‘Rex von Stadler.’

A smile crossed Arendt’s lips as he repeated his name.

Who would have thought that someone interesting would pop up here.

Even if he was a big shot, that didn’t mean he was like that now. He’ll only be like that in the future.

He was as tall as Laius or Cantares, and his long hair was neatly tied into a single ponytail.

At first glance, he seemed extremely gentle, but Arendt already knew that he shouldn’t judge this man by his looks.

When the Empire was engulfed in a sea of ​​flames, he was the first noble to turn his back on the royal family and side with the rebels.

Arendt knew very well what kind of monster slept beneath that gentle face.

Rex von Stadler, a researcher affiliated with the Imperial Magician’s Order.

‘In the end, he fell into the hands of the rebels and they even started research that broke the taboo.’

And the Empire had to pay a heavy price for having its genius stolen by the enemy. Later, Count Stadler was killed by Laius, but the damage incurred in the process was catastrophic.

“Lord Arendt?”

“…”

Count Stadler spoke to Arendt with a puzzled look on his face, but Arendt just stared blankly at him and did not respond.

Count Stadler smiled awkwardly, wondering what the silence meant, and then looked back at Marquis Grieg.

“Marquis, you were reckless. No matter what, he’s just an apprentice knight, and this happened in the presence of His Highness the Crown Prince.”

“No, Count… that’s not it.”

Marquis Grieg tried to make excuses in a flustered manner, but he didn’t get to finish his sentence.

It was because Laius’ voice suddenly interrupted them, “Excuse me. Do you have a problem with my subordinate?”

Count Stadler quickly stepped back to make room for Laius.

It wasn’t just Laius who approached. Right behind the captain, several of the Third Knights, including Arthur and Richt, as well as Diana and Kendrick, were quietly watching the Marquis.

“Even if the young one is naughty, violence is not the answer. Isn’t that right, Marquis?”

Kendrick smiled broadly and spoke slyly. Diana chimed in.

“Besides, even if the Marquis wanted to strike him, he’s not someone you can easily beat up.”

“The Imperial Knights aren’t that easy. Besides, as the Marquis knows, that guy has a terrible temper. If the Count hadn’t stopped him, the Marquis would have been in even greater trouble.”

Kendrick narrowed his eyes.

Suddenly surrounded by all three knight commanders, the Marquis gritted his teeth and glared at Baron Gunther, and let out a scream, as if he was going to devour him.

It was only natural that the Baron’s face turned as pale as a sheet of paper.

“I guess I’m getting older and this kind of place is becoming more and more burdensome. Well then, that’s all for now.”

The Marquis, who had spoken fiercely as if he was shouting, left the hall with only a brief greeting before striding out. Baron Gunther and the others hurriedly followed behind him.

There was no one who asked them to stay.

Everyone just stared blankly at the departing Marquis Grieg and his party with astonished eyes.

It was Arendt’s blunt voice that broke the silence.

“Why did you come all this way? It was just a brief argument.”

“I suppose you have irritated the Marquis. Don’t you know the word ‘moderate’, young knight?”

“I’m sorry.”

Arendt responded to Diana’s rebuke with a completely unapologetic expression.

“I should have just stayed still. I’m afraid that the Marquis is the only one who’s been put in a difficult situation because of me…”

“Don’t worry about it. Thanks to you, Count, things ended without getting any worse.”

Diana smiled and comforted Count Stadler, who slumped his shoulders. Arendt, on the other hand, seemed no longer interested in the commotion he had caused.

Laius realized that Arendt’s gaze was directed elsewhere.

‘Where is he looking?’

Naturally, he also turned his head towards where Arendt was looking.

There was Cantares there.

For some time, Cantares seemed to have been quietly observing a series of commotions.

Arendt’s behavior of causing such a commotion and then staring at the Crown Prince was incredibly presumptuous.

Cantares nodded with a sly smile at the face that seemed to be asking, “Is it okay?”

By this time, Jereon had already left to follow Marquis Grieg. Cantares was quite satisfied with the results that the reckless apprentice knight had produced, but Arendt seemed to have no intention of stopping.

Arendt nodded toward Count Stadler. The meaning of that small gesture was clear.

‘It seems you’re not satisfied yet.’

The situation where Count Stadler suddenly intervened was somewhat strange.

To begin with, the Count was not the type of person to show his face in places like this, as he preferred to focus on his research.

Cantares nodded slightly toward Arendt.

It meant that it was okay for him to dig deeper.

Arendt looked away, as if he had seen the signal.

Before he knew it, the young apprentice knight was secretly looking at Count Stadler. Seeing him like a hunting dog looking for its next prey, Cantares couldn’t help but burst out laughing.

“He’s a goal-hitting guy.”

He was starting to wonder what Arendt would ask him next. He felt a little sorry for Count Stadler, who would end up getting involved with such a guy.

The palace was unusually deserted because the banquet hall was crowded with people.

Count Stadler let out a short sigh, absentmindedly listening to the distant sound of music coming from the hall.

“Whew…”

As expected, he wasn’t used to that kind of situation. Besides, he had promised to have a different conversation with the Marquis, but things went awry due to an unexpected situation.

He saw the Marquis raise his fist and he ended up intervening without realizing it…

‘I guess I’ll have to apologize later.’

He had occasionally heard rumors of the Third Knights’ unmanageable apprentice knight, but today was the first time he had seen him in person.

He was a young man who everyone could not help but look at at least once.

And what a quirky personality.

It seemed difficult to find a temper comparable to his in the entire empire.

It was natural that Marquis Grieg, who often got upset over trivial things, fell for his provocations.

Just then, the sound of careless footsteps was heard from behind him. At the same time, a deep voice penetrated the quiet of the garden.

“Should I thank you?”

It was a really weird question. There was only one person who would talk to him like that at present.

Count Stadler looked back with an awkward smile.

“No, it’s okay. I intervened without permission, so there’s no need to thank me.”

“I guess so.”

Arendt shrugged his shoulders dryly and walked up to Count Stadler.

“You look like you have a lot on your mind.”

“Haha. Well, it’s nothing special. I just thought I should cheer up Marquis Grieg.”

“Would that person feel better if he received an apology?”

When Arendt responded bluntly, Count Stadler nodded with a smile on his pale face.

“That is true. Marquis Grieg is a man of a fiery temper, as Lord Arendt knows very well.”

“Hmm.”

When he says it like that, he seems like a normal person.

Arendt muttered to himself, glancing sideways at Count Stadler’s profile.

Count Stadler’s personal military power was by no means strong. He had spent his entire life studying, so he had not learned even the most basic self-defense skills.

He wasn’t even talented as a battle wizard.

Count Stadler was studying the magical powers of living things. He developed a technique to extract magical cores from the body, and as a result, he worked as an advisory researcher within the Imperial Magicians.

Count Stadler, who later went over to the rebels, ended up reviving magic that had been forbidden in ancient times based on that technology.

It was Count Stadler’s research results that threw the empire into chaos.

Arendt thought about them for a moment and shuddered involuntarily.

‘I think they were called ghouls.’

He created a legion of corpses.

Monsters, beasts, and humans who lost their sense of ego and only followed orders… Eventually, they even combined the corpses of strong monsters to create ridiculous monsters.

Each and every one of those monsters had bodies so incredibly hard that they could not be cut with anything other than black magic.

At the end, a ghoul made from a dragon’s corpse appeared, giving Laius and the knights a hard time for quite some time.

Even in the midst of the pain that tore through his entire body, Laius stood on his own two feet. The screams of the knights who had their lives ended and the sobs of the helpless citizens of the empire filled his mind.

Rex von Stadler burst into madness amid the wreckage of his creations. What was visible beneath the madness was perhaps pathos.

‘He was like that…’

A look of distaste appeared in Arendt’s eyes as he stared at Count Stadler.

As expected of someone who spends most of the day locked up in the lab, his complexion was pale, almost white. With the moonlight shining on him, he looked dangerously fragile, as if he could fall over if he were to be hit with a single blow.

Moreover, his wandering eyes, unable to find their place, seemed to represent his anxious state of mind.

It was hard to believe that this was the same person who had caused massacre-level damage to countless civilians and caused several deaths within the Knights Templar.

When he stopped Marquis Grieg at the banquet hall earlier, it seemed as if he hadn’t gone that far yet.

“Haaaaaah…”

“Why are you doing that?”

“No. Nothing.”

Suddenly, Arendt let out a huge sigh, and Count Stadler asked him a question in a puzzled tone.

Arendt, who had just looked around, put his hands deep in his pockets.

Either he’s hiding his true colors and pretending to be polite, or…

‘It looks like he hasn’t lost his senses yet.’

He didn’t seem like a crazy person who was deliberately pretending to be sane.

And today, the way Margrave Grieg was struggling with Count Stadler… and the Count’s anxious appearance now.

Then, one could roughly guess what situation Count Stadler was in now.

‘He’s gambling.’

He might end up in more trouble if he hesitated. There was a chance that the Count had already completely fallen into their hands, but this was the last chance to prevent a catastrophe.

After a brief moment of deliberation, Arendt decided on a course of action.

First of all, he’s going to add a twist.

“Count.”

“Yes?”

The Count, who had been feeling awkward because of the sudden silence, turned his head in surprise when Arendt suddenly called out to him.

The young knight, who seemed to have been lost in thought for a while, was now looking straight at him.

The moonlight fell on his unreadable face, and his golden eyes cast a strange light.

Arendt, who had been pretending to think for a moment, opened his mouth.

“Do you have any concerns?”

“Yes?”

“You seemed very worried since a while ago. Are you worried about something?”

Oh, this is a really pseudo-recommendation-like comment.

Arendt felt a little pleased as he watched the Count’s eyes widen, but there were times when it worked. The question, “What’s wrong?” was like a magic spell that opened many a conversation.

Furthermore…

“How did you know?”

For those who were truly troubled, it could seem like a way to let go of their burdens.

Count Stadler, who had let out a surprised voice without realizing it, paused.

Arendt shrugged, pretending not to know.

“I don’t know if I can be of much help, but maybe it would be better to talk to someone about it rather than struggling alone. And maybe…”

Arendt paused for a moment and then added plainly.

“I thought that the Count might be in a similar situation as me.”

The Count’s eyes, which had been blankly staring at Arendt as if possessed by something, gradually grew wider.