Why He Is Needed (5)

It happened the moment I tucked away the nighttime gift, brimming with sinful grace, that Milia had given me, safe inside my coat.

"What? What is it? What did you just hide? Why are you being so shifty about it?"

Tina popped out from my side with a lecherous grin, teasing me as I scrambled to stop the little thief from shoving her hand into my coat.

She smirked.

"Don't tell me it's a dirty book? Puhaha, well, I guess I can't blame you for that."

Bullseye.

Her instincts remained as sharp as ever.

Like a criminal confessing to his crime, I fished the book out of my coat and thrust it in front of Tina's eyes.

"……"

The smile vanished from her face in an instant as it flushed bright red.

"Ah, um…… Y-yeah. It really is……. W-well, I guess that's possible?"

She usually put on ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠such a cheeky attitude, but when it came to this particular subject, she had no immunity whatsoever.

The Saintess, Irina, seemed innocent enough but had a knowing look in her eye, and Milia was the kind of person to gift books like this in the first place—so she must be plenty knowledgeable on the subject too.

"Ahaha, and here I was wondering what it could be. I thought maybe you were secretly a spy hiding some magical communication device or something? Ahahahaha."

That was also correct.

How on earth did she keep hitting the nail right on the head like this?

There really was a magic device linked to the Demon King's army inside my coat. It was made by the Demon Magic Corps, which was why even Milia hadn't detected it… and yet. Impressive, honestly.

Naturally, I would not be confessing this time.

Not exactly the kind of thing one can laugh off.

"U-uh, right. Yeah. I should go tidy up around here. Sheesh, why is there so much trash at base camp?"

Tina backed away with a flustered excuse and began cleaning up the base camp's trash—the corpses of the dead demon soldiers.

For some reason, tears were flowing.

Fortress City Senoba.

The frontline city standing between the Demon Realm and the Human Realm. This was the Hero Party's destination this time.

So why would a party that prized itself on being a small elite force come marching into a fortress city crawling with soldiers?

The answer: to deliver strategic supplies to the fortress city.

Since it lay along the border with the Demon Realm, even ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a decently sized supply column would likely be ambushed before ever arriving. The idea was for the small-but-elite Hero Party to guarantee the delivery instead.

"Hooah… hooah…"

And when you talk about supplies, what does that mean?

It means the role of the Hero Party's pack mule falls to none other than me, Jim.

Today, at least, I wasn't the Hero Party's burden—I was Jim the porter.

The phrasing sounds a little odd, but… whatever. I have no complaints about my name.

How could I resent a name I gave myself when I came into this world?

Even a mage—a position of some intellect within the Demon King's army—has no choice but to do manual labor once he starts out at the very bottom of the Hero Party.

"Jim, you're working so hard. If you get tired, I can take over for you later."

"……I'm fine."

Esmeralda offered those kind words, but I didn't believe her for a second.

Because for all her sweet talk, she had never once actually taken over.

Whenever the time for a shift change came around, she would simply declare it was time for a break.

Dog of a woman.

Well, it's not like I wanted to make a fair maiden haul a cart anyway.

Besides, someone as useless as me—useless enough to be called a burden rather than a porter—ought to earn his keep somehow. Strategic supplies, they called it, but somehow it had all fit into a single cart.

Of course, the horses that were supposed to pull that cart had been slaughtered to the last one in the earlier ambush.

Under normal circumstances, I would have been riding along in luxurious comfort, but what could I do?

The moment I infiltrated the Hero Party, my fate went straight down the drain.

"Ugh, damn demon bastards. My blood is boiling. It's actually boiling."

Ordinarily this would have been an act, but today it was sincere.

If not for these bastards' ambush, the horses would never have had to die. Every last one of these warmongering idiots swinging swords on a battlefield had no concept of anything.

"Ahaha, sorry about that. If we'd just been a little more careful, this never would have happened…"

Heros, that includes you, so no amount of innocent giggling will earn you forgiveness.

Why are you the ones fighting and making a fuss? Do you have some kind of grudge against me? And you won't even approve my resignation on top of it—what a truly nightmarish boss you make.

O Hero, I curse you!

"Wow, but your strength has really grown compared to when we started, huh? Jim, you're so cool!"

"……I-is that so?"

Tina stared at my forearm with narrow, appraising eyes.

It was borderline sacrilege, but I let it slide. Because honestly, she was right. Day by day, my body was becoming sturdier.

I had joined the Demon King's army as a special-forces soldier, after all. Aside from basic training, I'd never done any manual labor.

The Hero Party had filled that gap, so of course I was stronger than before.

It only made sense, spending all that time fleeing from the dragons that ambushed the Hero Party.

"At first you were all wobbly, I honestly thought you were some mage or something. Maybe we'd have had an easier time if you actually were?"

"……"

Once again, Tina drove the dagger straight into my vitals without fail. My heart seized at one careless remark from her.

She was disguised as a villager—no wait, I was—so for that idea to even cross her mind was nothing short of extraordinary.

Come to think of it, the most dangerous member of the Hero Party after the Hero herself might just be this self-proclaimed archaeologist of a thief.

The Hero, Esmeralda, watched Jim strain to haul the cart with his bare hands, sweat pouring down his face, and cheered him on.

Tormenting him like this—the demon spy—was enough to give Esmeralda the vitality she needed to face tomorrow.

Another hard day's work for him. That's right, you have to work hard if you want to live…

Delight.

Unable to hold back the twitch at the corners of her mouth, Esmeralda let a smile bloom.

Since it was just a cheering smile with one selfish little indulgence mixed in, no one could possibly notice.

"Hehe."

A somewhat twisted disposition, for a Hero.

But there was no one who could fault her for it.

After all, she was in the middle of playing the part of a pure, dim-witted country girl.

"Wow, but your strength has really grown compared to when we started, huh? Jim, you're so cool!"

Someone had latched onto Esmeralda's joke. She turned to see Tina, who had suddenly plopped herself down on the cart beside Jim, and Jim's expression souring for an instant—a detail she did not miss, even if the cart's weight wouldn't budge from one extra passenger.

"At first you were all wobbly, I honestly thought you were some mage or something. Maybe we'd have had an easier time if you actually were?"

And there it was, the unerringly perceptive commentary. Even Esmeralda's heart had lurched at that joke more than once.

Truly astonishing.

The sole conscience of the Hero Party.

The girl of two faces that made one whole.

Until Jim arrived, Tina had practically been ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Esmeralda's only refuge.

Compared to the people who saw others as test subjects and raw materials, wasn't she practically an angel?

Of course, Tina had her issues too. That so-called instinct of hers was the problem.

"Irina's the Saintess, right? So doesn't she, like, incite people and brainwash them and stuff?"

Her instincts were so sharp that she couldn't tell what should and shouldn't be said aloud.

In her own head it was surely just a joke, but to anyone else listening, it could come across as a provocation.

"……Th-that's incitement and brainwashing, not persuasion and evangelism, Tina. Let's be careful with our word choice, shall we?"

"Hahaha! I was just joking!"

"Fufu, what a funny joke, Tina. But you mustn't say such things in front of others, you know? The inquisitors will come and take you away."

The icy expression Irina had worn at that moment still made Esmeralda's heart shudder to this day.

Though even that had dissolved into chaos once Tina began casually blurting out every dangerous thought that crossed her mind.

"Ah! I think we're here!"

Esmeralda, who had been watching the exchange between Tina and Jim for a while, pointed at the castle walls visible in the distance.

Just as Milia the mage had said, they were already quite close.

"We can finally get some proper rest. Everyone, hang in there just a little longer!"

At last, they had arrived ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠at the destination of this journey—Fortress City Senoba.

Fortress City Senoba was a strategic linchpin positioned on the very front line.

Which meant, naturally, that it bore the brunt of the enemy's offensives and was exposed to every scheme and trick imaginable.

"Still, we made it in time. And it looks like we got lucky—no demon forces nearby either. Whew, what would we have done if we'd been caught in a battle today? Right, Jim?"

"Th-that's right."

Esmeralda beamed at Jim as he wearily hauled the cart. She knew the truth.

That all of this was thanks to Jim.

Because Jim had requested his superiors not to launch an ambush today, not wanting to be caught in a stray arrow.

It's funny that they actually granted a request like that… no, wait. It has to be a coincidence. They were never planning to attack today in the first place. Yes, that's it.

In any case, Esmeralda's party reached Senoba without a hint of trouble.

Their mission: delivering supplies to a city whose resupply had been strangled by enemy harassment.

That's right—this stage was the very place where the porter, Jim, could truly shine!

"This is all of it?"

These were the first words of the quartermaster, who had rushed out to give the Hero Party the most enthusiastic of welcomes.

Fortress City Senoba was a fairly massive city. And the total supplies delivered to that city amounted to a single cart's worth.

How was anyone supposed to be happy about this?

Even after reports that a supply column had been ambushed and all but annihilated en route, more supplies than this came in regularly.

And it made sense—supply runs normally mobilized an entire battalion in the first place.

The only strange ones here were the Hero Party, who had come to deliver supplies with a single party.

"What kind of f— ghhk…"

The quartermaster nearly let the curse fly, but barely swallowed it.

The people before him were the Hero and her party.

True, the delivery had gone down the drain, but if he spat out a satisfying curse right here and now, his head would go flying just as satisfyingly. The quartermaster resolved to squeeze out a smile and offer his thanks somehow.

"Thank you… no, wait, then who exactly am I supposed to ration this to…"

It was not easy.

The honest truth had escaped him before he could stop it.

Squeezing his eyes shut, the quartermaster pictured his future, already turning pitch black.

"Ah! Of course this can't possibly be all of it, right? Milia? Bring it out."

"Hm? Here? Wouldn't it be better to take it to the supply warehouse?"

"Just a little, just a little will do."

Facing Esmeralda's innocent smile, Milia sulkily began deploying her magic.

Magic circles of every color wove through the empty air, vanishing and reappearing in succession.

THUD!

A colossal magic circle completed itself.

And from its very center, a massive wooden crate came crashing down.

"Here you go! And this is only part of it—there are five more crates to come."

"Oh… Oooooh!"

At the sight of the enormous crate, which alone looked to be worth three full carts, the quartermaster's face finally lit up with color.

"????"

And Jim, watching the whole scene unfold, began to tremble like a man whose country had just been lost.