‘Should I say it’s still the sa?’
In the profound silence, Duke Lancelot quietly watched Arendt.
‘Or should I say it has changed?’
The image of Arendt being dragged out of the underground prison in a disheveled state, glaring at him in the courtroom, still lingered vividly in his mind.
Arendt was overly provocative, both then and now.
‘That must have been a calculated move.’
Because if he didn’t provoke anyone, no one would listen to him.
His ability to skillfully draw attention and steer the conversation to the topic he wanted with eloquent speech was just the sa as ever.
‘If anything has changed…’
Unlike back then when things were extrely precarious, things now seed quite stable.
Far from stopping him as he hurled insults at the gods and nobles, the Third Knights and Laius were glaring fiercely, as if daring anyone to lay a finger on Arendt.
That ant that they also agreed with Arendt.
‘The sa goes for His Highness and His Majesty.’
Imdiately after hearing the news, the Crown Prince displayed a clear sense of unease for a while. However, after Arendt returned and they spoke for quite so ti, he seed to change his mind.
The Emperor, who had been watching the situation with the eyes of soone watching an entertaining play, seed to have no intention of interfering with the decisions made by the Crown Prince.
‘Well, this is sothing.’
Duke Lancelot swallowed a bitter smile.
The Duke, like other people in the Empire, would visit the temple and pray whenever there was an important or small event.
It was quite strange when he thought about it.
He didn’t really feel like stopping Arendt from talking nonsense.
‘Sir Arendt, then and now, is an incredibly dangerous being.’
And the most powerful weapon he had was not flowery words or shalessness…
He hadn’t realized that it might be what moves people’s hearts.
“…The one being blasphed is not sacred, you say.”
While the nobles were shocked by the provocative words, Lumiel, who had been silent for a long ti, spoke softly.
“Of course, that refers to Lord Luce.”
But it was inevitable that her previously kind voice would begin to show so thorns.
“On what basis? The Caerleon Empire has long grown as a Holy Empire, under the grace of Lord Luce.”
“On what grounds do you claim that God Luce is a sacred being? The scriptures? Historical records? You an those written entirely from Luce’s point of view?”
High Priest Lumiel, who was about to answer, closed her mouth.
“In the end, even that is nothing more than a false record manipulated to suit God Luce’s whims. Can that serve as evidence of Luce’s divinity?”
Arendt’s voice continued clearly.
“In this land called the Holy Empire, is there anyone who can objectively judge God Luce?”
“…Then, Sir Arendt.”
Lumiel, who had been watching him quietly, asked calmly.
“Do you believe you are in any position to pass judgnt on Him, Sir Arendt? Will you deny the history and roots of the Empire itself, and feign ignorance of Lord Luce’s rcy, who restored your very life?”
“Let make one thing clear.”
Arendt frowned.
“I never begged for my life. I simply threw myself into protecting Captain Laius. I don’t know anything about this so-called grace of the god Luce..”
“Hmm?”
“Of course, since I’ve co back to life, I do plan to spend the rest of my days giving both gods as much hell as I can.”
Arendt continued, glaring straight at the High Priest.
“Can you force money into the pockets of people passing by and tell them to obey you because you have shown them a favor?”
“…”
“You’d be lucky if you didn’t get beaten up for calling soone a beggar. What God Luce did to was no different.”
Arendt’s eyes scanned the room again.
“No one truly knows the history before the Great War. That’s only natural. God Luce, through his Majesty the First Emperor, personally erased the history that was unfavorable to him. As a result, Chernion was labeled an Evil God, and the other gods lost their authority, relegated to re angels or fairies who assisted God Luce.”
“…”
“His Majesty the First Emperor, Hero Khan, must have known how cruel God Luce was. That’s why he strictly separated the temple and the imperial court. To protect future generations from God Luce’s tyranny.”
The only thing that filled the cold silence in the conference room was Arendt’s voice.
“I believe everyone here has reviewed the letter I circulated. I’ve provided all the evidence. Was there anything false there?”
Leaning back in his chair, Cantares stared at Arendt with a complicated look.
‘It is a clear fact that God Luce and Chernion are enemies.’
However, Arendt published a letter claiming that Luce and Chernion were in fact in collusion.
Luce neglected Chernion’s resurrection in order to solidify His own position, and now, unable to stop Chernion’s power, He was using Laius, the Hero of the Holy Sword…
What Arendt presented to the world was a new scenario, a judicious mixture of lies and truth.
‘He even claid that the manipulation was to protect us from Lord Luce.’
The image of Arendt speaking, breathless and speaking in utter anxiety, was still vivid in his mind.
Similarities between the Magic Stone Mine Lair, the Chernion Temple located underground in Rebecca’s Castle, and the large temple located underground in the Lucain Palace.
And the traces of ancient ruins that Llewellyn had found in various places were identical to the fragnts found in the territory destroyed by Nikephoros in the Nephele Kingdom.
All of this was before the Great War, when Luce and Chernion were on equal footing…
Furthermore, it supported Arendt’s claim that they were still colluding to this day.
‘So, even as the number of defectors from the Luce Temple increased, the number of those joining the Chernion Cult decreased.’
Since Arendt’s letter was published, desecration of the Luce Temples has increased, while the number of missing persons has decreased.
Because no one wants to play around in a rigged ga.
Arendt made good use of that psychology.
“If I’m guilty of anything, it’s that I leaked confidential information. But I gathered every single bit of that information through my own efforts.”
With everyone’s attention on him, Arendt drove the wedge in.
“Don’t I have at least the right to decide how to use the evidence I gathered myself? More than any of you, sitting comfortably while doing nothing but voicing your endless concerns.”
“…Captain Laius! Captain, please say sothing.”
The nobleman, who had been silent, shouted loudly.
“Even if you saved the captain’s life, isn’t that a bit too arrogant? The evidence discovered so far is open to interpretation. As Sir Arendt said, it’s possible that Lord Luce and the Evil God were equals in the past.”
He decided that it was pointless to talk to Arendt any longer.
“But wouldn’t it be possible to say that Lord Luce punished Chernion, who had been transford into an Evil God, and implented justice, and in the process, history and information were lost? No, in fact, it’s quite likely that He did!”
“…”
Naturally, people’s eyes were drawn to Laius.
“Aren’t you, Captain, chosen by the Holy Sword, the very proof of the justice that Lord Luce will achieve!”
The voices that were encouraged by him grew louder.
Lumiel, Cantares, and even the Emperor took their eyes off Arendt and began to look at Laius.
Laius remained silent for a while without answering.
As the silence grew longer, Arendt frowned slightly.
“I haven’t finished my story yet…”
“Stop.”
Arendt tried to intervene again, but Laius stopped him.
Arendt fell silent at that decisive word.
At so point, Laius was staring at the nobles and High Priest Lumiel, not Arendt.
“I apologize on behalf of Sir Arendt for his rudeness. It was my fault for teaching him poorly. As his captain, I will see to it that he is properly disciplined.”
“Captain!”
Arthur let out a startled voice, but Laius raised a hand to silence him.
“While Sir Arendt’s contributions to gathering information at the risk of his life are certainly comndable… His reckless disclosure of this information to the public, thereby causing chaos within the Empire, is clearly a serious cri. This will be dealt with with severe punishnt to prevent a similar incident from recurring.”
Only then did people finally begin to relax, so placing a hand over their chest in quiet relief.
“As expected of you, Captain. I knew you would make a wise decision.”
“But before that, one thing.”
But Laius’ words did not end there.
“…”
After a brief pause, the gazes looking at Laius began to fill with doubt.
Laius realized that now was the right ti, as everyone was watching him.
He prepared himself ntally several tis, but his mouth was dry because of the tension he couldn’t completely shake off.
But Laius did not hesitate any longer.
Because he was sick and tired of hiding behind the apprentice knight’s small back.
“I am an accomplice.”
It was as if ti had suddenly stopped at that plain declaration.
“…”
The people blinking dazedly seed unable to fully grasp the aning of what they had just heard.
Even Arendt was looking at him with wide eyes.
After a long ti, High Priest Lumiel asked hesitantly.
“…Wait, no, wait a minute. Captain, what did you just say?”
“I said that I was Arendt’s accomplice.”
But the words that ca back were no different.
“Up until now, we have been concealing Sir Arendt’s sches while simultaneously creating and distributing letters containing the sa content under his na.”
Laius repeated in a subdued voice to the distraught people.
“If you don’t believe , I can present a witness right now.”
“Ah…”
Cantares, who had been staring with his mouth wide open for quite a while, muttered aloud without realizing it.
“This is driving nuts.”
“That crazy…”
Arendt’s mouth moved.
“That crazy person… I kept wondering why this was dragging on so much…”
He had been gradually distributing letters even before making a deal with Roger’s subordinate, Ain.
It was a trick that Cantares should have noticed a long ti ago.
But it was strange that the investigation had dragged on for so long, and that it was only after the temple’s forces had moved that it was finally caught in the net.
Regardless of the shocked faces, Laius continued to speak forcefully.
“I’ve recently co to a realization. The title of Hero of the Holy Sword doesn’t suit . To be more precise…”
Anger filled the hero’s blue eyes.
“I don’t need such a dirty title, stained with the blood of innocent victims.”
“…”
Everyone couldn’t even breathe.
The Empire’s greatest knight, the Empire’s finest swordsman, and on top of that, the Hero of the Holy Sword.
An unprecedented event unfolded as Captain Laius de Winfried, who held all these titles, outright denied God Luce.
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