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Volume 4 Chapter 3 Part 9

That must be one of the reasons for him doing what he was doing, but Igor did not think so. That half-brother of his had always had his own aesthetics, and he followed them.

His aesthetics are the antithesis of the rational spirit inherited from the Kraische blood. Within Vilar, it feels like the blood of Kraische and the blood of Constance are in constant conflict.

「Even so, Lord Vilar should be more kind to himself. 」

Ellet said quietly.

「I could not agree more. 」

Villars was always willing to get into trouble for other’s sake, even if it was not the best course of action for Vilar himself. This female Mage in front of Igor lacks something important as a human being, but because of that, she has the ability to see others objectively.

「Lord Serge cannot keep calm whenever Lord Vilar is involved, so I am sure that he is going to try to do everything in his power in order to help him. 」

Ellet let out a big sigh.

She made a statement that made Igor doubt whether he has heard her correctly, but in truth, Igor was also worried about it.

「I just wanted him to restrain himself at least until the King of Kirchs arrived… 」

First of all, you know that it is impossible… but still, I just want Lord Serge to stop being so stubborn all the time and think about others more rather than just himself. 」

「If you really think so, then why do you not go after him now? 」

Infuriated, Igor pointed his finger at his brother’s contracted Mage.
「Oh, I will definitely do that. After all, if something happened to Lord Serge, I would have to go look for another Lord to make a contract with, and that is the kind of pain that I would rather avoid. 」

Ellet left another unnecessary word and headed for the stables.

(I do not think there is ever going to be a Lord who will be stupid enough to sign a contract with a Mage with such a personality and attitude!)

Staring at her back, Igor spat those resentful words in his mind.

August 17, 2013 of the Continental Calendar.

When Laura Hadley, the new Head Mage and the contracted Mage of Vilar Constance contacted him, Moreno Dortus naturally thought that it would be to ask them for help. However, contrary to what Moreno was expecting, Vilar had instead asked Lassic David to invade Ozer and be as wild about it as he wanted.

「He knows Lord Lassic’s personality all too well. 」

Moreno then went to visit Lassic’s room, where he relayed the message from the Earl of Artuk to Lassic himself.

「Hou? 」

While receiving the report, Lassic’s expression changed rapidly.

「Rather than Dartania itself, it is more embarrassing and troublesome to see that Milza siding with the enemy in the end. 」

「Is that really something that a battle maniac and a Fomorian slayer like you should be saying, Lord Lassic? 」

Moreno asked in a joking tone.

「You know what? I would rather jump into a Fomorian horde than fight a monster like Milza. 」

Lassic answered Moreno with a completely straight face.

Certainly, during the conquest of Falvis, Milza Kuches ended up capturing an entire castle all by himself. Theo Cornero had also managed to convince the Lord of the port city to surrender it without a single casualty on both sides, but that was only possible because the interests of both sides have been aligned.
「So what? Are you going to start preying that the two of you would never end up meeting each other on the battlefield? 」

「You can bet your ass I will. That being said, we still need to think about some countermeasures in case that it does end up happening. 」

Despite his earlier words, Lassic already seemed to have something on his mind.

(Maybe we should sic mercenaries against him?)

Among the mercenaries that Lassic had at his disposal were also the ones who were superhuman Artists, and many of them enjoyed fighting against strong enemies like nothing else in this the world.

(I wonder how long it would take to hire the appropriate number of such mercenaries…)

That being said, it was not a matter that Moreno wanted to think about right now. His peerage has reached the rank of Associate Earl and his territory has expanded, but the war continued and funds were really tight right now, since the fortune that Lassic inherited from his father has finally run out.

(In the worst possible scenario, we are going to have no choice but to borrow money from Elam…)

Aside from magic-related services, Elam was also the best place to go if you were in need of a financial assistance. In Elam, there is no shortage of places you could borrow money from, albeit those places would only borrow your money at the astonishingly high interest rates. If you possessed a steady source of an ever-increasing income, then as long as the amount of interest does not exceed the upper limit of your income, it is entirely possible to pay the interest without any problem, but needing to pay interest while your income was steadily decreasing… now that was something that everyone wanted to avoid at all costs.

「Well, how do are we going to attack them? 」

Lassic unrolled Ozer’s map on the table and placed his hand on his chin as he looked at it.

「Our military strength is overwhelming greater than theirs, so I do not think we are going to have to resort to any sort of trickery. 」

Moreno boasted, and then he proceeded to show off a plan that he had thought up in advance.
However, that plan of his was never carried out and fell apart before it could be implemented… because Ozer’s army has been spotted gathering on the border with Selvis.

「Looks like they got a few steps ahead of us this time. 」

Lassic laughed at the report from the border one of the Lords who had his territory near the border with Ozer.

「That was rudely unexpected of them, to say the least. 」

Moreno said, stunned by the information they have received.

「Well, why do you think did they come to us instead of waiting for us to go to them? 」

「It is probably a part of a strategy to prevent Lord Lassic from going to assist Artuk… 」

But normally, there should be no way for them to know that the Earl of Artuk ordered Lassic to invade Ozer.

「If we attack them with our entire army, they will probably be forced to retreat back to their own territory, but once we move out to aid Artuk, they are most likely going to just invade again. And while Lord Lassic is going to be held back here by Ozer, Milza and Waldrind are going to kill the Earl of Artuk. 」

The Earl of Artuk might have anticipated that things are going to turn out this way, and that is why he wanted Lassic to invade Ozer instead of calling him to come to his aid.

「So what are we going to do about this? 」

「Let me think… 」

Moreno pondered for a while and came up with a plan.

「Let us open the castle to the Lords of the Ozer army after they are going to surround it. 」

「Are you serious? 」

Lassic asked while smiling wryly.
「My mind is always clear as long as Siluca does not throw me off… 」

And besides, the witch who could be called his natural enemy is not here right now.

「The condition for surrendering the castle is that they pay the ransom and release us from their from custody. The ruler of Ozer has no territorial ambitions, so he should will gladly accept that condition. 」

That way, they will be able to get the money, and the enemy will be able to get the castle without spilling a drop of blood of their own soldiers. The Lords of Ozer will probably realize that this is nothing but bait, but on the other hand, such a deal should be too sweet for them to simply pass up.

「You think they are going to take the bait? 」

Lassic grinned villainously when he sensed what Moreno’s intentions were with this plan.

「They will, and we will allow them to enter deep into our territory. Ozer’s army will think that the Lord of Selvis and his army had lost the will to fight, which should make them all overly confident, and then… 」

Moreno made a pause there for a better dramatic effect and pompously held his breath.

「Do go on. I am listening. 」