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Volume 4 Chapter 3 Part 5

「I do not know. But what I do know is that we need to hit them as hard as we can while we still have the Chance. 」

Leaving those words behind him, Vilar descended down the tower, with Margaret following closely behind him.

Laura stayed right where she was, looking at the now calm sea and the sky which was turning red. Looking back towards the land, there should be a strongly fortified camp set up by the Waldrind army, but right now she did not even want to look at it.

「With Dartania’s failed attempt at a surprise attack and their expectations not being met, it would be nice if they dismantled the camp and returned back home… 」

Laura thought about such a possibility, and then she descended the tower, prepared to be utterly disappointed tomorrow.

* * *

August 17, 2013 of the Continental Calendar.

The most influential Lords of the Fantasia Union, including Alexis Ducet, the leader of the Union, have gathered in the castle of Bernard Durham, the Marquis of Dawson.

The Factory Alliance has just notified them about their refusal to continue with the peace talks, so the Lord’s Conference has been gathered in order for them to discuss how they should proceed from now on. Also, during the conference, the Lords of the Union have also received the news that the army of the Heavy Knights of Waldrind has invaded Artuk and surrounded the castle of Vilar Constance, the Earl of Artuk. That piece of news was shocking enough by itself, but then it was followed up by the information that Dartania’s fleet has also made a sudden appearance from the seaside and attacked Artuk as well.

Up until now, the small island continent of Dartania was a perfectly neutral country that did not side neither with the Fantasia Union or the Factory Alliance, which made their sudden aggression towards Artuk that much more of a shock to everyone. During the last Lord’s Conference which was held in Halusia, Milza Kuches, who was still just a prince of Dartania at that time attended the meeting as an observer, so naturally everyone started asking themselves why would he suddenly go and sided with the Factory Alliance instead.

Sefaud Latkins, the Diplomatic Mage serving under Alexis Ducet was also summoned to the meeting. It was the only thing that he could do now, since now that the peace talks have been broken down, it meant that he has failed to fulfill the task that he has been initially assigned, so it should not come as a surprise that a great many Lords denounced him for his failure and demanded him to be severely punished.

「I sincerely apologize for the utter lack of my diplomatic ability. 」

Sefaud has already lost count of how many times he has repeated that phrase now.

However, he knew form the start that the negotiations were originally unlikely to succeed. Sefaud has repeatedly reported that the Factory Alliance had no intentions of reconciliation with the Fantasia Union that it was merely prolonging the negotiations to act and scheme behind the scenes.

However, just because he reminded everyone about that, it did not mean that his denunciation had stopped, even though he was saying nothing but the honest truth. That is because the Lords needed him to be a sacrificial lamb, someone whom they could pin the blame to while keeping their own hands and reputation clean, because deep down they all understood that the failure of the peace talks was not due to the incompetence of the Diplomatic Mage tasked with carrying them out, but because of the influential Lords who all insisted to go along with the peace talks in the first place, simply because it was something that the leader of the Fantasia Union wanted. And the fact that Sefaud was also a contracted Mage of Alexis, the Marquis of Halusia, and his main supporters were Bernard Durham and his people was simply an icing on the cake.

When the peace talks broke down, Sefaud was banished from Bertha, the capital of Waldrind. That was the final proof that the Factory Alliance was no longer interested in maintaining the pretense of the peace talks with the Fantasia Union.

「All of the Lords of the Fantasia Union must surrender their Crests to the Alliance’s leader and withdraw from their territories. 」

During the last meeting, Marine Kraische declared as such.

「Does that mean that you are expecting the entire Fantasia Union to surrender unconditionally?! 」

「I think this is a preferable alternative to me taking the lives of all the Union’s Lords. 」

Marine proclaimed coldly.

「That is the one and only thing that I require of them. 」

When he heard those words, Sefaud could not help it but to burst out into laughter.

At this point he knew that he was basically playing the clown, but even so, he had to play his part until the end. He was also perfectly aware that he is going to be held accountable for what happened just now, so part of the reason why he laughed was because he just could not believe that such unreasonable things could be allowed in this world.

「I will be sure to relay those words to Lord Alexis… now, I will not be relaying them to him. Instead, I will only remind him that what I have been telling to him ever since the negotiations started has finally come to pass. 」

Alexis was doing his best to make sure that the peace talks with the Factory Alliance would be a success, but Sefaud was telling him from the start that peace was not what the Factory Alliance wanted, so he should just give up and drop the peace talks entirely.

「You can also tell Lord Alexis that the next time I am going to see him is going to be on the battlefield. 」

That is how great Marine’s determination was. And since Sefaud intended to take full responsibility for what happened, he made sure to return back to Elam as soon as possible. Now, the Lord’s Conferences organized by the Fantasia Union were elegant and irrational, but even by their standards, this one was taking an unbearably long time in comparison to the rest.

「In light of everything that has happened, maybe it would be for the best if you returned to your own territories and started preparing for war? 」

That is what Sefaud wanted to say to the Lords of the Fantasia Union, but if he stimulated them all too much in a negative way, there was a real risk that they might even kill him for it. That is how much the powerful Lords of the Fantasia Union were upset at him.

「See, I told you something like that was going to happen if you continue being as sloppy as you were! 」

When the discussion has made a full circle and it came back to denouncing Sefaud again, Kurt Gallas, the Earl of Leclerc shouted as if he could not stand the ongoing farce anymore.

「Can this Mage really be held responsible for what happened? I have been telling you all since the beginning that these negotiations have no prospects of a positive resolution. It was foolish of you to think that we could come to an agreement with the Factory Alliance! The Earl of Artuk has dealt a devastating blow to them by conquering Selvis, Falvis and Clovis, and yet you have not only wasted the opportunity that he has given us, but you also decided to make amends to the Alliance and gave them enough time to recover! And as a result, the Earl of Artuk was the first one to have fallen into such a dire predicament! 」

「You say that, but would it not be more accurate to say that the Earl of Artuk did this to himself?! After all, the Earl of Artuk from the previous generation betrayed his father-in-law Jurgen Kraische, and now he has taken the territory belonging to the Factory Alliance when it was agreed that we should not do it! 」

Marquis Dawson vehemently objected Kurt Gallas’ statements.

「If it was not for that betrayal, then Jurgen Kraische would have crushed the Union on that day. And after that, Artuk continued to oppose the Factory Alliance because if it did not do that, it would not have survived Waldrind’s continuous invasions!

「This just goes to show that you do not know anything. The reason why Marine Kraische refused to accept the peace talks is because she cannot forgive Artuk and Vilar Constance for opposing her and fighting her for so long, but I bet that if she was offered Vilar Constance’s Crest, she would have probably agreed to peace talks and reconciliation with the Fantasia Union. 」

「Are you insane? Or is this a secret deal that you made with her?! 」