Ch.11The Reason He Is Needed (9)

# The Reason He’s Needed (9)

Esmeralda and Lug.

Both smiled at each other, but secretly harbored disgust.

As always, Esmeralda was the first to yield. She had no choice.

She knew Lug, but Lug didn’t know that she knew him.

Being the mature one, she had to endure.

“I’m going to meet Lord Fellheim. Could you tell Eirene for me?”

“Sure, got it. Go ahead. I guess that person must be busy with the sudden attack too. Sigh, I was just about to rest, and now this happens?”

Tina stretched with a look of exhaustion. Her flexible body extended like a stretching cat.

“Right, Millia?”

“Yeah, I’m really tired.”

Millia stared at Tina and then stretched as if imitating her.

Crack!

“Ugh!”

“Haha, that’s why you should exercise more. Millia, you’re so uncoordinated!”

When Millia let out a soft groan as if even stretching was difficult, Tina immediately pointed it out with laughter.

Bounce.

“Haha… damn it.”

And she cried looking at the two enormous masses that didn’t exist on her own body.

Her already loose robe.

Though even that couldn’t hide them completely, the moment she stretched her arms above her head, the loose robe clung to her body, showing off their presence even more than usual.

“Oh…”

And Lug enjoyed that moment.

It was the moment he felt alive in this damned party.

Yes, a glorious moment when a great life stirs.

“…”

Esmeralda left with a hollow smile, imprinting the pathetic sight of her party members in her eyes.

‘I need to catch the Demon Lord quickly.’

Her purpose hadn’t changed since the beginning. Whatever the initial reason, the reasons to capture and kill the Demon Lord kept increasing.

***

Esmeralda left thinking about how to persuade Fellheim Senova. No one saw her off.

It wasn’t surprising anymore.

Both Millia and Eirene had joined with their own purposes.

Lug was a demon spy, and Millia only showed interest in magic and Lug.

The only one in the hero party who truly cared about the hero was Tina, but even she had fallen into Lug’s clutches.

‘Come to think of it, where did Eirene go? It’s concerning…’

And Eirene Saintess.

She had a sinister side that even Esmeralda couldn’t control.

***

“Hello! Lord Fellheim. We meet again so soon.”

Esmeralda visited Fellheim Senova’s office with her usual somewhat foolish smile.

Fellheim Senova seemed busy receiving reports from subordinates, but upon seeing Esmeralda, she immediately dismissed everyone around.

She too seemed to know that her plan had been utterly shattered.

To be honest, at this moment when Lug’s identity had been exposed, neither Esmeralda nor Fellheim Senova had a definitive advantage.

“Thank you for your help this time, Hero. I never imagined those demon bastards would infiltrate this far into the fortress.”

“Hmm… is that so?”

Fellheim Senova put a cigarette in her mouth with a somewhat relaxed attitude.

She too had some cards to play. Which side’s weakness would be more fatal would be determined by the conversation they were about to have.

Thus began the battle of wills between the two.

First, Esmeralda glared at Fellheim Senova with eyes that contradicted her characteristic smile.

And Fellheim Senova, as if unconcerned, continued to pour out superficial words.

“I feel uncomfortable receiving thanks when Millia’s rampage seemed more dangerous than the demon invasion. Honestly, we didn’t even detect any demons. Or is Lord Fellheim mocking me?”

“…”

And Esmeralda silenced Fellheim Senova, who had been offering praise, with one barbed comment.

She wasn’t in a clean situation either, but at least she was certain that Fellheim Senova had ordered soldiers to kidnap and kill Lug.

Esmeralda is not a fool. She acts that way because it’s convenient.

But when she shouldn’t, she’s colder than anyone else.

Otherwise, she would die. Be looked down upon. Someone would get hurt.

“Lord Fellheim. This is a warning. Don’t even think about interfering with our party anymore.”

To Esmeralda’s cold voice, Fellheim Senova responded with an indifferent attitude as if uninterested.

“I won’t.”

“…”

Esmeralda frowned at Fellheim Senova’s ready answer. She wouldn’t back down so easily.

But…

[Note: I intend to withdraw from the hero party.]

She wasn’t lying.

“That’s good.”

It was strange, but Esmeralda decided to cover up her doubts, not wanting to complicate the situation further. She had too many other things to worry about.

Esmeralda spoke with her usual bright, foolish expression.

“Then I’ll trust your word, Lord Fellheim. See you next time.”

“Would you like to rest a bit longer?”

“Well, the situation doesn’t look good. Let’s have a leisurely conversation another time? …And I hope we can meet under better circumstances then.”

There are no eternal enemies and no eternal allies. Esmeralda glared at Fellheim Senova with cold eyes once more before leaving the room.

Fellheim Senova stared blankly at the door Esmeralda had left through for a while, then spoke in a stiff voice.

“Is this enough?”

Having dismissed all soldiers at once when Esmeralda arrived, what should have been a soliloquy from Fellheim Senova was answered by someone’s voice.

“Yes, you did very well, Lord Fellheim Senova. The gods will surely recognize your noble choice.”

“Haha…”

Fellheim Senova laughed.

It was a laugh tinged with self-mockery.

****

The saint of the hero party.

Eirene Saintess.

She had met with Fellheim Senova before Esmeralda and made a deal as the situation was being resolved.

Of course, that deal was…

[Intimidation Lv. 47]

In front of her position, it was nothing more than a one-sided coercion.

Fellheim Senova knew about the girl called Eirene Saintess.

While she was regarded by the public as a pure, innocent, and beautiful saint, as if drawn in a picture, those who knew, knew.

That she was the real power in the church. Not only was her holy power special as a saint, but she herself was dangerous.

“Your grandchild is cute.”

Eirene, with her usual innocent face, touched the frame on Fellheim Senova’s desk. When the frame fell forward with a thud, Fellheim Senova, unable to bear it anymore, spoke through gritted teeth.

“…Please stop. Didn’t I say I would cooperate?”

The church is in Eirene’s grasp.

And the church, though somewhat declined, is still an organization with immense power and authority.

With just one word from Eirene Saintess, a minor noble could be branded a heretic and have their name erased.

Did the Empire not know this? They knew but left it alone.

Because she was removing things that would interfere with her within appropriate limits. She was someone who knew how to stay within bounds from the beginning.

“Hmm? What a strange thing to say. Are you afraid I might do something?”

Eirene puffed her cheeks as if offended.

Fellheim Senova felt a chill down her spine at those actions that made her look like an ordinary girl to anyone watching.

A powerful organization. Moreover, a position that could make a person no longer a person with just a few words.

In front of such a person, Fellheim Senova could do nothing.

She had to cover up the fact that the porter’s identity was a demon with just one word from her.

She too was an ordinary person. Even if she fought for justice and peace, she wanted to protect her family.

“…Just one, just one more question, may I?”

“What are you curious about?”

“Why are you protecting a demon? I simply cannot understand. Perhaps…”

“If you’re thinking of saying something blasphemous, you’d better stop. It might put me in a bad mood.”

Eirene Saintess, who preemptively blocked the question of whether she had betrayed God, responded with her usual gentle smile.

But that smile contained a firm warning.

“I see. Hmm… how should I put this?”

Eirene twirled around like an excited girl and smiled shyly.

Having survived all sorts of political machinations from within the church, she knew.

That Esmeralda, who seemed like a fool, wasn’t actually a fool. That Lug wasn’t actually human.

That Esmeralda could read people’s surface thoughts, and that Lug was actually affiliated with the Demon Lord’s army and was selling information.

That both were trying their hardest to deceive the party members.

She knew all of this.

If she couldn’t even discern that much, how could Eirene have built up the church’s influence until now?

Therefore, it wasn’t important.

“Watching them is just so lovely, isn’t it?”

Because it was too enjoyable and happy to watch them dance in the palm of her hand, oblivious to everything.