3 bar menu

Volume 1 Chapter 4 Part 11

Since he was a former servant of Mathias Kraishe and his family, she utilized his skills and connections in order to get her hands on any information that could possibly aid them in getting the negotiations to the best possible outcome.

The rumors that the King of Selvis have picked a fight with a young wandering Lor and lost it have already began circulating around the lands, and another hot topic amongst the people was that the Lord that managed to defeat the King of Selvis was the one that cared deeply about the people living on his territories, and that this Lord received aid from the independent Lords because they knew about the predicament that he was in, and still decided to rush to his side to fight alongside him. Amongst other Lords, Theo was probably someone whom others tried to be wary off, but for the common folk, the  wandering Lord has become something similar to a symbol of sorts, a symbol showing that maybe the time when heroes would emerge back into the world was close at hand. That popularity of his with the common folk should be one of the things that should give Siluca the edge in the negotiations that she needed.

Of course, Irvin should have played a large part in spreading those rumors.

Siluca chose a tavern near the castle as a place where she would be staying, and after she got herself dressed like an ordinary messenger, she headed for the castle itself. It was a huge and solid castle, which was all but expected since it was the one belonging to the current leader of the Factory Alliance.

In addition to that, Waldrind’s proud Heavy Knight Order consists of the Lords subordinate to the Kraische family who do not possess their own territories, and are always stationed in the castle as a result, and their Crests are all battle-oriented ones that are reinforced even further by the flag with the 「Dragoon」 ability that has been passed down in the Kraische family throughout generations. It is powerful even in open field battles, and exhibits terrifying destructive power even in siege battles. The salvos of the siege machines empowered by it are said to be as powerful as the dragon’s breath, and everyone agreed that the army of the Kraische family is the most powerful one on the entire continent.

Irvin and Aishela were forced to wait in the waiting room, and Siluca had to conduct the negotiations  alone. She thought that the only person who is going to be present there is going to be fer foster father, Aubest Meletes, but unexpectedly, Marine Kraische, the leader of the Factory Alliance was also there.

「Long time no see, Siluca Meletes.」

Marlene gracefully smiled at her.

Her almost silvery-white blond hair was lightly tied behind her head and pulled straight down from there. Her slit eyes shone with clear blue light that reminded Siluca of the clear summer sky. She was still in mourning for Archduke Matthias Kraische, and so she was wearing a black dress that covered her whole body. Perhaps because of that, her white porcelain-like skin color stood out all the more.

Siluca also returned the greeting according to the usual etiquette.

「Thanks to your brave actions, I was able to escape 「The /tragedy of the Grand Cathedral」 with my life intact. If I had gone to the altar like I was supposed to, both Alexis and I would have been killed by the Demon Lord along with the Archdukes.」

「I am truly sorry that I was unable to save the two of them, your grace.」

Siluca apologized by lowering her head.

「No, there is nothing that you should apologize for. At that time, you were the only one who noticed the convergence of Chaos and took action, while everyone esle just stood and watched.」

「Even though it was a spontaneous thing and you did not have much time to act, I still think that you could have gone about it in a much smarter manner.」

Aubest said expressionlessly. Siluca turned to look at her adoptive father.

「I agree. It was because of the miscalculation on my part that the attention of the attendees focused on me because I prioritized the dissipation of the converging Chaos.」

As a result, she was stopped by Irvin, and the Chaos could not be released in time. However, even now Siluca was doubtful whether it could have been truly dissipated.

After she calmed down, she realized that it might have been a pointless action. But at that time, her body was already moving on its own and there was nothing she could have done to stop it.

「Long time no see, father…」

Siluca stared at her adoptive father.

「I am now the Head Mage of the Kraische family, so you should address me as such.」

Aubest’s expression did not change.

「It is fine. The negotiations have not started yet.」

Marine said while nodding at Aubest.

「is that so?」

Aubest cleared his throat, smiled awkwardly, and clumsily spread his hands. Siluca bowed to Marine before jumping into her father’s chest and  hugged him tightly.

「Father…」

Aubest also gently hugged her back.

「It’s been a while, but it doesn’t seem like much has changed.」

「W-Well, I guess so.」

Siluca answered embarrassedly, but she’s been saying that for the past two years.

「Aishela came here with me as well.」

「I should have expected as much. But she hates me, doesn’t she? And besides, I am not her father anymore.」

Alvest sighed.

「Aishera does not hate you. She just doesn’t agree with your way of thinking.」

「Yes, she and I used to argue about it constantly. I don’t think I was wrong, but she has a point as well…」

「There is always more than one truth. Will you see her later. 」

「If she wants to… 」

Aubest sighed again, and then  he turned to Marine.

「Thank you very much. I think we should be starting now.」

「Indeed.」

Marine nodded and led Siluca to the table. Siluca took her seat, and she immediately proceed to the heart of the matter.

「The history up to this point is as I wrote in the letter. My Lord, Theo Cornero, would like to request to be accepted into the Factory Alliance. If his proposition is accepted, he swears to immediately swear allegiance to Margrave Kraische. Currently, we are in the process of urging the independent Lords in Sevis to also swear allegiance to Margrave Kraische as well, and we should probably see the results sometime soon.」

「Swear allegiance to me?」

「Since he will be joining the Alliance, I think it is only natural that he should be subordinate to the Alliance’s leader, Margrave Kraische.」

Siluca smiled at Marine.

「King of Selvis has informed us that a wandering Lord belonging to the Fantasy Union is encroaching on the Alliance’s territory. He has even asked for our help in reclaiming the  territories that he lost.」

Alvest said in a tone without any intonation.

「Knowing that our Lord wants to join the Alliance, the King of Selvis has been trying to expand his territory. I have heard that he intended to subjugate all the independent Lords of Selvis on this occasion. However, until just recently, were the independent Lords of Selvis not under the direct control of the Kraische Assembly? If he tried to subjugate them only to ask Lady Marine to help him with that as soon as he lost the battle, that would be nothing but laughable.」

Because of that, the King of Selvis’s reputation would have plummeted even further.

「However, it is true that Theo Cornaro initially declared that he belonged to the Fantasia Union.」

「It was a justified move against Mesut Medrik, the Lord who attacked me while I was on my way to Artuk. It was forced upon us by circumstances. We did not have much of a choice in the matter, and we declared that reluctantly.」

「Still, it is unimpressive to use excessive modifiers to induce the other party’s feelings…」

Aubest said expressionlessly.

「I apologize for that.」

Siluca knew that if she wanted to persuade her father, she had to do it not with emotions, but with cold, hard reason.

「I think that your declaration of joining the Union was a means to force the surrounding Lords to attack you so that you could expand your territory.」

「I’m not saying that wasn’t the intention…」

Siluca dared not deny it.

「I thought that unless we actually fought against the dissatisfied neighboring Lords and showed my Lord’s strength, the problem would not be resolved even if we declared that we belonged to the Factory Alliance, but even then, I do not think that our neighbors would have hesitated to attack. However, in that case, it would have been an internal conflict, and the prestige of the Alliance would have been damaged because of it.」