Betrayal Knight's Joyful Faith

Chapter 227

Arendt’s smile disappeared cleanly before Lexion could even notice it.“I like that you’re willing to cooperate, but…”

Arendt tilted his head, pretending to think carefully.

“Why are you so docile? What are you up to?”

“In case you forgot, you’re the one who dragged me here. You’re the one with the agenda, not me.”

An irritated retort immediately followed.

But Arendt was not the type of person to be convinced so easily.

“That’s true, but there’s a difference between doing this mountain of chores and listening to my story.”

“If you don’t like it, then don’t do it. I’ll just finish this chore and go.”

“That won’t do. That precious book is still in my hands. No, to be exact, it is in the hands of High Priest Lumiel.”

“…”

The skill with which each word was uttered was truly a work of art.

Just before Lexion could no longer stand it and explode with anger, Arendt spoke.

“While we’re on the subject, let me ask. What on earth is that book that you went to such lengths for?”

“I was just asked a favour back then. To retrieve something that had flowed off to an unexpected place.”

“Who asked you to do that?”

“Do I have to tell this to a brat who is wet behind the ears?”

A firm response came back.

It was a silent signal not to dig any further.

“I’ll ask you again when the water behind my ears dries.”

“This guy is really unbelievably shameless.”

Arendt crossed his arms and leaned back against the wall, listening to Lexion’s grumbling.

“Anyway, didn’t you originally have no intention of letting me live?”

“Why do you think so?”

“There are many reasons why you would want to kill me.”

Representative examples included the dragon’s remains displayed in the palace and the ridiculous threatening letter that Llewellyn sent.

“At first glance, you may seem friendly to other humans, but I thought you would definitely want to tear me apart and kill me. That’s why I bothered High Priest Lumiel.”

“It’s a good thing you’re aware of it.”

Lexion was complaining, but Arendt, of course, paid no attention.

“If you don’t know, you’re an idiot. I’m not that stupid.”

“I didn’t say a word about you being stupid. I just thought you were either a coward or someone who didn’t care about their own life.”

“I definitely know my life is precious. I just make sure to confirm my footing first before making a move.”

“…”

That didn’t seem to be wrong either.

To think a mere apprentice knight would go as far as involving the High Priest.

“Out of curiosity, what were you going to do if the Knight Captains or other nobles held you accountable?”

Bringing in a dragon and causing trouble in the palace was a crime close to treason, punishable by death.

But Arendt had something to rely on in this part as well.

“Before, His Majesty the Emperor personally granted me a pardon. If things went south, I was ready to use it. It’s a fact that I’ve confirmed several times that you have no murderous intent toward anyone other than me.”

“Hey, aren’t you an apprentice knight?”

Lexion frowned.

Why on earth are you so close to the High Priest that you can meet her privately, and what did you do to receive a pardon from the Emperor?

There were more than one or two parts he wanted to point out.

Arendt shrugged and brought the conversation back to its original topic.

“Anyway, since I was the one who invited you first, it would be polite to bring up the topic first.”

“Manners…? You’re talking about manners now?”

“Okay. Now that it’s come to this, let me get this out of the way.”

Arendt ignored Lexion’s muttering and started talking.

“Did you know that there is a dragon in the Chernion cult faction?”

“…”

Lexion fell silent at the sudden words.

In that silence, Arendt read an affirmative answer.

“I guess you had an idea.”

After a moment, Lexion clicked his tongue and scratched his head.

“Of course. Otherwise, who would have had the crazy idea to turn a dragon into a ghoul?”

“Do you know what kind of guy he is?”

“Even if I know, why should I tell you?”

“It doesn’t seem like a very friendly relationship, though. You subtly pushed me while pretending otherwise. You wanted me to give those guys a hard time.”

“…I won’t necessarily deny it, but what does that have to do with anything?”

Lexion, who had been taking a deep breath, frowned.

“But don’t think that means I’ll take your side.”

“It seems like you have a lot of grievances towards God Chernion. You revere God Luce, but you don’t seem to like him very much, do you?”

Arendt tilted his head, crossing his arms.

His moderately long hair flowed to one side, following his movements.

“Your feelings toward God Luce are closer to fear of the strong than faith. Is that right?”

Lexion read the subtle nuance in his tone.

He noticed that Arendt’s attitude was very different from the attitude of ordinary people when discussing God.

“You speak strangely. What about you?”

“If I had to be precise, I have some grievances with both sides.”

At the straightforward answer, Lexion made an even more confused expression.

“Don’t humans worship Lord Luce?”

“Most people in this Empire are like that. But I’ve never had a religion, and I never will.”

“…You really are a strange guy. Didn’t you notice?”

Lexion, who had been listening quietly, added as if talking to himself.

Arendt arched an eyebrow at those words.

“I didn’t notice?”

“No, let’s move on for now. So? What do you want to say?”

“…I don’t know what Lexion was originally planning.”

Arendt, who had been staring blankly at him as he turned his head away, soon added plainly.

“Don’t you just want to completely destroy both sides?”

“What?”

A foolish sound came out of Lexion’s mouth.

Arendt stood there, his head tilted, repeating what he had just said.

“It seems like you don’t like either of them, so don’t you want to destroy them?”

“….”

Lexion blinked slowly, as if he were an idiot.

“Hey, putting everything else aside, didn’t you say you left the book in the temple? And now you’re talking about destroying it?”

“I just did that because I thought you might be afraid of God. I had to use everything I could. I personally have a great liking for High Priest Lumiel, but not for God Luce.”

“…”

At the utterly unbothered response, Lexion was unable to say anything for a while.

Arendt stared blankly at him, as if asking what he wanted to do.

After a long moment of silence, Lexion blurted out impulsively.

“This bastard is really irreverent beyond measure. How is he still alive?”

“Ask the higher-ups why they haven’t struck this irreverent brat with lightning yet. Dragons are said to be the closest creatures to gods.”

Arendt nodded toward the ceiling.

“Anyway, think about it carefully. Of course, I’ll destroy the Chernion cult, but I don’t really intend to wag my tail at God Luce either.”

“I never thought I would hear such words from a knight of the Empire founded by the hero Khan. And…”

The dragon’s gaze, trailing off, landed on Arendt’s shoulder and then quickly dropped away.

Lexion groaned, crossing his arms.

“Ugh… Yes, I admit that I have no faith. I don’t worship God. But that doesn’t mean I have any intention of blaspheming like you do.”

“Even if you say that, aren’t you quite good at impersonation? You tricked the former crown prince into believing you were a member of the evil cult in the Nephele Kingdom, and now you’re making excuses quite skillfully.”

“That was simply to understand the situation… Ah.”

Lexion, who had been reflexively snapping in annoyance, quickly closed his mouth after realizing his slip of the tongue.

But Arendt never missed the clues he gave him.

“Oh, to assess the situation?”

“…”

Arendt’s eyes narrowed.

A persistent gaze was fixed on the side of Lexion’s face, who was trying hard to avoid eye contact.

“It seems like you wanted to butt in no matter what, huh?”

“No. I just…”

“You thought you might hear news from us if you pretended to be a member of the evil cult. But you couldn’t bring yourself to say the name Chernion.”

“…”

“The reason you suddenly sent Alois to the conference room was because you wanted to learn about the situation with the Evil Cult through Alois’s ears, right?”

But when he heard that an apprentice knight from the Caerleon Empire was following the crown prince, he ordered him to be killed without fail.

But Alois failed miserably.

“You asked me to look for a book because you thought it might be useful… but there were bugs in the lair by the lake, and you didn’t want to get your hands dirty, so you led us there.”

It was so spot-on that it became almost laughable to try to make excuses.

Arendt gave Lexion a look of blatant bewilderment as he desperately avoided eye contact.

“Don’t you think you’re pathetic? Is talking behind someone’s back your hobby? If you’re going to act like a rat, you should at least hide that big body well.”

“Do you really want to die?”

“You keep talking about things that you can’t even do. I told you to try it if you can. That book will be buried deep in the Great Temple along with the Holy Sword.”

Lexion growled fiercely, unable to bear it any longer, but Arendt subdued him with just one sentence.

“In the end, you wanted to give Chernion a blow, but you didn’t want to side with Luce.”

It was a remark that hit the nail on the head.

Lexion’s face turned cold again.

Arendt stared at him expressionlessly.

“I think we share quite a similar view, Lexion?”

“…”

“I’m not saying you should blindly take a side. Let’s make a deal. Since I’ve taken care of the annoying work for you, Lexion, please turn a blind eye to my actions.”

Golden eyes glanced over the vast amount of papers.

“If you analyze them, I’ll give you the book. Likewise, if you promise to help me, I’ll give you what you need, Lexion.”

“…How funny. What can you, a mere human being, give me?”

Lexion, who had been silent for a moment, burst into laughter.

But Arendt responded nonchalantly.

“I think you already know, but I am a pretty capable person. What I have in my hands is much more than you can imagine, Lexion.”

Arendt smiled wryly.

“I’m sure there are things that Lexion needs. I’m the only one among humans, elves, and merfolk who can meet Lexion’s needs. What do you think? Isn’t that a pretty tempting offer?”

Arendt, who boasted about how great he was, showed no sign of hesitation.

Lexion ended up just bursting into laughter.

“You are so arrogant. You are the worst person I have ever seen.”

“You chose the wrong word. You should say best.”

Arendt responded in a rather cheerful tone, somewhat out of place in the situation.

There was a brief pause after that.

“This is totally wrong.”

After a long while, Lexion clicked his tongue and scratched his head.

“Hey, let me ask you one thing first. There’s something I want to confirm.”

“What is it?”

“Since a while ago, no. I’ve been concerned since I first saw it with my own eyes.”

Lexion, who had spoken up to that point, looked over Arendt from head to toe.

It was an observing gaze.

Just as Arendt was starting to feel puzzled by the prolonged silence, Lexion spoke seriously.

“Have you ever had contact with a god?”