Betrayal Knight's Joyful Faith

Chapter 484

But instead of sweet dreams, only an uneasy silence filled the palace.Some shed tears in mourning for those who lost their lives, while others trembled in fear and prayed to God.

On the other hand, some cursed God, while others spent the night in fear, unable to trust anyone.

At dawn, only those who stood guard could walk through the hallways.

Arendt von Eckhart encountered the master of the sea for the first time in a long time.

“Are you okay?”

Nereid asked cautiously, Her face filled with worry. Arendt blinked several times and then ran a frustrated hand through his hair.

“Haaah…”

He couldn’t even remember when he fell asleep.

However, he vaguely remembered that he had been suffering from all sorts of nightmares just before.

Nereid, who could not stand to see that sight, eventually intervened.

As he was clutching his pounding head, Nereid’s voice cut through.

“Don’t think about anything right now. Just rest.”

“…This isn’t the time for that.”

A sharp retort escaped him before he realized it.

“I’m different from you, who is just leisurely watching from off stage.”

“…”

Nereid flinched and fell silent. After a long pause, Her shoulders drooped.

“I’m sorry. I couldn’t be of more help….”

“…”

Only then did Arendt realize that he had become overly sensitive.

Arendt sighed deeply and rubbed his face.

“It’s fine. More importantly, what about the thing I asked you?”

“I’m working on it. But as I said before, I can only skim through it. I’m not like Luce or Chernion.”

Nereid answered hesitantly, looking completely dispirited.

“For now, I’ll do my best. I’ll ask the spirit children too. But since there aren’t many spirit children living in the human realm… I don’t think it’s best to get your hopes up.”

She looked like a scolded child with the way She was mumbling.

.

Even though She was weak, She was ultimately a divine being.

Right now, She was just doing him a favor.

It was all thanks to Nereid that he was able to escape here after suffering from nightmares.

When Arendt realized this fact, he felt even more drained.

“It’s fine. It’s not that important right now.”

Arendt added after a brief pause.

“I didn’t mean to take it out on you.”

It was just a little frustrating.

Nereid’s eyes widened, but Arendt pretended not to notice and averted his gaze.

Only after he calmed down did he begin to see the surrounding scene properly.

As always, the two were at the bottom of the ocean. The bottom was covered with silvery sand, and the waves lapping against his body felt warm.

He suddenly remembered how he was shivering from the cold right before he fell asleep.

“Wait a minute. Did I fall asleep during the meeting?”

Now that he thought about it, the snacks that Laius gave him seemed a bit strange.

It was the moment when the truth was revealed as to why he had suddenly fallen into a deep sleep without any memory.

“Isn’t he a lunatic?”

As Arendt spoke in disbelief, Nereid muttered absentmindedly.

“Of all people, I don’t think you’re in any position to call anyone that…”

“…”

Arendt raised his head and gave Her a puzzled look. Nereid then averted Her gaze and began to act awkwardly.

“I really lived a great life.”

Arendt let out a short sigh and slumped down to the sea floor.

Nereid also moved Her fins and sat down silently opposite him.

“…”

Silence descended upon the quiet sea.

It was just as Nereid said.

He fought the cold air while suppressing the chaos in his mind that was about to explode, and even in the midst of all that, he used his strength to come up with a plausible line.

But now he felt strangely calm.

Even that made him feel bad because he thought it was due to Nereid’s power.

But Arendt forced himself to let it go.

Kindness should be accepted as kindness.

Letting pride get in the way now would only wear him down faster.

Nereid asked cautiously.

“What are you going to do from now on?”

“We have to fight right now. What else can we do?”

It seemed like Lord Lexion would probably return soon.

If the dragons had truly fought each other, a major disaster would have occurred. However, even after the palace was somewhat cleared, no news of a disaster was heard.

They’d been too overwhelmed to receive reports during the heat of the battle, of course…

Perhaps around the time the fighting in the palace ended, the dragons’ fighting would have also stopped.

‘What on earth is their goal?’

It was never pleasant to know that there were things he didn’t understand.

As an actor, he couldn’t help but think of one thing from all of this.

“…Fucking bastards.”

His head started to hurt again.

It wasn’t some kind of excessive self-consciousness. Iris’ behaviour clearly showed that she was conscious of Arendt.

He couldn’t shake that thought even during the meeting.

She was the only one who knew that Arendt was a foreigner.

Besides Arendt, she was also the only person who knew the entire contents of “The Blue Knight of the Holy Sword”.

Considering all that… she must’ve realized this method would be effective.

Just as Arendt had, who took a similar approach when he first entered this world.

Nereid, who was watching him, shouted in frustration.

“I told you not to think about it now! I brought you here and now you’re not even resting!”

“Quiet down, kid. If I don’t keep my mind moving, I’ll lose it.”

Nereid pressed Her lips shut, though She had a look of discontent.

Thanks to this, Arendt was able to continue to piece things together.

‘Assuming this attack is the first act of a play…’

The summoning stone commotion, which unfolded like a guerrilla war across the Empire, was only the beginning. Their purpose was likely to gather the imperial elite to the palace.

But in this fight, they didn’t give it their all and retreated after a while.

‘It ended quickly, considering they even had Lexion there.

If life or death had been at stake, Roger would have definitely appeared first.

Ultimately, he had no choice but to be on high alert for Roger’s whereabouts. That’s why he asked Lexion to search for him.

But currently, Roger and Iris’ locations were still unknown.

And all the main forces of the imperial family were gathered in the imperial palace.

‘Was that the purpose?”

It could also be said that this was an opportunity to wipe out all the allies gathered in the palace.

It was clearly a stupid operation.

Because it was no different from saying that the same thing would happen to them.

But unfortunately, that was one of the effective methods for them.

Even if everyone died, Iris could always start over again.

But Arendt changed his mind.

‘There’s no need for them to take that much risk.”

Even that was only possible after mutual destruction. If she lost, it was uncertain when she’d get another chance.

There was no reason to rush in and deliberately commit suicide together.

Arendt absentmindedly held his scarred wrist.

Since they had gathered people in the palace, there was a possibility that they might suddenly attack an unexpected place.

He couldn’t predict exactly when or where they would pop up.

No matter how much he racked his brain, he ended up just repeating the same facts.

“Wait a minute, look at me. No! Stop thinking about it!”

Nereid, sensing something was wrong, grabbed his shoulder urgently.

But Arendt made no response.

No, he couldn’t.

Even though he was clearly under Nereid’s protection, at some point he felt like he couldn’t breathe properly.

Somehow, it seemed like a black shadow was swaying before his eyes.

The light that had felt warm until just a moment ago now felt like a thorn stabbing his back.

It had been only recently that Arendt had finally come to terms with that fact.

His stomach felt queasy.

He had to slowly admit it.

Even if Iris’ intentions were guessed, their lost initiative would not be regained.

The stage was running wild, out of his control.

No matter how much he racked his brain, no answer came out.

No clever plan to turn this situation around came to mind right away.

All they could do now was to charge head-on.

There was no other way to do it, and forcing a clown act wouldn’t work now.

The moment he realized that, Arendt realized that his hands were shaking slightly.

There was also the feeling that someone was staring at him from very close by.

“…”

As he suddenly raised his head, He saw Nereid’s two eyes, filled with worry, right up close.

“Should I put you to bed? Do you want to rest?”

“…”

Arendt hesitated for a long time. But eventually, he pressed his lips together and shook his head.

“No.”

He slowly steadied his breathing. Then he repeatedly clenched and unclenched his fists.

“This is my burden. It’s not something I should lean on you for.”

This pressure was not the result of Luce or Chernion’s interference.

Arendt knew better than anyone that it came entirely from within himself.

“Just focus on what I asked you to look into. You’re a god, right? I’m sure you can manage at least that much.”

“…I’ll try.”

Nereid spoke in a small voice. Arendt sighed briefly and muttered.

“It’s fine.”

Nereid raised Her head, Her eyes widening. Arendt averted his gaze and continued slowly.

“There’s the damn captain. There’s Lexion. There’s the seniors… and even a rotten friend, and there’s His Highness the Crown Prince to clean up after me.”

It was true that many things had spun completely out of his control.

But that didn’t mean he had to take responsibility for it all on his own.

Especially when there were people who’d rush in headfirst before he could even try.

“…Somehow, it’ll work out.”

At some point, the trembling stopped.

Suddenly, a thick stench of blood filled hit him.

When he opened his eyelids, he saw a man covered in blood standing next to the bed.

It was Lexion.

“…What a sight.”

Lying in bed, Arendt blurted out. Lexion, who met his eyes, responded indifferently.

“I don’t want to hear that from you.”

Arendt looked around.

Arthur was seen passed out on the bed next to him, perhaps because he had been temporarily assigned a double room.

He too was covered in bandages and they were plastered all over his body.

Although he said it casually, Lexion’s appearance was truly miserable.

Blood was still pouring out from his wounds.

One of his eyes seemed to have been gouged out deeply, and a strange horn sprouted from his forehead.

One of his wings on his back was also half-torn.

Arendt briefly considered who was in worse shape, Lexion or himself.

Realizing it was pointless, he quickly stopped.

“Go and recover… Don’t just stand there like a ghost.”

Arendt closed his eyes tightly again and pulled the blankets closer.

“You don’t look like you’re in any condition to cast healing magic, and if you keep hanging around like that, you’re going to give me nightmares. So just go already.”

“…Honestly.”

Lexion paused, then let out a rattling breath.

“Rude little bastard.”

Somehow, the short curse carried the hint of a satisfied smile.

A moment later, without a sound or sign, Lexion’s presence vanished.

Arendt curled up and tried to sleep again.

The meaning of their meaningless exchange was ultimately this:

.