Why She Needs Him (9)
Esmeralda and Jim.
Both were smiling at each other, back when they secretly harbored nothing but loathing for one another.
The one who yielded first was, as always, Esmeralda. It couldn't be helped.
She knew what Jim was, but Jim had no idea that she knew.
The mature one had to be the one to endure. That was simply how it worked.
“I'm going to go meet with Commander Pelheim. Could you let Irina know for me?”
“Yeah, got it. Safe travels. She must be out of her mind dealing with that sudden attack too. Ugh, I was just about to rest—what even is this?”
Tina stretched with an exaggerated groan, her body extending long and limber like a cat arching after a nap.
“Right, Milia?”
“Yeah. I'm really tired.”
Milia stared blankly at Tina for a moment, then copied her, as if trying out the stretch for herself.
Crack!
“Hngh!”
“Ahaha, that's what you get for never exercising. Milia, you're hopeless with your body.”
But when Milia let out a faint moan as if stretching alone had nearly done her in, Tina immediately pointed it out with a laugh.
Jiggle.
“Haha……. Damn it.”
And then Milia wept at the sight of the two enormous masses that she did not possess.
Her robe was already baggy enough as it was.
Granted, it could never truly hide them—but the moment she raised both arms over her head like that, even that loose robe clung tight to her body, flaunting a presence far beyond the everyday.
“Oh…….”
And Jim savored that moment.
The moment that reminded him he was, against all odds, still alive in this cursed party.
Yes, it was a glorious moment—the sacred instant of a magnificent new life coming into being.
“…….”
Esmeralda engraved the pitiful spectacle of her party members into both eyes, donned an empty smile, and left.
Time to go slay the Demon King already.
Her purpose hadn't changed since the old days. Whatever the original catalyst had been, the reasons to hunt down and kill the Demon King only kept piling up.
Esmeralda had departed while mulling over how she might coax Pelheim Senoba around. Not a single soul saw her off.
It wasn't worth remarking on anymore.
Milia and Irina had only joined with their own agendas in tow.
Jim was a demon spy, and Milia showed interest in nothing but magic and Jim himself.
The only member of the Hero Party who genuinely cared for the Hero was Tina—and even she had, in the end, fallen prey to Jim's charms.
Come to think of it, where on earth has Irina gone? It's unsettling…….
And Irina Saintis—
She harbored a cunning, sinister streak that even Esmeralda could not fully control.
“Hello there! Commander Pelheim. To think we'd meet again so soon.”
Esmeralda arrived at Pelheim Senoba's office wearing her trademark, somewhat foolish smile.
Pelheim Senoba appeared busy taking reports from her subordinates, but upon seeing Esmeralda, she promptly dismissed everyone around her.
She, too, evidently understood that her scheme had been shattered beyond repair.
Frankly speaking, in this moment—now that Jim's identity had been exposed—neither Esmeralda nor Pelheim Senoba held an advantage conclusive enough to call decisive over the other.
“Thank you for your assistance this time, Lady Hero. I never imagined the demons would infiltrate this deep inside the fortress, after all.”
“Hm……. Is that so?”
Pelheim Senoba put a cigarette to her lips with a rather composed air.
She, too, had a hand of cards ready. Which of their respective dirty secrets would prove the more fatal would be decided by the conversation they were about to have.
And so the battle of nerves between the two began.
First, Esmeralda glared at Pelheim Senoba with eyes entirely at odds with her signature smile.
And Pelheim Senoba, feigning indifference, kept rattling off a string of hollow pleasantries.
“Honestly, Milia's rampage seemed far more dangerous than the demons' incursion, so being on the receiving end of your gratitude is a bit uncomfortable. We never even spotted the demons ourselves. Or perhaps, Commander Pelheim, you're mocking me?”
“…….”
And with a single thorn-laced remark, Esmeralda shut the mouth that had been flowing with continued praise.
Her own position wasn't exactly spotless either—but at least it was certain that Pelheim Senoba had ordered her soldiers to abduct and murder Jim.
Esmeralda was no fool. She only acted the fool because it was convenient.
But when the moment demanded otherwise, she was colder than anyone.
Because otherwise, she would die. Because she would be underestimated. Because someone would get hurt.
“Commander Pelheim. Consider this a warning. Do not even dream of meddling with our party any further than you already have.”
At Esmeralda's frigid voice, Pelheim Senoba answered with a carefree, dismissive attitude, as though the matter didn't concern her at all.
“Of course.”
“…….”
The readiness of Pelheim Senoba's answer only made Esmeralda's expression turn grave. There was no way she would back down this easily.
And yet…….
[Note: I have no intention of involving myself with the Hero Party any further.]
She wasn't lying.
“……That's a relief, then.”
That part was odd, but Esmeralda chose to bury her doubts rather than complicate the situation further. She had far too many other matters demanding her attention.
Esmeralda put on her usual bright, simple-minded expression and said,
“Then I'll take your word for it, Commander. Until next time.”
“……Won't you rest a while longer?”
“I'd rather not. Things don't look too good around here, after all. Let's have a nice, leisurely chat next time. ……And when we do, I'd appreciate it if the circumstances were a little more pleasant.”
There are no eternal enemies, and no eternal allies. Esmeralda shot Pelheim Senoba one last icy glare and walked straight out of the room.
Pelheim Senoba stared blankly at the door Esmeralda had left through for a long while before speaking in a stiff voice.
“Will that suffice?”
The soldiers had been dismissed all at once when Esmeralda arrived.
Because of that, the words that were meant to be muttered alone received a reply from someone.
“Yes, you did splendidly, Commander Pelheim Senoba. Your noble choice will surely be recognized by the gods themselves.”
“Ahaha…….”
Pelheim Senoba laughed.
It was a laugh laced with self-mockery.
The Saintess of the Hero Party.
Irina Saintis.
Around the time the situation was being wrapped up, she had reached Pelheim Senoba one step ahead of Esmeralda and struck a deal.
Though calling it a deal was…….
Intimidation Lv. 47
Before her authority, it was nothing more than a one-sided demand.
Pelheim Senoba knew all about the girl called Irina Saintis.
The world saw her as a naive, pure, picture-perfect beautiful Saintess—but those who knew, knew.
The fact was that she was the true power behind the Church. Her divine power was exceptional, befitting a Saintess, but it was the girl herself who was dangerous.
“Your granddaughter is adorable.”
Irina, with the same innocent face as always, reached out and touched the picture frame displayed on Pelheim Senoba's desk. Tap. As the frame toppled forward with the small sound, Pelheim Senoba could bear it no longer and snapped through gritted teeth.
“……That's quite enough. Didn't I already tell you I would cooperate?”
The Church was in the palm of Irina's hand.
And though the Church had declined somewhat, its authority and power remained immense.
A single word from Irina Saintis was enough to condemn a minor noble as a heretic and erase their very name from history.
Did the Empire not know this? Of course it did—and it chose to look the other way.
Because Irina, ever and always, kept neatly within the proper lines as she cleared away anything that inconvenienced her. She was, at her core, someone who respected boundaries.
“Hm? What a strange thing to say. Do you think I'm going to do something to you?”
Irina puffed out her cheeks as if sulking and grumbled in complaint.
To anyone watching, her words and gestures looked like those of an utterly ordinary girl—and that was precisely what sent a chill down Pelheim Senoba's spine.
An organization with overwhelming power. And on top of that, a position from which a few words could unmake a person entirely.
Standing before a girl like that, Pelheim Senoba could do nothing at all.
Even the truth she had stumbled upon by chance—that the porter was a demon—had to be buried at a single word from her.
She was an ordinary person too. No matter how much one claimed to fight for the greater good and for peace, one's own family was the one thing a person wanted to protect above all.
“……May I ask just one more thing? Just one.”
“What is it you're curious about?”
“Why you shield a demon. I simply cannot understand it. Perhaps…….”
“If you intend to speak words of blasphemy, I would stop there. It might put me in a bad mood.”
Having cut off the question—have you betrayed your god?—before it could even leave Pelheim Senoba's lips, Irina Saintis answered with the same gentle smile as ever.
But within that smile lay a resolute warning.
“I see. Hm……. How should I put this?”
Irina spun around like a delighted girl and smiled shyly.
She had survived every political machination the Church could throw at her. She knew.
She knew that Esmeralda, who looked like a fool, was in fact no fool at all. She knew that Jim was, in truth, not human.
She knew Esmeralda could read the surface currents of people's hearts, and that Jim was actually affiliated with the Demon King's army, selling intel back to this side.
She even knew that the two of them were straining with all their might to deceive their own party members.
She knew every last bit of it.
After all, if she couldn't see through at least that much, how could Irina have built the Church's influence to the heights it reached today?
And so—none of it mattered.
“Because watching them, I just find it so lovable, you see?”
Watching them dance upon her palm, blissfully ignorant of everything, was simply too delightful. Too joyous.