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Volume 1 Chapter 3 Part 5

She was not going outside of the University’s grounds all that much, so that was more than enough for her.

 

Even now the thing that she is wearing is her Magic University uniform.

 

「Master Saturus has returned, so I thought you might want to hear about how his mission went, and so I came to report on it. 」

 

「If that is what you wanted to talk about, then you do not have to trouble yourself with it, because he just came here a while ago to greet me personally. He said that the negotiations went well, and he also said something about me having to consult with you about my future so that we could make a final decision about what we should be doing from now on? 」

 

「I consulted with Master Saturus when he returned as well, but all he did was scolding me that I should spend more time to talk and discuss things with you, Lord Theo. 」

 

Siluca told him honestly about the contents of her talk with Saturus. For some reason, she felt her face becoming more and more hot as she did so.

 

「Uhm, would you like to come inside then? 」

 

「Would it be okay for me to do so? 」

 

Theo let Siluca through the door first, although he did so with a puzzled look on his face. Then he put up a chair for Siluca to sit on, and he also carried a chair for himself and sat in a place directly adjacent to hers.

 

 

「For the time being it looks like the King of Clovis and other Lords are going to tolerate us, and I hope that the King of Selvis is going to eventually do the exact same.

 

「I agree… 」

 

Siluca said while muffling her words. At this point in time it is still to early for them to try to guess how the negotiations with the King of Selvis are going to turn out, so her only hope was that Moreno is going to do everything in his power to make sure they are going to end with their success.

 

「Anyway, I really want the Factory Alliance to accept us as well. Luckily for us, I happen to be acquainted with Lady Marine Kreische, the Margrave of Waldrind, who is the current leader of the Factory Alliance…」

 

In the wake of 「The Tragedy of the Grand Cathedral」Siluca ended up protecting Marine and Alexis. If she had not made it in time to stop them from proceeding to the front of the cathedral where the Chaos Globe was, then the would have probably been killed by the Demon Lord along with the two Archdukes.

 

If that worst possible scenario would have come to pass, then an even greater number of Crests would have been lost, and any hope of a lasting truce between the Fantasia Union and the Factory Alliance would have been thwarted, delaying the unification of the continent under a single banner and the birth of the Grancrest by hundreds if not thousands of years.

 

Following the events of that day, Alexis Ducet collapsed from shock and has not recovered since, but Marine actually went out of her way to visit Siluca afterwards and properly thanked her for saving both her and Alexis’s lives.

 

She was only able to talk to Marine Kreische for a short while, but that was enough for Siluka to realize that Marine was a person who definitely deserved all of the praises that people were showering her with. And when Siluca learned that her adoptive father, Aubest Meletes, has been appointed as the Head Mage for the now disbanded Archduke Mathias Kreische’s Magic Division, her thoughts have only changed into conviction. Siluca’s stepfather was still relatively young and had a low ranking within Matthias’ Magic Division, but the fact that he has been appointed as the Head Mage and later became Marine’s contracted Mage meant that Marine Kreische also had a good eye for judging people and the value that they possessed.

 

「…I heard that Lord Alexis is also a wise man, but he has a gentle personality that seems to be making him somewhat unsuitable to serve as the leader of a large military power in times of turmoil. It is more than likely that the Fantasia Union is going to appoint another leader for itself in his stead, but at the current moment things are not looking too good, since many Lords with influential positions in the Union are competing against one another to see which one of them is going to come out on top. Of course, even if the Union is in turmoil now, then as long as we manage to resolve the conflict in this land, we should be able to bring everyone together, or at least I hope so… 」

 

「You really are unusually talkative today, aren’t you? 」

 

Theo laughed, but Siluca was clearly taken aback by his words.

 

「I-I’m sorry. I was not planning on myself being the only one who’s talking, but it ended up like that anyway… 」

 

Siluca dropped her gaze and squeezed the hem of her uniform around her knees.

 

「It is alright, I do not really mind it. The topics that you have been talking about now were filled with difficult terms, so I honestly had trouble with barely keeping up with what you were saying. So just so you know, even if we were to talk about becoming a leader of the Fantasia Union or the Factory Alliance or the Chaos or its convergence, I am probably not going to be the best conversation partner to talk about such things. 」

 

「Well, that is going to be a problem then. It seems that someday I will have to organize a session of imperial studies for you to make up for all the gaps in your knowledge, Lord Theo. 」

 

 

Siluca raised her head slightly and glared at Theo.

 

「I would appreciate it if you went easy on me. I can read and write to some extent, and I have spent the last five years travelling all over the continent, so I like to think that I have gained some experience in knowing how does the world operate from everything I have been through during that time. 」

 

Please take it easy on me. I can read and write somehow. I’ve traveled all over the continent for the past five years, so I think I know a lot about the world. 」

 

「That is a  very important skill to have indeed. I think it will be useful when governing the people. 」

 

As Siluca said this, she lamented in her heart how she must be coming off to Theo as such a preacher right now, and that the conversation that they are having in this moment is not in any way different from the ones that they usually have.

 

 

「Anyway, what I am trying to say is that I am grateful to you. If I had not met you, I probably would never have even the smallest hopes of returning back to my hometown one day to defeat Rossini. But thanks to you and your guidance, I think that I can finally see the light at the end of this very long tunnel. Now I truly feel convinced that what I wanted to do all along was to save my people, the fellow residents of Sistina. To be honest, a part of me was worried that after reaching the rank of Baron and getting as much land as I have now I would be tempted to abandon my original goal, but when I heard your story the other day, I could feel that my blood was boiling. That is why I am going to one day march back to Sistina to reclaim it from the tyrant Rossini’s hands, and I will use the name of Cornero while doing so. 」

 

 

「Oh, t-thank you very much. 」

 

Siluca was honestly happy when Theo thanked her for everything she did for him so far.

 

「However, I think that the tough road is still going to be ahead of us. We need to see how the King of Selvis is going to react, and then there is also the matter of Fantasia Union and then the Factory Alliance accepting us into their midst… 」

 

「You said that you are acquainted with the leader of the Factory Alliance, Marine Kraische, and that your father is the contracted Mage of the Kraische family, right?  If you were to be present at the negotiations, do you think your  familial bonds will not be the source of any problems for us?」

「I hope so. 」

 

Siluca’s expression clouded over.

 

「My adoptive father is not the kind of person who changes his judgment based on his feelings. That is how he is able to give the most appropriate advice and suggestions to Lady Marine. That’s why we need to clearly explain the benefits of Lord Theo joining the Factory Alliance to him.」