Betrayal Knight's Joyful Faith

Chapter 214

Unfortunately, Altair’s wish to rest was not fulfilled.It was Laius who personally raised Altair back up and sat him down.

“Are you okay? I’ll bring you some cold water.”

“Okay… okay…”

Altair didn’t have time to finish saying that he was okay.

Llewellyn clicked his tongue at the sight.

“Captain Laius is scarier than I thought.”

“That’s right. He’s the type of person who doesn’t get angry easily, but if you cross him, you won’t be able to walk away in one piece.”

Arthur nodded quietly.

Even Arendt was looking at him with slightly weary eyes.

Laius, who had finally sat Altair down, continued speaking.

“I ask again. Do you know anything about the dragon called Lexion?”

“…”

Of course, there was no answer.

Finally, Richt, who couldn’t stand to watch, intervened.

“I don’t think he does. The dragon didn’t even notice that the book it was looking for was here.”

Then, the two youngest members immediately started jeering.

“It’s the fact that you’re so soft that’s the problem, senior.”

“That’s right.”

“…”

Arendt’s grumbling aside, it was heartbreaking to see Arthur chiming in next to him.

Richt hit his forehead with a thud.

Regardless, Arendt pushed Richt aside and stepped forward.

“Anyway, given the circumstances, I would like you to hand over the book.”

“Go, take it. As much as you want! I’ll give it to you as soon as the meeting is over.”

Altair, who came to his senses with a start, answered, almost screaming.

Without even having time to feel embarrassed by that disgrace, the other elders nodded their heads vigorously.

Arendt clicked his tongue inwardly.

‘They seem like scared herbivores.’

He couldn’t get any angrier when he realized that both the elves’ evasive attitude in the novel and the suffering Zakar endured were caused by their fear.

They didn’t have to be responsible for something that hadn’t happened yet.

Arendt decided to just shake off any remaining ill feelings he had toward the elves.

‘The Caerleon Empire will be the one to come to the forefront anyway.’

The power that could be gained from the elves was limited, as they were a minority and not a race specialized for battle.

The mention in “The Blue Knight of the Holy Sword” was probably the best case scenario.

More important than power was the issue of trust.

As things stood, the elves could probably make pretty decent comrades.

‘And…’

Arendt glanced at Sylvian and Zakar, who were standing next to each other.

The two elves had quite complicated faces because of the shameful sight shown to them by the elders.

He saved a person who might have died, and another who was suffering because of that death.

Now the two of them would be having quite a bit of trouble resolving the internal problems of the elves for a while.

Just calming down the sad elders and consoling the confused people would be exhausting.

‘Not bad.’

A smile crossed Arendt’s lips without anyone noticing.

It would be better if there were no awakenings triggered by pain or death in comedy.

It was much more comical to be fretting over a pitiful problem.

Contrary to expectations, there was nothing more to be gained from the story about the dragon or the bard Gilberte.

Gilberte was a person from before the war ended, and it was not surprising that the elves had little information left.

The next day, he asked Elder Polaris, who had come to the knights’ quarters, in passing, but he answered with an ambiguous expression.

“About a hundred years ago, human bards would often visit the port near the Nephele Kingdom. Sometimes they would come over to the Elven Kingdom, and sometimes the Elves would visit them.”

“Hmm…”

“But isn’t the bard you speak of a person from a previous generation? Besides, I heard that even human bards have almost completely died out these days.”

It was exactly as he said.

Immediately after the war, there were probably quite a few wanderers who had lost their homes, but now that civilization had stabilized, there was no need to wander the world.

Nowadays, only clowns and poets occasionally carried on the tradition, but bards were not as widespread as they were in the past.

“So in the end, you know nothing at all.”

“I’m sorry I couldn’t be of any help. The same goes for dragons. There are records of elves being relatively friendly with dragons in the past… but after the war, dragons have become even more reclusive than before.”

“Is it the same for other kingdoms?”

As Arendt asked again, putting a snack in his mouth, Elder Polaris arched his eyebrows as if recalling a memory.

“That’s probably true. After we finish discussing this matter, we’ll investigate it ourselves.”

“Okay, I won’t expect too much.”

Arendt answered dryly.

Arthur, who had been listening from the side, joined in the conversation.

“When the former crown prince of the Nephele Kingdom invaded the Elf Kingdom and all. That’s when Lexion stepped in…”

“You mean it looked like he was trying to help the Elf Kingdom?”

Arthur nodded as his junior continued speaking on his behalf.

“If he had no contact with the elves of this generation, why bother going through all that trouble? There must have been another way.”

“Could it be because of the past? He was planning to help the elves, kill me, kill Alois, and find the book. But all three of them failed except for helping the elves.”

“…Wait a minute, Lord Arendt.”

Polaris, who couldn’t listen to any more, cut off the words with a pale face.

“You speak too calmly. If you keep doing this, I will lose my sense of reality. Sir Arthur, don’t take it so lightly.”

“Do you need to be so excited? I told you, all three failed.”

It was none other than Arendt himself who, surviving triumphantly, subdued Alois while he was still alive and simultaneously put the dragon, who had been causing trouble, in his place.

“In the end, it seems even the dragon had its limits.”

“…”

He eventually shut his mouth at those arrogant words.

It was because he couldn’t find anything to refute.

Arthur widened his eyes and glared at his junior.

“Then die, then.”

“Why would I die? I’m not as foolish as some people, so I have no intention of showing any kind of desperate and admirable attitude, like sacrificing my life for something.”

“Who is it that always talks like that and doesn’t know how to value one’s life?”

“I’m acting like this because I’m sure I won’t die. Who does he think he’s dealing with?”

Arthur snapped at Arendt, who shrugged his shoulders naturally.

“Stop talking nonsense and take care of yourself, you punk! The problem is you’re so sure about your life in the first place!”

“Yes, yes. I understand. I was wrong. Anyway, I have no intention of dying, so don’t worry.”

Arendt frowned, pretended to cover his ears, and quickly changed the subject.

“Elder, that book. Is the export process complete?”

Polaris answered with a groan.

“Yes. I guess I’ll be able to hand it over to Captain Laius soon.”

“That’s good news.”

Laius was going through the process in the meeting hall to hand over the book in question and various information and documents.

Llewellyn and Richt were there to help the captain.

It seemed like it would take quite some time because the amount of data requested by the Knights was so vast.

The only people left in the lodging were Arendt and Arthur, who had nothing to do.

While they were killing time boredly, Elder Polaris came to visit them.

“But it seems like it’ll take some more time, so you guys should go to the temple first. I’ll take you there.”

“Right now?”

Arendt blinked at the sudden words.

Then Elder Polaris answered calmly.

“It is a promise, so it would be best to carry it out as quickly as possible. This is what the Grand Elder said.”

“…Hmm.”

Although the deliberations may have been excessively long, it seemed that once a decision was made, it would proceed without a hitch.

This point alone was praiseworthy.

But what Arendt said indifferently was something else.

“It seems like you want to kick me out pretty quickly, right?”

“…”

Elder Polaris was stung.

It seemed like that point was a fact that could not be denied.

Arthur looked at Arendt, who was giving him a pitiful look, and the elder, who was quickly avoiding eye contact, with a troubled look in his eyes.

The temple of the Fog Forest tribe was located on a sparsely populated coastline.

It had a similar appearance to other buildings within the kingdom.

The temple, located alone on a quiet beach, seemed more like a small resort than a sacred space.

Arendt’s mouth opened as he looked around the two white columns supporting the simple building and the interior, which was similarly undecorated.

“Isn’t there a resident priest?”

“There are a few, but I sent them all out. I thought it would be easier to investigate that way.”

“It doesn’t really matter.”

“Imagine that the priests are meddling in this and that while you’re investigating. Are you going to stay still?”

Polaris replied in a somewhat sharp voice.

What that meant was that the priests were evacuated before Arendt arrived.

“Why are you treating people like a plague?”

“Isn’t that what it looks like?”

Polaris suppressed his anger and answered the apprentice knight’s shameless grumbles.

He was a great help in solving various problems, but it went without saying that the entire elders were left in disarray during the process.

Arendt listened to his words and stepped deep into the temple.

A small altar and a simple statue of a deity were visible in the foreground.

“Are that the sea god?”

“It’s Nereid.”

Arendt nodded at Polaris’ words.

Unlike Luce and Chernion, who had a neutral appearance, Nereid had the appearance of a small elf girl.

The girl standing on the waves was staring out at the wide open sea with her pupilless eyes.

Arendt, who had been looking at the statue for a while without any emotion, suddenly asked a question.

“Is this the only temple of god Nereid?”

“That’s right. Long ago, Lord Nereid wished for just such a thing.”

Then came an answer that seemed like grasping at straws.

“Think about it. The world is full of light, and the sea is always there. The wind, the fire, the thunder. So is there any reason to have another temple?”

It was a different perspective from that of humans.

Arendt’s eyes sparkled with interest.

“Since you’re always together anyway, there’s no need to do that, right? But the fact that the temple of god Nereid is here is because of the god’s own will.”

“Yes, this temple was built before the war. It is said that it existed before the Elven kingdom was properly established. It is said that Nereid, who wandered the world embracing the wide sea, chose this place as a place to rest.”

“Considering that, the building doesn’t look that old?”

When Arthur asked curiously, Polaris nodded.

“It was destroyed once during the war, but was later rebuilt by the Fog Forest tribe. I heard that the statue was almost completely destroyed, so they had to remake it then.”

“Hmm.”

Arendt, who had just seen the new statue, immediately urged Polaris.

“Where is the library? I also want to check the books that the Grand Elder and the instructor hid.”

“Follow me.”

Polaris nodded slightly and led the two behind the altar.

Soon, a staircase that had not been visible from outside the temple was revealed.

It was a path leading to the underground storage room.