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Volume 5 Chapter 3 Part 3

The man, who seemed to be the representative of the village who was about 40 years old asked him mockingly.

He was dressed in rough clothes, and you could tell that he had been a highly trained individual because of the muscles on his arms, shoulders and legs below his knees, as well as all the Arts that they were inscribed with.

「I want you to help me overthrow the Rossini family. 」

Theo answered with a straight face.

The men were stunned for a moment, looked at each other, and then laughed out loud out of nowhere.

Siluca was annoyed by that sudden outburst of theirs, but Theo remained calm.

「You should leave this island while you still have the chance and live the rest of your lives in peace. 」

「I know that it won’t be easy, but I still want to do it regardless. 」

「And do you even know how big of an army you’d need? You’d need at least 10,000 soldiers in order to attack the city of Laxia. 」

「No, my comrades are the only ones with me here so far, but there should be tens of thousands of people who’d want to stand up for the people of Sistina who are suffering from the oppression of the Rossini family. 」

Theo said, but his words only caused the men to laugh at him again.

「That’s impossible. There’s no way the residents of this island would be willing to do something like that. 」

After saying that, the Artist pointed at the village with his chin. Then he started walking towards a certain house.

He then told the other men to go back to work.

「The place is a little dirty, but please bear with it. 」

After saying that, the Artist invited the party to a building that seemed to be his house. The floor was covered with wood chips. There were no tables or beds.

「My name is Pruno. I escaped here over twenty years ago… 」

After saying that, the man slumped down on the scraps of wood.

Theo sat facing him, and Siluca sat next to him, but she was still uncomfortable.

「While driving away the spiders, I built a house here and planted a field. Before long, people who fled like me gathered here, and now there are about 40 people living here. 」

The man who called himself Pruno spoke indifferently, but both Theo and Siluca could easily imagine just how hard life must have been in here.

「I fled to the continent, not the Demonic Nest. 」

「Were you born on this island? 」

Purno was surprised, and he just said just those words.

「I’m from a village called Marza, in the west of the island. 」

「I don’t understand then. If you fled there, then you didn’t need to bother yourself with coming back, and you could’ve lived a luxurious life on the continent, right? 」

「Not really… 」

Theo shook his head.

「There is a great war happening on the continent right now, and it is more than likely that many Lords and commoners alike are going to lose their lives because of it. 」

Hearing that, Pruno frowned.

「It’s been a long time since Lords were heroes. 」

「Unfortunately… 」

Theo nodded with a sigh.

「I don’t think I’m a hero, either, but I wasn’t lying when I said that I want to defeat the Rossini family. That’s why I want to persuade as many people of the island as possible to stand up against them together. 」

「There’s no way they’re going to respond favorably to that. 」

Purno laughed coldly.

「They all accepted the tyranny of the Rossini family. All who were trying to oppose them have been slain long ago, and those who were smart became a part of their family. 」

「I know that very well. But it can’t be helped. That’s why I want to show them that there is another way. 」

「Do as you please. But no matter what happens we’re not going to cooperate with you. 」

「But why? Don’t you hate the Rossini family as well? 」

Siluca couldn’t help herself anymore and inserted herself into the conversation.

「It would be a lie if I said that I don’t hate them, but more than that, I am afraid of them. 」

「Afraid? 」

Pruno is a man who looks like an Artist with a certain amount of power, but even someone like him is afraid of the Rossini family and their influence on the island? And in that case, the fear that the commoners of Sistina, who are not Lords, Artists or Mages, must be feeling towards them must be even stronger.

(How can we get rid of that fear?)

Siluca continued to ask herself that question, but she had no idea how they could achieve something like that.

They could always challenge the Rossini family to an open battle and show the inhabitants of Sistina that they can be beaten in such a way, but in order for that to happen they’d need to have at least a thousand soldiers under their command. However, at this moment it would seem that this is going to be impossible, so there’s nothing that they can do about it.

「Anyway, get out of this forest as soon as possible. We’re living our lives quietly in this Demonic Realm, and we want it to stay that way. Living this way is certainly not easy, but it’s definitely better than what awaits us outside.」

「I understand. 」

Theo nodded his head lightly

「When the day comes that I will be leading my army to attack the city of Laxia, should I visit here again? 」

Theo stood up and asked the Artist.

「Yes, I won’t mind that. 」

Pruno laughed again, since he was firmly convinced that such a day would never come.

「If by some miracle that day does come, then I will gladly serve you, Lord Theo Cornero. 」

Theo smiled and shook hands with Pruno.

「We’re going to be leaving this forest at once. We’ll go through the mountains and then make our way to the south of the island. That is the area where the original Cornero family used to have their territories, so there might be some people there who would be willing to join our cause. 」

Theo called out to encourage Siluca.

「Y-Yes! 」

Siluca hastily nodded. To tell you the truth, she wanted to keep hiding in this forest for a while longer, but these were just her own thoughts and she didn’t want Theo to be bothered with them.

「Well, since you’re already going, then you should do your best out there. No one will admit it openly, but deep down in their hearts everyone wants to see the oppressive rule of the Rossini’s to come to an end. 」

Pruno called out to Theo, and his tone was no longer filled with ridicule. Something was telling Siluca that if Theo does end up raising an army for himself while on this island, this Artist would really become his ally in a heartbeat.

(And right now, we need as many reliable allies who would stand at our side as we can.)

Salvador, the third son of Viscount Rossini, was heading to the west of the island with a force of about 300 men. He’s chasing Theo Cornaro and his men who landed in Sistina.

「I wonder if we’re going to find them soon? 」

The woman wrapped around Salvador’s arm yawned out of boredom.
She is a Black Witch from a continent called Yana

「Don’t panic. I’ve already spread my minions all over the island and warned the chiefs of all the villages about the fugitives, so if they’re going to show themselves in any of them, we should receive word about it immediately. And once that happens, we’ll slowly catch up to them. 」

Salvador smiles at Yana and puts his hands on her back. Startled by that sudden action of his, she let out a lustrous voice.

「They’ve no doubt brought their own Shadows with them. Please don’t let your guard down… 」

A small man behind Salvador said in a whisper.

That man’s name was Paul. He was also a Shadow, and a head of a group of Assassins that served the Rossini family for generations.

「I know that I cannot let my guard down, but there’s also no need for us to be overly cautious. Be careful and act boldly, that’s the Rossini way. 」

Those were the words that his father and his second brother say quite often. Needless to say, Salvador always made sure to abide by that family creed, because being careful while acting boldly were the skills that were necessary for him to woo any woman he liked at the current moment.