3 bar menu

Volume 7 Chapter 1 Part 1

Chapter 1 Demon City

A grassland with blades of grass swaying gently in the wind.
This is the northern part of Regalia. There are still many forests in this area, but as you go south, the area gradually dries out and becomes a grassland. Milza Kuches, the Viceroy of Dartania, arrived there shortly after crossing the border. Serge Constance, Lord of Regalia, led his knights and nomads against him. So far, the forces of Dartanian army managed to skillfully avoid the attacks of the nomadic people from Regalia’s grassland tribes who fired their bows at them from horseback.

It needs to be said that the skills or Regalia’s soldiers are unique, which is why many of them are often being hired as mercenaries. However, the cavalry led by Milza himself simply ignored them and rushed straight towards Serge’s soldiers.

「This is no good. 」

Members of the desert tribes and grassland tribes were galloping their horses towards each other, heading towards an inevitable clash.

When she saw that, Serge’s contracted magician, Eret Harukas, sighed heavily. If she had followed the nomads, there was no way she wouldn’t have been killed.

They could try flanking Dartania’s forces to attack them from the sides, but Milza didn’t give them that chance. If they continue to attack him the way they’re doing now, they’re going to be obliterated without even being able to fight back.

「Let’s retreat to the castle for the time being. We managed to buy ourselves some time, but this result is pretty much what we expected. With how things are standing now, we have no choice but to wait for the reinforcements from the King of Selvis to arrive. 」

Compared to the massive Dartanian army of 7,000, the Regalia’s army counted about half that number. The nomads are strong, but their soldiers had low morale and no actual military training. Because of that, Serge Constance had no choice but once more flee from the battlefield and run away to safety.

Fortunately, in order to fight alongside the nomads, the Regalian knights were lightly armed, and Regalia’s horses are among some of the fastest on the continent. Thanks to them, he somehow managed to escape, but this was not going to boost the morale of the soldiers by any means.

Even so, Serge would still sortie along with his soldiers anytime his army was moving out, because that was his duty as their Lord. Recently, has been branded with a disgraceful nickname of 「The Fugitive Earl」, but he didn’t care about that. Instead, he was focusing with his whole heart on working diligently to fulfill his duties as the Lord of Regalia. His appearance was pitiful, but there was also something touching about it. Thanks to that, he was able to unite Regalia under his Banner and protect his country up until now. However, he didn’t know how much longer that was going to last.

Eret raised her right hand and waved it back. The trumpet of retreat is sounded, and the knights began to disperse and flee.

Eret then put the harp she had in her hand into the holder of her saddle, and took hold of the reins of her horse. She has become used to serving Serge in pretty much every aspect of his rule, and so her horse-riding skills have improved significantly.

「Now it’s time for our army to show off! Let’s show off the abilities of our fleeing Regalian knights to the Dartanian army, which has never been defeated in battle before! 」

Eret was shouting to the retreating knights. Her words were not something that a contracted Mage should be saying to the soldiers of her Lord but the knights are well aware of her foul mouth at this point. The knights ran their horses as if they were competing with each other, with smiles on their faces.

To the south of their current positions is the fortified city of Nabal. This was the primary point of defense against the Dartanian army which has stopped them from invading Regalia properly many times before.

However, to be more precise, Milza retreated from pursuing Serge and his army any further because he didn’t like sieges. If he were to waste his time on a siege of the city, then the King of Selvis, Lassic Davod would definitely appear, and the old Lords from Artuk would probably try to disrupt him as well.

However, Baron Eugen, who was in command of the guerrilla warfare against Dartania was recently killed by Milza, and his death left the populace of Artuk in such a deep despair that they no longer wanted to resist them, which meant that Dartania’s invasion of Regalia could proceed in full force now.

(There are still various problems we need to deal with, but it seems that no one other than Theo Cornero, who has become the Earl of Sistina, will be able to overcome this situation.)

Eret sighed as she ran her horse as fast as he could.

All they can do now is to wait for the day when Theo Cornero will finally decide to come back to the continent.

「As always, The Fugitive Count’s doing a wonderful job running away with his tail tucked between his legs. 」

While watching Serge and the knights of Regalia flee the battlefield without even trying to fight against Dartanian soldiers, Milza smiled bitterly. At this point, the view of Serge Constance’s back has become a pretty familiar sight to him.

`「Even so, they’re still dispatching troops against us, so I wonder what they’re thinking….

Terius Willian, who can now be said to be recognized as one of Milza’s closest aides, shook his had while saying that.

「Maybe we should prepare ourselves for a siege? Just in case? 」

Terius asked Milza for his judgment of the situation. It is said that the fortified city of Nabal was originally surrounded by strong walls in preparation for Artuk’s eventual southward expansion, but ever since Regalia became a territory subordinate to Artuk, it’s defensive value has greatly diminished, but now that Dartanian forces have been occupying Artuk, its original purpose became important once more.

「That’s enough for today. Don’t panic, this country will fall into our hands before long. Instead, let’s prepare for the decisive battle with the King of Selvis and avoid needlessly wasting our strength. 」
「As you wish. 」

Terius had no objections towards that plan of action, but he still had some concerns about some unknown variables, mainly: the presence of Theo Cornero, who recently recaptured Sistina from the rule of the Rossini family.

(Lord Milza is acting as if he didn’t care about it at all, but once Theo Cornero finally comes back to the continent, he’s definitely going to challenge him.)

There are rumors that Theo Cornero, who has become the Earl of Sistina, will return to the continent with a large army in order to take care of Milza once and for all. Although it is hard to believe that the island which was under the tyranny of the Rossini family for so long would have so many professionally trained soldiers to make an actual army out them, it is also true that Theo Cornero has a reputation of someone who can easily win the hearts of the people for himself and make them follow him without a second thought, just like he did when he was still on the continent, so there’s no telling how many soldiers could gather under him with him just saying one word. He was an unprecedented Lord, and so Terius was secretly afraid that when the confrontation between him and Milza will be all but inevitable, the common military sense and tactics he learned during his days at Magic University in Elam would not apply to him.

(How do you prepare for someone like that?)

Telrius was asking himself that over and over again. But even if he did come up with a way of dealing with Theo Cornero, there’s always a possibility that his solution wouldn’t be approved by Milza himself.

(Still, all I can do is think of a plan and offer it to him.)

That’s what Terius told himself in the end.

(That is what will pave the way for Mirza-sama.)

* * *
「So this is Sistina? 」

Radovan Torias, Lord of Perseta, a port city in Falvis, looked out over the port of Laxia from the deck of a warship atop of which he was sailing.

There are far more ships moored near the harbor than he had imagined. Most of them were ships in the Dartanian style. Although it felt kinda strange to look at, the overall atmosphere at the port was peaceful.

The other day, Radovan received a message from Theo Cornero asking him to come to Sistina. The next day since he heard the news, he already set sail towards the island.

「Thank you so much for coming. 」