The Escort Knight Who Is Obsessed by the Villainess Wants to Escape - Chapter 49.2

“Quiet.”

A heavy voice silenced the commotion.

Gawain appeared, quelling the uproar.

Lia, Hermes, and Eliza were with him.

Judas instinctively checked Eliza’s condition.

‘She doesn’t seem injured.’

He met her doll-like expression.

‘Her expression isn’t any different from usual.’

Having made eye contact, she should smile soon.

That elusive smile, like a mask, revealing nothing.

But Eliza didn’t smile.

She stared intently at him.

Judas, flustered, glanced around and then looked back at Eliza.

Her gaze remained fixed.

Why isn’t she smiling?

Right now, Eliza was curious.

Judas’s smiling face was quite rare.

He hardly smiled in front of Eliza.

When she saw him laughing freely with his companions, she was captivated.

It wasn’t just the smile that intrigued her.

There was a certain warmth surrounding Room 13.

They were all battered and dirty, yet they were all smiling brightly.

Among them flowed a peculiar sense of camaraderie, connecting them.

At the center was Judas.

Friend. Friendship. I list similar words.

Then, I observe Judas again.

Eliza felt a sudden twist in his gut.

What was it?

A faint, yet persistent discomfort.

Eliza pushed the feeling aside and observed the situation objectively.

She examined her state as a third party.

When she identified the emotion, she let out a small laugh.

The first thing that came to mind was possessiveness.

It was a contradiction.

Why would she feel possessive about something she already possessed?

Moreover, it was a bit complicated to say someone had meddled with her possession.

Anyway, possessiveness was ruled out.

But it was something similar.

A desire to monopolize.

That part made her laugh.

As if that could be true.

Why would she feel that way about Judas?

It was just unfamiliar.

The emotional exchange they were sharing.

By the time Eliza had neatly organized her thoughts, Gawain spoke up.

“I will announce the results of this group training. The winner is Room 13. As of 2:47 PM, it was confirmed that Room 13 captured Room 5’s white flag first. Additionally, Room 5 used unauthorized blades, resulting in disqualification.”

Gawain looked towards Room 5.

Everyone averted their gaze simultaneously.

Some glared at Vinyl.

“This matter will be strictly addressed.”

“……”

“Room 13, as the winners, will receive special meals and significant bonus points, and tomorrow, you will be exempt from all training to focus solely on rest.”

“Wooooaah-!”

“Yeeees!”

Cheering erupted from the direction of Room 13.

Everyone celebrated without restraint.

Among them, Judas alone remained serious.

He started planning how to train during the free time.

Since it was after intense training, he focused on rehabilitation.

If the resident doctor at the training camp knew, he would have called him crazy.

“And one more thing. Gaston, who supervised this training, has been detained.”

The noise stopped abruptly.

It was an unexpected announcement.

Gawain debated whether or not to mention it.

It wasn’t necessary for the candidates to know.

But he had to maintain a neutral stance within the training camp, despite being aligned with Barak.

Not actually neutral, but appearing to be so.

So he didn’t bother to defend Gaston.

“It’s difficult to disclose the details. In any case, this means there will be no more training like today’s. This will be communicated to all candidates later. And Sallaman.”

Sallaman couldn’t respond immediately.

Gaston detained?

Why?

Could it be, they found out?

Though he didn’t know what was discovered, he could guess it was something that shouldn’t have been.

Then, what about the offer he received?

“Sallaman?”

It was only when his name was called a second time that Sallaman looked up.

“Yes, yes?!”

“Follow me.”

“And him too.”

Eliza interjected.

A small finger pointed at Vinyl.

“Bring him along too.”

“Understood. You heard him, Candidate Vinyl.”

“……”

Eliza’s Nomination.

Although it was something to be pleased about, Vinyl couldn’t smile.

A belated thought occurred to him.

Breaking the rules, he tried to harm Judas.

And Eliza, who favored Judas.

“Both of you are losing your minds in front of the lady… Tie them up and bring them here.”

Gawain ordered the surrounding knights.

Judas looked at Vinyl, who had been singled out by Eliza, then looked away.

There was no special reason to look at that fool.

He was just curious about why he was singled out. That’s all. Really.

He couldn’t understand why seeing Eliza’s red scarf and black cat doll made him feel relieved.

But does she even wash that thing?

“The briefing is over. Dismissed.”

Gawain, having finished speaking, exchanged a few words with Eliza and then approached Judas.

“Judas.”

“Yes, Sir Gawain.”

“I heard you fought Salaman and successfully used magic.”

“That’s correct.”

“And you won.”

“Yes. Thanks to your teachings, Sir Gawain.”

Judas wondered why he was confirming such obvious facts.

Gawain stroked his chin in silence for a moment before speaking softly.

“…Well done.”

“Excuse me? Did I hear that right?”

“No. Just keep doing what you’re doing.”

“Oh, yes… Thank you.”

Judas watched Gawain’s retreating back with a puzzled expression.

He stood there blankly for a moment when something suddenly slipped into his arms.

He was lightly pushed.

Judas’s eyes shook wildly.

“Ah, ah, my lady…?”

Eliza had jumped into his arms.

Judas stiffened, shrugging his shoulders.

Regardless, Eliza held him tightly.

The magic had ignited a fire inside her.

She wanted to calm it down with Judas’s energy.

As soon as she hugged him, the fire subsided.

She buried her face in his neck and took a deep breath.

The smell of his body wasn’t pleasant, even putting it nicely.

Sweat, dirt, and blood mixed together.

But it didn’t matter at all.

“It feels good….”

She mumbled dreamily, rubbing her face against him.

Judas’s body stiffened even more.

Reluctant to let go, Eliza asked while still hugging him.

“You’re not hurt, are you?”

Her voice was tender without a care.

Judas felt like he was going to lose his mind with how fast his heart was beating.

It was faster than when he was fighting Salaman fiercely.

What if Eliza heard it?

“That, that, yes… I got a few scratches here and there, but I’m fine….”

“…Is that so?”

In fact, Eliza was asking if he had been hit by her magic.

But Judas didn’t catch on to her intention at all.

In other words, he wasn’t hit by the magic at all.

Maybe it had missed.

Eliza unknowingly felt relieved and smiled softly.

“That’s a relief.”

“Pardon?”

“How did you win?”

Eliza casually changed the subject.

Judas still found this capricious cat difficult to handle.

“Well, uh, just… as I usually train….”

It was something that couldn’t be explained with words.

Eliza slightly lifted her head while hugging Judas’s waist.

Seeing Judas stiffen up and try to explain himself was so silly that it made Eliza laugh.

Judas, seeing Eliza laugh while holding him, closed his mouth.

“Too bad you missed it.”

“Mm…”

Eliza carefully moved away from his embrace.

As if reluctant to let go, her small hand fiddled with the frayed edge of Judas’s clothes.

They had been too busy lately to see each other often.

It had been so long since the last time.

Even though she wanted to stay a little longer, there was more work to be done after today’s incident.

Unlike her, Judas seemed to have no reluctance about parting.

No, he even looked relieved.

That made Judas seem annoyingly indifferent.

So, she headbutted Judas in the chest and jumped back in.

With a playful thud, she hugged him again.

That would make him flustered and confused.

“Ah, my dear, why… why are you doing this…?”

Judas asked with trembling hands.

His head was spinning.

It wasn’t just Eliza and himself here.

There were numerous cadets who had finished their battle.

And even the supervising knights.

They all rolled their eyes, not knowing where to look.

Eliza didn’t care.

In her senses, only Judas and herself existed.

Everything else faded into a monochrome background like smudged ink.

Judas’s flustered reaction amused Eliza, and the annoyance she felt disappeared.

She forgot the compulsive mantra of not relying on anyone.

It had been so long since she felt such warmth that she didn’t want to worry about that.

She laughed while hugging him.

Feeling much better than before, Eliza stepped back.

Looking up at the only color, he smiled lightly.

“See you later.”

***

The underground prison inside the mansion grounds.

The first prisoner, a wizard, was a very noisy person.

Before Eliza could even interrogate him, he spilled everything he knew.

For example, that his name was “Bols.”

“That bastard Gaston, who has nothing but dung in his head, ordered me! He promised to clear my gambling debts in return!”

The wizard, filled with resentment, vented his anger.

Eliza didn’t bother to stop him from talking.

“The target was a cadet named Judas! He asked me to use long-range sniper magic to cause permanent disabilities!”

Gaston calmly refuted.

“Miss, I understand it’s a situation that could cause misunderstanding, but to believe this lie…”

“Shut up! You sewer rat! I still have the instruction letter I was supposed to burn! I secretly copied it! If you want, I can bring it and show it to you! Anytime!”

“…!”

Gaston looked at Bols in shock.

Then Bols raised his bound hands and flipped him off.

“What, you idiot! Did you think I’d just take it lying down? I have a hidden ace up my sleeve too! Idiot! Moron! Rotten fish-eyed fertilizer pile!”

Eliza quietly watched their exchange.

She pondered which side to press to extract useful information.

“Miss, I have something to say.”

Gaston said with a determined face.

“Go ahead.”

“I know the information you want and need. If you promise leniency, I will gladly…”

Eliza didn’t let him finish.

How dare he try to negotiate without knowing his own situation.

Such people needed to be taught their place.

Eliza’s eyes gleamed with a peculiar intensity.

Sensing the danger instinctively, Bols shut his mouth.

Gaston, taken aback, let out a dull groan.

It felt as if a fire was burning inside.

That feeling was close to reality.

Eliza created a small spark in Gaston’s organs.

Weak enough not to kill him.

She had mastered several techniques that didn’t show outwardly, and this was one of them.

Gaston’s endurance didn’t last long.

The pain of having his organs roasted was not something he could bear.

He urgently confessed the truth.

“B-Balak…! I received orders from Balak!”

Eliza waited indifferently for him to continue.

“D-Dallant… And Shylock…! Those two are also receiving orders from BalaK along with me! To isolate Judas…!”

“I know.”

“…Pardon?”

“I already know everything. I didn’t keep you alive out of ignorance. I spared you to see how much you would reveal.”

“……”

“I was foolish to expect anything. I should just…”

“B-Bordeaux!”

Gaston cried out urgently.

Eliza paused the magic that was melting his organs.

The Bordeaux family.

Not particularly prominent, but known to those in the know.

“I-I was sent by the Bordeaux family….”

Bordeaux.

They are known as fanatics of the Moon God Chruch.

The Moon God Church.

It’s a name Eliza had been hearing often around her lately.

Starting with Judas, then Traditor, and so on.

That’s not the only mystery.

How can someone who receives orders from Balak be from the Bordeaux family?

It’s worth investigating.

Eliza coldly murmured.

“Tell me more.”