Betrayal Knight's Joyful Faith

Chapter 342

“…Well, that’s not wrong either.”Llewellyn, whose face had slightly hardened, nodded slowly.

“They want to overthrow God Luce right now. If it’s for the sake of completely ruling the world… They don’t even want it to be known that God Luce and God Chernion were equal beings.”

“Well, it’s just one possibility.”

Arendt waved his hand dryly.

“Based on the clues we’ve found so far, it seems possible. Don’t be certain that it’s the truth, just keep that in mind.”

“You do know right? Every time you talk like that, it never ends up just being a guess.”

Llewellyn, who had been glaring at him with unkind eyes, changed the subject.

“Did you hear anything from Lexion? How can you say with such certainty that the two gods were of equal rank?”

“Well, I’ve heard a few things. It’s true that there was a time when the two gods weren’t at odds. I confirmed that part with Lexion.”

“Why do you say that so casually?”

Llewellyn immediately scolded him for his half-hearted response. But Arendt wasn’t someone who would be fazed by that.

“What’s wrong with talking about history that actually happened? If you’re going to say it’s blasphemous or whatever, save it. You know as well as anyone that I’ve got serious issues with those so-called gods.”

“…Yeah. Good for you.”

Llewellyn, who had finally given up on even arguing, threw himself on the sofa and leaned back.

“So… when you say the time, you’re talking about before the Great War?”

“Well, that’s right.”

Arendt gave a short answer.

Frustrated by his evasive attitude that offered no clear answers, Llewellyn pressed again.

“There was a time of peace, but then Chernion became evil and war broke out?”

“Well, that’s not certain either. It’s impossible to know who made the first move now.”

Although the tone was indifferent, it was a meaningful statement that could not be ignored. Llewellyn, who had been at a loss for words for a moment, suddenly came to his senses.

“No, wait. What does that mean?”

“It’s not like the winning side is always good. But it’s also nonsense to say that the losing side is always the victim.”

“…”

Llewellyn closed his mouth again.

Although it was an extremely correct statement in the world, it was difficult to get used to Arendt’s attitude of applying the same to God.

But the reason he could not simply dismiss those words as presumptuous blasphemy was because the speaker was Arendt.

‘Why is that guy so consistent?’

Llewellyn’s expression turned somewhat sour.

Despite having been saved by divine grace, Arendt’s irreverence toward the gods remained unchanged.

No, maybe it got worse after he recovered from his near-death experience.

‘A normal person would be repenting and rushing to the temple to offer a prayer of thanks, but not him.’

It was clear that there was something going on. Since he was such a mysterious guy, he probably wouldn’t give an easy answer even if you asked.

Llewellyn nodded, clicking his tongue inwardly.

“…Alright, fine. I’ll keep that in mind during the investigation. But seriously, this is getting out of hand. It’s hard enough to have uncovered relics from the Great War era, and now we’re talking about traces from even before that.”

It was the kind of story that would make any curiosity-driven explorer lose their mind.

Llewellyn, too, felt a strong temptation as an explorer, separate from a believer. But…

“To be honest, it feels like I’m touching a powder keg that shouldn’t be opened. It feels like it could explode if I touch it wrong.”

When Llewellyn hesitated for a moment and muttered uneasily, Arendt rested his chin on his hand and responded bluntly.

“Since we’ve already discovered it, wouldn’t it be more fun to blow it up?”

“…Is that really what you want to say right now?”

Arendt, as always, paid no attention.

“How many times have I told you that if you get too serious, you’ll lose. Why are you hesitating so much, unlike yourself? If you’re worried about having no openings, you should deliberately create chaos. That way, you’ll have something to gain.”

“Seriously, that temper of yours…”

Llewellyn shot him a blatantly exasperated look.

“As I said before, it’s strange that you say such things so casually. And who was hesitating? It’s normal to need that much determination before going on an adventure.”

“If you find it too difficult, leave.”

Arendt shrugged.

“That would be much better than just making things worse by acting up.”

“Enough. Who’s backing out? If not me, then who else is going to do this kind of work?”

Llewellyn snapped harshly, then gave up on arguing further and let out a deep sigh. He felt foolish for getting worked up in the first place.

“Anyway, I’ll dig a little deeper into the identity of that underground structure. I told my subordinates that it was just a relic from the war-era, so don’t worry. As for the report I’ll give to His Highness the Crown Prince…”

“I’ll organize and deliver the reports myself, so you just focus on the analysis. The explorers are probably sending updates constantly as we speak. Filter out the useful stuff and send it to me right away. And if you notice anything suspicious, be sure to let me know.”

Arendt cut him off. Llewellyn frowned.

“Well, that’s true. Aren’t you busy? You have a lot of other things to do besides this.”

“What can I do? It’s my fault for being so great.”

“Ah, I knew you’d say that.”

Llewellyn stood up, grumbling irritably.

“Please note that we will send information to the Neumann Merchant Group under the name of the Explorers’ Union. The same information will also be sent to the Khan Union.”

“Okay.”

“No matter how busy you are, remember to sleep.”

Finally, Llewellyn left the room, not forgetting to give a curt reprimand.

.

After the door closed, Arendt pressed his hands against his puffy eyes.

“It’s a powder keg that must not be opened…”

Arendt’s monologue flowed out of his mouth, his smile gone.

It was clear that even the free-spirited Llewellyn had to speak cautiously, proving just how serious the matter was.

‘That’s only natural.’

Because he had lived his entire life in a world where the god Luce was established as absolute good, it was rather amazing that he accepted his words as if they were nothing.

‘We also need to think of a way to release the information naturally.’

Blowing up the powder keg to create chaos was welcome, but without careful preparation, their own side would end up suffering the backlash.

It was necessary to prepare for all possible scenarios, time it precisely, and explode it on a scale that was neither too weak nor too strong.

Only then can they use that powder keg as a special effect that helps the flow of the script.

‘The moment there is even a slight error, it becomes a major accident.’

The moment even the slightest mistake is made, it would be irreversible.

“This is such a headache, seriously.”

He stretched to clear his cluttered mind, but his stiff body showed no sign of loosening up.

He leaned back on the sofa and saw the ceiling of the quarters that had become so familiar to him.

‘Captain Laius…’

A thought occurred to him.

At that time, what kind of conversation did he have with God Luce? The last thing he saw was Laius pouring out his resentment towards Luce.

However, as a result, Laius obtained the Holy Sword and returned safely.

‘Did he willingly accept the position of hero to save the world? Or did the cunning god have another deal in store for him?’

In any case, it was certain that the Laius and Caerleon Empire were in the palm of God Luce’s hand.

Llewellyn probably didn’t know that the powder keg he was talking about was so big that it could blow up the entire world if he was not careful.

Arendt was willing to ignite that powder keg when the time came.

To break the wrists of the gods who try to dominate the stage and behead the arrogant monster who claims to be the supreme god.

Perhaps, at that moment, it would not be the Chernion Cult but Captain Laius and the Third Knights who stand in his way.

That’s when Arendt would truly fulfill his role as a traitor.

“…That’s an interesting script, too.”

Contrary to the natural flow of his monologue, there was no smile on Arendt’s lips.

“…”

As he lay there, slowly blinking, he began to feel sleepy.

It was because he hadn’t been able to sleep properly at night for a while.

‘Let’s take a break.’

Arendt sat back on the sofa and closed his eyes.

His eyelids, which had fluttered a few times, finally closed completely, and silence settled over the room. The strength drained from his hands resting loosely on his lap, his body slowly relaxed, and steady breaths escaped.

Just as his consciousness was about to sink completely beneath the surface of sleep…

An eerie sensation came over him, as if he was being sucked into an abyss.

“…!”

Arendt opened his eyes with a start and soon his eyes met with Arthur’s, who was standing awkwardly.

Arthur asked, bewildered.

“What, huh? Why are you so surprised? Weren’t you sleeping?”

“…”

Arendt couldn’t respond right away, but just blinked a few times.

His heart was pounding rapidly against his will.

“When did you get in?”

“No, just now… I was only trying to turn off the light and leave.”

A sheepish reply came back from Arthur.

It felt like about 30 minutes had passed while he was napping.

Although it wasn’t yet time for the sun to completely set, the room was a little darker than before.

Arthur had just turned off the lamp on the desk, moving slowly in case he woke him.

Arendt slowly clenched his fist and then clicked his tongue in annoyance.

That amount of movement was enough to calm his breathing.

“Who do you think I am, someone dull like you, senior? Of course I’d be startled if I sensed someone moving while I’m asleep.”

After a while, Arendt’s typical lines came out naturally.

“Senior, why are you doing this in someone else’s room?”

“It’s dinner time, but you didn’t show up, so I came to check on you. What was I supposed to do? Since you’re finally getting some sleep, I was going to turn off the lights and leave. Ugh, you’re a sensitive bastard.”

Arthur, who felt embarrassed for no reason at the scolding, responded grumpily.

“If you’re awake, let’s go eat. Eat your meal and get some proper sleep, you idiot. How many nights have you been up? All that effort I put into writing your report, and it was all for nothing.”

“Unlike my senior who has nothing much to do, I am a person who has a lot to do.”

Arendt responded nonchalantly and got up from the sofa without any hesitation.

Then, as if he had just woken up from a deep sleep, he yawned and stretched.

“Let’s go get something to eat. After eating, I’ll go to the training ground and stretch my body a bit. My head is going to hurt if I hold on to a piece of paper all day.”

“You should have gotten some sleep. Lord Salem was waiting for you anyway. He said he learned something new from Lord Lexion today and that he wanted to show it to you.” Follow current ɴᴏᴠᴇʟs on novelhall.com

“Seriously, that kid is such a pain.”

Arendt grumbled as if he was annoyed, put on his uniform coat over his shirt, and tied up his slightly disheveled hair.

His fingertips holding the hair tie were cold.

Cold sweat was dripping down the back of his pale neck, but Arendt just ignored it.

“Let’s go. I’m hungry.”

He had no intention of letting something so trivial hold him back from acting.