Betrayal Knight's Joyful Faith

Chapter 262

The sky, which looked as if it would rain at any moment, was gradually becoming darker.The battle started in the afternoon, but as the fighting continued on, it was getting close to sunset.

Arendt grumbled, half-lying on Richt.

“I’m not really sorry, but I can’t move a single finger right now… !”

When he didn’t try to suppress the coughing that kept coming out and let it spill, bright red blood splattered.

After coughing a few more times, Arendt barely managed to continue speaking.

“So… , please clean up and get up on your own.”

It wasn’t exactly a joke.

He was confident that if he got up right now, he would collapse and his face would slam into the ground.

“Tsk, just stay still.”

Richt clicked his tongue angrily, carefully pushed Arendt aside and laid him down comfortably.

Meanwhile, Arthur crawled out from under the two people and collapsed next to Arendt.

“…”

For a while, all three of them were silent as they tried to catch their breath.

Arthur glanced at Arendt, who was lying next to him, gasping for breath.

His face had turned pale and he looked like he was in a very bad condition.

Even though he knew he would get the same answer anyway, Arthur ended up asking the question.

“Hey, are you okay?”

“Am I okay?”

“…”

At this point, he didn’t even want to get annoyed again.

He did this even more because he knew full well that his condition was not very good.

Arthur glanced at Arendt’s sword, which had been carelessly thrown away.

The three magic stones embedded in the sword had long since turned into mere lumps of stone.

Looking at the condition of the sword, it was clear that the magic stones that Richt and Arthur had handed over had also completely lost their light.

‘It was a good thing we gave them to him.’

If that hadn’t been the case, the problem wouldn’t have been carrying him back.

When he turned his head, he saw that the battle that had been taking place in the plains was almost over.

The seniors who had to deal with the endlessly regenerating ghouls weren’t in very good shape either, but it seemed like none of them had suffered serious injuries.

And from quite a distance he could see Laius approaching them quickly.

“Is everyone okay?”

Richt nodded to him as he shouted at the three people, because he didn’t have enough strength to answer loudly.

Laius didn’t look well either.

His shoulder was torn and tattered, and his side was bleeding, but he seemed more concerned about his subordinates who had fought the other homunculi than about his own wounds.

Behind Laius, a dragon homunculus that was collapsed on the plain came into view.

“You’re really something, Captain.”

Arthur let out an exclamation of admiration.

How could he alone fight a monster that even three people would struggle with?

Although his injuries were not minor, it was truly absurd that he was able to stop the monster by himself with only those injuries.

“I don’t know who the monster is…”

Arendt, who was grumbling and holding his head, forced himself to sit up.

But the attempt ended in failure.

Richt pressed Arendt’s forehead with his finger and made him lie down again.

“Ah.”

“Shut up and rest. You can just sleep. I’ll move you myself.”

Richt, having thrown a quick glance, turned his gaze back toward his comrades.

Just now, Rider was seen slicing the last surviving ghoul in two.

The half-broken ghoul tried to get up again, but the other knights waiting nearby rushed towards him.

Glenn, confirming that the ghoul had completely shattered and was now limp, shouted toward Laius.

“This side is also finished! There’s no one incapacitated or dead!”

Glenn’s cheeks, sword, and uniform were covered in the ghouls’ blood.

Moreover, his entire body was a mess due to all the injuries he had sustained from the ghouls.

The others were the same, and was evidence that the fight was not easy.

Richt’s face suddenly hardened.

‘No one died because the captain and Arendt were here.’

If even one of the two had been absent, it would not have ended with just sacrificing one or two lives.

It was nearly impossible to deal with ghouls that regenerated endlessly while keeping the homunculi in check.

Laius and Arendt knew this all too well.

So, no matter how brutal the battlefield would become in the future, these two people would clearly lead the way with indifferent expressions.

‘I guess I need to train more.’

So that in the future, Laius would not have to fight alone against a powerful enemy, and Arendt would not have to push himself beyond his strength.

Richt clenched his fists secretly.

Before withdrawing, Laius took the able-bodied members and dismantled the remnants of the homunculi to recover the spirit stones.

The recovered spirit stones had lost most of their light, but they still had some power left.

Richt said as he handed over the spirit stone extracted from the body of the giant homunculus to Laius:

“It doesn’t seem to be completely deactivated. The same goes for the spirit stone recovered from the dragon.”

“Thank you for your hard work.”

Richt hesitated for a moment at Laius’ answer, then spoke again.

“…The core still remains, so isn’t there a possibility that it can be resurrected as a homunculus?”

“That wouldn’t be the case.”

Richt asked curiously at Laius’ answer.

“Is there something that stands out to you?”

“Maybe a little.”

While answering his subordinate, Laius wiped the dirty spirit stone with his sleeve, which was covered in all sorts of dirt.

A soft light unique to a spirit stone leaked out from the slightly cleaned surface.

After a brief silence, Richt asked again.

“May I ask what?”

“I’m not sure, but…”

Laius, who had been taking his time choosing his words, added slowly.

“Just before it was completely destroyed, the spirit stone’s ego seemed to have given up on resistance and gone into hiding. As a result, even though the homunculus’ body was dying, its core, the spirit stone, was able to remain relatively intact.”

At the last moment, the dragon homunculus deliberately missed and gave up its head.

Although it was unable to completely stop the attacks because it was being oppressed, it resisted Jin as best it could.

Seeing that the spirit stone on the giant homunculus’ side was also intact, it seemed that Arendt had made a similar suggestion before delivering the fatal blow.

Laiius’ gaze naturally moved to where Arendt was resting.

The apprentice knight, completely exhausted, sat leaning against the tree.

His condition looked very bad, as he occasionally coughed up blood.

Without taking his eyes off him, Laius asked Richt.

“Have you contacted the Count?”

“Yes, he said he would send a carriage to carry the wounded. A medic will also be coming.”

“That’s fortunate.”

Originally, the entire order was planning to stay at an inn near the castle gates.

However, because there were more casualties than expected, the plan had to be changed.

Those who were seriously injured were to receive proper treatment at the Count’s castle, while the remaining half of those in good condition were to remain and focus on recovery.

“First, gather everyone. Leave only the few who are less injured and go to the Count’s castle.”

“Yes, I understand.”

Richt’s gaze, as he answered neatly, was also focused on Arendt.

The knights who had finished cleaning up were slowly gathering around the apprentice knight.

They must have been quite nervous because they kept hovering around Arendt whenever they had the chance while retrieving the spirit stones.

“Not bad. So, who was it that acted so tough despite being just an apprentice knight?”

“My senior should have been more competent. I almost died waiting for him to take care of the small fry.”

Arendt responded with a spiteful tone to Glenn, who was picking a fight for no reason.

Glenn, irritated, vented his frustration, but as usual, Arendt pretended not to hear, acting as if nothing had happened.

Richt, who was watching the scene, said with a pitiful look on his face.

“If he’s worried, just be honest and say it.”

“Even if he says it, he knows he won’t hear anything good.”

With a neutral expression and a faint smile, Laius replied.

He wasn’t not sure if he could really call that a good relationship.

But Laius was somewhat satisfied.

Although there was no strict hierarchy between seniors and juniors, at least the worries and concerns mixed in among the bickering words were genuine.

“You’ve worked hard, Richt. You should go and rest too. You’re walking around pretending to be fine, but I know you’ve been limping for a while now. It’s probably a fracture at the very least.”

“I’m sorry, but I don’t want to hear that from you, Captain. I think the bleeding from your shoulder hasn’t stopped yet.”

When Richt responded as if he were fed up, Laius subtly avoided eye contact and pretended not to notice.

In the distance, several carriages sent by the Count were rushing forward, raising clouds of dust.

The Count allowed the use of the castle’s largest hall as a treatment room.

Not only that, the Count stayed up late at night waiting for everyone to be treated.

After the knights finished treating him, an old servant approached Laius cautiously.

“The Lord would like to see the Captain for a moment. He said that if you are tired, tomorrow would be fine, so don’t worry.”

“No, I’ll go now.”

Without saying a word, Laius got up and followed the servant.

The servant guided Laius to the Count’s office, located deep within the Eckhart family’s castle.

The servant, standing in front of the office where dim light was streaming in, hesitated for a moment instead of knocking on the door right away.

Just as Laius was starting to feel a little puzzled, the servant opened his mouth slightly.

“Well, this may be a presumptuous question, but… how is he doing in the Knights Templar?”

“…”

Laius’ eyes widened slightly.

Laius couldn’t immediately give an answer to the question he had never been asked before.

Not sure what to make of the brief silence, the servant awkwardly smiled, his wrinkled lips curling up.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to overstep. I was just cleaning the young master’s room after such a long time, and it brought back some old memories. Please forgive me, I’m just an old fool being sentimental.”

The servant raised his hand to knock, as if trying to hide his shame and embarrassment.

At that moment, Laius’ voice suddenly came out.

“I don’t know if he’s doing well or not. He’s such an inscrutable guy.”

The servant, who had stopped, looked back with bewildered eyes.

Laius met his eyes and answered calmly.

“But it doesn’t seem too bad. Just earlier, while getting treated, I saw him arguing pointlessly with his seniors right up until he nearly fell asleep.”

The servant, not understanding what he was saying, blinked several times.

But after a while, a faint smile appeared on his wrinkled lips.

“…I see. Thank you.”

The servant answered in a much lighter voice, as if all his long-standing worries had been shaken off.

The servant, whose expression had become more composed, knocked neatly on the door of the office.

A regular knock sounded in the quiet hallway.

“Count, I have brought you Captain Laius de Winfried.”