The Death Knight Became an Escort Knight for the Saintess

27. What I can do because I am alive

27.

The three of them, who were running on a branch a little higher than the branch with the large wooden fence, jumped and landed on the branch with the wooden fence. Where there was a barrier, there was, as is often the case, an accompanying one. They were guards. The two guards saw the three figures land on a branch and immediately fired arrows into their shortbows.

Renemy, who saw the string of the bow being pulled tight, gestured urgently. The two guards, who saw the familiar swaying gesture, put on an incomprehensible expression. Soon, outrageous words flowed from the mouth of the male of the two elves.

“… Renemy?”

What followed was the woman next to her.

“… Aren’t you dead?”

Renemie also fired at him with a tone full of absurdity.

“What?! Hey! Did you guys want me dead!”

“It’s good though, the funeral hasn’t been held yet.”

Rene Mie stuck out her tongue at the woman’s joke. Perhaps she knew she was joking, though, and the absurdity in her tone had diminished considerably.

“Wow, it’s been years since we’ve been sleeping in the same cabin. It’s really useless.”

The two elves grinned at Rene Mie’s shaking of the head, which clearly showed exaggeration and intentionality. But it was only for a moment.

“Come out, Renemie. Were you threatened?”

“Outsiders… These are also nasty things. You can’t let me die comfortably. Who would have thought that even a dying child would be forcibly cured and guided?”

The two quickly aimed their arrows at the two people behind them. Renee Mie screamed in apprehension at the huge misunderstanding—mostly about herself, but one she didn’t particularly want to correct.

“Yayaya! Stop!”

With one hand, he hurriedly dissuaded the two, moving the other hand behind his back and gesturing hastily. It meant step back. Seeing the gesture, Zerfied took a few steps back. Soon after, I heard Rene Mie and her two elves talking. However, since it was a whispered conversation, only part of it was heard, and it was not clear what exactly it was saying.

After a not insignificant amount of time passed, a guard opened the door slightly and entered through the gap. Then Renemie glanced at them and gestured.

This time, on the contrary, it was a signal to come closer. Zer Pied moved her steps slowly. The arrowhead of one remaining guard was pointed at the floor. But the bow was still fed with arrows. It was an unspoken threat that he could shoot at any time. The guard opened the door to his fence a bit more, not arousing suspicion. Renemie motioned for them to go inside.

Zer Pied, who was about to enter the open door, stopped his steps. His lady was staring at him, her wide eyes blinking rapidly. The Death Knight, who did not understand why she was doing that at the moment, then he knew that he was still holding her.

Jer Pied quickly put her down, feeling a strange, indescribable feeling of embarrassment—he himself couldn’t figure out why, or else it could be her embarrassment. Upon finally stepping on her stable floor, Celia cleared her throat as much as she could and whispered to Zer Pied.

“… Hmmmm… Thank you.”

“……… It was nothing.”

Her It was always her words to her, but this time it was very difficult to say why it was her.

Entering the fence, the Death Knight and her saintess slowly captured the scenery of the village in their eyes. The first thing that came in was the scene that the two had already expected. Seeing Rene Mie walking in front of them, the elves who were doing their jobs showed a mixture of surprise and delight on her face.

I immediately looked at the two behind me and changed into a wary gaze. The elves on the road they were passing by quickly dispersed.

But there was one thing that was unexpected. The saintess thought that was strange. About twice as wide as the other tree branches, the elven children who were playing in what looked like a clearing saw the two and jumped in with frightened expressions. The children’s parents hurriedly took their children into their arms. Parents’ eyes were similar to children’s.

That’s why it was even more difficult to understand. The emotion that was clearly revealed was fear. It was not simply disapproving of strangers, as in Charcot, but a fear-based vigilance. All the elves in the line of sight were showing that kind of emotion.

That wasn’t the only strange thing. Some of the huts that made up the village were covered in large tents and were covered in darkness. If it was daytime, she wouldn’t have doubts about that part. But now it was night when twilight hid in the woods. Shouldn’t at least a torch or two be lit? As they were pondering such questions, Renemie approached them.

“Walk quietly, quietly. Do not make eye contact with other people.”

Her serious whispers made Ecelia feel her tension rise. The saintess immediately understood the reason for her serious talk. They arrived at a place close to the top of a birch tree. There was a large cabin with added splendor and subtlety that stood out from the other cabins.

From inside the cabin, a middle-aged elf man slowly walked down. The person’s expression was completely different from the elves in the village the saintess had seen. It was an expression of anger. Although she was not as tall as the escort driver and Mr. Ah Event, she was so tall that Esilia had to raise her head quite a bit. She frowned at the elven man whose eyes met hers.

“Renemie.”

The man’s tone was cold, befitting his emotions.

“You are truly crazy. How dare you attract outsiders. Even while receiving treatment. Are you begging an outsider to save your life? If it were me, I would have killed myself right away.”

The man raised his hand. In response to the gesture, the elves around them raised their bows. Upon seeing the scene, the Death Knight covered her lady with a kite shield. Then he reached out his hand to the Partisan behind his back. Then the sound of pulling the bowstring becomes tighter. It was Renemie’s urgent voice that broke the tension. She got in between the man and the two of them.

“Wait, Uncle! No no! Chieftain!”

“… Come out, Renemie.”

“Chief, please!”

Renee Mie’s expression looked like it would make her cry at once. The man who had bitten his lip said as if he was chewing and spitting out.

“… You’ll have to explain it properly. No matter how Renemy you are, this is not something you can easily overlook.”

At those words, a feeling of relief flashed across Renemie’s face. Looking at her like that, her chief said coldly.

“… Come in, Renemy…. You guys wait here If you do anything stupid, I’ll turn you into a living quiver right away.”

The chief and Renemie disappeared into the cabin, but the elves’ bowstring showed no signs of loosening. Similarly, Death Knight was also preparing to pull out the Partisans at any time.

The two of them came out after a few shouts and sounds that resembled pleading. The chief pressed his temples as if tired. Renemie, coming out from behind, was still hesitant. It looked better than before. The chieftain whispered something in the ear of the elf woman next to him, then removed her mouth from her ear and said.

“Send some patrols. Go check out what I just said and tell them to come.”

The elf who received the command nodded her head and ran towards somewhere. The chief looked at the Death Knight and her saintess with cold eyes and clicked her tongue. The chief raised his hand as he turned his body backwards. The arrows that were aimed at the two were removed from the bow.

After seeing the chief enter the cabin again, Renemie sighed in relief and approached the Death Knight and the saintess. She said with a subtle expression, unable to tell whether she was crying or laughing.

“… I’ll guide you to a place to rest. Let’s go.”

–

The place where Renemier took them was a shabby cabin on the outskirts of town. It was in the opposite direction to the huts covered with black tents that the saintess saw when she entered the village. This place, with some distance from the village, was more like an abandoned space than a living space.

Seeing the cabin, Zerpied tilted his head. He muttered to Renemie.

“You mean to stay here?”

Renemie nodded. Seeing that, the Death Knight opened her mouth.

“This is ridiculous.”

The two women were surprised to hear the Death Knight’s voice. The reason why not only Renemie but also Esilia were surprised was because Death Knight’s voice was so cold. Ecilia felt as though she were standing precariously on the edge of a cliff of ice whipped by her blizzard. Zerfied opened his mouth again. She felt as if a lump of iron, soaked in the chill of winter, opened her mouth.

“Don’t you think it’s rude? It is not a place to be used as a temporary residence. A place that has been neglected for a long time. If it were us who attacked, you were the first to attack. If we hadn’t been hostile from the start, we wouldn’t have attacked either. Still, I think it is unreasonable to be treated like this.”

Renemie put on a bitter expression.

“… That’s right, but I can’t help it. I got this place because of my circumstances. Chief… That’s why my uncle didn’t want to let you guys into our village in the first place. Wait a little bit I’ll bring you some blankets or something.”

After that, Rene Mie turned around and walked away. Left alone, the man and woman had no choice but to enter the collapsed cabin. It was difficult to see the cabin as a resting place, as Zerfied expected. It was not properly maintained, so the escort driver had to rough out a corner and prepare his place.

At that time, Renemie came back and handed them a blanket. Rene Mier pursed her lips as if she wanted to say something. But at the same time she saw four elves striding past her, she sighed and had to back off. Zerfied frowned at the elves. He was so rude and unreasonable. He seemed unwilling to conceal his intention to spy on them.

After receiving a torch from Renemie, he immediately turned around and led Esilia into the building. At the place he had arranged, he thought about having Lady sit on his cloak, but he changed his mind. Looking at the level of the cabin, it seemed that the wind resistance wouldn’t be very good either. So he sat down in the corner.

It was hard for Ecilia to hide her bewilderment at the sight of the escort knight suddenly taking her place. And the words that followed further puzzled Esilia.

“Come here.”

The meaning of ‘wolf’ that the escort knight said was in his arms. Before she could say anything, the escort driver opened her mouth.

“Come in, judging by the condition of the cabin, it doesn’t seem to be well ventilated. At least this is the best way for you to stay warm.”

… This time, as it was reasonable, Esilia bowed her head and sat down in the arms of her escort knight, her knees tucked into her arms. As she sat, she thought to herself that Escelia couldn’t figure out why she was blushing like this, even though she had already experienced it once. Because of this, she had to question Esilia, who couldn’t raise her head and mumbled, asking Zer Pied.

“… Why did Miss Renemier try to defend us? Hmm… Although he didn’t seem like a bad person from what he was doing…. Still, I don’t know why he goes so far as to argue with the person who becomes the chieftain….”

Zer Pied nodded his head.

“To be honest, when I arrived in town, I was prepared for some bloodshed. After all, the battle was fought a few hours ago, so it’s hard to be treated favorably. I would have understood it better. I don’t know if it was rather hostile. It’s hard to understand why you’re being treated as unnecessary. Even though it was this side that attacked first.”

His words grew cold towards the end.

“There’s something strange about this town, the townsfolk are looking at us like…” It’s not just borderline… “

The saintess could not continue her words. The wind brushes the trees, and the leaves visible outside sway. The only thing lighting up the space they were in was the torch alone, so the feeble light could not fully illuminate the outside scenery and only elongated the shadows. It seemed that the huge leaves were dancing and performing a shadow play. The saintess could not close her mouth at the dreamy scenery.

The saintess blinked a few times before smiling. A soft voice flowed from her mouth.

“… Thank you.”

“Hmm?”

“… This… See you first. It’s not just this. The dizzying night sky I was looking at from Rephaim Forest, the ridiculous twilight light I just saw… See you all for the first time said Miss Renemy. Because I am alive, I can see such a beautiful sight. Miss Renemy is right. You can see this because you are alive.”

“Then why are you thanking me?”

At the words of the escort knight, Lady raised her head. In an instant, a very strange experience rode the Death Knight. The saintess raised her head and smiled widely. Evidently, even a few seconds ago, a long shadow flickered in his gaze. But now all her gaze was filled with this little woman, smiling at herself from beneath her.

Is it because the wind has stopped? Is that why the shadows stop playing and are resting? He couldn’t help but think so.

“It is because of you that I am alive now, so, thank you very much. Knight.”

This time, no, this time I had to speak even harder than before.

“………… It was nothing.”