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Volume 1 Chapter 5 Part 4

「As long as Lord Theo lives, and as long as I live, I have decided to help him. After I had a chance to talk to him last time, I became convinced that he is a worthy Lord indeed. 」

 

The priestess said with a serious expression. Since Siluca was away on her mission in Waldrind for a while, she had more than enough opportunities to talk with Theo, and Siluca fully expected her to use these opportunities to the fullest while she could.

 

I had plenty of time while Siluca was away from her, so I expected her to approach Theo.

 

「Has it not occurred to you that maybe Lord Theo does not want you to join him?! 」

 

Siluca retorted.

 

「But he was listening intently when I was talking about the doctrine of the Order of the Crest! 」

 

Not wanting to be defeated in a discussion, the priestess brought her face closer to Siluca’s.

 

「Seems to me like your missionary work has failed then! 」

 

Siluca snorted at her.

 

「No, it has not failed! I have been allowed to propagate the doctrine of the Order of the Crest on Lord Theo’s territory, and he promised to eventually build a temple in it… 」

 

(That can be done only if he is allowed to keep that territory for himself.)

 

Siluca sighed. If they are going to lose the battle against Waldrind, then it is more than likely that Theo is going to lose both his Crest and the territories that he managed to accumulate for himself, and depending on how badly things are going to go, he might even lose his life, since after suffering that humiliating defeat at his hands in the last battle, the King of Selvis must be burning with desire for revenge against him.

 

In any case, the good news is that Theo did not allow himself to be indoctrinated into joining the Order of the Crest while Siluca was gone. To tell you the truth, she was a bit unhappy that he allowed this priestess to do any kind of missionary work at all, but if that is something that Theo has already approved of, then there was nothing more that could have been done about it. It was something that Siluca should have expected given Theo’s personality.

 

(Guess I can at least use this as an opportunity to see how the Order of the Crest is operating with my own eyes.)

 

Siluca made a secret decision in her heart. If it turns out that the Order of the Crest could be used to their advantage, then they are going to use them, and if she determines that they are going to be too dangerous to keep them around, then she is simply going to have to get rid of them.

 

「I am Siluca. And you are…? 」

 

Siluca identified herself before the priestess and held her hand out to her.

 

「I am Priscilla… 」

 

The priestess who called herself Priscilla hesitated for a moment, but she ultimately shook hands with Siluca as well. And when their hands came into contact with one another, Siluca could feel the power of the Crest emanating within her, although it was not very strong.

 

「Are you also a Lord? 」

Siluca stared at Priscilla in surprise.

 

「I have a Crest of my own, if that is what you are asking about. It was given to me by the bishop, but… 」

 

「I knew that the Order of the Crest was collecting them, but I had no idea that they would be given even to the priests and priestesses as young as you. 」

 

It was a very serious matter, because if the Order of the Crest could make their own Lords by handing out the Crest that they have collected to the members of the clergy, then that means they could create Lords who were operating outside of the boundaries of the system established by the Mages Association.

 

「In order to bring about the God’s revival, all the Crests need to be collected… 」

 

Priscilla folded her hands in front of her chest as if she just started to pray.

 

Siluca could tell that the faith displayed by this girl was genuine, but someone like her seemed to be too good for the doctrine of the Order of the Crest in her opinion, and exactly the same thing could be said about the doctrine of the Order of the Crest itself.

 

The rapid tempo of the expansion of the Order and its influence over the populace was also a worrisome matter, and there are even rumors circulating around the Mages Association that Dark Mages could be involved in that behind the scenes.

 

However, it’s normal for Mages who belong to the Association to doubt their relationship with dark magicians if something suspicious ever happened because of them.

 

(Dark Mages don’t belong to the Mages Association, so we have no way of knowing if all of them are evil or not, or if each and every one of them is actively plotting something…)

 

However, one thing that could be said with absolute certainty was that there exists a secret society formed entirely of Dark Mages who swore to dedicate their lives to the destruction of the Mages Association, and that the majority of its members were the Mages who left the Association or were expelled from it.

 

 

She once heard that this was the reason why the selection at the Magic Academy and Magic University became much stricter than it was in the past. In that sense, it can be said that Siluca has also went through her own share of suffering at the hands of the Dark Mages.

 

 

However, whether it’s a secret society of Dark Mages or the Order of the Crest, these are the matters that the Sage Committee, the decision-making body of the Mages Association should be concerning themselves with, leaving the ordinary and lowly people like Siluca out of it.

 

 

Siluca herself had some doubts about the methods employed by the Mages Association, but it remains a fact that for as long as the Mages Association existed, it has greatly stabilized the Chaos and magic related matters, and that doing so brought its members wealth and fame that many people frown upon to this day. And we cannot forget about the members of the Association who belong to it only with the goal of furthering their own agendas in mind.

 

 

So far, the Association has maintained a neutral stance when it comes to the wars between the Lords. However, not that the continent is at the precipice of the Great War for the Grancrest, Siluca doubted if the Association could maintain its neutral position for much longer, but she did not know which side they would ultimately take or how their involvement in the war would have looked like.

 

Siluca parted ways with Priscilla and entered the fortress on top of the rocky mountain. Right now, the great hall of the fortress was filled with Theo and his subordinate Lords.

 

(So, no one decided to leave after all…)

 

Theo gathered all of his subordinate Lords around him, explained exactly how desperate the situation in which they have all found themselves really was and also told them that they could end their servitude to him if they wanted. Siluca genuinely thought that when they would hear that offer some of them would take that chance and leave, but much to her surprise, they all decided to share their fate with Theo.

 

(I just don’t get it...)

 

Seeing them all like that, she initially wanted to disappear to somewhere that was anywhere but here, but as the subordinate Lord’s gaze turned towards her, Siluca puffed out her chest and walked through the hall, standing right next to Theo. Then he turned to his subordinate Lords and looked at each and every one of them and saw the exact same thing: a strong sense of determination.

「Unfortunately, Marine Kraische of Waldrind did not accept our proposal of Lord Theo joining the Factory Alliance, and as such, she has decided to have her forces attack us together with the army of Nabir Gerje, the King of Selvis. What is more, in this coming battle, we also cannot count on the forces of the Fantasia Union coming to our aid. The only ones whom we have are ourselves and the forces gathered here in this castle, so we are going to barricade ourselves in here and then meet the enemy. Winning this battle is going to be difficult, if not downright impossible but it is possible not to be defeated. However, in order to do so, we are going to have to fight to the death. In order to do so, we must fight to the death. Fortunately, the independent Lords of Selvis should support us in this battle, because what the King of Selvis is obsessed with subordinating all of them to his will. 」