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Volume 4 Chapter 2 Part 1

Chapter 2: Preparedness

June 9, 2013 of the Continental Calendar.

「… and so my Lord has decided to refuse lady Marine Kraische’s request for subordination and has simultaneously made a decision to withdraw from the ranks of the members of the Factory Alliance. That is all. 」

At the Factory Alliance’s Lord’s Conference convened around half a month ago, the Diplomatic Mage of Viscount Pavel Murad, who was ruling over the Stark Penninsula declared as such and then he promptly left the meeting room.

At the very same meeting, the Diplomatic Mages who were representing the countries of Ozer and Veltava passed on the will of their respective Lords in which they have agreed to bend the knee to Marine and the Factory Alliance, but also implored that the subordination ceremony should not be held immediately and asked for a brief period of reprieve, since, as they have put it, it would take time to convince the independent Lords of their nations that this was truly the right thing to do.

(It is exactly how Aubest predicted it.)

He said that it was meaningless to engage in speculation and that theyshould just wait to hear the decisions that the Lords of Stark, Ozer and Veltava will arrive at, but once again it turned out that his speculations were more accurate than most prophecies.

「We are going to set out to conquer Stark immediately. And once this war is going to be over, I will then go to Ozer and Veltava to take care of the subordination ceremonies. 」

And now, after everything at that meeting was finally said and done, Marine, who was leading the Heavy Knights of Waldrind arrived at the Isthmus of Penelope. When the independent Lords of Stark with the territories located in the northern part of Stark realized what was happening, they rushed one after another and offered their Subordination to Marine. Originally, this entire area has been under the direct control of the Factory Alliance ever since the time of Jurgen Kraische, so subordination of the independent Lords to Marine was their only option here, really.

However, the Lords who had their territories located in the main part of the peninsula decided to fight back after they centered themselves around Pavel, so Marine set up the camp, gathered her Heavy Knights and held a council of war.

「The only way to attack the fortress is through a single road along the west coast. However, this road is narrow and is sandwiched between the rocky mountain and the sea that divide the isthmus into east and west. There are several forts on the rocky mountain, and ten warships equipped with catapults are moored in the western sea. 」

A young Mage spread out the map he drew and explained the situation to everyone currently gathered around the table while placing wooden pieces on the map to indicate citadels, forts, warships, etc.

His name was Terius Savoy. He recently graduated from the Magic University and joined the Kraische family’s Magic Division. He is said to be good at military science, so he was entrusted with the planning of this strategy meeting by Aubest in a process of testing the new Mages that he implemented. In that process, the new Mages employed by Kraische family are tested in various ways, and if they are deemed to be too useless for the Kraische family themselves, they are going to be assigned as the contracted Mages to the knights serving in the Heavy Knights of Waldrind.

「If we will choose to advance through this road, we will avoid getting our forces pincer attacked both from the land and the sea… 」
「The transport of the siege weapons is also going to be difficult, and breaking through the castle’s main gate with the fire from the heavy crossbows alone is going to take a considerable amount of time. 」

「That is most certainly true, but we might not have any other option to go for. 」

「But the more time we spend on it, the more casualties we will suffer… 」

The knights exchanged their opinions amongst themselves with grim expressions on their faces.

“By the way, when Lord Jürgen went on an expedition to the Stark Peninsula, he did not pass through the Isthmus of Penelope and landed on the peninsula using a ship. 」

Terius spoke while looking at the materials he had prepared himself ahead of time.

「Tes, because at that time, Artuk was still on our side. 」

Knight Commander Gerhard smiles wryly.

Since Waldrind is a landlocked country, it does not have a navy. When Jürgen conquered the Stark Peninsula, it was none other than Artuk’s warships that carried the Heavy Knights of Waldrind. But then Artuk ended up leaving the Factory Alliance and defecting into the fantasia Union, and the small continent of Dartania, which was closely related to Artuk, is also hostile to the Factory Alliance, which means that ever since then, the Factory Alliance had lost control of the South Seas.
The situation is serious for the Stark Peninsula, which is surrounded on three sides by the sea, so as Artuk expanded its power, it was only natural that Pavel tried to withdraw from the Factory Alliance and join the Fantasia Union instead.

「According to our information, Lord Pavel has already went to Artuk to ask for help in dealing with the Alliance. 」

Aubest told everyone in an indifferent tone.

「So you are saying that the Earl of Artuk is going to make his move soon as well? 」

The knights became noisy at those words. The bitter memories of being forced to retreat after being ambushed by the Earl of Artuk during the Battle of Selvis, which they were doing their best to forget about, have resurfaced once more now that the old wounds have been opened.

「No, because It seems that Lord Villar has declined Lord Pavel’s request for help. Since the Fantasia Union was in the middle of peace talks with the Alliance he must have been cautious, and as a result, Artuk has not made any movements towards the Factory Alliance just yet. 」

Relief spreads to the knights when Aubest denied Artuk’s involvement in the current invasion.

「However, we have received information that Dartania sent a fleet to help Lord Pavel with food and supplies. Moreover, the fleet is still in the nearby waters, and Prince Milza was sighted at Penelope Fortress. There is also news of

「Then is that not exactly that what the Earl of Artuk intended to happen? 」
Gerhardt asked Aubest.

Prince Milza Kuches of Dartania cooperated with The Earl of Artuk during the Battle of Falvis, and he was also present as a spectator at the Fantasia Union’s Lord’s Conference. Since his country is not officially part of the Fantasia Union, hi is not bound by the ceasefire that is in effect during the peace talks.

「It is natural to think so, but speculating about these matters right now is pointless. The only things that we know for sure right now is that Dartania is on the move and Artuk is not. 」

「Even if it’s just Dartania, it would be tough if it decided to seriously intervene with us right now. 」

Gerhardt glared at the map and said as such.

「For the time being, it is impossible to land on the peninsula by boat.「

「If the sea route is no good, then how about attacking from the mountains? We can climb the rocky mountains, take control of the forts, and approach the fortress along the ridge. 」

Terius moved the pawn representing the Heavy Knights to the rocky fortress.

「But in order to climb the mountains, we would have no choice but to leave our horses and armor behind… 」

The knights faced each other. Their expressions were clearly saying that this was a thing that they did not want to do unless it was an absolutely last resort.

「If the roads are no good, the seas are no good, and the mountains are no good, then there is no way for us to attack. 」
Terius raised a voice that sounded like a scream.

「Humans are not just pawns on the table. 」

Aubest advised him emotionlessly.

「How about procuring a large number of small boats and crossing the Rotten Sea? That’s where Dartania’s large ships cannot come in. 」

One of the Knight Captains made a suggestion. Then he picked up the pawn of the Knights and placed it in the green panel representing the sea to the east of the Isthmus of Penelope.

「The Rotten Sea, huh…? 」

A Lord with a territory near here twitched. He was allowed to participate in the military council because he had a title of peer who had just subordinated himself to Marine yesterday, and he was familiar with the geography of this area.