Betrayal Knight's Joyful Faith

Chapter 228

This time Arendt was the one who went quiet.The dragon’s bloodshot eyes captured Arendt’s appearance.

But Lexion seemed to see something else as well.

Arendt thought for a moment and then asked briefly.

“Why do you think so?”

“Why do I think so… it’s stranger not to know.”

Lexion’s eyes narrowed.

“Because the marks are still clearly visible on your shoulders and neck. It seems to be quite recent.”

It was the place where the hands touched him in the Nereid Temple.

Arendt, who had been absentmindedly touching his neck, soon clicked his tongue and lowered his hand

“A dragon is indeed a dragon. You can see that.”

“…Your attitude is so nonchalant that I’m speechless.”

Lexion made a tired face.

Yet his gaze never left Arendt.

Arendt responded irritably, feeling slightly offended.

“What should I do? Should I just tremble and pray?”

“Seriously, I’ve seen it all now. I was doubting because of that shameless attitude. I thought, ‘Could someone truly blessed by the gods be this disrespectful?’”

“‘ is what kills people.”

“…”

Even during this conversation, Arendt’s mouth did not stop.

Lexion’s dumbstruck eyes wandered through the air.

Arendt added one more sentence, looking at him blankly.

“Oh, it’s not a person, it’s a dragon?”

“…Just shut up and listen. Anyway, you asked me earlier why I suddenly changed my attitude.”

Finally, Lexion snapped angrily.

“I did that because you still have traces of God on you. I don’t know what will happen if I recklessly kill someone who has been touched by God. What on earth are you?”

Arendt answered the sudden question blankly.

“I am Arendt von Eckhart. I am an apprentice knight of the Third Order of the Caerleon Empire.”

“That’s not what I’m asking. Why should God care about you?”

As the conversation continued, he felt like he was going to be sick.

Lexion continued, suppressing the anger boiling inside him.

“You are not the chosen one. If you are going to be a hero, Captain Laius is more suitable. Of course, I will admit that he is extremely unique.”

“I don’t know. As I said before, ask your superiors directly.”

Arendt shrugged his shoulders naturally.

Of course it was a lie.

There were some things that were off-putting, but it was something he couldn’t reveal to Lexion.

“…”

Lexion just watched him quietly for a while as if trying to determine the truth of Arendt’s words.

Arendt met his gaze without avoiding it.

After a brief silence, Lexion spoke.

“…So, you’re giving me that ‘what does it matter?’ look.”

“You saw it exactly.”

“What a really annoying bastard.”

Raw profanity poured out of the dragon’s mouth.

Lexion clicked his tongue and leaned back in his chair.

“You are saying that you blaspheme even after experiencing the existence of God. Aren’t you afraid?”

“Should I be afraid? I felt a little dirty.”

“…Let’s not talk about it. Of course, someone like you would be able to stand tall and act tough even in front of me.”

It was impossible to understand Arendt based on common sense from the beginning.

Lexion pressed his temples as he felt a headache coming on for the first time in a long time.

“It’s truly absurd. A human who has been in contact with God commits blasphemy and lives a normal life.”

“Usually, how is it? No, wait. Has something like this happened before?”

“Would there be any?”

As soon as he brought up the question that suddenly came to his mind, a sharp answer came back.

“As far as I know, there are almost none, unless you are a high priest or a chosen one. But you are neither of those. That’s why it’s strange.”

“What…”

Arendt trailed off.

He may be somewhat rarer than the High Priest or the Chosen One.

Because he was kidnapped from another world to this place.

But there was no need to say that to Lexion.

Lexion added seriously, not even dreaming of what Arendt was thinking.

“Anyway, this is serious advice. You probably already realized that God is not such a kind being. His wrath is not something to be laughed at.”

“When you say wrath, are you talking about something like what happened to the elves?”

Lexion’s face crumpled at the unexpected question.

“Are you curious about that right now? No, how on earth do you know that? You’re human, after all.”

“I heard it from the Grand Elder of the Second Kingdom. And of course I’m curious. There’s someone in front of me who knows the answer. Even before, I was on the verge of exploding because there were so many things I couldn’t understand.”

Lexion went quiet.

After a while, he spoke briefly in a subdued voice.

“You, you’ll die if you do that.”

“I think it’ll be okay since I’m not dead yet.”

“I’m not joking.”

“I’m not joking either.”

“…”

Lexion touched his forehead.

Arendt, who had been staring at him blankly, said indifferently.

“You look like you have a headache. Should I get you some stomach medicine from outside? There’s some piled up in the Captain’s office.”

“Is that because of you too?”

“You know very well.”

Lexion, who had rubbed his face, glared at Arendt with a face that seemed completely fed up.

But even so, all he got was a look in return that said, “What can you do about it?”

A staring contest ensued between the dragon and the human apprentice knight.

And after a while, Lexion, who had looked away first, scratched his head.

“… seriously, you’ve got some attitude.”

His tone subtly softened.

“I don’t know what you can give me, but I’ll just keep this in mind for now. I’ll decide later whether to accept the deal or not. But if you plan on turning your back on God in the future…”

Arendt waited silently for the next words.

Lexion, whose words trailed off, lowered his eyes for a moment before raising his head again.

“As you say, your interests and mine may align at least a little.”

“…”

“But that’s it. I’ll admit your sincerity for now, but humans change their minds dozens of times a day. That’s why it’s hard to trust them.”

Today’s fanatic may become tomorrow’s infidel.

Likewise, Arendt, who revealed his irreverence with every word he uttered, could never become a believer.

Lexion had seen too much to ignore that slight possibility.

“If the war between Chernion and Luce intensifies, the Holy Sword will surely appear in the world. If you still don’t pray to Luce then, I will admit it.”

“What do you mean by admit it?”

“I will be on your side.”

Lexion blurted out with a blank face.

“Let’s talk about the details later. When that time comes, I won’t be able to move on my own either.”

Arendt’s expression hardened at those cold words.

Lexion continued speaking, word for word, as if engraving it into his head.

“It will happen soon. No matter how hard you try to stop the war, it will be useless. That is God’s will. No one can stop it. You know that, don’t you?”

“…”

Lexion’s bright red eyes sparkled like flames, as if foreshadowing a disaster that will occur in the near future.

Arendt could feel the beginning of Act 2 approaching.

In the “Blue Knight of the Holy Sword”, Lexion would have moved alone.

In the end, he probably never got his hands on the book that someone asked him for a long time ago.

Then a war would have broken out.

‘How did Lexion move in the novel?’

He might have taken a risk and fought alone.

If so, that meant that even though Lexion took action, he failed to prevent numerous casualties.

‘No matter what, it won’t be easy.’

Arendt slowly clenched and unclenched his fist.

He tried to take a quick deep breath, but soon stopped himself.

If he showed such obvious movements, Lexion would definitely notice his feelings.

So he chose to let the familiar sneer play on his lips.

After a brief pause, the dialogue flowed smoothly.

“…Then I guess I better get ready to kick those motherfuckers’ asses.”

His golden eyes held a bright smile.

“I would also like to smear the faces of the great and holy ones.”

Even the dragon burst into laughter at the arrogant declaration.

“This bastard.”

The next day, Lexion left, leaving behind perfectly finished documents.

However, the book was still left in the Great Temple and not retrieved.

The reason was that since he knew its location, he could take it back at any time.

Cantares let out a deep sigh when he heard the report that Lexion had left.

“…Things have turned out like this.”

“That’s great. All the documents that were giving Count Stadler a headache have been neatly resolved.”

“That’s what makes it so ridiculous, you punk.”

The shameless retort was immediately met with a rebuke.

It was a natural thing.

The dragon that was provoked by Arendt invaded the palace and even got into a fight with Captain Laius.

Up to this point, the story was somehow understandable.

Even though things got dizzying.

“But you said he obediently did everything you told him to do and then just went back…”

He couldn’t believe it even after hearing it himself.

If the person saying this wasn’t Arendt, he would have been treated as a madman and thrown in prison right away.

Arendt shrugged as Cantares sighed.

“What can I do? It’s all my fault for being amazing.”

“…”

He was so angry that he couldn’t refute that statement.

But he already knew too well that picking a fight would be pointless.

The Crown Prince simply changed the subject.

“What on earth did you say that made him just go back?”

“I told him that we should make a deal. Lexion said he would think about it.”

“Deal? Why would a dragon make a deal with you, a human?”

Cantares frowned at the strangely odd words.

Then Arendt asked back:

“Who do you think I am?”

“What are you talking about all of a sudden?”

“I am the founder and first and largest investor of the Neumann Information Center. And I have some personal ties to the Explorers’ Union leader.”

Cantares’ expression distorted.

The leader of the union was the prince of the Everan Kingdom, and recently, they had even captured the elders of the Elf Kingdom and received a promise to fight against the evil god together.

Moreover, there was even a rumor going around that the royal family of the Nephele Kingdom treated Arendt almost like a benefactor.

It was a situation where he had nothing to say even though Arendt’s already high nose was piercing the sky.

Arendt was not the type of person who flaunted modesty.

Arendt, standing arrogantly, tilted his head in a mocking way.

“At this point, wouldn’t it be worth making a deal with a dragon?”

“…Yeah, you’re great, you little bastard.”

In the end, the Crown Prince had no choice but to grumble like that.

Arendt’s lips curved slightly at the satisfactory response.

“Anyway, my guess was right. That dragon was a witness to the war, and he only just woke up from his slumber. He has quite a bit of information we need.”

After that, Lexion and Arendt had a long conversation.

The dragon, softer than he looked, casually dropped some hints that could help them prepare for what was ahead before he left.

There were also quite a few helpful things in the materials translated by Lexion.

“Please call the captains. Oh, and Llewellyn and the Count too. It’s a pain to say it twice, so it would be better if you all listened together.”

“Who the hell is giving orders to whom?”

Although Cantares complained about the situation where the roles were reversed, Arendt was not one to care.

“If you don’t like it, Your Highness, you can have a private conversation with the dragon.”

“Tch.”

Cantares clicked his tongue and nodded to Jereon, who was waiting behind him.

Jereon bowed his head politely and walked out of the office with quick steps.

Exactly one hour later, a meeting was called where all the knight captains were present.