I Will Not Fall For the Villain’s Flirtations - Chapter 52

Time passed quickly as always. Before I knew it, I was already part of the expedition team, marching with my backpack.

In the distance, I saw Peidos Carmel riding a white horse, leading the group. The familiar scenery made me reminisce, and before long, I remembered why.

It’s similar to when we went to purify in Luticia.

Despite the horrific events that filled my first field mission, it ironically also held many good memories. The sight of that reliable back leading the group gave me strength during the arduous march, and the rough camping became a romantic memory thanks to his kind demeanor.

I didn’t know how Peidos Carmel ended up in this expedition team. But the fact that he was here with us was a great comfort to me. Before being the male protagonist, he was the proud shield of the Holy Kingdom.

“Let’s take a break!”

The lieutenant riding next to Peidos shouted a loud command. Rancho, who had been trudging along with a frown, dropped his bundle on the ground and let out a sound like a baby beast roaring.

“Ugh, I’m exhausted! I thought becoming a healing priest would mean no more of this marching!”

Leila, who was used to running as part of the knight order, would have laughed at such a statement. I knelt beside him and leaned against a tree. The sky I looked up at absentmindedly was clear and sunny, not matching the dangerous journey.

“Did you write your will properly?”

“…Are you teasing me?”

“I saw you writing it diligently last time.”

I had definitely seen him scribbling several pages while crying so hard that snot was coming out. Rancho sighed deeply and rested his elbows on his knees.

“But then, thinking about it, I wondered why I was trying so hard to live.”

“What?”

“I mean, it’s not like it’s a great life. If I were living as grandly as that person over there, maybe.”

“……”

The ‘grand person’ he pointed to with his eyes was none other than Peidos. Anyone could see he lived a different kind of life.

“Born a noble, skilled in swordsmanship, quick to get promoted, handsome. What must it feel like to live like that?”

“…Indeed.”

If Prim had even a bit of those four qualities, I might have asked her once. What does it feel like to live a life where everything is top-notch?

With a bitter face, I stood up and dusted off my bottom.

“I’m going to the bathroom.”

“You don’t have to tell me that, kid.”

Shaking my head at Rancho, who covered his ears as if he’d heard too much information, I left the group and walked down a slope.

There’s only one way to handle business in the mountains. I shouldn’t go too far to avoid getting lost, but I wanted to be as far from people as possible to avoid any embarrassing situations.

But the embarrassing situation came in a completely unexpected way.

“Huh?”

As I sat down for a moment under a comfortable-looking tree root for fun, I realized there was someone else nearby.

It was a man with deep red hair. Judging by the turban on his head, he didn’t seem to be from the Holy Kingdom. As I wondered what an unexpected foreigner was doing in the deep forest,

The man suddenly started to lower his pants.

No way…

“Ah!”

“{Ah! What the-!}”

Startled, I jumped up, and the man also screamed and fell backward, tripping over his legs.

The problem was that his pants were still down.

“C-cover yourself quickly!”

I shouted with a face burning from seeing something I never wanted to see. As I covered my eyes with my hand, I heard him grumbling in a foreign language.

“Impertinent girl. What were you doing hiding there? You’re not a pervert, are you?”

Though his accent was strong and his speech a bit odd, it seemed he could speak the Holy Kingdom’s language. Annoyed by the ridiculous misunderstanding, I lowered my hand and glared at him.

“Who are you calling a pervert? You’re the one who suddenly dropped your pants!”

Since he was the one who spoke rudely first, I responded harshly. Knowing that there was a large expedition team just a short run away also gave me confidence.

The red-haired man frowned as deeply as his hair.

“Why are you alone in a place like this in the first place?”

“I could ask you the same! You’re alone too.”

The man, who looked at me as if he was annoyed to death, dropped his gaze from my face to my attire. Recognizing the priest’s robe, his golden eyes widened.

“You’re a priest?”

One corner of his mouth lifted unpleasantly. Every cell and instinct in my body told me this was not a positive sign.

“Perfect. I’ll take you hostage and make a deal.”

“What?”

As expected, his shocking words made me flinch and step back, and he laughed frivolously.

“Don’t worry, sweetheart. I won’t hurt you.”

“I-I-I’m a combat priest!”

I bluffed, though I had never been near combat except for the Luticia incident.

“I-I’m really strong, you know? Move aside before you get hurt.”

“Oh, really?”

His face showed he didn’t believe me at all, which made me even angrier. I might not be a combat priest, but I could at least perform basic attack magic.

“You must not know who I am, then.”

The man, who looked down at me with an arrogant gaze as if I were a foolish servant, raised his hand and swept back his curly bangs. There was something inexplicably greasy about his pretentious expression.

“I am an extraordinary being.”

“……”

What is he talking about?

Regardless of who is stronger, it’s wise to avoid a confrontation when you don’t know your opponent’s skills. Keeping my eyes on him, I slowly began to back away, but the impatient man smirked and quickly reached out his hand.

“Where do you think you’re going…”

But before his hand could even touch me, a sharp sound of something cutting through the air was heard.

“Ahhh!”

An acute attack spell hit the tree right next to me, splitting the frail walnut tree into several pieces that scattered in all directions. Taking advantage of the man’s hurried retreat to avoid the debris, I quickly bent down and ran.

Since it wasn’t a path for people but a densely wooded area, it was fortunately easy to hide. Panting heavily, I sprinted up the hill that I had leisurely walked down earlier. As the expedition team gradually came into view, my wildly beating heart finally began to calm down.

Rancho, who spotted me running and panting, squinted his eyes and spoke.

“Constipated?”

“……”

I glared at him once and ignored him, moving forward. At the moment, there was something more urgent than dealing with Rancho.

Encountering a foreigner was something that needed to be reported to the higher-ups. They might have come here with the same purpose as us.

But unaware of my serious intentions, Rancho followed me cluelessly and started chatting.

“I was worried they might leave without you, but Sir Peidos noticed you were missing like a ghost. He even came to me and asked where you were.”

“…So, what did you say?”

Surely he didn’t say I was doing my business, did he? If he said that to Peidos, I would start calling him ‘senior punk’ from now on.

“I just said you went somewhere nearby and would be back soon. Aren’t you grateful?”

“I’m so grateful it brings tears to my eyes.”

I decided to postpone calling him ‘senior punk’ for now and ignored his question about where I was going as I headed to where Peidos was sitting. Peidos, who was conversing with his lieutenant while perched on a rock, stood up upon seeing me.

“Ah, you’re back. I was worried because you didn’t return…”

“I encountered a man who seemed to be a Lucanian.”

The turban and the brief foreign language I heard. Although it was a bit confusing with the neighboring countries, it was most likely Lucanian.

This made it an even bigger issue. Lucan was one of the countries with a strained relationship with the Holy Kingdom. Moreover, their roots were in desert tribes, often referred to as descendants of barbarians by the people of the Holy Kingdom.

“A Lucanian?”

“Yes. He knew I was a priest and tried to take me hostage.”

Didn’t he hear my report? I tilted my head, staring at his wide-open blue eyes.

I naturally assumed the person who saved me with magic was a priest. But if it was a priest, the report would have already been made…

So who helped me?

“Are you hurt?”

Peidos lowered his gaze, looking me over urgently. When I shook my head, he finally relaxed and turned his head to signal his lieutenant. The lieutenant, receiving the silent command, nodded and immediately headed towards the knights.

“They must be here for the relics, just like us. We’ve been taking a detour, but it seems they’ve been following us.”

“Taking a detour? We weren’t heading to Hueta?”

Peidos shook his head once and met my eyes. His voice, now a notch lower, resonated in my ears.

“We’re going to Liche.”

“…Liche?”

Hearing the name of my hometown in such an unexpected moment left me dumbfounded. There’s an ancient relic in the place where I used to live?