3 bar menu

Volume 1 Chapter 5 Part 9

When Marine called out to him like that, Aubest silently bowed his head, but she highly doubted that he would change his ways anytime soon. His calm opinion is always precious to Marine, but people are more often than not influenced more by emotions rather than reason, and that is why Aubest’s attitude of throwing away his emotions and trying to act only with logic was commonly disliked by the knights of Waldrind.

 

「In that case, I think we should opt for a war of attrition here. I thought that they might be preventing themselves from making any strong attempts at attacking us because they were waiting for the help from the Earl of Artuk to arrive. However, after seeing them fight today, I think I now have full understanding of their tactics. Our enemy has no desire to prolong the battle, so if we attack them violently, they are going to respond in the exact same way. 」

 

One knight spoke up, and everyone nodded at his words. It is exactly like he said. If they were just waiting for the reinforcements to arrive, then all they would have done would be fighting to endure their assault as long as possible.

 

「Even though they are our enemies, I can only say that their tactics and attitude are brilliant. Instead of killing them, we should spare their lives and convince them to swear loyalty to Lady Marine. 」

 

「This is not what we agreed on! The promise was that all of the independent Lords from Selvis were to be subjugated by me, and then I would swear to Lady Mari… 」

 

The King of Selvis, Nabir Gerje, shouted in haste.

 

「The independent Lords of Selvis were originally under the direct control of the Kraische family, so if you were to ask me, then I would say that you wanting to subjugate them all under your rule is the strange thing to do here. 」

 

Erich said as he glanced sideways at the King of Selvis.

 

「They chose to cooperate with the other Lords allied with the enemy, which means that it was clearly an act of hostility towards us. 」

 

Aubest countered on behalf of the King of Selvis, who was silenced by commander Erich’s words.

 

「They only tried to defend their independence. Moreover, the wandering Lord against whom we are fighting now asked to join the Factory Alliance, but was refused because of you, right? 」

 

「While it is true that he expressed his desire to join the Factory Alliance, it does not mean that him actually joining it would be of any good for us. Before he made that request, he was already expanding his own territory within the borders of the territories that rightfully belong to the Factory Alliance, so accepting him as a member after he has done something like that would only serve to hurt the prestige of the Alliance in the long run.

 

Such a monarch expanded his territory within the alliance territory. Accepting it hurts the prestige of the alliance. comes with

 

「And are we really sure that our prestige is going to be preserved if we continue moving the way we are now? Because I think that we stand to gain much more if we accept their offer of surrender. If we show that the Factory Alliance is capable of showing a tolerant stance towards those who have challenged us and put up such a valiant fight, we might even be able to expand our prestige even further. 」

 

「The leader of the Factory Alliance has an obligation to protect the Lords who belong to the Factory Alliance, and this dispatch has been made at the request of the King of Selvis, a rightful member of the Alliance. 」

 

Aubest responded without changing his expression or the tone of his voice. However, instead of making the knights of Waldrind feel convinced or reassured, his words only served to strengthen their repulsion of him.

 

Maline brushed her long hair to the side to draw everyone’s attention back to herself.

 

「My father, Matthias Kraische has passed away, and I became the leader of the Factory Alliance in his stead, but so far no independent Lord offered their allegiance to me. However, if the King of Selvis manages to subordinate the independent Lords of Selvis to him in this battle, then other Lords are sure to follow soon after. This battle serves as a venue for us to show the strength of our will to the enemy who dared to oppose us, and that is why we are obligated to subjugate them by force. I am sure that all of you are aware of that as well, right? 」

 

When Marine spoke, the knights looked at each other. Erich also nodded at her.

 

「We are not timid, and we are certainly not afraid of battle. If that is the order that you are going to give to us, then we are going to attack the castle tomorrow with all we have, as long as you are willing to accept that some sacrifices are going to have to be made that is. 」

 

When Erich says so, he glanced at Aubest.

「I am planning for the decisive battle to be a short one. 」

 

Aubest said expressionlessly.

 

「Having just half of the knights for that purpose should be enough. The matter of how to capture the castle should be left up to those who are standing on the frontlines. At the same time, we should also ease up on the terms of their surrender. 」

 

Marine said that, indicating that the discussion of this particular subject has been finished.

 

 

「T-That is… 」

 

The King of Selvis hurriedly tried to open his mouth.

 

「You will not be able to win against the enemy Lords on your own. I don’t think your claim will be strong enough to pass here. 」

 

Erich became enraged and coldly interrupted King Selvis’ words.

 

「I am the King and Viscount of Selvis. Do you not think that what you said to me just now was incredibly impolite?! 」

 

King Selvis said to him as his complexion changed.

「You no longer have the title of Viscount. And besides, if you want to get your point across to reach the independent Lords of Selvis, you should first focus on showing some success on the battlefield. I heard that the enemies who were guarding the west gate that you were supposed to conquer had put up an especially tough fight. 」

 

「Th, that was only because the resistance of the enemy  was unexpectedly strong… 」

 

The King of Selvis mumbled under his breath.

 

「Oh, unexpectedly strong, you say? So, what, are you saying that the resistance the other encountered at the main gate of the east gate was not as strong as the one that you encountered? 」

 

「That is not what I wanted to… 」

 

The King of Selvis swallowed his words as his face turned red.

 

「So with the new conditions of surrender, Lord Theo’s life is going to be spared, but he will still have to renounce his title and surrender all of his territories, and all of the Lords who swore loyalty to him will only have to relieve their titles on the condition that they are going to swear allegiance to the King of Selvis. As for the independent Lords of Selvis, they will be required to swear allegiance to Lady Marine and swear to serve under the Kraische family, just like it was before. 」

 

Aubest smoothly stated the updated conditions of Theo’s surrender.

 

「N-No! This is unbelievable! 」

 

The King of Selvis raised his voice in protest once more.

 

「If you do not like it, then feel free to attack and defeat him all by yourself. 」

 

One of the knights said to him coldly. With those words, King of Selvis fell silent.

 

「Then before the battle starts tomorrow, we will try to negotiate with them with that conditions. 」

 

Marine nodded at the Head Mage’s suggestion, but she knew that Siluca will most likely not accept these conditions either. Her aim here is obviously to ensure that the Lord named Theo is going to be left with at least a small amount of his current peerage left, and he is definitely not going to accept any terms that will not ensure that his former peerage members are going to be treated fairly. Nabir Gerje, the King of Selvis is definitely a fierce and relentless kind of ruler, and he was known for his tendency to not be able to distinguish left from right whenever he was lost in one of his frequent fits of rage. And after he was defeated by Theo and lost a portion of his tile and territories to him, he seemed to have lost himself in his anger completely.