I Became a Burden to the Conscienceless Party

The 11th Corps Commander of the Demon King’s Army, Eleven, thought as he looked at the scene unfolding before his eyes.

‘This is an illusion.’

It doesn’t make sense otherwise.
A world where red rain falls. Everything with form that Eleven’s eyes touch is sharply honed, making even taking a step hesitant.
But he couldn’t just stay still either. The red rain falling from the sky was molten iron, and what rode the wind was not coolness but chilling blade energy.

Clang!
That’s why Eleven had to swing his sword against the falling raindrops and the raging storm.
Yes, this is the sensation of everything in this world returning as malice directed at him.
He had to swing his sword in the hell he had built up himself.

Ching!
With a clear sound, Eleven opened his eyes.
Only then could he discover the blue flames enveloping him.
All the alien scenes he had felt were implemented by these flames.
An absurd ability that affects both body and mind.
Eleven swallowed dry saliva.
What he had experienced so far was a kind of illusion magic.
However, the fact that the illusion could affect reality makes one naturally think about where the end of that path might be.

“Huff… Huff…”

But in the end, he survived.
He broke through that hell and stood in reality again. That speaks to the difference in capability between him and Jim.
Eleven glared at Jim, who had collapsed as if all his strength was gone. He looked as if he had exhausted all his power and collapsed from this one ability.
The hero had already fallen, and so had Jim. Now there’s nothing that can stop him.

“…”

Approaching Jim with his chipped sword, Eleven alternately looked at the sword and Jim with cold eyes.

‘What did I come here for?’

The hellish landscape he experienced. Even that alone was reason enough not to save Jim.
He will surely become a threat.
He had already become Jim’s enemy. He had swung his sword at him and wounded him.
But because of that, Eleven calmly withdrew his sword.

“This too is just a delusion.”

Eleven remembered his mission. He remembered his position.
He recalled what Lilith had said.
Yes, he is a soldier who can give his life for the Demon King.
And his mission was to help Jim escape.

“The mission is a failure. But, Aide Lilith. I understand what you said, albeit belatedly.”

Eleven turned around, returning the sword he had swung to Jim’s neck to its scabbard.

“I won’t have the face to see the Demon King for a while.”

He ended up incurring Jim’s hostility.
In this situation, trying to guide him to the Demon King’s Army would only cause resistance.
He messed up by not believing the words of the Demon King, the words of Lilith, the words that said he was special.
Eleven turned around, leaving both the fallen hero and Jim behind.
As he passed by, he saw blue flames coalescing over the hero’s wounded areas. It wasn’t the sticky flames that had constrained him, but was burning beautifully like holy fire.

“It’s all unknowns.”

He could see the wounds healing where those flames touched.
Yes, Jim is saving the hero.
Eleven couldn’t understand the reason for this. Just who is he? Whose side does he think he’s on?
Eleven turned back, self-deprecating his own situation of being pushed back as an old man out of touch with the times.

“Uuuuuuuh?!”

When I opened my eyes, as expected before sleeping, terrible muscle pain was dominating my entire body.
Damn hero, I didn’t realize because of her kind tone and gentle encouragement, but thinking about it now, there’s no forced march like this.
How can a person only think about themselves? Is there no thought of considering the weak baggage carrier?

“…You’ve woken up.”
“Ah.”

For some reason, I saw the hero’s figure in front of me. For a moment, pink fantasies spread in my mind thinking she might have come into my tent, but looking closely, I was sleeping on the ground.
Belatedly looking around, only then did my eyes go to the hero’s appearance.
Her whole body was wrapped in bandages, and the number and locations were quite numerous.
I’m not sure if it’s because they weren’t properly wrapped in some places, or if the wounds were that severe, but blood stains could be seen dyeing the bandages red.

“…Was there an attack while I was sleeping?”
“It seems you don’t remember.”
“I feel like I had a nightmare… Did I sleep through all this commotion?”
“…”

Esmeralda stared at me silently for a while.
I’m not sure if it’s contempt, wariness, or if she’s just tired. It’s probably because she’s tired. She looks exhausted.
After a moment of silence like that.
Esmeralda responded with her usual bright smile.

“You woke up briefly, hit your head, and then fainted.”
“Ah…”

Am I an idiot?
Hearing Esmeralda’s words, it seems there was a demon attacker last night.
Judging by how badly Esmeralda is wounded, it seems a considerable expert came, but I was just sleeping at that time.
If I had run away during that time, Esmeralda wouldn’t have been able to chase me… How am I going to explain this to Major General Lilith?
This time, I might really be abandoned.

“Anyway, I’m glad you’re safe.”
“Ah! Th-thank you for protecting me, Hero…”

If I fainted from hitting my head, it must have been that intense of a battle, and regardless of the details, the hero fought while protecting me, so it’s right to express gratitude.
With that thought, I conveyed my thanks, and Hero Esmeralda smirked. Perhaps because it was different from her usual bright smile, she looked human.
Well, the only non-human here is me, but that’s just a figure of speech.

“Um… If it’s okay, would you like me to help with the bandages?”
“…”

Seeing her frequently fail to tie the bandage on the opposite arm with one hand, I feel frustrated just watching.
The hero looked at me with drowsy eyes and then obediently held out the bandage and exposed her wounded area.
I suppose that means she’s entrusting it to me.

“Mr. Jim.”
“Yes, Hero.”

As I was silently wrapping bandages on the hero’s wounded areas, the hero, perhaps bored, spoke to me.

“Honestly, you’re feeling good touching a girl’s body all over, aren’t you?”
“Yes. Ah, no?! That’s not it?!”
“Not… Pfft. Ah, please rewrap this part too. It’s hard to do alone with an injured body…”
“O-Of course.”
“Not that side, this side.”

For a moment, I lose where to look at the hero’s playfulness that I hadn’t seen before.
I wasn’t thinking anything, but now that she says it, well…
Honestly, it does feel like I’m benefiting. It’s also surprising how such a small and soft body can exert such strength.
As I wrapped the bandages, I was reminded again of how intense last night’s battle must have been.
Not just the arms, but the waist, shoulders, inner thighs, and center of the body.
There’s no place without wounds.
And as I helped wrap bandages starting from the arms to the thighs and waist, as the hero said, it didn’t feel bad.
Wow, how can there be no fat on the waist at all?
I thought the hero might have abs since she’s strong, but when I touched slightly while wrapping bandages, this part was soft like the rest of her skin.

“Ah, then next is…”

As I finished wrapping the bandage around her waist with my head slightly lowered to hide my reddened face from the hero.
The remaining part was a sword wound stretching from the shoulder to the opposite waist.
To wrap a bandage here, I would inevitably have to see her naked.
Man Jim doesn’t back down.

“Ah, I’ll take care of this part myself.”
“Yes…”

No, don’t do that.
Can’t you just let me do it? I’m good at wrapping bandages. I passed the medic test with 100 points.

“Mr. Jim, I understand you feel good touching a girl’s body all over, but let’s not cross the line, okay?”
“I didn’t feel good.”
“Then did you feel bad?”
“…I did feel like I benefited.”
“Right?”
“Yes.”
“Then you also know well that excessive greed brings trouble, right?”
“Of course.”

That’s why I’m caught here like this now.

“I’m still a woman, so I’m embarrassed to show my naked body. You understand, right?”
“Of course.”
“Then why are you staring like that instead of quickly turning your head?”
“Aha!”

I turned my body at the hero’s warning delivered with a bright smile.
Human hearts are truly fickle.
I had never thought of the hero as a woman until now.
As we touched skin like this, I realized she’s quite beautiful.

“Mr. Jim, could you please stop imagining with strange expressions?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“No, that, haa… Forget it. Just keep your head properly turned. I’m watching you, so I’ll know right away if you turn your head.”
“How could I?”

That’s right. The hero had good intuition, though not as much as Tina. It’s best not to think about getting caught unnecessarily.
By the way, the sound of clothes being taken off is particularly noticeable, but this isn’t my fault, right?

“Mr. Jim.”
“I was thinking about mountains, seas, fields, and rivers.”
“No, forget the excuses. More importantly, I’m done, so you can turn around now.”
“Already?”
“Mr. Jim must have meditated for a long time thinking about mountains, seas, fields, and rivers. Did they appear so vividly? Without even realizing time passing?”
“Yes, it was a beautiful scenery.”
“…”

Nature is beautiful.
Humans and demons are also part of nature, aren’t they?

Esmeralda subtly tested Jim. Not just about what happened last night, but she was suspicious whether he really tried to help her.
She was certainly fatally wounded, but when she came to her senses, her biggest wound had long since healed.
If someone had treated her wounds, she thought it could only have been Jim.

‘But I don’t know his identity.’

That’s why she had to be wary.
Now Jim’s comprehensive estimate level was even higher than hers.
So she deliberately showed openings to see how Jim would react.
For example, having him wrap bandages.

[Note: He’s thinking that a woman is a woman after touching your skin. He’s an animal.]

But it was the usual Jim.
Or should I say, Jim who doesn’t hide his sexual desire more than usual?
Esmeralda felt like her face would burst from blushing so much as she saw the contents of that note.
The sensation of her becoming strange as Jim kept having weird thoughts.
In the end, she decided to stop testing and wrap the bandages alone, but…

[Note: He’s imagining a shirt falling off your shoulders listening to the rustling sound. He’s imagining two mounds liberated from compression hearing the sound of hooks coming undone.]

‘No, this pervert bastard?’

Jim was imagining her naked body even more explicitly in that brief moment.
It wasn’t good just because he couldn’t see. Jim’s surface thoughts were more blatant than Esmeralda had imagined, so she was just blushing, not knowing how to handle the current situation.