Betrayal Knight’s Joyful Faith - Chapter 377



Only Noblemtl

The 377th episode of The Merry God of Betrayal

“Captain!”

Boom! The door to the old barn opened and a man barged in. Then a woman who had been deep in thought at a desk in a corner of the barn looked up.

He was just called the captain.

“Are you here? Did you check the other side too?”

“Yes. They said the same thing arrived about an hour ago.”

“Tsk.”

The woman, Amber, clicked her tongue in annoyance.

In front of her was a letter with a familiar pattern engraved on it.

Three swords piercing the heart and a snake climbing over them.

It was the symbol of the ‘Sword of the Broken Heart’, which served the god Chernion most closely.

The letter, from an unknown sender named Roger, contained ominous instructions.

The order was to gather people at the designated location within two days, as plans had to change due to internal royal issues.

“A royal matter, what the heck… … .”

As Ember muttered under her breath, her subordinate Jason cautiously intervened.

“I heard that there is an assistant to our sect in the royal family. Could it be that something has happened to him?”

“But if that had been the case, there would have been an uproar in the palace.”

Despite all this, I haven’t heard any news from the servants yet.

That’s what kept Amber hesitating.

“There are only three days left. Then we can overthrow the palace and create Lord Chernion’s world… … .”

Ember muttered anxiously. In just three days, the magic she had prepared would be activated, and together with Chernion’s soldiers, she would be able to take over the Kingdom of Lucain.

But, of course, I couldn’t be happy about the sudden change now.

“I did some research through Neumann’s information center… … .”

Jason, who had been observing for a moment, spoke cautiously.

“They say that the warrior who overthrew the great temple of the Callion Empire is none other than Roger.”

“what?”

“It’s information that was received just yesterday. It seems that our colleagues from the Kalion Empire leaked it to us.”

Ember also knew very well how accurate the information held by the information desk above Neumann was.

Even though I was at the bottom, it is true that I have received a lot of help from the staff members who were at the top of Neumann.

“Then… …. Is this really what you sent from the headquarters?”

“It seems that other branches have decided that way.”

Jason gave his answer, though he seemed not entirely sure of it.

Ember had also long ago heard the news that all those who had stood in the way of Lyos de Winfried had been arrested.

‘The Imperial Knights of the Kallion Empire are coming this way… … .’

It had been predicted days ago that the tail would be caught in some way. But since the miracle soldiers would wake up soon, it wouldn’t be a big problem. This was her.

‘Even if you are a hero of the Holy Sword, it would be impossible to deal with them without taking any damage.’

I didn’t think I could defeat the hero. Just holding him back for a moment would have been enough.

The moment when the successor who has been recognized by Chernion becomes the rightful owner of the Kingdom of Lucain.

If we could just buy time until then, the revolution could succeed.

“Captain… … . Shall we call our comrades together?”

Ember nodded slightly at Jason’s question.

“No. First, I need to find out what the problem is with the royal family.”

As long as there was still some doubt, it was necessary to first understand the situation and then take action.

Jason didn’t refute the captain’s words either.

But they didn’t have to worry for long.

Just a few hours later, a familiar-looking criminal appeared in the marketplace, dragged by the hands of the Royal Knights.

“… … .”

At the news of the commotion, Ember ran through the crowd to the square.

In the middle of the crowd, a familiar face was standing with its head bowed, wearing a shabby prison uniform.

He was a servant who shared their views within the palace.

“This sinner was brought to this place on the charge of conspiring with an evil cult.”

The knight holding the rope shouted loudly. Then the people surrounding the square began to murmur loudly.

Through the voice, the knight declared majestically.

“The Crown Prince has given a merciful order that those who surrender will be spared from extreme punishment. Report by this evening. If you do, you will be spared from death, but if you resist to the end, you will be severely punished for the crime of rebellion.”

I noticed a few familiar faces of my colleagues among the crowd.

Their faces also turned pale.

The attendant, who had become a spectacle in an instant, simply hung his head and shed tears on the floor.

It was clearly a face of regret for his decision.

“… … .”

A cold sweat ran down Amber’s spine.

If things like this start to shake, believers might leave in large numbers.

“The problem is… … . All the people in the palace… … .”

Jason muttered as if he was groaning.

If that was the case, it would only be a matter of time before the rightful successor to the kingdom they were to put forward was discovered.

Amber hesitated for a moment, but then made up her mind.

“Gather the people right away this evening. We need to move to the designated location.”

“Huh? Oh, yes!”

Jason, who had been blankly staring, nodded quickly.

If there was even a little delay, an insider might come out. There was no way to mess things up when the operation was just around the corner.

* * *

Meanwhile, in the dungeon of the Lucain Palace.

Crown Prince Viktor brought a chair and faced the prisoners.

His face looked like he was going to vomit at any moment, but he held on strong.

“You may leave, Your Majesty.”

The Duke of Middleton, who had been standing by, quietly advised.

“No, it’s okay.”

But Victor stubbornly shook his head.

Before them, secretly arrested spies of the evil cult were kneeling, bound.

And under Llewelyn’s direction, the Duke of Middleton’s men were again classifying the criminals into two categories.

After Lexion rejoined, they found the remnants hiding in the palace within a matter of hours.

The method was simple.

He caught one of the cult’s sect members and made him kneel, and then Lexion quietly cried out in front of him.

It was by no means easy for a human who could not even control magical power to withstand the presence of a dragon.

In the end, the first attendant who was caught confessed the names of all the colleagues he knew, even to the point of vomiting.

After repeating this several times, they were able to capture close to forty people.

The types were varied: servants, grooms, kitchen cooks, study keepers…

‘So many people… … .’

Victor barely managed to hold back his drowsiness, and just quietly watched Arendt’s back as she walked among the criminals.

He had once again reverted to the appearance of the young servant ‘Ren’.

“This is about right.”

Arendt turned around after finishing her work.

“These guys are the ones who can be reformed. And the other guys don’t seem to have any intention of giving in to their stubbornness.”

Arendt nodded to the spies gathered on one side.

Then, the servant, unable to overcome his sense of humiliation, began to curse.

“God will never allow this to happen! Lord Chernion’s divine punishment will be poured out on the palace!”

As if that were a signal, evil screams erupted from all over.

“The merciful darkness is with us. You too must open your eyes quickly!”

“Don’t listen to those guys! It’s time for the world to change!”

A mad voice echoed through the dark basement. Victor’s face turned even paler, but Arendt did not move.

“You see? It’s already gone. If you haven’t even been baptized by a saint and you’re in this state, it’s not going to change your mind easily.”

“… … I see.”

Victor nodded stiffly. Then he nodded to the Duke of Middleton.

“All right.”

The Duke of Middleton, having received the order, raised his hand toward his men. Then the knights drew their swords.

The scene that followed was one that Victor could not bear to watch.

“Ahhhhh!”

“This fucking… … AAAH!”

Phew, phew.

I closed my eyes tightly, but it seemed as if I could still see the tragedy clearly.

Screams, the sound of swords cutting flesh, prayers to evil spirits, and the smell of blood all mixed together.

And exactly ten minutes later, Llewelyn opened his mouth.

“It’s over, brother.”

“… … .”

Only then did Victor barely raise his head.

Those whom Arendt had classified as beyond redemption were now lying on the cold floor, cold corpses.

The stones on the floor were covered in blood, and the knights’ swords were also dyed red.

The scent of blood, which I had never smelled before, tickled my nose.

And the criminals who witnessed the brutal execution were so terrified that they could not even groan.

“Have you seen it?”

Arendt turned her head towards the remaining sinners.

The sinners began to tremble even more violently than when they had faced the dragon earlier. Some of them even began to sob.

“Now that you are stuck here, what is the outside of the palace like?”

Arendt stopped in front of them and said nonchalantly.

“It’s so peaceful. You won’t even know that you’re gone.”

“… … .”

“You should be glad that you are sinners. Those guys will disappear without a trace of ever having existed.”

The sinners also knew very well that Arendt’s words were not false.

They were brought here as if they had been kidnapped, so even their coworkers probably haven’t noticed that they’ve disappeared yet.

And now, half of them have lost their lives in a way worse than that of bugs.

As if it wasn’t worth existing in this world.

“He fled after joining the evil cult… … I think we can leave it at that. If those bastards had any sense, they wouldn’t have bothered to look for him.”

A cold voice was added to the thick scent of blood.

“No matter how much you pray, God won’t save you.”

A gloomy voice echoed through the blood-filled prison.

“It is not thanks to God Luce or God Chernion that you were saved.”

Arendt walked through the pool of blood on the floor and approached the criminals.

“It is thanks to the mercy of that foolish Crown Prince.”

A hero’s epic doesn’t need more blood than necessary.

But since this was reality and not a stage, someone had to be cruel to prevent further trouble.

In that case, one way would be to not show it to the outside world.

“… … .”

Arendt stopped walking and stood before the survivors.

A calm tone of voice came from the young-looking attendant, completely out of place in the situation.

“Now, is there anyone else you would like to talk about? Who would you like to see crowned king?”

But the survivors could not help but be terrified by the strangeness.

Although he was merely a servant brought by Prince Llewelyn, he instinctively realized that he was the one who held the initiative here.

“If you don’t know, tell me who your higher-ups are. I’m sure one of you will know.”

The survivors began to look around, but their worries did not last long.

The oldest servant among them spoke.

“I, I know… … .”

A trembling voice flowed out. Arendt nodded.

“say.”

“… … I don’t know who the successor is. Ha, but.”

The attendant swallowed his saliva and barely managed to continue speaking.

“It was the aide who gave us orders. After the aide left for vacation, the chief of staff took over.”

Victor, who had been watching quietly, licked his lips.

“This can’t be happening… … .”

“I guess Your Majesty is not blessed, Your Majesty.”

But Arendt simply blurted out her words in a tone that conveyed no emotion at all.

“Or maybe you didn’t have any virtue.”

“… … .”

In the midst of the dire situation, Victor was left speechless.

Finally, Llewelyn, unable to stand it any longer, stepped forward to say something to Arendt.

“Hey, that’s a bit… … .”

“what are you doing?”

But Arendt pretended not to hear and turned her head to look at the Duke of Middleton.

“They’re the chief of staff and the aide. Bring them both.”

“… … .”

It was an order, but in a situation where all of the kingdom’s corruption had been exposed, I couldn’t bring myself to point it out.

The Duke of Middleton simply nodded silently.

“Okay.”