Betrayal Knight's Joyful Faith

Chapter 301

It was almost dawn when Laius returned to the dormitory.In order not to wake the knights who had keen senses, Laius made as little noise as possible and headed to his office.

Except for the night shift guards, everyone else was in bed at this time, so the dormitory was completely quiet.

‘How pathetic.’

Laius scolded himself.

Lately, he’d been having a lot of trouble controlling his emotions.

Far from being a pillar of support in the confusing situation, he couldn’t even properly manage his emotions.

He was so ashamed that he couldn’t even face his subordinates.

Today was no different.

He stepped away for a while, hoping that some time alone might help clear his head, but it was pointless.

All it did was make him realize once again just how pathetic he was.

‘Should I go meet that guy tomorrow?’

Arendt must have had a lot to say as well.

He knew full well that avoiding things wasn’t the answer.

He didn’t know how long the patience of the hot-tempered guy would last, so it was better to confront him quickly before he exploded.

Laius, who was trying to calm his agitated mind and was about to grab the doorknob of the director’s office, hesitated.

“…Haaaaaah.”

A huge sigh followed.

It seemed like the bastard’s patience had already reached its limit.

After a brief pause, Laius finally swallowed and opened the door.

Then, a cold voice came from inside.

“What were you doing that you’re only coming back now?”

The intruder shamelessly sat down at Laius’ desk instead of the sofa for guests.

“…”

It wasn’t funny to see him looking this way with his chin propped up as if he had been there from the beginning.

What should he do with that insolent brat?

He was probably the only apprentice knight with the guts to sit in the captain’s seat, whether in the past or present.

Feeling a headache start to come on, Laius stood there for a moment and furrowed his eyebrows..

“First of all… move out of the way.”

“I don’t want to.”

He roughly expected that answer.

His head started to hurt in a different way than before.

Regardless of what he was doing on his own, this damn guy was just too consistent.

It was as if nothing happened.

‘He’s always been like this.’

After realizing that, Laius felt relieved.

“Your physical condition… at least visually, doesn’t seem too bad.”

“It’s as you can see.”

Arendt shrugged, sinking into the chair.

“I don’t know what Lexion did, but I feel lighter than before. I think I’ll be able to check it properly if I swing my sword, but where is it? I can’t even see the Frosty Touch.”

“I have them,” Laius answered calmly.

“The sword was badly damaged, so I had it repaired. I also asked Count Stadler to replace the magic stones.”

“Would it kill you to just put it back in my room? Why do you keep sneaking off with someone else’s sword lately?”

Even though the captain had personally taken care of the sword, the shameless apprentice knight did not show any sign of gratitude and just grumbled.

Laius, who had been staring at him blankly, spoke impulsively.

“It felt as if I were retrieving a memento of the deceased.”

“…”

Arendt’s voice suddenly stopped.

Laius stared at the apprentice knight with sunken eyes.

“I never want to go through that again.”

There was a long silence.

There was a lot to talk about and things to confirm, but Laius was unable to say anything for a long while.

It was because he wasn’t even sure if he had the right to speak first.

Arendt noticed a gloomy shadow pass across the captain’s blue eyes.

Even the tips of his fingers, hanging limply, were trembling slightly.

Looking at that sight made him feel a little dizzy.

‘It’s really messed up, damn.’

This was probably what Laius in “The Blue Knight of the Holy Sword” looked like.

Arendt also knew exactly what the cause was.

Arendt clicked his tongue inwardly and got up.

“I have some questions to ask you, Captain, and quite a few things to say.”

He stopped a few steps away from the captain.

“Let’s address one thing first.”

Arendt, standing directly facing Laius, wore the same indifferent expression as always— one that made it impossible to read his thoughts.

“I’ll only say this once, so listen carefully.”

“Okay.”

Laius answered calmly.

It was an expression that seemed ready to endure any amount of criticism.

But despite declaring it, it was Arendt who hesitated.

At that moment, Laius felt a little puzzled by the prolonged silence.

Arendt rubbed his face and avoided the captain’s gaze, muttering:

“Sorry.”

For a moment, Laius felt like he had been hit in the head with a hammer.

The captain, who was looking down at Arendt with blank eyes, asked in a stunned manner.

“Wait, wait a minute. What did you say?”

“I’m sure I said I’d only say it once.”

But like usual, all he got in return was a snarky answer.

These were words he never imagined would come out of Arendt’s mouth.

And in the current situation, it was even less likely to be heard.

“…”

Arendt looked up at the captain, whose face looked like it had been caught off guard by a surprise attack, and sighed deeply.

The captain looked even more out of it after the line he had finally delivered.

Arendt added, scratching his head in annoyance.

“Stop making that stupid face. It’s annoying.”

He knew full well that this was not like Arendt.

But since he had already made a huge mistake in his act, he thought it would be right to just move on from the uncomfortable parts.

It was true that his actions, which were inconsistent with his words, greatly shook Laius’ mentality.

“Don’t worry, I won’t do it again. It wasn’t a very pleasant experience for me either.”

Suddenly, he remembered the time when he confronted Roger in the Great Temple.

Laius was becoming unusually agitated from that time.

Arendt was also quite confused at the time, not knowing the reason for the captain’s agitation.

But now he thought he knew a little about why Laius was acting like that.

‘It was probably my fault too.’

Laius was anxious at the thought that he might not be able to guarantee the safety of his subordinates who were with him.

Laius, who had been listening blankly to Arendt’s indifferent voice, managed to open his mouth.

“Why…”

A cracked voice came out from his dry throat.

“Why are you apologizing? I’m the one who should be apologizing.”

Not only did he fail to act as a shield, but it was as if he had sacrificed someone who didn’t even pray to the gods.

He even showed a dazed look for a while, and to make matters worse, he ran away, avoiding the very person who had gone out of his way to find him.

Laus unconsciously clenched his fists.

“If I hadn’t acted so stupidly, this wouldn’t have happened. It’s the same for the situation in the palace right now. It’s all my fault.”

Laius spoke slowly, each word engraved into his heart.

“I should be the one apologizing, but I couldn’t even bring myself to do that, so I’ve been wasting my time. It’s also my fault that those words came out of your mouth. So…”

“Okay, that’s enough.”

Arendt cut him off.

“I’m dying from irritation from listening to you rambling on and on. Why do you talk so much? Try living a little more shamelessly, like me.”

Arendt waved his hand in annoyance, then stood with crossed arms.

“There are only two things you should apologize for, Captain. For making me wait until this hour, and for running away when I came to see you first.”

“…”

“The fact that such a stupid story spread throughout the palace, well. Honestly, I wanted to grab you by the collar, but you shut people’s mouths at the meeting yesterday, right? So I’ll let it slide this time.”

The way he added those words made it seem like he was doing a favour.

The strength gradually left Laius’ body as he listened blankly.

His tightly clenched fist suddenly unclenched.

The voice, unusually clear and piercing, continued to speak in a sharp, measured tone.

“It was my choice to do that, so I am the one responsible. It is not your place to interfere.”

It meant that it was presumptuous for Laius to feel indebted.

That was a very Arendt-like, extremely arrogant statement.

“So just say thank you and brush it off. I’ll keep you in debt for the rest of your life and exploit you as much as I want.”

Arendt responded coolly.

“So stop being so pathetic. I’m not dead yet, and I plan on living a long life. I’ve finally managed to survive.”

Laius became even more upset at the words of the young apprentice knight.

“…You’re really impossible.”

“Did you finally realize? You know I’ve always been like this.”

Arendt added, shrugging his shoulders.

After looking at him silently for a long time, Laius opened his mouth.

“Can I ask you something?”

It was a somewhat random question.

His blue eyes, which seemed to hold many words, turned to Arendt.

“As you know, I am weak. I am easily shaken and sometimes I cannot make objective judgments.”

“…”

Arendt, who was about to say something reflexively, closed his mouth again.

Laius looked straight at Arendt and continued speaking slowly.

“But can you still trust me as a captain and as the master of the Holy Sword?”

“…That’s a really funny question.”

Arendt frowned slightly as he responded irritably.

“Who else but you can lift that vicious thing? No one but someone as stupidly strong as you can handle it. And…”

The apprentice knight, who had paused for a moment, clicked his tongue and added:

“No one can say that the captain is weak. It would be another matter if you were called a fool though.”

Laius’ eyes widened slightly.

Arendt scratched the back of his neck and avoided the captain’s gaze.

“I have never once thought of you as weak.”

Whatever the will of that god was, there was only one person in the world fit to be the hero who would save the world: Laius.

“…”

Laius remained frozen in place for a while, unable to say anything.

Laius knew better than anyone that Arendt was sincere, because he was a guy who would nag or say mean things, but never say empty words.

Arendt didn’t say anything else either.

After a while, Laius slowly opened his mouth.

“I see.”

The stiff expression on his face relaxed, and a faint smile appeared on the captain’s lips.

“Arendt.”

“What.”

Arendt, who had been answering more harshly than usual, raised his head at the weight placed on his shoulders.

Before he knew it, Laius had taken a step closer and was placing a hand on his shoulder.

“Thank you. And I’m sorry.”

A calm voice was heard.

The shadow that had been cast over Laius’ eyes had already disappeared.

Arendt briefly considered striking the hand away, but quickly gave up.

Instead, Arendt looked up at him with a sullen look and demanded:

“Thank you. If you’re sorry, could you please give me back my sword?”

“That won’t do.”

Laius, who had been smiling until just now, became serious.

“You should rest for another week. I have a lot to tell you, but I’ll tell you about it next time. Today you should just go quickly and get some sleep. It’s getting late.”

“…”

Arendt looked slightly taken aback at the sudden change in expression.

He had a gut feeling that he wouldn’t be able to escape being watched for a while.