Why We Need Him (7)

After somehow shaking off Pelheim's relentless gaze, the Hero Esmeralda had retreated to her room alone, where she quietly ground her teeth at Jim's utterly sloppy performance.

No, he's a spy! How can someone be that bad at keeping a straight face?!

He had never been particularly good at it, but never had he been this embarrassingly, nakedly terrible. Of course, this had been an exceptional situation.

After all, the other party had been radiating a subtle hostility toward Jim the entire time.

Right, our names have simply grown too famous. That's why he's such an eyesore, sitting between us like that.

Esmeralda gnawed at her fingernails as she weighed the problem.

The risk of taking Jim with her versus the risk of leaving him behind. Which one was the more dangerous?

She was perceptive, and her authority as the Hero let her pierce through people's hidden intentions to a degree—but seeing the grand, sweeping picture of what was to come was beyond her.

Because at heart, she was nothing more than an ordinary country girl. The only reason she had become what she was now was that the Holy Sword had chosen her.

She could hardly have received any proper education, which meant the limits of her skill set were the survival instincts of a commoner—how to read a room, how to stay safe.

It was right at that moment. A commotion so loud it rang crystal clear reached the ears of Esmeralda, who sat alone at her desk, deep in thought.

"Demons! Demons have infiltrated the city!"

"Everyone, grab your weapons! If you spot a demon, report it immediately—do not engage them yourselves!"

"Haah……."

Esmeralda let out a long, heavy sigh. Apparently Jim, who had been trembling with anxiety since earlier, had gone and caused an incident.

Setting aside his hopeless lack of ability, the man was certainly bold in his actions.

"Well, first things first. I'll have to clean this mess up."

Esmeralda bolted straight out of the room.

Dealing with the situation came before everything else. Whether ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠she dealt with Jim or not could wait—saving people came first, didn't it?

Because she was the Hero.

Esmeralda rushed out of the building without even packing her luggage.

The luggage in question being, of course, her personal belongings.

Though admittedly, that other luggage—the one being carried off—was in much the same predicament as her personal effects.

"……"

What Esmeralda discovered as she burst outside was a group of men who looked suspicious to absolutely anyone with eyes, and a single sack—sized perfectly for holding one person—slung over their shoulders.

"……Wouldn't wearing all-black garb in broad daylight make you stand out even more?"

Esmeralda regarded the black-clad men with an air of utter disbelief as she quietly drew her sword. The Holy Sword, the symbol of the Hero, revealed itself.

"Hmm……."

Esmeralda barely stopped herself from blurting out the words that nearly escaped her lips.

The whole city was in an uproar over a demon invasion, but her opponents were human. Could she, who had spent her entire journey fighting demons, possibly fail to recognize that?

This is the work of a human—which means the one behind it is Pelheim Senoba, the woman who's been giving Jim such sour looks all day.

The timing was almost elegant in its convenience.

It was a moment when suspicion could easily fall on her—but it was also the moment when vigilance would be at its lowest.

Strike when a body exhausted by a long journey first steps into a place where it can finally relax.

As expected of the woman commanding the Fortress City—she had read human psychology with surgical precision.

Which made it obvious who was inside the sack the black-clad men were carrying.

It's Jim, isn't it?

Esmeralda used the Hero's authority to examine the sack closely.

A name and a status appeared above it, visible to her eyes alone.

Esmeralda tilted her head, then promptly shifted her gaze to the black-clad men.

"Huh?"

The group was warily watching her while stealthily backing away.

No, what the hell are these idiots doing?

I told you not to follow strangers around!

And so began a battle unlike anything the Hero Esmeralda had ever experienced.

Some time ago, when I had communicated with Lieutenant General Lilith, she had added one last remark at the end of the transmission.

So this was what she meant.

It was a signal that they would get me out soon! Woo! That's our Lieutenant General Lilith for you! What a brilliant stratagem!

Extracting me while simultaneously preparing a contingency to safeguard my person!

As expected, there was simply something different about anyone belonging to the Demon King Army's Operation Staff.

"Tch. So it's the Hero, huh……."

But apparently even a surprise operation like this was useless against the Hero, a veteran of a thousand battles.

I held my breath as much as I could from inside the sack.

There was no real reason to—I was simply scared, that was all.

I cast the spell stealthily to check what was going on around me.

Besides the man carrying me, there were six others in my immediate vicinity.

And ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠right now, the only member of the Hero's party present here was the Hero Esmeralda herself.

If not now, we would never be able to escape.

Our execution team evidently knew too little about the true depth of the Hero's power, because they just stood there, dazed and frozen.

It couldn't be helped. No matter how well you can play the part of a genuine kidnapper, you can't respond perfectly to an opponent you've never worked with before.

I suppose I'll have to lend them a hand.

Fortunately, seeing as I'd been drafted for this infiltration operation, casting magic covertly was my specialty.

The magic slithered across the ground like a serpent and clamped down on Esmeralda's ankle.

"What in the—?!"

"Now!"

"……?!"

But it seemed the execution team was even more stunned than the Hero was.

Even as the Hero tore my black magic to shreds with her Holy Sword, the team still hadn't managed to do a single thing.

Come on, you useless bastards, this is excruciating to watch……

No—wait. No, of course. These are men who've never drilled with me before. I was placing far too much expectation on them.

Right. I understand. It was only the first try—next time will be different.

THUD! ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠THUD! THUD! THUD!

With a sound like hundreds of people stomping the earth all at once, the ground around the Hero Esmeralda collapsed and sank away.

It was an offensive spell, yes—but its true emphasis lay less in raw power than in restricting the target's movement.

With that, the Hero had been pushed back further than the distance she'd initially closed.

Now! Run! A trick like this only works on her the first few times—that monster of a Hero will adapt in no time.

Thankfully, the execution team seemed to have finally grasped the situation—I could feel the group swaying as they pivoted to flee.

But then, something clamped down on their ankles once more.

"Haha……."

It was the killing intent of the Hero, Esmeralda.

Esmeralda had tried to save Jim. Spy or not, wasn't he still her comrade? If he were dragged off like this, he'd be subjected to every torture imaginable.

If he had to die, then she would kill him herself.

And she would do it as cleanly as possible. That was Esmeralda's sense of justice—even for a spy she had been making use of, she would grant him that much.

I'll kill him. I really will kill him.

But that justice of hers was now shaking violently.

Her ankle, still caught at a moment she never could have predicted, throbbed with a dull ache.

She had been caught off guard by a method she had neither seen nor heard of before—there had been no choice but to be taken by surprise.

It was only fortunate that Esmeralda kept a habitual eye on Jim at all times.

Monitoring the movements of a demon spy was one of her duties, and that was the only reason her response had been quick enough.

In other words, had it been anyone but her, things could have turned dangerous.

With ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the black-clad men right in front of her and her ankle seized, her body had swayed and staggered. Had the opponent been even a slightly more seasoned assassin, Esmeralda's head might well have left her shoulders.

"I will kill them. Without fail……!"

Her duty had just shifted from rescue to extermination.

Esmeralda immediately raised her sword and charged at her opponent.

But her target was not the black-clad men. It was that foolish demon spy, Jim, who had been harassing her with one unfathomable spell after another.

She would cut down the accursed traitor where he stood.

Absolutely!

The Hero Esmeralda's Holy Sword blazed with a brilliance it had never shown before.

"Ghk?!"

Stunned by her headlong charge, the black-clad men scrambled backward, dragging the sack along with them.

The sheer nakedness of her ferocity meant that the men who had been about to quietly dispose of Jim ended up shielding him instead.

In an instant, their positions had completely reversed.

"Hah-hah, just how long do you think you can protect him with those clumsy movements of yours?"

And Esmeralda felt an ecstasy beyond all description.

Overwhelmed by the rapture and madness gleaming in her eyes, the black-clad men shrank back.

And yet, curiously enough, Esmeralda was in an exceedingly calm state of mind.

Limbs only, to start……. It's a shame to stop there, but no. I can't.

She was exercising extreme restraint for the sole purpose of not killing Jim.

"Hey, wait a moment! Do you even know what's inside that thing?"

"Who cares? If it's something demons carry around, it can't be anything decent."

"We're not actually—"

"Captain!"

"Ahem! Hm, hm……. What's inside is a human being. Surely the Hero wouldn't swing her sword at a person?"

"I would, though."

The Hero was entirely serious.

She played the fool in front of the public, but she was, at her core, a woman capable of profoundly cold judgment.

"I know that my life is worth more than the lives of hundreds of people. So if a hostage can't be saved, I don't hesitate."

"……And if they can be saved?"

"Are we close enough that I'd explain my criteria to you?"

Esmeralda smirked.

That was what she said—but as long as she was certain of what was in that sack, there was no need to negotiate at all.

And through her eyes, the thoughts of the black-clad men lay utterly exposed.

Pelheim Senoba was a veteran who had fought demons on the front lines for decades.

Yes—she knew, better than anyone.

She knew how brutal the state of the front lines was, and how desperately humanity needed its Hero.

She genuinely cared for the Hero. Which was exactly why she had decided to clear away Jim—a burden and nothing more.

Disguising themselves as demons served two purposes: redirecting the Hero's wrath toward the demons, while at the same time removing the ankle-weight that was Jim.

In short, they intended to steer Esmeralda's hatred in a single, controlled direction.

Which means they won't kill Jim in front of me, at the very least.

Pelheim Senoba believed that the Hero—Esmeralda herself—was coddling Jim.

She saw her as a naive creature unable to cut away what needed cutting away.

She refused to let humanity's future remain shackled by such an anchor.

And so she would not want Esmeralda to be hurt. No—even if she were hurt, Pelheim would surely want that grief and rage to be poured out upon the demons.

Esmeralda tapped her shoulder lightly with the Holy Sword, her expression growing all the more relaxed.

She had already won a fight she could not afford to lose.

And at the very moment when joy and sorrow crossed paths—

Recognizing something faintly familiar in that power, Esmeralda murmured with a hollow, exhausted voice.

"……Milia?"

"Jim. Where are you? Where did you go? You promised I'd be the one to protect you……."

Yes—she, above all others, was the absolute reason this party needed Jim.