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Volume 7 Chapter 2 Part 2

「I’m glad to see that you were able to return safely. 」

Theo approached Lassic David, the King of Selvis, and he extended his hand so that the two of them could exchange firm handshakes…

「I’m glad, and good work out there. 」

… but instead of doing that, Lassic smiled and he gave him a strong hug, Next to him, Moreno has a twitchy look on his face.

There is no doubt in Siluca’s mind that he is an excellent Mage, but when it came to concealing his true emotions in the public sphere, he was still pretty much immature. Of course, there’s no need for him to be as emotionless as Siluca’s adoptive father Aubest all the time, but being able to be read like an open book was definitely a shortcoming that he needed to work on improving.

「Looks like you didn’t change at all since we were away, Moreno-senpai. 」

Siluca called out to him suggestively, to which Moreno replied by putting on a stone-faced expression, but it was obvious that he only realized what he was doing when Siluca called him out on it.

「I am planning to offer you my subordination at this meeting. Will you accept it? 」

Lassic whispered into Theo’s ear as they continued to hug.

「Can you wait with it for a little longer? 」

Theo answered quietly.

「It’s quite tantalizing. 」

「We’re both in different positions than we were when we first fought. 」
「Yeah, but the higher your rank’s going to be, the more trouble you will have. 」

「Couldn’t have said that better myself. 」

The two of them then smiled and parted ways as if nothing had happened.

「Moreno-senpai, is it okay for me to preside over this meeting? 」

Siluca approached Moreno and offered in a whisper.

「I don’t like it, but it can’t be helped. However, if we do that, then won’t it be like an open declaration that Lord Lassic is planning hand over the leadership of the Artuk Treaty to Lord Theo? 」

「But Lord Theo already asked him to wait with announcing his intention of getting himself subordinated to Lord Theo. 」

「But in exchange, you also want to show that you have the intention of making tLord Lassic subordinate himself to Lord Theo, right? 」

「That’s right. 」

After everything was agreed on, Siluca stood next to Moreno and delivered a report of how Theo’s return to Sistina went to all the other Lords of the Artuk Treaty. It was all for the purpose of smoothly transitioning from delivering the report to presiding over the entire meeting.

After Siluca’s report was finished, Theo greeted the Lords of the Treaty himself and confirmed everything that she said: that Pederico Rossini ended up rebelling against the Fantasia Union by harboring criminals from the continent as the honored guests of his house and of how he managed to defeat him, and then he openly declared his intention to have the Viscounty of Sistina join the ranks of the Artuk Treaty.

「In addition to that, we’ve also received the news that Lord Theo Cornero has received a letter of appreciation and a reward from the Mages Association in Elam for quelling the Chaos Vortex which was plaguing Sistina, as well for the capturing of the perpetrator behind 「The Tragedy of the Grand Cathedral」, we have been presented with a letter of appreciation from Marine Kraische, leader of the Carpenter’s Federation Factory Alliance and the same one from Alexis Ducet, the leader of the Fantasia Union in which they’re both thanking Theo Cornero for his contribution in putting that tragedy to a close and acknowledging his ownership of Sistina. 」

Moreno reported and showed the letters that Theo had received. There was a roar in the hall, and loud applause broke out again.

「Was this your doing, Moreno-senpai? 」

That was the first time when Siluca heard about Theo receiving any kind of letters from the leaders of Factory Alliance and the Fantasia Union.

This is the first time I have heard that a letter of appreciation has been sent from the Alliance and the Federation.

「All I did was politely asking them. After all, Pandora is the enemy of both of them since it was responsible for killing their fathers, and the Chaos Vortex was a Chaos Disaster that hindered the trade business with Sistina for the continent for far too long. 」

Moreno answered matter-of-factly.

「Thank you. 」

Siluca gave him a small bow in gratitude.

「I didn’t do it for you guys. I only did that what was best for increasing the prestige of the Artuk Treaty as a whole. 」

Moreno makes even more displeased noises and left Siluca’s side, thinking that his turn in guiding the proceedings was now over.

(Now then… )

After taking a deep breath, Siluca declared the beginning of the Lord’s Conference.

「Before we begin the meeting, I have a suggestion to make. 」

Theo suddenly raised his voice.

(Ah, I guess he still has something he wants to say before we start. )

Siluca guessed so and urged Theo to continue.

「Baron Eugen Niklae passed away while I was crossing to Sistina, so first of all, I would like you to offer a moment of silence to him and the other Lords of Artuk and their soldiers who bravely laid down their lives in their homeland’s defense. 」

Siluca stiffened slightly at Theo’s words.

He may have wanted to express his condolences, but she didn’t think he was going to do so right now.

As unfortunate as Baron Eugen’s death was, it was something that had nothing to do with Theo, since, like he himself had said, he was in the middle of crossing over to Sistina when the conflict between Dartania and Baron Eugen’s guerilla warfare reached its peak. It was admirable that Theo wanted to honor the memory of Baron Eugen, but by doing so, he only did a self-inflicted damage to his own accomplishments.

At this meeting, Siluca wanted to emphasize his exploits at Sistina and remind everyone of the promise that Theo made during the last time all of them met together in order to stop the Earl of Leclerc from any further conflicts with the Factory Alliance and to make the Artuk Treaty accept Theo as its new leader in place of Lassic David.

Siluca thought that they could achieve all of their goals if they did that, but up until the last moment she was hesitating whether they should really do it or not, and in the end, the final decision was up to Theo.

In response to Theo’s call, everyone remained silent and mourned Eugen’s death.

Thanks to the continued guerrilla warfare led by Baron Eugen and the Lords of Artuk, it can be said that the members of the Artuk Treaty have been spared from the wrath of Milza’s invasion. But now that Milza no longer has to worry about anyone immediately standing in his way, he will probably invade the territory covered by the Artuk Treaty with all his might. In fact, a full-scale invasion of Regalia has apparently already commenced.

「Lord Theo’s achievements in Sistina are truly amazing. That’s why I can’t help but wish he had stayed in Veltava forever and supported Lord Eugen in his guerilla warfare against Dartania. 」

Alfred, the King of Clovis said with enthusiasm. He was probably trying to take advantage of the gap in his defenses that Theo himself had presented to everyone.

「Well, I don’t know about that. 」
Yorgo Dalaras, the leader of Kirchs, said this while being hesitant to the surrounding Lords.

He had informed Theo through his contracted Mage of his intention to be subordinate to Theo. He replied that he appreciated the offer, but was holding off on whether to accept it until after this meeting.

「If Lord Theo, who was absent during the time of Baron Eugen’s death is feeling responsible for what happened to him, then that means that we, the Lords who were present here the entire time, are even more responsible for not being able to provide him with enough support. 」

Eret Harukas, the contracted Mage of Serge Constance, the Earl of Regalia, said as such.

「I’m not asking anyone to take responsibility for the tragic events that transpired. It’s just that… 」

Alfred paused for a moment and then he looked back at Eret.

「It’s just that even though he claimed to be one of the Lords of the Artuk Treaty just like us, he prioritized leaving and liberating his own homeland instead of staying and helping the fellow Lords of the Treaty with our war against Datrania, who’s a member of the Factory Alliance now. 」

Alfred spoke, pointing out how big of a detriment the absence of Theo, who was called a hero, was.