Chapter 20

Because the sentries were sound asleep and oblivious to the world, Emily was able to reach the Imperial Knights’ barracks without much trouble.

‘Even the fabric of these high-ranking tents looks expensive…’

Unlike their own tents, the atmosphere here was solemn, and Emily felt herself shrinking back. She forced her slumped shoulders straight.

“Why are you wandering around at this hour? Return to your quarters immediately!”

Two knights standing guard at the entrance of the barracks discovered Emily and moved to block her path, issuing a stern warning. Emily was momentarily cowed by their threatening tone, but she recalled the meeting with Hereis she had secretly hoped for—or rather, Belita’s desperate plea—and spoke up.

“I’m here on urgent business. Could you please tell Sir Hereis that I’d like to speak with him regarding Belita? If you mention her name, he’ll definitely know who she is!”

The knights’ eyes narrowed. However, judging by their reaction, it seemed Sir Hereis was indeed here as expected.

“Ah, I’m not a suspicious person. See this badge? I’m here as a dispatch from the Church!”

“…”

“If Sir Hereis finds out you didn’t deliver this message, he’ll have your heads…”

With the knights showing no sign of budging, Emily had to resort to a bit of a bluff. While their suspicious glares didn’t fade, her words weren’t entirely ineffective. One of the knights tilted his head toward the other, who then turned and headed inside the barracks. Emily cheered inwardly.

‘I’ve at least made it halfway, Belita!’

Meanwhile, even late into the night, Hereis was in his barracks filling out paperwork.

-That Arianne event was good

-But what about the affection points?

-Too many troll donations so he stopped

-But you’re the one who pressed the button, right?

Hereis’s monologue appeared on the screen.

-Working overtime, damn

-If I work overtime like Hereis, can I become a dating sim protagonist?

-As if.

Just then, a commotion could be heard from outside.

“Vice-Commander! My apologies for the late hour. May I come in?”

Hereis stopped his busy pen and told him to enter.

“By any chance, do you know someone named Belita? That person says they wish to see you…”

“Belita?”

A clear crack appeared in Hereis’s composure before quickly vanishing.

-Belita?

-???

-Wait, she actually came?

-How did she get here?? wtf

“Let her in.”

Not long after permission was granted, a brown-haired girl walked in hesitantly.

-Who’s that?

-That’s not Belita.

When the girl did nothing but stare at him blankly without saying a word, Hereis spoke sharply out of frustration.

“Who are you? How do you know Belita?”

“Ah. I’m E-Emily, Belita’s friend…!”

“I see. Miss Emily. Why have you come looking for me? And why use Belita’s name?”

“I-I’m sorry! I was just doing a favor for Belita!”

“A favor?”

When Hereis raised an eyebrow and questioned her, Emily hurried to deliver Belita’s message.

“Yes! Belita said she absolutely has to meet you, Sir Hereis!”

“Wait, that girl is here?”

“Y-You didn’t know. I believe she’s here as a volunteer for the expedition.”

“…”

“Oh, she also said there’s a small mountain to the north of the village and that she’d be going there. She mentioned she’d like for you to come find her…”

Hereis was struck speechless by the sheer audacity of the request. He was amazed by her nerve to volunteer in secret, but he also couldn’t fathom her intention for seeking him out now after more than a week, nor could he understand this method of summoning him. No, he even had to doubt whether Belita had truly come here. He had to consider the possibility that this girl knew about his relationship with Belita and was playing a trick to lure him away.

As Hereis fell into thought with a frown, a subordinate knight spoke up in the uncomfortable silence.

“Vice-Commander. This smells like a trap; you should ignore it…”

A trap! Emily waved her hands in horror.

“What?! Belita isn’t that kind of person!”

“How dare you raise your voice in front of the Vice-Commander!”

“…That’s enough.”

“But sir!”

“Thank you for the message. You may return now. You there, escort this girl back.”

The brief squabble ended as the order to leave was given, and the two of them exited the tent with pouting lips. Left alone in the quiet tent, Hereis pondered.

Ding!

“Why does Belita always only have options that look like a Bad Ending?”

-fr lol

-This is too much

-Time for a choice

-But he has to go

-Last time looked like a Bad Ending too but it was progress, just go

“That’s true. Was it jumping into the water? That wasn’t a Bad Ending. I bet it’s the same this time, right?”

-yup

-seems like it

“Alright, fine. Let’s trust her until the end!”

Once the option was chosen, the scene transitioned. What appeared was the back of Belita’s head. And then, a monster with its maw wide open.

‘You did well, Emily.’

As I headed toward my destination, I monitored the situation using Omniscient Viewer Perspective. I could see Emily entering the protagonist’s barracks. Climbing the mountain in the darkness relying on only a single lantern made fear creep up on me, but…

‘I can’t believe Mo Je-won’s live stream is actually helpful at a time like this.’

The busy sound of chat notifications and Mo Je-won’s frantic voice were enough to mask my fear.

‘Is this the place?’

It was hard to tell for sure because it was so dark, but seeing intermittent torches, it seemed I had arrived at the woodcutters’ houses from earlier.

‘I have to evacuate the people first.’

To satisfy another condition for the Saintess route, it was better not to let them die.

Knock, knock, knock!

“Lord have mercy. Who is it at this hour?”

“Hello. My apologies for the late hour, but it’s an order from the Commander…”

“What’s this? Are you a knight, miss?”

I visited the houses on the outskirts one by one and, claiming it was the Knight Commander’s order, sent the people who had woken up in a daze down to the village. Oh, for the record, I stole and put on a set of knight’s clothes. If I had gone in my maid uniform, I wouldn’t exactly have been convincing. After strapping a sword to my waist, I looked quite the part.

“C-Can’t you tell us what’s going on?”

I shook my head firmly.

“The Commander said that is strictly confidential. Please head to the village for now.”

“Is that so?”

“She’s a knight from the Imperial Palace, isn’t she! Just trust her.”

“Yaaaawn~ I’m dying of sleep! Miss, whatever it is, just let us go home soon.”

Everyone grumbled, but they were cooperative. It seemed the knight’s uniform was doing its job perfectly.

‘Now, just one house left.’

The raid had definitely happened on a night like this, when the moonlight was hidden by the mist.

‘I need to hurry.’

The final house belonged to a small family—just a mother and her young son.

“Mommy…! I’m scared, I don’t wanna goooo!”

“Oh, hush now. The knight said we have to leave. If you don’t listen, a scary grown-up from the Imperial Palace will go ‘Roar!’ and carry you away!”

What is she, a tiger…?

“Waaaaaaah!”

At that groundless tale, the young child burst into sorrowful tears, as children that age often do. At that very moment.

Awooooooo!

An ominous howl of a beast echoed through the air. The magic beasts that appear here were definitely the wolf-type.

.
.
.

“You must hurry. Please, come out now!”

“Ah, I need to pack some of the child’s things…”

“There’s no time for that!”

“I’m not goooooiiiing!”

This is driving me crazy.

I scooped up the crying child into my arms. The boy, flustered by the sudden change in his field of vision, began to struggle once he realized what was happening. Ignoring his flailing, I urged the mother forward.

“I’ll take your son and follow right behind you. Go, quickly!”

“Ah, th-thank you…!”

‘Where is the protagonist?’

As I kicked the door open and sprinted out, I hastily checked the Omniscient Viewer Perspective. But it was turned off. In games, movement is usually expressed through a simple screen transition. Like this:

Don’t tell me he’s still in transit!

“Graaaaah!”

“Don’t stop! And don’t look back!”

A protagonist’s sprint is on a different level compared to a normal person’s speed. So, if I just hold out a little longer, he’ll arrive in no time! Clinging to that hope, I ran at full throttle. If I didn’t, I felt like my mind would log out of reality—not with these monsters that looked like giant wolves with snakes for tails chasing right behind me…!

Crash! Boom!

Roaaaaar!

The sound of houses being smashed and the roars of beasts erupted from the immediate vicinity.

“K-Knight lady…!”

The child was now huddled quietly in my arms, trembling. It seemed he could see the monsters behind my back.

“Th-The monsters are chasing us!”

I know!

As I ran frantically through the trees, I realized the mother was nowhere to be seen.

‘I lost my focus. Am I insane?’

Did I take a wrong turn while being chased? I couldn’t tell if it was the mother who went the wrong way or me.

‘Dammit. In this emergency, I’ll have to use the Character Location Tracker to find the protagonist…’

“Gah!”

“Ugh!”

As I momentarily shifted my gaze toward the screen to make the purchase, I tripped over a stray root I hadn’t seen. One of the magic beasts pursuing us from right behind didn’t miss the opening and lunged to attack.

‘Son of a…!’

I desperately hoisted the dropped child back onto my back and ran with every ounce of strength I had left.

Skreeeee!

I avoided the beast’s attack by a hair’s breadth! However, when I instinctively looked back, another monster was already mid-leap, aiming right for me. I felt like my life was flashing before my eyes…

“Duck!”

At that moment, a golden flash of sword energy grazed the top of my head and cleanly severed the throat of the beast behind me.

Before I could even process the blue system window, the beast’s head rolled onto the ground right next to me, spraying blood. Though the gore made me nauseous, it was overwhelmed by a sense of relief and the joy of being alive.

“D-Did we live, big sister?”

This brat. Who are you calling ‘big sister’? Who?

But well, he was right. We lived. The hand of salvation had finally arrived!

“Belita.”

-Belita is always almost dying

-That’s what makes a heroine

-LOL

-This kind of one-pattern trope is always the tastiest

Along with the familiar chat notification window, a hand was extended toward me. I took the protagonist’s hand with my free arm while still holding the child. Then, I was pulled straight up.

“Thank you.”

“Is that all?”

The protagonist ran a hand through his hair as if he had a massive headache.

“Sigh. Just what is going on here?”

“Sir Hereis. The magic beasts might have headed further down toward the entrance of the village. First, we need to…”

“I’ve already handled them. It’s completely safe here now. Do you have any idea how desperately that child’s mother is looking for you? She said her son disappeared along with you.”

Ah. I’ve unintentionally committed a kidnapping. I set the child down on the ground. Without looking back, the boy sprinted toward the village entrance to find his mother.

“So?”

“Pardon?”

“Start explaining. What’s with that outfit? And why did you call for me?”

-Ah, seriously, give us an explanation now~

-We waited long enough

“…”

If there’s one thing to point out first, it’s that the first raid isn’t even over yet. More magic beasts will come pouring in, breaking through the defense of the Church’s Knights. I need to get the Knights stationed to defend the village immediately. Explanations can wait until after that.

“Sir Hereis. Now is not the time for that. I will explain later.”

“What?”

“The raid isn’t over yet. We have to wake all the Knights and defend the village.”

-It’s not over yet? shivers

-Isn’t this actually a good thing? Reputation points are easy pickings

-This place is a gold mine

-But how does she know?

-Hey, we have our Swordmaster with us

-Probably option 3?

-But if he’s wrong, the villagers are toast shivers

Mo Je-won’s hesitation grew long.