The Escort Knight Who Is Obsessed by the Villainess Wants to Escape - Chapter 174

I escaped.

I successfully fled from Eliza, who tried to kill me.

After the war with the Empire ended, she tried to kill me.

I still clearly remember the golden fireballs she hurled at me.

Moreover, before that, she even strangled my neck while I was asleep.

At the time, we acted as if nothing had happened, but in the end, Eliza tried to kill me again.

The tragedy I had seen before came true.

It was worth preparing in advance.

Including the full moon and magic immunity, etc.

Thanks to that, I managed to escape without being completely burned.

I fled only after the war ended, but honestly, it was almost dangerous at the end.

Perhaps because I was exhausted during the battle, I collapsed, and when I regained consciousness, Eliza was by my side.

Fortunately, Eliza was also exhausted and unconscious, so I quickly took the chance and escaped.

There was no time to check my surroundings.

I had to escape before she woke up.

Instead, I took off the strange necklace around my neck.

It was an item I didn’t recognize, but it had a magical aura, so I felt uneasy and left it behind.

Anyway, after fleeing, I arrived in a city.

A place with a refuge prepared through the information guild.

Jericho.

This city, located at the edge of the demon realm, is where I now reside.

‘I think I heard that Eurydice and Orpheus live in the house next door…’

But for some reason, I don’t see them.

The yard is overgrown with weeds, as if they’ve been gone for a while.

‘Since I came without giving notice, I might not see them.’

With that, I entered the mansion that was my refuge.

A house large enough for one person to live in comfortably.

Starting as a slave and now living in a mansion like this in a relatively safe city.

I’ve succeeded.

‘Hmm… Why does this feel familiar?’

I’m pretty sure this is my first time here today, but it feels strange.

I do know this place.

In fact, it’s my refuge and home that I obtained through the information guild.

Hermes gave me a pretty detailed description of what the house looked like.

‘But it feels familiar in a slightly… different way. Like, a kind of familiarity as if I briefly lived here before… what’s with that doghouse?’

There’s a doghouse in the yard.

It looks a little shabby, as if it hasn’t been used in a while.

‘Who used to live here?’

I felt uneasy and on alert as I entered the house.

But there was no one inside.

On the first floor, there was a large living room, a dining room, and a kitchen.

On the second floor, there was one bedroom and two other rooms.

The rooms that didn’t seem to have a specific purpose seemed like they could be used freely.

All the essential furniture for living was prepared.

It’s a house where I just need to move in.

‘But one room… has signs of someone having used it. Were they doing some magic research?’

There were books about magic, mainly related to healing serious wounds.

I’m not a mage.

There’s no reason for these to be here.

‘What’s going on… Did some mage secretly use this room while I wasn’t here?’

Fortunately, it doesn’t seem like it’s been used recently.

‘It should be fine for me to live here, right…?’

The bed in the bedroom was quite large.

Dust had accumulated everywhere.

‘I guess I’ll have to clean up first.’

After opening the windows to ventilate the house, I headed to the storage.

‘It’s here, after all…’

I reached for the broom, but stopped.

‘…How did I know?’

I’m here for the first time today.

Yet, I instinctively headed toward the empty room that I thought was the “storage.”

And, as if it were natural, there was a broom ready there.

‘What’s going on… This is kind of creepy?’

I quickly glanced around the house, but didn’t see anyone else.

‘It’s probably nothing, right…?’

Feeling uneasy, I decided to start cleaning.

I swept the floor with the broom, then wrung out a mop from the storage to clean the furniture.

The house was large, but there weren’t many pieces of furniture, so the cleaning didn’t take long.

‘Now it feels more like a home.’

After confirming the house was tidy, I decided to get familiar with the surroundings and went outside.

But then.

‘What is this… This place feels strangely familiar too?’

Jericho.

This is a city I’ve visited a few times before possessing.

So, just because it’s familiar and comfortable, it can’t be said to be completely wrong.

Even so, what’s surprising is that it feels completely different from the kind of familiarity I’ve known.

It’s almost as if I’ve lived here and spent time here.

‘Is this… the memory of this body, Judas?’

If that’s the reason, I can understand, but it doesn’t make sense.

This Jericho city only became a place where people could live relatively recently.

The environment was too harsh for the young boy named Judas, before I possessed this body.

‘This is strange…’

As I walk, still puzzled.

“…Huh? Judas?”

I ran into someone on the street.

That person recognized me.

“Hmm?”

Who is this?

Four men.

Their faces are familiar.

They’ve grown a lot, but I can still see traces of their childhood.

“Leon?”

And Cooper, Connor, Brown.

These are the guys I met at the training camp when I was younger.

Although we weren’t on the best of terms… still…

“Judas!”

“What are you doing here?”

“Why are you here?”

…What’s going on with them?

They’re acting like we’re really close.

Not only that, but they seem to be reacting as if I shouldn’t be here.

It’s not just surprise or embarrassment, but more like they’re seeing someone who shouldn’t be here at all.

“Uh, well… it’s a long story…”

Eliza tried to kill me to completely absorb my magic.

It would be a little difficult to go around telling people that.

Besides, I need to live in hiding.

Eliza might still be looking for me, unwilling to give up on my power.

‘I was even thinking of using an alias to hide, and now I’m running into people who know my real name…’

I can’t just say I’m not Judas to someone who recognized me.

So, I made up a vague excuse.

“Well, there’s been this and that happening…”

“Is that so…?”

“But did you guys always live here? All of you?”

“…Did you get hurt?”

“Huh?”

“Did you hurt your head or something?”

“Looks like you can’t remember, so maybe that’s it.”

“Well, it was the Empire, so it’s not surprising if you got seriously hurt.”

“So, did you come here to rest for recovery?”

They started guessing various things amongst themselves.

…I don’t understand what they’re talking about.

‘Is there something I can’t remember? Does this mean I’ve been here before…?’

No matter how hard I try to recall, nothing comes to mind.

Then, suddenly, one thought came to me.

‘…Eliza.’

Eliza restored black magic using sorcery.

Some of it involves magic that interferes with memory or the mind.

‘Could it be?’

Did Eliza mess with my memory?

Did she remove or distort some memory?

‘Why?’

Did I know something important or fatal to Eliza?

‘That can’t be it.’

I don’t know anything about Eliza.

From the start, she and I weren’t close at all.

Her interest in me when I entered the training camp seemed to pass by without anything significant.

Afterward, I hardly ever saw Eliza.

Even after I became a knight, it was the same.

We had a strictly professional relationship.

A master and a knight.

It was just a contract between us.

So when she tried to kill me, I knew it would be tragic, but I couldn’t help but be shocked.

She had been treating me as if I didn’t exist, and then suddenly tried to kill me.

‘Anyway, there’s no way I could have known anything important or fatal to Eliza. But if she did meddle with my memory…’

It would have been to steal my power.

To make it easier and more convenient to take it from me, she might have used suggestions or tampered with my memories.

If it’s the Eliza I know, that would be just like her.

I’ve experienced it countless times before, even before the possession.

A murderer and an arsonist.

An unpredictable human whose actions cannot be foreseen.

A notorious villainess.

Eliza has somehow interfered with my mind.

If she went to such lengths, she would never give up on me.

It’s likely that she is still chasing me.

As I realized this, cold sweat broke out on my back.

“Judas? Why do you look like that?”

“Shouldn’t you be resting inside instead of being outside?”

It seemed that my nervousness was visible on my face.

“No, it’s nothing. It’s not a big deal.”

I forced a smile and made up an excuse, then returned home.

Maybe they were right.

‘I should rest…’

I spent five years in constant tension near Eliza.

After somehow becoming a Escort knight, it felt like I was walking on a blade every day.

‘…But, how did I even become a Escort knight? I was planning to run away… And why did Eliza appoint me as a Escort knight…?’

I don’t know.

Ever since I escaped, my mind has been in a mess.

Especially after coming here.

After washing up hastily, I collapsed onto the bed.

Thud.

The bed rocked.

I touched my chest absentmindedly.

As if looking for something.

Maybe a necklace.

Probably golden.

It’s a strange thing.

I’ve never worn a necklace…

No, wait.

The one I left next to Eliza.

Could it have been an important item for me?

I left it behind because it felt awkward, but maybe I shouldn’t have.

For some reason, I feel frustrated.

I keep becoming aware of the discomfort I couldn’t notice before.

The discomfort I felt right after leaving Eliza.

There’s also this strange feeling of unease, like I shouldn’t be doing this here.

‘There’s something wrong with my memory… That seems right.’

Memories that should naturally connect are broken, jagged.

As if someone intentionally cut them out.

Did Eliza do this?

It felt empty beside me.

A wish for someone to be there.

A longing to hold a small, warm body.

It couldn’t possibly be.

A scent I’ve never smelled before makes me nostalgic.

A faint, sweet smell.

If I were to bury my face in it, it would wrap around all my senses, a warmth like the sun.

The words I muttered absentmindedly must be the result of my grogginess.

“Eliza…”

I had a dream.

Eliza appeared in it.

A young Eliza.

She was crying.

Climbing onto me.

I was half-collapsed against the wall.

I raised my aching arm.

Eliza placed my hand on her face.

An impossible dream.

That Eliza would cry in front of me.

The scene faded like water and then reassembled.

A stable.

The young me and Eliza petting Yuel.

Eliza tilted her head and said:

My one.

The scene kept scattering and recombining.

A man named Sardis.

I stopped him from harming Eliza, and I killed him.

An adult Eliza and I.

Eliza smiling at me, then crying.

Truly, dreams are dreams.

Seeing such unreal scenes, it must be a dream.

That Eliza would never smile or cry.

And then a hill.

Before a grave, she and I were hugging each other.

Eliza spoke.

In a very tender and affectionate voice.

“I like you a lot. Judas.”

To this, I replied.

My voice trembled dangerously.

“…I also like you a lot. Miss Eliza.”

It really is an impossible thing.

In my dream, I was sincere.

So this is a dream.

A very cruel and bad dream.

A nightmare.

For sure.

***

It’s been a week since Judas fled, and Eliza woke up.

“……”

Eliza secretly infiltrated Jericho.