CIATB Chapter 369: If there is something you want to hide
Chapter 369: If there is something you want to hide
“Are you sure it’s okay?” Richt asked worriedly.But Arthur couldn’t give an answer to that question immediately. He wasn’t very sure about it himself.
“…Well, won’t it work out somehow?”
Arthur hesitated for a moment before replying reluctantly. Thanks to that, Richt and Glenn only grew more anxious.
Glenn muttered uneasily.
“I just realized this, but I guess I can begin to understand why His Highness is so close with Arendt…”
“You’ve just noticed that? His Highness and Arendt have been getting along pretty well for a while.”
Arthur answered in a weary voice.
Arendt, who caused the mess and then dumped the aftermath on others, and the Crown Prince, who pretended to hesitate only to issue orders without delay, were two sides of the same coin.
The moment Arendt made his proposal, the image of the Crown Prince’s eyes sparkling with excitement came to mind.
“Anyway, what now? I did come out of the palace like you said, but…”
Glenn, who had been following silently, asked cautiously.
As soon as the order was given, Arthur, Richt, and Glenn left the palace.
Moreover, Arthur asked his two seniors to wear plain clothes instead of uniforms, and he covered his face with the hood attached to his cloak.
Richt also found that point puzzling.
“Besides, since you’re dressed like this, causing a scene outside probably won’t mean much. Weren’t we supposed to show that Arendt is in the palace?”
For now, they had no choice but to follow him silently since everything was left to Arthur, but Richt and Glenn still had no idea what he was thinking.
“Senior Richt is right, but I’m not brave enough to cause trouble in the palace.”
Arthur, who looked like Arendt, answered with a reluctant look on his face.
“Because only that crazy bastard can strut around the heart of the palace acting all high and mighty in front of the nobles. If I were to imitate him in a clumsy way, there might be some negative side effects when he returns later, so I excluded that from the options for now.”
Arthur added with a frown, having said that.
“And in the end, what matters is Arendt, not the apprentice knight of the Third Knight Order.”
“What does that mean?”
Arthur answered.
“I don’t know if you know, but… that guy is quite famous even without his title as an apprentice knight. And if we’re going to use someone as a scapegoat, it would be better to pick someone who won’t cause trouble later.”
His words were still as cryptic and ambiguous as ever.
Richt and Glenn exchanged glances and just kept silent. They decided that there was no point in asking any more questions anyway.
Arthur walked slowly through the downtown area a few times, as if searching for prey.
He didn’t leave out even the places that not only Richt, who came from a noble family, but even Glenn rarely visited.
And then, in front of an old tavern, Arthur finally stopped walking.
“…I found it.”
“What?”
Glenn turned his head to where Arthur’s gaze had landed.
Outside the tavern, at tables set up outdoors, there were thugs slouching in careless postures.
Judging from the few gold coins and cards in the middle of the table, it seemed like they were drinking alcohol and gambling in broad daylight.
Richt, who had discovered the same thing, muttered in disbelief.
“It’s pathetic to be like this when the sun is already high in the sky.”
“Those kinds of guys usually work at night. Let me see…”
Arthur looked around while responding. It wasn’t too dark, and there were quite a few people around. Some pedestrians were even avoiding the thugs and passing by.
There were quite a few witnesses and scapegoats were prepared, so these were just the right conditions.
The moment he made his decision, Arthur took off his hood without hesitation.
Under the sunlight, the silver hair stood out particularly brightly, and Arendt’s face, which did not suit Arthur at all, was fully revealed.
Glenn asked uneasily, feeling a sense of foreboding.
“Hey, what are you going to do?”
“Seniors, watch for a while and then get involved.”
“What?”
At Arthur’s words, Richt made a dumbfounded sound.
But Arthur didn’t explain any further and began to stride towards the table occupied by the thugs.
The two people watched the back of the figure anxiously.
Almost as soon as the thugs noticed the intruder’s approach…
!
Arthur kicked the chair near them.
As the startled crowd’s attention turned that way, a line befitting Arendt naturally slipped out.
“Wow, you’ve gotten quite brave, haven’t you?”
Glenn and Richt, who were watching, were dumbfounded.
“I thought I clearly warned you before. Don’t stand out unless it’s absolutely necessary.”
And the tone was perfect, full of arrogance and contempt.
They had no choice but to admit it.
Arthur of the present was Arendt von Eckhart himself.
For a moment, the thugs wore dumbfounded expressions, then suddenly turned pale and sprang up from their seats.
“Big brother, isn’t that you, sir! At, at this hour, uh, what brought you here, huh, what brought you…”
The one who seemed to be the leader kowtowed deeply, even coughing as if choking, but Arthur showed no mercy.
Not Arendt… but Arthur tilted his head slightly and spat out bluntly.
“What? Do I have to report every single thing I do to you guys?”
“Oh, no! That can’t be true! I made a slip of the tongue!”
It was horrifying to see a man who looked to be three times Arendt’s size standing stiffly and shouting.
Glenn, who was watching the scene blankly, muttered in disbelief.
“What the hell are these bastards doing…”
What exactly did it take to be a member of the Imperial Knights and still be called “big brother” by those thugs?
Glenn and Richt had no clue whatsoever.
At that moment, the voices of people passing by could be heard chattering.
“Oh, it’s Sir Arendt. Looks like they’ve met their match.”
“They’ve been holed up there for days. Serves them right.”
Only then did the two understand what Arthur had said earlier.
To the people, that appearance was far from unfamiliar.
“By the way, aren’t you going to answer my question? I told you not to stand out. Yet here you are, brazenly taking up space in broad daylight…”
Golden eyes glanced down at the gambling table spread out before them, then shifted back to the leader of the thugs.
Arthur reached out without warning, snatched the cigar from his mouth, and threw it on the ground.
“Puffing on suspicious smoke like that, huh.”
“…”
“Are you starting to lose interest in life? Or do you want to have a serious conversation with me again?”
“No way, big brother! Absolutely not.”
A cold sweat began to form on the leader’s forehead.
At that moment, the group inside also began to slowly come out due to the sudden commotion.
Arthur burst into laughter when he saw them.
“Oh my! There are more thugs here than I’ve ever seen before. This is perfect.”
“Big brother, who’s this bastard?”
As soon as he finished speaking, a man with a face full of scars strode out from inside. Then the leader’s face turned pale.
“Hey, you crazy bastard! Get inside immediately!”
“Judging by the look of it, you must be some noble family’s young master… so why are you standing there so arrogantly, holding your head high in front of our big brother?”
But the leader’s screams didn’t seem to reach them.
Arthur glanced at them and burst out in contemptuous laughter.
“It looks like you haven’t been here long judging by the fact that you don’t seem to know your place. Hey, I felt it last time too, but you really don’t have an eye for people.”
Arthur’s finger pressed down firmly on the leader’s muscular shoulder.
“You didn’t say anything to the new kids because you were too proud? Two-thirds of your underlings got beaten by me and straightened out.”
“…”
“Even those who were once your subordinates have changed their minds. Why are you the only one with no hope for improvement? Is it because you’re stupid?”
Arthur continued to poke the leader’s shoulder with his finger.
His menacing face gradually flushed deep red with humiliation.
“Earn honestly and spend honestly. If your brain doesn’t work, you should at least make good use of that muscular body, you idiot.”
“…”
Now, Richt and Glenn’s gazes drifted aimlessly into the void.
As the commotion continued, onlookers began to gather around.
The tavern owner glanced outside, saw Arendt’s face, and then quietly went back inside.
At this point, it was hard to tell whether Arthur was the problem or Arendt was.
But Arthur didn’t stop.
“Only smart people do bad things. A person like you, whose brain is full of muscles, should live a good life so that he doesn’t end up in trouble like this. When someone gives you advice, you should listen to them.”
“…This…”
At last, a murderous glare began to cloud the leader’s eyes. The other subordinates, growing angrier by the moment, started trembling with clenched fists.
Richt muttered dazedly.
“A commotion, indeed. There are no lingering consequences, just like how Arendt would do it.”
“Senior, I’m being serious here… shouldn’t we keep that guy away from Arendt? I don’t think he was that kind of guy.”
Glenn also muttered distantly.
Regardless, Arthur looked up at the leader with a truly ‘Arendt-like’ sneer.
“What’s with that impudent face? You’re quite arrogant. I might just have to throw a punch if you keep that up.”
“This…”
Finally, the leader, unable to bear it any longer, grabbed the bottle of alcohol on the table.
“Keep pushing your luck, you damn brat!”
He brought the bottle down on Arthur’s head, but with a !
That one shot hit the innocent subordinate’s head straight on.
“Ugh…”
Suddenly, one of the thugs who had become Arthur’s defensive shield frothed at the mouth and fainted.
Arthur tossed the guy aside carelessly and brushed his hands off.
“Have you completely lost your mind? Who do you think you’re raising your hand against?”
“Looks like you came alone. Today’s the day I’ll teach you a lesson.”
The leader of the gang approached Arthur, flexing his vicious muscles.
The other subordinates who had been watching also began to take out their weapons, such as axes, sickles, and swords, one by one.
A sigh came from the onlookers.
“There are more people than usual?”
“Someone call the security guards. At this rate, we’ll end up cleaning up corpses today.”
“Corpses? No matter how many there are, there’s no way that they could hit Sir Arendt…”
“Corpses? You think it’d be Sir Arendt’s? It’d be those idiots’ corpses.”
Everyone seemed convinced by those words. Unfortunately, perhaps because their voices were a bit loud, the face of the leader of the gang turned red and blue.
“Catch that bastard and kill him!”
“Yes!”
The whole group shouted loudly, suppressing their resentment and anger.
Richt let out a loud gasp.
“This is crazy.”
They all lunged at Arthur at once.
In the end, Glenn and Richt also had no choice but to join the fight.
Arthur, Richt, and Glenn beat up about 40 men and smashed 11 tables and 32 chairs in the bar.
Arthur had not expected that the security guards that arrived late would point out the knights as the perpetrators after seeing the miserable state of the group.
The Crown Prince’s half-joking, half-serious order ended with an unprecedented incident in which an Imperial Knight was accompanying the thugs to the police station.