Betrayal Knight's Joyful Faith

Chapter 160

Although he had been visiting the Great Temple quite often, this was his first time visiting for official business.He didn’t know if it was because he felt that way because he had made an official visit, or because it had been a long time since the Emperor had visited in person, but he could see that a lot of care had been put into everything.

“Your Majesty the Emperor!”

It was quite a sight to see all the priests of the temple come out in their formal attire to welcome the Emperor and the Crown Prince.

Arendt felt a small sense of satisfaction at the sight of some of the priests, who were all dressed up in elaborate attire and bowing their heads in respect, looking at him with a hint of wariness.

No matter how noisy the world was, the temple was always filled with light.

The conference room was filled with sunlight pouring in from the beautiful windows near the ceiling, symbolizing the grace of the god Luce, and the statue of the god standing with his back to the window looked down at the people with kindness.

First, the High Priest who had been waiting in the conference room bowed deeply to the Emperor.

“May the grace of Lord Luce shine upon you. The humble priest meets His Majesty the Emperor.”

“How have you been, Your Excellency? We were both busy on National Foundation Day, so we couldn’t talk properly.”

“Yes, I have been doing very well thanks to Your Majesty and Lord Luce looking after me.”

“That’s a relief.”

The two old men, smiling and talking, looked like friendly brothers.

But the eyes that searched each other were as cold as those of a general glaring at his enemy.

After the exchange of greetings and the war of nerves, the High Priest personally guided the emperor to the highest seat.

Meanwhile, Arendt observed the High Priest closely.

The High Priest up close looked like an ordinary old man at first glance, but as expected of someone with the most pure divine power in the Empire, his every movement showed a different vitality from that of the Emperor of a similar age.

Moreover, he did not show any particular agitation even when he was in front of the Emperor who he regarded as static…

Judging from the fact that there was no sign of the anxiety that had been indirectly shown in his actions up to now, it seemed that he was not an opponent to be taken lightly.

“Everyone, please take a seat.”

Following the old priest’s instructions, the priests and knights sat across from each other at a long table.

The Emperor and the High Priest sat on the upper seats on each side, and the spectators took their seats.

As the room, which had been noisy for a moment due to the movement, became quiet, a cold tension settled over the place instead.

Everyone waited eagerly for either the Emperor or the High Priest to be the first to declare the meeting open.

The High Priest let the tension flow for a while.

In fact, this meeting itself was not something he particularly liked.

The story, which he wished had been covered up, ended up spreading throughout the palace and temples.

‘There are certainly times when ignorance is bliss…’

He had to get a guarantee today that they would not dig into that area any further.

For the sake of the god Luce, to whom he devoted his life.

“Your Excellency, are you ready?”

“Yes, let’s start the discussion.”

The High Priest nodded slowly with a smile on his face at the Emperor’s polite question.

The audience tensed and straightened their posture.

“Let’s get straight to the point. You said that the instructions I gave to the Crown Prince and the knights were unfair, right? I heard that you had previously banned investigations arbitrarily.”

“Yes, I am sorry, but I did so, Your Majesty. I thought it was necessary, and I still hold that opinion today.”

“I see. You must have been embarrassed because I came in late and gave the order to continue the investigation out of nowhere.”

“No, Your Majesty. I can fully understand Your Majesty’s intentions. However, this is an area where we need to be more careful.”

In the midst of everyone’s silence, the High Priest’s voice rang out clearly.

“The evil god that should have been banished from this world has been resurrected… This is clearly a serious matter. Therefore, this ignorant priest could not easily agree to the words that he would investigate the temple of the evil god.”

“Why is that?”

“It’s because it’s an unconfirmed entity. When a name is added to the unknown, its influence becomes even stronger. That’s exactly what I’m wary of.”

The High Priest, encouraged by the nodding of many of the nobles and priests present, continued to speak slowly.

“I am concerned that the number of people who will blindly follow them will increase as they are given the name of god, even though their true identity has not yet been fully identified.”

“Hmm, that makes sense. But why do you say it wasn’t understood? We have a history of our first emperor fighting against the evil gods.”

“The materials left behind by His Majesty the First Emperor were passed down only to the imperial family from generation to generation.”

As the High Priest made his intentions clear once again, Cantares began to speak further.

“I verified the facts by comparing the information personally discovered by Arendt von Eckhart with the imperial records.”

“It was a war that swept across the entire continent, so there may have been some records that were lost somewhere. It is quite possible that it was forged.”

This time, it was not the High Priest who answered, but another old priest.

Cantares frowned slightly and asked the High Priest again.

“So what do you think they are?”

“A rebel group that dares to harm Luce and this empire by supporting the illusory existence of the evil god. That’s how we can define it.”

As the High Priest answered without hesitation, a brief silence fell over the conference room again.

The nobles became even more sensitive as the royal family had not yet expressed any opinion.

And just as the Crown Prince was about to speak, a sharp voice suddenly burst out from one side.

“So are you saying that we have been doing something in vain?”

“…!”

Everyone was shocked by the remark that seemed completely out of place and looked around to find the source of the voice.

Arthur and Richt, who were terrified, quickly tried to cover Arendt’s mouth, but the apprentice knight, as always, skillfully avoided their struggling hands and added:

“It was our Knights who were running around like crazy on the scene. Can you be certain that the decision made by Your Excellency, who just quietly watched from the temple, was correct?”

“…”

It was like pouring ice water over the entire conference room.

The priests and nobles blinked dumbly, never imagining that an apprentice knight would suddenly join the conversation, no matter how long and winding it was.

Cantares, who had suddenly lost his spot, just sighed deeply and touched his forehead.

“That crazy guy…”

He tried to be considerate so that he could speak naturally, but it seems he didn’t need it.

The captains and the Emperor seemed to have the same thought, each with a bitter smile on their lips.

But as initially promised, there was no stopping him.

While the audience, who had been shocked, were greatly disturbed, the most embarrassed ones in the place were the High Priest and his aides.

An old priest who had been absentmindedly staring suddenly came to his senses and showed his anger.

“Please pay attention to what you say. How can you do this without even observing etiquette?”

“I’m sorry, but I feel a little suffocated.”

The priests opened their mouths in shock as they saw Arendt nodding his head with no expression of shame whatsoever.

“But I hope you understand. Some people are so sleep deprived from rolling around, fighting, and investigating every day on the scene, and I personally feel very sorry for you to dismiss them like that.”

“…Are you Arendt? I’ve heard a lot about you.”

“Is that so? I am very glad to meet you like this, Your Excellency.”

How could he say “nice to meet you” so unhappily?

The High Priest’s efforts to calm his mind became meaningless in an instant.

While the head of the temple, in a state of confusion, had no idea how to respond, the commotion in the crowd grew louder.

Still, the apprentice knight shamelessly faced the High Priest.

Arthur and Richt, who had noticed the Crown Prince and the captains’ expressions, also quietly withdrew their hands from trying to stop their troublemaking junior.

They finally figured it out.

Their superiors deliberately let that mad dog off its leash.

But that didn’t mean that just running forward was Arendt’s way.

The apprentice knight was now slowly doing his warm-up exercises.

The Emperor gave a short laugh and gently backed him up.

“Lord Arendt, what have you discovered so far? Some people may not know the details, so I would like you to explain them yourself.”

“I found the symbol used by the Sword of the Broken Heart in the hideout of those guys in the alleys of the castle. The exchange they used as a source of income, and the magic stone mine that the former Marquis Grieg hid, well… I’ll skip the details.”

Arendt began to count the names on his fingers one by one boastfully.

“I was also present at the scene where the temple of the evil god Chernion, which has now become a hot topic, was discovered, and I also accompanied Captain Laius in the ghoul subjugation. In the process, I also subjugated the dragon ghoul, and recently, I also subjugated the newly discovered new type of ghoul with the captains.”

“…”

It was an overly splendid career for a mere apprentice knight.

While even the High Priest was momentarily speechless, Arendt tilted his head and continued speaking.

“During this entire process, the captains, His Highness the Crown Prince, and I have seen with our own eyes that the evil god exists and that its followers have begun their activities.”

Arendt looked straight at the High Priest with eyes that said, “Please try to refute me.”

High Priest Theodore, who had been hesitating for a moment, spoke.

“It is true that the followers are causing harm to the Empire. You are also right that the existence of evil god cannot be ignored. Therefore, I would like to tell you that we should not bring them to light.”

“…”

Arendt did not answer right away.

The apprentice knight’s arrogant gaze that seemed to be telling him to talk one more time made him angry, but the High Priest pulled himself together and continued speaking as if he was calming a child.

“As they gain name and faith, the evil god becomes stronger. The more convincing their voices become, and the more their true nature is revealed, the more arrogant their enemies become. And it is certainly the role of the temple to restrain them.”

After a moment of silence, Arendt nodded slowly.

“The role of the temple is to prevent the spread of evil religions, and the reason for blocking investigations is to prevent foolish people from praising them without caution. Is this how it could be understood?”

“…Yes.”

The High Priest nodded his head, feeling slightly uneasy at the words that came back obediently.

It wasn’t wrong to say that in that context.

“And there’s one more thing I’d like to confirm. I’ve heard that the principle is that the temple and the imperial family don’t interfere much with each other. And I heard that Your Excellency places great importance on that.”

“Yes.”

“… I think this is your position.”

“…Yes, that’s what I said.”

It was similar to what he had said so far, but as he listened to it quietly, he felt strange.

After hearing the High Priest’s answer, Arendt glanced at the Emperor and the Crown Prince, then turned his gaze back to the priests sitting side by side.

What on earth are you trying to say?

The nervous eyes of the people gathered on Arendt.

At that moment, Arthur and Richt saw a satisfied smile on the corner of the damn junior’s mouth.

It was a smile they had seen before.

For example, it was seen at the imperial council when he declared a breaking of relations with Count Eckhart.

“…That warm-up exercise is over.”

“Just keep your mouth shut, Arthur.”

As Arthur muttered in a daze, Richt moved his lips to make his junior shut up.

Regardless of what the two seniors said, the junior apprentice knight declared in an unusually clear and refreshing voice.

“Then the problem is solved. It would be better for the Imperial Knights to completely withdraw from the situation of the evil god. You guys should take care of it yourselves.”

The conference room suddenly became as quiet as a mouse.

The captains began to avoid eye contact with each other, and the Crown Prince pressed his temples. Even the Emperor had his mouth shut and was trembling.

It was almost useless though because his eyes were smiling.

Even Laius raised his head and sighed.

Everyone expressed their emotions in their own way, but they were all thinking one thing.