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Volume 5 Chapter 1 Part 15

It wasn’t until the evening that they found out why that happened.

A call has been picked up by Siluca’s magic wand, and the person who contacted her was Lassic’s contracted Mage Moreno.

「Kurt Gallas, Earl of Leclerc, routed the forces of the Factory Alliance led by the Ocean King Erik. 」

His tone was as light as ever, but his voice trembled with excitement.

「No way! 」

Siluca couldn’t believe her ears. She knew that the Earl of Leclerc had invaded Lanford and Vanberg, but his army was about five thousand soldiers!

In sheer contrast to those numbers, the 「Ocean King」Erik, Lord of the Nords defeated every other country that was neighboring with his own territory and subjugated the Lords of those countries into becoming his subordinate Lords, and according to certain rumors, he was supposed to be able to mobilize tens if not thousands of soldiers to battle at any given moment, and the army that he commanded was probably among the bigger, if not the outright biggest in the entirety of the Factory Alliance.

Moreover, it is said that the「Ocean King 」himself has never lost a single battle before, and the army he’s leading was widely known to be valiant in battle.

「I have just received a call with those information from my contacts in the Fantasia Union, so I don’t know any of the details myself just yet. The only thing that is known for certain is that the enemy is fleeing, and the Earl of Leclerc is currently chasing them. I will contact you immediately as soon as I manage to get my hands on any further news. 」

After saying that, Moreno immediately hung up and the call so Siluca’s magic wand ended. Siluca then proceeded to relay the news she heard from Moreno to Theo.

「What exactly happened there? 」

「I don’t know… and I don’t understand it ether… 」

Siluca had no choice but to give Theo such an unsatisfying answer again. She could only believe that a miracle happened, just like she hoped it would.

「Vanberg is a region where the faith of the Order of the Crest is thriving, so surely it must’ve been the divine intervention of The Only God! 」

Before anyone knew it, Priscilla, who was standing by their sides, said so with a smile.

「No, he definitely didn’t have anything to do with it! 」

Siluca vehemently denied such a possibility. No matter what happened, while it might not be a miracle, it definitely provided them with exactly what they all needed right now: an opportunity.

「Lord Theo… 」

Siluca said while turning towards Theo.

「Yes? What is it? 」

「If what Moreno-senpai said is really true and the army of the 「Ocean King」has been defeated and is now retreating, then that means that even Waldrind won’t be able to ignore the threat that the army if the Earl of Leclerc will pose to them. That’s probably why they ended up withdrawing their own forces. With that, the main battlefield is likely to shift to the north of the continent, and I expect that the conflict itself is going to end with a stalemate. 」

「Yes, that’s true. And?」

「This’ll be a perfect moment foe us to cross over to Sistina! 」

Siluca said emphatically.

「If we want to overthrow the Rossini family and free the people of your island from their tyrannical oppression, then now would be the best time for us to do that. 」

「Go back to Sistina… 」

Theo made a slightly dumbfounded expression.

「Am I really going to go back? To that island?c」

「Yes! 」

Siluca smiled and nodded.

「Now is the time for us to finally make your dream come true, Lord Theo! 」

Come to think of it, it all started from that.

Theo left the island in order to become a proper Lord, and started travelling around the continent with the intent to grow stronger and one day return to Sistina to become its new Lord. Even if he needed a miracle in order for that to happen, then for him, that is a path that he cannot avoid.

Theo was stunned and was at a loss for words for a while. There were probably many thoughts running through his mind right now.

「Could you start making the preparations? I would like to leave as soon as possible. 」

Finally, Theo opened his mouth and spoke. The tone of his voice and the expression on his face seemed to suggest that he has rid himself of the hesitation that was plaguing him until now.

「Yes! Please leave everything to me! 」

Siluca bowed to him respectfully. Her heart trembled at the thought that she’d be able to fulfill the promise she made to Theo when she first met him.

* * *

In the plains of eastern Vanberg, Leclerc Gallas watched the army of the Sea King Eric fleeing, but there was no joy on his face.

「If it weren’t for that foolish resolution of the Lord’s Conference, then Lord Vilar wouldn’t have ended they way he did. 」

Kurt closed his eyes and mourned the death of his ally.

However, the death of the Earl of Artuk served as a much-needed wake-up call for the Lords of the Fantasia Union. They finally realized that peace with the Factory Alliance was nothing but a pipe dream, and that the only way to survive was to win the with it.

And yet, they were still reluctant when Kurt mad ethe proposal to invade the Factory Alliance’s territory.

「If you don’t have a plan and don’t want to fight but still want to survive, then at least give me money! 」

Kurt called to the allied Lords to hire mercenaries and dispatch them against the Alliance.

Thousands of mercenaries gathered around him and defeated the Alliance’s forces. They are warriors at heart and work well for their money.

You would think that the Alliance could overwhelm the armies of the Union with force, but the Union is far richer economically in comparison to the Alliance.

Money isn’t all-purpose, but it has many uses. And the mercenary army’s payment, which increases in accordance with the time of them providing services, would soon exceed 20,000 gold coins.

For them, that was an excellent reward.

Hearing rumors, mercenaries were gathering one after another from all over the continent. Kurt passed the information through the peddlers while the Alliance and the Union were in the middle of the peace talks. There was a possibility that peace would be reached, so all the mercenaries felt uneasy about the future and jumped at the opportunity immediately.

「We will pursue the enemy! Continue to invade Sandormere and apply pressure to Waldrind from the north! 」

Kurt summoned the mercenary captains and gave them rewards in addition to the ones that he already promised them.

His treasury has already been emptied, and he even owed Elam an enormous sum of money, but at this point in time, he decided not to spare any funds he could afford. As long as the Factory Alliance gets destroyed, even the highest of debts would be insignificant to him.

(It’s the same thing whether I win or lose…)

Kurt divorced his wife, returned her with their children to his parents’ house, and had his family name changed. He has no intention of returning to his homeland until he defeats the Alliance.

「We accept your payment! 」

The mercenary captains gleefully responded with their eyes shining at the sight of the bags filled with Elam gold coins.

They know that now is the time to work for their payment.

Eric, known as the 「Ocean King」 and feared by all the nations and people of the North Sea coast was now on horseback and fleeing. His gigantic body was wrapped in bearskin armor and he sat on a bull-like horse. He wore a double-horned helmet, and his face seemed to be buried in a gray beard.

He had heard that mercenaries were gathering in the area from all over the continent, but he assumed that everything would be fine as long as he’d offer to hire them for himself. It never occurred to him that those mercenaries had already been hired by the Fantasia Union. That was a careless mistake on his part.

The mercenaries wore flashy costumes whenever they could and value money more than anything in the world, life included. If they ever decided to fight against their enemies seriously, then the battlefield would be filled with the corpses of their opponents in no time.

After fighting against them for a short time, Erik ordered his entire army to retreat.

The forces of the Factory Alliance that have been stationed in the region might’ve been wiped out, but the same thing couldn’t be said about the forces of the Nords, so this lost battle was not that big of a problem for Erik. Even if he lost the battle on land, his fame as the Ocean King will not be tarnished because of it.

「Leave the fighting on land to Waldrind, and we will focus on rebuilding our forces at the sea! We will take control of the small continent of Bretland and conquer the entirety of the North Sea completely! 」

Erik called out to his subordinates as they continued to follow him.