3 bar menu

Volume 1 Chapter 2 Part 3

She learned military science at Magic University, and she has never lost a desk battle until now. She was unsure of how far her knowledge could take them in combat, but Siluca had confidence in her own skills.

 

She does not know how long she will be able to serve him, but in the meantime, she would like to strengthen Theo’s Crest as much as possible, and get closer to the ideal he envisioned. And that should also go without saying, but she was going to do everything in her power in order to protect Theo’s life.

 

「Lady Siluca. 」

 

Just then, the sound of knocking at the door and Irvin’s voice brought Siluca back to reality. Without even wanting to get up, Siluca urges Irvin to come in.

 

「Pardon my intrusion. 」

Irvin said after he entered the room and bowed.

 

「How did it go? 」

 

Earlier today, she tasked Irvin with a mission to scout the territories that they were now neighboring with. From now on, the war with the neighboring Lords will begin, so they had to know exactly what who their enemies were and what they were going to have to deal with.

 

「It is like a large number of hounds surrounding an injured child. They all must be eager to try and take this territory for themselves. 」

 

「Which is only going to spell more trouble for us. 」

 

Siluca noded at Irvin’s report.

 

「It would be to our advantage if the Lords of the territories that surround us were also fighting amongst each other, because we will stand no chance if they decided to band together against us, especially the rulers of Selvis and Clovis, but I think we are going to be fine for now, because the king of Selvis would never go out of his comfort zone like that, and the king of Clovis does not have that kind of decisive personality to make a decision like that. Not only that, but Master Saturus is also negotiating to buy us as much time as possible, so that just leaves a question of who is going to make the first move. 」

 

Saturus Aquinas, a Mage who served the castle’s former lord Mesut Medric, should now be on his way to King Clovis as a messenger.

 

「I think the one who will come for us first is going to be Lasik David, the ruler of Selvis, since our territory borders his own territory to the east. He’s a relatively small Lord who governs two villages, so he is definitely going to treat is as a rare opportunity to expand his power and territory. As a person, he seems to be quite ambitious. When it comes to the preparations for battle, he will not hesitate to conscript more people into his army or even hire mercenaries. 」

 

「In other words, he is being serious about this. On the other hand, I dismissed all the soldiers that the former lord had under his command. I wanted to keep some, but if the Lord was no good like we have seen, then it is a very reasonable assumption to think that his soldiers would be no good as well. 」

 

「In that case, should we hire mercenaries too? Or should we recruit soldiers from within our territory itself? 」

 

「I think we can drop the thought about the mercenaries, because if we wanted to hire them at such a short notice, it would be a given that no decent groups of them would show up, which only doubles the possibility of them running away without participating in battle as soon as they would have received the advance payment. No our only option is to recruit the soldiers from the territory itself, which I had already taken the liberty to do. I was surprised to see that there are actually more hot-blooded people than I thought there will be, but the most important ting is that they are all sharing Lord Theo’s vision. That being said, I will make sure to choose carefully from among them. 」

 

「That… that sounds like a pretty tough condition. 」

 

「Maybe so, but  that is the bare minimum that we need right now. 」

 

For now, Theo’s only advantage over other Lords is that he has great ideals, and they absolutely cannot allow themselves to lose that advantage.

 

「I see. If that is the case, then I was also thinking of inviting one of my acquaintances to join us, although I am quite reluctant to do it.

 

As Siluca said that, Irvin’s normally narrowed eyes opened widely.

 

「Now this is a surprise… 」

 

He muttered to himself.

 

「What are you surprised about? 」

 

「I never would have expected that Lady Siluca was the type to have friends at school. 」

 

Irvin said earnestly.

 

「Well of course I had friends back at the Magic University! I always talked to them whenever I had some free time on my hands… 」

 

Siluca’s face turned bright red.

 

「That is more important than anything else. I was seriously worried about that, because during the festival the other day, you spend it all shut in your room… 」

 

 

「I was invited to go with others, but I just chose not to go. I hate such crowds… 」

 

Siluca pouted her cheeks.

 

「Besides, the person I’m thinking of reaching to  is not a friend from Magic University. She’s the woman I shared the room with during the time of Magic Academy, and she’s two years older than me. She’s  also from the Meletes clan, so she’s like an older sister to me. Her name is Aishela. 」

 

「Is she also a Mage? Because if so, then I am afraid that Lord Theo’s rank is not going to be high enough to make a contract with her as well. 」

 

 

「No, she didn’t advance to the Magic University. 」

 

Siluca shook her head.

 

Aishela failed an important exam that was both the graduation exam for the Magic Academy and the entrance exam for the Magic University. But it was due to an unexpected accident.

 

「Well, she wasn’t very good at being a Mage, so I think she would have a hard time going to Magic University. After she left school, she became a mercenary and was mainly taking the jobs commissioned by the Mages Association. 」

 

「Is she an Agent? 」

 

Irvin’s eyes narrowed slightly.

 

The Mages Association is the largest and most powerful organization on the continent. It governs Elam, the largest city on the continent and its surroundings, and controls political and judiciary systems through a series of treaties and agreements, and the economy through the issuance of standard currency, basically having a monopoly on both knowledge and technology.

 

Naturally, many people work to maintain such a large organization. An Agent is a general term for someone who becomes one of the limbs of the Association in the field and performs dangerous or covert work.

 

「Even though she’s an Agent, Aishela is primarily known for her work as an exterminator. She’s been good at sports since she was a child, and during the last few years of her school years, she practiced more with weapons than with magic. When it comes to wielding long-handled weapons, she would not lose to anyone. 」

 

「Is she also an Artist? 」

 

「She had it carved on her body. Otherwise, she wouldn’t be able to accept the more dangerous of the jobs. After all, you cannot reduce the concentration of Chaos simply by allowing it to spread out. 」

 

Siluca said with regret in her voice.

 

There is no prejudice against Artists, but the thing that has been engraved on Aishela’s beautiful skin is a little complicated.

 

「If you know where she is, then I can deliver the message for you.

 

「It is alright, I will  contact her from here. Irvin, I want you to continue to keep an eye on the territory and neighboring lands. I don’t think we’ll have time to rest until we gather enough human resources, but please bear with it for a while longer. 」

 

「Don’t worry about it. Archduke Kreische was a much rougher master who used people much more than you are. 」

 

「But still, I am sorry for getting you involved in my selfishness… 」

 

After correcting her posture, Siluca bowed to Irvin.

 

「I’ve been prepared  for that since I decided to serve you, Lady Siluca. No, that’s why I decided to serve you in the first place, because I thought you would use me more roughly than anyone else. 」

 

「What a strange way of doing things… 」

 

Siluca smiled at Irvin and lowered her eyes. And then she said:

 

「Thank you. 」

 

… continuing with a voice that seemed to be barely audible. Still, Irvin must have heard it nonetheless,  but he left the room without saying anything.