The Death Knight Became an Escort Knight for the Saintess

24. The Giant Forest

24.

Escelia put on an indescribable expression and touched the fallen leaves in front of her. She was nothing special about the leaves themselves. She was the leaf of the Great Oak, which was widespread in the mountains to the east. Judging by texture and shape, it was unmistakably a leaf of a great oak tree. Except it’s the size of her upper half.

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So she looked up with an even more indescribable expression at her great oak, which had leaves the size of her own torso attached to it. Indeed, judging from the overall shape and the texture of the bark, it is unmistakably a great oak tree. Except that it is 300 cubits in height.

Celia looked at her escort knight standing next to her with a similar expression of her devastated expression, but she soon regretted it. Zerfied was still looking up at the great oak tree that was 300 cubits high. The expression of the escort knight hidden behind her helmet was difficult to understand. So she turned her devastated expression to the cluster of foliage behind her own.

There were oak trees and maple trees familiar to her that had traveled south through the mountains for five days, including a giant oak tree among hers. It gave her a sense of security that the great oaks sported a height of about sixty cubits. But when she turned her head forward, she had to feel her sense of security disappear.

Behind the 300 cubit great oak, there was again a colony of ordinary deciduous trees. That is why the 300 cubit giant oak tree that suddenly appeared to the Death Knight and the saintess was bizarre, heterogeneous, and surreal.

“Awesome.”

Death Knight spat out a short impression. The saintess was barely able to save her spirit floating in surreal world by the Death Knight. Ecilia turned her head towards Zerpy Ed.

“I’ve seen trees as tall as 200 cubits, but I’ve never seen one this tall.”

“It is literally a ‘giant tree’… ….”

The Death Knight and the saintess, who had a brief appreciation, began walking round the huge tree again. At the root of the tree that filled her vision, the saintess felt a sense of wonder and asked her escort knight.

“Have you ever seen a tree this big, sir?”

“I have seen a tree of about 200 cubits in the Southern Continent. I don’t know how it is now. There may be trees growing taller than the one I am looking at. By the way, then this is , Right? The giant tree can only see this one tree.”

“Uh, I don’t think so. Maybe something like a boundary?”

At Zer Pi Ed’s question, Escelia took out her map from her backpack and examined it. But unfortunately she couldn’t get him any helpful information. It was not easy to find specific information, except that she was facing the mountains of the east running south.

Other places were marked with even brief features, but perhaps because of the fact that they are located at the eastern end and that the elves living there are strong in rejecting them, what is shown on the map is the location of the area called , And the approximate There was only basic information such as size. Even if it wasn’t her, it was information that Zerfied could find enough.

The saintess let out a slight sigh at the information that was of no use to the escort knight.

… Be that as it may, it was not such information that was not helpful. The idea that she was herself, which didn’t help, invaded Esilia’s head. What the hell is she doing in this situation?

It was Zerphied who came up with a plan to find the equipment that blocks the divine power left by the former contractors and confront them in earnest. It was the same even now. It was he who was thinking of going through the Great Forest of Giant Trees, moving to the southern port city, and crossing over to the eastern continent. It was he who caught the game, prepared it for eating, and cooked it. It was always him who found her a comfortable place to sleep in her bed.

Even though he ran away from the General Church and promised to fight, all he was doing was getting protection. Even if he told me what he was doing, even if he wasn’t himself, Jerpie Ed could do it enough by looking at the map. Rather, like yesterday, he is getting more information from Zerfied.

She swallowed her welling cry once. After all, no matter how many times she thought about it, there was nothing she was doing. She’s just being protected. She clenched her fists. Her hand clenched into her fist trembled.

Escelia bit her lip and said to Zer Pied.

“…… Sorry.”

“… What do you mean?”

The escort knight felt embarrassed by the sudden apology of the lady. The death knight quickly looked at her at the voice of her saintess with her depression subtly buried, but she couldn’t see what the expression of her saintess with her head bowed down. The difference of one and a half cubits, all he could see was the saint’s long platinum-colored hair, rustling in the weak wind.

Only the escort knight and the lady’s footsteps swaying through fallen leaves passed the two of them. After letting the sound of footsteps pass by the two of them a few times, the saintess slowly opened her mouth. Her head was still looking at the fallen leaves on the floor.

“…… It’s not really helpful to the driver, me.”

“… Can’t you help?”

“I can’t even look at the maps I know how to do. If the driver asks anything, just say sorry and say you don’t know…. The information I’m telling you is information that anyone can tell, even if it’s not me. It’s information that the driver can understand even by looking at the map…. Just… I am… I can only be protected by you.”

She lowered her head even further and looked at her own two legs walking on her land. I was about to laugh out loud. The reason she now walks like this is because she herself cannot ride her horse in the mountains. If he were not himself, if the escort was another, the rider of this headless horse would be able to act more quickly and efficiently. It was more like holding my ankle beyond being helpful.

The cry that was stuck in her throat squeezed out. A few drops of clear tears fell on the fallen leaves that had been dried by the touch of the chilly autumn wind. The tears shed by her saintess could not wet the dried leaves. The autumn wind passing by again scatters the tears she shed. It was a cold reality.

“… Lady Esilia, this is the contract I chose.”

The saintess thought that the words of her escort knight were colder than the wind that had just brushed her.

“… It is also the contract I chose. I asked for a contract. The driver just accepted it. But I can’t do anything……. The great devil, Belcardros, was the most powerful among the demons who wielded the power of demons. He suppressed all of his rivals and took the position of leader in the demonic society, which is determined by strength.

Necromancer Blitod led an unprecedented undead army. He and his legion devoured the southern part of the world. I have nothing better than them……. A large army of undead under his command, as well as demons following him… Even the power of nature….

I… I am… I can’t even give you that common treatment for a saintess and her…. Rather, the knight will perish forever……. I’m just holding on to the knight’s ankle…….”

Jer Pied, who was about to say otherwise, shut his mouth. This is something I have to deal with, and it’s not something you care about, and he tried to answer what’s strange about you being escorted as the target of escort, but he couldn’t say that fact. On the contrary, that fact would have meant that he would affirm her words.

Zer Pied could not lower his head. I could see the tears falling on the dried and twisted leaves so clearly.

So he raised his head.

The blue light of the clear autumn sky penetrated through the gap of the helmet. In such a clear sky, reddish leaves scattered in the wind flew freely. The escort knight thought that such a scene was like the eyes of a lady. It was a pure, pure, clear scene.

In that clear scene, the escort knight decided what to say.

“That sounds absurd. Why didn’t you do anything You are the one who taught me the lie that Blitod told me and that among the demons there were people who believed in the Holy Ghost.”

Cilia raised her head. Other tears dripped on the dried tear marks. Her lips trembled as she bit into them. She wanted to scream for a moment. Is she making fun of herself? She wanted to scream that it wasn’t something she could explain to anyone, even if she wasn’t herself. Don’t be shy about consoling me. I’d rather just admit it.

But her escort driver wouldn’t let her open her mouth.

“Because you are a saint, you hold me back? Rather, if she hadn’t been a saint, I would have perished while fighting the demons. Perhaps my throat was cut off and I’m not looking at the autumn scenery right now, but I’m in the middle of a deep, dark cavity. If not, do you want to show condescension? I am originally a saintess who has to save everyone, but now I can’t?”

The saintess eventually shouted at her.

“What nonsense…… ! Am I being courteous?! I just did what I could do then! At that time, it was natural to release the knight from the holy power of the demons…….”

“Yes, of course.”

The escort driver, who was looking up at her sky, looked straight at her. His voice was low, like falling leaves.

“As you said, it is natural for you to do what you can. Neither do I. I’m just doing what I can Each of us is just doing what we can each other, but that’s why we’re sorry.

Esilia, you are doing well. You don’t have to beat yourself up if you can’t be of more help to me. Rather, it was because of what I did in the past that I made an enemy named Ezerniel. In that respect, it’s like I owe you once. An escort knight escorted by an escort target. Um, how embarrassing.”

When Zerpied performed the action of last night sweeping the back of his neck and throwing his eyes carelessly, Ecilia had to kick and let out a small laugh. In that state, the Death Knight muttered. This time, the tone was really absurd.

“I don’t know why the saints are so anxious to eat themselves. Do saints select only those who have at least such an obstinate disease for generations? When I signed a contract with Belcardros, he surrounded me with a divine net that covered a mountain and said, “I’m sorry…” Sorry….’ But honestly… I was afraid.”

The saintess’ small smile turned into laughter. The saintess wiped away her tears with the back of her hand and smiled.

“Sorry for bothering you.”

“At that time, I would appreciate it if you said thank you.”

Escelia burst out laughing once more, flashing her grin, making direct eye contact with her escort driver and speaking to him.

“Thank you very much, driver.”

Really, it was the eyes that made him think again, like red leaves and clear autumn sky. Zer Pied caught the smile in his eyes for a moment, then turned his head in front of him and opened his mouth.

“… It was nothing.”

–

After walking for about an hour, the saintess was forced to face the surrealities that spring up from everywhere. There were only about 10 trees. There were still several hundred trees around, sixty or forty cubits tall. The giant oak tree, which was only one giant oak tree, was becoming more diverse, such as the oak tree and the maple tree. And after another hour of walking, the surreal finally became reality.

10 Giant trees, 30 trees. 30 Giant trees became 50 trees, and 50 giant trees eventually became a forest. The Death Knight and the saintess lifted their heads and put the In their field of vision. The saintess opened her mouth at the absurd reality.

“It was an area that looked like this.”

Zerpied muttered. Since it was a mountain range, the bumps on the ground disappeared and the terrain was changed to a similar terrain. But it took me a while to notice that, because some of the roots of the giant trees protruded from the ground and made bumps.

I realized that I had entered the forest before I knew it. Zer Pied, who thought the borderline would be clear, accepted her guidance from her saintess with a bit of embarrassment.

“If you go all the way through here, it’s not too far from the port city in the south of the Central Continent. Fortunately, it’s close to flat ground from here, so I think I can move on horseback.”

–

However, after about an hour and a half, the slight embarrassment Zerfied felt gradually began to change into a huge embarrassment. Saint Ecilia was the first to point out the strange thing.

“… Knight. Didn’t we move along the outskirts of the mountains to the east?”

“Yes.”

“Then, wouldn’t it be better to go to the outskirts of As well… ? It seems we are getting deeper into the forest… ?”

At Esilia’s words, Zerpied looked around. The Death Knight looked around her and said to her saintess.

“Don’t you feel that way because all around you are giant trees? I don’t feel much of a difference from before.”

“Um… Is it like that?”

“I guess so, unlike the mountains, it may feel that way even more because the view is limited by the giant trees.”

Since these were reasonable words, the saintess slowly nodded her head. However, after about an hour and a half passed, Zerpied’s bewilderment clearly grew. He began to get confused as to where he was going as the scenery became more and more similar. As he looked up at the sky to double check his bearings, he let out a small moan. The sun didn’t look right.

Unlike the trees in the mountains, these ridiculously gigantic trees greedily occupied the bright light only by ourselves, saying that they would never allow sunlight. Zerfied slashed the bark of nearby giant trees with the protruding blade of the Partizan.

“… Knight?”

“It is a sign. Unlike the mountain range, the view is limited, so you may get lost.”

“Ummm… yes….”

Seemingly uneasy about the act of marking her by a Death Knight she had never seen before, Escelia grabbed the Death Knight’s cape and dug into it. As the hour passed, Ecilia’s anxiety turned into reality. Zerfied was now unsure of exactly where he was going. She was moving in anticipation of the fact that she was just driving her horse in a straight line and that if she kept going like this, one day she would get out of the woods.

And that expectation was shattered. He hurriedly turned her head to her at the saintess’ brief scream. The saintess was pointing at one place while shaking her hand.

There was a sign he left an hour ago. Zer Pied said to the saintess, holding on to her words and giving strength to her hand.

“…… Let’s spend the night here first. It’s evening soon.”

Zerphied didn’t bother to say that it was hard to be sure that it was evening because the giant trees barely got any sunlight. After making the saintess lean against a nearby giant tree, she collected her fallen leaves and lit her bonfire. Even as she ate the meat of the gnoll she kept, the saintess said nothing.

“Esilia, don’t worry too much. When tomorrow comes, we will know where we are, and then we can get out of here.”

At his words, the saintess nodded her head. However, she couldn’t hide the anxiety that flowed from her eyes. She further buried her body in the cloak that was wrapped around her.

-Saaa…….

Only the sound of the chilling wind drifted through the forest.

At that moment, the Death Knight suddenly stretched out her arm in front of her. She hadn’t even asked why the startled saintess was like that. An arrow was held in Zerfied’s hand.

-Saah.

The moment she realized that fact, dozens of arrows rained down on them.