Betrayal Knight's Joyful Faith

Chapter 427: Trampling on the peace stained by the blood of darkness

An urgent meeting was called at the Caerleon Empire’s Imperial Palace. The nobles gathered in the conference room at the sudden call were shocked to hear of the battle that had taken place the night before.Laius continued his explanation calmly, facing the nobles who could not hide their distressed expressions.

Seven humanoid ghouls and approximately forty ghoul entities were subdued. Fortunately, none of them were homunculi, but the humanoid ghouls were all fully intelligent, a type of ‘miracle soldier.’ It is presumed that this was an attempt to kidnap or assassinate Prince Louis and Princess Rieta, who were recuperating.

Duke Lancelot, who had been listening quietly with closed eyes, groaned.

“It must have been a difficult battle, but you managed to hold them off. That’s a relief. I heard that the werewolf His Majesty recently took in achieved great feats.”

“The grace bestowed by His Majesty returns in this way. It is indeed a fortunate outcome.”

When someone said that, the other nobles also nodded seriously in agreement.

Cantares, who sat at the highest seat, did not respond and just watched them quietly.

After a while, the words he had expected came out.

“This is all thanks to Lord Luce’s grace.”

It was a phrase an elderly nobleman habitually uttered. Then everyone began to murmur in agreement. Some even muttered a short prayer.

It was a familiar sight.

But Cantares could not accept that sight with ease.

‘To these people…’

It would be hard to say that Luce and Chernion were like two sides of a coin.

Even if the Crown Prince himself said it, they would certainly not believe it.

So, what should the Caerleon Empire, which grew up under the name of the Holy Empire, do?

‘…I really don’t know.’

Cantares slowly closed his eyes and opened them, then changed the subject.

“The Lucain Royal Knights are currently pursuing them, but given their prowess in teleportation magic, it’s difficult to expect much gain. Rather than risk their position being discovered by fleeing, they’ll undoubtedly choose suicide.”

They saw themselves as mere tools, tools to be used to bring the glory of God Chernion back to this land.

“We must be thoroughly prepared, as we never know when or where another attack might occur. Let’s call it a day. If there are any further changes, we will notify you immediately.”

With a deep sigh, Cantares declared the meeting over. The nobles all bowed deeply to the Crown Prince.

Somehow, looking at them made his head feel even more dizzy.

After leaving the conference room, Cantares began walking towards his office.

“I have no idea what to do.”

He spoke to Laius, who was walking a step behind him. Laius remained silent for a moment before answering.

“Your Highness, you are doing better than anyone else. You are a descendant of His Majesty the First Emperor.”

“…It’s such an honor to hear such words from a living hero.”

Cantares, silent for a moment, gave a weak laugh.

“Well, His Majesty used to often affectionately call me ‘Khan’ when I was a child.”

Now that he thought about it, it doesn’t seem like a very fitting nickname.

He was too calculating to deserve that nickname.

In that sense, Laius, who knew everything but remained unshaken, could be said to be a model hero.

Cantares glanced at Laius.

‘He looked pretty shaken up for a while.’

He seemed to have become even stronger in the midst of the recent turmoil.

Not once did he doubt, nor did he ever remove the Holy Sword from his side.

Laius was simply focused on defeating the enemies who threatened the safety of the Empire.

‘Perhaps…’

Perhaps he accepted his fate to protect the people he loved.

Like the hero Khan, who made many sacrifices to rise to the position of Hero.

Without any further conversation, the two walked silently to their destination..

“Please come in.”

As soon as he reached the office, Laius took a step forward and grabbed the doorknob himself.

But the moment the door opened, both of them froze at the sight before their eyes.

“Why do you react like that as soon as you see me? It seems you find my presence here quite unfortunate.”

It was because of the shameless apprentice knight who was occupying the sofa and munching on snacks alone in the empty office as if he were the owner.

.

Laius hit his forehead.

“…I’m sorry. I’m truly sorry. I’ll scold him later.”

“…It’s alright. It’s not like it’s the first time.”

Cantares answered reluctantly. Jereon, who had been delivering tea and snacks to Arendt, smiled awkwardly at the two.

“Thank you for your hard work during the meeting, Your Highness and Captain Laius.”

“It was hard work, but for some reason. I’d rather watch those gloomy old men in the conference room than see this guy’s face.”

Cantares entered the office, grumbling. Regardless of the Crown Prince and his superior’s arrival, Arendt simply sat there, sipping tea.

“You came sooner than I expected.”

“Where are your manners… Never mind. Forget it.”

Cantares gave up on everything and plopped down heavily in the seat of honor.

Laius, embarrassed, bowed his head deeply and took a seat across from Arendt.

Only then did Arendt nod dryly at them.

“You came earlier than I expected.”

“Why are you here?”

Arendt shrugged as Cantares asked with a hint of irritation.

“I stayed up all night with a certain prince who was on the verge of losing it while trying to figure out your situation. While I was at it, I also worked on a report, which I’ve come to deliver to you.”

, the apprentice knight put down his teacup.

“As you might expect, please don’t make it public that the Explorers’ Union has intervened. It might interfere with future activities.”

So for now, let’s say they went there on a request from Neumann and happened to get caught up in it by chance.

The fee would be paid under the name of the Neumann Merchant Group, from Arendt’s assets.

“For the time being, Duke Middleton will be discreetly overseeing things. He’ll provide support, whether it’s through healers or priests, so you don’t need to worry about that.”

“What about Warren?”

Arendt gave a quick answer to Cantares’ short question.

“He’s probably wagging his tail next to Princess Rieta and Prince Louis. I told him to continue guarding them for the time being, just in case they attack again. Oh, and the attack by the Chernion Cult has been kept a secret from the prince and princess.”

“Did the Duke hide it?”

This time, when Laius asked a question, Arendt simply nodded.

“Yes. He suggested that they chat for a while, and put some sleeping pills in their tea. Then, I heard the Duke personally took to the battlefield.”

Because Warren was the first to notice the enemy lurking in secret, they had enough time to prepare before the ambush.

Moreover, the calm and experienced Duke Middleton played a major role in protecting the prince and princess.

While the two comfortably traveled through dreamland, the Duke fought desperately to protect his niece and nephew.

“So it’s best to keep quiet for the time being. Well, Crown Prince Victor… or rather, His Majesty the Scrap Metal King will handle it.”

Laius, who had been silent for a moment, began to speak.

“…You must not call the King of an allied nation scrap metal.”

“If scrap metal is scrap metal, what does it matter what you call it?”

But the arrogant apprentice knight simply picked up a snack and stuffed it into his mouth.

“Anyway, our most talented reptile has come forward. He’ll take a look around the Lucain Kingdom to see if he can find anything.”

“A reptile…”

This time, Cantares made a disgruntled sound.

“Lexion’s force is far superior to the Royal Knights. I told him to wipe out any remaining remnants. And Warren captured three humanoid ghouls, the so-called ‘Miracle Soldiers’.”

Arendt continued, swallowing the snack.

“The sedatives didn’t work on them. Not surprising, since they weren’t alive in the first place. They attempted to interrogate them, though, if it was possible.”

Arendt, having said that, furrowed his brow slightly.

“They say they exploded before they could even do that. The explosion destroyed one of the dungeons in Duke Middleton’s estate. Fortunately, no one was killed or injured.”

“Explosion? Oh, no way…”

As Cantares followed his words, he realized something. Arendt nodded slightly.

“Yes. There was a similar incident before. A ghoul’s body exploded along with the carriage while being transported to Count Stadler’s laboratory. Apparently, it was set to explode after a certain amount of time if the ghoul was captured or the body was transferred.”

The situation was the same for those captured by Warren, even though only their heads remained.

“It’s probably Jiklin’s work. I don’t think it’s worth trying to capture them and interrogate them. For now, we’ll just have to kill all of the ones we see. Capturing the priests last time was quite a stroke of luck.”

Maybe this was their last chance to get information out of them.

Cantares and Laius’ faces grew troubled.

Arendt’s flat voice continued.

“Now that they know Warren is guarding them, I doubt they’ll bother targeting the prince and princess again. They were probably just trying to take them hostage to use in future battles…”

Arendt paused for a moment, then tilted his head while holding a snack in one hand.

“What difference does it make now? In the end, we’ll just kill them all in the war anyway.”

“…”

His tone was utterly indifferent, but the message it contained was chilling. Arendt calmly added, staring at Laius and Cantares, who remained silent.

“They have only one goal: to wipe out everyone who believes in Luce on this earth. Then, they’ll create their own world, and history will record Luce as an evil god.”

Just like Luce did in the past.

It meant the destruction of the present world built on Luce’s name.

“Please, I beg you…”

Cantares forced the corners of his mouth, which were stiffening, to rise.

“Don’t say things like that with such a straight face. It gives me the creeps.”

“It’s not like I said anything surprising.”

Regardless, Arendt just responded nonchalantly, stuffing another snack into his mouth.

“It’s certain to happen soon. This incident is merely the prelude.”