Betrayal Knight's Joyful Faith

Chapter 136: That bastard, Im so angry Im going to die

“…”“…”

In the thick darkness, a suffocating silence flowed.

The man, who was lying face down, could not even breathe deeply due to the oppression, so he just stared at the floor and sweated profusely.

After a while, a short sigh came out of the darkness.

“What should I do… I’m starting to feel a little empty.”

“I’m sorry.”

Although it was not his fault at all, the man had no choice but to bow his head.

After a while, a head was heard shaking from beyond the darkness.

“No. It’s not your fault, Roger. It’s no one’s fault. It wouldn’t have failed in the first place.”

If only there weren’t a few variables.

The plans that were carried out in other countries didn’t go wrong. A village, an entire city was arrested and fear began to spread.

But in the Caerleon Empire, the opposite result occurred.

Instead of dying an honorable death, Crow suffered humiliation and even had his body taken away.

It’s a good thing they took follow-up measures in advance, otherwise they would have been in real trouble.

“It feels like they’ve figured out our intentions. Roger, what do you think?”

“…”

The man, Roger, couldn’t deny it.

If they tried to provoke the enemy by confronting them head-on, the enemy would mock them as if they were joking and run away, but if they intended to destroy everything and instill fear, the other side would use this as a springboard to put forth a shining hero.

“Even palms need to clap to make a sound. How can you not know that all of this is ultimately for the good of the world?”

The Imperial Knights… no, Arendt von Eckhart didn’t seem to have any intention of fitting in there.

Roger, who had been silent, opened his mouth.

“Those who serve Luce do not have that level of wisdom.”

“Don’t ignore them too much. It’s true that they ruled the world peacefully.”

“…I made a slip of the tongue.”

As Roger lowered his head further, a light chuckle was heard.

“That’s okay. It’s not time to be impatient yet. I think we need to change our approach a little bit.”

“What do you mean by change?”

“If we continue like this, we might end up setting up a deception for Captain Laius.”

The results so far have been telling.

There was a brief silence as if he was lost in thought, and then a light tone came out again.

“…Now that Crow is dead, Jin must be quite heartbroken. You should comfort them.”

“What?”

For the first time, an uneasy answer came from Roger, who had been quiet.

“Why? Do you not like it?”

“…No. I will do that.”

After Roger had been opening his mouth for a while, he finally nodded his head, and a clear laughter erupted from the darkness.

Unlike usual, Priest Lumiel, who was wearing casual clothes, looked like a kind old woman. The old priest, with a warm smile on her face, hummed in a higher voice than usual.

“It feels good to be out in the fresh air after a long time. Sometimes, I have to go out like this. I get ready to go out for a bit of fresh air, but the kids follow me, so it’s not easy.”

“Is life in the Great Temple stifling?”

“I’m so busy that I don’t even have time to feel that way, but sometimes I miss the days when I used to wander around.”

Arendt responded incredulously.

“I think that means you feel suffocated.”

“I can’t help it. But I am very fortunate that I can serve Lord Luce in this one life.”

For the naturally free-spirited Priest Lumiel, life in the temple may not have been all that pleasant. Her refusal to take on the position of High Priest may have been due to her desire to not be tied down any further.

“Is Lord Arendt buying lunch today?”

“Are you planning to prey on a young, green apprentice knight?”

“It is a well-known fact that Lord Arendt is rich. Doesn’t his income exceed that of this old priest?”

Arendt just shrugged his shoulders at the joking remark from Priest Lumiel.

After a while, Lawrence came over and placed a generous portion of lunch in front of the two of them.

Before the meal began, Priest Lumiel offered a short prayer and asked with a smile.

“So, Lord Arendt, what are you curious about?”

“Divine power. It’s a completely different power from magic power. I’m curious about the principle.”

Looking at Arendt, who was tearing off a piece of soft bread and putting it in his mouth, Priest Lumiel tilted her head vaguely.

“If we talk about the principle… Well, it would be a bit of a stretch to say that they are completely different forces. Of course, we can’t say that they are the same, but their properties are similar in some ways.”

The priest, who had been choosing her words carefully for a moment, added:

“I think it would be easier for Lord Arendt to understand if I liken it to the magical power of God. Each temple has different characteristics of divine power.”

“Are you talking about something like magical properties? Like the healing power of the Luce Temple?”

“Yes, by the grace of Luce, we were able to obtain powerful healing powers. The same goes for the other temples.”

There were temples where several priests gather to make it rain, and there were also temples where they bless plants so that they grow well.

“Usually, the powers of a priest are related to the parts that each god exerts in this world. A priest borrows the powers of such gods. Just as knights and wizards use the magic of nature.”

“…”

As he listened to the quiet explanation of Priest Lumiel, Arendt glanced at the Frosty Touch.

Holy relic.

They wouldn’t call the artifact that for no reason.

“The evil god… he is the opposite of Luce, right?”

“I guess so.”

The god of darkness, and the god of the night.

Arendt recalled the image of Chernion seen in Rebecca’s castle.

“Then what kind of divine power will the priest who serves him have?”

“…”

The unexpected question made Priest Lumiel’s eyes widen.

As Arendt briefly explained what had happened so far, the priest’s expression, which had been one of surprise, gradually became serious.

“…This matter will be kept secret for now, right?”

“Yes, I would like you to keep this to yourself. Of course, I would like you not to tell the High Priest.”

“Oh, Lord Arendt always makes things difficult for this old woman.”

Contrary to what she said, the priest’s wrinkled face showed no sign of displeasure as she smiled bitterly.

“Well, I guess there’s nothing I can do about it. Regardless of the temple, my promise to personally help you still stands. Let’s see…”

Priest Lumiel paused for a long time, as if gathering her thoughts.

As Arendt continued to eat, she opened her mouth again.

“Without any precise information or data, all we can do now is speculate… As Lord Arendt knows, the power of the God of Light, Luce, is a powerful healing force. And it is said that during the wars of long ago, he also played a role in encouraging the strength of the warriors.”

He’s read it in novels too.

Like a buff of sorts, knights blessed by the priest were given the effect of having their morale recharged and their physical abilities temporarily increased.

“Simply put, it increases physical abilities, so I think their powers can be considered the opposite of ours.”

Priest Lumiel, who had moistened her throat with a drink, continued speaking.

“That is, our power is focused on helping our allies. On the other hand, theirs seems to be focused on destroying the enemy.”

“Destruction…”

Arendt, who had been muttering briefly, raised his head and looked at Priest Lumiel.

“Actually, I have a hypothesis in my head.”

“Yes, go ahead.”

“But, I feel a bit awkward talking about it because I feel like if I say this, Priest Lumiel will never have a meal with me again.”

Priest Lumiel’s eyes widened as if she was surprised by those words, then she checked Arendt’s expression and burst into laughter.

“You don’t sound particularly sorry for saying that, Lord Arendt.”

“I don’t feel particularly sorry or regretful, but I don’t want to be hated by the priest. After all, you are the only one who can help me in the temple.”

As Arendt shrugged his shoulders shamelessly, Priest Lumiel stared meaningfully.

“But you’re going to talk about it, right? Otherwise, there’s no reason for you to take the time out of your day to buy me such an expensive meal.”

“Yes, I was just trying to cover up the issue. Please don’t hate me. No, even if you hate me, there’s nothing I can do about it. I’m just curious to see if my hypothesis makes sense.”

Arendt burst into laughter and took a bite of his steak with his fork.

“You said that Lord Luce’s power helps his allies? I would like to look at it from a slightly different perspective.”

If they take away the altruistic nature and just look at the function…

“When a human being prays earnestly to God with faith, God is moved and lends him strength… That is what divine power is. However, I would like to look at it from a different perspective.”

“If you look at it from a different perspective, what…?”

“The divine power of the Temple of Light is involved in the ‘body’ of living things. By healing and energizing them in the name of charity… it ‘collects’ faith.”

“…?!”

“It is not that God is pleased with humans and grants them divine powers, but that he makes humans use divine powers and makes humans, moved by them, dedicate their faith to God Luce himself.”

“…”

“You said earlier that Chernion is the opposite of the god Luce? Then, wouldn’t it be okay to see their divine power as interfering with the ‘spirit’ of the believers?”

It was a cruelly cold gaze that completely excluded faith, heart, and the love of God.

“They had excessive loyalty, and were easily distracted by provocations during battle. And they could interfere with the minds of those who held the faith and impose restrictions on them. They made them completely forget the memories of the cult.”

It was the power of the artifact, ‘Breath of Mnemosyne’.

“I heard that the divine power of the High Priest can even save a terminally ill patient, and the other party can manipulate the memories of believers at will, and even paralyze their reason to a certain extent. So if a war breaks out between the two…”

“I know what you want to say, Lord Arendt, and I understand now why you were worried about being hated by me.”

In the end, Priest Lumiel, who could no longer listen, cut him off mid-sentence.

Arendt stopped talking and stared blankly at the priest.

“Is this a ridiculous story?”

“…”

Priest Lumiel remained silent for a long time, unable to hide her confusion.

A war between Luce’s soldiers who could be revived endlessly as long as they didn’t lose their breath, and Chernion’s soldiers whose fighting spirit never wavered even when their comrades died right next to them.

There was no faith or divine mercy whatsoever, and there was only a transaction between humans and gods.

It was a sight like no other hell.

What made the priest even more embarrassed was that she could not just carelessly deny it as nonsense.

Arendt crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair.

“Judging by the priest’s reaction, it may not be entirely wrong. Just forget about it. At this point, it can only be speculation.”

“Ah, truly…”

After a long while, the priest barely managed to mutter, and realized belatedly that her expression had collapsed, and smiled awkwardly.

“You’re really bold. I think I’ll get sick, so I’ll have to bring some digestive medicine when I get back.”

“There are a lot of those in our dorm. I’ll bring some over to you next time.”

Seeing the apprentice knight speaking so naturally, the priest could not help but burst into laughter with a pale face.