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Volume 7 Chapter 3 Part 4

Of course, the people of Regalia did not swear true loyalty to House Constance because of it.

Before arriving here, Terius had built several supply depots in preparation for Milza’s return journey. After all, his main target is not Serge Constance, but Theo Cornero.

However, just as they were close to Serge’s main castle in Regalia, the soldiers Terius sent out to scout the area ahead of them returned with surprising news.

They said that a white flag was flying over the castle walls. Unlike the rainbow flag, which indicated readiness to negotiate, it signifies unconditional surrender.

「What does it mean? 」

Milza tilted his head in confusion.

「Apparently, both brothersof Vilar Constance, Serge and Igor have escaped from the castle. 」

After hearing the details from the scout, Terius turned around and reported.

「What?! 」

Milza couldn’t help but let out a cry of surprise.

「Isn’t this a plan where they’re going to pretend that they ran away in order to trap us in the castle and pick us off one by one? 」

「They wouldn’t do something like that after putting up a white flag, because that would be a clear violation of the agreement. 」

「There are some people who will do anything to win the battle. 」
Terius suggested that Eret Harukas, Serge Constance’s contracted Mage, was precisely such a person.

「The gates of the citadel were wide open, so I went into the city, but I couldn’t see any enemy soldiers. The residents were in a panic, thinking that their Lord had fled the city. Riots and looting had even begun. The Lord’s castle is also in disarray, and we have confirmed the appearance of soldiers who are actually running away. 」

A warrior who went on a reconnaissance mission supplemented this.

「Did they really just run away…? 」

Terius murmured to himself in shock.

「Theo Cornero has just occupied the Forest of Eternal Darkness and managed to chase away our army, so it’s no surprise that no one, not even his own people, would find him to be worthy of trust anymore. 」

「Yes, but for Serge Constance, Theo Cornero is also not a Lord who’s worthy of trust, because he sees him as nothing more than a wandering Lord that his brother happened to pick up like a stray dog. 」

Milza has met Serge Constance many times, but he has never heard anything about Theo Cornero from him. Either he was deliberately ignoring him or he just genuinely didn’t care about him at all.

At the recently held Lord’s Conference of the Artuk Treaty, there was a rumor that Theo Cornero was trying to become the leader of the entire Treaty, but apparently many of the other members opposed that idea. Serge Constance was one of them.

「What to do now? 」

Terius seemed to be unsure of the decision that he should make here.
「We can’t just leave this matter alone, right? Eventually, Lassic David, the King of Selvis, will come with reinforcements. But if we capture this fortified city, we’ll be able to hold him back from providing reinforcements to Theo Cornero from the south. And once we do that, we’ll be able to launch a full-scale assault on him without having to worry about Lassic’s interference at all. 」

「That’s right. Let’s enter the city with all our forces and quell the chaos inside then. Time is of the essence, so we need to finish the requisition as soon as possible. 」

Terius advised. However, there was no sign of his usual determination in his voice. The situation must have been so unexpected for him.

「Serge Constance, he is truly worthy of being called The Fugitive Earl… 」

Milza sneered at Serge’s cowardice.

「What would Villar Constance think of him if he saw that? Well, he didn’t seem to expect much from Serge even when he was still alive anyway. 」

「I think this is the end of the prestigious Constance family. If the people of Artuk hear about this, it might completely break their hearts. 」

「I hope that’s going to be the case. It’s not like I want to rule tyrannically. I don’t want loyalty from the people of Artuk, but at the very least I want them to accept my rule without trying to hinder it like they were doing before. 」

Milza muttered to himself and ordered his entire army to advance to the fortified city.

(So they’ve come after all.)

Standing on top of the watchtower, Eret Harukas watched the Dartanian army enter the city.
She did not tell their soldiers that this was the plan. With Serge and Igor fleeing, she announced that he was surrendering and instead encouraged the people of the city to riot. This is to prolong the chaos and keep Dartania’s army tied to this city for as long as possible.

As a result, she was almost assaulted by her desperate soldiers, who tore her robes and injured her. The unscrupulous soldiers were wiped out with her magic, and they fled as if they were being targeted by the Heavy Knights of Waldrind’s light-infused crossbows.

However, Eret actually welcomed this situation. Now that she was made to look like she was abandoned by her master and brutalized by the soldiers, she’d probably look like an absolutely pathetic female Mage in the eyes of just about anyone. She had heard that Milza hated Mages, so she thought that normally he’d have her killed on the spot once he’d find her, bhut in her current condition, there is a chance that she might be shown mercy.

(It’s a trick, but it’s not a lie…)

Eret murmured in her mind.

(This surrender too)

Even if a fraudulent plan can be discovered, it is difficult to discern the hidden intentions behind the truth of it.

(Fugitive Earl Serge Constance will be a laughing stock of the people, but if he can defeat Milza, he will be the greatest winner of this whole battle.)

Dartania’s army spent five days seizing the castle and quelling the chaos. Meanwhile, the latest news that reached them stated that Theo Cornero has left the Forest of Eternal Darkness and was heading for Castle Unicorn. Having made Regalia its vassal in abloodless way, the Dartanian army returned to Artuk in high spirits.

However, what awaited them when they returned was the army of Theo Cornero, counting as much as 50,000 people.

* * *

「What is the meaning of this? 」
When Milza saw the large army, he groaned in astonishment.

「Impossible… 」

Tellius also shook his head in disbelief.

Theo Cornero was there in front of Dartania’s army, which had returned Artuk, where his army had set up a camp. The maelstrom emblem of the Earl of Sistina, the unicorn emblem of the House Constance, which is the symbol of the army of the Artuk Treaty, and the emblem of Baron Eugen Niklae are all fluttering.

They had expected that a certain amount of troops would gather under Theo Cornero’s army, including Theo himself, because in Artuk, he’s basically considered to be a hero. But in truth, he’s much more than that. It looked to them as if he managed to gather all the people of Artuk here together.

「Did I make a mistake in judgment…? 」

Terius wondered about that.

Serge’s escape and Regalia’s surrender may have been Eret’s plan after all. However, since she had been assaulted and even injured by her own soldiers, they did not suspect anything. She has now been taken prisoner and is resting in a fortified city.

「As usual, he’s only good at inciting the people to do his bidding for him. 」

Strangely enough, Milza had a relaxed smile on his face.

「No matter how large the enemy’s army is, it’s just a bunch of people. All we have to do it to charge them head-on and crush them, and they’ll fall in no time. 」

「P-Please wait a moment, Lord Milza! 」

Terius hastily spoke to Milza to prevent him from doing anything rash.
「Our army has also placed soldiers in Regalia, so there are only about 5,000 soldiers available to us now. Although they are volunteer soldiers, the people of Artuk are used to fighting, and the army under Theo Cornero is a veteran of battles. If by any chance we are defeated, there will be no recovering from that. Let’s return to the strongly fortified Castle Unicorn and await the arrival of reinforcements there. 」

「What if we barricaded ourselves in the castle and call for reinforcements? 」

「It would be a foolish move to go into battle when you are outnumbered. We have many allies in neighboring Waldrind, Stark, and even in our own country, so we must gather sufficient strength to fight a decisive battle against Theo. 」

「Are you telling me to run away to the castle without fighting an actual battle? 」