Betrayal Knight's Joyful Faith

Chapter 339

The next day, after leaving the cleanup to Isabella, the Imperial Knights hurried to prepare for their return as early as possible.But Arendt, facing his seniors that morning, had a feeling that it would not be easy.

“…No, I was the one who went through all the trouble, so why do you all look like you’re dying?”

At the meal gathering, Arendt scolded those who were sprawled across the table, looking like they were about to die.

Then Glenn opened his eyes.

“It’s because we pushed ourselves too hard, afraid of ending up like meat sliced by a dragon’s claw, you bastard.”

It wasn’t easy to directly accept the energy of an angry dragon with a human body.

On top of that, ever since Nikephoros had barged in, Arendt had pushed his body to the limit to avoid being held back by the ghouls, to the point where his muscles were now aching.

But Arendt was merciless.

“How pathetic. It’s all a mental issue.”

“What the hell are the real ghosts doing, not taking that damn bastard away?”

Rider immediately started cursing.

Proper posture and speech habits were also essential qualities for a knight, but now no one in the Third Order cared about such things.

They were showing the utmost chivalry by not releasing that damn apprentice knight into the open.

“You can’t become a knight and expect such things from ghosts. You have to get what you want yourself.”

“Okay, I’ll take care of you with my own hands soon, so just know that.”

“If you can, try it. If even a dragon can’t do it, what can a senior like you do?”

Arendt, who gave a cheeky reply to the growling Glenn, began eating diligently.

The same thought crossed the minds of the knights who looked at him.

‘Damn it.’

Arthur, with a face that looked like he was dying of exhaustion, appeared in front of Arendt.

Arendt frowned as he skillfully put the sausage in his mouth with his injured hand.

“What? Why does your face look like that again, Senior?”

“It’s because of you, bastard.”

Arthur gave a similar answer as the others.

Arendt shrugged his shoulders as if he didn’t understand and continued eating.

Arthur glanced at him, sighed deeply, and began shoving his share of food into his mouth.

‘Arendt doesn’t seem to have noticed yet.’

Arthur had a gut feeling that his seniors were having trouble sleeping for the same reason as him.

Everyone was paying attention to Nikephoros’ words, which he thought he alone had heeded.

‘I think everyone vaguely thinks it’s a curse.’

Because they didn’t know much about the deal between Arendt and Lexion.

But it seemed that they still had trouble sleeping because they seemed so tired.

In the midst of all this, as he saw Arendt with a normal expression on his face, his frustration boiled inside.

What made it even more frustrating was that he couldn’t tell if he was really okay or not just by looking at his face.

But since he couldn’t catch the guy and question him, Arthur could only widen his eyes and glare at his junior.

“…Is it delicious?”

That line translated would mean something like, “Is it going down your throat right now?”

But Arendt still didn’t care.

“It’s delicious. Maybe because it’s a coastal area, there are a lot of seafood dishes, so I like it.”

“Eat a lot, okay?”

Eventually Arthur gave up and started eating.

Arendt looked at Arthur coldly as he cut the fish fillet with sauce on it.

‘Honestly, they’re just too quick-witted.’

Contrary to what Arthur had assumed, Arendt had already easily guessed the reason why they were tired.

‘I was afraid this would happen, so I tried not to meet Nikephoros in front of other people.’

If Llewellyn hadn’t noticed, he would have lured Nikephoros away and tried to deal with him alone as much as possible.

Nikephoros was a more experienced dragon than Lexion, so it was obvious that he would sense that the gods were paying attention to him.

But Arendt had no choice but to change his plans because he felt that Llewellyn would not stay still if he suddenly disappeared alone.

Even if he was dragged somewhere, he thought he could somehow resolve it since he was in a state where he was imbued with Lexion’s magic power.

As long as he carried magic like a ticking time bomb, Lexion would’ve been able to track his location no matter where he went.

Of course, if that had happened, it wouldn’t have ended with just one hand being broken.

‘That damn dragon… he should have just gone away quietly instead of talking nonsense.’

He felt a little upset.

Of course, he had no intention of explaining anything to them.

It was enough for Laius to be the special one on this stage.

The knights also seemed to be too busy being cautious to ask anything right away, so it seemed like there would be no problem if he pretended not to know for the time being.

The problem was that Arthur seemed to have gotten better at controlling his facial expressions these days, but Arendt decided to just ignore him.

‘Like he’s anything special.’

Looking at his appearance, it seems like he has no intention of digging into this or that.

Arthur noticed Arendt’s gaze and raised his head displeasedly.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“It just struck me how ugly you are.”

“Do you really want to die?”

“If you can, try it.”

Arendt swallowed the last bit of fish, shrugging off the familiar threat.

“Where’s the Captain?”

“Before leaving, he is discussing separately with Her Highness the Crown Princess how the Nephele Kingdom will participate in the war. Prince Llewellyn also joined the meeting.”

Arthur answered faithfully, though grumbling.

The Nephele Kingdom was quite far from the Caerleon Empire compared to the Everan and Lucain Kingdoms.

In addition, as the power structure between Alois and Isabella changed, their military power was also significantly weakened.

This was because there were quite a few who followed Alois, who had ambitions of conquering the Elf Kingdom. But when Alois was stripped of his title and exiled, they too were swept away in a major purge, leaving the forces significantly weakened.

So it was unreasonable for the Nephele Kingdom to come to the forefront.

“Well, I can guess roughly what direction Her Highness will take in the battle.”

Arendt nodded roughly.

The Nephele Kingdom is adjacent to the Elf Kingdom, so if the Nephele Kingdom cooperates, the connection between the Elf Kingdom, the Caerleon Empire, and the continent will become smoother.

And above all, Isabella took an interest in the abandoned Chernion believers.

She seemed eager to restore those who had lost their memories and were going crazy back to their original selves.

The Empire, which was busy fighting right now, had no time to research that area, so it would certainly be helpful if Isabella took charge of that part from the rear.

They are just ordinary people, and it was not possible to execute them all just because they were deceived by the sweet talk of a cult.

Even after the war ends, this world will keep on turning anyway.

‘The end…’

Arendt put down his fork.

No matter what he did, he was determined to make the ending turn out the way he wanted.

“Is your hand okay?”

Arthur, who was munching on his meal, suddenly asked.

“It’s not okay. In that sense, please write my report for me.”

“…Are you serious?”

As Arthur’s expression turned sour, Arendt nodded shamelessly.

“Of course I’m being honest. Can’t you see that my right hand looks like this? And if you don’t write the report properly this time, Count Stadler will personally come to the palace and arrest you. If you don’t want to get in trouble again, you’d better write it properly from the beginning.”

Arendt slightly raised his voice as if to make sure everyone could hear. At that, the knights who had their heads down and were focused on their meals flinched and tensed up.

It seemed like everyone had a rough time at Count Stadler’s laboratory.

“You’re going to classify the monsters by type and distribute them as data to your allies, so whether they’re homunculi, ghouls, or chimeras, remember as much as you can about the ones you’ve faced and write about them in detail.”

“Oh my gosh! There were more than one or two of them, how can you remember them all?”

Finally, Rider, unable to bear it any longer, got up from his seat and started to scream. But Arendt didn’t even pretend to hear his protest.

“It’s all because you’re stupid, senior. Why don’t you remember? If you’ve ever faced them, you should at least remember them.”

“Damn, you remember each and every one of them?”

“Yes. You don’t?”

At Arendt’s response, Rider was left speechless. Glenn clicked his tongue in front of him.

“You should take it up with the person who’s responsible.”

“…”

“Besides, the Count wouldn’t say anything if Arendt misses a page or two of the report. Count Stadler favours him.”

That was also true.

Rider groaned and banged his head on the table.

“What a truly unlucky bastard.”

“You should speak properly. I am competent, so it is natural for me to be treated specially, and the senior who can’t even write a single report properly is an idiot.”

Rider growled at Arendt’s spiteful reply.

“Arthur, just smack that kid in the back of the head.”

“Sorry, but it’s difficult for me too. Wouldn’t it be better if you handled it yourself, senior?”

But Arthur drew a sharp line.

Eventually, Rider exploded in anger.

“Why are kids these days so shameless?”

“Being old is not something to be proud of. You should be more open-minded. Be more mature.”

Arendt sowed the seeds of war with one hateful sentence.

“Hey, you come out here right now. Let’s have a go!”

“If you can, try it. I don’t know if there’s anything to be proud of if you beat an injured apprentice knight, but if you lose, you’ll probably feel a bit embarrassed.”

Starting with Rider’s outburst, the restaurant, which had been quiet, suddenly became noisy as people joined the argument one by one.

And Richt, who had accompanied Laius to the conference room and then came back to have a leisurely meal, witnessed this entire scene.

“…”

Richt, standing at the entrance of the restaurant, looked at his juniors with complicated eyes.

“…They’re full of energy today too.”

Even that lament did not seem to reach the knights.

It certainly wasn’t like this until recently.

The way they fought and swore at each other was something that even mercenary groups wouldn’t do.

And the apprentice knight, who was clearly the mastermind behind this situation, was leisurely leaving the place, leaving behind his bickering seniors.

“Haaah…”

Richt rubbed his temples. His head throbbed.

If Arendt used to be the only troublemaker, now it seemed like the entire Order had fallen under his spell.

Perhaps it was wise of Crown Princess Isabella to have arranged separate quarters for the Royal Knights.

‘I don’t even know what to do anymore.’

Eventually, Richt gave up even scolding him and chose to eat alone somewhere far from the others.

It was their last day at Marquis Raytar’s house in the Nephele Kingdom.