I Became the Burden of a Conscienceless Party - I Became the Burden of a Conscienceless Party chapter 142

142 – Demon World (8)

Demon World (8)

The weather in the Demon World is harsh.

During the day, a scorching heat beats down, and at night, a biting cold rises from the ground.

That means that now that it’s night, the two people who fell into the river have to prepare for the sudden cold wave that has struck.

“… … .”

Of course, Esmeralda has to do the preparation alone, since Jim hasn’t come to his senses yet.

Esmeralda dragged her luggage from the river tainted by the magic and dug a hole in a nearby wall to create a cave.

It’s fine to throw your luggage in there and light a fire.

“Clothes…….”

The problem comes next.

There’s no benefit to being in wet clothes. Even if that weren’t the case, just wearing them would make you sick from the river water being contaminated with the magic.

“It’s okay since I’m half demon, right? That… … I lit a fire… … .”

Esmeralda tried to compromise.

It was so uncomfortable to have to take off Jim’s clothes, let alone my own.

It would have been okay in the past.

You know what? Esmeralda would not have hesitated to take action to save her life, whether it was taking off her clothes or tearing them.

However, because of the emotions I began to become aware of, I began to feel a strange sense of guilt.

It feels like selfish desires are mixed in with actions to save people.

Guilt and shame.

And self-loathing. All these emotions mixed together made Esmeralda suffer.

“Ah, this won’t work.”

However, Esmeralda, who was examining the condition of the luggage, lowered her head and bit her lip.

Jim’s condition was serious.

Honestly, it wouldn’t be strange if you said you’d die if you didn’t do everything you could do right away.

He received the sword energy of Legion Commander Eleven with his entire body and fell into the river polluted with magic with the wounds.

During the process, magic seeped into the wound and blood oozed out.

The cold wave that came as soon as night fell added to the heat, so even though I lit a fire, my lips turned blue.

“… … If you are a god, why are you so weak?”

Esmeralda began to take off Jim’s clothes one by one, muttering useless complaints.

As each layer of clothing was removed, Esmeralda’s complexion turned red, in stark contrast to Jim’s pale complexion.

“Ugh… … .”

Esmeralda covers her face with both hands and watches Jim through her fingers, even though no one is watching.

She still wavered between the guilt, selfishness, and sense of duty within her and slowly turned her head away.

“Oh, I took off my clothes… … .”

First of all, we have overcome one big hurdle.

Although Jim, who was standing at the crossroads of life and death, was unable to overcome the crisis, isn’t the important thing the fact that she accomplished one difficult thing?

Esmeralda was proud of herself. She did what was necessary, because if she had just stayed in her wet clothes, she would have lost body heat.

‘If only I hadn’t known about it, it wouldn’t have been this hard!’

Why are you protecting yourself? Why are you risking your life to help yourself?

I can’t understand. And I feel my heart being moved little by little by that incomprehensible kindness.

“Phew… … .”

We’ve overcome one big hurdle, but there’s an even bigger one ahead.

The condition of the luggage will not be improved simply by taking off the clothes. In the first place, taking off the clothes is only a process.

A fundamental problem that cannot be solved with just clothes.

“I guess I have to wipe it all off… … ?”

I need to wipe my wet body.

That’s the most important thing to do to prevent hypothermia.

However, right now, there is no such thing as a dry towel or cloth. That means you have to wipe away the moisture with your hands. And you will have to do it over and over again to get the moisture out.

“Why can’t the skin be peeled off?”

Esmeralda began to have eerie fantasies as she thought about the great hurdles she had to overcome ahead.

If we strip off our skin like we’re taking off our clothes, wouldn’t our worries about hypothermia disappear?

Esmeralda shook off those crazy thoughts from her head and looked around before opening her palm and looking down at it.

“… … .”

Esmeralda swallowed dryly.

Then, he steeled his resolve and reached out his hand towards Jim’s arm first.

Is it because I gained some training while working as a porter?

Esmeralda shivered for a moment at the firm sensation touching her fingertips.

But that was only for a moment. With the sole purpose of saving the man, Esmeralda began to shake the moisture off Jim’s body.

“ha…….”

Although she hadn’t done anything that would make her breathless, Esmeralda let out a series of excited sighs and shook the moisture off Jim’s body.

From easy-to-reach places to secret places that you can’t usually see.

Esmeralda, who had shaken the moisture off her body like that, swallowed dry saliva while blushing.

Maybe it was because there was a fire lit next to me, but my body felt hot for no reason.

“Now, it’s my turn… … .”

She was late because she had to check her luggage. It wasn’t a good situation for her to be wearing wet clothes either.

Because the river water polluted by magic was lethal to her human body.

Esmeralda shook off her cloak. It was originally intended to protect against wind and rain, so it was enough to shake off all the moisture.

But her clothes are different.

Bam.

Esmeralda’s slender fingers unbutton his shirt one by one.

As she took off her shirt and unbuttoned her skirt, it flowed down her thighs.

“Aren’t you going to wake up? If you wake up now, I’ll really kill you.”

Esmeralda glared at Jim, who had not yet regained consciousness, with wet eyes. It was a threat to cover up his shame.

Esmeralda, who was finally naked, hurriedly took the cloak she had taken off earlier and put it on her body.

Esmeralda had to feel ashamed once again because of the strange combination of naked body and cloak.

Esmeralda, wearing only a cloak, approached Jim, who was naked earlier, and hugged him.

“I’m just going to stay like this for a little while.”

***

It was a night of many thoughts.

I wondered if my colleagues were in danger while I was like this, and I was afraid that Jim wouldn’t be able to get up even after doing all this.

Every time I buried my face in Jim’s chest and heard his heart beat, I felt a sense of relief, but every time I did, I would flinch in surprise at my own appearance.

‘This is a medical procedure.’

But at the same time, he repeated that excuse and buried himself in Jim’s arms.

Her body was surprisingly hot, perhaps because of the current situation, and she felt Jim’s cold body because of it.

I wish he would come to his senses, but I wish he would just keep sleeping like this.

I wish his body would warm up again, but I also wanted it to stay that way.

Esmeralda closed her eyes.

He closed his eyes to his own cowardice.

“……what.”

At that moment, Esmeralda could feel strong arms embracing her. Jim, who had been unconscious, had come to his senses and was embracing Esmeralda.

Esmeralda flinched at that, but fortunately she was able to speak in a voice that was no different from usual.

“You should have said something when you woke up. I was worried.”

“sorry.”

“You weren’t keeping your mouth shut because you wanted to stay like this a little longer, were you?”

Esmeralda could confirm that fact right away. She could tell that much just by looking up and reading Jim’s surface psychology.

However, her face was bright red and she knew it too, so she could only quietly bury her face in Jim’s arms.

“Don’t even think about doing anything weird. I just did this because I thought it would be dangerous to leave you like this due to hypothermia. Don’t test my patience by doing something weird.”

Esmeralda was rambling to herself, making excuses for the current situation.

And immediately after saying it, I regretted it.

Doesn’t it seem strange to anyone?

Jim must have noticed that she was embarrassed.

“Then would it be okay if I hug you a little more?”

“… … Are you very cold?”

“yes…….”

“… … .”

Esmeralda originally planned to leave as soon as Jim woke up or his condition improved, but after hearing Jim’s voice trembling so miserably, she found it difficult to say no.

“Then just a little bit.”

“Thank you, warrior.”

Jim hugged Esmeralda so tightly that it was a little suffocating.

Esmeralda held her breath, whether it was because of the pressure or because of the much closer distance.

And what confuses her the most is… … .

‘Huh? Huh? Is this it? T, but this… is it this big?’

Something felt on her stomach.

Esmeralda couldn’t help but feel embarrassed by the sensation, which she clearly hadn’t felt when they had been hugging each other earlier.

‘What kind of evil demon sword is this… … .’

Is this weird or is it just a natural phenomenon?

Esmeralda didn’t know how to judge the situation and just kept silent.

“You are warm, sir.”

“Yes, well… … . I guess so… … .”

Jim’s body is cold. That’s why he feels Esmeralda, who is close to him, as warm. Of course, it cannot be said that there are no other reasons for that.

Esmeralda’s heart rate was faster, so her body might have been warmer than that of an ordinary person.

‘That, that load is warm too… … No, what on earth are you thinking?!’

Esmeralda couldn’t come to her senses at the feeling of the only warm part of her body touching her stomach.

She could tell.

What was one of the reasons Jim was so popular with women?

You probably don’t really want to know.