The Escort Knight Who Is Obsessed by the Villainess Wants to Escape - Chapter 45.2

“Doesn’t it look like you’re trying to protect them?”

“…….”

“Oh, I’m not saying that’s what you’re doing. It’s just how it looks to me.”

“What are you trying to say?”

“Nothing in particular, I’m just purely curious.”

Judas shrugged his shoulders as if feigning ignorance.

He was deliberately provoking Gaston.

Drawing Gaston’s attention away from Richard.

After all, Gaston’s target was him.

It was better for him to bear the brunt of the anger than Richard.

Moreover, he found many aspects of the current situation surrounding him suspicious.

He wasn’t sure if his suspicions were correct.

But if he provoked too much, Dylan and Richard might get caught up, so he was being more careful than usual.

To avoid losing his temper.

“Because the lady shows you some interest, you think you’re something special now, huh?”

Judas unintentionally let out a hollow laugh.

It was a clear sneer.

He had never relied on Eliza, yet they misunderstood and judged on their own.

He didn’t care about that.

At this moment, he simply pitied Eliza.

No matter how deeply infiltrated by spies, the foundation of life at this training camp was all under Eliza’s name.

Accommodation, meals, salaries, and so on.

The cadets in Room 5 were no exception.

They all lived indebted to Eliza.

Cadets repay this debt through diligent training, and the knight instructors through education.

Yet no one seemed to think that way.

No one showed even superficial loyalty or gratitude to Eliza.

This reality and his pity for her were laughable.

Eliza was a great noble.

Moreover, a noble mage.

Her talent was anything but ordinary.

One day, she would hold power over the continent.

The idea that he pitied such a person was absurd.

Even if she might one day kill him.

The emotions that had grown through his experiences with her were genuine.

“…You. What’s with that reaction now?”

Gaston asked in a low voice.

The atmosphere had shifted from the earlier indifference.

Judas just shrugged.

“Who knows.”

“…….”

Clear derision and contempt were evident on Judas’s face.

Gaston was in a foul mood.

‘It’s already annoying enough that I was assigned here… and now this insignificant brat…’

Time that should be dedicated to the moon was being wasted on monitoring a kid like this.

This isn’t why he infiltrated under Barak.

But now, the boy was ignoring him.

Gaston was sure of one thing.

This foolish kid didn’t know he was Barak’s man.

If he did, he wouldn’t dare act like this.

In truth, his obedience to Barak was just a facade.

Gaston was unaware that Judas didn’t have such complicated thoughts.

“I should inform you that defying an instructor is a more serious offense than insubordination among cadets.”

Gaston strode toward Judas.

The atmosphere had changed from before.

Judas instinctively sensed the threat.

He lowered his stance calmly, keeping his eyes on Gaston.

Taking a step back, he whispered softly to his companions behind him.

“This guy’s gone mad. While I distract him, you two run…”

He was talking to Richard and Dylan.

However, they didn’t flee.

Instead, they each stood by Judas’s side.

As if to face Gaston together.

“What the hell are these guys…?”

Gaston looked down at them and smirked.

It was a ridiculous sight.

Did these three kids really think they could stop him?

Judas couldn’t send them away.

Both were stubborn.

Resigning himself, he observed Gaston carefully.

Both sides were barehanded.

The difference in physique was overwhelming.

Naturally, the skill level matched.

The only targetable area was Gaston’s lower body.

A throw using the significant difference in weight distribution.

Could they overcome this?

Even with three of them, the opponent wasn’t some amateur.

He was a real knight.

Various possibilities flashed through Judas’s mind in a brief moment.

Just as Gaston was about to say something.

“Well, well. Is there a birthday party here or something? What’s everyone doing? And Instructor Gaston is here too?”

A cheeky voice interrupted.

From the other side of the alley, Shylock sauntered over.

“…Shylock.”

“Oh dear. If you look at me like a nosy neighbor crashing the party, I’ll be hurt. Did I ruin the mood?”

“No, you didn’t.”

Shaking his head, Gaston gave a brief explanation.

A fight among cadets. And insubordination.

“Ah, I see…”

Shylock’s smiling eyes quickly scanned the cadets.

“It’d be better to split them up. I’ll take these three and have a talk.”

Gaston looked down at Judas, reluctantly nodding.

“Let’s do that.”

The two instructors parted after exchanging opinions.

For a brief moment, Shylock made eye contact with Judas.

He blinked twice quickly, only visible to Judas.

A gesture to reassure him.

Fortunately, Judas understood the signal.

He followed the instructors’ directions without a word.

Instead, he stared intently at Gaston’s retreating back.

***

I followed Shylock along with Richard and Dylan.

There’s a room in the training camp similar to a counseling room for resolving cadet issues.

That’s where we were headed.

Luckily, Shylock intervened.

We might have been beaten to death by Gaston.

At that time, I was so furious that I couldn’t see anything.

“But, there’s one regret. Magic… it felt like something similar was about to explode.”

While simulating a fight with Gaston, my heart kept itching.

As if something was about to burst.

It felt similar to when I unleash my magic.

Because of Shylock, I didn’t find out what it was.

It’s not a big regret.

It was too risky anyway.

“Hey, are you seriously out of your mind?”

Richard whispered reproachfully.

“You’re going to get yourself killed, man!”

“…Isn’t that something you shouldn’t be saying to me, senior?”

“It should have just been me getting hit. You didn’t have to step in!”

“What good would it have done if only one of us got hit? If I hadn’t stepped in, you probably would have died from frustration. Besides, you also stepped in when I told you to run, didn’t you?”

“Man, I’m your senior! Anyway, this and that are different!”

“It’s the same thing, though?”

“Ah, this stubbornness…. Forget it.”

Richard shook his head as if he couldn’t deal with it.

Then he looked at Dylan and asked.

“So, what’s your deal? Are you going to keep your mouth shut?”

Dylan didn’t need to answer.

We had arrived at the counseling room.

First, we all talked to Shylock about the incident.

Richard and I didn’t have much to say.

We just saw Dylan getting hit and jumped in.

Then Dylan gave his testimony, but it wasn’t very meaningful.

An explanation that he had a private conflict with Sallaman and his group, which escalated into violence.

An awkward answer.

It was obvious he made it up on the spot.

It seems he doesn’t intend to reveal the truth here.

I suggested with a glance to Shylock not to pry further, and he nodded slightly.

“Alright, I understand. Since I need to hear from each of you separately, wait outside one by one. The first will be….”

“I’ll go first.”

I stepped forward.

“Alright, you look like you have a lot to say. You two wait outside for a moment.”

Richard and Dylan left.

Shylock looked at the door and then smirked.

“We almost had a big problem if we had been a bit later.”

“Thanks to you, I was saved.”

“I’m not joking. That guy’s personality is worse than it looks.”

“Hmm…. I’ll be careful.”

“It might be good for your lifespan to tone down that temper a bit.”

“It’s not easy.”

Shylock laughed as if he couldn’t help it.

“Of course not. Wait a moment. Soon….”

At that moment, the door swung open.

“Judas?”

Hermes entered.

Her hair was a mess, and she was sweating, as if she had rushed over.

“I called her. She’s technically your Escort Knight, so she should know about this too, don’t you think?”

Shylock shrugged and spoke leisurely.

He’s a bit more reliable today, isn’t he?

“What happened? Are you hurt?”

Hermes asked, sitting next to me.

“My body is fine.”

I briefly explained what had happened today.

“Something like that in the training center….”

“So, is that really all?”

Shylock asked me.

“I haven’t fully figured it out yet either. Dylan is usually very tight-lipped. But… I suddenly got curious about one thing.”

“Go ahead.”

“Gaston and Dallant. And Sir Shylock. Are the three of you receiving orders from Barak?”

“Right?”

“Then, is there a possibility that these three received different orders?”

Sallaman’s attitude.

Gaston’s subtle intervention.

His suspicious reaction.

And, one more piece of evidence that adds to the doubt.

The thugs who attacked Richard recognized Eliza.

It would be unlikely for commoners to know the face or appearance of the high noble Eliza. Instantly.

“You three don’t share your orders, do you?”

“Uh… right. It’s just a relationship where we each carry out the orders we receive.”

In other words, they don’t know what orders each other received.

Even if the three receive orders from Barak, there’s no guarantee that they are the same.

No one knows what is written there.

Shylock’s eyes gradually widened.

His face filled with realization.

“You think Barak is targeting Dylan and Richard? As a means to pressure you?”

One possibility that I had considered.

But I thought a step further than that.

Considering Barak’s personality and reactions simultaneously, there’s a very unnatural point.

“That might be the case, but in my opinion….”