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Volume 4 Chapter 3 Part 8

His Crest appeared on his face as if he was wearing it like a mask, and then he swung his hand above his head in an arc to activate his battle banner. His Banner possesses the effect called 「Persona」, which turns everyone under its influence into a hero just like the ones from theatrical plays. Such people will not become genuine heroes because of it, but the masked soldiers fight more bravely and valiantly.

And now, the army of Kirchs, led by Solon himself departed his castle in order to join forces with Serge Constance, Earl of Regalia.

* * *
Serge Constance, Earl of Regalia was clad in glittering armor and riding atop his favorite horse.

Unlike Artuk, which is densely populated by forests, Regalia was mostly composed of grasslands, and since ancient times, the tribes that inhabited Regalia practiced the culture of Nomadism.

The nomads inhabiting the realm of regalia are all brave people and trained, seasoned warriors. However, their tribes have a tendency to fight each other over the access to pastures and water sources, and no one ever managed to unite all the tribes in a single, bigger one. As a result, they have succumbed to the military expedition launched by Jurgen Kraische, the Iron-Blooded Earl, and after Jurgen’s death, they allowed Artuk to be invaded.

To govern Regalia means to mediate and r3solve the conflicts between various tribe and their members. Serge Constance, who was made to be the ruler of Regalia after the death of his father, Richuan, always made sure to listen carefully to the claims made by each tribe and carefully managed all of the pastures and natural water sources in order to make sure that a potential conflicts over them would be prevented. He also ordered wells to be dug in various places and created warehouses that were meant to stockpile grains that would be used to feed the livestock in the villages and towns that could be used as potential military bases. All of those achievements and careful and delicate measures that he took to govern Regalia eventually resulted in him gaining the trust of the nomadic tribes. He also imposed the military service upon the nomads, and thanks to that, he managed to amass over 2000 cavalry units.
「First and foremost, you are to take the cavalry units and rush to help my brother, Lord Vilar Constance of Artuk, as soon as possible. As for the infantry units, you are to march and join the forces of Lord Solon of Kirchs, who will also be coming to Artuk’s aid, and then follow after the cavalry. 」

Serge called out to his younger brother Igor, who has inherited the title of Viscount.

From among all of the children of Richuan, Igor is said to resemble their father the most out of all of them.

「Brother, please, wait! 」

Surprised, Igor grabbed the reins of his brother’s horse.

「Even if you rush in with only the members of the cavalry, that will not be nearly enough manpower to save Lord Vilar! I understand how you must be filling right now, but at the very least, we should wait for the king of Kirchs to arrive before making any moves ourselves! 」

Igor is a subordinate Lord of his older brother Serge, not Vilar’s. The same was true for his younger brother, who was given the title of Knight.

Due to the age difference between Villar and his older brother, he does not really feel like his older brother. He respects and pledges Serge’s allegiance to him, but more than that, he prioritizes Serge and Regalia above everything else, and Vilar seemed to have recognized that as well.

「Dartania has defected to the Factory Alliance, you know? At this rate, my brother is going to be in grave danger. 」

「The naval battle did not end with Artuk’s defeat, so there is no need to panic. It should be difficult to break that castle’s defenses with just an attack from the land. 」

「This is a battle where we have no way of knowing what is going to happen. If something happens to my brother, Regalia… no, the fate of the entire Fantasia Union will almost certainly be doomed. 」

When Serge spoke in a harsh tone, he shook Igor’s hand which was still holding the reins off of them and he looked back at the nomadic cavalry.

「We are leaving immediately! Full speed towards Artuk! 」

Serge made his horse break into a gallop at full speed, and two thousand members of the cavalry followed him. The earth shook beneath the hooves of their horses and they raised an enormous could of dust into the air.

「Brother… 」

With a grim expression, Igor stares at the retreating cavalry corps, which was getting further and further away until he could see them no longer

「In the end, I am the one who is left behind… 」
At that time, Serge’s contracted Mage Ellet Harukas rushed to Igor’s side.

She was originally a contracted Mage of Villar and was dispatched to work under Serge. However, when she turned 25 and her contract with Vilar expired, she asked Serge for a direct contract because it would be troublesome for her to go and find herself a new contractor all on her own. To be perfectly honest, it was a rude and insensitive offer on her part, but for some reason, Igor’s brother accepted it without complaining.

「My brother is too terrified of losing Lord Vilar. 」

Igor sighed. Serge’s feelings for his half-brother are close to those of worship. Their mother is also a woman who possesses a strong sense of dependency, and it would seem that Serge had inherited that particular quality from her.

「Well, if it were not for Lord Vilar, Artuk and Regalia would have been swallowed up by Waldrind by now… 」

Ellet said while looking thousand members around the castle. That Mage had a habit of always saying exactly what she was thinking without even trying to sugarcoat things.

It can be said that she has a two-sided personality, but then again, that is probably a quality of character that pretty much every Mage needs to develop sooner or later.

「Do you not find it ironic that right now Lord Vilar, someone who inherited the blood of the Kraische family is the only one who can protect the Fantasia Union from the Factory Alliance? When his predecessor, Lord Richuan, passed away, he should have just gone and join the Factory Alliance. In hindsight, that would have spared us much of the trouble we are going through now. 」

The way Ellet phrased her words, it almost sounded as if she was asking why did Vilar not do that when he had the chance.

「If he did that back then, then we would have been killed, most likely. 」

Igor frowned and answered.

The Kraische family is known for being rational, but things change when the problems of the entire family start affecting the members of the family. Jürgen Kraische was killed by the previous Ocean King because he tried to leave the battlefield on the day when the Factory Alliance’s victory against the Fantasia Union was all but assured in order to save his son, Matthias Kraische from the predicament that he has found himself in at the time.

The previous head of the Factory Alliance and the Lord of Waldrind, Matthias, harbored a deep hatred towards Richuan Constance, because he was the one who sparked the seeds of rebellion that ultimately led to the death of his father, Jürgen, and the imprisonment of his sister Floria until she died of illness. There are still rumors circulating about that say that when he learned that Richuan ended up dying form an illness himself, he became furious like he never was before because that meant that he could no longer exact his revenge against him personally.

But even so, there was still a chance that Vilar, someone who had the blood of the Kraische family coursing through his veins, could have been welcomed into the Factory Alliance with open arms. All that he needed to do was to publicly proclaim that he also harbored hatred towards his father for the years of tormenting his mother.

However, Vilar was the only one with the blood of Kraische in his veins. The rest of his siblings were the pure-blooded members of the Constance family, so there was always a possibility that the revenge of Matthias Kraische could have been aimed towards them as well.

「But still, I am glad that Lord Vilar turned out to be such a kind person. 」

Ellet smiled.

Those words also made Igor’s heart tremble, because he realized that just like his mother did for him, his brother was also doing everything to protect his half-brothers and sisters in his own way.