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Volume 5 Chapter 1 Part 9

Nord’s immediate enemy was the Earl of Leclerc, not the Earl of Artuk. Moreover, the earl of Leclerc and his ancestry from which he originated were originally Nords by descent. Hundreds of years ago, when there was a war in Aronne, they took advantage of the chaos to occupy and settle the coastal area. After that, they became independent from their home country and became a native Lords of that land.

However, even if they are familiar with Aronne’s aristocratic culture, the Nord’s belligerent blood probably flows through the Earl of Leclerc’s family. Among the Lords of the Fantasia Union, it can be said that the Earl of Leclerc is the only one who confronted Jürgen Kraische and the Nord fleet.

At the current moment, Ulrika’s father, Eric is one of the Electors of the Factory Alliance, which means that he is one of the candidates to become an Emperor once the war with the Fantasia Union is going to be over.

By dividing the authority of the Kraische family among the Electors, Marine tried to unite the Factory Alliance and stop it from falling apart. That move was successful to some extent, and the structure of the Alliance was strengthened because of it.

Among the seven Electors, the three most powerful countries are the Nord, Waldrind, and Dartania. In terms of location, it is possible to invade their allied territories from the north, center, and south.

(And yet here I am, stationed in the South Seas.)

Ulrika understands what her role is.
Dartania’s Viceroy Milza is the member of the same group as Erik and the Nords, but he is also a competitor. In order for her father to definitely become emperor, he had to be kicked out of the race for power completely.

(Besides, that man definitely had something towards Big Sister Marine.)

Ulrika doubts that the two of them are in a relationship. She thinks like that based from the expressions Marine was directing towards Milza and her attitude towards him.

At one point, Milza was an ally of Vilar, the Earl of Artuk. There were rumors that the two of them had a falling-out, but at that time no one thought that it is going to be so severe that Milza will defect to the Factory Alliance as a result, even going so far as to kill his own father and destroy the tribes of Dartania that opposed him.

He must have been offered quite a reward if he was willing to go that far for it.

「Lady Marine definitely intends to take in Dartania’s Viceroy to oppose us Nords. The reason why she presented Stark to us is probably to hide her true intentions… 」

When they were colonizing Stark, Erik used to say this to Ulrika.

「… But thanks to her the Nords can now advance into the South Seas. Until now, Dartania was gaining wealth through the trade with the countries of the Fantasia Union, but now that it has defected to the factory Alliance, it will no longer be able to do so. However, the Nords have more than just trade. We also have the option of looting the cities and villages that we raid. Now, if I can seize supremacy not only in the North Sea but also in the South Seas, then I will be the Ocean King in the true sense of the word! 」
Her father entrusted that task of taking control of the South Seas to her, his youngest daughter, so she had to rise up to his expectations no matter what.

If she proves more powerful than her brothers, then she could succeed her father and become the next Emperor after him.

(So I’m gonna go on a rampage!)

Ulrika’s feelings were at their peak right now.

However, as soon as she landed in Haman and approached the village, her excitement changed to bewilderment.

Boxes and barrels were piled high on the outskirts of the village, and white flags were hoisted high. Upon further examination, her people found that these boxes and barrels contained Elam currency, treasure, and food.

「What is the meaning of this? 」

Ulrika tilted her head in confusion.

「Doesn’t that pretty much mean that they want us to take all of that? 」

A young man named Flint said. Although he now looks like a human, he is actually a Werewolf. He was captured by Ulrika in the previous battle and she decided to keep him as a pet.

Apparently, the way of the Werewolves is to be absolutely obedient to the person that is their master. As a warrior, his senses are incredibly sharp and he possesses outstanding running power. Whenever Flint was with Ulrika, he was always proving himself to be very useful to her, and he quickly became her favorite warrior.

The village was dark and quiet, as if all the villagers have been evacuated out of it.

However, in a small castle built on a nearby hill, even though it was daytime, bonfires were burning and many flags were hung. Soldiers could also be seen on the walls.

「What should we do? 」

Ulrika looks around at her men.

「Let’s take what we can get first, and we can burn the village after that so it would be the same as always. 」

「I guess we could do that… 」

Ulrika snorted.

「But that wouldn’t be funny at all. 」

It’s the Nord way to attack and then plunder the residents who resist or try to flee. If the order is reversed for any reason, then that would make them feel as if they were the villains here.

「Are we going to take them as slaves? 」

「If we add more than we already have, we won’t be able to control them. They will just flee or try to revolt against us. 」

「That’s true I guess…… 」

Even now, the situation was still unsettling, because they have enslaved so many of Stark’s people that there are dozens of times more of them than the Nords they settled in Stark Peninsula.

(Elder Sister Marine’s orders for me are to distrurb our enemies by attacking them from the rear…)

To do so, military action must be taken.

However, from the appearance of this village, it looks like right now Haman, Kirchs, and Mansur appear to be unable to move their armies in preparation for an attack from the sea…

(… which means that I have done my job well enough.)

Ulrika decided to make that decision.

Many Nord warriors lost their lives in the previous battle at Castle Unicorn. Nord warriors take pleasure in dying on the battlefield, they would obviously be frustrated knowing that they will be forced to make unnecessary sacrifices. The Nords also follow the peerage system, but they were originally just a federation of clans, and the ties between masters and servants were not all that strong between them.

(Should we allow Dartania to exhaust themselves as much as possible, while we conserve our own strength?)

Ulrika asks herself.

「We will load up all of this treasure and go back to Stark. If we’ll be away for too long, I don’t know what our slaves will do. 」

「Understood! 」

The Nord warriors nodded gleefully and began carrying the stacks of boxes and barrels to their ships.

* * *

In the meantime, Marine Kraische, Margrave of Waldrind and leader of the Factory Alliance, led an army of 2,000 knights and 3,000 soldiers to invade Veltava.

Ahead of the line of sight was a castle built on a small hill. Not too big, not too strong.

「It seems that the Lord of the castle is Theo Cornero. Apparently he has joined forces with several Lords of the Artuk Treaty. The number of soldiers stationed in the castle right now should be about 3,000… 」
「Three thousand soldiers? That’s more than I thought. 」

Hearing the report of her Head Mage Aubest, Marine’s expression became clouded.

In the previous battle, Waldrind was robbed of its subordinate states, Veltava and Ozer. This expedition was organized for the purpose of recapturing the territories of those countries.

However, deep down in her heart, Marine was feeling disgusted.

In the first place, the Lords of Veltava and Ozer refused to comply with her repeated requests for subordination. She also got her hands on the information from the Shadows that they were trying to defect from the Factory Alliance to the Fantasia Union. However, upon learning that Stark, who had rebelled against the Alliance, had been brutally subdued, they hastily accepted her terms and subordinated themselves to her.

After all, in the previous battle, even though they were only sent to the western part of Artuk and Selvis as a diversion, they went too deep into enemy territory and suffered a crushing defeat because of it. Many Lords died in battle or have been captured and deprived of their titles, which forced the remaining ones to abandon their territories and flee to Waldrind.