Betrayal Knight's Joyful Faith

Chapter 463

‘Should I say it’s still the same?’In the profound silence, Duke Lancelot quietly watched Arendt.

‘Or should I say it has changed?’

The image of Arendt being dragged out of the underground prison in a disheveled state, glaring at him in the courtroom, still lingered vividly in his mind.

Arendt was overly provocative, both then and now.

‘That must have been a calculated move.’

Because if he didn’t provoke anyone, no one would listen to him.

His ability to skillfully draw attention and steer the conversation to the topic he wanted with eloquent speech was just the same as ever.

‘If anything has changed…’

Unlike back then when things were extremely precarious, things now seemed quite stable.

Far from stopping him as he hurled insults at the gods and nobles, the Third Knights and Laius were glaring fiercely, as if daring anyone to lay a finger on Arendt.

That meant that they also agreed with Arendt.

‘The same goes for His Highness and His Majesty.’

Immediately after hearing the news, the Crown Prince displayed a clear sense of unease for a while. However, after Arendt returned and they spoke for quite some time, he seemed to change his mind.

The Emperor, who had been watching the situation with the eyes of someone watching an entertaining play, seemed to have no intention of interfering with the decisions made by the Crown Prince.

‘Well, this is something.’

Duke Lancelot swallowed a bitter smile.

The Duke, like other people in the Empire, would visit the temple and pray whenever there was an important or small event.

It was quite strange when he thought about it.

He didn’t really feel like stopping Arendt from talking nonsense.

‘Sir Arendt, then and now, is an incredibly dangerous being.’

And the most powerful weapon he had was not flowery words or shamelessness…

He hadn’t realized that it might be what moves people’s hearts.

“…The one being blasphemed is not sacred, you say.”

While the nobles were shocked by the provocative words, Lumiel, who had been silent for a long time, spoke softly.

“Of course, that refers to Lord Luce.”

But it was inevitable that her previously kind voice would begin to show some thorns.

“On what basis? The Caerleon Empire has long grown as a Holy Empire, under the grace of Lord Luce.”

“On what grounds do you claim that God Luce is a sacred being? The scriptures? Historical records? You mean those written entirely from Luce’s point of view?”

High Priest Lumiel, who was about to answer, closed her mouth.

“In the end, even that is nothing more than a false record manipulated to suit God Luce’s whims. Can that serve as evidence of Luce’s divinity?”

Arendt’s voice continued clearly.

“In this land called the Holy Empire, is there anyone who can objectively judge God Luce?”

“…Then, Sir Arendt.”

Lumiel, who had been watching him quietly, asked calmly.

“Do you believe you are in any position to pass judgment on Him, Sir Arendt? Will you deny the history and roots of the Empire itself, and feign ignorance of Lord Luce’s mercy, who restored your very life?”

“Let me make one thing clear.”

Arendt frowned.

“I never begged for my life. I simply threw myself into protecting Captain Laius. I don’t know anything about this so-called grace of the god Luce..”

“Hmm?”

“Of course, since I’ve come back to life, I do plan to spend the rest of my days giving both gods as much hell as I can.”

Arendt continued, glaring straight at the High Priest.

“Can you force money into the pockets of people passing by and tell them to obey you because you have shown them a favor?”

“…”

“You’d be lucky if you didn’t get beaten up for calling someone a beggar. What God Luce did to me was no different.”

Arendt’s eyes scanned the room again.

“No one truly knows the history before the Great War. That’s only natural. God Luce, through his Majesty the First Emperor, personally erased the history that was unfavorable to him. As a result, Chernion was labeled an Evil God, and the other gods lost their authority, relegated to mere angels or fairies who assisted God Luce.”

“…”

“His Majesty the First Emperor, Hero Khan, must have known how cruel God Luce was. That’s why he strictly separated the temple and the imperial court. To protect future generations from God Luce’s tyranny.”

The only thing that filled the cold silence in the conference room was Arendt’s voice.

“I believe everyone here has reviewed the letter I circulated. I’ve provided all the evidence. Was there anything false there?”

Leaning back in his chair, Cantares stared at Arendt with a complicated look.

‘It is a clear fact that God Luce and Chernion are enemies.’

However, Arendt published a letter claiming that Luce and Chernion were in fact in collusion.

What Arendt presented to the world was a new scenario, a judicious mixture of lies and truth.

‘He even claimed that the manipulation was to protect us from Lord Luce.’

The image of Arendt speaking, breathless and speaking in utter anxiety, was still vivid in his mind.

And the traces of ancient ruins that Llewellyn had found in various places were identical to the fragments found in the territory destroyed by Nikephoros in the Nephele Kingdom.

All of this was before the Great War, when Luce and Chernion were on equal footing… Follow current novels on novelhall.com

Furthermore, it supported Arendt’s claim that they were still colluding to this day.

‘So, even as the number of defectors from the Luce Temple increased, the number of those joining the Chernion Cult decreased.’

Since Arendt’s letter was published, desecration of the Luce Temples has increased, while the number of missing persons has decreased.

Arendt made good use of that psychology.

“If I’m guilty of anything, it’s that I leaked confidential information. But I gathered every single bit of that information through my own efforts.”

With everyone’s attention on him, Arendt drove the wedge in.

“Don’t I have at least the right to decide how to use the evidence I gathered myself? More than any of you, sitting comfortably while doing nothing but voicing your endless concerns.”

“…Captain Laius! Captain, please say something.”

The nobleman, who had been silent, shouted loudly.

“Even if you saved the captain’s life, isn’t that a bit too arrogant? The evidence discovered so far is open to interpretation. As Sir Arendt said, it’s possible that Lord Luce and the Evil God were equals in the past.”

He decided that it was pointless to talk to Arendt any longer.

“But wouldn’t it be possible to say that Lord Luce punished Chernion, who had been transformed into an Evil God, and implemented justice, and in the process, history and information were lost? No, in fact, it’s quite likely that He did!”

“…”

Naturally, people’s eyes were drawn to Laius.

“Aren’t you, Captain, chosen by the Holy Sword, the very proof of the justice that Lord Luce will achieve!”

The voices that were encouraged by him grew louder.

Lumiel, Cantares, and even the Emperor took their eyes off Arendt and began to look at Laius.

Laius remained silent for a while without answering.

As the silence grew longer, Arendt frowned slightly.

“I haven’t finished my story yet…”

“Stop.”

Arendt tried to intervene again, but Laius stopped him.

Arendt fell silent at that decisive word.

At some point, Laius was staring at the nobles and High Priest Lumiel, not Arendt.

“I apologize on behalf of Sir Arendt for his rudeness. It was my fault for teaching him poorly. As his captain, I will see to it that he is properly disciplined.”

“Captain!”

Arthur let out a startled voice, but Laius raised a hand to silence him.

“While Sir Arendt’s contributions to gathering information at the risk of his life are certainly commendable… His reckless disclosure of this information to the public, thereby causing chaos within the Empire, is clearly a serious crime. This will be dealt with with severe punishment to prevent a similar incident from recurring.”

Only then did people finally begin to relax, some placing a hand over their chest in quiet relief.

“As expected of you, Captain. I knew you would make a wise decision.”

“But before that, one thing.”

But Laius’ words did not end there.

“…”

After a brief pause, the gazes looking at Laius began to fill with doubt.

Laius realized that now was the right time, as everyone was watching him.

He prepared himself mentally several times, but his mouth was dry because of the tension he couldn’t completely shake off.

But Laius did not hesitate any longer.

Because he was sick and tired of hiding behind the apprentice knight’s small back.

“I am an accomplice.”

It was as if time had suddenly stopped at that plain declaration.

“…”

The people blinking dazedly seemed unable to fully grasp the meaning of what they had just heard.

Even Arendt was looking at him with wide eyes.

After a long time, High Priest Lumiel asked hesitantly.

“…Wait, no, wait a minute. Captain, what did you just say?”

“I said that I was Arendt’s accomplice.”

But the words that came back were no different.

“Up until now, we have been concealing Sir Arendt’s schemes while simultaneously creating and distributing letters containing the same content under his name.”

Laius repeated in a subdued voice to the distraught people.

“If you don’t believe me, I can present a witness right now.”

“Ah…”

Cantares, who had been staring with his mouth wide open for quite a while, muttered aloud without realizing it.

“This is driving me nuts.”

“That crazy…”

Arendt’s mouth moved.

“That crazy person… I kept wondering why this was dragging on so much…”

He had been gradually distributing letters even before making a deal with Roger’s subordinate, Ain.

It was a trick that Cantares should have noticed a long time ago.

But it was strange that the investigation had dragged on for so long, and that it was only after the temple’s forces had moved that it was finally caught in the net.

Regardless of the shocked faces, Laius continued to speak forcefully.

“I’ve recently come to a realization. The title of Hero of the Holy Sword doesn’t suit me. To be more precise…”

Anger filled the hero’s blue eyes.

“I don’t need such a dirty title, stained with the blood of innocent victims.”

“…”

Everyone couldn’t even breathe.

An unprecedented event unfolded as Captain Laius de Winfried, who held all these titles, outright denied God Luce.