Betrayal Knight's Joyful Faith

Chapter 298

Arendt was also living a semi-comfortable life.Arendt, who had been arguing pointlessly with Glenn and eating whatever was given to him, succumbed to his boredom and dozed off.

Then, suddenly awakened by an unfamiliar presence, he opened his eyes and saw a young priest he had come to recognize from his frequent visits to the Great Temple.

It was Benno.

Glenn seemed to have left for a moment, and as he was organizing the bandages and medicine on the shelf by himself.

“…Priest Benno?”

“Oh, Sir Arendt. You’re awake.”

When Arendt, who was blinking, called him, Benno greeted him with a friendly smile.

“The High Priest sent me. She was wondering if you were recovering smoothly.”

“Please tell the High Priest to not to worry too much, as I am sure she is quite busy,” Arendt answered, sitting up.

At that, Benno gave a wry smile.

“I heard you’ve been refusing the temple’s treatments for some time now, so of course the High Priest is worried.”

“There are healers here as well. I’m fine now.”

Arendt answered offhandedly.

‘The truth is, every time I come into contact with that damned god’s divine power, I feel queasy.’

Although his injuries were getting better, he felt like his condition was getting worse the more he came into contact with that divine power.

In fact, recently, the wound recovery rate had slowed significantly compared to the relentless onslaught of divine power being poured out.

The priests said that the slow recovery was due to the Chernion Cult’s divine power, but Arendt knew that was not the case.

His subconscious was rejecting Luce’s divine power, but he couldn’t say anything like that to the priests of the Luce Temple.

Fortunately, Benno, a kind-hearted and oblivious person, seemed to have interpreted Arendt’s words in a good-natured way.

“You don’t have to decline, Sir Arendt. Since you were injured while fighting to protect the Great Temple and the Holy Sword, it is only natural that we should stay by your side until you fully recover. I am sure the High Priest will think the same.”

“Yes…”

Arendt answered awkwardly.

It was a signal that he wanted to change the subject, but Benno didn’t seem to have any intention of doing so.

“Since Sir Arendt has personally demonstrated his boundless faith in Lord Luce, we priests should follow suit. It is truly admirable.”

Arendt, who had been listening attentively, suddenly frowned.

“Wait a minute, Priest Benno. What exactly did I demonstrate?”

“You said you didn’t pray, but I knew you were a righteous person.”

Benno spoke happily, unable to read the annoyance in his tone.

“I’m sure Lord Luce was also moved by Lord Arendt’s heart. I too should offer a prayer of thanks to Lord Luce.”

“…”

“I’ve heard that others are also very moved. Many people wish to meet you in person, Sir Arendt. They’re all praying for your swift recovery, especially since you’ve personally experienced Lord Luce’s miracle.”

“That…”

Arendt was speechless when he saw Benno’s face shining with deep faith.

It seemed like something was seriously wrong.

After a long pause, Arendt hesitantly spoke.

“Wait a minute… Priest, what happened?”

Benno stopped when he saw Arendt’s expression.

Benno, who had been blinking his gentle eyes, carefully observed his expression and asked.

“…Did I say something wrong?”

“…”

Only then did Arendt realize that his face had hardened.

He failed to control his facial expressions to the point where even the oblivious Benno noticed.

Arendt rubbed his temples, holding back a sigh that threatened to burst out.

After a while, Arendt raised his head again and was smiling kindly.

“No. That’s not possible. Anyway, what’s going on? I can’t tell what kind of atmosphere it is outside since I’m stuck here. I’m bored, so tell me about this and that.”

Only then did Benno feel relieved and smile brightly again.

“Oh, I see. Sir Arendt has a lively personality, so it is understandable that you would feel suffocated.”

Anyone else would have shuddered the moment they saw Arendt’s smile, but unfortunately for Benno, who lived his life with the mindset of accepting what looked good on the surface as being good and moving on, that wasn’t the case.

“Everyone in the temple is rejoicing. Sir Laius has been chosen by the Holy Sword, and Sir Arendt has personally received Luce’s miracle… you two are truly the paragons of the Holy Empire.”

Only then did Arendt understand what was going on, why he was stuck there, and why the knights were overreacting.

Late at night, Arendt, who had even kicked out Arthur when he came in for his shift, sat in a dark room, organizing his thoughts.

‘The news that the Holy Sword had been handed over to Captain Laius was already widely known.’

It was Laius’ new nickname.

It was the same nickname as the previous Laius in “The Blue Knight of the Holy Sword”, who had experienced failure.

And during the ten days he was unconscious, Arendt had become someone who was blessed by God for protecting the hero.

“Heh…”

A hollow laugh escaped.

It was a well-known fact that Arendt did not believe in God.

However, Luce did not ignore the non-believers and showed mercy.

This story spread throughout the palace and it was a rumor that spread among the priests who came to treat Arendt.

It was a wound that should have caused immediate death, but even though his heart was cut, the apprentice knight did not die.

‘They must have wondered how I was still alive.’

The priests who stripped Arendt naked to treat him soon discovered the cause of the strange phenomenon.

Divine light was slowly healing the fatal wound in his chest and giving him back his fading breath.

It was a mysterious and gracious sight.

Moreover, as the story of how he saved Laius began to spread, Arendt’s achievements began to be reexamined.

All the things Arendt had done as an apprentice knight were exaggerated and talked about.

It was not long before rumors began to spread that Arendt, who had been an unbeliever, might actually be a messenger sent by God to help the hero.

Arendt’s fist on the sheet tightened.

“Fuck…”

After hearing that much, he could roughly understand what was going on.

The reckless apprentice knight was suddenly being called by the grand title of Messenger of God.

People flocked to visit Arendt, who had experienced God’s grace firsthand…

Some of them were so aggressive that they insisted on meeting him in person, and Arendt had to be moved here and even guarded.

Moreover, Arendt would not have remained silent if he had found out that he was being treated as a messenger of God, so they had kept quiet until now.

Even High Priest Lumiel, who fully understood Arendt’s temperament, kept the secret for the sake of his stability, but it was impossible to simply shut the mouth of the cheerful Priest Benno.

‘Is this what’s happening?’

It was the damned god’s meddling.

Since he chose the role of ‘Arendt’, Luce added a role to the script that suited his taste.

Suddenly, he remembered the voice he heard just before he woke up.

– Pray. I will be here.

It was a voice that seemed very merciful.

He felt nauseous.

Arendt, biting his lip, finally spoke after a long silence.

“Come out.”

Of course, there was no answer in the dark room.

“Can’t you hear me?”

Arendt, overcome with anger at the silence, shouted hysterically at the empty space.

“Oh, come out already! I know you’re listening!”

Arthur, who was standing guard outside, heard the sudden shouting and ran inside in surprise.

“What, what is it? What happened?”

Despite Arthur’s questioning, Arendt continued to stare into the darkness with his piercing yellow eyes.

Arthur, who was about to approach, froze in place.

It was because Arendt’s side profile was so cold and frightening.

His eyes, as cold as ice, were filled with raw anger.

It was an expression he had never seen before on his face, as he never lost his composure even when dealing with enemies.

“Oh, Arendt? Why are you suddenly acting like this…?”

As Arthur, bewildered, was about to approach him, he suddenly felt a presence from a dark corner where Arendt had been glaring at.

Arthur reflexively turned his head and met eyes with Lexion, who had suddenly appeared.

“…”

Arthur stopped moving, letting out a small gasp.

Lexion glanced at Arthur and ignored him, turning his gaze towards Arendt.

“What’s going on? I thought you’d be enjoying a leisurely recovery for a while.”

Arendt smiled bitterly at Lexion’s cold words.

“Damn, that’s what happened. I was wondering why you never showed up until now…”

“I don’t know why you look so upset.”

Lexion grumbled with a blank expression on his face.

“It seems like your newfound fame is quite widespread. You have earned some glory, Arendt von Eckhart.”

Only then did Arthur realize what the problem was.

Despite their ironclad defense, the outside situation inevitably reached Arendt’s ears.

Now that he thought about it, he heard that Priest Benno visited while Glenn was briefly away.

Arthur quickly approached Lexion to stop him.

“Lord Lexion, wait a minute…!”

“Why do I look so upset? What, fame? Glory?”

But Arendt was faster.

“Do you truly think so?”

“Is that not it? Right now, you have nothing to lose.”

Lexion also answered coldly.

The two people just stared at each other in silence.

Arthur, caught between the two, didn’t know what to do.

In the first place, he couldn’t understand why Arendt, who was so angry, suddenly summoned Lexion, or why Lexion appeared right away when he called him.

Lexion suddenly disappeared before the battle in the Great Temple began.

After that, they were so out of their minds that they didn’t even have time to wonder about Lexion’s whereabouts.

They just assumed that he had changed his mind again and gone off somewhere.

But listening to the conversation now, it didn’t seem to be the case.

‘Have you been watching from the sidelines?’

Now that he thought about it, the conversation between the two of them sounded unnatural somehow.

But before Arthur could fully realize the nature of the discomfort, Lexion spoke again.

“You’ve succeeded in carrying that person’s name, so now all that’s left is to lead the war to victory. Isn’t that a good thing?”

“That’s not the attitude of someone who’s saying it’s a good thing.”

Arendt sneered and remarked sarcastically.

“Why, are you worried that I might forget my promise?”

“No, I’m not worried.”

In the darkness, Lexion’s red eyes glowed eerily.

“I’m being cautious.”

“…”

Arendt fell silent.

It wasn’t because he had nothing to say; it was a silence meant to suppress all the words that were bubbling up.

A strong hatred towards someone began to rise within, but that hatred wasn’t directed at Lexion.

Arthur was dumbfounded.

He couldn’t figure out what the heck was going on.

After a long silence, Arendt threw off the blanket that half-covered his body and got out of bed.

The moment Arendt put both feet on the ground, he began to stagger as he lost his balance.

“Hey, hey!”

Arthur, who suddenly came to his senses, ran over and tried to grab hold of him, but Arendt slapped his hand away.

“Huh…”

Arendt stood there for a moment, as if trying to swallow the pain, and exhaled slowly.

After a while, Arendt, who had stubbornly stood on his own two legs, raised his head and looked straight at Lexion.

“Come with me for a moment.”

“…”

Lexion’s eyebrows twitched.

Before he could even reply, Arthur, unable to bear it any longer, shouted.

“Hey, you crazy bastard! Where are you going at this hour? Lexion, stop him! He hasn’t even fully recovered yet…!”

“That’s great. Senior, you can come too.”

But Arendt’s dry voice cut him off mid-sentence.

It seemed as if he was determined not to tolerate any more objections.

Arthur asked in confusion.

“So where the hell are we going, you bastard!”

Arendt replied, still glaring at Lexion.

“The Great Temple.”