The Escort Knight Who Is Obsessed by the Villainess Wants to Escape - Chapter 118

“Judas!”

As soon as I stepped out of the mansion, Richard and the rest of the guard rushed over.

“What’s going on? Deployment? To Bethany, of all places?”

“Is there some kind of misunderstanding?”

“Yeah, it must be. You talked it through and resolved it, didn’t you?”

Despite their earnest attempts to console me, I couldn’t respond.

I could only muster a faint smile.

That alone was enough of an answer.

“Is it true…?”

“Why…?”

“Wait a second. I’ll go and talk—”

I stopped Richard by grabbing his arm as he tried to head back inside.

I shook my head at him, silently.

“There’s no need.”

“You… Huh? What’s that black mark on your neck?”

“…Ah.”

I’d been covering it up carelessly, but I forgot today.

I hid it earlier, worried Eliza might notice and get concerned.

“It’s nothing. Anyway… if the master gives an order, I have to follow.”

“This is too much, no matter what.”

“Yeah! Sure, you haven’t been a guard knight for long, but you’ve been by the lady’s side for years!”

Dylan and Lindel joined in after Richard.

The others looked just as outraged on my behalf.

If someone overheard, they’d think they were the ones being dismissed.

I waved them off with a smile.

“It’s complicated to explain. Simply put… my presence is more of a hindrance now.”

“…….”

“Anyway, that’s how it is. Please take care of the lady for me.”

As I turned to leave, Richard grabbed my shoulder.

“Judas. You’re going to abandon your post, right?”

“Would I disobey orders?”

“You’re seriously… ha…”

Running a hand down his face, he spoke in a heavy voice.

“Don’t die.”

“I’ll try.”

“Judas… is there really no way we can help you?”

Dylan asked, his face crestfallen.

“Just protect her in my stead. That’s enough for me.”

“…….”

I bid them farewell, one by one.

Honestly, I didn’t even know what I was saying.

It didn’t feel real.

By the time I’d said my goodbyes to all 11 of them, Hermes stood before me.

“Sir Judas…”

Her expression was somber, as if she already knew everything.

“Sir Hermes.”

“In case you…”

“No. I’ll go to Bethany.”

“…….”

“But I do have a request. May I?”

“A request? What kind?”

“To be precise, it’s not a request but a commission. As a client of the Information Guild.”

Hermes nodded, pulling out her notebook.

After ensuring no one was eavesdropping, I relayed my commission to her.

“…Understood. I’ll assist as much as possible.”

“Thank you.”

“But it’ll take some time.”

“That much is fine. I can wait.”

I felt a gaze from somewhere.

When I turned to look, no one was there.

Only the curtained window of Eliza’s study was visible.

I stared at it blankly for a moment before steadying myself.

‘It’s time to go.’

Before leaving, perhaps I should see Yuel one last time.

“Tasty?”

I asked, stroking Yuel.

I was in the stables, feeding him yellow umbrella mushrooms.

It might be the last time I see him, so I made sure to feed him plenty.

“Eat a lot.”

I even groomed him for the first time in a while.

Bradley, the stablekeeper, hesitantly approached.

“Uh… I’ve heard some rumors. Ahem. Is it true?”

“I’m not sure what you’ve heard, but it’s probably true.”

“Hmm…”

He fumbled, seemingly trying to offer some comfort, but in the end, said nothing and hurried off somewhere.

‘What was that? The restroom?’

I simply stroked Yuel.

Aimlessly. A bit slowly.

‘…I don’t want to leave.’

Pathetically, that’s how I felt.

I didn’t want to leave this place.

There was Yuel, and the guards of Room 13, who were now like family.

And also…

“Sigh…”

As I sighed, Yuel lifted his head to look at me.

“It’s nothing. Really. Eat some more.”

I scratched his neck, and he let out a pleasant sound as he continued to eat the mushrooms.

Around that time, Bradley returned.

“Uh, Judas. Here, take this.”

He handed me a leather pouch.

“What’s this?”

“Nothing much. Just some potatoes, jerky, corn… odds and ends I packed together.”

Inside was simple travel food—but the amount was far from simple.

The pouch wasn’t small, and it was full.

Beneath the food were basic medical supplies, including bandages.

“The medical tools… Gale packed those.”

Gale.

That cranky old physician who always nagged me.

“He said, ‘Whether you die or not, take these,’ and stuffed in all kinds of things. Honestly, he’s so stubborn…”

I couldn’t help but chuckle.

“It’s a shame I couldn’t say goodbye to him. Please thank him for me.”

“Yeah, sure…”

Bradley looked at me pityingly, then sighed as his shoulders drooped.

“Ah… this is all I can do for you.”

Though he had helped me, he sighed as if apologizing.

I had planned to stop by the city for these supplies anyway, but thanks to him, I saved time and money.

“Don’t say that. Thank you.”

“Don’t worry too much. Who knows? The lady might call you back someday.”

At his words of comfort, I simply smiled faintly.

Before leaving, I said goodbye to Yuel.

“I’m going. Don’t follow me.”

A clever beast.

Perhaps sensing something, anxiety clouded his innocent eyes.

He whimpered and clung to me.

Since it was our last moment, I let him have his way and stroked him gently.

“Stay healthy. Listen to Mr. Bradley.”

The moon deer I met five years ago.

Both of us were young then.

As I grew, so did he, becoming a strong adult stag.

He even got a name: Yuel.

We grew attached.

But Yuel wasn’t mine.

He belonged to Eliza. I merely borrowed him often.

‘Belongings, huh.’

I remembered what Eliza had said five years ago as I stroked Yuel.

‘Mine…’

Even at the end, I couldn’t let go of my attachment. How pathetic.

“It’s really time to go now. Goodbye.”

I pressed my forehead against Yuel’s in a final farewell.

Dragging this out would only make it harder.

I had to ignore the whimpering cries behind me.

I forced myself to leave the stable.

For a moment, I leaned against the closed door.

I could hear Yuel’s cries and Bradley trying to comfort him from beyond the door.

I looked up at the sky.

Five years.

It felt short.

But it was the longest time of my life.

I finally pushed myself away from the door and took a heavy step forward.

***

“Sir Shylock?”

Just as I was about to leave, Shylock was standing at the entrance.

Originally on Barak’s side, he turned away because of me.

Finally, he decided to side with Eliza.

He looked at me and sighed.

“…What kind of conversation did you have back then for it to come to this?”

“It’s a bit complicated to explain.”

“Ugh… You sure know how to make a love quarrel intense.”

“……”

“Sir Gawain asked me to deliver a message.”

Gawain.

A man who was once my mentor.

He follows Barak, not Eliza.

He returned to his home.

With tension brewing between Eliza, the Empire, and the Bevel family, a recall order was issued.

He left so abruptly that we didn’t even get to say a proper farewell.

“Don’t hesitate.”

Don’t hesitate.

A piece of advice Gawain often gave me.

Hesitation in battle means defeat, he said.

“When we meet again, please tell him I’ll keep that in mind. And send my regards as well.”

“At this rate, if you meet Gawain again, it won’t be a situation for exchanging pleasantries.”

“Well, that’s true.”

“…Take care.”

“You too, Sir Shylock.”

And so, I left Eliza.

***

I thought I had avoided the first tragedy.

But I hadn’t.

Fate inevitably approached me.

And it’s not over yet.

One tragedy and one comedy remain.

‘Eliza, who used fire magic against me. And me, lying gravely injured, looking like I was about to die.’

Two scenes.

They connect.

‘Does this mean Eliza will come back one day to kill me?’

Eliza said she stabilized after absorbing my moon attribute mana.

I understood why she had been calm despite harboring that raging fire, but I couldn’t be at ease.

‘She might come back to absorb it again.’

And this time, she would make sure to kill me.

Because that’s what the second tragedy points to.

‘…Is there no way?’

Fate. Inevitability. Tragedy.

It seems unavoidable.

Just as the first tragedy eventually found me.

But no, that’s not the case.

There’s one certain way.

A method so meaningless I hadn’t even considered it.

If the target of the tragedy disappears, it won’t come to pass.

***

Bethany.

The Graveyard of Knights.

Receiving deployment orders to Bethany is essentially equivalent to exile.

Most people flee on the way there.

Yet, there are those who eventually reach Bethany.

Either because they’ve committed grave crimes and their master has vowed to punish them…

Or because they’ve lost the will to live and simply drift there.

The overwhelming majority of knights who stay in Bethany fall into the first category.

And so, endless conflict unfolds there.

Violence and theft are everyday occurrences.

Robbery, murder, and sexual assault are rampant.

As the most dangerous frontline, monsters swarm day and night.

Add monsters to the human conflicts.

Those who remain in such a perilous place are human dregs who can’t survive anywhere else.

And they’re surprisingly skilled, too.

The nickname ‘Graveyard of Knights’ is overly grandiose.

It even seems to romanticize the place.

In reality, it’s more frequently called a ‘garbage dump.’

From a general perspective, it’s a den of society’s evils, akin to dark mages.

Two men were drinking and smoking drugs.

With slurred and drunken voices, they spoke.

“Did you hear? Bevel’s bastard issued a declaration. What was it again…?”

“Claimed the monster outbreak in Judeca was orchestrated by the imperial family?”

“Ah, yeah! That! The world’s gone mad, seriously.”

“Pfft… Idiots. I wish a war would just break out and wipe them all out.”

“Why not? They say things over there are already tense. It wouldn’t be surprising if something happened any moment now…”

The two who were talking naturally fell silent.

Bethany’s makeshift entrance, made by sticking sharply carved logs diagonally into the ground.

Someone approached from that direction.

Because of the robe covering them from head to toe, the details weren’t visible.

The two, gazing drowsily, grinned.

“Is that a newbie?”

“Seems like it.”

“A newbie who didn’t get dragged here, huh. That’s a first.”

“Probably just another life-abandoning piece of trash. Hope it’s a woman, though…”

“A woman with that build? Now, that’d be something new.”

The figure presumed to be a newbie walked in boldly, without fear.

“As seniors, we ought to explain what kind of place this is.”

The two quietly pulled daggers from their belongings.

Thin and narrow—closer to an awl than a dagger.

“Hope they’ve got a lot on them.”

Each holding a bottle of alcohol, they approached the newbie.

The daggers were hidden beneath the opposite sleeves.

“Hey, there. First time here?”

They acted friendly.

“Don’t know your story, but you must’ve been through some trouble. Everyone who ends up here has a story like that. Care for a drink to soothe your nerves? It’s on the house, just this once.”

Alcohol is a great tool for breaking down people’s defenses.

“And besides, this place is dangerous to wander around alone, newbie.”

The other said nothing.

From beneath the hood, only shadows could be seen. No facial expression.

The two unconsciously swallowed and tensed up.

Up close, the figure’s stature was far more intimidating than it seemed from afar.

Not that it mattered. One jab to the side, and they’d drop, squirming.

“Looks like you don’t know much. Let’s start with—”

Ten steps remained.

Even under the influence of alcohol and drugs, it was a distance they could close in an instant.

They had survived in Bethany for years.

Throwing the bottles and lunging with the daggers happened simultaneously.

As they closed the gap and thrust their weapons—

Darkness rippled.

Swish!

A clean, sharp sound.

“…Huh?”

Four arms spun through the air in graceful arcs.

Indistinguishable as to whose arms were whose as they spiraled.

The only certainty was that they weren’t the newbie’s arms.

By the time they realized what had happened, it was too late.

Their torsos had been severed, and their upper bodies hit the ground.

From below, the newbie’s golden eyes gleamed coldly.

The newbie.

Judas brushed off the dim pupils of the Moon’s Attribute and thought.

“With only 1 point of mana, I can’t even imbue the blade with magic. Still, getting an initiation rite the moment I arrive? This place hasn’t changed.”

It was their first actual visit.

But not an entirely unfamiliar place.

They’d been here countless times in a previous life.

They had expected the ambush, and the Moon’s Attribute itself was an exceptional weapon, making it easy to win.

There was no guarantee it would always be this easy.

“I’ll have to stay here for a while…. It’s already proving to be a hassle, as expected. I can’t let my guard down for even a moment.”

There was no need to clean up the bodies.

There were scavengers for that.

Feral wild dogs suited to the harsh environment.

Or exile soldiers who fed on human flesh.

Judas ventured deeper into Bethany.

There were no proper buildings.

Most people sprawled on bare ground or used crude tents as shelter.

“A pit where only those with neither normal personalities nor skills gather, with no actual ruler.”

Judas leaned against a secluded corner.

The long journey had left them exhausted, but lying down wasn’t an option.

“A survivalist might wake me up, but I can’t rely on that too much.”

They closed their eyes.

Clutching the blade close, ready to respond at any moment.

“War…. Eliza…”

The outside was so noisy that they couldn’t help but hear it.

No matter how much they wanted to ignore it, it was impossible.

Eliza’s face kept resurfacing in their mind.

Every time they had a moment to think, it was the same.

Especially when trying to sleep.

The cold expression looking up at them. The dry gaze.

The sharp words spilling from small, crimson lips.

That they wished they were dead.

‘I was just trying to use you’

And then, the founding festival comes to mind.

The shy smile.

Hands clasped as if never to let go.

The warmth of close contact.

Even that subtle moment when they gazed intently at each other in the maze-like garden.

…He tried hard to shake it off and fall asleep.

It was the first night in Bethany, about two weeks after leaving the mansion.

***

The man had arrived in Bethany.

It was an inconvenient time, as his target had gone on a military deployment, complicating the itinerary.

Still, he couldn’t neglect the task.

It was the guild’s pride at stake.

The man reviewed the directive sheet again.

Target traits:

Black hair. Golden eyes. Strikingly large physique.

Carries a sword as black as the night.

Precautions:

A formidable individual—must kill in a single strike.

Client: …Di Bevel.

After a final review, he burned the directive.

He ventured deep into Bethany.

The assassin’s silent footsteps made no sound.

He searched for the target without drawing attention.

‘…There he is.’

A man leaning against the crumbling wall of a building, fast asleep.

Though his eyes were hidden, every other trait matched.

Especially the black sword.

There was only one such sword in existence.

Even the assassin’s guild coveted it.

‘Don’t give him a chance.’

He drew a dagger and coated it with poison.

The assassin guild’s special deadly poison.

Even a graze guaranteed death.

He readied himself, aiming for the exposed neck.

The armor below might block the poison’s effects.

With a swift motion, the dagger cut through the air.

Just as it was about to strike, the target slumped forward.

He had fallen over in his sleep.

‘…Lucky bastard.’

As the assassin reached into his pouch to reapply the poison,

“Who are you?”

A low voice questioned him.

The man froze, holding his breath.

Something cold and hard pressed against his neck.

Raising his eyes slowly, he found the target standing right before him.

The target, Judas, was pressing his sword threateningly against the assassin’s neck.

His golden eyes gleamed ominously in the darkness.

“Who sent you?”

A name he desperately wished to deny surfaced in his mind.”