Betrayal Knight's Joyful Faith

Chapter 323

“You little bastard…”Glenn, covered in the homunculus’ fluids, growled ferociously.

“Who was the one that called everyone out here, and you dare just watch from behind?”

“What do you want me to do? Who was it that begged me to stay quiet?”

But of course, there was no way that the youngest would say anything good. Arendt went even further and crossed his arms while looking him up and down.

“And if you’re not smart, you should at least use your body well. If you’re feeling wronged, you should’ve moved quicker, senior. Be more nimble.”

“Damn it! I can’t even hit this bastard!”

Glenn began to go crazy, forgetting he was in the presence of the Crown Princess. But no one blamed him. Even Isabella discreetly turned her eyes away.

Now, complaints began to pour in from the Third Knights.

“This damn bastard, I should have chopped him up along with that stupid spider!”

“You’re making your seniors, who are as important as the sky, suffer in the middle of the night?!”

“Isn’t fighting enemies that threaten the royal family part of a knight’s duty? I helped you do your job, and yet you’re still complaining. Should I have given you a round of applause? What, do you crave attention?”

Insults were pouring in from all sides, but Arendt simply shrugged his shoulders with a nonchalant expression.

And Arthur, who had been watching from a distance, muttered with a look of displeasure.

“It’s not like it’s going to make a difference anyway, so why waste their energy?”

“Leave them be. There’s no medicine for stupidity. They still haven’t realized that the more they act like this, the more it excites the bastard.”

Richt chimed in with a similar expression from the side.

Eventually, Laius, who could no longer stand seeing his subordinates’ disgrace, stepped forward.

He let out a deep sigh and grabbed Arendt and Glenn by the back of their necks, pulling them apart.

“Be quiet. You’ll wake everyone up. There seems to be no remnants, so you may rest assured, Your Highness.”

“…Yes. That was impressive. As expected from Captain Laius.”

It seemed like Isabella was pretending she hadn’t just seen anything, as she smoothly changed the subject.

Only then did Arendt and Glenn stop fighting.

As the surroundings cleared, Isabella was finally able to get a good look at her surroundings.

Behind the knights who were bickering, the corpse of a giant spider monster was seen.

The red eyes that had been flashing ominously had completely lost their light.

While subduing such a monster, the knights only suffered a few bruises and did not appear to have suffered any significant damage.

‘How many times have they taken down those guys?’

She couldn’t believe that after facing such a great enemy, they still had the presence of mind to vent their anger at the arrogance of a mere apprentice knight.

Isabella, who had been lost in thought, suddenly came to her senses when she heard Laius’ voice again.

“We also need to recover the fake spirit stones that became the raw material for the homunculus, so we will take care of the post-processing as well. Your Highness, I would like you to explain the situation to the Marquis.”

The servants, who had been awakened by the noise in the middle of the night, were looking outside the windows one by one. Some rubbed their eyes repeatedly in disbelief at the sight of the spider collapsed in the garden.

It was clear that if left alone, a major commotion would soon break out.

“Understood. But before I explain things to the Marquis, first…”

Isabella’s gaze turned to Arendt.

“It seems there’s quite a lot we need to hear from Sir Arendt.”

While the knights who had dealt with the spider homunculus with ease were impressive, in her eyes, it was Arendt who appeared to be the real monster.

After just a few words, Arendt figured out that Grimson was a spy.

If Arendt had not noticed this so quickly, they would have certainly been in big trouble.

Arendt met the Crown Princess’ eyes and nodded cockily.

“That’s right. In fact, we don’t really have time to chat like this for long. Lexion will be back soon, so let’s head inside.”

“We don’t have time?”

When Isabella asked curiously, Arendt answered with visible annoyance.

“You’ll probably know when you see it. Well…”

After a brief pause, Arendt turned his gaze back toward Grimson’s room.

“It might already be too late.”

The castle was thrown into chaos by the commotion in the middle of the night.

After calming down Marquis Raytar, was so flustered that he had run out in his pajamas, they headed straight to the room where Grimson was locked up in.

And Isabella and Neville quickly realized what Arendt meant.

“Why, why am I here…? Sir Knights, what have I done to deserve this…?”

When Grimson woke up after briefly losing consciousness, he seemed to have completely forgotten what had happened.

Sitting in the chair, the way his innocent eyes nervously darted around didn’t make it look like he was lying.

“What is this…”

While Isabella muttered in confusion, Arendt strode purposefully toward Grimson.

“Sir.”

“Yes, yes?”

Grimson looked up at Arendt, who was suddenly standing in front of him, with great nervousness.

Yet, as he quickly shifted his eyes, scanning Arendt up and down, it seemed as though he was trying to figure out who the unfamiliar young man in the strange uniform was.

Arendt asked the question in a nonchalant tone.

“Do you know who I am?”

“Yes?”

“Do you know who I am?”

Arendt asked again. Grimson hiccuped in fear.

“I-I apologize. I didn’t recognize someone of your stature… I’m just a country bumpkin…”

The sight of him sweating profusely was a stark contrast to when he had been acting terrified.

It seemed as if he didn’t even notice that Arendt was not from the Nephele Kingdom.

.

Arendt clicked his tongue, turned away from him and said:

“Do you see it?”

“…”

Isabella, at a loss for words, looked at Grimson with blank eyes. Arendt added his explanation in a cold tone.

“It’s the effect of the artifact possessed by the Saint of the Evil Cult. It seems that she can freely manipulate the memories of those who believe in the god Chernion.”

“That means…”

Arendt shrugged as Isabella groaned.

“That means Count Motier’s lands have already fallen to the Chernion Cult. Most of them probably followed the dragon voluntarily.”

Grimson, who still couldn’t grasp the situation, eventually chose to hang his head.

It seemed like he didn’t even realize that the person in front of him was the Crown Princess of the Nephele Kingdom.

“…”

Isabella couldn’t bring herself to say anything.

The same was true for the Nephele Royal Knights. Laius gave instructions on their behalf.

“Throw him in prison. There’s nothing more we can learn from him anyway.”

“Yes!”

Instead of the dazed Neville and the Royal Knights, Rider and Glenn stepped forward and dragged Grimson away.

Grimson still looked bewildered as he was dragged away by the two men.

Barely regaining her composure, Isabella opened her mouth again.

“So… Count Motier betrayed the kingdom?”

“It seems that way given the circumstances, doesn’t it?”

Arendt answered nonchalantly.

The premise that Count Motier’s territory was attacked was wrong from the start.

A chill ran down her spine.

“I thought something was strange from the beginning. There was a huge explosion that could have blown up the territory in one blow, but there weren’t even any witnesses. If there had been destruction on that scale, it would have been normal to feel something strange in this territory as well. It was only a day or two’s walk away, you know?”

“That’s right. At least the Marquis should have detected something unusual.”

Llewellyn frowned and agreed.

“Dragons can cast a wide range of magic, so if they set up a soundwave blocking spell and then blow up the territory, that would be another matter…”

“There was no need to do that.”

Llewellyn nodded silently at Arendt’s words.

Even before they set foot on the Empire, Arendt and Laius concluded that this was most likely a trap that was designed to lure them in.

In that case, it would be even more absurd to say that the dragon secretly destroyed the territory while using soundwave blocking magic.

If they set a trap and failed to attract attention, it would be meaningless.

Just then, .

A knock caught their attention.

Without missing a beat, the door opened and Lexion and Zakar, who had gone to explore Count Motier’s territory together, entered.

“How was it?”

“It is exactly as you said.”

When Arendt asked briefly, Zakar gave a curt answer.

“The signs of destruction appear to be older than we previously thought.”

“As expected.”

While Arendt nodded as if he had expected this, Isabella and Neville were shocked once again.

Neville asked with wide eyes.

“Huh, what do you mean by that?”

“I mean it literally. It has been at least a month since Count Motier’s estate became like this.”

It was a scene that contradicted Grimson’s claim that the territory was destroyed while he was running an errand for the lord.

Lexion also added, “It seems like the humans left the territory a long time ago, and there were also traces of powerful magic being cast. That’s probably why there were no witnesses from around here.”

“Wait, just a moment.”

Isabella retorted hastily.

“If it’s been a month since this happened, how come it wasn’t discovered all this time? Even though Count Motier’s territory is in a remote area, he still has quite a bit of contact with Marquis Raytar here. It’s ridiculous to think Marquis Raytar didn’t notice.”

“And if it was true that all the people of the territory left to follow the Evil Cult as you said, then there was no reason to destroy the territory, right?”

Neville then also started rambling and questioning things.

Arendt, with his hands shoved deep into his pockets, continued speaking calmly.

“I may not know everything, but I can take a pretty good guess as to why they hadn’t noticed how the estate had fallen into that state.”

Count Motier and his family lived a modest life and were not particularly notable.

The same was true of the territory they ruled.

“I heard that the Count’s people rarely ventured outside their own territory? As for their contact with the outside world, it was limited to small trades with nearby villages.”

“…That’s right.”

Isabella nodded.

“Then no one would have thought it strange if contact had been lost for a month or two. Or, even after the territory became like that, some people might have periodically come out of the cult and continued to trade as if everything was normal. In that case, they could have kept up the deception for a while.”

It wouldn’t be a very large transaction anyway, and most of the villages that supplied goods from the territory were small fishing villages where fishermen lived together.

Even if they felt something suspicious during the exchange, no one would necessarily visit the territory to check the scene.

“But the problem is Marquis Raytar.”

Neville suddenly interrupted Arendt’s remark.

“Given how close the two territories are, isn’t it strange that no one noticed?”

“Why overthink it? It’s a simple matter.”

It sounded as if he were solving a simple riddle.

“There is a group within Marquis Raytar’s family who are in cahoots with them.”

The meaning contained within his words was by no means light.

Neville’s face turned pale in an instant.