Betrayal Knight's Joyful Faith

Chapter 155

Laius wasn’t particularly surprised that four people returned when he had clearly sent only two.He just added one sentence.

“You all worked hard.”

Glenn and Rider, who confirmed that their vacation days had been processed as dispatched work, returned to their rooms with some confusion.

Then Arendt went into Laius’s office and reported on the results of the dispatch.

As the apprentice knight continued to speak, Laius’ face grew cold.

“…I see. The dragon that served Chernion owns it. What about the spies that were hiding?”

“The Count will take care of that. He has promised to inform us once he has properly uncovered the truth behind the scenes, so all we have to do is wait a while. You don’t have to worry about the Union.”

“But the fact that Count Eckhart has made some moves is not a very good sign.”

“I’ll figure it out.”

“I’m worried about that.”

The Captain’s tone of voice sounded a bit tired for some reason.

But the apprentice knight, who had no way of knowing what Laius was thinking inside and didn’t care even if he did know, just shrugged his shoulders.

“Seeing brothers act like this as a pair, I guess unfilial piety is inherited. It’s all karma.”

“…Okay, I understand for now. I’ll leave it to Lord Arcus. Since the lab has been cleaned up, I guess the mine is what we need to focus on now.”

“Yes, that’s right. Before that, I’d like to ask the captain what you think. I’m just asking for your thoughts.”

“My thoughts?”

When Laius asked curiously, Arendt just nodded his head.

“I’m asking for your extremely personal opinion.”

“Ask.”

“Do you believe in absolute goodness?”

“…”

The Captain was speechless for a moment at the unexpected question.

But that didn’t last long, as Laius began to think seriously.

“…I think that is what I should pursue as a human being and as a knight.”

Arendt clicked his tongue at the very Laius-like answer and changed the question.

“Then what do you think of a person who believes without a doubt that he is the absolute good?”

“To pursue what is right, you must constantly doubt yourself and doubt again.”

This time the answer came back without a moment’s hesitation.

“Then what if your superior is overconfident? What if he keeps making mistakes because of it?”

“I guess I should give him some advice.”

“But what if he still doesn’t listen?”

“I will continue to offer advice until he listens to it.”

A unique stubbornness could be felt in Laius’ hardened face as he answered calmly.

In a way, you could say that Laius was also someone who was hated by his superiors. Up until the time he became the captain of the knights, he was treated like a stone and was persecuted countless times.

With that kind of personality, Arendt didn’t know if he would readily agree to the scenario he was currently envisioning.

“You know who I’m talking about, right?”

“I already guessed, but to be honest… I feel like I don’t want to know.”

Laius groaned and rubbed his temple.

As he had thought last time, it seemed that the captains were also having a hard time with High Priest Theodore.

High Priest Theodore was firstly a servant of the god Luce before he was a human being or a leader.

The place where the High Priest stood was a sanctuary far removed from the secular world.

“I’ll ask first, but can you convince the High Priest?”

“Well, it won’t be easy.”

“Then, can you guess how he would react to the mural Count Stadler discovered?”

“Yes, it is highly likely that things will go as you and the Count predicted.”

The Magic Stone Mine was a place that brought in huge profits, so the High Priest wouldn’t touch it rashly, but there was a possibility that they would ban the investigation of the ruins themselves.

This would be a death sentence for Count Stadler.

“Actually, that’s not all. The artifacts we use now will also become a problem later if their existence is discovered. If they find out that they were relics of the Chernion Cult, they might be ordered to be destroyed immediately.”

“Haa…”

A sigh came from the captain’s mouth.

It was officially announced that there were enemies in possession of artifacts, and that they had been collected from enemies that had been eliminated so far.

However, their use in the field was still kept secret, and the only person in the temple who knew of it was Priest Lumiel.

Finally, Laius asked, rubbing his temple.

“I think I have a rough idea, but I’ll ask just to confirm. Do you want to persuade High Priest Theodore?”

“It’s not a wish, it’s a necessity. If not, there will definitely be problems later.”

Since the work of Priest Declan had already caused friction with High Priest Theodore several times, something had to be done before things escalated any further.

“We don’t know where the enemy will come from right now, and it would be a problem if the investigation is interrupted. What if the palace and the temple fight each other, and then a dragon suddenly appears and burns everything down? What if the guys who were hiding all rise up and rebel?”

Laius stared at Arendt with concern.

His golden eyes remained terrifyingly calm as he uttered these outrageous words.

“The investigation into the dragon and the Chernion Cult is currently underway by Prince Llewellyn and Count Stadler, so we must first resolve the obstacles in front of them.”

At first glance, he seemed impulsive and self-willed, but Arendt was surprisingly always cautious.

Laius knew that even if the method was drastic, the course of action taken was clearly to consider all possible scenarios and to aim for the one that would bring about the best outcome.

He must have said that he would dare to go against the will of the High Priest because it was absolutely necessary.

With all sorts of problems, including the Chernion Cult, dragons, and other races, it was decided that the most urgent matter to be resolved was the situation with the Great Temple.

The captain, who had been silent for a long time, slowly opened his mouth.

“…I understand. First, I will discuss it with the other captains and submit a request to High Priest Theodore to seek permission to investigate the Chernion Temple sealed in Rebecca’s castle.”

In that case, they could only hope that High Priest Theodore would cooperate.

Arendt nodded.

“Then I’ll wait for now.”

“I also have a question. What will you do if High Priest Theodore does not respond?”

“Well, I guess I’ll have to look at the situation first and then decide.”

“You mean you won’t just let it go? I understand. I’ll try my best. If the three Grand Masters of the Imperial Knights submit a petition at the same time, High Priest Theodore won’t ignore it either.”

“Well, I wonder if that’s true.”

The words of firm belief were met with a somewhat skeptical response.

Laius, who had been silent for a moment, changed the subject.

“Go run an errand. Tell Lord Diana and Lord Kendrick that we are meeting. They can decide a time and place that suits them both, and then you can let me know.”

“It’s annoying. Why are you using me as a messenger when you have a perfectly good communication device? I’m not even a pigeon.”

“I often forget, but you are still an apprentice.”

“And?”

“That means that it is more appropriate for you to run errands for the captain than to get involved in all sorts of things and become a target for evil cults, dragons, and the like.”

Laius calmly replied to the sulky voice.

That wasn’t entirely wrong, either; Arendt shrugged his shoulders instead of saying anything further.

It seemed that Kendrick and Diana also had the same opinion as Laius, so the meeting among the captains was held faster than expected.

Finally, the petition, which gained even more strength with the Crown Prince’s permission, went straight to the Great Temple.

As Arendt had said to the captain, he wanted to be allowed to investigate the previously discovered Chernion temple more closely and to publish some of the related information, albeit limited.

The Great Temple, which received the petition, was surprisingly quiet.

And less than two days later, Laius and the captains received a reply.

The answer of High Priest Theodore, disregarding the long greeting written in a beautiful handwriting, the ceremonial words of God, and the concern about the state of the empire in turmoil due to the Chernion cult, was as follows:

And this was Arendt’s reaction when he heard that from Laius.

“Screw your blessings.”

“…”

The captains, the Crown Prince, and the Crown Prince’s aide gathered in the conference room were left speechless by these blunt, explicit, and truly irreverent words.

After a long time, the Crown Prince, who had come to his senses first, sighed.

“I expected it, but I didn’t think he would reject us so outright.”

“I think you thought the explanation you gave last time was sufficient.”

Diana added, and a somewhat perplexed Kendrick followed.

“Your Highness, I think he is genuinely concerned about who will be able to bring glory to Lord Luce? He must think that the similar appearance, the title of God of the Night, and the God of Darkness are all factors that threaten Lord Luce.”

Looking back, High Priest Theodore’s actions were always like this.

When the identity of the ‘Sword of the Broken Heart’ was first revealed, the High Priest refused to acknowledge their existence, and even had a major conflict of opinion with Priest Lumiel.

“Now that things have come to this, we need to come up with some solution.”

“Is there a grandiose way to say the method?”

Kendrick, who had opened his mouth again, stopped short at the young voice that came out from one side.

Everyone’s eyes naturally turned to Arendt.

The apprentice knight spoke calmly, gazing intently at the captains and the Crown Prince.

“Since there is a conflict of opinion, we need to coordinate. But coordination has already gone down the drain. So what’s left is only conflict?”

“…Easier said than done. If we make a mistake, we could end up turning the entire Temple into our enemies.”

Cantares immediately expressed his discomfort.

If that happened, it would be impossible for him to survive in the Caerleon Empire.

But Arendt thought a little differently.

A pleasant voice whispered into the conference room.

“That is only possible when High Priest Theodore is the representative of God. Of course, that is the original position of the High Priest. .”

“What are you trying to say?”

“Take a look at yourself.”

When Diana, unable to bear the frustration, urged him on, Arendt clicked his tongue.

“The same goes for everyone else. Think carefully about what position you are in and what you are saying now.”

“…”

“Who here thinks of High Priest Theodore as a representative of God? He holds power, but he has no flexibility at all, and he acts like a stubborn old man who interferes with everything.”

“…”

Everyone was frozen by the blasphemous and unimaginable outburst, and Jereon, who happened to be thinking the same thing, looked away.