novelAlta Chapter 218: As if it were nothing
Chapter 218: As if it were nothing
The sky, which had been quite cloudy since the night, did not clear up even in the afternoon.Fortunately, there was little wind and no sign of rain, so the knights were able to set off at the scheduled time.
A ship piloted by elven sailors cut through the sea at high speed.
Arendt leaned against the railing and stared blankly out at the sea.
The sea, embracing the cloudy sky, took on a murky color.
‘I thought I’d feel better if I got some cold air.’
As he looked at the sea, his thoughts became more complicated.
The hand felt in the temple was clearly that of Nereid, the sea god.
It was the same as when he heard Chernion’s voice in the basement of Rebecca’s Citadel.
No one told him, but he knew it instinctively.
That made it even more unpleasant.
The unpleasant sensation he felt from them, combined with the waves rolling under his feet, was making him feel uneasy.
“This is driving me crazy.”
Arendt, his silver hair carelessly tousled by the sea breeze, leaned against the railing.
The hero Khan erased all records of Chernion from human society, leaving behind a short account of the war to be passed down through the Imperial Family.
However, the elves left no records of the war.
Instead, they left the tales of the God of Darkness in the temple, and as a result, they were punished by heaven and an entire generation disappeared.
Whether the punisher was Luce or Chernion, the purpose was clear.
‘He must have wanted to completely eradicate the existence of Chernion, the Evil God and the God of Darkness.’
But the gods failed to destroy the evidence.
Khan left messages for future generations, avoiding the eyes of the gods, and the elves protected the records at the risk of their lives.
And now.
The Evil Cult raised its head again and the remains they left behind fell before the knights.
Arendt lowered his gaze.
Thud, thud.
Pure white waves crashed against the side of the ship and then disappeared repeatedly.
‘Still, I guess we can come up with one hypothesis.’
The annihilation of an entire generation of elves was proof of this.
But they didn’t seem as omnipotent as the believers said.
Because the god Luce had not yet eradicated the evil cult, and Chernion had not yet taken over the world.
‘I guess they can’t interfere with each other’s powers.’
They could kill the elves, but they could kill each other’s followers.
That would be the limit of the God of Light and the God of Darkness with equal power.
So they would wage war by borrowing the power of their followers.
Perhaps, it was not only the war in which the hero Khan was active, but also the endless repetition of such conflicts in this land.
‘You crazy bastards.’
The hand that was on the railing gained strength and a fist was automatically clenched.
As his thoughts continued to this point, the issue that had been buried for a while also slowly raised its head.
‘Why am I here?’
It was clear that those damned beings were interested in him.
But he couldn’t figure out what their intention was.
His head was getting complicated again.
At that moment, he suddenly felt a presence behind him.
Before he could even react, a hand came up to his shoulder.
“Hey.”
“…!”
He reflexively slapped the hand away and looked back.
Arthur’s eyes widened in surprise at the reaction, which was much more intense than he had expected.
“What, what? Why are you so surprised?”
“…”
Arendt, who had been standing there blankly for a few seconds, suddenly frowned and became irritated.
“Wow, damn. You scared me. Make some noise when you’re around.”
“Who was the one zoning out, and now you’re getting irritated at me?”
Arthur also did not give up and fired back.
“You were fine when you entered the Elf Kingdom, but you suddenly got motion sickness.”
“Of course it would be okay for someone as slow and dull as you, senior.”
“It’s all a lack of mental strength.”
Arthur once repeated the exact same line that Arendt had once said.
Arendt glanced at Arthur with unkind eyes, leaned back against the railing and faced him.
“What do you want?”
“Senior Richt told me to give this to you.”
Arthur responded curtly and handed over the bottle he had brought.
“It’s motion sickness medicine. He said he got it from an elf sailor.”
“Anyway, you always stick your nose in other people’s business.”
Arendt grumbled but accepted what he offered.
When he opened the cork, the smell of herbs wafted out.
Arthur struck first when he saw Arendt’s face crumple.
“Don’t even think about throwing it away. Drink it right now.”
“…”
It wasn’t motion sickness that made him feel queasy, but Arthur wasn’t about to back down until he was sure he’d emptied the bottle.
Finally, Arendt sighed deeply and downed the tasteless potion in one gulp.
“…Ugh.”
“By the way, what are you thinking? What did you talk about with the Grand Elder?”
Arthur asked in passing.
He said it as if nothing happened, but Arendt could tell he was secretly concerned.
Arendt shrugged, rolling the empty bottle in his hand.
“…It’s nothing special. I just thought that I should beat up those who annoy me.”
“This is driving me crazy. Why are you like this again?”
Arthur was disgusted by those words that were full of sincerity.
He would never know.
The fact that God Luce was also among those who made Arendt angry.
Arendt glanced at Arthur and chuckled.
“Enjoy the peace, senior. You’ll go crazy as soon as you get back.”
“…What really happened?”
“Yes, I will report it when I return to the palace.”
Of course, he would filter it to some extent and talk about it, but even if he just shared it like that, it would probably shake people up.
Arthur sighed deeply and shook his head.
“Okay. Whatever it is, take it easy, please. The Captain is about to have a hole punctured in his stomach.”
“What, the Captain? Didn’t he take out his anger on the Grand Elder?”
“…”
Arendt was met with a look of criticism, as if asking if he really didn’t know.
It wasn’t Arendt who didn’t notice, but he just shamelessly faced Arthur.
“What are you staring at? Even if you look at me again, I know I’m still handsome.”
“…”
As always, what pissed him off the most was the inability to deny it.
Arendt turned his eyes toward the sea where the sunlight was breaking through, leaving Arthur trembling with his fists clenched.
‘Let’s see who wins.’
A shadow briefly fell across his golden eyes.
He didn’t know what the sea god was trying to say, but he was planning to charge straight ahead.
There was no room to retreat.
The play had already begun a long time ago.
The elves who came out to see the knights off said goodbye at the Nephele Kingdom.
Sylvian, who went as an escort, wanted to go with them to the Caerleon Empire, but Laius refused.
“It’s okay. Please go back and lend a helping hand to the Grand Elder.”
That was a consideration for the Elf Kingdom, which was currently in a state of turmoil.
Sylvian also had no choice but to bend to his firm words.
“Okay, thank you. See you next time.”
After a day of rest in the Nephele Kingdom, the elves returned to their kingdom.
The knights also set out on their way back to the Caerleon Empire.
There was nothing different from usual.
However, only one day had passed since departure.
Until Arendt suddenly stopped talking.
“Ah.”
“Why is that? Is there a problem?”
Laius, who was in the lead, also stopped his horse.
Arendt answered the captain, who was looking at him with a puzzled look, in a plain manner.
“Don’t you think we’ve forgotten something?”
“We forgot something?”
“I think His Highness the Crown Prince told us to report back from time to time.”
“Ah.”
Immediately afterwards, foolish sounds came out of the mouths of Laius and the other two knights.
Come to think of it, they hadn’t contacted the royal family even once since they set foot in the Elf Kingdom.
Llewellyn asked curiously.
“Was it like that?”
“I guess so? Interim reports are mandatory.”
Arendt nodded briefly.
Unlike the calm apprentice knight, the expressions on the captain’s and seniors’ faces were gradually becoming more and more crumpled.
Arthur muttered in a trembling voice.
“…Honestly, there were so many things that happened as soon as we arrived.”
They ended up fighting, getting drunk, and looking for spies, all the while fitting into the show that the damned apprentice knight had orchestrated.
Arendt left his frozen seniors behind and took his time riding again.
“Are you all knights? Get lost.”
Llewellyn, caught in the middle, watched both sides and eventually followed Arendt.
The hands of the knights holding the reins trembled.
Clop, Clop.
The sound of horse hooves that sounded like there was no rush was maddeningly annoying.
For that reason, as soon as they returned to the palace, they had to face the Crown Prince’s empty expression.
“…Captain Laius.”
“…Sorry.”
“I heard from the Nephele royal family that the knights were returning safely. What do you think about this?”
“Sorry.”
Laius lowered his head and silently repeated the same words.
The Crown Prince’s eyes were filled with doubt as he looked at the captain.
Richt and Arthur, standing next to each other, were also sweating profusely and trying hard to avoid the Crown Prince’s gaze.
For some reason, Llewellyn also stood stiffly as if he was being scolded…
Arendt, the mastermind behind everything, was an exception.
Cantares’ gaze fell on Arendt.
“Hey.”
The apprentice knight, who had locked eyes with the Crown Prince, shamelessly tilted his head to the side.
“What?”
“You… you really…”
Cantares, who was about to say something more, soon trailed off.
It wasn’t because he had nothing to say.
Rather, so many words were piling up inside him that it almost felt like his throat was stuck.
“I sent you all to have a proper conversation, and this is what I get?”
Finally, a voice full of resentment came out of the Crown Prince’s mouth.
After hearing everything that had happened in the Elf Kingdom, Cantares felt as if he had been struck by lightning.
He sent them to return the spirit stones and negotiate, but they came back after causing all kinds of trouble.
“Kidnapping the Elder? And threatening the Grand Elder…? Even staging a scene to find an elf spy?”
“…”
Sensing ominousness, Llewellyn took a slight step back.
Arendt responded.
“It was a bit noisy, but everything went well. What are you complaining about?”
“…”
“It wasn’t a situation that could be resolved with nice words. It was something you had planned from the beginning.”
Cantares, who had been listening quietly for a while, suppressed his anger and asked.
“…Captain Laius, do you think so too?”
“Sorry.”
This time too, Laius just repeated the same words like a parrot.
Arendt shrugged.
“I definitely killed him. You can be thankful.”
“Hey, you crazy bastard!”
Finally, Cantares, who was upset, threw the book he had in his hand.
But Arendt caught it naturally, as if he had expected it.
“Could you please keep your cool? You shouldn’t be throwing things like that.”
“When did I tell you to do that! What would have happened if you had done something wrong?”
“That’s good. That’s good. And the one who threatened the Grand Elder about diplomatic issues and such was the captain.”
Arendt calmly responded to the shouting Cantares and then turned the arrows towards Laius.
“Honestly, isn’t it you, the captain, who went a step further? The elders were completely trembling in front of you.”
“…”
Cantares’ eyes, full of betrayal, turned to Laius.
Laius answered stubbornly, slightly avoiding eye contact.
“…I’m sorry, but it was necessary.”
“These damn knights are really…”
Cantares sighed while rubbing his face.
It felt like every day, the number of troublemakers was just multiplying.
It was a deplorable thing.