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Volume 7 Chapter 3 Part 3

On the flipside, the Dartanian army has given up control of Artuk and is concentrating its forces and supplies in various bases around Unicorn Castle, so they can act quickly.

「Isn’t there another choice for you? Mainly, to not leave The Forest of Eternal Darkness? 」

「It certainly is a possibility, but if Lord Theo does nothing while Dartania is attacking Regalia, the people of Artuk will become discouraged and will not stand up for themselves anymore. 」

「I… I guess so. 」

After a pause, Moreno admitted that Siluca was right.

「We have no choice but to act now. However, it will take some time to gather people from all over Artuk. If Milza returns before the army is properly assembled, the battle before us is going to be even tougher. 」

「So you’re saying we should buy you some time? 」

Eret spoke up after listening to the conversation between the two.

「That’s right. If we have time, Lord Theo’s army will be properly assembled, and Lord Lassic will be able to mobilize a large army of his own as well. 」

Siluca nodded towards her magic wand.

「Okay. I’ll let Lord Serge know, and we will give you that time that you need. 」

Eret made an unexpected declaration.

「Isn’t that going to be…difficult? 」
After immediately wanting to reply that it would be impossible, Siluca changed her choice of words.

「I, on the other hand, think that this is going to be downright impossible. 」

Moreno, for his part, did not choose to mince his words, as usual.

「It’s natural for the two of you to think that way. 」

Eret said calmly.

「The Dartanian army heading towards Regalia is probably a diversion. If Lord Theo leaves The Forest of Eternal Darkness, they’ll most likely turn back right away. Are you planning on letting Serge-sama pursue them? 」

Not only is it reckless, it’s almost a suicidal idea.

「There’s no way things will go well even if I let Lord Serge do something like that… 」

Eret has the personality where she tends to be saying exactly what she thinks without considering the feelings of others. That hasn’t changed since her days at Magic University. Siluca heard that although Lord Villar of Artuk recognized her abilities, he removed her from his inner circle because she was too disrespectful towards him, and sent her to his younger brother Serge, who didn’t care much about such matters.

And that’s how she ended up here.

「You all know what Lord Serge is called, right? 」

「Yes… the Fugitive Earl. 」

Siluca answered hesitantly, while Moreno stayed Silent, because Lassic was the one who came up with that disrespectful nickname. Although he has never said it in public, it seems that he accidentally mentioned it at a bar somewhere, and the story spread on its own from there.

「Whenever he chose to fight, he would always lose, and every time he would have to run away. He was so defeated and ran away that it was no wonder tha people started calling him that way. 」

「Still, he managed to protect Regalia. 」

Siluca said with concern, since she didn’t understand what exactly Eret was getting at with her words.

「That’s right. No matter how many times you lose, as long as it’ll help you achieve your goal, even running away is fine. That’s why I will ask Lord Serge to run away this time as well. 」

「As you said, even if Lord Serge escapes this time, I don’t think that Milza will chase after him. His purpose is to defeat Lord Theo, after all. 」

Siluca said hesitantly.

「That would be the case if he were to run away normally like he always did until now. 」

Siluca was confused by the words that came from the magic wand. I couldn’t imagine any unusual way to escape.

「If the Dartanian army approaches the fortified city of Naval, we will raise a white flag in the castle. Then, I will ask Lord Rouge and Lord Igor to flee from the castle. 」

「You’re willingly going to abandon such a fortress? 」

「Yes, but in truth, the soldiers will actually stay behind. And I will stay behind as well, of course. 」

「You’re going to make people think that Lord Serge and his soldiers have escaped from the castle because they were afraid of Dartania’s army, right? 」

Siluca finally understood Eret’s intentions. That plan was way out of line with common sense, but she thought that this kind of strategy actually suited her very well.

「And What if Milza doesn’t play along with your little scheme? 」

Moreno asked.

「Even if that happens, we have nothing to lose. I’ll just explain the situation to the soldiers and get the situation under control. And I can only wish Lord Theo the best of luck. 」

Eret plans to buy time for Theo to gather his army by surrendering Regalia to the enemy.

「However, that would ruin Lord Serge’s reputation even further? 」

「Isn’t it natural for a Fugitive Earl to run away? It’s the same as a Theater King becoming an actor and an Immoral Queen having many lovers. But this is the last time he’ll run away. 」

Eret’s voice coming from her magic wand revealed her strong will.

「If we want to defeat Milza once and for all, we have no choice but to do it now while the Earl of Leclerc is giving it his all fighting Waldrind on the north side of the continent, right? It would be cheaper than surrendering Regalia anytime soon. 」

Of all the contracted Mages who are currently on the continent, Eret Harukas was perhaps the only one who could have enough guts to describe the entire country of Regalia as cheap.

「Will Serge-sama be aware of Eret-senpai’s plan?「Will Lord Serge be aware of your plan, Eret-senpai? 」

「He will. That person never opposes anything I say, after all. 」

It was a surprising response, but Siluca was also vaguely aware of it. It’s just her intuition, but she felt like Eret’s plan might work. No matter how good Terius, Milza’s close aide, is, the more talented he is, the less likely he will think of something as outrageous as Eret’s plan, and the Earl of Regalia is too big of a prey for them to simply overlook him, and it would take several days just to requisition the castle.

In the meantime, they’ll prepare to attack Dartania’s army. They’ll then have Lassic summon all of the Artuk Treaty’s forces to the battlefield.

「However, there is one more thing that I am concerned about. 」

Siluca hesitated, but said it anyway.

「I don’t know what kind of treatment Eret-senpai will receive if the Dartanian army enters the castle. 」

「I guess it’ll be up to Viceroy Milza. I’ll cry and beg for my life if I’ll have to, but if he won’t listen, then that’ll be it. 」

Eret replied calmly.

After hearing that, Siluca had no more words to continue. Moreno was also silent. Then, out of nowhere, he cut off the resonance of the magic wands, so the other two also decided to end the call there.

Siluca told Theo about Eret’s plan.

「I don’t know if that plan of hers is going to be successful or not, but in any case, it doesn’t change what we need to do, right? 」

Theo answered quietly.

「Yes. 」

Siluca nodded her head.

「I’ll just gather as many troops as I can. If possible, I’ll force Milza to give up on the idea of challenging me in the open field battle. 」

The future of the Artuk Treaty will be determined by whether or not they can defeat Milza during their next battle.
To achieve this, they must be prepared to make any sacrifice, including their own lives.

* * *

Milza led an army of 7,000 men and invaded Regalia.

He headed south along the highway to Nabal, a fortified city protected by Serge Constance personally. He was familiar with the villages and towns along the way, so they provided food and supplies to him, and are safe from destruction and pillage. The northern part of Regalia seems to have already been included in Dartania’s sphere of influence.

Not only that, but the nomadic people who live in the grasslands in the western part of Regalia did not respond to Serge’s call for mobilization.

Unlike Artuk, the people of Regalia didn’t feel the need to rebel against Dartania. In that sense, Artuk was more special, while Regalia could be considered normal.

Moreover, in this country, the Constance family is not the kind of Lords who ruled it for generations, but someone who only conquered it relatively recently. During Villar’s father’s time, he destroyed the original Lord of Regalia and made it his vassal territory.