I Became a Burden to the Conscienceless Party

The moment Irina encountered the hero, she could understand at first glance.

‘Ah, this person is the same.’

That she too was wearing a mask of lies on her face.
She seemed to somehow know Irina’s true nature.
While curious about the method, Irina acted kind as she always did.
It wasn’t difficult. This kindness was just something she had to abandon in the past. It’s essentially an action closer to reminiscence rather than acting.
Thus, she accompanied the hero.
What she learned in the process was that the hero was more cautious than expected. Since she couldn’t recklessly refuse support without any backing, she only accepted support from herself, the Saint, and one of the most prominent groups in the Empire.
With the intention of filtering out the riffraff trying to forcibly associate with her by accepting at least that much.
Irina knew all of this but didn’t interfere. If she acted that way, it was rather convenient. Rather, if she’s not stupid, defeating the Demon King might not be just a dream.

‘Ah, so that’s it?’

She came to know by journeying together like this.

‘The hero can read people’s surface thoughts.’

The trigger was when a high-ranking demon approached. A demon acting as if only he had survived while the village was destroyed.
She could recognize that being at once. She who wields holy power. There’s no way she wouldn’t recognize a demon.

‘If you look closely, the destroyed village hasn’t been built for long.’

It means the village itself didn’t exist in the first place. But Irina didn’t bother to point that out.
Just looking at the hero’s complexion, she knows.
That the demon before her eyes is a stronger enemy than expected. That’s why she’s playing along with that demon even though she knows.
And even to Irina’s eyes, the caliber of the demon who introduced himself as Jim was not visible.
Of course, he’s not a noble or a famous demon, so if she used the Order’s full strength, she could sufficiently save him.

‘It would be better to watch for a while.’

While Irina observed the hero and Jim, from that day on, she manipulated her surface thoughts.
Probably by the time the hero first encountered Irina, her purpose had already been exposed.
Yet the reason she couldn’t prevent her from joining was that she thought about adjusting the party while weighing the pros and cons.

‘Maybe…’

They might really be able to defeat the Demon King. Ironically, at the point Irina decided to manipulate her surface thoughts, she stopped having hostile thoughts towards the hero.
Of course, the hero wouldn’t be able to know about such changes in Irina.
But she thought it didn’t matter.
Even if her thoughts changed, whether the hero failed or succeeded, the result would be the same as at the beginning anyway.

Annoying.
That was Irina’s evaluation of Jim, the new companion.
She thought about exterminating him using the Order’s forces several times.
But a spy, depending on how you use them, can be a means to extract information or lead into a trap in reverse.
The hero probably had such thoughts too, so there was a high probability she left him alone.
Or she might be trying to naturally raise the party’s strength and then deal with him directly with her own hands.
Irina had no intention of interfering with the hero’s work. She knew the hero was wary of her, but she intended to be as favorable as possible.
She wanted to accommodate her wishes because she could gain benefits no matter how the results turned out.
If the hero was really stupid, she would have pulled the strings from behind, but seeing her agonizing and trying hard even now makes her want to cheer her on.
She had changed herself, but because the fundamental part deep inside still remained, she tried to believe.
Of course…

“Haha, isn’t the sun a bit strong today? So, I made a parasol, though it’s not much.”

Jim’s annoyingness was enough to irritate her.

‘Well, you’re quite handy.’

Irina received the parasol Jim gave her with a forced smile.
For something made of wood, the handle part was heavy, suggesting he had done some tinkering there.
While thinking she should disassemble and examine it later, Irina expressed her gratitude as kindly as possible.

‘But really, what’s with this method of trying to gain favor without even being able to act?’

This crazy guy sometimes picks flowers from the field and gives them to her.

‘Did he learn about the world from fairy tales?’

Yes, he’s seriously practicing methods that would only appear in fairy tales.
It’s hard to even pretend to be fooled by this. Trying to deal with it makes me feel like my head is turning into a flower garden.
Of course, Jim was useful.
He was faithful to his role as a baggage carrier and had talent in various other miscellaneous tasks.
But in the end, he’s a demon and a spy.
No matter what actions he took, there was no way he would look good in Irina’s eyes.

“Ah, Mr. Jim. Would you like to pray with me?”
“…Prayer?”
“Yes!”

This was a very small venting of anger.
Irina grabbed Jim’s hand with a smile blooming like a flower.
And with the intention of teaching a lesson to this annoying demon bastard, she rubbed holy power on the back of his hand.

“Uh, I, well… Kuk?!”

Her own kind of warning.
She intended to teach him with burn marks on the back of his hand what would happen if he tried to get any closer to her.
After enjoying Jim’s expression of enduring pain for a while with a sincere smile, Irina thought this was enough and let go of Jim’s hand.

“When you pray together, you develop a sense of unity. From now on, we should often…”

Irina flinched in the middle of speaking with plenty of pretense.

“It, it seems fine. Yes, I don’t particularly believe in God, and wouldn’t that Celestial God person be displeased if someone who doesn’t believe in them prays? So…”

While Jim was rambling due to Irina’s prayer attack.
Irina just glared at the back of Jim’s hand with a look that said it didn’t make sense.
There was no wound at all.
She had grasped Jim’s abilities and now she was stronger. Based on that judgment, she thought this much would give a painful lesson.
Yet the fact that there was no wound meant one of two things. Either she had misjudged the other’s capabilities, or the other had some special ability she didn’t know about.
Irina decided to closely observe Jim, focusing on the latter.
This time, Irina clung to him, who had been persistently clinging to her.
In reality, Jim tried to keep his distance after being severely burned by Irina.

‘No, why is this guy playing hard to get?’

They reap what they sow.
Both Jim, who tried to gain the Saint’s favor, and Irina, who tried to uncover Jim’s identity.
A situation that would be good for neither of them began to unfold.

“Mr. Jim, would you like to pray with me again today?”
“…Do we really have to?”
“Yes!”
“I see…”

So for a while, Irina repeated praying while holding Jim’s hand to uncover his identity.

There are no miracles in this world.
Now that the Celestial God has left, all that remains are coincidences that look like miracles.
Because Irina knew this, she maintained the Order through all sorts of fraudulent acts. Because she wanted to save people regardless of God’s existence.
But that doesn’t mean she lost her faith.
She still worships the Celestial God.
She’s desperately searching for him.
She prays that he would look back at humans once again.
Even if he brings divine punishment upon her.
She wished there was a being who could be a ray of light for those who pray for their future while living through hard days.
But she knows. There’s no such thing.
Irina was living with such contradictory thoughts.
She was wearing down like that.
But…

“Yes, but.”

Irina found information about Jim by combining what she investigated and what she found out through the Order’s power.
Despite digging thoroughly, there was less information than expected. Rather, there would be more information if it were a corps commander or the Demon King. Of course, this was because Jim hadn’t made many notable achievements.
And yet, information came out.

“A hybrid of demon and human? There’s something that can’t exist…?”

He was truly a miraculous being. Because he was a being that could never be born by coincidence.
It’s a bit inappropriate to say as someone belonging to the Order, but demons were far superior in caliber compared to humans or other heterogeneous races.
The only ones that could compare were the dragon race.
Therefore, a hybrid of demons was inherently impossible.
Even if they shared love with other races, what was born was still a demon.
Because the blood of the race was so intense that hybrids couldn’t be born.
And it’s the same for the dragon race.
Neither human-demon hybrids, human-dragon hybrids, nor even demon-dragon hybrids exist.
Children born between dragons and demons are just dragons or demons.
They can never be hybrids.
But a hybrid of human and demon?

“It must be one of three things. Either this information is wrong, it’s a miracle, or…”

The mixed blood is not human but an entirely new being.
But whichever it was, it could be called a miraculous event.
There wasn’t much information about him. Only about 5 years’ worth.
And coincidentally, during those 5 years, the Celestial God was absent.
Irina felt her heart pounding.
Expectation and elation. Things she had abandoned to protect the Order.

“I wish you were the miracle given by the Celestial God.”

Irina unconsciously uttered such words and only belatedly realized.
That even though she had already decided to immerse herself in malice, she was still hoping for a miracle to save her.

“Haha…”

She had become weak. But she was grateful that her tender part remained.
That’s why Irina prayed.
From that day on, her aversion towards Jim disappeared. He started to look like a being that was neither insect nor human.
Yes, on that day, Irina was finally able to see Jim properly as a person.
Jim seen like that was…

“Now that I look at you, Mr. Jim, you’re quite… an interesting person.”

A person who seemed fun to torment.