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Volume 6 Chapter 3 Part 4

Every single one of the rioters was to be cut down without any mercy.

「Now that I think of all the residents of Artuk as my enemies, I actually feel a lot better. 」

Milza smiled at his aides.

「You were too kind to the people of Artuk, Lord Milza. It almost looked as if you were attatched to this country for some reason. 」

His aides responded. Terius was also feeling the same way about that.

In his home country of Dartania, he had destroyed many hostile tribes, but in Artuk, he was particular about placating the people. Maybe it was his special feelings for Earl Villar Constance that made him do that.

However, Milza no longer felt any hesitation.

He send messengers throughout Artuk, announcing to all the inhabitants that Witches will be burned at the stake, Werewolves will be skewered with scalped knives, and anyone who collaborates with the old Lord will be decapitated for the crime of treason.

He also declared that if any of the Lords of Dartania will be killed, he would consider all of the residents of their territories to be enemy soldiers and would use force against them.

「Didn’t you guys originally call me an oppressor? So now I’m going to show you just how oppressive I can be. 」

Milza spoke to the people of Artuk who were staring at him with hatred, and a cruel smile appeared on his face.

「The Rossini family had to continue their tyrannical rule in order to expropriate the people of their territories. But I am different. Once we exterminate you, the slaughter will end. This is an example of creating a country by exterminating an ethnic group. There have been many such cases in the past. 」
Terius thought that he really meant those words. But the truth was that this was not what Milza wanted at all. He was hoping that by showing the people of Artuk just how serious he was, they’ll eventually stop resisting.

Milza’s previous rule was not so harsh, and the burden on the people of the territories must have been greater during the time of Earl Vilar, who continued to wage wars for a long time.

Daltania’s army, led by Milza himself, aimed for the White Witch’s village while inflicting overwhelming fear on the people of Artuk. His aim wa sto burn every single one of them at the stake.

「Is he really going to attack this village? 」

When Zelma, the Elder of the White Witches received such a report, she was in the middle of reading the divination cards and checking on the Chaos Globe.

「I see, so that’s what you meant… 」

Zelma nods and slowly stood up, using the her magic wand as a walking stick.

「What should we do? 」

The disciple who gave the report asked her.

「It’s not in everyone’s best interest to fight, so we have no choice but to run away… but we might not have a choice here at all.」

「You say that, but whenever you needed money, you had no issues with organizing plundering raids. 」

It was Colleen Messala who complained about that. However, since she left the Mages Association, she is now just Colleen. Incidentally, she is the wife of Geed, who became the next Werewolf King.

She met Geed at the battle for Castle Unicorn, and he saved her when she was about to be killed by Dartanian soldiers. She had grown tired of being a Mage serving Lords, so she decided to continue living in a Werewolf village. Although that was a poor life filled with inconveniences, she thought that at the very least she’ll be able to live a peaceful life…

「We only do that to those who hunt in our forests without permission. After the Constance family helped us deal with the Heavy Knights of Waldrind who were hunting us, we promised that in exchange we’d help them when the time comes. And besides, if we don’t do some mercenary work from time to time, we won’t be getting any money at all. 」

Geed retorted, even though he was anxious about the situation himself. Colleen simply looked at him while remaining silent.

「Don’t look at me like that. 」

Geed turned his face away from Colleen as if he couldn’t bear her looking at him like that anymore.

It’s a strange thing, but whenever it came to Colleen, he couldn’t hope to win against her in anything.

It is said that when men embrace a women, they tend to think that they belong to them, but it might actually be the other way around.

「So, what are you going to do? 」

Colleen asked.

「Well, obviously we’re going to fight… 」

「There’s no way you can win. 」

Colleen abruptly interrupted Geed’ words.
「No matter how strong you are, you can only take on 100 people by yourself. Can the other Werewolves take on 10 people at once? Sure, you can hurt Dartania’s army in this way, but what’s the point of doing that? Exactly, there isn’t any. 」

「Then what should I do? 」

Geed asked after mustering all of his bravado.

「You have no choice but to hide somewhere. 」

Colleen said with a sigh.

「If you already have an idea, don’t ask me in the first place! 」

Geed raised his voice.

「But you’re the king, right? You have to learn to make the right decisions sooner or later. 」

「Ugh…… 」

Unable to refute Colleen’s words, Geed held his head in his hands.

「It’s such a shame that Big Brother Ion is gone right now. 」

Ion, the older brother of Geed who succeeded their mother Clara, who was a great queen, has left the Werewolf village in order to pursue Dimitri, the Vampire King who was a sworn enemy of his family.

「If I were to hide, it would be in the Forest of Eternal Darkness. I’m sure that even Viceroy Mirza wouldn’t be able to touch us easily there, and Lord Villar even gave you the right to hunt there… 」

Colleen bit on her thumbnail as she thought to herself out loud. She then looked at Geed, feeling a little bit guilty for freaking him out so much.

「Please, Geed. Please guide everyone. 」

Colleen said as she gently hugged Geed.

「Y-Yeah, sure! 」

Geed nodded vigorously.

Colleen has never thought she was worthy of him as a woman. She was also very surprised when the Earl of Artuk chose her as his contracted Mage.

Even if it was not Geed, it seems like Werewolves have a disproportion of males and females, which means that there’s not enough wives for every male, so in that sense, pretty much anyone would’ve been fine for her. However, ever since he brought Colleen to this village, Geed has taken great care of her, and his goodwill has really grown on her.

(I’m being spoiled by him way more than I should be.)

She was well aware of that fact.

(But I’m glad that he accepts me for who I am.)

Of course, Colleen now has feelings for this simple Werewolf, and her feelings grew stronger day by day. It seems that men and women are way simpler than she originally thought. Of course, that may not be the case in Elam, but at least it is the case here.

While feeling excited, Geed rushed outside.

Colleen took out a pen and paper, and she sat down at the table and started writing down things she would need to feed a Werewolf village properly. She has been trained as a close aide to Villar, so she can easily handle the logistical needs of a group of about 1,000 people. However, she needed to use her wisdom as to how to procure it.

(It’s strange. I seem to be more of a contracted Mage now than I was at the Unicorn Castle.)

It can be said that Colleen is currently the sole person responsible for running the Werewolf village. She never imagined that such a future would await her when she was studying at the Magic Academy and Magic University in Elam.

(But this is what it is, and it’s fun…)

* * *

Dartania’s army attacked the village of the White Witches and the village of the Werewolves. However, when they arrived, they found that there was not a single soul in either of the villages. Presumably, they must’ve all run away when they learned that their villages would be attacked.

「That’s fine… 」

Milza had no complaints about that turn of events.

If there had been a real battle with Witches and Werewolves, there would have been a lot of casualties on Dartania’s side. And while both villages appeared to be uninhabited, the White Witch’s village had magical traps installed all over it, and the Werewolf’s village had hunting traps set all over the place, and the soldiers were in a lot of trouble because of them.