CIATB Chapter 357: More than Enough.
Chapter 357: More than Enough.
Not long after they received the urgent call, Lexion himself came to the inn to meet them. By then, the two had already finished preparing to leave.Lexion grumbled softly as he met Arendt’s eyes.
“I’m treated completely as a means of transportation.”
“What can you do? Just accept your fate.”
Arendt shrugged his shoulders and replied. Lexion glanced at him and questioned displeasedly.
“Seeing how you’re running your mouth, I guess you’re feeling better now?”
“So, do you feel regretful?”
“Ugh, if only you couldn’t talk.”
Lexion clicked his tongue at the shameless answer and cast a spell.
The two of them entrusted themselves to Lexion’s magic and returned to the imperial palace before the sun had even risen.
Although it was not yet time for work to begin, the Third Knights were all on standby. After parting ways with Arthur at the dormitory, Arendt changed into his uniform and headed to the Crown Prince’s office.
.
He knocked and waited for a moment, then Jereon came out and opened the door for him.
“Sir Arendt, welcome.”
“It’s not exactly a good morning, is it, Aide?”
Arendt nodded in greeting and went straight inside.
Laius, Diana, Kendrick, and even Llewellyn had already taken their places on the sofa. Cantares, who was sitting at the head of the table, acknowledged Arendt with a nod.
“You’re here?”
“Yes. I’m here.”
Arendt, standing a little apart from them, skipped the greeting and replied.
“So, first of all, please explain. What exactly happened?”
Cantares’ expression grew somewhat displeased at the same old consistent attitude.
“I heard you were sick, but it seems like you’re feeling better now.”
“…I’m sorry, Your Highness. I will correct his way of speaking someday.”
The moment Laius said that, everyone’s eyes except Arendt’s turned to focus on him.
Their tired eyes were saying this in unison:
But that was only for a moment, as Cantares sighed deeply, waved his hand dismissively and steered the conversation back to the original topic.
“It’s exactly as you heard. An urgent message arrived from the Lucain Kingdom. Their king suddenly passed away.”
“This is really driving me crazy.”
Arendt frowned slightly. The king had been perfectly healthy when the meeting was held in the Lucain Kingdom. His sudden death was definitely suspicious.
“What was the cause of death?”
“Aggravation of a chronic illness… that’s what it said in the obituary that was sent in Crown Prince Victor’s name. He was found collapsed in the study by a servant, and died two days later.”
The Crown Prince answered Arendt’s question with an uneasy expression. Then Llewellyn interjected.
“That’s ridiculous. How can someone who was so healthy suddenly have a chronic illness?”
“That’s the problem. Of course, there may be circumstances we don’t know about… but the timing is really coincidental.”
Cantares nodded at Llewellyn and looked at Arendt again.
“You probably already understand what I mean.”
“I heard that Crown Prince Victor’s uncle entered the palace a while ago.”
Arendt answered with a slight frown.
It was something he heard while chatting with the Crown Prince one day.
The King of the Lucain Kingdom summoned his younger brother, Duke Middleton, to the castle to prepare for war against the Evil Cult.
And then, not long after, this happened.
Arendt said, clicking his tongue.
“Before coming here, I checked with the Neumann Group’s informants. There was no news anywhere that the King of the Lucain Kingdom was ill.”
“It’s the same here. Although the health conditions of the royal family are kept top secret, there was no sign that the King had suffered from any illness.”
Cantares answered with a hardened face.
Then, Kendrick, the captain of the First Knights, spoke.
“It’s a situation where we can’t help but consider the possibility of assassination.”
“Given the timing, the most likely person behind it would be Duke Middleton, the Crown Prince’s uncle.”
When Diana agreed, Arendt raised a new question.
“When did the obituary arrive?”
“This morning. It was a couple of hours before I urgently contacted you,” Cantares replied.
It was a rather unnatural time for an obituary to arrive, especially one that was reporting the sudden death of a king of a kingdom.
Llewellyn added more to that.
“I contacted my brother through the communication port and he said that a messenger had arrived in our kingdom at a similar time. The same goes for the Nephele Kingdom.”
This meant that Crown Prince Victor had arranged for the news of the King’s death to arrive almost simultaneously.
Arendt thought for a moment, then raised his head and asked.
“What was the content?”
“There was nothing special. It was just a message saying the state funeral would be held soon and asking to attend if possible.”
Listening to Cantares’ answer, Arendt quickly gathered his thoughts.
It was probably true that the king was dead.
There was no reason for the Crown Prince to lie about something like that.
‘Then it must have been at least a few days ago.’
It would have taken quite some time for the messengers sent from the Lucain Kingdom to reach each kingdom.
Yet, since neither the Neumann Guild nor the Explorer’s Union had received any reports, it meant the royal family was thoroughly clamping down on leaks to prevent any news from getting out.
‘Amid all this, was it Crown Prince Victor acting on his own to announce the obituary?’
In that case, the inside of the kingdom would have already been taken over by those who had assassinated the king, and the crown prince might not be safe either.
Arendt looked up again and looked at Cantares.
“So, what do you think, Your Highness?”
“I judged that Crown Prince Victor was in danger. Announcing the obituary suddenly, avoiding internal scrutiny, is probably a signal asking for help.”
The answer he received was roughly what he expected.
“The kingdom is probably already under the control of the rebels. The rebels tried to hide the death of the king, but the Crown Prince must have secretly sent word to us behind their backs. The obituary taking an ordinary form was likely intended to minimize the chance of being discovered.”
Cantares continued speaking.
“Then that means the Crown Prince is in a standoff with the internal forces that assassinated His Majesty. And one more thing.”
He frowned and crossed his arms.
“We must also keep in mind the possibility that the Evil Cult was behind the assassination of the king.”
If it had been an ordinary murder case, there would have been no need to call in Arendt, a mere apprentice knight.
However, in this situation, the reality was that the possibility of the Evil Cult being involved could not be ruled out.
So, Arthur and Arendt, who were outside the palace, had to be summoned urgently.
If the Chernion Cult was starting to move again, it would have been dangerous for Arendt, who they held a strong grudge against, to be left alone.
“Up to that point, we are on the same page. And as for the three of you…”
Arendt turned his gaze towards the captains sitting next to him.
“You wouldn’t have just been listening quietly. Surely, you must have other opinions, right?”
Laius caught the apprentice knight’s eye and began to speak.
“I was saying that we cannot ignore the possibility that it might itself be a trap laid by the Chernion Cult.”
They hadn’t reached a consensus even before Arendt arrived. Diana furrowed her brows, clearly frustrated.
“Crown Prince Victor may have already fallen into their hands. If so, we cannot ignore the possibility that they are using the king’s death as an excuse to gather the heads of each kingdom and attack them all at once.”
“Yes.”
Arendt nodded. Llewellyn groaned and scratched his head.
“But we can’t ignore it. If we make a mistake, the entire Lucain Kingdom could fall into the hands of the Evil Cult.”
There was no easy consensus on that point. Cantares frowned.
“If we’re going to set off, it would be best to move as quickly as possible. For now, I plan to discuss this with the Nephele and Everan Kingdoms as soon as the sun rises… but I just had a brief exchange of communication with them, and they don’t seem to have a clue as to how to respond either.”
Since everyone’s safety was at stake, it was a matter that required careful consideration.
Arendt just stood there blankly, blinking.
A brief silence fell in the Crown Prince’s office.
In a situation where no one could easily open their mouths, they suddenly felt an ominous feeling.
They realized belatedly that one guy who couldn’t endure this kind of situation was present.
And, as expected.
“Good job.”
A sullen voice sharply pierced the silence.
“You all seem pretty at ease, huh? Considering you’ve been saying this is urgent, it’s surprising to see you wasting time like this.”
“…”
“At this rate, you will only make a damn move when Crown Prince Victor is found dead or when the Evil Cult completely takes over the Lucain Kingdom.”
Cantares muttered in surprise at the shameless curse he heard for the first time in a long while.
“That guy’s definitely better.”
“…I’m sorry. Sincerely.”
Laius buried his face in shame. Kendrick let out an embarrassed cough.
“I know it’s frustrating, but can you cut us some slack? The news just arrived not long ago.”
“Well, maybe for now. But to me, the future is crystal clear.”
But Arendt was merciless.
“At this rate, we’ll spend a few more hours without reaching a conclusion among ourselves. Then imagine we have to hold lengthy meetings with the high-ranking officials of the Nephele and Everan Kingdoms before we can even set off.”
“…”
“Since it’s a state funeral, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince will have to attend in person. No matter how quickly the preparations are made, it will take at least two days, and if the procession moves slowly from the Empire to the kingdom, it will take several more days…”
Arendt, who had been counting off his fingers as he continued to speak, looked at Cantares with indifferent eyes.
“By the time we arrive, I think Crown Prince Victor’s coffin will be placed next to His Majesty the King’s. What do you think?”
Cantares, who had been listening absentmindedly, rubbed his face.
“…Someone shut that bastard’s mouth. I’m getting dizzy.”
But unfortunately, there was no one who could carry out that order.
From the moment he came and started to speak, the tension that had been hanging over the office disappeared like melting snow.
Actually, it was a predictable outcome from the moment they decided to summon Arendt.
Diana said, shaking her head.
“I agree that we need to save time, but it’s also true that we need to move cautiously. And seeing you talking like that…”
Her subtle gaze fell upon the apprentice knight.
“It seems like there is a good method.”
“Whether it’s a good method or not, there’s just one thing we have to do.”
Arendt shrugged.
“We need to check the situation within the Lucain Kingdom. After all, the news that the King had passed away could be false information.”
“Who doesn’t know that? It’s just that there’s no way to verify it. Even the informants of the Neumann Guild say there’s nothing worthwhile to pick up right now. Same goes for our guys…”
Llewellyn frowned in annoyance and started to respond but let his words trail off.
He suddenly realized that arguing with Arendt like this had never ended well.
“There’s no way?”
An utterly indifferent voice was heard.
Forcing his stiffened neck to move, Llewellyn looked up and ended up locking eyes directly with Arendt’s sullen golden ones.
Arendt spoke bluntly to the frozen Llewellyn.
“If it doesn’t exist, we have to make it.”
“…”
Everyone stayed silent.
Finally, Cantares sighed deeply and glanced at him.
“Judging by the way you’re talking, it seems you’ve already come up with a good plan.”
“Well, there’s one thing that just popped into my mind.”
Arendt glanced at Llewellyn.
The Crown Prince, along with the captains seated nearby, naturally directed their attention to Llewellyn as well.
After staring blankly for a while, Llewellyn widened his eyes and pointed at himself.
“…What. Me?”