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Volume 3 Prologue Part 1

Outbreak of War

August 10, year 2013 of the Continental calendar

The northern border of the country of Artuk was marked by the Donil River. The northeastern region, which is Artuk’s lower reaches, touches Stark, and along the way was also another country that neighbored Artuk, Waldrind.

Both of these countries are forces belonging to The Factory Alliance, but in spite of that, the trading between the neighboring countries has never been interrupted, there are bridges connecting the two countries with their opposite ends on the main highways, and traffic alongthe roads was never restricted during the Times of peace.

The Rovier Bridge was also one of the bridges over the Donil River. The end on the opposite bank is still belonging to Stark, but from the next bridge upstream, the country on the opposite bank changed to Waldrind.

And on this day, the first to cross the Rovier Bridge after dawn was a group of Heavy Knights who wore a full set of plate armor, both the men and the horses on top of which they were riding. The number of soldiers that were now crossing the bridge was well over a 1000 units.

The sound of horseshoes hitting the Stones of the bridge that resounded across the neighboring area was deafening, and all the waterfowls that were resting their wings on the water’s edge fluttered into the sky when they were startled by the cacophony of these metallic noises.

Aside from the 1000 cavalry soldiers, there were nearly ten Times as many infantry soldiers lined up one after another. Many flags with the iron hammer Crest, which is the symbol of Waldrind, fluttered in their formations.

In this very moment, almost the entire army of Waldrind has now invaded the territory of Artuk.

Near the head of the formation was the figure of Marine Kraische, who was clad in jet-black armor that was the same color as her mourning dress.

She did not have her helmet on, nor did she have her Platinum-colored hair tied up. She held the reins of her horse with certainty, while her sky-blue eyes were fixed firmly on the road in front of her.

「Let us begin. 」

Marine said to Aubest Meletes, her Head Mage, who was riding on his own horse side by side with her.

「As you wish, My Lady. 」

Aubest nodded his head expressionlessly. The knights surrounding the two of them had anxious expressions on their faces under their helmets. Even they, who are the royal guard knights, have not been informed of the full details of this operation. All that they knew about it is that apparently this battle is supposed to be Waldrind’s 「do or die」, but for tchem that was the norm, because the royal guards are a shield that is supposed to protect their Lord from any and all harm, and every time they are mobilized, they are prepared for the eventuality that the current mission might as well be their last.

「Princess is about to make a really risky bet… 」

The royal guards were whispering in between one another as such.

「If we are going to be defeated in this expedition, then that would probably mean that the princess will have no intentions of staying in Waldrind any further. 」

However, in order to achieve a victory in this military expedition, Waldrind’s forces would have to defeat not only Artuk’s army, but also the Earl Of Artuk, Vilar Constance himself. That was an earnest wish and ambition of Marine Kraische’s predecessor, Mathias Kraische.

However, so far, all of the expeditions that Waldrind was launching to Artuk have ended up with Waldrind’s failure, and just last year, the Heavy Knights of Waldrind have suffered what could only be described as a crushing defeat during the Battle of Selvis where they were taken by surprise by the army of Artuk and the guerilla warfare tactics that Artuk was so famous for. But it was not only Artuk’s army’s victory. By defeating the Heavy Knights, the Earl of Artuk demonstrated just how demonic his abilities were when it comes to strategy, tactics and the understanding of the battlefield.

On the other hand, that defeat only proved just how inexperienced and young Marine was as a leader.

Nevertheless, all of the Heavy Knights of Waldrind have sworn to share their fate with Marine. The reason Waldrind had no choice but to take such a gamble was because the Heavy Knights, not Marine herself, were responsible for the situation that Waldrind was currently in. Their arrogance about being the strongest knights on the continent led their neglect of their young Lord, and because Marine herself was so fixated on honor, it resulted in her making such a terrible blunder.

As a result, Waldrind has lost its prestige as leader of the Factory Alliance, and the Factory Alliance itself was now on the verge of crumbling. So if it turned out that the Heavy Knights would get completely annihilated during their current expedition, then everyone would simply say that this was a fate that they have brought onto themselves.

A witch living in a village near the Rovier Bridge witnessed the Heavy Knights of Waldrind marching across the border with a tragic determination in a long formation. She immediately jumped on her broomstick and proceeded to go and tell the witch elder Zelma about it.

「So what you are saying is that the young lady Kraische is moving in to attack? 」

「Yes, and the army that she is leading is the largest one that I have ever seen. Thay have already crossed the Rovier Bridge and are now heading south down the highway. 」

「Looks like they are headin straight for the Vilar boy’s castle. 」

Zelma sighed heavily.

「What should we do about this? 」

「I don’t want to get involved in a fight between Lords, but I am indebted to the Constance family, and we do have a covenant, so as always, I will help him as much as possible without getting involved too much. 」

Zelma said to the witch who came to make the report.

「I have already summoned the fog and hidden the road leading to the settlement from the view of the regular people. 」

「Good, and that is enough. That way, the Heavy Knights of Waldrind should go straight to the Vilar boy’s castle. 」

After drawing the enemy deep into Artuk’s territory, they will definitely end u pat the mercy of Artuk’s army’s guerilla warfare, since that way the way of fighting that Artuk’s soldiers were really good at. As a results, many of the Lords who are subordinate to Vilar have a specialized guerilla troops among their armies, not to mention that the guerilla abilities of the soldiers are going to beenhanced even further thanks to the power of the 「Partisan」, a banner originating from the Crest of the Constance family that ruled over Artuk for generations now.

「We still need to be very careful. If Waldrind’s soldiers somehow stumble into the villae after all and turn out to be too greedy for their own good, they might try to get their hands on the people and burn the village down to the Ground afterwards. 」

Usually, the Lords do not interfere with their people all that much, and that isd because being a citizen of the towns and villages owned by a given Lord is a part of the rewards that are guaranteed by the peerage system. However, that is not the case for those who coopearted with the Lords or decided to become a part of their private militia. In some cases, the entire villages of such people were being targeted

「If you see that large army, just make sure to be quiet. However, if they were to be defeated by Vilar boy’s forces, then I think everyone should start preparing, because there will be some serious hunting to be done. 」

「Well now, I wonder what is going to happen… 」

Zelma approached the Chaos Globe and peered into it. The white glow was so strong that it tried to cover the black shadows in their entirety.

「So even though enough of the power of the Crests to erase the Chaos in these lands has been gathered, things like that are still happening, huh? 」

Zelma let go of the Chaos Globe and let out another big sigh.

「I am sure that is must be like that because of all the conflicts that arecurrently happening, which are in no way inferior to the ones that plagued the continent during the Times of Extreme Chaos. Back then and today, human beings are all really deep in their own karma… 」

It was around noon of that same day when the news of the Heavy Knights of Waldrind crossing the border came to the Werewolf village.