The Escort Knight Who Is Obsessed by the Villainess Wants to Escape - Chapter 95

Judas silently observed the elderly Anggra’s face.

It seemed familiar.

The shabby attire as well.

The fact that he was a pilgrim too.

“From a very long time ago… He’s the one who rescued me from Judecca, but aside from that…”

A faint, tantalizing memory.

Finally, it surfaced.

Uncertain, but still.

“…Ah. Could it be? That pilgrim from back then?”

Judas remembered seeing a pilgrim once.

In a village near the frontlines where he had gone to help Eurydice.

But he never saw that pilgrim’s face.

The voice seemed somewhat similar, though it was five years ago, so he wasn’t sure.

“Hmm… maybe not.”

The atmosphere and the feeling of facing this person were different.

Five years ago, Judas felt an odd sense of intimidation from that pilgrim.

Even just hearing their voice made him feel unnecessarily small.

It wasn’t simply because he was young back then.

However, from this pilgrim, he felt none of that aura.

He seemed like nothing more than an ordinary, steadfast, and sincere religious figure.

“Was I mistaken…? Though it’s not strange that this person feels familiar to me.”

Since there was some connection to the figure of Judas, it might be a lingering impression from memory.

But why did seeing Anggra bring to mind the underground dwelling and restraints of a dark mage? Judas couldn’t understand.

He tilted his head briefly and resumed rummaging through his belongings.

“I have no suspicious items in my possession.”

Judas couldn’t retrieve the memory in the end.

That this person felt familiar to him.

And at the same time, that he didn’t know this person.

It was contradictory, yet neither felt wrong.

After all, this was a figure in Judas’s memory, and at the same time, he himself was someone who had stepped into Judas’s identity.

What puzzled him was something else.

Anggra didn’t seem to recognize him at all.

Was it because he had grown?

Eliza, too, noted the same thing as Judas.

“…Why doesn’t he recognize him?”

Even though Judas had grown, Anggra had personally brought him along.

Besides, Judas was still Judas.

The traces of his younger self remained.

While his features had become sharper and his frame larger, his face still carried striking, almost wild masculinity that attracted unnecessary attention from other women—a fact that was both frustrating and strangely gratifying to Eliza. Either way, hints of his childhood appearance remained.

This wasn’t simply a lack of recognition.

It was as if he was dealing with a complete stranger.

Eliza decided to confirm it directly.

“Bishop Anggra. Do you not know this person?”

“Am I supposed to… know him?”

“He’s Judas. Does that not ring a bell?”

“Judas…? I truly… do not know.”

This wasn’t pretense.

Such a reaction couldn’t be faked.

Eliza had spent years observing and studying countless humans.

It was almost impossible to deceive her.

Even Judas felt a sense of unease at Anggra’s response.

Could he truly not know?

“Do you recognize my identity?”

“Apologies, but I only know that you are a noble lady…”

“What about Barak and Johan?”

Anggra, curious about the intention behind her question, answered obediently.

Eliza’s aura was anything but ordinary.

Calm yet sharp, her presence carried a chilling edge.

“They are the king of the Bevel Principality and the emperor of the Helios Empire, respectively.”

“Has either of them, or someone representing their forces, ever sought you out?”

“Pardon…? I’m not sure what you mean….”

“Have you ever received orders to kill someone named Eliza?”

“Ah, my lady?”

It was Judas who was startled by her words.

Eliza didn’t look back at him.

Instead, she fixated on observing Anggra’s expressions intently.

Shock, confusion, and doubt flitted across his face in turn.

Eventually, his brows furrowed as he spoke.

“I’m truly sorry, but I have no idea what you’re trying to say, my lady….”

Eliza was convinced.

‘I’ve tampered with memories.’

There exists magic capable of altering or erasing memories.

Naturally, it’s a forbidden art.

It was likely recreated using dark magic.

The materials seized this time might contain spells related to it.

‘Anggra, a key figure of the Moon Church. He needed to erase his own memories.’

In other words, Anggra was significant enough that tampering with his memories became necessary.

‘Which means someone else must have taken over his role….’

That Anggra’s role had been assumed by Nadab, the pope, was something Eliza hadn’t uncovered yet.

‘Hmm… what to do about this?’

Just as she thought she was onto a clue, it slipped away again.

‘There are spells to peek into or restore someone else’s memories. They’re forbidden, so I can’t access them… Maybe it’s fortunate I can’t. Among the materials brought back, there was such dark magic….’

However, Eliza had no desire to deal with dark magic.

Dark magic was inherently unsettling.

‘Isn’t there a way to reconstruct dark magic into regular magic? It’s too much to figure out on my own. For now… should I visit the Tower Master?’

While Eliza was deep in thought, Judas spoke up.

“My lady. Assassination? What are you talking about?”

“That… I’ll explain later.”

Eliza quickly composed herself.

“For now, you’ll need to come with us.”

“What…!”

Anggra had no chance to protest.

Eliza cast a teleportation spell.

***

The three of them arrived at the underground prison of Eliza’s mansion.

The jailer inside jumped in surprise.

“M-My lady?!”

“Lock this man up. Bind him so he can’t escape.”

“What is the meaning of this?! The heavens are watching…!”

Eliza ignored his protests.

“What about the captured mage?”

“They’ve just regained consciousness. But they’re trembling uncontrollably and unable to answer any questions.”

The reason for their trembling was simple.

Overnight, they had gone from being a powerful mage to an ordinary person. It was only natural.

Eliza nodded indifferently.

“Report when they’ve regained enough composure to speak. Don’t handle them more harshly than necessary.”

She issued her commands swiftly.

Then, she turned to Judas and spoke.

“We need to talk.”

***

Eliza and Judas stepped into the garden.

The garden was filled with blooming anemones.

This year, too, it was brimming with buds.

Dotted with red, the garden’s scenery was enchanting.

As the weather grew warmer, the flowers would fully bloom, swaying like crimson waves.

The mere thought of it lightened Eliza’s heart.

A fountain stood in the center of the garden, water trickling softly.

It was still early spring, with winter’s chill occasionally lingering.

Eliza stood by the fountain.

Adjusting her red scarf, she turned around.

She faced Judas.

“Judas.”

“Yes, my lady.”

There was something Eliza wanted to reaffirm.

“You’re on my side, aren’t you?”

A knight and his lady.

A master-servant bond.

They had been together since childhood, bound by a contract.

Judas was devoted to protecting Eliza.

It was his duty, his profession.

Naturally, Judas was on Eliza’s side.

Yet, in that question, Judas sensed another layer.

It even echoed themes from their earlier conversation.

Eliza clung to him, insisting he must be on her side, like a child seeking comfort.

Reaffirming the obvious felt necessary to her.

But.

This was Eliza, after all.

She could read others’ emotions well, but she struggled to feel her own.

Not entirely due to her nature.

In her childhood, Eliza had nearly suffered a terrible fate at the hands of someone named Sardis.

The trauma of that day might have left her unable to feel emotions or subconsciously rejecting the concept of affection.

Judas understood and accepted Eliza’s circumstances.

So, she dismissed the resonance she felt as nothing more than her imagination.

She convinced herself it was just her misunderstanding, assuming she was someone capable of ordinary empathy and emotions.

Thus, the answer was as expected.

“As I mentioned earlier, I am on your side, my lady.”

“…I see.”

Eliza nodded calmly, concealing the sense of relief that inexplicably welled within her.

“Someone is trying to assassinate me. Perhaps, this has been going on for at least five years. The groundwork must have started long before that.”

Judas listened quietly.

“This time, I’ve tracked down a dark mage and derived this conclusion from the data gathered. Do you know what the world calls me?”

“The reincarnation of the mythic era.”

“That’s right. A mage who might end the long war against the demon race. That implies I could overturn the balance of human power. Thus, there are people who wish to eliminate me. Killing me recklessly would have significant repercussions, so they’re employing highly complex and meticulous plans.”

Eliza looked up at Judas.

She smiled faintly.

As usual.

A doll-like smile.

An unnatural beauty.

Shining amidst the unbloomed red flower buds.

“Emperor Johan and Duke Bevel. Those two are trying to kill me through the Moon God Church.”

“……”

“The data is too vast to explain everything, but these are the facts I’ve uncovered and speculated upon. And, of course, I have no intention of dying.”

“I understand.”

“That’s why I plan to collect evidence and present witnesses to reveal everything to the public. I will oppose and dismantle both the Empire and the Duchy of Bevel. Public opinion will plummet, and chaos will ensue.”

Eliza stepped forward.

One bold step.

The edge of her delicate shoes.

Facing the tips of Judas’s shoes.

A distance so close, they were almost touching.

“Even so, are you still on my side?”

A second confirmation.

A war might erupt, and Judas could get hurt in the process.

Perhaps something dreadful could happen.

Knowing all of this, she asked if he was still on her side.

Hearing Eliza lay bare her situation, Judas felt a new sense of emotion.

He thought back to the woman he knew before possession.

A pyromaniac and a murderer.

Traits now entirely absent from her.

Even her basic expressions were different.

And over the five years they had spent together, he had begun to understand, albeit vaguely, why Eliza had grown into such a person.

‘I still don’t know how the scars on her face came to be…’

Moreover, Eliza had shared her circumstances with him.

How many enemies surrounded her.

Who they were, and what she intended to do about them.

That meant she trusted him to some extent.

Even if it didn’t go beyond that.

Judas recalled a tragedy he had witnessed once.

Two tragedies.

Eliza choking him with her hands.

Eliza hurling a fireball at him.

And himself, collapsing from severe injuries.

Believing he could avoid it, Judas replied.

“Of course.”

Eliza smiled faintly.

Every time she heard his answer, a bit of the weight on her heart eased.

That’s why she kept asking.

Even though she already knew the answer, there was something different about hearing it directly.

On the off chance that Judas might be her enemy.

She had countless reasons to deny it, but still, she wanted to hear it in his voice.

She wanted to confirm it.

Like a child whining for a parent’s attention, Eliza pretended not to notice her behavior for now.

“There’s a lot to do, but first, I plan to visit the Magic Tower. I need to dig into Anggra’s and the dark Mage’s memories. Mental interference magic is forbidden, but there’s something in the dark magic I retrieved this time that resembles it. I intend to reconstruct it using existing magic.”

Judas flinched.

Whether such a thing was even possible was secondary; the very notion was extraordinary.

Dark magic is an imitation of magic.

They achieve anything by sacrificing life.

Eliza cannot approach forbidden magic.

She couldn’t even use dark magic.

So, she decided to turn dark magic against itself.

Magic that mimicked dark magic, which had mimicked real magic.

It was an extraordinary realm beyond Judas’s imagination.

Eliza concealed another purpose.

She wanted to help Judas recover his memories.

She couldn’t recklessly make a promise she couldn’t guarantee.

Besides, Judas might not even want it.

Peering into someone else’s memories wasn’t exactly a desirable thing.

If someone were to look into her own memories, it would undoubtedly feel unpleasant.

‘…….’

Eliza cut off her thoughts.

Her mind took a step back.

Just now, had she placed Judas and herself in the same position?

Identifying with another.

The first threshold leading to empathy.

For someone like Eliza, who was unskilled in such things, the phenomenon she just experienced felt unfamiliar.

‘I don’t… quite understand.’

Eliza dismissed the unnecessary thoughts.

“Let’s go to the Magic Tower right away.”

Eliza grabbed Judas’s hand.

Judas didn’t shake it off.

He believed the tragedy had been avoided.

He firmly believed it could be avoided.

Yet, sometimes, he couldn’t help but think that one day she might kill him.

Even so, no matter how much he thought that, he couldn’t bring himself to let go of her small, warm hand.

***

The study of reconstructing dark magic.

She had come to the Master of the Magic Tower to seek assistance.

She made a proposal, and he, on the condition of her acceptance, made a single request.

Upon hearing that request, Eliza found herself wondering if she could burn the entire Magic Tower to the ground.

“Don’t misunderstand me, but listen. About the knight escort the young lady brought… do you think I could touch him just once?”