Betrayal Knight's Joyful Faith

Chapter 405

“…Thank goodness you’re here. Please tell them to charge the expenses to me.”When Salem cautiously entered the room, Arendt was lying on the bed, talking to someone through the communication port.

-Yes, I understand. Please take good care of yourself. I’m glad you’re safe, but every time something like this happens, this old man’s heart nearly gives out.

Arendt glanced at Salem and nodded at him, indicating that he should take a seat.

“Don’t worry. I have no intention of dying until I’ve spent all the money I entrusted you, Lord Neumann.”

-Of course that’s what you should do. By the way, if something unfortunate happens to you, Sir Arendt, most of your assets will be inherited by Count Eckhart.

“…”

Arendt was about to say something, but pressed his lips shut. Not wanting to miss the moment, Neumann quickly continued.

-So, please take care of yourself. Please. I will make sure to take care of everything you asked. Please rest for now.

With those last words, Neumann was the first to hang up.

“Why is everyone nagging so much more as time goes by? Is the Lord getting older too?”

Arendt grumbled in bewilderment, staring at the darkened communication port. Salem, who had been silent for a moment, asked in surprise.

“…I know it’s a bit much to ask right after seeing you, but where on earth did you get that communication device?”

His sword, the communication device, and the Frosty Touch were confiscated by Laius. He knew Arendt would come looking for them as soon as he opened his eyes, ready to do his job.

In the end, Laius’ guess turned out to be exactly right…

“I slipped some money to the servant who came to put in the firewood and asked him. Honestly, what a bunch of clumsy fools.”

In the end, it seemed that they had failed to stop Arendt.

Salem couldn’t help but pull a displeased face at his shameless response.

“Still…”

But that only lasted for a moment, as Salem muttered and lowered his gaze.

“I’m glad you’re safe. I was really worried. Truly.”

He looked like a very dejected child, with his hands on his knees and unable to even make eye contact.

“In the end, I wasn’t any help at all. I feel like I only got in the way by stepping in for no good reason…”

Arendt didn’t respond, just staring blankly at him. Unaware of their master’s intentions, the two spirits simply fluttered innocently around the room.

“I should have just stayed in the camp with Prince Llewellyn, as Sir Arendt had said at first…”

Salem, who had been silent for a moment, lowered his head even more.

“Sorry.”

Even after Salem finished speaking, Arendt did not respond.

A heavy silence fell over the room.

The only sound was the occasional crackling of firewood in the fireplace, which kept burning hotly.

“So, I…”

Finally, unable to overcome the silence, Salem raised his head and met the golden eyes staring at him.

“…Why, why are you looking at me like that?”

Arendt, resting his chin on his hand, replied indifferently.

“I was just watching to see how far the little one could dig into the ground. Haven’t you already dug enough to bury someone your size?”

“Huh? No, I’m speaking seriously…”

“Or what, do you want to bury me?”

Salem protested, but Arendt responded sullenly, scratching his hear.

“It’s unfortunate, but as you can see, I’m still alive and well, so you don’t have to think about burying me just yet. Did you hate training that much? Even though you begged me to teach you.”

“Are you really making that kind of joke right now?”

Salem finally exploded in frustration.

The startled spirits flew up and settled on Salem’s shoulders again.

But Arendt remained as brazen as ever.

“It came out really well.”

“…”

Salem was left speechless. Arendt clicked his tongue as he watched him stare blankly into space.

“That’s pathetic. Hey. Did I teach you that?”

“Yes?”

Salem asked back in a dazed voice.

“I’ll only say it once. Listen carefully.”

Arendt leaned back against the pillow supporting his back and spoke:

“If it goes well, it’s because of me. If it doesn’t, it’s someone else’s fault.”

“…”

“I don’t know about you naive elves, but these are basic virtues you need to have to survive in the human world.”

Salem’s empty gaze wandered into space. Arendt just shrugged shamelessly.

“I never expected much from a kid in the first place. After all the trouble of calling you over, it’s more of a nuisance to have you fumbling around alone, apologizing and whatnot. It’s just a waste of time.”

“Ah…”

Hearing that, Salem quickly hung his head low once more.

“Yes… I’m sorry.”

“Did you even hear what I just said?”

Arendt let out a deep sigh, irritated.

“Come to think of it, the servant who ran the errand for me earlier…”

At the slightly softened voice, Salem quietly lifted his gaze. Arendt, his hair hanging messily, was casting an indifferent look in his direction.

“I heard the Royal Knights are looking for someone.”

“Yes?”

As Salem asked blankly, Arendt tilted his head.

“In the chaos where no one could even look after the person next to them, someone treated the injured. Thanks to that, there were quite a few lives saved.”

“…”

Arendt looked him straight in the eyes.

“Just as the battle was drawing to a close, they suddenly lost consciousness. When they woke up, someone had already carried the wounded to safety and administered first aid. Do you know anything about this?”

“…”

As he continued, Salem’s eyes grew wider. Without waiting for a response, Arendt added bluntly.

“That was foolish. How can you afford to worry about others on a battlefield where you can’t even predict what’s going to happen next? But…”

A voice, seemingly indifferent yet strangely compelling, continued clearly and distinctly.

“Thanks to that, many lives were saved. It would have been impossible if no one had been there.”

“…”

Salem blinked several times with a blank expression.

“Anyway, I heard that Captain Edgar is looking for that person. Since everyone passed out, they don’t even know who their savior is, and the entire Order is upset about it.”

Arendt said indifferently.

“Seeing as even a mere servant is asking me questions, it seems like there’s quite a bit of chaos… I can tell without even looking. You were so depressed you just stayed in your room, right? So how could you possibly know what was going on?”

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”

The subsequent blow brought Salem back to his senses. Then Arendt frowned.

“I told you not to apologize. It’s a waste of time. Where on earth did you hear otherwise?”

“Oh, that, sorry…”

Startled, Salem stammered out of habit, then quickly pressed his lips shut.

“Anyway, you didn’t do anything wrong. Or are you blaming me for dragging you here when you’ve only just begun learning swordsmanship and spirit magic?”

“Oh, no! That’s not possible.”

Salem let out a shocked gasp.

Arendt, arms crossed, said sullenly.

“Of course. I don’t make mistakes. I didn’t do anything wrong, so you didn’t do anything wrong either. Do you understand?”

As expected from someone like Arendt, it was a very shameless and arrogant statement.

Still, as he listened, it felt like the lump that had been clogging a corner of his heart was slowly dissolving.

As Salem nodded awkwardly, Arendt popped a snack into his mouth with a satisfied look on his face.

“Alright, let’s get back to the main point. How much do you remember? Senior Rider seemed to know nothing. You stayed silent about it too?”

“…I vividly remember the time I met you, Sir Arendt.”

Salem hesitated for a moment before speaking.

“I was accompanying that woman… I was heading to Sir Arendt, but from that moment on, my memory was cut off.”

“Why didn’t you report it?”

Salem hesitated for a moment before answering Arendt’s question.

“Well… I felt like I had to do that. I don’t even know what happened to Sir Arendt after that. Sir Rider doesn’t even seem to remember that person being with me.”

“Hmm.”

Arendt nodded.

The leader of the Evil Cult, the Saintess, who had been hidden behind a veil until now, had appeared in person.

Meanwhile, Salem had an intuition that he shouldn’t talk carelessly.

It was a decision Arendt quite liked.

“Tell me what happened inside the palace, from beginning to end. Tell me in as much detail as possible.”

Salem nodded quickly at the command.

Arendt sat quietly for a while listening to Salem’s story.

When Salem finished speaking, Arendt frowned and was briefly lost in thought.

“…Is there a problem?”

“No. That’s not it.”

When Salem asked cautiously, Arendt answered briefly.

After a moment of silence, Salem, who had been hesitating, spoke again.

“…Why did Luna and Ray follow that person so much?”

As Arendt raised his head, Salem continued speaking slowly.

“Spirits are pure beings, so they don’t get close to anything impure or evil. But that person…”

“It makes no sense for spirits to follow them since they are evil beings?”

Salem nodded with a slightly surprised look on his face.

“Yes.”

“It would be something that falls outside the definition of what you call unclean and evil.”

Arendt answered indifferently without looking at him.

“Even if people die from natural disasters, we don’t call that evil.”

“…”

“Besides, that woman has never directly harmed anyone.”

The spirits avoid beings with a strong scent of blood, but in the end, it was not Iris who wielded the sword, but the Sword of the Broken Heart that followed her.

‘Iris’ hands would never get dirty.’

In this damn world, God was nothing but nature itself.

It was not strange that the spirits, who were beings of nature, followed Iris, who had become closely related to the gods through several lives.

Salem looked down and muttered.

“Is that so…”

Crucially, Iris and Chernion could not be called absolute evil, just as Luce was by no means a just being.

Since Chernion and Iris were also part of the fabric of this world, the innocent spirits would not consider them evil.

But he had no intention of telling that to this troubled child.

Having a complicated mind was enough for him alone.

“They hate those guys, but they like Captain Laius. Maybe it’s because he carries the scent of a god.”

Arendt spoke decisively and then changed the subject.

“By the way… that’s how things turned out. Have you met Prince Llewellyn?”

“Yes. He has been eagerly waiting for Sir Arendt to wake up. The others feel the same way.”

Salem nodded bewilderedly.

Everyone was curious about what was happening inside.

“What about Captain Laius?”

“I don’t know for sure, but… I heard he warned everyone not to trouble Sir Arendt and that he still needs to rest.”

“Honestly, what meddlers.”

Arendt grumbled briefly and then fell into a light-hearted thought again.

‘I think there needs to be some kind of explanation.’

Salem was silent for a moment, but he couldn’t hide his curiosity.

Since it was such a large-scale accident, it could not be passed over with just a passing remark.

Furthermore…

He had no intention of going along with their schemes.

Arendt, having reached a conclusion, spoke again.

“Just stay quiet for the time being…”

“Yes?”

“Just say you don’t remember anything right now. Later, when the time is right, just blurt out something. I’ll take care of it.”

Salem, who had been dazed for a moment, suddenly sat up in shock.

“No, I don’t want to leave it all up to you, Sir Arendt! That’s not possible….”

“I meant don’t interfere, idiot.”

But Arendt cut him off mid-sentence.

“I have a funny idea.”

His golden eyes sparkled softly.

Even the corners of his mouth, which had been expressionless all along, subtly curved into a playful smile.

“Kid, just stay out of it. The adults will take care of the rest.”

“…”

Salem, who was about to say something, just stayed silent.

It was because he had a gut feeling that if he interfered, he would get into big trouble.