Betrayal Knight's Joyful Faith

Chapter 180

“…So you went all the way to the palace without even knowing what was going on?”“Yes. It’s been a while, Your Highness the Crown Prince.”

As Cantares watched Llewellyn nodding next to Arendt, his heart began to feel heavy.

Even if you looked through the entire history of the Caerleon Empire, there was probably no case where a foreign guest was welcomed in this manner.

Cantares opened his mouth again, pressing his temples.

“If you had given me a call on your way here, I would have been prepared to welcome you.”

“Oh, come on, what is it between us? It’s okay! I can sleep well even on bare floors. I’m used to being treated like a suspicious person, so don’t worry about it! Hahaha!”

“Haaah…”

He heard that Llewellyn and Arendt decided to get along well.

But this situation was not anticipated.

The guards blocked the group’s entrance, their faces still disheveled from the long journey.

Fortunately, the guards recognized the knights’ faces, but Llewellyn was almost kicked out because he could not be identified.

There was nothing particularly strange.

The person who returned with the knights who had gone on a nominal vacation was the third prince of the Everan Kingdom.

Richt had a hard time persuading the guards because his appearance was so shabby that it was hard to find even a trace of dignity.

Although they managed to gain entry somehow, when news of Prince Llewellyn’s sudden visit spread, the palace servants were in an uproar.

In a situation where such a commotion had occurred, there was no way Cantares could say nice things to them.

“Arendt, let’s leave that aside. Sir Richt, Sir Arthur. It would have been nice if you had at least given us a word.”

“…I’m sorry. I forgot. I was so relaxed that…”

“Lord Richt, is that what you’re saying now? I don’t know if it would be someone else, but would you, Lord Richt, do that?”

Richt bowed his head even more deeply.

Arthur was also trying hard to look at the floor and pretend not to hear anything.

Yeah, what crime did they commit?

There was a separate culprit for every problem.

Cantares’s unkind gaze turned to Arendt.

But he…

“Why are you looking at me? Why are you all making such a fuss over something so trivial?”

As expected, he was shameless.

Cantares stood there awkwardly, suppressing the urge to punch the guy who was talking like that.

‘He was not the kind of guy who would get hit in the first place.’

Although he seemed to be standing there fine, Cantares didn’t feel like nagging him any further since he knew he was badly injured.

“Haaah… Prince, I heard you have other companions.”

“Warren stopped by Neumann’s headquarters for a moment, and the other two were left on the scene with Count Stadler’s investigators. I thought it would be more efficient if we worked together.”

As Cantares let out a deep sigh and changed the subject, Llewellyn smiled and answered.

“Instead, I’ve decided to share all the information I find out, is that okay with you?”

“Of course, that’s fine. Do whatever you want.”

When the Crown Prince readily nodded, Llewellyn, feeling better, began to list out the details he had received from Roderick on the way.

“After removing the barrier and thoroughly investigating the inside, they say that they have built their research lab on top of the Dragon Lair. They say that the cave under the lake is connected to the Lair. Perhaps water dragons lived there in the past.”

It had been a very long time since a dragon lair was discovered.

Even though they destroyed a significant portion of the lab while building it, that didn’t mean the lair itself was any less valuable.

“As hidden spaces are being discovered one by one, it seems that we will soon be able to figure out the entire structure of the lair.”

Arendt also added:

“Count Stadler also obtained a considerable amount of materials left behind by the mad elf. There are quite a few things that are not readable right now, and most of them need to be translated, but it is still a considerable harvest.”

Although they lost the game because of Roger’s sudden intrusion, it was still a pretty good result.

With new information pouring in, Count Stadler seemed absolutely thrilled.

“The victims are gradually returning to their original state. According to the interview results, their intelligence, cognitive ability, and memory are intact, but they seem to have lost some of their emotions… They said that there were traces of sorcery that they had never seen before.”

“Sorcery?”

“Yes, there was a pattern carved into the body. It was quite blurry when first discovered, but it is fading as time goes by. They said that the pattern may have been a medium for sorcery.”

When Cantares asked curiously, Arendt simply nodded.

“So, as that disappears, people are returning to their original state?”

“Yes, fortunately, I think it was at a point where it could be reversed. The Count said it was the first time he had seen the pattern, and this guy doesn’t know it either.”

Llewellyn, who was called “this guy”, smiled sheepishly.

“I decided to ask High Priest Lumiel for advice later, since she might know something.”

“…Is the prince really okay?”

Eventually, Cantares ended up bringing up the issue he had been trying to ignore again.

Even though he was a prince of the Everan Kingdom and was called a bastard by the greenhorn apprentice knight, he seemed unaffected.

“Yes? Is there a problem?”

“No, it’s nothing.”

But the Prince himself couldn’t understand what the Crown Prince was saying and just asked back in bewilderment.

Even Richt and Arthur were completely unaware of the problem.

‘I see.’

In the end, Cantares decided to give up cleanly.

All he could do was make a promise to himself that he would one day send a small gift to the Everan Kingdom as an apology.

“Anyway, that’s not what’s important right now. Let’s leave the digging to the Count and focus on other things.”

, Arendt lightly knocked on the Crown Prince’s desk and drew his attention to him.

“The important things are these three things. First, why was an elf there? Second, how did they know about the existence of the Dragon Lair? And third, why did Lexion go to such trouble to manipulate us?”

“That’s right. Even though she was an elf who hadn’t even reached adulthood yet.”

That was also the part that worried Cantares the most after receiving the report of the situation.

“The elf population is small, so if they were to put their minds to it, they could probably figure out who was expelled from the clan or ran away…”

“But the problem is that the elves won’t cooperate readily.”

Llewellyn changed his tone to a serious one.

“Does the prince think so too?”

“Yes, Your Highness the Crown Prince, are you familiar with elven society? I understand that the Caerleon Empire also maintains trade with the elven kingdom.”

“I don’t know the details. His Majesty is in charge of diplomacy, and I only met the elves once when they came as ambassadors a long time ago.”

“Was the Second Kingdom interacting with the Caerleon Empire?”

The land of the elves was a little different from that of humans.

The place where the surviving elves gathered after the war and formed a society was conveniently called a ‘kingdom’, and there was no specific name for the country even among the elves.

The practice of naming each region by number in the past had continued to this day.

“Yes, that’s right. But as I said before, we don’t have that much exchange. We just trade goods produced in the Empire with herbs and crafts produced only in the Elven Kingdom.”

“I see. Well, that’s how most people feel.”

“Have you visited all the kingdoms, Prince?”

“Yes! I’ve visited all the places marked on the map. I was also guided to a few villages outside the kingdom. The elder I became friends with there showed me kindness.”

Llewellyn nodded triumphantly in response to Cantares’ question.

It was truly a great thing to be accepted among the elves who ostracized humans.

“At this point, wouldn’t it be okay for you to be friends with that personality disordered person?”

“Sir Arthur, it would be easier to become friends with the elf elders.”

Llewellyn, who had been joking with Arthur, changed the subject again.

“Anyway, it might be possible to find out where that elf came from. Elf society is small, after all.”

“Then I will ask the prince to do so. Actually, we sent a letter from the Empire to the Second Kingdom some time ago, but I have not received a reply yet.”

It was the first time he heard that story.

Arendt asked incredulously.

“What kind of letter was it?”

“Well, was it right when the Evil Cult first broke out? I said that it wasn’t just a human affair, so I had to let them know. At that time, His Majesty sent a letter, but there was no response.”

At that time, he sent a letter along with the goods to the Elf Kingdom, but he couldn’t even confirm whether it was delivered properly.

“I thought it was because the situation wasn’t this serious back then… Now that the elves are involved, I have to find a way to contact them somehow. So, Prince, may I ask you a favor?”

“Of course. Given the circumstances, we should cooperate as much as possible. I also wonder how on earth a forest tribe child ended up among them.”

Llewellyn nodded readily.

For now, the first problem could be summarized like that.

And the second one.

“How did they know about the existence of the Dragon Lair in that lake… It could be a coincidence, but it’s not very likely.”

“There is someone in the cult who can pass down information from before the war.”

When Arendt blurted out the words, Cantares frowned slightly.

“Maybe so. But I don’t think that’s an issue worth bringing up now.”

It was already known for a while that the cult possessed information that had been lost in the past, because all kinds of technologies that had been lost or banned during the war were being dragged out.

Arendt added, standing awkwardly with his arms crossed.

“Yes. First of all, it’s become clear that there’s a dragon over there. A dragon who survived the war era, holding onto the destroyed things, has been hiding until now, and has gathered believers again to form a cult… Well, that’s the general flow. But that’s what makes it even stranger.”

By the time they heard that, the others could also guess what Arendt was going to say.

“This is just my guess, but I think it’s worth mentioning for now.”

“Oh man. Every time you talk like that, it never ends in mere speculation.”

“What can I do? It’s because I’m too smart.”

“Lord Richt, just hit that guy once.”

“I’m sorry, Your Highness. It’s not easy for me either.”

After the nonsense had naturally passed, Arendt began to speak again.

“It was clear that the first emperor of the Caerleon Empire, His Majesty the Hero Khan, and the legions of the god Luce won the war. However, for us, there are almost no records other than Hero Khan’s splendid victory. Even this is all that we can find by searching through old books.”

“…Yes.”

Cantares nodded his head sheepishly.

This was something that no one had questioned until now.

But that troublesome apprentice knight brought the matter to the forefront.

He added in his usual, unlucky and indifferent voice.

“I thought it would be nice if we could have an objective discussion about that.”