Betrayal Knight's Joyful Faith

Chapter 184

“What, sons of bitches? I—?”“It’s noisy, so shut up.”

Llewellyn, who had been asking in embarrassment, lowered his tail and shut his mouth.

As the surroundings became quiet, Arendt began to think again.

Since nothing was certain, all he could do was generate as many possible scenarios as possible and then choose the most reasonable one.

‘This is also speculation.’

It was dangerous to jump to conclusions.

But this absurd stage kept creating scenes that surpassed imagination.

So… it wasn’t entirely impossible.

In “The Blue Knight of the Holy Sword”, it was just as the flames of war were growing that Laius was chosen by the Holy Sword.

As the situation became more serious, neighboring kingdoms came to their aid, and the elves and dwarves naturally joined the fight as well.

‘It’s a little strange when you think about it that way.’

Even when a child ran away with important items and caused all sorts of trouble, the elves, rather than asking for help, locked the gates to the kingdom.

Cantares said the same thing when they first talked about the foreign races, quite a while ago.

‘Those who are so closed off, they came forward to suppress the civil war in the Caerleon Empire in the novel?’

Until just before the novel ended, the setting of the war was entirely confined to the Caerleon Empire.

Moreover, since humans simply thought of it as a civil war, no one would have thought that it was a matter of the survival of the world.

And yet, the fact that those guys broke the isolation and rushed out at the news of the Holy Sword’s arrival…

‘Maybe they knew the evil god had appeared.’

Cantares was moved that so many people would come to the aid of the Empire’s troubles, and Laius fought with his life at stake to repay their kindness.

In the process, many knights, including Arthur, were killed.

Neighboring kingdoms sent support under the pretext of protecting the Caerleon Empire, which had served as the focal point.

But the elves may have had another purpose.

They sent warriors to monitor the evil cult group from escaping from the Empire and to understand the war situation.

And they didn’t even say a word to their comrades fighting alongside them about the true nature of the enemy.

When repaying a favor to the hero Khan and strengthening the friendship between humans and other races, they gathered all kinds of words and worshipped them, but even while fighting the war, they never uttered the word ‘evil god’.

As a result, the Caerleon Empire, which had assumed the role of a shield without knowing anything, became a sea of ​​fire, and the soldiers died without even knowing what they were fighting.

“…Hey, are you okay?”

Llewellyn spoke quietly to Arendt, who had been silent for a long time.

Suddenly, Arendt’s complexion turned pale, and his gaze grew cold, which looked quite unsettling.

When he looked at Llewellyn, who was looking at him with concern, his mind became calm again.

‘That’s a useless thought.’

Now that the story had changed, it was something that would never happen again.

It was a matter of later confirmation of whether the elves were aware of the existence of the evil god.

After quickly gathering his emotions, he chose a line that was typical of Arendt and responded bluntly as usual.

“If it’s not okay, then what can I do? I have to come up with something anyway. Are you going to just let it go like this?”

“No, since it has come to this, I have no choice but to go and see them myself. Surely they wouldn’t treat me coldly?”

“Even if they treat you coldly, you have to break through.”

Arendt continued his thoughts, vaguely responding to Llewellyn’s stern response.

‘If they had known that the appearance of the Holy Sword would be the second coming of the evil god…’

Even if there were no records left about Chernion, there may have been some vague oral tradition about it.

Just like that old, worn-out book that remained in the palace of the Caerleon Empire.

Whatever it was, he had to dig it out, no matter what, until the very last bit.

After much thought, Arendt finally made a decision.

“You said you were going to go and find it yourself?”

“Because that’s the only way right now.”

Llewellyn answered the question that suddenly came up out of nowhere naturally.

Arendt looked up and straight at Llewellyn, declaring:

“Take me too.”

“…What?”

“Take me with you. Are you dissatisfied?”

Arendt asked oddly as the prince let out a stupid remark.

After a while, Llewellyn’s mouth fell open as the words finally entered his head.

In the end, Cantares also failed to find a way to contact the elves.

At that point, any method other than going there directly became nearly impossible.

And then… the palace was turned upside down once again.

The cause was none other than Arendt.

“Okay, that’s all good. But do you really have to go personally?”

Cantares spoke calmly, trying to calm his stomach, which had been getting worse lately.

“Then, would you like to visit in person? That would be fun in its own way. If Your Highness dies, things will inevitably get worse.”

“Do you really want to be thrown in jail again? Don’t you know about the crime of insulting the royal family?”

But his efforts to maintain his composure quickly became meaningless.

“If you can, please try.”

When he saw that face shamelessly responding, he lost the will to get even angrier.

Cantares, who was feeling exhausted, pressed his temples and forced himself to calm down.

“…Yeah, I agree that we should check how things are going. But why do you have to go?”

“Would you like to hear the reasons?”

The moment Arendt’s soft voice came out, the knight captains sensed the Crown Prince’s defeat and sighed.

“It’s over.”

“You shouldn’t have let that mouth open in the first place.”

Diana quietly agreed as Kendrick shook his head.

Laius, who had been fiddling with his teacup for a while, looked like he wanted to pour some stomach medicine into his mouth right away.

Either way, Arendt began to explain, one by one.

“I was the one who directly encountered the elf named Jin, and I was the one who fought the homunculus she created. So who do you think is the one who is most aware of the recent rapidly changing situation?”

“…”

“Besides, I have a connection with Count Stadler, and if necessary, we can also join hands with the Neumann Merchant Branch in the Nephele Kingdom. In addition, since I have a personal relationship with Prince Llewellyn, it will be easy for us to enter the Elf Kingdom together.”

The apprentice knight who had spoken thus far looked straight at the Crown Prince with a cold gaze.

“I’m asking this out of concern, but… you wouldn’t have thought of waving the flag of the Caerleon Empire high and entering the Elven Kingdom with Prince Llewellyn accompanying you, would you?”

“…”

“The elves’ vigilance will only get stronger. The trust between them and Prince Llewellyn may even break. I believe you must have thought of this.”

The most annoying people in the world are those who know they are great.

Arendt, who judged his abilities more objectively than anyone else and examined them point by point, and even added a level of sarcasm, was definitely born to make others angry.

Jereon quietly approached Cantares, who was shaking after being verbally beaten, and poured him another cup of warm tea.

Kendrick slyly intervened, perhaps feeling sorry for the Crown Prince.

“Of course, His Highness was also concerned about that and was looking for another way. However, it is also true that there is no clear solution.”

“Why is there no clear solution? The current situation is extremely advantageous for us.”

Diana asked dubiously as Arendt shrugged his shoulders.

“Surely you’re not going to take advantage of their weakness and run wild?”

“That’s right.”

The captains all touched their foreheads at the answer that came back without a moment’s hesitation.

“Please stop saying that diplomacy isn’t done that way. They were the ones who unilaterally cut off contact first.”

“…”

It was always amazing to see him say something so accurate that it was almost impossible to ignore.

Arendt added triumphantly, having silenced both his superiors and the Crown Prince.

“Since we have the spirit stones, they won’t be able to just kick us out. That’s when we can start a conversation.”

“That isn’t the beginning of a conversation, it’s the beginning of a threat.”

Diana pointed this out quietly, but Arendt, of course, ignored it.

Llewellyn, who had been listening to the conversation, quietly intervened.

“Sir Richt and Sir Arthur, who have met Jin face to face, will accompany him, and Sir Laius would be a good representative. How about I accompany you guys as a guide and companion?”

As expected of someone skilled at wandering and negotiation, his words poured out like a flowing river.

“Since this is happening within the Caerleon Empire, it would be strange for me to take the lead. If the Caerleon Empire sends a large-scale delegation, the elves will likely show resistance, as Arendt said. I think it would be best to go with the smallest group possible.”

“That’s a good idea, but are you really sure you can take that guy with you? The moment he opens his mouth, it’ll be far from a peaceful solution.”

Cantares answered in a distraught tone, pressing his temples.

Llewellyn averted his gaze and smiled awkwardly.

“Well… For now, I’m visiting in the name of the Caerleon Empire, so that’s not my territory.”

“I’ve been listening quietly for a while now, but are you treating people like gunpowder?”

“Wouldn’t that be the case?”

When Arendt suddenly interrupted and grumbled in discontent, Cantares snapped back sharply.

“What are you doing now? What are you going to do about finding the Dragon’s Book?”

“I’m going to temporarily entrust the information to the Khan Union and the Neumann Merchant information center. The Union seems to be stabilizing, so it’s time for it to function properly.”

He had already asked the Neumann Merchant group to buy up all the old books and books with magical powers that mentioned the name ‘Gilberte’.

The books purchased by the merchant group would be sent straight to the Khan Union, and Arcus and Henry would check the contents and select anything that might provide clues.

When Arendt gave this brief explanation, Cantares looked utterly disgusted.

“You filthy bastard… Got it, got it. Do as you wish. Captains Laius, is that okay? You will be going as a representative of the Empire.”

“No problem.”

Laius answered simply.

He seemed to have been boiling inside at the thought of sending Arendt alone, but when he was told that he could accompany him, his mind suddenly felt at ease.

With this, the course of action was all set.

Finally, the Crown Prince sighed deeply and concluded his story.

“It would be strange to go empty-handed, so prepare a gift to bring. Tell Count Stadler to bring the spirit stones to the palace. The departure date is…”

Cantares, looking tired, moved his eyes and glanced at Arendt.

“The day after that guy’s internal injuries are diagnosed as fully recovered. You can’t go anywhere before then. Don’t even leave the palace. It’s an order.”

“Yes?”

Just as Arendt was about to make an absurd rebuttal, Llewellyn suddenly stood up from his seat.

“You are right, Your Highness the Crown Prince!”

“I will follow your orders.”

Then, even Laius answered with full determination.

Arendt, who was about to say something to complain, soon gave up and kept his mouth shut.

Just like “Arendt’s” stubbornness, he too was gradually realizing that these people were not easily persuaded.

Kendrick and Diana watched the scene and snickered.