Betrayal Knight's Joyful Faith

Chapter 186

Four fist-sized spirit stones glowed quietly on the silk of the box.Unlike magic stones, which only emitted a purple light unique to magic, each spirit stone had its own unique light.

They were rough and rugged because they were unprocessed, but that made them look even more beautiful.

Kendrick, who took a step back to gaze at the spirit stones, let out an exclamation of admiration.

“I feel a truly refreshing magic. It feels like I’m standing in the middle of a forest. May I touch them, Count?”

“Never! Never! If you even get a scratch on them, the elves won’t stay still!”

“They were the ones who didn’t take care of them, so why should we worry about that?”

The Count, who had been startled by the captain’s insensitive words, crumpled his face as if betrayed by Arendt’s subsequent questions.

“It’s not something that can be said so easily! This is a treasure not only for the elves, but for all races! It seems like you still don’t know how valuable the spirit stones are…”

“Okay, calm down. I’m just joking.”

After covering the Count’s mouth as he was about to begin his lecture, Arendt turned his gaze to Llewellyn.

“How do you feel?”

“I never thought there would be four of them… still, I guess we should be thankful that they weren’t damaged.”

Llewellyn seemed quite upset to see the objects that had been so lovingly kept in the elven elder’s house here.

Count Stadler continued, wiping away his cold sweat once again.

“I examined them and found no damage. Since I was in such a hurry to escape that I couldn’t take much, I think there might be a few more spirit stones in their base.”

“Wow…”

An exclamation burst from Llewellyn’s mouth.

“This is an unprecedented situation. It could turn the Elf Kingdom upside down.”

“If we give these back, will they open the border without any hesitation?”

“Probably. The elves will also be desperate to find the spirit stones.”

Llewellyn clicked his tongue at Diana’s question.

“The elven warriors have probably already been dispatched to the continent. They must be in a state of chaos trying to find the truth by now.”

“So, in order to safely enter the Elf Kingdom, we must also hide the fact that this has come into our possession.”

Laius, who had been listening quietly, added.

Their goal was to reach the elven realm safely.

It would be difficult to meet the elf warriors in the middle and have the spirit stones stolen, because then they would have no reason to enter the kingdom.

Count Stadler, wiping his sweaty face with a handkerchief, nodded his head.

“I blocked as much information as possible. Fortunately, I found the spirit stones on my own, and I kept them a secret from my assistants while transporting them, so you don’t have to worry.”

“Excellent. The items to be sent over there are ready, so now all that’s left is…”

Cantares’ gaze naturally turned to Arendt.

Arendt met the Crown Prince’s eyes and shrugged.

“I’m really feeling better now. I went to the healer this morning.”

“Okay, then let’s set off tomorrow. The personnel will be Captain Laius, Arendt, Sir Richt, Sir Arthur, and Prince Llewellyn. Is that okay?”

Cantares nodded with satisfaction and asked Llewellyn one last time as if confirming.

“Yes, Warren was here helping Lord Neumann, and then decided to join the Explorers’ Union.”

“I understand. Will this cause any trouble for the Everan Kingdom?”

“There’ll be no problem. I’ve been living so freely since I was little, so they’ll probably just take it in stride.”

When Llewellyn snickered playfully, Cantares smiled back.

“Thank you for saying so. If the King takes issue with it, I will take responsibility.”

“Then please come up with a good excuse so that I won’t get in trouble later. Okay, since everything is settled now…”

Llewellyn, who responded jokingly, tapped Arendt on the shoulder as he stood next to him.

“What is your scheme? Since you said you would go yourself, you must have some dark plan.”

“Why do you assume I must have some scheme? And I have no idea what you mean by my insides being ‘dark’.”

But Arendt responded in his usual indifferent manner.

Regardless, Llewellyn tilted his head playfully and rolled his eyes.

“So, there isn’t any?”

“No, there is.”

Arendt, who met his eyes, also slightly curled the corners of his lips.

Since this was a trip that had been planned for a while, preparations for departure went quite smoothly.

Count Stadler applied several layers of anti-magic treatment to the spirit stone to prevent its magical power from leaking out, and Cantares prepared gifts to send to the elves.

Even Emperor Philip himself wrote a letter and sent it, so the diplomatic delegation was simple but fully equipped.

So the next day, as soon as the sun rose, the group set out on their journey, each with their horses loaded with luggage.

After leaving the castle, Llewellyn gave a brief explanation of the route.

“The fastest way would be to go through the Nephele Kingdom. If we take a boat from the port and cross over, we will arrive at the territory of the Second Elven Kingdom.”

“Is that so? I understand that it is common to go by land or by boat from the southern coast of the Empire.”

When Arthur asked curiously, Llewellyn added:

“That’s the official trade route, but for now, it’s best to move quickly. The direct route is through the Nephele Kingdom.”

Before setting off, Llewellyn contacted the Nephele Kingdom in advance to ask if they could lend him a hand.

The Nephele Kingdom readily granted permission.

Laius , who had been listening quietly, expressed his concern.

“Then, we will pass through the territory of the Lucain Kingdom along the way. The road seems quite rough. Is that okay?”

Llewellyn responded as if nothing had happened.

“Captain Laius, you haven’t forgotten who I am, have you? Since I became an adult, I’ve spent more nights sleeping under the night sky than in a warm bed. I’m probably much more familiar with camping than you are, Captain Laius.”

“…I made a slip of the tongue.”

Laius, who had opened his mouth for a moment, apologized.

The opponent was not an ordinary prince, but the explorer Llewellyn.

Llewellyn, who smiled faintly, increased the speed of his horse and took the lead.

“Hahahaha! Follow me, you lackeys!”

“Who are you to call me a lackey? Shut up and show me the way.”

But, as expected, the annoying sound of pouring cold water suddenly interrupted.

Llewellyn looked at Arendt, who had come up next to him, in bewilderment.

“…Did you just call me arrogant?”

“Then who else would it be? Why, if you feel wronged, should I treat you like a prince?”

“…”

Llewellyn kept his mouth shut.

Arthur and Richt, who had become quite accustomed to this sight, pretended not to see it.

Laius seriously considered whether he should reprimand Arendt, but soon closed his mouth.

A long journey followed.

As an explorer, Llewellyn knew all the shortcuts and guided his party along the most efficient route possible.

Even finding a place to camp was a breeze, allowing them to move around with greater ease than ever before.

For a few days, they traveled by only taking the fastest route possible.

Now, they’ve become quite accustomed to sitting around a campfire and telling jokes.

The night air was quite cold as winter approached.

In the night sky, stars twinkled like ice cubes, and in the wilderness where the faint moonlight poured down, the only source of warmth was the campfire the group had lit.

Arthur, who was putting in firewood to start a fire that was burning brightly with a crackling sound, suddenly remembered something and started to speak.

“What is that? You’ve been looking at it all day?”

“This was given to me by Lord Neumann. It contains two years of elf sightings and a list of merchant transactions.”

Arendt replied dryly, munching on his jerky.

The apprentice knight was holding a few pieces of paper in his hands again today.

“What are you going to do with that?”

“It’s about understanding. Knowing something is much better than not knowing anything.”

Arthur furrowed his brow as Arendt waved his hand.

“By the way, you said you had a plan, but aren’t you going to tell me anything? You should at least tell me what it is, so I can decide whether to go along with it or not.”

“If I tell you, can you keep the rhythm? Just be a little bit more aware and then play along.”

“Hey, you shameless brat.”

Arthur threw the piece of firewood he had in his hand.

Arendt grabbed it leisurely and threw it into the bonfire.

The piece of wood crackled and burned bright red.

This time it was Llewellyn who asked the question.

“What do you think after assessing it?”

“… something like that? It’s not much different from the first impression.”

“That’s certainly true. They are cautious about everything and don’t make decisions easily. They don’t owe anything to others, but they definitely repay them.”

It was similar to what Arendt said, but with a different nuance.

Arendt finally looked up from his papers.

“What do you want to say?”

“Well, of course, in this situation, it’s the elves who made the mistake, but it could just be that they don’t know how to communicate. It’s funny even for me to say that…”

Llewellyn swallowed hard and added:

“Just, whatever. Don’t hate them too much. There might be a reason for that.”

“…”

Instead of answering, Arendt simply blinked.

Arthur, Richt, and Laius also watched the two without saying anything.

It was easy to guess what Llewellyn was worried about.

He was worried that the emotional rift between humans and other species, which were not very close to begin with, would deepen even further.

As the silence continued, Llewellyn added his ramblings.

“No, it’s just like that! Of course, we have to resolve the current situation, somehow. But still… Yeah, if we act too hostilely, it won’t be good for either of us. Right?”

“Why are you telling me that?”

But of course, there was no way good words would come back.

Arendt, with a crumpled expression, replied irritably.

“Whether it’s a high-ranking official, a noble, or an elf, if they’re the first to act rudely, shouldn’t they be prepared to suffer for it as well? I don’t know what will happen after that. The same goes for the stupid prince.”

“Uh?”

Arendt added plainly, throwing the paper he had just read into the fire.

“Why so serious? If you’re too serious, you’ll lose.”

This was a comedy, not a tragedy.

While Llewellyn stuttered, not understanding properly, Arendt turned his gaze toward his seniors.

They were now looking intently toward the forest beyond the wasteland.

In fact, Arendt had also noticed this earlier.

Only then did Llewellyn notice something strange and closed his mouth.

Arendt added cheerfully, the corners of his lips raising slightly.

“To put it simply, it means that you’re worrying for nothing, you stupid prince.”

Parsak!

As if those words were a signal, something in the bushes shot out sharply.

At the same time, Richt took out a dagger from his bosom and responded.

Pak!

There was a sound of something hitting the floor after being hit by a dagger flying at high speed.

Crackle. Crackle.

The bonfire was still burning warmly.

But Llewellyn could no longer feel the warmth there.

It was because the knights began to quietly gaze into the darkness like wild beasts that had found prey.