The Escort Knight Who Is Obsessed by the Villainess Wants to Escape - Chapter 32

Gossip.

Many people do it.

When they talked behind my back, I let it slide.

Their petty and obvious malice.

It annoyed me, but I endured it.

But it’s different when they talk about Eliza.

It’s not because Eliza is nominally my master.

Nor is it because I feel guilty about living comfortably and safely with Eliza’s money.

“Illegitimate Child.”

A child born of an illicit affair, an unexpected kid.

An unwanted existence from birth.

In this world, sensitive to status and birth, being an Illegitimate Child is a sin.

It’s hard to empathize.

Eliza is only treated well because she’s a mage.

But no matter what, I don’t think you should insult someone for that.

The reason I endured gossip about me is simple.

It’s the consequence of my actions.

I was just seeing the repercussions of what I did.

Trying not to cause trouble.

An Illegitimate Child is different.

Eliza wouldn’t have chosen to be born an Illegitimate Child.

No matter how noble she is or how many people worship her, she wouldn’t like being an Illegitimate Child.

A fleeting memory passes through my mind.

That dawn when I woke up feeling a warm embrace.

Eliza’s trembling voice.

“Mom…”

This is just my opinion.

I don’t have the arrogance to think everyone should feel the same way as I do.

It’s a foolish sense of rebellion.

I’m not even Eliza.

In fact, Eliza is supposed to strangle me soon.

So, the reason I’m beating up Brown and Connor is purely because I’m in a bad mood.

If I hadn’t heard them, I wouldn’t be doing this.

That’s not the only reason.

They were also going to mess with Lindel.

Lindel might have gone along with them.

Regardless of his true feelings, there was a way to fit in to avoid an uncomfortable situation.

But Lindel didn’t.

He answered honestly and straightforwardly.

Even though he was up against two of them.

I have more than enough reason to be angry.

“The lucky strike…!”

Brown’s sword wavered.

Despite his confident words, his demeanor was fully intimidated.

I charged at him.

His sword swung reflexively, without thought.

Clack!

I easily deflected it with a wooden shield.

At the same time, I thrust my sword forward.

The wooden sword precisely struck the pubic bone.

“Ugh…!”

Brown staggered backward, clutching his torso.

I immediately followed up with an uppercut using my shield.

Brown’s chin lifted, and he toppled over.

I stepped on his stomach to keep him from getting up and pressed his shoulder down with my sword.

“Grrr…”

Brown couldn’t mount a proper counterattack.

There are levels in traits.

However, not all level 1s are the same.

When I had just learned swordsmanship and fought Lindel, and when I received private lessons from Gawain, both were at level 1 in swordsmanship, but their skills were not the same.

Now, my swordsmanship is at level 2.

Someone like Brown, who’s just attempting the first Test, is no match for me.

Even without swordsmanship, the result would be the same barehanded.

“Why…?”

Brown looked up at me, unable to comprehend.

Seriously?

“You tried to bash my head and run away while I was asleep, and now you’re shamelessly begging?”

“……”

“There are always people like you who don’t realize until they experience it themselves. By the time you understand it’s your turn, it’s already too late.”

“Just once!”

Brown changed his stance.

He knelt and bowed his head.

“Just spare me once! I’m sorry, really sorry… If I fail this test, it’ll be my second time! I’ll pretend I didn’t see anything!”

Not a very attractive offer.

You took the risk knowing you’d fail.

“I won’t say anything even after the test is over! I’ll pretend I didn’t see it… So, please, just let me go… Is that okay?”

My answer was already decided.

There is no way someone who did something to fail can pass.

“No.”

***

I took the bracelets from Brown and Connor.

With this, they’re both disqualified.

“Grr… Gasp!”

Connor woke up urgently exhaling as soon as I took his bracelet.

“Uh, wha- what’s…”

He grabbed his head and frowned, then looked up at me with wide eyes.

It seems he recalled the memory just before he fainted.

“You, you…!”

He tried to get up as if to rush at me.

I grabbed the shield with both hands and swung it hard.

Thwack!

It hit Connor’s face squarely.

“He still hasn’t come to his senses.”

Blood gushed from Connor’s nose.

He hastily clutched his nose, rolling his eyes belatedly.

He scanned the surroundings.

He noticed Brown lying in a similar posture behind me and was startled.

“Young boys only learn the bad things…”

I took out the bracelets I had put in my pocket and waved them.

“If you have questions, ask him. I don’t feel like explaining.”

Connor, who had been blinking stupidly, soon dropped his head.

Even without an explanation, he seemed to understand and resigned to the situation.

“And you two.”

“Huh, huh?”

Brown and Connor flinched in surprise and trembled.

They didn’t seem to think of rebelling, even if I spoke informally.

I spoke bluntly and sat by the campfire.

“Leave in the morning.”

“W-what…?”

“Do you want to wander around at night, get lost, and die of hypothermia? Leave when it’s daylight.”

Annoying as they are, I don’t wish for them to die.

If they die because of me, that would be quite unsettling.

“Don’t look at me with those teary eyes. Just get some sleep.”

“Uh, what about keeping watch…?”

“What makes you think I’d trust you with that? Just sleep, at least I won’t hit you from behind like someone.”

Brown and Connor opened their mouths with complicated expressions.

They seemed to want to say something but couldn’t.

I just added more wood to the campfire.

In the end, they went into the tent without saying a word.

The emotions on their faces resembled guilt and shame.

“What happened…?”

Felin, who had woken up from the commotion, sat beside me and asked cautiously.

“It’s not like nothing happened… it’s not.”

If it were nothing, I wouldn’t have caused this mess.

I spoke without hiding anything.

“I woke up to find them badmouthing me. Honestly, that was no big deal, but then they started insulting Miss Eliza.”

After that, they woke up Lindel and forced him to join in their backbiting.

When Lindel took it seriously, they planned to betray and escape.

In hindsight, it was likely just impulsive bravado.

But I cant ignore the possibility it wasn’t a bluff.

“That’s what happened. It’s a good thing I was awake because I was uncomfortable with the bed.”

After finishing my story, I broke the gem on my bracelet.

It’s fragile like glass and breaks easily.

Now, I’m confirmed to be eliminated too.

“……”

Felin nodded with a complicated expression.

Lindel’s face also stiffened in discomfort.

“Hey. Judas.”

Lindel said.

He looked determined as if he had made up his mind.

“I’d rather be eliminated instead.”

“…What?”

“When you think about it, it was me who got into a fight with them. So, why don’t we say I fought back, and you pass the test instead? They won’t know if we switch bracelets…”

“No. I should be the one…”

Felin also insisted that he should be eliminated instead of me.

I couldn’t help but let out a laugh in disbelief.

It’s endearing, in a way.

“It’s fine. You don’t have to.”

I stopped their heated debate.

I didn’t want to hear about who should be eliminated or that I deserved to pass more.

“I don’t want others to pay the price for my actions.”

Regardless of the cause, I accepted my disqualification and fought those two.

I have no desire to avoid it.

Sometimes, to win, you have to be cunning, but I hate hiding it cowardly.

I didn’t say it out loud.

Saying it would make it seem like I was calling Lindel and Felin cowards.

They are not cowards.

They are just foolishly kind.

And I can retake this test.

I just need to trust my trait as a survival expert.

“I appreciate the sentiment.”

My attitude was resolute.

They didn’t try to persuade me any further.

They just sat beside me quietly, keeping their place.

It was I who broke the silence.

“… Two people have to stand watch at a time, so one of you should sleep.”

After that, we had quite a long argument about me sleeping while the two of them kept watch until morning.

Then, realizing it was still far from dawn, we decided to take turns keeping watch.

***

“Since the investigation started, Bishop Anggra has disappeared.”

Miguel reported.

Eliza, sitting at the desk, hugged a cat doll and listened quietly.

It was the second day since Judas’s first trial began.

She looked weary.

Her half-closed eyes were more tired than before.

Miguel continued.

“The reason for the disappearance is said to be a pilgrimage, but there is no evidence.”

“That’s blatantly suspicious. Is it something that doesn’t need to be hidden? Or was there no time to hide it?”

Eliza had ordered an investigation into Judas’s whereabouts.

A slave passed through several markets.

Tracking was difficult due to the lack of written records.

The last achievement was securing a record that Bishop Anggra, a priest of the Moon Church, had taken him from the gambling den Judeca.

There has been no progress since then.

Anggra hid as soon as the investigation began.

Claiming to have gone on a pilgrimage.

There is no justification to publicly question the Moon Church.

“What about records before Judeca?”

“Currently, there are no places that have left such records. However… the remaining slave markets are all in dangerous areas close to the demon world. Many of them are places where assassins’ guilds or dark mages hide.”

“Hmm…”

Eliza mentally unfolded a map of the continent.

The borders of various regions naturally drew themselves around the Duchy of Bevel.

Among them, the areas close to the demon world.

Places that are difficult to step into recklessly.

And among those who follow her now, there is no one loyal enough to take such risks.

Eliza recalled the record she read last time.

The possibility of special training.

What does that sentence imply?

Anggra, who disappeared.

The fact that he hid makes it difficult to gather information, but the very act of hiding is already part of the information.

It’s information about information.

Not sure what it points to yet.

Eliza, tapping her desk, made a decision.

“Keep investigating. Try to avoid stirring up a hornet’s nest.”

“I will convey that message. Also, an advisory regarding the Lady Narcissa’s decision has arrived.”

Miguel cautiously extended the letter towards Eliza.

Eliza casually tore open the envelope, as she usually did.

Unlike her indifferent touch, the envelope was neatly opened.

“Narcissa de Bevel has been assigned the responsibility of evaluating the qualifications of a home tutor but neglected this duty, and furthermore, failed to adequately verify the identity of the selected knight candidate for Eliza de Bevel, admitting fault according to the longstanding internal regulations of the Bevel family. Therefore, she is sentenced to six months of internal exile within the country.”

Narcissa was found guilty of her actions.

Her punishment: exile.

“I wish she were dead.”

However, it wouldn’t be that easy.

She hadn’t expected much, so she wasn’t disappointed.

A lawful wife and beloved.

Narcisse’s power and influence are formidable.

“It’s nice not having to see each other for a while, but I’m not one to sit idly. It’s time to act up.”

She would seek revenge at any cost.

Maybe this time, she would really try to kill her.

Since enhancing the power of the mage, the atmosphere within the family has been uneasy.

Already a strong candidate for the next head, Eliza has become even stronger.

Narcissa doesn’t have many options left.

Kill Eliza.

Or be killed by Eliza.

A cornered mouse will bite.

“We need to fortify the mansion.”

Like a thorn bush, flames rose from Eliza’s hand, and she threw the letter into the fireplace.

“Perhaps it’s time to replace someone.”

At that moment, Lia cautiously spoke.

“Miss. It’s time to move.”

“Huh? Ah.”

Eliza checked the time and smiled faintly.

It was a smile she hadn’t intended.

“Let’s go.”

Eliza stood up holding the cat doll.

She adjusted the red blanket draped around her neck with her small hands.

Looking into the mirror, Eliza said,

“Miguel. Lia.”

“Yes, Miss.”

“It’s time to make a decision. We don’t have much time.”

“…”

“You need to stand in line properly.”

As Eliza walked out the door, Miguel had no response.

Lia followed, heavy-hearted.

It had been a secret for a long time that she sided with Eliza alone.

***

It’s been two days since Judas’s first exam began.

In other words, today is the day his exam ends.

Sitting in the carriage, she looked out the window on her way to the test site.

Her hand slowly stroked the cat doll’s head.

It was an unconscious gesture.

To be honest, she didn’t expect much from Judas in this exam.

“He’ll probably pass.”

She had even brought back a moon deer from the hunting grounds and trained it.

Surviving two days in the wild should be simple enough.

The assumption naturally arises that he must have passed the test.

So there’s little reason for expectations.

Plays and literature with known endings aren’t interesting.

This is no different.

When the outcome is obvious, it’s impossible to have expectations.

Yet she still insists on going to see Judas.

Not just today.

Eliza often visits the training ground and averts her face.

It’s a first time she did such things.

Even Eliza finds it a bit strange, though she doesn’t quite understand why.

Why she’s doing such a thing.

Why she finds herself doing such a thing is also odd.

Being odd and curious is not the only thing.

The expression on Judas’s face when he looked down on her after fainting while tending to the moon deer.

The meaning of that expression, reminiscent of her mother, remains uninterpreted.

The most unknowable thing is her own heart.

She going to meet Judas.

Just that fact makes it beat vividly.

Why in the world.

Not having seen him for two days, why is there such vigor returning to her body that had gone limp?

It’s the first time in her life that there have been so many things she didn’t know.

To her, the world and people were such obvious and boring subjects.

Until she met Judas.

She found herself smiling at the window without realizing it.

“Interesting.”

***

Eliza got off the carriage.

Right where the exam began.

Where she had bid farewell to Judas.

Because it was not announced beforehand, the candidates and knights looked at her in surprise.

They all looked gloomy and dark.

As if smeared with mucus.

Only in the distance.

Among the people, a solitary figure with a distinct color caught her eye.

Bright golden eyes.

He looked at her with a puzzled face.

Eliza walked briskly towards him.

Approaching quickly.

The ivory-colored light radiated.

Even without touching, his unique cold aura was palpable.

It’s just a two-day thirst.

She has also survived two days without holding Judas’s hand.

However, just knowing that they were physically apart made her feel an even greater thirst than that.

“My dear…”

Judas couldn’t even find time to behave politely.

Eliza suddenly embraced him.

“……”

Judas stiffened, his hands were trembling.

He couldn’t hug her back, nor could he push her away.

Whether it was appropriate or not.

Eliza savored the chill with her whole body.

***

Afterward, she moved away as if nothing had happened.

Her expression was as usual, devoid of color.

A face like a sulking cat.

Judas was exasperated as he watched her shamelessly disregard him without explanation.

Actually, Eliza wasn’t shameless.

Without being aware of shameful acts, there was nothing for her to be shameless or proud about.

Acknowledging it wasn’t behavior befitting nobility, but it wasn’t a concern she wanted to focus on now.

So, she ignored it.

It was as if she would do so herself.

Talk of emotions or condolences between men and women, she merely socially learned.

Eliza couldn’t deeply empathize with such matters.

She had been startled when she tried to wake the sleeping Judas, but it was just an unexpected situation.

She had covered his eyes in case Judas made a fuss.

It would be troublesome if others found out.

Anyway.

Eliza, who had returned to her usual self, unexpectedly came across something very interesting.

“… Eliminated?”

Judas had been Eliminated from the exam.

According to her calculations, that shouldn’t have happened.

Yet Judas had confidently gone against expectations.

Could he be a presence brought to give her a new interest?

He was a perfect person made for her.

An arrogant wish.

Was her Christmas prayer really answered?

The confusion caused by her sudden appearance was short-lived.

The reactions of the candidates were divided.

Those who failed lowered their heads, while those who passed straightened their shoulders to stand out.

Whatever the case.

Eliza only looked at Judas.

Judas sensed that something was wrong.

“Oh. Surely not….”

Eliza stared at him intently.

Her lips involuntarily curved upwards.

The red blanket draped over her neck was like a scarf that didn’t suit her build.

And holding a black cat doll added to the image of a cute girl without a flaw.

Even the recent embrace was a bit…

But now Judas was anxious.

“Judas.”

“… Yes, Miss.”

“You’ve been disqualified.”

There was laughter and an intrigued tone in her voice.

As if asking,

“Why would you be disqualified when there’s no way you should be?”

It seemed that once again, she had piqued the interest of this little villainess.

Eliza stepped closer.

Remembering the recent embrace, Judas stiffened but didn’t repeat the same mistake.

She just stared closely.

A bright smiling face.

Like a mischievous little devil who had found an amusing toy, she asked with a smile.

“Why did this happen? Hm?”

“……”

Judas’s head throbbed.

This stubborn girl. It’s driving him crazy.