Betrayal Knight's Joyful Faith

Chapter 151

The ride back to the Empire was dull and peaceful.Thanks to that, the knights could enjoy a rest and ride their horses leisurely…

Unfortunately, that didn’t happen.

It was because the most prominent person in the order seemed to be in a state of discomfort the whole time.

“Everything is taken care of, so why is he acting like that?”

“Do you know anything?”

Arthur answered quietly to Glenn’s whispered question.

The place where the two people’s eyes met was, of course, where Arendt was.

His uselessly handsome, dour face was no different from usual. When they spoke to him, he would reply in a way that made them want to punch him in the face.

But for some reason, his atmosphere was subtly different from usual.

He originally had a cold impression, but he was showing his displeasure so clearly that it seemed like a subtle cold air was floating around him.

At that moment, Arendt, who had been riding silently, suddenly stopped, startling both of them.

But the next moment, as Arendt took a package of cookies out of his pocket, all the strength left their shoulders.

“…Let’s stop paying attention.”

“Yes.”

Judging by the sighs of annoyance heard here and there, it seemed like the other knights felt the same way.

Arendt, who was munching on sweet cookies and only moving his eyes to look at his seniors, clicked his tongue inwardly.

‘They’re unnecessarily quick-witted.’

Seeing his seniors like that, he guessed he had too many distracting thoughts.

He thought it would be best to just clear his head.

Anyway, there was no point in worrying about it now.

Fortunately, he was able to focus soon after. He received a call from Llewellyn.

“You’re going to stay in the kingdom for a while?”

– Lexion, that guy… that guy? Sir Dragon…? Anyway, I’m going to investigate the book you were looking for. It seems like there might be clues left within the kingdom.

“What about Warren?”

– Since it was revealed that he had nothing to do with the evil cult, he came into the kingdom with my men. They say they are investigating in their own way in the capital, but I wonder if they are just hanging out.

A short grumble could be heard from beyond the communication crystal. It seemed that Warren was adjusting well to the Explorers’ Union.

“Still, be careful because you never know what might pop out.”

– Are you worried about me now?

“Not really, it’s just if you die somewhere, the Everan Kingdom won’t leave me alone.”

– You cold punk. Anyway, I’ll contact you if I find out anything. And I heard His Highness the Crown Prince is doing something interesting.

It seemed that the news of the union between Arcus and Henry had already reached Llewellyn’s ears.

“Don’t worry about it for now. I’ll let you know once everything is sorted out.”

Arendt let out a short sigh, hung up the phone, and looked up.

They would arrive at the empire in one day.

From then on, there was a mountain of work to do.

“The elven country near the Nephele Kingdom.”

When Arendt suddenly stopped talking, Cantares, who had been reviewing the report, looked up.

“Huh?”

“Do they also have relations with the Caerleon Empire?”

“Well, a bit. There is some trade between civilians but there is almost no diplomatic exchange.”

The Crown Prince, who had finished reading the report, closed it and placed it on the desk, intending to properly respond to the conversation that Arendt had begun.

At this point, Arendt asked what was bothering him.

“Do other races hate humans?”

Those were the words that Cantares spoke as he scolded Alois. He said that they should not mess with a race who already had a strong antipathy towards humans.

“I can’t say for sure, but most of them are not very friendly. Priest Lumiel and Prince Llewellyn are special cases.”

From their perspective, they would have encountered people like Alois more often throughout their lives.

“But we are not hostile to each other outright. We continue to interact in the form of trade, and we were comrades who fought against the same enemy in the past. Now, we respect each other’s territory and keep inside the line.”

“It’s exactly that kind of distance.”

Arendt nodded vaguely.

“Is there any possibility that elves and dragons are related?”

“I thought the same thing. Since dragons are also a different species, if they were going to get along, it would probably be with elves rather than humans. I don’t know how much that would suit the dragon’s pride though.”

Cantares, leaning back in his luxurious chair, looked up at the ceiling and continued speaking.

“In the human world, their very existence has become a legend…They might be protecting the elves. Well, it’s all just speculation. Nothing is certain.”

“Hmm… I guess it would be better to ask Prince Llewellyn about this.”

Cantares asked slyly, looking at Arendt with a displeased expression.

“What’s the problem?”

“Dragon, elf, saint of Chernion… all kinds of things.”

Those were all keywords that came out of Alois’ mouth.

“I was also interested in the story of the saint. It has never been mentioned in any of the records discovered so far.”

Now that he had completely lost interest in the papers, the Crown Prince pushed the pile aside.

“But I don’t think the dragon necessarily lied. What do you think?”

“In my opinion, I think it’s likely that he added information he knew to make his acting more realistic.”

Arendt replied, standing awkwardly with his arms crossed.

“So… you’re saying that it unintentionally came out?”

“Yes, if Lexion is a real dragon, then he may be a survivor from the war period. At that time, the saint actually led the evil cult. It may be the same now.”

“The more I dig, the more mysteries are popping out.”

Cantares let out a sigh.

Arendt, who had been staring at him blankly, shrugged his shoulders.

“It’s clear that the dragon knows something, so if we investigate it, we can find out more.”

“So you’re going to stir up the dragon? Well, he’s keeping an eye on you, so you don’t really have a choice.”

“It’s actually a good thing, because it creates a solid connection.”

From the beginning, there was a plan to become a target, and looking at the results, the original intention was half successful.

Since he made his presence felt first, he could no longer claim to be a background figure behind the scenes.

“Besides, since he’s sure of what he wants, there is no easier prey than this.”

“You do know that one of those prey is you, right?”

The Crown Prince, who had been looking at the apprentice knight who was shrugging his shoulders calmly, clicked his tongue.

“You too, have a tendency to ask for trouble.”

“Are you dissatisfied?”

“No, but don’t go too far.”

Arendt arched an eyebrow as the Crown Prince shook his head.

“Are you saying this again?”

“Yes, I’ll say it again. Things are a lot different now. Not to mention the gods up there, dragons are like natural disasters. Of course, they can’t be controlled by humans.”

Cantares continued speaking seriously, which was rare.

“That’s why your judgment was distorted. The situation in the Nephele Kingdom was truly unexpected. …Well, in the end, you took the lead in resolving it.”

“So, what’s the conclusion?”

“It’s only natural that something like the Nephele Kingdom incident is beyond your control. It’s not your responsibility to take responsibility for that.”

It was a similar piece of advice to what Priest Lumiel had once said about not being so obsessive.

He knew that it was said after thinking it through, but he couldn’t just accept it at face value.

Arendt put his hands in his pockets with a sullen face.

“It is impossible to create a natural disaster, but it is possible to predict it to some extent. You can even reduce the damage or take advantage of it.”

“I knew you’d say that. Anyway, you’re stubborn.”

“Still, I’ll take note of it for now. It’s not entirely wrong.”

Cantares felt a little relieved when he saw a faint smile on the face of the man who responded like that.

“In that sense, I’m thinking of taking a few days off.”

“…What? Suddenly?”

“I’ve already told the captain. It’s the vacation of a mere apprentice knight, so it’s right for him to handle it, but you might be wondering where I’m going.”

Arendt added leisurely to his superior who asked absentmindedly.

“Where are you going?”

“Count Stadler’s laboratory. I briefly explained this matter to him and he told me to come to his laboratory sometime. I think he has something he wants to show me.”

“Then that’s good. I’ll give you a dispatch instead of a vacation, so you can run errands too.”

“What errand do you want me to do?”

“The Khan Union. They say they’ll start operating in earnest in two days. You go and check out the situation.”

“…”

Arendt’s face, which had always maintained his composure, cracked for a moment. On the other hand, the Crown Prince simply smiled as if he was happy.

“Just to add in advance, this is an order.”

“I’ll just take a vacation, so send someone else.”

“You know very well that you are the right person for the job, right?”

It would be embarrassing if it became known that the Crown Prince and the Khan Union were related, so other people had to refrain from frequenting the place. However, no one would find it strange that Arendt, who was related to Arcus by blood, would visit there.

‘It might attract some attention, though.’

He was a guy who stands out wherever he goes.

As Cantares was thinking that, Arendt, with a face full of annoyance, held out his hand.

“What? Why did you hold out your hand?”

“You said it was a dispatch. And since stopping by the Khan Union would be an unofficial mission, it would be right for His Highness the Crown Prince to pay for the expenses out of his own pocket.”

“…Aren’t you really a little crazy?”

“Yes, that’s just how I was born. Deadly, dirty, disgusting, and a bastard. You promised me in the beginning. You said you’d throw me enough fish, right?”

“Shameless bastard.”

As expected, there was no way to hit him once and get away with it.

Arendt tried to go alone, but Laius insisted on sending Arthur along with him. The reason was that Laius was worried about sending Arendt out of the palace alone in such an unsettling situation.

But this was not a very welcome consideration for Arendt, who had been robbed of his alone time.

The apprentice knight grumbled as he rode with one hand.

“It’s annoying, really.”

“I’m not going with you because I want to. I’m just worried that you might get assassinated if you wander around alone.”

“Why would I die? If it gets dangerous, I’ll just tell everything I know and run away on my own.”

“It would be better if you just quietly die. I’m worried that you might end up like that.”

Besides, he had no intention of doing that in the first place.

Arthur swallowed the words that were on the tip of his tongue.

Did that guy have no sense of crisis, or was he just a thick-skinned person?

‘It wouldn’t be strange for an ordinary person to just stay in a corner of their room and not come out…’’

Only a short while ago, the insane Crown Prince was running wild, threatening to kill Arendt.

What’s more, there was a dragon behind him.

This time, he backed down, but in the end, the dragon left behind a message telling Arendt to come find him himself and disappeared. However, the person in question just remained calm, so it was obvious how much worry was burning inside Laius.

But Arthur soon gave up on everything. Even if he spoke, it would only hurt his own mouth.

His opponent was Arendt von Eckhart.

“Hey, let’s go together!”

Arthur shouted nervously from behind, but Arendt pretended not to hear and went ahead.

And there were also eyes watching the two.

“Let’s go too.”

“Sigh, what am I doing using up my vacation days…”

They were the senior knights who kept up with their arrogant juniors while grumbling in annoyance.