The Escort Knight Who Is Obsessed by the Villainess Wants to Escape - Chapter 69

During the night, Yuel woke me up.

Immediately afterward, I sensed the presence of someone approaching.

‘There are quite a few of them. At this time, in a place like this… who could it be?’

I held my breath.

I placed my hand on my sword and waited.

‘The direction seems to be toward me… or maybe slightly off. It’s unclear. Am I just in their path by coincidence? But why would anyone pass through here?’

I considered various possibilities.

To avoid the worst-case scenario, I needed to react sensitively.

I held my breath and hid while thinking.

‘What is my current state? Can I fight?’

I had just woken up, but my mind quickly sharpened.

Beside me was the moon deer.

Yuel, the spiritual beast, was powerful enough not to be taken lightly.

‘Who could the opponent be? Human? Demon tribe?’

It didn’t matter either way.

I had experienced many things over the past five years.

Naturally, there were many times when I had to kill people.

Each time, I managed to do it.

The first kill, when I killed Sardis for Eliza, was quite an effective inoculation for me.

The movements of those who were approaching came to a halt.

The shadows of the forest flickered as if they were carrying torches.

Soon, a voice could be heard.

“Is… is someone there?”

I slowly revealed myself in front of them.

Several people holding torches all stared at me simultaneously.

I drew my sword, pointing it at them to maintain a distance.

“Who are you? Identify yourselves.”

“Ah…!”

The torches reflected off the blade, blazing intensely.

Upon seeing my armor, they asked,

“A… are you a knight?”

“I believe I asked first.”

“Oh, I apologize…! We, we are refugees. Our nearby village was overrun, so we’re fleeing in haste….”

The man at the front spoke, trembling.

His face was dirtied.

The coat covering him down to his ankles was certainly tattered.

“Hmm. Given the location, I see I made a mistake. I apologize for the misunderstanding.”

I lowered the tip of my sword slightly and said,

“I am no knight, just a wanderer. Quite common in times like these.”

“Oh, oh. I see. If it’s not too much trouble, could you stay with us for a night? As you can see, we are all ordinary refugees with no means to defend against an attack.”

There were about eight of them, a mix of men and women.

I nodded.

“Very well.”

“Thank you so much. As a token of our gratitude, please accept this….”

The man approached, reaching into his coat.

He seemed to be offering something as a reward.

When he was close enough, I thrust my sword.

In an instant, the blade that had been pointed at the ground shot up, piercing through his throat.

“Guh….”

With a sound like air escaping, blood gurgled from his mouth.

The hand that had been reaching inside his coat trembled and withdrew.

In his hand, there was a sharp dagger.

A cold, heavy silence descended.

“To lie so clumsily…”

This was the border of the demon realm.

A place where encountering a human as dangerous as a demon was not unusual.

‘What kind of refugees carry torches through this forest? All eight of them, at that? They might as well be praying to be killed.’

In other words, they were confident enough to carry fire and still feel safe.

They must be that skilled.

Indeed, I had been hiding in a place they could not see.

Yet they spoke as if they had spotted me.

One more thing.

Though they appeared disoriented like refugees in flight, they were not.

On closer inspection, they had formed a formation.

A formation capable of preparing for battle at any moment, a well-trained one.

I still wasn’t as sharp as Eliza, but I had learned enough awareness to survive.

I did not attack them just for these reasons alone.

From a while ago, a survival expert has been constantly sending me warnings.

That death is right at my doorstep.

In other words, these people are my enemies.

Breaking the silence, the refugees, as they called themselves, suddenly charged at me.

Each of them wielding a sharp weapon in hand.

“Surround and kill-!”

“Don’t give them a chance to counterattack!”

Their true colors have been revealed.

In an instant, they surround me, leaving no room for escape.

I neither bothered to dodge nor block.

“Yuel.”

As I called, my body shot up into the sky in an instant.

Yuel had leapt with me on her back.

We soared through the cold night air.

Below, a view of trees with leaves yet to sprout, still winter.

In the distance, the barren, sandy wasteland of the demonic realm is visible.

Above my head, the cold night sparkles.

The large full moon looks down like a watchful eye.

The chill of the night air brushes past.

And just below, those who attacked me are entangled with each other.

I looked down at my breastplate.

‘Fast, and sharp.’

Even though Yuel had leaped in an instant, I was grazed.

Not an easy opponent.

‘They’re not just some fallen bandits or mercenary riffraff. Where do they belong?’

Yuel steps firmly on a thick branch, gathering strength.

She dashes down to another tree, tracing a diagonal line below.

Stepping and descending again.

Like a goat descending a cliff, Yuel draws lightning-like patterns in the air as she descends to the ground.

“They’re coming! Be careful!”

Just as they tried to take a defensive stance.

Yuel softly landed behind them.

The enemies turned around all at once.

But I was not there.

“Huh…?!”

Someone’s confusion is scattered with the sound of slicing flesh.

I had descended a step ahead of Yuel and cut down the enemy who had turned their back.

As Yuel drew their attention by landing on the opposite side, I attacked from behind.

It’s a trick only possible because she’s a spiritual creature.

Due to Yuel’s incredible speed, it’s hard to tell whether I’m riding on her or not.

“Behind us!”

“Charge all at once!”

The enemies rushed straight toward me.

I deflected the first attack with my shield.

“Urgh!”

The one who lost balance fell forward with the momentum of his charge.

Another one got tangled up with him.

Retreating, I kicked off the ground hard.

Swoosh-!

Dirt and grass scattered wildly into the air.

In that brief moment of obscured vision.

I cut down and kicked the staggered enemy.

“Aargh!”

He screamed and stumbled back, colliding with another one.

‘…One person is missing?’

At that moment, my hair stood on end.

A chill like ice touched the back of my neck.

I instinctively ducked my head and swung my arm backward.

A hard object was caught beneath my glove.

‘A dagger…!’

Grasping the dagger, I bent my body forward.

Something rolled out in front of me.

As soon as I confirmed it was an enemy, I swung my sword to finish it off.

‘Their skill at concealing their presence is remarkable. Definitely not ordinary.’

Five enemies remain.

“What is this deer…?!”

Just then, Yuel started to rampage from their rear.

The power of the moon deer, infused with the energy of the moon, is formidable.

Especially on a night when the full moon rises.

The opponents are no pushovers.

But neither are we.

***

Every last one of the enemies was dead.

“Hm…”

Wiping the blood off my sword, I pondered.

‘Who exactly are these guys?’

I combined the information I had gathered.

‘There wasn’t anything in their possessions that could identify their status or allegiance. They were thoroughly prepared. And their skills were no joke.’

A simple conclusion came to mind.

It’s not so much a deduction I’ve made through logical reasoning, but rather a result of my considerable knowledge about this world.

…Or perhaps my brain has gotten a little sharper?

‘The most likely scenario is that they were a secret envoy sent by someone.’

However, it’s hard to guess who is behind them.

‘A force that would send a covert team to kill me.’

What was their true objective?

Me?

Impossible.

I’m not that important of a person.

‘If it were Barak?’

I know he doesn’t see me in a favorable light, but… I doubt it.

For reasons I don’t understand, Barak no longer tries to bother me as he used to.

Besides, if Barak had sent people with intent, they wouldn’t be this weak.

The objective I’m guessing they had is probably…

‘To weaken Eliza’s base?’

If so, there are only a few individuals who come to mind.

The children of the Bevel family.

Cain. Levi. Jezebel. Achan. Sarah.

Unfortunately, I know next to nothing about those siblings.

‘I can’t figure out anything more…’

I should report today’s events to Eliza.

If it’s Eliza, who’s smart, she’ll find out something.

‘Maybe I should have left a survivor to interrogate…’

I started a fire in the center of the corpses.

Using the torches they brought, it was done in no time.

There was no need to bother disposing of or arranging the bodies.

Someone would see the fire and come to take care of it.

Demons.

Beasts transformed by magic in the forest.

Humans, who are scarier than either of those.

Whichever it is, they will kill and loot these two.

Also, I need to leave this place quickly.

There is no guarantee that these were the only members of the envoy.

There might be reinforcements on their way here right now.

I must leave this place quickly.

‘I need to clean the blood off my clothes first.’

I approached Yuel.

“Let’s head to the nearest river.”

Yuel not only understands my words but also quickly grasps the geography of the forest.

In situations like this, it’s much faster than me trying to find it myself.

As soon as I got on, Yuel ran in a straight line without any hesitation.

Before long, the sound of a stream trickling down greeted me, and a shallow river appeared.

I washed the blood away in the river, dazzling under the moonlight.

‘If a skilled tracker were around, they might follow the scent of blood.’

I should erase any traces here and continue moving.

Rustle…

“Hm?”

Across the river, the bushes moved.

The sound quickly receded into the opposite darkness.

Given that a survival expert stayed silent, it likely wasn’t a hostile or dangerous entity.

‘Was it just an animal?’

After wiping off the blood, I looked up at the sky.

It was still night, but any sleepiness had vanished.

‘Since I’m already awake, I might as well keep moving.’

If I find what I’m looking for and return quickly… well, there’s nothing bad about that.

***

A shadow, observing the target wiping off the blood on the other side, retreated from the riverbank.

The target’s whereabouts had been rediscovered, but approaching directly would be dangerous.

He had seen it.

The target in a fight.

He had considered confronting and subduing him after a battle if necessary.

However, after witnessing the target’s combat skills, he abandoned that thought immediately.

The swordsman was far fiercer than expected.

‘I intended to catch him while he was sleeping, but even that won’t be easy. He’s got sharp senses.’

He pulls his black hood down low and turns his steps.

He moved toward the battlefield where those who had attacked the young man had fallen.

Where a bonfire blazed in the center.

A few who were barely alive, still clinging to life, spotted him.

“Wh-Who are you…!”

“Are you the reinforcements?”

“…….”

In the uncomfortable silence, the survivor stares at the stranger.

A figure as dark as a shadow, even in the light of the campfire.

They do not appear friendly at all.

The stranger remains silent to the end.

Picking up a sword that had fallen to the ground, they abruptly decapitate someone.

“What the hell are you…! Who are you?”

The stranger approaches the remaining person.

The survivor could neither struggle nor retreat.

They were barely waiting for death, having been wounded all over.

The stranger raises their sword.

At that moment, something strange happened.

Blood began to bubble up from the neck of the comrade who had just died.

From the body of another comrade, who had already become a corpse, blood began to rise.

The comrades quickly withered away.

Just before the raised sword fell.

The survivor realized the stranger’s magic and identity.

“A dark sorcerer…!”

Thud-!

Blood and final words scatter together.

Crackle, crackle.

The campfire burns in the night forest.

The blood of the person who just died rises into the air as if sprayed.

The blood gathers, forming a red mist.

The mist is drawn under the stranger’s sleeve.

Feeling the vitality of the absorbed blood within their body, they think of Judas’s face.

A face that had grown since they first met.

The child they had once brainwashed.

‘I need to approach with a bit more caution and precision.’

After confirming that their dark magic was fully charged, the dark sorcerer left the forest.

‘All of this is for Lord Yohan.’

***

Early in the morning.

Lia carefully enters Eliza’s bedroom.

As always, it is a bit earlier than the usual waking time.

She does it to see Eliza while she is asleep.

Even as an adult, the face still retains traces of her childhood, which is endearing to see.

But…

“…Miss?”

Eliza is not in bed.

Lia quickly touches the bed.

Not even warmth remains.

Sometimes, she would wake up earlier than she did, but it didn’t seem like that this time.

‘I made sure he went to sleep last night…’

The window was locked, but checking it was meaningless.

Eliza could use teleportation.

Lia suddenly sensed something different from usual.

There was no flower pot on the windowsill.

The pot of anemones that Eliza checked every morning for the past five years.

‘…No way.’

Lia cautiously steps into the adjacent room.

Judas’s room.

As expected.

Eliza was asleep on Judas’s bed.

Two flower pots sat side by side on the windowsill, basking in the sunlight.

Lia smiled in exasperation as she approached the bed.

Eliza’s sleeping face was revealed.

The pillow she rested on and the blanket pulled up to her chin were both Judas’s.

In her arms, she held a cat doll, and around her neck, as usual, was a red blanket.

She turns in her sleep, rubbing her face against the pillow.

A habit she often shows with Judas.

Watching the endearing gesture, Lia smiles warmly.

She almost reaches out to tidy her hair but stops herself.

‘I must…’

Remain unseen.

Steeling herself, she pulls her hand back.

Unlike Narcissa, she has no foundation or power.

She is not strong like Barak, an ordinary and weak human who could be easily pushed aside.

Thus, the only thing she can do is a bit of information distortion and manipulation.

The real target of the bait Eliza cast was not Barak’s children.

It would have been nice if they had been caught too, but it didn’t matter if they weren’t.

Lia wrapped the bait in a tempting way and delivered it to them.

That’s all she could do.

An infinitely wretched reality.

How pathetic it is that this is all she can offer.

“There are so many more things I want to do for you…”

But I must not be revealed.

I am Eliza’s weakness.

It’s too late to expose myself now.

Knowing how much pain Eliza would feel if she knew the truth, I will simply remain in the shadows and disappear.

There is already someone who can take my place.

Before long, both pots have sprouted.

In her dream, Eliza smiled faintly.

Looking back and forth between Eliza and the pots, Lia could only smile bitterly.

***

At dawn, Judah arrived at the entrance of an ancient ruin.

He glanced around at the surrounding landscape and confirmed once more.

“This is the place.”

The site where the image of the Sun God is enshrined.

It matched his memory.

“I should be able to return sooner than I thought.”

Judah led Yoel into the entrance of the ruins.

And shortly after, a man arrived at the entrance where Judah had disappeared.