Betrayal Knight's Joyful Faith

Chapter 496

“Should I say they chose the wrong opponent…?”Llewellyn groaned. Salem, who was beside him, nodded quietly.

“He’s not the type of person who responds to threats in the first place.If anything, it probably just irritated him more.”

Despite this situation, Arendt appeared completely unfazed. A stranger might have labeled him as cold-blooded.

He didn’t care at all even though the lives of countless people hung at his fingertips.

‘Oh, he’s really shameless.’

Llewellyn changed his mind. He was the most shameless of them all.

But he wasn’t as calm as he looked.

His eyes were sharper than usual, and his posture was even more slouched. It was clear that Arendt was quite angry.

But this wasn’t the time to pick apart such details.

Llewellyn crossed his arms and quietly watched the situation.

After receiving treatment and wearing a borrowed shirt, Priest Benno was in much better condition than before.

Arendt’s warning seemed to have worked, and he no longer shed tears.

He seemed quite calm, with a cup of warm tea brought to him by a security guard. Sitting across from him, Laius spoke gently.

“Are you feeling better, Priest?”

“Yes… Forgive me for my disgraceful behavior.”

“Thank goodness you know, !”

Arendt, about to speak in his usual snarky tone, was struck in the side by Laius’ elbow, silenced. Having successfully silenced Arendt, Laius calmly steered the conversation back to the matter at hand, as if nothing had happened.

“First, I would like to know more about the internal situation, Priest Benno.”

“…The High Priest.”

Benno swallowed hard and continued to speak stammeringly.

“The High Priest has declared surrender. By the time we realized what was happening, the Great Temple was surrounded by enemy forces… The High Priest seemed to have been threatened by the Saintess. She was given the choice: die immediately, or surrender and be taken hostage.”

And Lumiel chose the latter. Benno’s head drooped as he spoke, his tone heavy with despair.

“There were also priests who resisted. Among them, those who opposed most vehemently were executed…”

The hand holding the teacup trembled slightly. Benno unconsciously added a short prayer.

“May Lord Luce accept their souls…”

Llewellyn and Salem unconsciously looked at Arendt. He was the type who would react to God’s name with some kind of reaction, whether through irritation, mockery, anything. But Arendt, surprisingly, showed no reaction. Instead, he simply asked a question in a flat voice.

“How many people died?”

“Five people.”

“And the rest?”

“They were all confined to their individual rooms. The fate of the temple guards and soldiers is unknown.”

Logically speaking, they were probably dead as well. They had no value as hostages.

Arendt’s brow furrowed slightly.

“So if they were confined, they wouldn’t know much about the enemy’s current status either.”

“That’s correct. The High Priest ordered us to obey their commands if we wanted to stay alive…”

Priest Benno answered in a small voice.

“Then today, suddenly, enemy priests dragged us out. They implanted this hideous thing in our bodies. I was ordered to go to Sir Arendt as their representative and deliver the message. When I refused, they brutally beat us…”

Fear began to creep into his voice again. Arendt clicked his tongue.

Benno jerked his head up at the sudden noise. Arendt continued speaking, still leaning on the table where he’d slammed his hand.

“Don’t think about useless things. Just say something that will help. How many priests did you actually see with your own eyes?”

“There were quite a few.”

Benno, who suddenly came to his senses, answered.

“I don’t know for sure because I haven’t counted them one by one.”

“It’s not like there aren’t many priests, so why are they confined to individual rooms?”

Llewellyn, who had been quietly listening from behind, interjected. Benno then lowered his head with a gloomy expression.

“That, that’s something I’m not sure myself…”

“This was the plan from the beginning. They had to send at least one person here, but they didn’t want to expose their full hand.”

As Arendt, with his hands shoved deep into his pockets, grumbled, Laius nodded slowly.

“So that means… the purpose of this attack was the Great Temple from the beginning.”

“It’s been three days.”

Zakar frowned.

“Today is already nearly over, so in reality there are only two days left…”

“It’s a meaningless proposal from the start…”

Arendt said angrily.

“Even if I were to step forward, the outcome would be the same: everyone would die. There’s no way they’d spare the Luce priests. The only question is who would be held responsible for those deaths.”

It was true. If Arendt didn’t step forward, their deaths would all fall on the Imperial Family, Laius, and Arendt. Even if Arendt truly surrendered, there was no way they would spare the High Priest and priests they’d captured.

“Isn’t that right, Priest Benno?”

“…”

Benno simply lowered his head in response to Arendt’s question, unable to deny what he had said.

Zakar muttered quietly.

“In the end, they have nothing to lose, and we are the only ones who are cornered.”

Unfortunately, High Priest Lumiel was a rather significant hostage to Arendt.

There was no one in this place who was unaware of this fact. Perhaps the Saintess herself was aware of this fact and had made this move.

“We’re not cornered yet. As Instructor Zakar said earlier, there are two days left.”

But Arendt seemed to think differently.

“Which side’s really cornered? We’ll have to wait and see, right?”

“I thought you’d say that. Do you have some sort of plan?”

Arendt tilted his head lazily, a faint smirk ghosting over his lips.

“Even if I don’t have one, I’ll make one. Or do we plan on just sitting there and taking the beating? I don’t have any hobbies like that.”

“…But, Sir Arendt, I still don’t see how. Is there another way?”

Benno finally spoke again.

“We cannot hand Sir Arendt over to the enemy. But if we remain silent, Her Excellency will meet a shameful death.”

The priest’s voice began to tinge with moisture again. Benno covered his face with his hand, as if trying to hide the expression twisted in despair.

“What are we supposed to do…? Even if Captain Laius were to strike them down now, there’s no way to guarantee the safety of my brothers and sisters. I apologize for being unable to do anything, but I can’t bear to lose anyone else.”

“Oh, seriously, you keep whining.”

But Arendt’s response was still cold.

“If you can’t do anything, then just keep your mouth shut. Don’t get on my nerves. Why do you think the High Priest made that choice in the first place?”

“Huh?”

“She didn’t make that choice just to buy a few extra days of life. She must have made that decision to somehow save whining priests like you. So, stop whining like a brat and just shut up. It’s not your place to interfere.”

“Ha, but…”

When Benno’s face twisted in hurt, Laius sighed deeply and said:

“Forgive his foul mouth, Priest. What he meant to say was: ‘Don’t worry, we’ll try to figure something out.’”

“…”

Arendt’s face soured as he was arbitrarily translated. But that only lasted a moment, as he returned to the original topic.

“There are three things we must do immediately: secure the safety of High Priest Lumiel and the priests held hostage, recapture the Great Temple, and then capture the Saintess.”

The difficulty of each one… it’s ridiculous.”

Arendt clicked his tongue as Llewellyn muttered.

“When has my life ever been easy? Anyway, being popular is a problem. Why are there so many bastards who want my neck?”

“It would be better to reflect on yourself and think carefully about why there are so many.”

Zakar, who had been standing back, spoke up. Arendt simply shrugged.

“It’s all because I’m amazing.”

“…”

Unable to find the words to respond, Zakar chose to ignore him. Instead, he turned to Laius and asked him a question.

“So what do you think about the conditions the enemy has proposed?”

“There’s no need to consider it. We will never agree to our enemies’ terms.”

Laius said firmly.

But then.

“Why?”

A nonchalant voice cut through the air.

“Isn’t it worth thinking about at least once? They’ve put so much thought into it.”

The protagonist of this absurd retort was, of course, Arendt.

Laius had no choice but to smack his forehead with a loud sound.

“Arendt, please, please! Do you even know… who these guys are after right now?” Check latest chapters at novel_fіre.net

“Of course I do. I just said it, didn’t I? Because I’m that amazing.”

Arendt, with his hands stuffed deep in his pockets, responded sullenly.

“Since they’ve thrown their hat in the ring. I think it wouldn’t be a bad idea for us to respond appropriately.”

“You really…”

Richt muttered dazedly. These weren’t words one would use when talking about risking one’s life. Laius, who had been pressing his temples, spoke again.

“I’ve told you this many times: you are neither a pawn nor a tool. Please, don’t forget that you are human.”

“Who said I wasn’t? And what, when did I say I was going to die? I’m suggesting we negotiate.”

The apprentice knight’s brow furrowed in annoyance.

“They said it was a deal. A deal is when both parties take what they want. It’s not one side that’s unilaterally taking everything. But, well, how could a dull-witted captain know that?”

“…”

Laius’ mouth widened in bewilderment.

“We’re also in a position to elaborate our demands. As Instructor Zakar said earlier, we have nothing to gain right now.”

Regardless, Arendt simply continued with his point.

“We still have two days. The other side has revealed what they want, so let’s make the most of that time and negotiate.”

In other words, he proposed putting his own life and that of his priests on the table and bargaining for them. Everyone was left speechless by this outrageous idea.

But Arendt remained confident.

“First, let’s summarize the conversation we just had and relay it to them. . If they want my head, they should offer something more substantial. Or, they should swear to release the High Priest immediately after handing me over.”

“…”

“What, do you have a problem with that? There’s nothing we can do right now anyway. Even if we go in there, we’ll just be greeted by the Luce priests who’ve turned into ghouls.”

Arendt spoke shamelessly to the stunned gazes fixed on him.

“Let’s try a proper negotiation first. We’ll decide later whether or not to hand over my head. If you have a better idea, please let me know. I’ll hear you out.”