Betrayal Knight's Joyful Faith

Chapter 248

The inn’s restaurant was at its busiest when the sun was setting.Those who came for a drink after a day’s work and those who came for a meal at the inn would gather together and create a pleasant commotion.

Today in particular, it was more lively than usual because the vendors who had gone out to sell their goods happened to gather at a restaurant.

There was a heated debate about the competition between the Khan Union and the East Merchant Group, which was heating up the market.

“I heard that Sir Arendt openly criticized the East Merchant Group. Isn’t that shocking? Even the most prominent nobles of the Empire are submissive to the East Merchant Group.”

“Isn’t it a bit too much to criticize a young knight for grumbling briefly?”

“If he spoke criticism in a place where everyone could hear, then that’s definitely a condemnation. Moreover, I heard that what he said was quite harsh.”

The person sitting across from the merchant asked curiously.

“What did he say?”

“He said that a company led by a childish boss who is obsessed with money will not survive for long.”

The merchant whispered in a low voice.

“It’s said that the East Merchant Group deliberately arranged for low-quality goods to enter the Khan Union. I guess that’s what he meant by childish.”

“In fact, even if the East Merchant Group didn’t do anything behind the scenes, they would have kept an eye on them anyways.”

The man who had soothed his throat with alcohol continued to speak.

“How many merchants would want to be hated by the East Merchant Group? So this time, the Khan Union… no, I think Sir Arendt was being reckless.”

“He was too provocative. If he had just politely kicked out the spies, things wouldn’t have turned out like this.”

“He’s not a businessman, so there’s nothing that he could do. But it was kind of refreshing.”

The drunken merchant, his face flushed red, burst into laughter.

“To think that the mighty East Merchant Group is just a petty thief, there are still people who might believe that, aren’t there.”

“I agree that it’s refreshing, but I think he chose the wrong opponent.”

The merchant sitting across from him tilted his head.

“Well… I don’t know which side chose the wrong opponent. No matter what anyone says, Duke Lancelot is behind the Khan Union. Sir Arendt is young, but he’s no pushover.”

“Duke Lancelot isn’t very good at business either. Union Leader Henry and Vice Leader Arcus seem to have quite a bit of talent, but the East Merchant Group has a lot of money and experience.”

“That’s true. It would probably be difficult to confront them head-on. Besides, I heard another tea shop will open near the Khan Union soon.”

“Considering that the process from purchasing the building to preparing for opening was so quick, it must have been East Merchant Group’s involvement.”

The situation in the Khan Union was not good.

If another store that could compete with them opened nearby, the Khan Union would inevitably be shaken even more.

One of the merchants let out a sigh.

“To me, it looks like a shrimp getting crushed in a fight between whales. What’s wrong with the Khan Union? The two young lords were just trying to become independent by doing business together.”

“Haha, that’s true. Duke Lancelot also has his pride, so he won’t get involved in such a petty fight.”

The future of the Khan Union was simply precarious.

The merchants clicked their tongues in disappointment.

“The young lords have taken good care of it, but it’s a shame that it was all for nothing.”

“Still, we don’t know what will happen, so we’ll just have to wait and see for the time being.”

And there was one person quietly listening to their conversation at a table a little ways away.

He didn’t have a particularly striking appearance and his presence was rather vague.

Because of that, no one in the restaurant paid any attention to him.

“Enjoy your meal.”

The waiter placed drinks and food in front of him and greeted him dryly.

The man, whose throat was parched, drank all the alcohol in one go.

!

A irritated monologue came out of his mouth as he roughly put down his heavy glass.

“…What is this little brat doing now?”

He definitely gave him a warning a while ago.

But this crazy kid didn’t seem to have any intention of holding back at all.

‘I understand what he’s calculating, but…’

Lexion clicked his tongue and took another sip of his drink.

He guessed that he wanted to sort out all the variables before something really big happened.

Instead of just letting it pass, it seemed like he was trying to nip it in the bud.

Not avoiding the approaching trouble was an extremely apprentice knight-like action.

But…

‘The timing isn’t very good.’

The desire to not let go of either one was admirable, but to the onlookers, it looked like a rather precarious stunt.

The moment he was lost in such thoughts.

.

Suddenly, a man appeared before his eyes without a sound.

“I’m back, Lexion.”

Lexion didn’t show any sign of surprise at the sight of the man suddenly appearing out of thin air.

Even the people bustling around him were all busy talking among themselves, not even paying attention to him.

As if he was invisible to begin with.

Lexion nodded.

“How’s the harvest?”

“I have confirmed the magic reaction as you said, but I have not yet determined the location. I apologize.”

Lexion clicked his tongue as Stellar spoke.

“Okay. I couldn’t find it right away either, so how could you? How about the traces? Did you miss them?”

“No. We are continuing to track them. And we have confirmed that the main force has been dispersed.”

Lexion narrowed his eyes as if telling him to continue talking.

Stellar continued his report in his characteristically flat voice.

“Some of the forces remain in the Caerleon Empire, but some seem to have recently escaped the Caerleon Empire’s borders.”

“Isn’t this a trace left from before? I heard that riots broke out in other countries too.”

“No. It happened relatively recently.”

Lexion slowly nodded at Stellar’s assertion.

“Okay. Any other singularities?”

“A new magical response has been detected in the western part of the Caerleon Empire. It is a trace of the Evil God, but we have not yet identified its true nature. We are continuing to track it.”

“…West?”

Lexion, who had been listening quietly, slightly raised his eyebrows.

“Is there anything?”

“No, nothing. Then is the real body there?”

“Yes.”

Lexion sat lost in thought, listening to his answer.

Stellar stood still in front of him, not moving an inch, as if he was afraid that even the slightest breath would disturb Lexion’s thoughts.

After some time, Lexion finally opened his mouth again.

“Just keep an eye on that side for the time being. Go ahead.”

“Okay, I understand. Take care.”

Stellar, bowing deeply in respect, disappeared like smoke as he had when he first appeared.

Left alone in the midst of the commotion, Lexion fell into thought again.

‘To the West…’

Lexion looked around silently and glanced at the merchants who were still talking about the same topic.

‘Is it a coincidence?’

But it was quite a coincidence if it was.

Since nothing could be confirmed yet, he needed to investigate further, but it seemed best not to let down his guard.

It was not difficult to guess why the Evil Cult had divided its power outside the Empire.

It was because the Caerleon Empire was doing better than expected.

Even in Lexion’s eyes, they were fighting the Evil Cult quite smoothly.

Even while organizing the inside and outside, they did not let down their guard against the Chernion Cult, so the cult’s method of brainwashing people with religious beliefs was not effective.

In addition, the surrounding countries were also preparing for battle centered around the Caerleon Empire.

‘The cult must have been planning to move by surprise.’

Since rising up by surprise had already failed, their only option was an all-out war.

The fact that they were dividing their forces now could be interpreted as meaning that they have also given up on conquering the interior of the Caerleon Empire.

‘…Surely he didn’t expect this to happen.’

Naturally, the image of a shameless apprentice knight came to mind.

If he looked at Arendt’s actions up to this point, it seemed as if he had been preparing for the inevitable war with the Evil Cult.

At least, he had been consistently guiding the Crown Prince and Laius so that the Empire would not be left helpless.

But Lexion soon changed his mind.

It would have been impossible unless he had seen the future.

Even a dragon could not know what would happen even an inch ahead, so it was impossible for a mere human to see into the future.

If so, it would be right to view the current results as a product of chance, but it was certainly not an ordinary event.

It meant that he had made the best choice at every moment, even though he hadn’t actually seen the future.

‘Does that mean even a ridiculous madman is worthy of receiving the attention of the gods?’

Monstrous bastard.

Lexion let out a hollow laugh as he inwardly thought about it.

As soon as Arendt took his seat, Neumann spoke in a complicated manner.

“It is said that the sales of the Khan Union hit an all-time low yesterday.”

But Arendt, sitting across from Neumann, just sipped his tea and nodded absentmindedly as he always did.

“That’s about right. Has it been more than ten days?”

“Yes. We’re trying to keep the quality of our items intact, but it seems like the number of visitors is decreasing due to concerns about the situation at the East Merchant Group.”

The Khan Union was a place where both trade and cooperation took place, also serving as a meeting place for merchants.

Since the profits from the tea house were greater than the commissions received from wholesalers and merchants, the merchants stopped doing business with the tea house, so they were left helpless.

“But… I heard a strange story.”

“What is it?”

Neumann glanced at Arendt and answered cautiously.

“It was about the Khan Union bearing the brunt of the damage caused by the fight between Sir Arendt and the East Merchant Group.”

While the East Merchant Group was busy trying to crush the Khan Union, Arendt, of course, was not sitting still.

He was gossiping about the East Merchant Group in plain sight for all to hear.

Neumann asked with a long, puzzled look on his face.

“Is this what you expected?”

“What do you think?”

Arendt smiled faintly, putting down his teacup with a leisurely gesture.

Neumann burst into a weak laugh when he saw that face.

“I see, that’s what happened.”

“Anyone can see that the only one who is pitiful now is the Khan Union. The only ones who misunderstood that I was interfering with the operation of the Khan Union were the East Merchant Group and Count Eckhart.”

To others, it might have seemed like Arendt had just happened to visit the Union and started a ruckus, causing the Khan Union to suffer the consequences.

“Besides, the Union Leader is taking a huge loss by saying that he will maintain the quality of the tea even in this situation. In reality, it won’t have much of an impact, but at least to the public, it will look like he is trying extremely hard.”

The Khan Union’s warehouses were full of low-quality tea and high-quality tea that had been painstakingly procured but unsold.

It was a sight that would make those who went to check on the Union’s situation feel pity.

Moreover, with only flies flying around in a place that was always crowded, it was inevitable that others would see the Khan Union as being in dire straits.

“That’s certainly true… I understand what you mean.”

When the head of the merchant group nodded coolly, Arendt naturally changed the subject.

“In that sense, are there any movements from the guys who were watching?”

“Yes, this is the news that Lord Arendt has been waiting for.”

As if he had been waiting for those words, Neumann handed him a well-sealed envelope.

“These are the recent developments of the merchants operating in the western part of the Empire. As expected, they are all based in Count Eckhart’s territory. After investigating, I found that they are all merchants and traders directly owned by the Count or indirectly involved.”

“Okay. It’s just as I thought. This side is ready too. It was a bit tough though.”

The gazes of the merchant and the apprentice knight met in midair.

After a moment, the two smiled playfully almost simultaneously.

Even though they felt like they were going to die from the endless workload, they always enjoyed making trouble for others.