Betrayal Knight's Joyful Faith

Chapter 165

“…Books that were brought into the palace during the reign of His Majesty the previous Emperor?”Cantares asked with a blackened face after hearing Arendt’s report.

“I heard that a large number of books were exported from the Nephele Kingdom and flowed into our Empire. I would like to check to see if there is a book among them that the dragon was looking for.”

“I guess I’ll have to look through the records here too… Who was managing it?”

Cantares scratched his head with the hand holding the pen.

Arendt glanced at the piles of papers and letters next to him and blurted out.

“What is all that?”

“Half of them are complaints asking me to punish you immediately, and the rest are things I need to take care of right now.”

The Crown Prince, who was lying on the desk and grumbling, looked noticeably worse than a few days ago.

The pointless grumbling was also a half-exaggerated joke, but it wasn’t entirely wrong.

Although the misdeeds of former High Priest Theodore had been completely exposed, that did not mean that his followers would disappear overnight.

It seemed inevitable that the High Priest would be replaced, but as word spread among them of Arendt’s remarks during the meeting, hostility grew to an unprecedented level.

As a result, Cantares was busy trying to suppress all the political attacks directed at Arendt.

“No one in this palace will be as reviled as you. You can be proud.”

“I like that. Especially the fact that Your Highness’s work increases as my notoriety and fame increase simultaneously.”

“Haa, I dug my own grave… Jen.”

The Crown Prince gestured towards Jereon, who was also buried in papers.

“Yes, Your Highness.”

“Did you hear what this guy was talking about? You look it up.”

“Alright.”

As if he had been waiting for that command, Jereon put down all his documents and jumped up from his seat.

Cantares hated his aide so much at that moment, but he couldn’t help it.

Since he let a crazy guy loose, he had to clean up the mess himself.

The two of them left the office together, leaving the Crown Prince behind, who was holding his head in his hands and starting to fight with the papers again.

As he walked along with Jereon, Arendt glanced back.

“If Your Highness is in that state, His Majesty the Emperor must be very busy as well.”

“I guess that’s inevitable. Since he has decided to return to politics, dividing up the work is a big task.”

“What is the mood like among the noble officials?”

“It’s a little chaotic, but everyone is still welcoming. Duke Lancelot is the happiest.”

He too had been doing a lot of work assisting the Crown Prince after the Emperor abdicated, so he couldn’t help but be happy about the current situation.

Jereon, who was talking more than usual, also seemed quite happy. He seemed quite happy to have escaped from the documents that Cantares had left behind.

The place where Jereon took Arendt was a small library room in a corner of the palace.

While Arendt looked around the room filled with the smell of old books, Jereon approached the bookshelf and began to look through the ledgers.

“A huge amount of literature and books arrive at the palace every year, so some of them are managed separately. What Prince Llewellyn is looking for is probably outside the palace.”

“Why?”

“His Majesty’s predecessor had a hobby of collecting books. After he abdicated, he spent the rest of his life in a villa he built outside the palace, and I heard that he took most of the books he had collected there.”

“Ah…”

And what was needed now was the ledger that was created when the book was exported.

Soon after, Jereon took out an old book and started leafing through it.

“Ah, I found it. About 200 volumes from the Nephele Kingdom… they are in His Majesty’s personal collection, and it says that King Nephele at the time sent them along with rare books that were being kept in the royal palace as gifts.”

Perhaps the book the dragon was looking for was among the books the king had been gifted.

“It seems to be under the care of Marquis Henfield’s estates now. You can go there. I’ll send a letter of cooperation in advance, so please pass it on to Warren.”

“Yes.”

It seemed like things would be settled that way.

“You go too.”

Just before contacting Warren, Cantares, who had heard the story from Jereon, called Arendt back.

“Why?”

“Why? There’s chaos everywhere of people trying to bite you. I’ll take care of it before you get back, so just pretend you’re going on a short vacation and get out of my sight.”

When the Crown Prince spoke with a face that said he was tired to death, Laius, who had a similarly pale complexion, also enthusiastically agreed.

At this point, Arendt couldn’t help but feel slightly uncomfortable.

“…What on earth is going on?”

“You don’t have to know. We’ll take care of it, so just go and come back. We’ll process it as paid vacation, so take your time, relax, and come back. It’ll be okay if Warren is with you.”

Laius’ expression, as he spoke with emphasis in a strange place, was no less, if not more, than that of the Crown Prince.

The repercussions of the replacement of the High Priest were much greater than expected. The superiors were paying a heavy price for letting go of the leash of their crazy subordinate.

“Well, if you say so.”

Of course, it was none of Arendt’s business how much they suffered.

So the apprentice knight’s short overseas trip was decided.

Warren’s first words to Arendt when he came out with his simple luggage were:

“I can’t tell if you’re loved or hated.”

“I can’t help it. I’m so amazing.”

“…”

The werewolf simply gave up on responding to the crazy answer that came straight back.

Warren also had a bundle of luggage, travel expenses, and a horse in his hands.

It was the head of the Neumann Group who was terrified at seeing him run all the way from the Nephele Kingdom naked and gave him a lot of stuff.

“It would be faster to run in wolf form than to ride a horse.”

“That’s fine. If word spreads that there’s a giant wolf roaming the center of the Empire, all kinds of hunters will flock there.”

“…”

“I wonder if frozen wolves will sell well.”

Arendt, leaving Warren with that sentence, got on his horse and started to ride leisurely ahead.

Even that movement was so smooth that Warren, who was watching from behind, had to clench his fist to not swing it.

Warren was not used to horseback riding, but he quickly adapted because he had excellent physical ability.

Warren, riding right next to Arendt, began to speak quietly.

“Is the internal affairs of the Empire now in order as you wish?”

“As I wish, that phrase feels strange.”

“That’s what Llewellyn said. Your job is to remove the things that are annoying and put the things that are useful in the right places.”

When he reported through the communications channel that the High Priest had been replaced, Llewellyn spoke with a mixture of admiration and sighs.

Arendt neither confirmed nor denied it.

Warren glanced at his profile and raised the corners of his mouth.

“Am I classified as useful?”

“At least it’s better than the old man who only wants power but can’t even take care of himself.”

“What an honor.”

Arendt clicked his tongue inwardly as he listened to Warren’s voice.

‘He’s unnecessarily quick-witted.’

As expected, Llewellyn, although a bit annoying, was not an easy guy.

“It seems like you have a clear goal, so it will be difficult for you to live quietly in the future.”

Arendt glanced at Warren, who blurted out the words with a sly voice, then looked straight ahead again.

‘The goal is…’

That wasn’t entirely wrong.

He wanted a perfect story of good triumphing over evil, far from a tragedy.

The current process was to look at it, revise the script, twist the scenario, and reconstruct the stage.

That way, he, as a supporting actor, could survive.

At first it was definitely like that…

He had to slowly admit it.

He was not just a supporting actor on this stage, and that the more frequently he intervened in the narrative, the more distant he might become from the survival he had initially hoped for in prison.

And, creating the perfect scenario he wanted would be a ridiculously more difficult task than he first thought.

Arendt raised the corners of his lips as he adjusted his grip on the reins.

“Just wait. Never forget that you owe me your life. When the time comes, I will treat you so well that you will regret ever living.”

“Are you a devil or something? Even two bodies are not enough. Just handling Llewellyn is more than enough.”

A reply came back, sounding annoyed but the expression was not so unpleasant.

Yeah, so what if it was really hard?

It was satisfying just to see the guy who died miserably from Laius’ sword in “The Blue Knight of the Holy Sword” grumbling indifferently.

They say there is nothing perfect in the world… but the current ‘Arendt’ was creating something out of nothing.

Warren, who had been teased to death by a bored Arendt, was completely worn out and exhausted by the time they reached Marquis Henfield’s castle.

But aside from that, it was a fairly leisurely and peaceful trip, befitting the name of a vacation.

The Marquis sent a messenger to greet them at the entrance to the castle in advance, just in time for the two to arrive.

The older butler bowed his head politely to the two men.

“It is a pleasure to meet you. Marquis Henfield is waiting for you, so I will guide you right away.”

As expected, it was the area chosen by the late Emperor to spend the rest of his life in, and although it was close to the palace, it still retained a quiet, rural feel.

Along the castle road that smelled of old grass, old horses slowly pulled carriages loaded with straw, and the people working within the castle also went about their daily lives leisurely without rushing.

“I heard that you are checking the library left behind by His Majesty the Emperor. The Marquis will personally guide you there.”

The butler explained briefly in a soft tone.

Even after his death, the late Emperor’s villa was kept clean by the Marquis.

“It was a great honor to be able to serve Your Majesty so closely.”

Marquis Henfield had now retired from politics and was living a leisurely life, but he was a distant relative of the late Emperor’s empress and his family had been loyal to the imperial family for generations.

As expected, the Marquis appeared right away and greeted Arendt and Warren warmly.

“Welcome. I was so excited to hear that we had guests from the palace after such a long time.”

The Marquis smiled across his wrinkled face.

“Nice to meet you. My name is Arendt von Eckhart of the Imperial Knights. This is Warren from the Neumann Merchant Group.”

Warren, who had been looking at Arendt with surprised eyes as he greeted him politely and courteously, suddenly came to his senses and bowed his head in greeting.

“Nice to meet you.”

“His Highness the Crown Prince sent you on a personal errand, right? I will do my best to make your stay comfortable.”

It seems that Jereon was just beating around the bush because he couldn’t explain the details.

Well, there was no need to create tension in such a peaceful territory by talking about evil gods and dragons.

“It may take a few days to find the book Your Highness wants. Would it be all right for me to stay in the meantime?”

“Yes, of course. I’m already feeling lonely, so I’d appreciate it if you could give me a chance to talk over a meal.”

Marquis Henfield smiled kindly and nodded coolly.

“I will lead you there right away. I have already prepared a carriage for you, so please follow me.”

Before following the Marquis, who was walking ahead with a light stride, Arendt nudged Warren in the side with his elbow.

“Hey, Frozen Wolf. Be on your guard.”

“Got it, you shameless bastard.”

He hadn’t felt anything special yet, but it still wouldn’t hurt to be careful.