Betrayal Knight's Joyful Faith

Chapter 307

Surprisingly, Salem made a decision quite quickly.Two days after the topic was brought up, he went straight to find Lexion.

Thanks to this, one more person was added to the Crown Prince’s exclusive training ground.

With Lexion’s help, Salem began his training in spirit magic.

And when Cantares heard this report, he couldn’t help but make a subtle expression on his face again.

“I respect Salem’s choice, of course, but I’m not sure how the Shadow Race will turn out.”

“They’re not in a position to complain in the first place. The Shadow Race was the one who crossed the line first.”

Arendt shrugged.

“For now, just pressure them and later negotiate with the artifact or not, Your Highness, it’s up to you.”

“This bastard ends up leaving all the annoying work to me.”

When the Crown Prince grumbled in annoyance, Arendt replied shamelessly.

“Isn’t that what the higher-ups are supposed to do?”

“That’s true, but it’s not something a subordinate should say so naturally.”

Cantares let out a deep sigh, pushed the documents aside and raised his head.

As usual, the apprentice knight, standing with a defiant posture, caught his eye immediately.

‘No matter how I look at it, Arendt’s too soft on children.’

However, Arendt himself seemed unaware of that fact.

It seemed to be the same even if the opponent was an elf who was several times more powerful than him.

Cantares simply changed the topic, fearing that he might get cursed at if he said that out loud.

“Neumann’s informants sent me something. Did you request it?”

“Yes, this is a list that I specially requested from the Lord. As expected, they are quick.”

“You’re saying we should invite the people on this list to the banquet?”

As expected, he understood.

Arendt nodded.

“You don’t necessarily need all of them, just a few will do.”

“Okay. I’ll look into it later and pass it on to Jen.”

Cantares nodded slightly and asked jokingly.

“I see you’re running around like this. I guess you’ve gotten away from their overprotection to some extent?”

“The dragon cured me, so what can they do? My body is in great condition.”

Thanks to that, in terms of magical power alone, no one in the Third Order, except for Laius, could keep up with Arendt.

At first he was confused, but he had no complaints at all since he was freed from the restrictions when using the artifact.

Except that he now saw things that flew around. Well, that wasn’t even Lexion’s doing.

The Caerleon Empire was said to have very few spirits, so aside from the two guys hanging around Salem, there wasn’t really anything to disturb his vision.

One thing that was annoying was…

“It’s a bit bothersome, but he’ll give up soon enough.”

Cantares’s brow furrowed as Arendt added with a hint of annoyance.

“A bothersome thing?”

“The elf kid started chasing me around asking me to teach him swordsmanship.”

Cantares’ face twisted at the apprentice knight’s grumbling.

“…Why you of all people? It won’t turn out well, will it?”

The Crown Prince was the one who had been treated badly several times after insisting on learning swordsmanship from Arendt.

As expected from a hapless person who was good at everything, Arendt also showed a good talent for teaching others.

Above all, his keen eye was unparalleled, so he was excellent at finding incorrect postures and weaknesses.

But there was just one fatal flaw: he was too foul-tempered to lead others.

He was a guy who liked to tease people and would tease and goad them all the time, so it was inevitable that the person on the receiving end would get upset.

Arendt grumbled in discontent.

“I refused because it was annoying, but he keeps following me around. He seems like a weird kid anyway.”

“Do you have the right to tell someone they’re weird?”

Arendt continued speaking, dissatisfied, as he ignored the Crown Prince’s criticism.

“Now that he’s become a spirit master, I don’t think he needs to learn how to use a sword, but he’s making a fuss because he wants to try more things.”

“But isn’t it great? If he succeeds, he’ll become a spirit swordsman. It might take a long time by human standards, though.”

Elves have innate magical powers and physical strength superior to humans, so by the time Salem becomes an adult, he would have become a pretty great spirit swordsman.

Arendt responded to Cantares’ words in a twisted tone.

“Yeah, that’s good, but why me? I understand that it would be better to learn swordsmanship from someone who can see spirits, but there’s also Instructor Zakar, who’s also an elf.”

“It’s quite funny that you can see spirits in the first place… well, I can probably guess why.”

The Crown Prince, who had been muttering in disbelief, soon smiled mischievously.

“Did you know that when a chick hatches from an egg, it recognizes the first person it sees as its guardian and follows him around.”

“…What are you talking about?”

Arendt frowned.

But Cantares just smiled and gave an ambiguous answer.

“Children need someone who will treat them like children, no matter how ill-tempered and prickly they may be.”

“…?”

The apprentice knight still looked puzzled.

But Cantares said nothing more.

Salem, who had been born with the mark of a sorcerer, must have grown up under strict supervision within the shadow race.

Even though he lived a life of luxury without any shortcomings, he must have felt suffocated by the expectations placed on him as a sorcerer.

In such a situation, having come to a faraway foreign country and being treated like a brat for the first time and being teased, Arendt’s existence must have been a shock to Salem, in both a good or bad way.

“Oh, by the way.”

Suddenly, Cantares started speaking again.

“How is Sir Arthur doing these days?”

“Why him?”

Cantares immediately responded to Arendt’s question.

“You’re not asking because you really don’t know, are you?”

“I don’t know. He’s no different than usual.”

Arendt shrugged again with a natural, innocent answer.

It wasn’t exactly a lie.

Even after waking up from his deep sleep, Arthur treated Arendt as usual.

As if nothing happened.

After that, it was just like always, a daily routine of picking fights and arguing over useless things.

But Arendt also knew very well that this did not mean that Arthur was truly indifferent.

‘Don’t do something useless.’

Arendt grumbled briefly to himself.

Although he gained Lexion as an ally, the aftereffects of the actions he committed in a fit of anger were by no means small.

Arthur, in particular, was the one who witnessed the scene firsthand, but he didn’t ask anything.

Even though he saw Arendt, unable to control his anger, destroying the statue without warning, he did not question it or ask why, but simply pretended not to know.

“Well, that’s fortunate.”

Arendt raised his head again at Cantares’ voice.

At some point, the Crown Prince began to stare blankly at Arendt.

“Never forget what it means to ask nothing. Not Sir Arthur, not me, not anyone else.”

Not asking didn’t mean he was going to pretend not to know.

He just believed and waited, thinking that there must be some circumstances.

Rather, this point made Arendt even more uncomfortable.

If Arthur had asked him something, he would have made up a line, but since the other party was silent, Arendt could not show any reaction.

“…”

There was silence in the Crown Prince’s office for a moment.

Arendt, reading the subdued atmosphere, spoke deliberately in a twisted tone.

“What are you going to do if I don’t keep my mouth shut?”

“Ugh, you cheeky brat. Anyway, I’ll take care of the list. I don’t know what you want to do though.”

Cantares also no longer spoke of that topic and grumbled in annoyance.

After finishing his report and returning to the training ground, he noticed knights gathered in groups of three or five.

As soon as he saw them, Arendt let out a short sigh.

Spirits the size of a hawk were leisurely flying above the knights’ heads, flapping their wings and emitting a soft glow.

Clearly, these guys, who were the size of a butterfly until recently, have grown significantly in size and become more energetic since signing a contract with Salem with the help of Lexion.

It was proof that Lexion’s advice was accurate.

Salem’s voice, awkwardly holding a sword, could be heard among the seniors.

“Is this what you mean?”

“You’re doing great! You need to relax a bit and lower your posture.”

“Your feet are messed up!”

The knights who were meddling in this and that seemed quite excited.

It seemed as if they hadn’t even noticed that Arendt had entered the training ground.

Arendt muttered in disbelief.

“What the heck are you doing?”

At that moment, someone suddenly spoke up from next to him.

“Where have you been again?”

As he turned his head, he saw Arthur standing a few steps behind him, his head tilted.

Arendt responded nonchalantly.

“Why do you even want to know, senior?”

“…You irritating brat. Did you go to see His Highness the Crown Prince again, regarding Salem?”

Arthur walked over to Arendt, grumbling irritably. Arendt answered him without even looking at him.

“Why are you asking when you already know? By the way, what’s happening?”

“Lord Salem came here alone to find you. He said he wanted to learn swordsmanship from you, so all the seniors tried to stop him, but they suddenly started teaching him because they thought they would be better.”

Arthur also had sweat dripping down his forehead, perhaps because he had just warmed up. Content orıginally comes from N0v3l.Fiɾe.net

Arthur looked towards Salem, who was surrounded by knights.

“I was wondering, he has really unique tastes. Why you of all people?”

“That’s what I’m saying. Looks like what he’s suffered so far wasn’t enough to teach him a lesson.”

Arendt spoke calmly and glanced at Arthur.

His side profile seen up close showed an indifferent expression.

‘His acting’s gotten better.’

The sight of him wearing a mask was quite natural.

But for some reason, Arendt didn’t feel very comfortable with that.

Arthur, sensing his gaze, moved only his eyes to look at Arendt.

“Can you go over there? At this rate, they’re going to traumatize that kid.”

“Honestly, I feel like it’d be faster if I just handled it.”

Arendt answered reluctantly, but walked toward his seniors.

As Arendt approached, the spirits were startled and hurriedly returned to Salem’s side.

“Oh, Sir Arendt!”

Salem smiled brightly and cheered.

Only then did the knights notice Arendt’s presence and turn their heads.

“What, when did you come?”

“Who are you trying to teach when you’re that hopelessly dull?”

Arendt blurted out in response to someone’s question.

Then Rider’s face suddenly crumpled.

“You little punk, think about the difference in experience in years!”

“What’s the use of having a long career? It’s useless.”

Arendt waved his hand as if annoyed and ambled toward Salem, who was covered in sweat.

Salem tensed up a little as Arendt stopped in front of him.

The spirits also flew in and landed on Salem’s shoulder and head.

They seemed to be wary of Arendt.

Arendt looked down at Salem with indifferent eyes.

“You know I’m a busy person, right?”

“Yes, yes! Of course, Sir Arendt.”

Salem nodded hastily.

The spirits, startled by the movement, flew up again.

Arendt spat out briefly, casting a nonchalant glance toward the spirits.

“So, if possible, try to understand it in one go. I don’t have time to explain it multiple times.”

For a moment, Salem looked dumbfounded.

He didn’t immediately understand what Arendt said.

Arendt didn’t speak any longer and just stared at Salem with a cold face.

After a while, a bright smile appeared on the boy’s face.

“Yes, Sir Arendt!”