Betrayal Knight's Joyful Faith

Chapter 223

The Imperial Knights were busy with a sudden onslaught of work. The reason was the extraordinary actions of the apprentice knight of the Third Order.The knights under Kendrick and Diana could only be bewildered, not even able to fully grasp the situation.

Even Kendrick and Diana couldn’t bring themselves to say anything about the dragon coming.

Instead, they simply talked around the idea that there might be enemies associated with the evil cult.

The knights simply accepted it because it was the captain’s order.

The knights put all their efforts into strengthening their defenses in preparation for an enemy who might attack at any time.

The Imperial Knights took up positions directly in the places previously guarded by the Royal Guards, and patrols were doubled.

The members of the Third Knights who saw that sight felt a little guilty.

Arthur, who had been standing guard blankly, muttered in a complicated manner.

“…How would they react if they found out that their opponent was a dragon?”

Just then, Helen and another knight from the Second Knights were seen patrolling from a distance.

Rider who was standing guard with him answered.

“I don’t know about anything else, but I think they’ll try to bury Arendt first.”

“Right?”

The two imagined a situation where it was revealed who had drawn them in, whether they were enemies or dragons.

“Wouldn’t there be a pile of duel requests in front of Arendt?”

“And there will be complaints to His Majesty the Emperor and His Highness the Crown Prince, demanding that Arendt be severely punished.”

Arthur agreed with Rider’s words.

Of course, whether that was the case or not, it wouldn’t work.

The two most powerful men in the country had long been on Arendt’s side.

And Arendt was the kind of person who would gather the duel requests sent by his seniors and roast potatoes with them in the training hall as if it were a show.

After a long while, Rider shook his head.

“…Hey, let’s stop. My stomach hurts just thinking about it.”

“You’re right.”

Arthur also agreed.

But that guy just went out while his seniors were busy moving around.

He just left him alone because he felt like there was some kind of hidden agenda, but he couldn’t help but feel a pang in his stomach.

“Phew.”

Arthur sighed deeply and looked straight ahead again.

The captains redeployed security personnel to the places where the dragon was likely to appear. Some areas of the palace were even closed down.

One of the most notable places that was off-limits was the hall where the dragon remains were displayed.

Even though it had been quite some time since it was exhibited, the dragon’s remains were still the center of attention.

Since many people come and go every day, it was judged that Lexion might sneak in among them.

“Hey, but I heard that dragons can freely use transformation magic and teleportation magic.”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Then, even if he sneaks in with the people who frequently visit the palace, we won’t know?”

“Since they can teleport in the first place, it wouldn’t be strange for him to suddenly appear out of nowhere.”

In fact, all of these defenses were meaningless.

“But it’s a bit much to just let him do that…”

“That’s the truth. It’s about deploying troops so that we can respond immediately no matter where a battle breaks out. The captains say we are defending, but in reality, it’s closer to an attack.”

Arthur answered indifferently.

Rider nodded at the plausible words.

“That makes sense. What about the restricted area?”

“These are areas where fighting should never occur. If they are damaged, it could be a problem, or the royal family or nobles could get involved.”

“Aha, are you using your head?”

“Aren’t you slow, senior?”

Rider raised his hand and struck the back of Arthur’s head.

No, he tried to hit him.

But Arthur simply avoided it by quickly lowering his head.

After a series of actions, the two people started to feel strange.

They realized that they had seen this a lot somewhere.

Arthur straightened his posture awkwardly.

An awkward silence flowed between the two.

“…Stop playing with Arendt.”

“Yes.”

Arthur answered his senior’s advice seriously.

Just as he was about to focus on getting back to work, Rider suddenly let out a short exclamation.

“Anyway, he appears when he’s mentioned.”

“Huh? Ah.”

Arthur, who was about to ask in a puzzled manner, soon looked at the same place as Rider.

He saw Arendt walking down the hallway, coming back from outside.

His neatly tied silver hair quickly disappeared from their sight.

“What makes that guy so busy every day?”

“That’s what I’m saying.”

The two men, who had been muttering briefly, soon turned their attention away from him.

Taking advantage of the gap in the people’s control, Count Stadler searched the dragon’s remains for the first time in a long time.

It was to check if there was any damage anywhere since it had been exposed to people for a while.

But before the Count could even examine the dragon, his gaze was stolen by the person who had arrived before him.

Arendt stood in front of the dragon with its wings spread wide, looking up at the remains intently.

“Lord Arendt? What brings you here?”

“…Ah, Count. Hello.”

Arendt, noticing his presence, nodded.

“I just stopped by for a bit. I was just patrolling. But this place is completely blocked off from people.”

“Yes, that’s right. I think that’s what the captains thought. Thanks to that, I can inspect things comfortably, so I’m grateful.”

Count Stadler smiled and approached him.

Arendt stared blankly at the dragon for a while after that in silence.

Count Stadler, who had been watching him quietly, spoke cautiously.

“Lord Arendt, is there a problem?”

“No, nothing really. I just wanted to check something. I’ll be right back.”

A nonchalant reply came back.

And after a while, Arendt turned around without any hesitation.

“Are you leaving?”

“Yes, I’ll go first. Please take your time and come back later.”

Arendt, after exchanging a brief greeting, left the hall, leaving the Count behind.

Count Stadler tilted his head as he watched his retreating back.

Arendt noticed the Count’s gaze following him, but he ignored him and just left the hall.

Arendt walked slowly down the deserted hallway.

Occasionally he would run into some busily moving knights, but no one would approach him first to speak to him.

It was because everyone was busy with work.

The atmosphere was ominous, as if they had prepared for a dragon invasion.

‘It’s no use even if you do that.’

Arendt, no, Lexion in the form of Arendt smiled faintly.

The reason he chose to walk alone to the dragon display first was simple.

He wanted to see for himself the pitiful state of his own kind, who had become toys for humans.

But it didn’t seem like a very good choice.

The moment he saw the remains, his good feeling from before evaporated.

‘They made a total spectacle of it.’

It was so absurd that he almost burst out laughing.

It had its wings spread out majestically and looked like it was about to breathe out its breath at any moment.

In addition, there were tapestries with dragon patterns and all kinds of decorations around it.

“How cheeky…”

It wasn’t that he felt any new sympathy for his own race who had ended up like that.

However, he didn’t like the fact that the humans were playing around with the dragon as they pleased.

“Tsk.”

He clicked his tongue and swept back his hair that was flowing down awkwardly.

‘I don’t really like doing rat-like things, but…’

But that didn’t mean he had any intention of going along with the apprentice knight’s tricks.

‘If it’s a joke, I won’t fall behind.’

Lexion, who smiled faintly and then quickly erased it, slowed his pace slightly.

That was Arendt von Eckhart as seen through Alois’s eyes.

At this point, his acting was perfect.

Thanks to that, no one found it suspicious even though he walked around the palace for quite some time.

Lexion roughly responded to the occasional attendants who came to greet him by raising his hand, and walked towards the Imperial Knights’ living quarters.

There was no one to stop him.

He naturally walked to Arendt’s room.

.

Lexion closed the door and leisurely looked around the room.

“Let’s see…”

The room was extremely clean and tidy.

Everything was in its proper place, and the bed was straight without a single wrinkle.

Lexion, who had been thinking for a moment, soon chuckled and snapped his fingers.

A faint light enveloped the surroundings and a sound blocking spell was cast in an instant.

It was laughable to fall for a child’s provocation so easily, but given the situation, he was planning to leave a proper warning.

Arthur, returning from his patrol shift, found Arendt coming out of the room.

As usual, not pretending to know anything, he was about to leave when Arthur spoke to him.

“You came back early? I heard you had some things to do.”

“Yeah, well. I finished my work quicker than I thought.”

“If that’s the case, then come help me, you little punk. Who is to blame for the increased workload?”

“Yes, you must have had a hard time.”

Arthur grumbled in annoyance, but Arendt just waved his hand dryly.

“Arendt, you’re back.”

Richt, who happened to be coming out of Laius’ office, also noticed the two and spoke.

“Arendt, did you hear what Prince Llewellyn said? He said Lexion had escaped the Explorers’ Union’s surveillance network.”

Arendt nodded dryly to Richt, who came closer to speak.

“I knew it. There’s no way human explorers could chase a dragon to the end.”

“By the way, will the dragon really invade the palace? I know the dragon doesn’t want to fight against humans, but… there’s always that one chance.”

Arthur asked Richt a question.

“Honestly, it doesn’t seem like a fight we can handle, but I think the captains would be willing to fight if necessary.”

“We should avoid head-on collisions as much as possible. But if something happens, we all have no choice but to risk our lives.”

Richt answered calmly.

Arendt nodded naturally at that.

“Since that is the opponent, it has to be like that.”

“…”

Richt and Arthur were silent.

Suddenly, the surroundings became quiet and Arendt looked up curiously.

“What?”

“No… there’s nothing we can do. If necessary, we have no choice but to risk our lives to protect the palace.”

Arthur answered awkwardly.

It was the most correct thing a knight should say.

But…

Arthur, who had been silent for a moment with a trembling face, changed the subject.

“By the way, where did you go during the day?”

“I had some business at the Neumann headquarters, so I went there for a bit.”

Arendt answered obediently and shrugged his shoulders.

“If you have nothing more to say, I will go first. I still have some work to do.”

“Stop.”

Just as he was about to turn around, Richt’s cold, subdued voice stopped him in his tracks.

“…”

Arendt paused.

.

Then he heard a cold, creaking sound, and felt an eerie sensation behind him.

Arendt, who had been standing still for a moment, looked back.

Two swords were aimed at him as if they would pierce his back at any moment.

Arthur and Richt’s eyes were as cold as ice, and both their swords were pointed towards him.

“What the heck…”

“Hey.”

Before Arendt could finish speaking, Arthur cut him off.

“You’re not Arendt, are you?”

“…”

The apprentice knight kept his mouth shut.

Golden eyes looking at Arthur grew cold.