Betrayal Knight's Joyful Faith

Chapter 130

“He really has a bad personality. We could easily get bitten if we’re not careful.”It was the first thing Kendrick said after they had moved quite a distance from the conference room. The old man’s face was a look of pure exclamation.

“Are you impressed now?”

“Why not? He’s always been a mysterious guy, but it wasn’t bad to see him act like a child after all this time.”

“It is not normal for such an important matter to be decided so easily because you cannot overcome the tyranny of a child.”

“You didn’t object too much either, did you?”

“…”

Diana did not deny that either.

Kendrick glanced at her silently and burst into laughter.

“In the end, it’s about saving people, so I can’t help but accept it. That’s more important than any other cause.”

If he hadn’t figured out what Arendt was thinking, he wouldn’t have known, but once he did, he couldn’t help but listen.

The same would have been true for the Crown Prince.

Even if it concerned the High Priest, it was unpleasant to label civilians who still had the potential for rehabilitation as rebels.

“You have no hesitation in killing two birds with one stone.”

Although the question of whether it was feasible remained, it seemed that the guy wanted to boldly take on the challenge this time as well.

In this country, no one could ignore the authority of the High Priest. Even the Emperor could not treat him too comfortably.

If things went wrong, it’s something that couldn’t just be overlooked.

“Is it because he is a childish fool… or because he is brave?”

“Isn’t it just that he has a bad personality? If he doesn’t like something, he wants to flip it over.”

“Heh heh. Maybe so.”

Kendrick burst into laughter at Diana’s words. Even as she spoke those words, she didn’t seem particularly offended.

It had been quite some time since he had been running amok in the palace, so he could guess what that damned apprentice knight wanted.

The customs that were firmly established to conform to the rules of peaceful times were no longer necessary.

Kendrick lowered his voice slightly.

“…To be honest, I also feel reluctant about the situation where High Priest Theodore himself would take the lead.”

“I agree. He is a priest, not a politician.”

Diana also nodded silently.

Unlike the flexible and multi-faceted Priest Lumiel, High Priest Theodore was someone who wanted to live in the perfect world of the God Luce.

A typical priest who was stubborn and, on the other hand, extreme.

His unwavering faith deserved to be respected by all and he was fit to be the High Priest, but that was why he was even more unsuited to this situation.

It was generally accepted that a peaceful era has an absolute good.

But in war, black-and-white thinking was one of the most important things to avoid.

To High Priest Theodore, the god Luce was absolute good, and anyone who did not follow him was absolutely evil. He would insist that anyone who had been even briefly attracted to the Chernion religion should be burned.

It may push a situation to the edge of a cliff where there may have been room for compromise and a wait-and-see approach.

In that sense, Arendt’s judgment was correct.

As someone who played to God Luce, this was a bit of an uncomfortable topic…

“He can just throw away what he doesn’t like. I envy young people.”

“I’m a bit persuaded.”

“It’s the same for me too.”

After a brief exchange, both of them simultaneously raised the corners of their lips.

After admitting that they had been persuaded by him, a little embarrassment followed.

Kendrick, who had been rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly, smiled bitterly.

“I have grown rusty from the long peace. Now, the time will come when we will need a sword to cut down our enemies, not an old shield.”

The chaos brought about by the apprentice knight always brought about change. Among the captains, the youngest, Laius, who was solely responsible for handling that guy, had already felt the change and was slowly accepting it.

“Laius would make a good sword.”

“If Commander Laius is a good sword, Commander Kendrick is a stronger shield than anything else.”

Diana smiled as Kendrick looked at her with surprised eyes.

“I will prepare to deploy immediately.”

“See you in two hours.”

First of all, there was a mountain of work to be done at the moment.

Even as he prepared to leave, Arendt was preoccupied with other thoughts.

‘It’s a riot.’

Although he gave a grand explanation to Neumann and the Crown Prince and his party, in fact, this incident’s information was also from the content of “The Blue Knight of the Holy Sword”.

In the midst of a civil war, Laius visited a village to rest.

Even in the midst of war-torn territory, the people welcomed Laius and his knights, who were already renowned as heroes, and provided them with food and a warm place to sleep.

But the meal they had prepared was poisoned, and when the knights noticed it, the villagers quickly turned and attacked them with weapons.

Since they were ordinary people who had not been properly trained, the commotion was quickly resolved. However, at the time, Laius was quite shocked.

It was a huge psychological blow to him because the public sentiment had turned away from him due to the successive civil wars.

The episode was brief, but things had gotten to this point and it was natural for him to become suspicious.

‘I checked just in case.’

After all, it wasn’t just that public sentiment had changed, but at that time the Chernion Cult had already reached out to the people.

‘Those damn bastards.’

He was so frustrated, but it wasn’t the right thing to turn his back on the Luce Church.

But now the initiative could not be lost to the temple.

‘In the novel, that old man wanted to avoid getting involved in the war as much as possible.’

The reason the High Priest showed such an attitude was because of his belief that those who serve God should not get involved in worldly affairs.

Priest Lumiel rebelled against it and took action on her own.

After Laius was chosen as a Knight of the Holy Sword, the High Priest showed some active movements, but even then, he did not take the lead in subduing the enemy.

He supported Priest Lumiel, and chose to stay back and watch the situation.

But now that the situation had changed, it was uncertain how the High Priest would react.

And from Arendt’s perspective, having experienced him directly and indirectly, his personal interpretation of his character was…

‘It’s a headache just thinking about it.’

From what he’d figured out so far, it was obvious that things related to Luce would be more annoying than he imagined.

The problem was that none of the High Priest’s actions were malicious. The old man only acted according to his own beliefs and faith.

The main element of the novel, the Holy Sword, had not yet appeared, and being openly hostile was not a very desirable choice… so that would be the best way to handle it.

‘It seems like Captain Laius still doesn’t have any thoughts.’

Even leaving aside the pragmatic Crown Prince and Laius, who always prioritizes human life, Kendrick and Diana were also moved by the level of misconduct of the young apprentice knight, so it was easy to guess what the High Priest’s usual image is like.

For Laius’ complete victory, it seemed necessary to stir up the High Priest’s side at least once.

“Why did you distort the judgment again?”

At that moment, Arthur’s voice dug into his mind that was lost in thought.

Arthur, who had come up to him without him noticing, was looking at him blankly.

Suddenly coming to his senses, he quickly put on Arendt’s indifferent expression on his face.

“Are you ready?”

“It’s all done. It’s funny how this mess keeps happening.”

Because they had to move quietly, the number of people dispatched this time was small.

The people who were directly involved were Laius, Arthur, Richt, and Arendt. The rest remained in the palace, waiting and taking care of basic tasks.

While the two were having a pointless conversation, Richt and Laius also finished preparing and joined them.

Once everyone had gathered, Laius gave a brief briefing on the schedule.

“We need to get to that area as quickly as possible. We’ve recently confirmed that a large quantity of weapons have been flowing in, so we need to contain the situation before it escalates into a riot.”

That was the main goal of this expedition.

“We have already established contacts with other local police forces in case of an emergency. If an emergency occurs, we will join forces with the police forces and join with Sir Kendrick and Sir Diana, who are nearby, to suppress it.”

“Yes, I understand.”

This was the first and last chance. Cantares would block the information as much as possible, but there was a limit to how far he could go to avoid the eyes and ears of the temple.

News of the riots in other countries must have already reached High Priest Theodore’s ears.

Things had to be dealt with before the High Priest realized that the same thing was happening within the Empire.

Arendt reported following Laius’s words.

“The city and the outside are being watched by investigators from the Neumann Group. If any suspicious activity is seen or anyone is caught leaving the city in a hurry, I will be contacted.”

“Are those investigators trustworthy?”

“Yes, these are people guaranteed by Lord Neumann, and they are people I personally hired, so don’t worry.”

Of course, the hiring fee would be collected from the Crown Prince later. He simply omitted that part.

Laius nodded, looking around at his men.

“Okay. Then let’s go.”

“Is it okay if I ask a few questions?”

At that moment, Richt, who had been quiet, stepped forward.

“Arendt is already known to the enemy. If the city has already fallen into the hands of the Chernionists…”

“Are you saying that my impression may have already spread?”

But the words he was about to say were cut off midway.

Richt sighed briefly and looked at Arendt.

“If it had been known, rumors would have spread that he was the world’s greatest villain and a piece of trash.”

“You look happy?”

Arthur’s mutterings of discomfort passed by, and Richt asked anxiously.

“Is there a way? It may be a bit funny to say this, but your face may be better known among the enemies than the captain’s.”

“Are you worried about me? Wow, I’m so touched I don’t know what to do…”

“I made a slip of the tongue.”

Arendt, who had been looking at Richt, who was quickly regretting his actions, crossed his arms and said, “Huh?”

“The second question is: How do we convince those who have already turned their backs on Luce?”

“I’m wondering about that too.”

Even Laius hadn’t heard that much yet.

Arendt raised the corners of his mouth in a smirk as the three men’s suspicious gazes turned to him.

“Let me see. If I were to guess… I would say he has silver hair and golden eyes, and is known as a very, very handsome young man.”

“….”

“…”

“…”

The expressions on the knights’ faces instantly turned disgusted, as if they had chewed something foul. As always, the most frustrating part was that they couldn’t deny it.

“There’s nothing I can do about being handsome, but I can disguise my hair and eyes. Of course, that alone won’t be enough.”

The most notable characteristic of ‘Arendt von Eckhart’ was his temper.

When Arendt, who had been pondering for a moment, swept his hand over his face, the cunning and ill-tempered apprentice knight was no more.

“…Senior, I ask that you take good care of me during this expedition as well.”

The cold impression that showed no weaknesses and the haughty and arrogant attitude were gone, and in their place was only a single, clumsy apprentice knight who had just graduated from the academy and joined the order.

Arendt looked at the three people with their mouths hanging open, his expression returned to normal, and he shrugged his shoulders.

“I think this will suffice.”

Anyway, this wasn’t his real appearance, so all he had to do was change the acting concept.

“I feel like I’m having a nightmare…”

“I feel the same.”

It seemed like his colleagues got some new trauma, but he didn’t know anything about that.