The Escort Knight Who Is Obsessed by the Villainess Wants to Escape - Chapter 107

“…Then, do you want to go see it?”

“Huh? Alone?”

Eliza, who had been looking out the window, suddenly turned her head.

She stared at me directly.

For some reason, her voice sounded chilly.

“We should go together.”

“Aren’t you busy?”

“I met most of the people I needed to see yesterday. The rest is just waiting for their responses.”

Eliza propped her chin again and gazed at me quietly.

Her cheeks puffed up as her finger pressed against them.

“I’m fine for today.”

This…

I’m not sure, but somehow, it felt like she was asking because she wanted to go.

‘…Maybe not?’

Eliza glanced at me for a moment, then casually looked back out the window.

It seemed like it didn’t matter what I said.

Anyway, I didn’t have a good reason to refuse.

Most importantly, I was still worried about the monsters causing trouble.

If we walked around under the excuse of enjoying the festival, it might help prevent it.

“If it’s okay with you, miss, I’ll go…”

Before I could finish my sentence, Eliza grabbed my hand and stood up.

Lia rushed over.

“Miss! You should take this with you.”

She handed me a large robe with a hood.

She certainly stood out in many ways.

Her basic outfit wasn’t ordinary.

She was obviously an aristocrat.

Moreover, Eliza, the infamous fire mage, was among the more famous aristocrats.

“Okay.”

Eliza obediently followed Lia.

While she was putting on the robe, I grabbed mine from my room.

A brown robe that had faded from the sun.

I usually wear it over my armor.

To prevent the armor from getting too hot in the sun.

The robe fastens with buttons from the neck to the chest.

I put it on and turned around, only to find Eliza staring at me.

“You buttoned it wrong.”

“Excuse me? Ah…”

Before I could check, Eliza reached out and unbuttoned it.

She slowly and carefully re-buttoned it from the bottom up.

I froze and had to remain still until she was done.

Finally, Eliza had buttoned it up to the collar.

It was usually a spot I left unbuttoned because it felt suffocating.

But Eliza didn’t remove her hands.

She held the buttons like a leash, staring at me intently.

“Miss?”

“…No, it’s fine now, right, Lia?”

Eliza asked as she put on the hood, and Lia nodded with a smile.

“Please be careful, Miss.”

With that, Eliza and I left the mansion.

It was definitely the start of the official national festival, so there were noticeably more people.

If you weren’t careful, you could easily lose sight of someone next to you.

Because of this, Eliza and I had to walk very close together.

With our hoods up, no one recognized us.

There were so many people that it probably didn’t look suspicious.

And it wasn’t just us wearing hoods.

“Have you ever been to a festival?”

Eliza asked.

“No.”

I answered immediately.

A festival?

I’d never experienced one in my life.

‘Well, if you want to be picky, I’ve participated in festivals like the national festival in games before.’

But calling that participation… didn’t really feel right.

“Hm. It’s also my first time participating as a guest.”

I guess so.

Eliza usually either hosted or managed the festivals.

Even the national festival was one of those.

Although she came as a guest, it seemed that she wasn’t really in the mood to enjoy herself.

“Is there something you wanted to do?”

“Hmmm….”

I pretended to think hard, subtly guiding the way.

Near Judeca.

To the place where monsters were expected to appear.

Fortunately, Eliza followed me without much suspicion.

‘Having Eliza around might actually help… Wait, but wouldn’t a regular person like her get caught up in the magic…?’

I started to worry late.

“…Judas?”

“Oh, yes. Sorry. Just thinking about something else for a moment…”

“Why do you keep thinking about other things when you’re with me?”

I turned around in surprise, wondering if I had heard wrong.

Eliza didn’t avoid my gaze.

She slightly pouted her lips and looked up at me, clearly dissatisfied.

At that moment, I wanted to slap myself for my misunderstanding.

‘Seriously… messing with someone’s heart like this…’

In other words, I wasn’t paying attention to what the master was saying.

That’s what it meant.

I didn’t think Eliza had meant it in that way.

“Sorry. This is actually my first time doing something like this, so I’m not sure…”

“Hmmm. Yeah, it’s your first time.”

The large circular arena, Judeca.

There are quite a few entrances that lead to Judeca.

First, there are four, north, south, east, and west.

These are for general spectators.

The cross-shaped entrances are twisted 45 degrees, leading to four more.

There’s another set of doors, forming an X shape.

These are for officials or invited VIPs.

They’re also used as passages to transport monsters for the gladiators or combat, and it’s the same entrance I used with my guards yesterday.

The inside is so vast, and yesterday was a busy day, so I didn’t get a good look around.

‘There are two exits where monsters could pop out. One is definitely to the southeast, but where’s the other one…?’

I checked the surroundings and headed toward the southeast exit.

Eliza didn’t ask anything or stop to look around.

She just quietly matched my pace.

She walked, gazing around the area.

Her red eyes aimlessly taking in the scenery.

‘…Is she a cat or something?’

She didn’t seem to mind looking at the scenery, walking without paying attention to the front.

I kept an eye on her as I walked ahead.

Finally, we reached the area near the southeast entrance.

“Judas, over there…”

Eliza tugged at my clothes, about to say something when—

-Screeeech!

A chilling sound echoed from afar.

The kind of sound that made everyone passing by cover their ears in horror.

I instinctively pulled Eliza into my arms.

My head turned toward the source of the sound.

Sure enough, the southeast entrance to Judeca.

A massive iron door was being torn apart.

The iron door was ripping apart like paper, making a grotesque sound.

Beyond it, a large green eye glowed.

‘Cyclops.’

It was a sub-species of ogres.

The difference? It’s mindlessly huge and incredibly strong.

“AAAHHH-!”

“Run—run away! Everyone, escape!”

People panicked and scattered in all directions.

I stood still in the middle, holding Eliza in my arms, careful not to get swept up in the chaos.

“Judas. What’s going on?”

Eliza asked, still in my embrace.

Since I was holding her, she couldn’t see what was happening.

“It seems like the monster we captured in Judeca is trying to escape.”

The iron door split wide open.

As people ran out, the space cleared up.

I let go of Eliza and immediately summoned my armor, putting it on piece by piece.

‘If the flow goes as I remember, it’ll take a while before the royal knights arrive. I have to hold it off for now.’

Eliza helped me put on my armor.

“Ah, thank you…”

“Thank me later. First, we have to stop those things from getting out.”

Eliza turned toward the Empire as if calculating something.

And I suppose she had finished her calculations.

She must have been thinking about how much the Empire’s prestige would drop because of this incident.

If Eliza and I solve this, how much support will we get?

Thanks to her help, I managed to gear up in my armor and even draw the moon’s pupil.

‘Monsters are bound to appear in other places as well, but I can’t quite remember where… I guess the only choice is to break through as quickly as possible from this side.’

-Thud!

A Cyclops appeared outside the Judeca.

A giant nearly 4 meters tall.

From beneath it, countless monsters began to pour out.

Eliza stayed right behind me.

“Miss, are you alright?”

“Don’t worry about me. Take care of the little ones on the ground.”

Eliza’s magic is overwhelmingly destructive.

It’ll be difficult to target only those monsters without damaging the Judeca.

So, Eliza focuses on the Cyclops first.

“Understood. Be careful.”

“Yeah. You too.”

Eliza vanished from my sight.

Moments later, she reappeared in midair.

Her eyes, blazing with insane fire, looked down on the Cyclops.

I trusted her and charged forward.

The first thing I saw was a massive centipede.

A monster, over 8 meters tall.

I infused my magic into the moon’s pupil.

Moonlight shimmered on the black blade.

Maybe because my magic stat had dropped, the light was fainter than before.

The centipede, with its giant, waving antennae, lunged at me.

I swung my sword down with all my might.

“Haah-!”

It split in half, green fluid pouring out.

I stepped over its corpse and pressed on.

Ahead, I saw the Cyclops’s foot.

And behind it, countless monsters.

Some of them focused on me, while others were already fleeing to other places.

‘As expected, it’s impossible alone…’

In that moment.

Golden flames erupted from both sides.

A fiery barrier sealed off the Judeca’s entrance.

It was Eliza’s magic.

The monsters hesitated.

They couldn’t escape beyond this point.

‘As expected, when she’s on our side, she’s more rElizable than anyone else.’

The Cyclops fell in an instant.

With a torrent of blood, the giant’s corpse crumbled.

The monsters scattered, avoiding it, and I chased after them, ending their lives.

“This is the kind of place I should’ve brought Benny-noona…”

“Do you think I enjoy walking around with you? You never know what might happen when you go off on your own…”

“Yeah, yeah. Everything you say is right, Dylan-nim.”

“…”

Richard, who had been teasing Dylan, suddenly focused on something.

A large structure standing in the center of the city.

The Judeca.

More specifically, the entrance to the Judeca.

“What’s that?”

“What do you mean, ‘what’s that’?”

“Seriously, look at that.”

Dylan lazily followed Richard’s finger.

The northeast entrance to the Judeca.

The iron gate was being forced open, and something was trying to come out.

Dylan recognized it immediately.

“…Isn’t that the front paw of a werewolf?”

“It’s a monster, right?”

“Why is it…?”

“What are you two doing?”

Lindel, who had been nearby, approached.

He was with Argon and Dyke.

They had also noticed the northeast entrance.

“Why is it like that?”

“I don’t know the reason, but it doesn’t feel right.”

-Bang!

The iron gate crashed open, spilling out with a loud noise.

The monster’s eerie eyes glowed in the darkness.

The northeast entrance to the Judeca had opened.

People screamed and scattered.

In the midst of the chaos and noise, Dylan immediately shouted.

“All guards, prepare for battle!”

The moment his voice was heard, all the members of the Eliza Imperial Guard nearby swiftly drew their weapons.

Dylan quickly assessed the situation and gave orders.

“Surround the entrance and narrow it down! Make sure there are no civilian casualties!”

“Yes!”

“Our goal is to hold out until support from the Royal Knights arrives! Everyone, charge!”

To the northeast of Judeca.

At that moment, 11 members of the Imperial Guard were enjoying the festival nearby.

They had lightly armed themselves, just in case of any unforeseen events.