Betrayal Knight's Joyful Faith

Chapter 319

“…”King Nephele and Crown Princess Isabella, who they had not seen in a long time, did not look very happy.

It was partly because something unexpected and enormous had happened at home, but there was another, more fundamental problem at hand.

It was mainly because of Lexion standing right next to Arendt.

“It’s okay. He’s a bit of a ferocious dragon, but he doesn’t bite.”

As soon as the apprentice knight spoke that out loud, the faces of the King and Isabella turned even paler.

Lexion asked bewilderedly.

“Who are you treating like a dog right now?”

“Haaah…”

Laius sighed deeply, unable to bear the shameful act of gagging an apprentice knight’s mouth in front of the king.

“I’m sorry. You can just ignore what he says. I received the message from Your Majesty and came to provide support in a hurry. I am Laius de Winfried, the Captain of the Third Knights of the Imperial Order of the Caerleon Empire. It is an honor to meet you again.”

“Yes, yes. It must have been hard to come this far.”

The King, who had barely regained his composure, answered Laius.

But his tense gaze was still fixed on Lexion.

The same was true for Isabella.

Lexion met her eyes and smiled.

“It’s been a long time, Princess. Oh, you are the Crown Princess now.”

“…It’s been a long time, Dragon Lexion.”

Isabella hesitated for a moment, then bowed her head again in greeting.

“I heard that you were staying in the Caerleon Empire. But I didn’t know that you would actually come with them. Moreover……”

It seemed like he was quite close to Arendt.

Isabella swallowed her words.

The relationship between the young apprentice knight and the dragon Lexion could not be called a good one.

One day, Lexion suddenly appeared in the Nephele Kingdom, pretending to be a member of the Evil Cult, and attempted to kill Arendt by manipulating Alois.

However, Lexion failed miserably and was forced to retreat from the kingdom after losing his toy, Alois.

Just looking at that, Arendt and Lexion had to have a terrible relationship.

Lexion, who easily guessed what Isabella wanted to say, burst into laughter.

“That’s just how the world works. We’ve decided to move together for the time being, so just know that.”

“Yes, I understand. I was being presumptuous.”

Isabella bowed deeper, then straightened up again.

This time her gaze fell on Arendt.

Even with the King, the Crown Princess, and the dragon in front of him, the apprentice knight showed no sign of nervousness at all.

An ambiguous voice came from Isabella.

“Sir Arendt… seems a little different from last time.”

Arendt had stayed at the Nephele palace for a while with Laius and his party and Llewellyn on their way to the Elf Kingdom.

Even then, Arendt was a rather striking young man.

She still vividly remembered the King praising him for a long time, saying that he was a truly beautiful young man with a distinguished appearance and knightly conduct.

But Arendt today…

“I guess it’s just my imagination.”

Nodding one’s head arrogantly while maintaining only the bare minimum of courtesy did not look desirable to anyone.

There was no sign of any reverence for royalty in his haughty expression, like a young master who had grown up without being chastised.

Even in his relaxed posture, he still had a subtle, carefree demeanor, but that doesn’t mean he was completely disheveled.

“Is it because he’s in a bad mood?”

“…I’m sorry, Your Highness. Please excuse me for a moment.”

Laius finally quietly raised his hand in response to Isabella’s doubtful question.

.

“Ah!”

Arendt bent down, clutching the back of his head.

Laius, who had easily subdued him, bowed his head towards the King and Crown Princess.

“It is my fault for not teaching him well. Instead, I apologize, so please be generous with your understanding.”

“…”

Lexion clicked his tongue as he looked at the pitiful sight.

“Looks like you were pretending to be quite modest.”

“Ugh, seriously. That’s not pretending, that’s called acting.”

“Shut up. You’re embarrassing, so please be quiet.”

Laius snapped back at Arendt’s grumpy response, rubbing the back of his head.

Isabella, who had been watching the three people bickering, simply gave up on understanding.

In the end, Laius lightened the mood by hitting Arendt on the back of the head again.

“First of all, I would like to express my regret for the unfortunate incident that occurred in the Nephele Kingdom. As His Highness the Crown Prince has commanded, I will do my best to secure the remaining survivors and eliminate the enemy.”

“…Thank you for coming again, Captain Laius. I owe His Highness a great favor.”

The king, who had barely come to his senses, nodded.

“I heard that something big happened in the Empire, and I apologize for causing you unnecessary trouble.”

“No. It’s something I should do as a knight.”

When Laius answered calmly, a slight strangeness appeared in the king’s eyes.

“Truly, your spirit befits a hero chosen by Lord Luce.”

“You are too kind. We have heard of the situation. As we suspect, the culprit is a dragon belonging to the Evil Cult.”

Laius, who humbly accepted the compliment, continued speaking.

“In a few hours, the remaining men, Prince Llewellyn, and the Fog Forest Elf reinforcements will arrive. After joining them, I would like to head straight to the scene.”

“Would you mind if I asked you one small question, Captain?”

Isabella, who had been listening quietly, cautiously intervened.

“Of course. Go ahead.”

“It’s been exactly four days since we sent a message to the Empire. I clearly heard that you were leaving the palace, but how did you arrive so quickly?”

“There is a good means of transportation called Lexion…”

Just as Arendt was about to intervene, Laius, moving faster than light, covered his mouth.

“…”

“Lexion helped us by using teleportation magic.”

Because there were quite a lot of people and the distance was quite long, it was impossible to move everyone at once, so Lexion had to go back and forth several times to transport all those people.

Thanks to that, they were able to move quickly and comfortably, but the knights who were caught between Lexion, who was upset at being treated as a convenient means of transportation, and the apprentice knight who kept on provoking people could not help but break out in cold sweat.

“We were afraid that the royal family would be surprised if so many people suddenly barged into the palace, so we left the rest of the people outside and entered the palace first.”

Although Laius tried to explain in the best possible terms, the faces of the king and Isabella were already blank as a sheet of paper.

Lexion grumbled in annoyance.

“I helped you because you said it was urgent, but I won’t help you when you return, so know that.”

“Phew! How mean…”

Arendt, who had barely managed to shake off Laius’ hand, began to grumble again.

Laius covered his mouth again.

“I’m sorry for always showing you this kind of behavior.”

“…It’s okay.”

The King looked at the hero of the Holy Sword, who was busy disciplining his subordinate, and the dragon, who was constantly arguing with the apprentice knight.

A word full of sincerity flowed out of the old king’s mouth.

“His Highness Cantares must be having a really hard time.”

“…”

Laius couldn’t bring himself to answer that.

A while later, as Laius had foretold, the rest of the party, including Prince Llewellyn, arrived.

The sight of the Third Imperial Knights and the Fog Forest Guard led by Instructor Zakar lined up side by side in the palace square was quite a sight.

“The Crown Princess will be accompanied by the Royal Knights and she can take care of herself, so don’t worry too much.”

“Thank you for your consideration.”

Laius bowed deeply to King Nephele.

“No. It happened within our kingdom, and since you came running here so quickly, I should be the one thanking you.”

The King spoke seriously and patted Laius on the shoulder.

“This time, I am in a position to receive help, but the Nephele Kingdom will also be with you whenever the opportunity arises.”

“Just your words are enough to give me strength.”

“Lord Luce will always be with you Captain Laius, and may your future be filled with light.”

Laius paused at the kind blessing.

But before Laius could respond, a voice of displeasure suddenly cut in from behind.

“Let’s get going. There’s no time to waste.”

“…”

The warm atmosphere of exchanging pleasantries was shattered in an instant.

Lexion, who had been watching quietly from a step back, began to giggle quietly.

Laius, who was tired of pointing it out any longer, simply ignored Arendt and Lexion.

“I’ll be leaving now. I’ll report back as things progress.”

“…I wish you good luck.”

The king also pretended not to hear Arendt’s words and turned away.

The troops, including the royal knights, left the palace in unison under the command of Laius and Isabella.

As an apprentice knight, Arendt should have been at the back of the procession, but he rode his horse and naturally went to the front.

“Your Highness, I have a question.”

“Let’s talk comfortably.”

Instead of focusing on etiquette, Isabella simply gave permission to speak comfortably.

“Who is the lord of the territory that was recently scorched?”

“You mean Count Motier?”

Isabella’s brow furrowed slightly as if recalling a memory.

“As you may have heard, Count Motier’s domain was a quiet and secluded place. The Count himself was not particularly interested in personal gain, and spent his entire life focusing on taking good care of his people.”

The old Count’s primary concern was to make life easier for his subjects.

“The countess and her daughter, too, were said to be unfamiliar with luxury and simply had gentle dispositions. Though I’ve never met Count Motier or any of his household in person, not even once.”

“The entire household of Count Motier is missing as well, right?”

“Yes, everyone in that territory disappeared like melting snow.”

Isabella nodded with a stern face.

“It was lucky the steward was out of the office at that moment. Otherwise, he would have ended up in the same situation.”

“Hmm.”

When Arendt nodded vaguely, this time Isabella asked.

“I think this information has already been provided. Is there a reason why you are asking again?”

“It’s nothing. I just wanted to double check.”

Arendt spoke nonchalantly.

“I can’t guarantee that we’ll be able to safely rescue the people who disappeared. It wouldn’t be strange at all if they were completely melted to the bone by the dragon’s breath.”

“I guess so.”

Isabella nodded with a stern face.

“But even so, I will never back down. Even if the enemy is a dragon, I will not forgive those who harm the people of Nephele.”

“Your Highness, you are very brave. Would you fight the dragon yourself?”

Isabella’s face hardened involuntarily at the sarcastic words.

“If necessary, then so be it.”

“There’s no need. Even if the kingdom’s forces were weak, I don’t know if they would be able to raise their heads properly in front of the dragon.”

Isabella ended up frowning at the dry response.

“Sir Arendt, it is so rude of you to say this. There is not a single person here who has not risked their life.”

Isabella knew very well how fearsome dragons were, because there was a time when the royal family was toyed with by Lexion.

The same was true for the Royal Knights.

Yet they volunteered to go into the dangerous battlefield where they might have to face the dragon head-on.

The king, who sent his daughter out to the place where the dragon had visited, also held a similar determination as them.

“Well, I guess so. I don’t know if that’s meaningful though. Even if we raised our swords and charged at an angry dragon, I don’t know how many of them would be able to cut through its bones, including the Imperial Knights.”

But Arendt remained cynical.

Isabella became genuinely offended.

“Sir Arendt, I don’t know what the hell you’re trying to say.”

“It’s inevitable that I have to place myself in dangerous places because of my job. But since you and I and those people all do this to make a living, we have to make at least one way to save our lives.”

Isabella asked back, her annoyance clearly evident.

“A way to save our lives?”

Arendt shrugged.

“Yes, in times of emergency, we will let the dragons fight each other and then run away.”

“…”

“Lexion agreed. I had a really hard time trying to persuade him.”

Was that something a knight could say?

Isabella was left speechless.

Regardless, Arendt added, looking at her with indifferent eyes.

“Don’t just hang around nearby and get caught in the crossfire. Tell your subordinates about this in advance. Our people will probably figure it out.”

“Running away, huh? You always talk a good game.”

Laius grumbled full of dissatisfaction, but Arendt just ignored him.