly visible at her fingertips made it no different in reality.
It might be a good massage for humans, but for demons, it would be nothing short of entering the realm of death.

“I’m really fine.”
“Fufufu.”
“Saint?”
“Fufufufu.”

Jim slowly backed away and then ran away with all his might.
But of course, that escape couldn’t last long.

“If you go that far, you’ll get kidnapped again, Mr. Jim.”

There was Esmeralda, who was preventing his escape with all her might.
Esmeralda nagged while grabbing Jim by the nape of his neck to stop him.
Jim, who had only tried to run away feeling a threat to his life, felt wronged.
While Jim was being scolded by Esmeralda, Irina approached with a bright smile, having erased her mischievous grin.

“We were playing tag, but I guess I was too relaxed. I’m sorry, Hero. I wanted to cheer up Mr. Jim since he had been through a difficult time. Was I too immature?”
“No, well… As long as you don’t go too far, it should be fine, right?”
“…Saint, I’m fine too. These things happen.”

Jim nodded at Irina’s apology. In any case, all her actions stemmed from good intentions.
As proof, she seemed to have given up on teasing Jim, with her hands neatly folded on her chest.
Surely, even smashing the demons’ heads was out of concern for Jim, who had even been kidnapped once.
Jim nodded, seeing Irina’s broad-minded heart.
He didn’t mean to look on purpose. It’s just that the hands he had been wary of since earlier were now on her chest.

“I know that the Saint was worried about me.”

Jim forgave Irina.
While thinking that if only she weren’t a saint, she would have been perfect.
Honestly, there’s not a single flaw in her appearance or personality.

“Haha… I’m glad to see you two getting along so well.”

Esmeralda, who had been watching Irina and Jim’s antics, let out an awkward laugh as she squeezed between them.
She could see it. Irina’s pitch-black inner thoughts, unfiltered.

[Note: She was planning to proceed with brainwashing work accompanied by marking on Jim, but due to his violent rejection, she decided to postpone it for a while.]

“Ah… what a shame.”

Esmeralda pretended not to hear Irina’s quiet whisper.
The thought of having to mediate this crazy party in the future gave her heartburn.

The three set out on their journey.
Esmeralda, Jim, and Irina in that order.
Jim sighed, feeling as if he was being taken into custody, though it wasn’t quite that.
In the midst of this, someone appeared, patting Jim’s back.

“Oh, you look like death warmed over, Jim. Did something happen?”
“Kyaaaaaaah?!”

Jim, startled by the sudden grip on his back, let out a demon-like scream and rolled dramatically on the ground.

“Puhahaha! Someone might think you’re a demon. What kind of scream is that?”

Jim belatedly looked at the person who had taken his back.
It was a girl with red hair tied in a ponytail to keep it out of the way, and striking yellow eyes.

“Lady Tina?”
“Oh, Jim. Long time no see. Didn’t you miss this big sister?”

Jim stared blankly at the girl who claimed to be his big sister.
Unfortunately, she was a girl with a narrower heart compared to Irina.

“…I don’t like that look in your eyes.”
“I was just a bit surprised.”

Jim lied boldly.
After all, his entire existence is nothing but a lie from start to finish.
A man who feels no shame in lying. That was Jim.

“Ah! Tina! You came to greet us?”

Esmeralda showed her brightest smile among those she had shown recently upon seeing Tina, who had finally joined the hero’s party.

“Yes! Yes! I’m here. Have you all been doing well? Weren’t you lonely without me? Pufufu.”

Tina, a girl with a vibrant personality, was a scholar belonging to the academic group that had joined the hero’s party.

‘She looks more like a thief than a scholar no matter how you look at it.’

Of course, she insists that she’s not a thief but an archaeologist.
Jim thought this not only because of how she had grabbed him from behind earlier, but also because of her revealing outfit that looked easy to move in.
No matter how he looked at it, Tina seemed like nothing but a thief to Jim. Even in battle, she would dazzlingly wield daggers and toy with enemies, making it more suspicious if she wasn’t a thief.

‘Well, they can’t bring a criminal into the party in the human realm, so I guess they at least laundered her identity.’

Jim settled on the most plausible hypothesis in his mind.
Still, Jim made a lot of effort to understand Tina.
Just looking at her body, which was even more meager than the hero who was probably the same age, he thought that even if she had been a thief, it couldn’t be helped.
They say children who grow up malnourished tend to develop physically slower, so what can you do? Moreover, she has the lowest risk level among the hero’s party.

But she’s still part of the hero’s party.
There was definitely a part that Jim considered dangerous about her.

“Hello! Esmeralda. You’re later than I thought? Did you perhaps encounter demons on the way?”
“That’s right… We did encounter them. Irina took them down immediately though.”
“I knew it~ I have good intuition, you know.”

It was an innate “intuition.”
She is the so-called person who knows everything but knows nothing.
For example, like this:

“What? Jim got kidnapped? Where on earth do you keep your mind? Or maybe you were secretly colluding with demons and trying to desert our party? Pufufu.”

Tina teased Jim with a grin. However, Jim couldn’t laugh at her joke at all.
It’s always like this. She strikes at vulnerabilities under the guise of joking.
Every time this happened, Jim felt like he didn’t have enough hearts to face Tina, as it took his breath away.

“So that’s why you’re moving with Jim sandwiched in the middle as if escorting him? I thought you two were escorting him to prevent him from running away!”

Tina laughed cheerfully.
As her mischievous smile deepened, Jim’s complexion grew paler.

“Did you wrap up your business well?”
“Oh! Right, right. At the ruins I visited this time…”

Tina and Esmeralda, reunited after a long time, started to chat.
For Esmeralda, Tina was one of her few friends.
Putting aside Jim, who was a demon spy, even Irina, who appeared pure and kind on the outside, was not so on the inside. Surprisingly, Irina had never shown such a side in front of Esmeralda.

‘It’s too suspicious.’

In contrast, how about Tina?
Esmeralda liked Tina.
Compared to the other two companions, isn’t her status similar to her own?
Although Tina is a member of a renowned academic group, she is essentially a commoner like Esmeralda.
As a result, they have many common interests. Of course, the most important thing is…

[Name: Tina]
[Race: Human] [Title: Archaeologist]
[List of Characteristics]
Dagger Skills Lv. 62
Archery Lv. 42
Search Lv. 22
Research Lv. 41
Detection Lv. 42
Trap Disarmament Lv. 34
Agile Movement Lv. 27
Stealthy Movement Lv. 33

[Estimated Level: 312]
[Note: She is happy to reunite with her companions after a long time.]

It’s because she shows her unadorned self.
There’s a problem with the hero’s party.
Everyone is hiding something from each other.
Of course, since people can’t reveal everything, it’s natural to hide things if there’s something they want to hide.
However, the hero’s party had problems from its formation.
A hero of common birth with no background. There were countless groups trying to use her.
After all sorts of underhanded dealings behind the scenes, those selected ended up being Irina and the others.

What was the first meeting like again?

[Note: They intend to grind you up as material for sacred objects in the future.]
[Note: They plan to use the hero’s corpse to research new magic.]

It was the worst.
The saint and magician of the hero’s party were planning to betray the hero from their very first meeting.
That’s why she still hasn’t kicked out the shameless Jim.
How admirable is it that he’s at least diverting the attention of the crazy group that wants to grind her up?

[Note: She is looking forward to the upcoming journey. She wants to become friends with you.]

But there was one person.
Because there was someone who approached Esmeralda without any selfish intentions.

“I’m really glad to see you, Tina.”

Esmeralda was able to endure.
Esmeralda hugged Tina, delighted at their reunion.
She had been struggling, having to act with Irina, who she needed to be most careful of recently, and Jim, who she wanted to get rid of the most.
She needed a place of mental refuge.

“Oh, I’m glad too. I didn’t expect such a warm welcome. Ahem, ahem… But Jim, aren’t you happy to see me?”
“…”

Of course, the fact that even Tina was strangely conscious of Jim was an issue she couldn’t tolerate at all.