Betrayal Knight's Joyful Faith

Chapter 443

“Nice going.”At Arthur’s sarcastic remark, Richt averted his gaze once again.

“The two most seriously injured were completely exposed to the night dew? Were they delirious because they wanted to die?”

“…I’m sorry.”

As his junior continued to nag, Richt’s head lowered more and more.

Arthur suddenly woke up in the middle of the night and realized that Arendt, who was supposed to be in the same room as him, had not returned yet.

He looked around the dark barracks worriedly and soon realized that Richt was also gone.

As soon as he realized that the two had disappeared together, he felt the hairs on his body stand on end.

Given that they had been subtly steering clear of one another even before this, it was only to be expected.

“We almost ended up tearing apart the barracks from dawn searching for you all. Do you even realize that? I get that Arendt’s always been like that, but why are you, Senior, acting the same way?”

But Arendt, who had no way of knowing Arthur’s thoughts and who didn’t care even if he did, was still shameless.

“It’s not like I’m a lost dog. Why were you looking for me? You should be sleeping more instead of doing something useless like that.”

“It’s your fault, you little shit!”

In the end, Arthur lost his temper.

“If you’re going to leave, at least say something! There’s no telling when another fight might break out, and you suddenly disappear looking tattered and battered, of course I’m going to be shocked!”

“It’s so noisy I could die. When did Senior start acting like a dog?”

With Arthur loud yells and Arendt’s ear-piercing presence, things just kept getting worse.

“Listen to what your senior says, you little brat! Please, please, take some sleeping pills at night and get some rest!”

“I don’t give a damn. I’m not some slow weakling like you, Senior. Staying up a few nights doesn’t bother me.”

“I don’t care, damn it. Do you want to get beaten up by a slow weakling?”

“If you can, try it.”

Richt, who had been watching his two juniors with a complicated look on his face for a moment, made up his mind.

Just as he was about to take action, he paused.

A sudden knock cut through the commotion.

“Is Arendt there?”

Then Llewellyn’s voice was heard, and the door opened with a click.

“…”

Llewellyn, who witnessed the scene in the room, was momentarily speechless.

Llewellyn, who had been silent for a while, commented briefly.

“What a sight to behold.”

As Arthur, feeling embarrassed, slowly let go of their collars, Arendt grumbled something and began to straighten his clothes.

At that sight, Llewellyn became even more dumbfounded.

“Why does it seem like everyone’s losing it these days? Even you, Sir Richt?”

“…I’m sorry for showing you such an ugly side of myself. Your Highness, what’s wrong?”

Richt hurriedly changed the subject.

“I came to deliver news from the Explorers’ Union. Should I come back later? Want to finish?”

“Don’t even bother. Tell me.”

With just a few gestures, Arendt was instantly restored to his neat and tidy appearance.

Llewellyn, who was looking at the knights with pity, said:

“First, on the Nephele Kingdom side: Duke Middleton is going to battle, so Prince Louis and Princess Rieta are returning to the palace.”

Despite his advanced age, the Duke personally took to the front lines to protect the kingdom and his niece and nephews.

“I told the explorers there to just watch until they safely returned to the palace, then withdraw. What should Warren do?”

“If they return to the palace, His Majesty Victor will take care of it. Tell Warren to return to the Empire as well.”

Arendt, who had said that, thought for a moment and then added:

“Go to the Neumann Merchant Group and ask Lord Neumann to help you out.”

“Why him? Ah.”

Llewellyn, who had been asking absentmindedly, nodded.

“He could be a target. He’s actively involved with the Imperial Palace. And most importantly, he’s close to you.”

“There’s a one-in-a-million chance. If something goes wrong with the merchant group, we’ll have a lot of headaches.”

Neumann’s merchant group played a major role in this war, including supplying materials and gathering information.

The enemy would already be well aware of the status of the merchant group, so there was no harm in being cautious.

“How’s the enemy side?”

Llewellyn spoke in disbelief to Arendt, who asked nonchalantly.

“I can tell you, but… am I really supposed to be reporting this to you? Isn’t it usually the other way around?”

“If you’re feeling wronged, then be better than me.”

“Ugh, this is really annoying.”

Llewellyn grumbled briefly and continued.

“There’s been no unusual incidents, but the corpses around the castle disappeared overnight.”

“…Are you talking about the ghoul fragments?”

When Richt, who had been listening quietly, intervened, he nodded.

“You guys completely destroyed them, so they can’t really be called corpses. Anyway, the area around the walls was cleaned up overnight. My brother was talking to Captain Laius about that.”

“Most of them are so badly damaged that they can’t be reused. Why did they take them?”

Arthur frowned. Arendt, who had been thinking deeply, spoke.

“They can’t use them as soldiers again, but maybe they can use them as food for the ones that are still alive?”

“…”

The three who had been listening suddenly wore uncomfortable expressions.

Arendt furrowed his eyebrows as reproachful gazes turned towards him.

“Huh? What?”

“Please don’t say such horrible things so casually. I feel sick.”

“The prince of a kingdom is so weak.”

Arendt shrugged again, ignoring Llewellyn’s sullen remark.

“Then there’s a good chance Jiklin is still in that castle. I thought she might have escaped in the meantime.”

The carefree voice slowly began to take on a murderous edge.

“That’s perfect. She’s probably grinding her teeth too, so I doubt she’ll back out easily.”

“…”

When Arthur looked at Richt again with reproachful eyes, Richt just looked down at his feet.

Llewellyn, who had heard the general story of what had happened, simply smiled awkwardly.

Arendt said curtly.

“Let’s make this the topic of today’s meeting.”

He didn’t want to let her run wild on this stage.

“This will be her grave.”

A colder chill than the Frosty Touch seemed to flow from his golden eyes.

Because the atmosphere was so tense and ominous, no one dared to say anything else.

And then, shortly after, during the meeting, Arendt made his argument as he had announced before.

“While Jiklin is still here, we have a chance. We must kill her when we recapture the castle.”

The apprentice knight’s unusually clear voice filled the conference room.

“Jiklin isn’t the type to fight directly, so once she achieves her goal, she won’t be seen on the battlefield for a while. It might have been different in the past, but now she has Rita, who’s essentially her servant.”

Rita would take over the tasks that Jiklin had to handle on-site.

Laius also nodded and added.

“I agree with Arendt. If we let her go now, she’ll create another bizarre army of soldiers who will inflict great harm on our own forces.”

Thanks to her research, Chernion’s soldiers were growing stronger by the day. To prevent further damage, they had to stop Jiklin now.

Ludwin, who had been listening quietly, began to speak.

“But isn’t it possible that Jiklin could escape during the battle? I understand that the Chernion Cult’s senior members can teleport freely thanks to the dragon’s power.”

Besides, Jiklin wasn’t the kind of person who would risk her life to remain on the battlefield, so it was clear that she would run away the moment she realized she was in danger.

“Making killing her the top priority seems somewhat reckless. We might fall into chaos if we recklessly pursue her. Isn’t that too great a risk to take?”

“You are right. But…”

Laius trailed off and looked at Arendt who was standing behind him.

As always, no emotion could be read from his indifferent face, but Laius could tell.

That guy was already ready to speak.

‘Three, two.’

“Chaos, huh…”

As soon as he finished counting the numbers in his head, the jaws of disaster opened.

“If avoiding chaos means just cutting down scarecrows stitched from corpse fragments with the Hero of the Holy Sword, then so be it.”

For a moment, Ludwin blinked blankly as if he had heard a hallucination.

But Arendt was not kind enough to wait until he understood.

“They say a lion gives its all, even when hunting rabbits. If we only chase rabbits, we’ll be comfortable and happy. The captain could sweep away enemies by the handful even while half asleep.”

“…”

If things get even a little bit unfavorable, Jiklin will run away, so she can’t cause any more trouble here.

“After chasing them out so half-heartedly, why don’t we just gather the heads of the lord and knights hanging from the castle walls and hold a grand funeral? They’d be so thrilled to have ‘retaken’ the castle.”

“No, what I mean is…”

Ludwin tried to refute him, but Arendt didn’t give him a chance.

“Meanwhile, the enraged elf will hide in a safe place, creating strange monsters from the people the dragon has kidnapped. And the enemies will grow stronger with each passing day. But that’s not your concern, Your Highness. The hero Laius de Winfried will take care of it.”

“…Your words and actions are a bit harsh, Sir Arendt.”

Ludwin warned, his expression hardening.

But Arendt did not stop.

“Didn’t you say we should move cautiously to avoid confusion? This place is already chaos. The fact that I, an apprentice knight, am speaking rudely to the prince is already chaos. So why are you suddenly talking about finding a safe path? This is absurd.”

“So are you confident that you can deal with Jiklin here?”

Eventually, Ludwin’s voice grew sharp.

“Of course, I understand that someone has to do it. I also agree that this might be the last chance. But what I want to discuss are the practical aspects, Sir Arendt.”

His voice, holding back his anger, revealed a coolness quite different from Llewellyn’s.

“You know better than I do that they are impervious to persuasion and threats. Naturally, the area surrounding Jiklin is guarded by the strongest ghouls.”

To attack Jiklin, they had to be eliminated first.

“The moment we gain the upper hand, that woman will vanish like smoke. The instant your sword points at her, Jiklin will undoubtedly teleport away… The enemy will be summoned endlessly.”

Arendt listened quietly without offering any rebuttal.

That attitude seemed to grate on him further, as a growing anger became apparent in Ludwin’s voice.

“Jiklin will escape, and those who ultimately target her will inevitably fall into a trap and end up in danger. Am I wrong, Sir Arendt?”

“Tsk.”

Arendt clicked his tongue briefly.

The moment the insolent eyes fixed directly on the prince, Ludwin frowned as their gazes met.

“That’s why those brought up too well just don’t cut it. Why are you so fixated on doing things by the book?”

A very ‘Arendt-like’, twisted line came out.

Llewellyn, who had been watching with rapt attention, parted his lips.

“Why is that bastard’s judgment so twisted…?”

It was several times more provocative than usual.

The victim was Ludwin, who had to bear the full brunt of that temper.

“It seems like you still haven’t quite grasped who is here.”

Arendt nodded to Laius, who was sitting in front of him.

“This person is the Empire’s greatest swordsman, and damn it, was chosen by the Almighty God himself…”

Just as Ludwin froze in shock at the unimaginable blasphemy, Arendt added.

“I’m someone bold enough to shamelessly say this to Your Highness. As I mentioned earlier, Jiklin is unlikely to leave the place before achieving her goal. That’s why now is our chance.”

Jiklin’s goal was to take revenge on Arendt.

She had been screwed over countless times and was boiling with anger at her failure to kill him.

“I’ve tolerated it as much as I can. Just the thought of breathing the same air as that bastard is starting to make me sick.”

“…”

“It’s my job to hold that bastard back. So…”

Arendt, flashing a pointed smirk, delivered a cutting remark to the prince, who was watching him in bewilderment.

“This isn’t something Your Highness should be concerned about.”