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Volume 1 Chapter 2 Part 7

The name of the Lord who drove Mesut out of his castle and territory was something he had never heard of, but he knew of a Mage named Siluca who had made a contract with that Lord.

 

The two of them have never been in the same Faculty together, but he has met her  many times on the campus of the Magic University. She is a cute looking girl, so he once mustered the courage to talk to her from the bottom of his heart, but the stare that she returned back at him was so cold that he could not utter a single word in the end, and after that he never spoke to her again.

 

Nevertheless, she seemed to be a thoroughly excellent Mage. Even during 「The Tragedy of the Grand Cathedral」where the two Archdukes were killed by the Demon Lord, she was the first one to notice the convergence of Chaos and acted to prevent it.

 

Her ambition was always to become a Rainbow Mage, but now for some inexplicable reason she chose to become contracted with a wandering Lord. Exactly what kind of circumstances they must have been that they forced her to make such a life-changing decision?

 

(I look forward to meeting her again.)

 

Moreno imagined that when they are going to win the battle, he will have the girl brought to her knees before him, and then he is going to be the one who is going to look down on her with a cold gaze.

 

*          *          *

 

It was seven days after Siluca and Theo had taken the castle from Mesut Medric that Lassik David attacked them.

Hearing news from Irvin, Siluca looked out of the steeple window at the forces of Lassik. It was an unbelievable number for a Lord who ruled only two villages. Just by looking at the orderly formation, you could see that they are all well led.

 

「I wanted you to wait just a little bit longer, but… 」

 

But at least they were ready now.

 

They were able to recruit about ten soldiers from the youths of  their territory and train them to obey the four orders of advancing, halting, fighting, and retreating. As for the weapons, They have procured only spears and breastplates. Theo, the Lord himself, would be leading the troops directly.

 

It would not be an exaggeration to say that all of their main battle power would come from Irvin. Perhaps he will even have to fight an entire enemy army by himself.

 

Master Saturus is tenaciously continuing negotiations with King Clovis, and that is the point of his mission. As long as the negotiations continue, Clovis’ minor Lord cannot move his army. Siluca’s aim is to fight Lassic alone.

 

In a small-scale battle with less than 100 people, victory or defeat is determined by individual ability of the fighters.

 

The Lord named Lassic was said to be quite a master of the sword. Even if he were to use the power of the Crest, the current Theo is definitely not going to be a match for him. If this battle were to be settled by an individual skirmish just between the Lords, then this battle would have been as good as lost for them. On the contrary, that might be exactly the outcome that the other side was aiming for.

 

 

The magician under contract with Lassic is said to be Moreno Dortus. Siluca knows who he is, because he just graduated from the Magic University a few years ago.

 

(Although he has talent, but not much else going on for him besides that. )

 

That was Siluca’s honest character review of Moreno.

 

(However, his skills  with the sword were outstanding at the Magic University.)

 

She remembers that he was often practicing swordsmanship in the courtyard of the University with fellow members of the Swordsmanship Club.

 

Back in the old days, it was said that Mages didn’t need to learn how to use regular weapons. However, things have changed since the times of the Iron-Blodded Earl Jurgen Kreische, the founder of the Factory Alliance,  who began sending Mages to the front lines of battle. The Mages contracted with Jürgen Kreische were ordered to lead the army and command the spearhead of it. However, while it is true that magic can be a terrifying weapon on the battlefield, the Mages who commanded it had little ways of defending themselves in close-range engagements. The Mages were able to defeat many enemies with their spells, but at the same time they were also losing their lives one after another.

 

However, according to the peerage system, even if the contracted Mage dies for a legitimate reason, the peerage will not be reduced and the contract can be made with a replacement Mage instead. And even the Mages Association could not argue that it was unfair to let Mages participate in battle.

 

Jürgen used the pacts to turn Mages into nothing more than the disposable tools of war. The Iron-Blooded Earl also invented the tactic of heavy crossbow salvos performed by the heavy armored knights, and completely changed the nature of warfare.

Nowadays, even Mages are required to have the ability to defend themselves, and that is why they began to teach them how to handle weapons during their Magic Academy days. The reason Siluca delayed her admission to the Magic University by two years was because she was waiting for her body to grow enough so that she could handle these weapon-using courses.

 

During that time, she learned how to handle weapons, and she also continued her training at the Magic University without fail. She was only trained how to use a dagger and a short sword, but she was confident that she could handle both of these weapons pretty well. However, it was only to protect herself, and she knew full well that she would not be able to win in an actual battle against a legitimate warrior. Even if she were to fight against Moreno, she would probably lose.

 

(I’m sure that this is what he must be thinking as well…)

 

That being said, Siluca  didn’t think that they would end up in a situation where the Mages of both sides would be forced to exchange sword blows with one another. Leaving the well-equipped soldiers on Theo’s side was also just a deterrent.

 

「Looking at it now, the situation seems to be pretty bad. 」

 

At that moment, she heard Theo’s voice behind her.

 

「Do you require something from me? 」

 

Siluca turned around and bowed to Theo

 

「It seems that the enemy is ready to attack us, so what are we going to do now? 」

Theo had just received a report from his chamberlain Irvin that a neighboring Lord had moved out to attack them.

 

「Of course we are going to fight him. What else is there to do than that? 」

 

Siluca made a strange face, but her answer was the one that Theo was expecting.

 

「We are going to challenge someone who has that many troops? 」

 

Just in case she forgot about that, Theo reminded Siluca that the enemy had an army of over fifty soldiers.

 

「Yes, is there a problem with that? 」

 

Siluca nodded her head.

 

「I thought you would say that. 」

 

It means that the time to do what needs to be done has already come.

 

(I feel like I have been a proper Lord for just a few short days...)

 

If luck is not going to be on his side, then he might even die today, but even in the best possible scenario, he is probably going to be banished and have his Crest taken from him.

 

(Well, if that happens, then it’s just going to be a matter of going back to before I met this girl , which would not be all that bad… but that would mean giving up on my dreams, and that all that I did was to run away from my hometown for my own selfish reasons.)

 

 

Thinking back on that, he tried to keep his feelings strong.

 

「Do you have some kind of secret plan to secure victory for us? 」

 

「I have no such thing. 」

 

Siluca returns an astonished gaze at Theo, which caused his eagerness and resolve to hold on to suddenly wither away.

 

「I thought you said you could make my dream come true? 」

 

「That’s what I intend to do. 」

 

Siluca nodded.

 

「I don’t have any secret plan, but all we need to do is just win. 」

 

「And how are we going to do that? Barricade ourselves in the castle? 」

 

「If we opt for a siege now, the neighboring Lords may think we are weak and wait to see how the situation is going to develop before joining the enemy in the assault against us. No, this time, we have no choice but to settle everything up in one fell swoop in an open battle. 」