Betrayal Knight's Joyful Faith

Chapter 167

Gilberte.It was the owner of the urn found in the Dragon’s Treasure, and the name that Count Stadler was searching for.

Warren’s face also hardened seriously when he heard the situation.

“Is this… a coincidence?”

“Well, probably not.”

It was too coincidental to be called a coincidence. Arendt, who was skimming through the frozen book, suddenly raised his head at the chill that came over him.

“First, I need to return to the mansion and contact Llewellyn. You should contact the palace…”

“I think something more urgent came up before that.”

Arendt, who had cut off the serious conversation, glanced at the floor instead of Warren, who was looking at him with a puzzled look.

“Ah.”

Only then did Warren understand what Arendt was talking about.

In the aftermath of the brief battle, the study was in shambles.

Books swept by the magical storm were scattered all over the floor, and the spot where the artifact had been activated was covered in pure white frost, creating a mess.

“…When did the Marquis say he would return?”

“Around sunset.”

The apprentice knight gave a plain answer to the question he asked in a careless manner.

The Marquis would never stay still if he found out that the Emperor’s villa was in disarray.

That meant that this had to be sorted out somehow before the Marquis arrived.

Arendt, who looked back and forth between the messy study and Warren, struck first.

“I grew up so well that I don’t know how to do things like cleaning.”

“…This son of a bitch.”

“Are you going to speak this harshly to the person who saved your life?”

“…”

And that evening, Cantares, who had been quietly listening to the report through the communication port, spoke absurdly.

– What the hell are you… I sent you out to rest, and what the hell are you doing?

“What can I do? I’m too capable.”

– No, this seems like a slightly different problem.

It was a situation where he couldn’t even tell whether it should be called lucky or unlucky.

At this point, it was a mystery why accidents were happening everywhere he went.

– The Marquis didn’t catch you?

“Yes, Warren is better at cleaning than I thought.”

– …

Cantares expressed his deep condolences to Warren by remaining silent for a moment.

Was it really a good thing that he sent the two of them there?

It must have been quite a disaster, at least for the honest werewolf.

“The book is safe, except for the one that had a trap set up. I retrieved it.”

– That… That’s right. Tell me more.

“I read it from beginning to end, but it was a collection of short stories about dragons written by the bard Gilberte.”

Arendt continued, looking back and forth through the book in his hands.

“There was no separate title, but it said Volume 1 on the cover, so I searched through the next volume thoroughly…”

– Wasn’t there any?

“There was. But it was in the Nephele Kingdom.”

When Llewellyn heard the news, he was so shocked that he flipped through the books in the palace once again.

The name Gilberte was only mentioned in the introduction to the book, and what followed were stories no different from any other folktale.

The same was true of the two volumes discovered in the Nephele Kingdom.

Although he said he had examined it carefully, Llewellyn had not even thought to read the preface to the collection of short stories.

– Then the contents of the book may not be a simple tale.

“Yes, that’s right. So I’m going to look into it further for now.”

– Are there any more clues?

“There is a place where the exact place name is mentioned at the end of Volume 2. Since it was written a long time ago, the place name doesn’t exist anymore… Prince Llewellyn said he’ll find out for now. If it’s a real place, I’ll have to go and see it myself.”

Cantares, who had been thinking for a moment, opened his mouth.

– Wouldn’t it be a bit dangerous to go there?

“Surely he wouldn’t have thought of that? If the dragon really wanted to kill me, he should have set up an ambush with his men at His Majesty the Emperor’s villa from the beginning, instead of setting up such a cheap trap.”

– Don’t talk like it’s someone else’s business, you punk.

The Crown Prince, who had been snapping angrily, let out a deep sigh.

– I thought that if I got you out of sight, there would be less work to do… Okay, I understand for now. Report any changes. Just don’t do anything too dangerous.

After a grumbling of discontent, the call ended and Arendt stretched out on the sofa.

Just then, knock knock, someone knocked on the door.

“Come in.”

The late visitor was, of course, Warren. He came in without waiting for an answer and sat down directly across from Arendt.

“Did you find out anything?”

“There was a lakeside village in the Calvino Mountains, on the eastern border of the Caerleon Empire. It has completely disappeared now, but it was once quite prosperous because there was a gem mine nearby.”

It seems that Llewellyn was also anxious… to find out this much in such a short time.

“A lake… It matches the description in the book.”

The short story that mentioned the specific place name was the story of a good dragon who lived among the people in a village near a lake.

The dragon, who acted as the village’s wise man in the guise of an old man, had his identity revealed to the people due to a small incident.

The villagers, blinded by greed, coveted the dragon’s treasures and tried to harm him, and the dragon eventually ran away from the village in sorrow.

After that, as the story goes, the village slowly declined as if it had been punished.

Warren muttered, almost groaning.

“This way, the contents of the book become more credible. I never thought I would find a clue like this.”

“It’s a book compiled from stories that were passed down orally, so there may be some fiction mixed in… but I think it’s not completely out of the blue.”

Arendt’s eyes sank for a moment as he looked down at the damaged book.

Assuming that Lexion was acquainted with the dragon that lived in the magic stone mine, it would have been quite possible for him to have given them a hint at the right time.

It would have been easy to predict that those urns would be discovered sooner or later.

‘I understand that he came here looking for a book.’

While researching this place, he found a book about Gilberte, and he thought that Arendt would come here soon, so he decided to play a prank on him…

It was not difficult to guess up to this point.

One thing that was questionable was Lexion’s intentions.

Warren seemed to have been thinking the same thing, blurting it out in an uneasy tone.

“It seems like he’s trying to lead us to that lake town.”

“He must want to use people like marionettes.”

Arendt responded plainly.

Just as he had controlled Alois in the Lucain Kingdom, the dragon seemed to want to act as a director.

The actor chosen was Arendt.

“That’s something an arrogant dragon would do.”

“Well.”

Warren, who had been mumbling anxiously, raised his head at the indifferent reply.

Arendt came into view, leaning back comfortably on the sofa with his characteristically relaxed, or perhaps bitter, smile on his face.

“Isn’t this more like a cowardly dog ​​that hides behind the scenes and rolls its head, rather than an arrogant dragon?”

“…”

He forgot about it for a moment.

Who was the most arrogant person he knew?

Arendt was the only one under heaven who would say such things to a dragon.

Regardless of whether Warren made a face of disgust or not, Arendt threw the shabby book down on the table and went back to thinking.

‘I don’t feel like just following his wishes.’

If you want to catch a tiger, you have to go into the tiger’s den.

It didn’t seem like a bad idea to follow the bait he laid out for a while.

It would be quite an interesting scene to have him act like a dummy on a string and then throw an uppercut at the last moment.

Warren flinched involuntarily as he saw a sinister smile on the apprentice knight’s young face.

The very next morning, Warren and Arendt set out for the Calvino Mountains.

The two quickly began to ride away, leaving the Marquis behind, who kept expressing regret at the earlier-than-expected separation.

After they had completely left Marquis Henfield’s small estate, Warren spoke first.

“It’s near the southern border, so I think we’ll be able to arrive around the same time as Llewellyn.”

“Is Llewellyn coming alone?”

“He said he was bringing two more explorers.”

If they were Llewellyn’s men, they would easily do their share of work, so there would be no shortage of hands. Warren spurred his horse on and glanced at Arendt.

“What about you? It seems like you’re reporting to the imperial family.”

“I’ve declined the offer for now. It would be a headache if it became known that Llewellyn’s explorers and the Royal Knights were involved.”

“I see… Wait a minute. If you rejected it, then you rejected it. Why is there an ‘for now’ part?”

“I don’t know where the bad taste came from, but these days, you don’t listen to people at face value.”

“…”

It didn’t seem like something the person who was responsible for spreading bad news should say.

But Warren didn’t think pointing that out would get him much of a meaningful answer, so he just added a short comment.

“That captain must be having a hard time too.”

It was overwhelming with just this guy, but his subordinates had to fall for this guy’s words.

And Arendt’s words were actually proven true a few days later.

At the entrance to the city, which was the midway point, they encountered familiar faces.

Arendt clicked his tongue, slowing his pace.

“As expected.”

“…Are you not even a little surprised or happy?”

Arthur grumbled with a look of extreme dissatisfaction on his face, and Richt, standing next to him, spoke indifferently as if he had already expected this reaction.

“I had a hard time trying to dissuade the captain from coming in person.”

“I thought so.”

“…”

Warren had to slightly adjust his thoughts as he watched Arendt nod indifferently.

Everyone knew the situation at the palace, so he came forward to personally go on an expedition. It wasn’t just the knights who were affected, but it seemed that Captain Laius was also a little crazy.

“You too are having a hard time because you got caught up with a bad guy.”

“I’m glad to hear that you’re doing well.”

When Arthur and Richt greeted him briefly, Warren nodded his head in return.

“It’s nice to see you again. Sorry for bothering you last time.”

“Are you on vacation?”

Richt responded to Arendt’s question.

“I came out on a personal vacation unrelated to the royal family. You don’t have to worry about it.”

Arthur and Richt, like Arendt, were in plain clothes instead of uniforms. The apprentice knight smiled, perhaps pleased with the answer.

“A dragon-chasing vacation? That’s pretty awesome.”

“You’re really amazing, you always come back to me with questions about things whenever I go out.”

“What can I do when it’s all my fault?”

“…Let’s go.”

When the two youngest members of the Order showed signs of bickering again, Richt quietly urged them on.

The atmosphere was devoid of any sense of tension as they headed to a place where they didn’t even know what was lurking there.

Warren, who had also melted into it, nodded his head and rode his horse after the knights.

And so, the group’s journey towards their destination, the Calvino Mountains, became even more exciting.