The Escort Knight Who Is Obsessed by the Villainess Wants to Escape - Chapter 70

Hazel checked the map.

After thoroughly examining it, he lifted his head again.

He compared and contrasted the map’s contents with the scenery before him.

‘It matches.’

The deepest part of the forest, known as the border zone.

In this sparsely populated area, there was a complex structure.

It was so large that he had to crane his neck until it hurt just to look up at it.

It was said to cover an area as large as a small city.

The reason this massive structure was difficult to discover was simple.

It was due to a perception-distorting magic that couldn’t be detected outside a certain range.

Additionally, the trees surrounding the structure were larger than usual, cleverly hiding it.

The dangerous surrounding ecosystem also played a part.

‘A ruin said to have been built during the mythic era.’

Its interior was twisted like a maze.

There were also many physical and magical traps, making it hard to explore.

Despite this, Hazel was confident.

The reason he could easily approach the entrance of the ruins, and the guide through the maze, was in his hand.

The map.

It was different from the one Eliza had given him before he set out.

The map Eliza gave only showed a rough area.

It didn’t indicate the precise location of this place or its challenges.

Hazel looked at the map he had secretly received from the Imperial family.

‘As expected of the Imperial family’s power. It’s incredibly accurate.’

What Hazel didn’t know was that the map had been subtly leaked to the Imperial family by Eliza.

‘They say there’s a sun statue at the end of these ruins….’

If there was one problem, it was that this map didn’t tell his everything.

The ruins were a maze.

The path to uncovering that maze wasn’t on the map.

However, Hazel was still confident.

‘The tracker is responding.’

It was the second item he had received from the Imperial family.

A divine power tracker.

This artifact, in the shape of a bracelet, would detect divine power and locate holy relics when magic was channeled into it.

However, its detection range was narrow.

It wasn’t suitable for finding an object whose location was unknown.

Moreover, if several holy relics were nearby, it wouldn’t work.

But right now.

The tracker was pointing in a specific direction.

‘If I just follow this path, I’ll find it.’

And once he brought back the sun statue and received recognition for his contribution, he might finish this espionage mission and join the Imperial Guard.

Hazel double-checked the third tool he had stashed away.

A summoning artifact meant to be used when he found the sun statue.

‘Alright. Everything’s perfectly prepared.’

After organizing his thoughts, Hazel couldn’t help but let out a smirk.

‘Those foolish candidates won’t stand a chance.’

Without the support of a solid backing like the Imperial family, they would never be able to find this place.

Even if they did, breaking through would be impossible.

Especially Judas.

Just thinking about him stirred an inexplicable irritation.

How dare a lowborn who rolled in from the streets stick so closely to a Imperial knight like himself.

Even worse, in every sparring match, he had subtly gone easy on him.

That fact gnawed at him.

It felt like he was looking down on him.

Though, in reality, Judas had never once looked down on Hazel.

Hazel scoffed.

After today, he would never have to see that annoying guy again.

‘Once I retrieve the sun statue, this world will fall into the hands of His Majesty. And I will enter the new paradise as the outstanding knight who brought back the sun statue.’

Feeling lighter at heart, Hazel began to move.

The moment he stepped inside, his body stiffened.

‘…What is this trail?’

There were several entrances to the ruins.

Among them, only the entrance where Hazel stood led to a confirmed path.

On that path, dirt was scattered.

As if someone had entered.

‘These tracks are relatively recent. The direction is….’

He turned his head to trace back the trail.

Unlike the stone floor of the ruins, the dirt held clear prints.

A hoof print, long and pointed at the end, resembling that of an animal.

A deer.

And a person.

It wasn’t difficult to identify the culprit.

‘…Judas?!’

Hazel immediately ran into the ruins.

‘How…?! Did he follow me?’

That couldn’t be the case.

He had been vigilant, constantly checking for any tail as he moved.

‘No, no. Even if he was following me, it’s impossible that he would get in ahead of me.’

Hazel pressed on through the maze, following the tracker without hesitation.

The trail continued uninterrupted.

In other words, Judas had been making steady progress through the maze, following a safe and certain path.

‘I knew he wasn’t ordinary…’

But still, he always thought Judas was inferior compared to himself, a Imperial knight.

‘How is this even possible?’

There was no point in pondering it further.

‘I guess we have no choice but to fight.’

Could he win?

Hazel was ranked first. Judas was ranked second.

However, the gap wasn’t overwhelming.

Their head-to-head personal combat record was 21 wins to 19 losses.

It was a narrow margin.

But Hazel knew the truth.

As much as he didn’t want to admit it, he had no choice.

During their countless sparring matches, Judas had been going easy on him.

It wasn’t out of contempt.

Judas simply wanted to defeat Hazel using sword skills alone.

When swords clash, close combat inevitably ensues.

At that range, swinging a weapon becomes inefficient.

At that point, bare hands are needed.

In that range, Judas is stronger than anyone else.

As frustrating as it was, Hazel had to face reality.

If he used every technique he had, he couldn’t defeat Judas.

‘If worse comes to worst, I might have to use the third artifact… Wait.’

Hazel pondered as he navigated the maze.

Judas had been infamous for his eccentricity since the academy.

However, he wasn’t the type to cause trouble unless provoked.

In fact, in his usual state, he was affable, with no rough edges.

He would even agree to requests without hesitation.

‘If I can lull him into complacency, I might be able to catch him off guard…’

The maze’s path, open to the sunlight with no roof overhead.

As Hazel advanced, he came to a halt.

He was confused.

“Where did he go…?”

Without realizing it, he voiced his question aloud.

Judas’s trail had vanished.

At a five-way intersection, the trail abruptly stopped and led nowhere.

‘What’s going on…?’

Even after checking both the sky and the ground, Judas’s trace did not continue.

There was no clue that explained this.

‘Did he fall for a teleportation trap?’

A magical trap that teleports its victim to another location.

This ruin had several of those.

‘No, that doesn’t seem to be the case…’

A sudden thought crossed his mind.

‘Did he notice he was being followed?’

He might have realized someone was on his tail, erased his trail, and disappeared down one of the paths.

In other words, Judas knew exactly which path was safe.

Otherwise, he wouldn’t have been able to vanish so quickly at this intersection.

‘Damn it…!’

Hazel hurriedly started running again.

He couldn’t let Judas steal the Sun Idol.

Even if it meant dying in a fight against him.

Hazel drew on his magic, running with all his strength.

Breaking through the walls wasn’t an option.

Despite the ruin’s worn appearance, it was incredibly sturdy.

He couldn’t afford to slow down to stop Judas from getting ahead.

Fortunately, the tracker was highly effective.

Even at intersections, it pointed to the correct path.

However, that didn’t mean the path was safe.

Traps were triggered: the ground would collapse, or arrows would shoot out from the walls.

Each time, Hazel narrowly dodged in shock.

Though he wasn’t injured, his body was becoming increasingly fatigued.

Still, he pressed forward, following the tracker deeper and deeper into the maze.

And finally.

“This is it…”

Only one path remained.

A maze, intricately tangled.

A straight path leading to the center.

The old door was so large that it needed to be pushed with all one’s strength.

‘There’s no sign that anyone has opened it. Thankfully, I must be the first to arrive…’

Relieved, Hazle opened the door.

‘So Judas must not have known all the paths. It seems he took a wrong turn along the way.’

Rumble…

A tremor that seemed to shake the entire ruin.

At last, Hazle squeezed through the gap of the now-open door.

And Hazle was utterly stunned by the sight that unfolded before him.

What were all the traps he had encountered up until now?

It felt empty and meaningless.

“……”

The person inside looked back at him, eyes widening in surprise.

Unlike Hazle, who had struggled greatly, the man seemed utterly unbothered.

“Hazle? How did you get here?”

“…Judas.”

***

Eliza sat in her office.

She was taking a short break after skimming through a theory book handed to her by the Tower of Magic.

“Hmm…”

She fiddled with a cat doll placed beside her desk.

Lifting and dropping its pink, paw-embroidered front foot.

Lifting and dropping.

With her chin resting in her hand, she repeated the motion and let out a light sigh.

‘Tired…’

She had slept well enough, and there wasn’t even much work to do.

Yet her whole body felt fatigued.

There were still tasks left to handle, but none of them caught her attention.

She just wanted to lie in Judas’s bed all day.

Or maybe cuddle the doll and roll around.

She felt like a limp, lifeless seaweed.

‘When will he come…’

Eliza slumped over her desk, using the cat doll as a pillow.

The endless waiting was starting to feel like torture.

‘Maybe I should just go…’

If she wanted, she could go find Judas right now.

She had the means to locate him, after all.

‘What should I do…’

The urge to bring Judas over and declare him her escort knight was growing stronger.

‘…That might not be a bad idea.’

Eliza suddenly lifted her head.

‘I’m the one choosing my knight anyway, so why not?’

It didn’t matter if no one else could find the Sun Statue.

She knew its location, so she could handle it herself.

She also had a backup plan ready for when her bait was taken.

Eliza became rather serious.

‘This trial is just bait anyway. The candidates don’t actually need to bring back the real Sun Statue.’

Eliza’s true goal was something else.

‘The Imperial family’s dog.’

The information she gave the candidates was different from what she leaked to the Imperial family.

She had provided the Imperial family with the accurate location.

They must have taken the bait by now.

‘They must see this trial as an opportunity and have supplied the Imperial family’s dog with the right information to act.’

To catch them, Eliza had prepared two measures.

The first was an alert spell.

She had cast it on the Sun Statue.

If anyone touched the enshrined statue, she would be notified.

The second backup plan wasn’t for her but for Judas…

‘…!’

Her eyes widened in shock.

The second plan had just sent her a signal.

‘No way!’

Eliza immediately teleported to the coordinates the signal indicated.

Right where Judas was supposed to be.

The sudden disappearance of Eliza startled Ria, who had been standing nearby.

Her face turned pale as she called out.

“Eliza…?!”