Betrayal Knight's Joyful Faith

Chapter 324

“…Wait a minute, wait a minute, Sir Arendt.”Neville, who had been staring blankly, suddenly came to his senses and started asking questions.

“Why is the story like that? Marquis Raytar is in cahoots with them? If that’s the case, then this castle has already been taken over by the enemy. Isn’t it dangerous? We need to take action, fast…”

“When did I say that the Marquis was in cahoots with them? It’s just that there are traitors in the mix. Marquis Raytar is probably innocent. The people below him are the problem.”

Arendt cut him off and responded harshly. But Neville did not back down easily.

“Why are you so calm? I can’t take Her Highness to such a dangerous place!”

“Why? You said you would risk your life. Didn’t you come to fight the dragon?”

Neville unconsciously shut his mouth when he heard the voice that was as cold as ice.

“Ah, of course life is precious. There is no need to throw it away uselessly. Her Highness is a noble person, so even if you take her and leave immediately, I have no particular complaints…”

Arendt added nonchalantly.

“I was wondering if you were trying to run away using the excuse of protecting Her Highness. That’s not a bad survival strategy, but you know that everything is your own responsibility, right?”

“You little bastard…!”

Neville’s face began to turn bright red.

The moment he was about to stride towards Arendt with the intention of throwing a punch, Isabella stopped Neville.

“Captain Neville, calm down. Sir Arendt, stop. You’re going too far.”

Neville paused. Arendt stopped talking sarcastically as well.

Isabella continued calmly.

“Captain Neville, I appreciate your concern. But as I said, I have no intention of backing down just because it’s dangerous. We came here to solve the problem.”

“But, Your Highness!”

“That’s enough.”

Isabella added coldly, dismissing Neville’s protests.

“And Sir Arendt, I would like you to refrain from excessive provocation. I know what you want to say, but I do not like unnecessary conflict. I also know very well that once I have decided to intervene, I cannot withdraw. I have no intention of backing down.”

“As I said before, it’s okay if you step back. But if you decide to step forward, I want you to do your part.”

Arendt, crossing his arms, looked at Neville and answered.

“It’s not that I’m just showing off my pride unnecessarily. If you don’t understand your own place, won’t you just be a stumbling block?”

“What?”

“Arendt, stop it. Show at least a modicum of courtesy.”

Just as Neville, overcome with anger again, was about to step forward, Laius cut in.

“And Captain Neville, the situation you fear will not come to pass. For now, I’d like you to hear us out.”

With even Laius stepping in like that, there was no way Neville could say anything more.

“…All right.”

Eventually, he had no choice but to back down, suppressing his anger.

When the situation finally calmed down, Arendt continued talking as if nothing had happened.

“Even if the Evil Cult is hiding there, I judged that they wouldn’t pose much of a threat. Most likely, they only served to cover up the incident in the Motier territory and deceive the Marquis.”

“What is the basis for that?”

In response to Isabella’s brief question, Arendt nodded to one side.

“Those people.”

It was where Lexion and Zakar were standing.

Neville still looked puzzled, but Isabella understood everything with just that small gesture.

Because there was no being in this world that could escape the senses of dragons and elves.

“Lord Lexion was the first to realize that there was a homunculus somewhere in this castle. He’s already mobilized the elven warriors and completed cross-verification. Aside from the homunculus Grimson brought with him, there was nothing else particularly threatening.”

The moment Lexion set foot in the castle, he realized that there was a monster lurking somewhere here.

However, before Lexion could even hint at it, Arendt was the first to take action

“If we summarize the situation, it is like this.”

Arendt continued in a neutral tone.

“Count Motier’s family has long since fallen under the influence of God Chernion. And gradually, their claws were also creeping into Marquis Raytar’s family, who they had frequent dealings with.”

An unusually clear voice filled the room.

“Then, for some reason, the dragon destroyed Count Motier’s estate. Let’s say it happened about a month or two ago. At that time, the Evil Cult had no intention of fighting, so they used their followers to quietly bury the matter.”

“…”

“Then suddenly the dragon changed his mind. Since the territory had already been destroyed, he decided to use this place as a stage to set a trap. He sent that incompetent actor… Grimson over here. But it was doomed from the very beginning.”

To summarize the facts that were immediately apparent, it was like that.

“Why was the territory destroyed? Why did the dragon suddenly act so strangely? These are the two questions that come to mind. In fact, there are a few clues regarding the latter.”

“What are they?”

Isabella, growing anxious, urged him to continue.

“The conflict on the border between the Everan Kingdom and the Lucain Kingdom, and the Great Temple incident in the Caerleon Empire. After that, the Evil Cult was quiet for a while. They also suffered a lot of damage, and they needed to keep an eye on the Empire’s movements.”

Arendt’s gaze turned to Laius.

“But not long ago, the Caerleon Empire held a victory banquet and a ceremony to award the Captain for becoming the Master of the Holy Sword.”

Through the banquet, Laius made it clear that he was still in full health, despite the period of instability.

And Arendt, too, stepped forward before the people, appearing just as unchanged as before.

Perhaps that was the trigger for Nikephoros’ change of heart.

“What’s important is from here on. We’ve had the elves thoroughly stir up the Marquis’ estate and even killed the homunculus, so by now, they must have realized that Grimson failed. Well, they probably weren’t expecting much from that fool anyway.”

Grimson had fulfilled his purpose by bringing the Imperial Knights over and declaring war. Now, he was of no further use.

Isabella muttered complicatedly.

“If we had not noticed anything and had followed Grimson to Count Motier’s territory in the morning…”

“What’s the big deal? It would have been like walking straight into the dragon’s mouth. Honestly, there would have been no need to search for it, so I figured that wouldn’t be such a bad thing.”

Arendt shrugged.

“Because the Crown Princess of the Nephele Kingdom and the Third Prince of the Everan Kingdom are together, I figured if something went wrong, we’d end up taking the blame, so I held back. And…”

He trailed off and glanced at Laius and Llewellyn standing on either side of him.

“I thought about digging into it on my own, but I didn’t think these nags would just sit still.”

“It’s good that you know that.”

Arendt, ignoring Laius’s scolding, changed the subject.

“Anyway, what’s important starts now. First, I plan to ask Lord Lexion and Instructor Zakar to conduct a search. If Your Highness permits, of course.”

Isabella let out a hollow laugh at his words.

“You want my permission now?”

“Of course. This is the territory of the Nephele Kingdom, and we are merely reinforcements.”

It sounded almost as if he were saying he intended to maintain the boundaries of a foreigner.

Just as Neville and Isabella were about to show expressions of surprise at Arendt’s perfectly logical statement, Arendt added.

“Only after receiving Your Highness’s permission to move, we’ll have a valid justification, and then the responsibility will fall…”

. Laius covered Arendt’s mouth.

“Ugh.”

“Sorry.”

“…It’s okay. He’s not wrong.”

Isabella responded understandingly as Laius quickly apologized.

Although it seemed like things were being dragged on for a while, she was the one who had the final say here.

Arendt made that precise point.

Isabella nodded with a stern face.

“Of course I will allow it. However, if possible, I would like it to be done under the supervision of the Royal Knights. Would that be difficult?”

“It will probably be difficult to move together with Lord Lexion, but you can join us at any time. I would appreciate it if Captain Neville could lend a helping hand.”

Zakar, who had been listening quietly, answered.

Neville answered with an expression that still looked a bit uneasy.

“I will do that.”

“Lord Lexion, from now on, please explore Count Motier’s territory, and Instructor Zakar, please search Marquis Raytar’s estate with the Royal Knights. As for explaining the situation to the Marquis, I’ll leave that to Your Highness.”

As Laius calmly divided up the roles among themselves, Arendt intervened.

“At this point, it’s unlikely we’ll gain much from searching inside the Marquis’ estate. Even if they follow the Evil God, they’re all just ordinary humans. It would be great if we could find any traces of the Evil Cult, but that seems unlikely.”

“Then what’s the point of all this?”

“It’s to show them that we’ve started moving to provoke some kind of reaction. If our guess is correct, there will definitely be people within the Marquis’ estate connected to the Evil Cult.”

Neville asked with suspicion, and Arendt replied briefly.

“They’ve probably been on edge ever since Captain Laius and Her Highness visited, so if security suddenly tightens, they’ll start getting really anxious.”

Llewellyn then added in a light tone.

“Then they might try to contact the Evil Cult either through a communication port, or by sending a messenger or some other means of communication.”

In order to use the communication port, one had no choice but to use magic power, and sending messengers or liaisons out of the territory was also a noticeable thing.

The elven warriors, whose senses were several times sharper than those of humans, could not miss those actions.

The plan was for the outside to be watched by dragon Lexion, while the inside would be watched by the elf warriors and knights.

“Then what about the Imperial Knights?”

When Isabella suddenly asked, Arendt gave a simple answer.

“Half of us will accompany Lexion, and the rest will stay here. We will be able to respond immediately no matter what happens.”

“I see. Right now, we don’t know what the dragon and the Evil Cult are after, so that’s the best we can do for now.”

Isabella nodded, convinced.

“I won’t share the entire situation with Marquis Raytar. While there’s no concrete evidence against him for now, there’s always a chance he could have fallen under the influence of the Evil Cult.”

“You are quick to understand, Your Highness.”

Arendt smiled faintly, as if pleased.

For now, the only ones they could trust were those who had accompanied them all the way to the Marquis’ estate.

“Then it would be best to move right away. It seems like everything that needs to be done has been decided, so there’s no point in delaying any longer.”

“I’ll prepare right away.”

Laius nodded.

Just as they were about to move to disperse to their respective locations…

“Captain Neville, just a moment.”

Arendt suddenly called Neville over.

“Do you need anything?”

Neville frowned but obediently stopped in his tracks.

“Listen for a minute.”

“…”

As Arendt approached, Neville lowered his head obediently.

Arendt came close to him and began to whisper something softly.

And a moment later, Neville’s face turned pale.

“…Really?”

“Yes. Really. If you don’t believe me, ask.”

Arendt stepped back and nodded.

Neville looked between Lexion and Isabella several times with bewildered eyes.

Isabella, who hadn’t noticed it yet, frowned and urged Neville on.

“Captain Neville, move quickly.”

“Yes? Oh, yes!”

Neville, who had suddenly come to his senses, quickly followed Isabella. After the two left the room with hurried steps, Llewellyn asked curiously.

“What were you talking about that made him act like that?”

“I thought he had a lot of complaints, so I quietly told him about Lexion’s true identity.”

Arendt shrugged.

It was a moment when the arrogant words of the apprentice knight were instantly transformed into the noble will of the dragon.

It was natural that Neville, who had been constantly opposing Arendt, became discouraged.

“…”

He was speechless.

The scornful gazes of a dragon, elves, and humans poured down. It was a historic moment where all kinds of races were united in purpose.

Arendt smiled proudly and put his hands in his pockets.

“What can he do if there’s a dragon? It’s always these kinds of people, wracked with inferiority, who end up causing trouble.”

It was best to prevent troublesome matters before they even started.

Plus, Neville was a pretty fun guy to tease.