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Volume 7 Chapter 3 Part 2

「You’re our Viceroy, so you definitely can do it! 」

The aides bowed respectfully to him and left the throne room.

Many of them are also warriors from their mother’s tribe. They’ll faithfully follow him even as he killed his father, who was the previous Viceroy of Dartania and then proceeded to wipe out all the tribes that didn’t agree with him. He then stationed them in Artuk, an unfamiliar and alien place, and had them rule over the rebellious residents. They are not seeking wealth or power themselves. All they do is believe in Milza and follow his every command.

(While traveling around the continent, I saw many rotten Lords with no ambition or drive. All they could think about was protecting their titles and territories, and they naturally exploited the people of their territories for their own ends.)

Once the Chaos has been dispelled to a certain extent, Chaos related accidents and disasters have diminished, and daily life has become more manageable, so the Lords have stopped fighting against the Chaos and became content with the status quo. However, for Milza, a Lord must be someone who leads his people to a promised land that exists somewhere far away or in the future.

People who have neither the qualifications nor the necessary preparations for it become Lords simply because they are born in the families of Lords, and their titles are inherited through hereditary succession, so it was natural for the 「Lords need to also be aristocrats」to become an established rule.

(It’s all about the peerage system, and it’s the fault of the Mages Association that established it in the first place.)

The Mages Association has also led the fight against Chaos in the past, and was the organization that was largely responsible for restoring a fallen civilization and rebuilding its social system when the Time of Extreme Chaos came to pass, so at the very least, they could be praised for that.

However, the Association had become too powerful as a result of all that. And right now, it seems like they are just trying to protect their own interests instead of trying to help the common people.

(We must end the rule of Mages and create an era of Lords as soon as possible.)

That was exactly the conclusion Milza came to from his travels across the continent. He believed that Marine Kraische could achieve it, and that’s why he decided that he was going to become her sword. But right now, because of all the troubles that he had with Artuk and its people, it became difficult for him to make any sort of move since he was basically confined in place.

And as if that wasn’t enough, just when he thought he had defeated Eugen Niklae and finally subdued Artuk, Theo Cornero returned to torment him once more.

(Hurry up and head towards this castle already. I will settle the matter with you on this plain created by the great river Donil!)

Milza roared once more in his mind.

Three days later, Milza headed west with an army of 7,000 men, then changed course and invaded the southern part of Regalia.

They passed through the towns and villages along the way and headed for the fortified city where Serge Constance, Count of Regalia, was based.

* * *

「Milza invaded Regalia?! 」

Theo made a surprised face when Siluca informed him of the message that Eret Harukas, the contracted Mage of Serge Constance, Earl of Regalia, had sent him via a magic wand. He must have thought that as long as he was stationed in the Forest of Eternal Darkness with his army, Dartania would not have any means of invading Regalia.

「Does that mean that he’s going to ignore our presence here? 」

「He should have learned from the last battle that attacking this forest is not a good idea… 」

Siluca answered him.

Milza views Theo as an enemy and even looks down on him. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have invaded this Demonic Forest in the first place. Thanks to this, Theo achieved victory and was able to give courage to the people of Artuk, who had been discouraged by Eugen’s death in battle against Milza.

However, their plan was to exhaust the Dartanian army as much as possible before facing it properly, and since they didn’t exactly managed to achieve that, Theo was feeling anxious about the next time he’s have to face Dartania in a field battle.

「I think Milza is doing it in order to lure you out of the forest, Lord Theo. 」

「I see. I guess they’re going to attack us in the open as we come out of the forest to aid Regalia. 」

Theo smiled bitterly.

「However, we have no choice but to go along with the other party’s plan if we want to break the existing stalemate. 」

Siluca’s ideal scenario to fight Milza would be to have three times their current troops, or five times as many in order to be as much on the safe side as possible.

They are still recruiting reinforcements from all over the country, but the number of troops they can definitely mobilize is about 5,000. That’s not three times, but only hald as much as Siluca wanted.

And now, the reason why Milza is invading Regalia is probably to cut them of from the potential reinforcements that could come to their aid from the south.

Siluca guessed that this is the plan of Milza’s contracted Mage, Terius Willan.

「He has no choice but to borrow the power of the people of Artuk. And he cannot afford to let go of this moment when the people are still excited about his victory in the Forest of Eternal Darkness… That is probably what Terius is thinking. 」

The people of Artuk were patriotic and accustomed to fighting. They are not just a simple militia, they are full-fledged soldiers.

「So we’re going to lead the volunteer soldiers again? If I meet Milza in combat next time, he’s definitely going to insult me for that again. 」

Theo laughed for a moment.

「He only hates you for it because he despises your ability to rouse the hearts of the people you met on your journey, Lord Theo. 」

「I can’t help but to think the same thing as well. 」

Theo’s expression became stern.

「Back when I liberated Sistina, I was only able to do it because I called on the people of Sistina to rise up and help me with it. I believed that it was the duty of the people to defeat the tyrannical Lords that oppressed them if they wanted to be truly free. And although I ended the rule of the Rossini family, many people lost their lives in the war. They died so that I could become the new Lord of Sistina. 」

「I believe that you have the ability to hear the inner voices of the people’s hearts and respond to them, Lord Theo. The voices that they feel deep down in their hearts but cannot even put into words themselves. Instead, you can voice it for them, Lord Theo. If it wasn’t like that, then none of the people who helped you on your journey thus far would’ve ever responded to you. Besides, there are two sides to the truth, but people only want to see one side of it most of the time. 」

「That’s right. No matter how others view me, I have no choice but to follow my own path. There is no doubt that the people of Artuk do not accept Dartania’s rule over them and want to keep on living their lives with pride, and that’s why new need to march all the way to castle Unicorn and make sure that they’re going to be able to keep living their lives the way they want to. 」

Theo said with a determined look on his face.

「Yes, my lord. 」

Siluca bowed to him with a smile, and then she proceeded to convey Theo’s intentions to Lassic David and Serge Constance through their contracted Mages: Moreno Dortus and Eret Harukas.

「I think it’s a reckless thing to do. 」

Moreno’s light voice came from Siluca’s magic wand.

「If you really think so, then please come to Artuk to help us with a better plan right now. 」

Siluca said while suppressing her irritation.

「It’s not possible yet. I was planning to gather a large army and head for Castle Unicorn while you guys were keeping watch over The Forest of Eternal Darkness, but that plan’s obviously a no-go now. 」

Unlike the Dartanian army, the Lords of the Artuk Treaty’s army are usually in their own territories. They would accept military service, but it would take a certain number of days to gather a large army, and even more days for that army to arrive in Artuk to make any meaningful contributions to the war effort.