Volume 7 Chapter 4 Part 3

Alfred ground his teeth in frustration.

The leader of the Artuk Treaty will be determined by who performs the most notable military feat in this battle. As things stand now, there is no doubt that Theo Cornero will be chosen as the leader.
He defeated Dartania’s army in the Forest of Eternal Darkness

and forced them back into Castle Unicorn. What’s more, he is plotting to cause a civil war in Dartania and Stark and saved Haman’s Queen Edochia from her predicament, after which she also seems to have become a member of Theo faction.

「What’s wrong with the Earl of Sistina? Why did he of all people has to be one of our allies?

Mislav read Alfred’s intentions and asks.

「He was a simple wandering Lord at first, but then he usurped his domain from one of the Lords of Clovis. 」

For Alfred, the King of Clovis, it was as if his own prestige had been damaged.

「That was all Mesut Medrick’s fault. He violated the agreement, so he’s the only one who should be blamed here. 」

「He has also stolen the territory of a neighboring independent Lord while showing his intention to not submit to me. 」

He eventually became the leader of Selvis, and although he had Artuk’s help in it, he even managed to repel the attack that the Heavy Knights of Waldrind launched against him.

「I can’t even unite the country of Clovis under my banner, while he is already an Earl! He has taken over Sistina and Veltava, and is trying to increase his territory even further! 」

「But you have to admit that this is an outstanding performance. It’s not strange at all that citizens of Clovis adore him like a hero and want to follow after him, right? 」

「I will never obey such a young Lord of lowly descent! 」

Alfred’s face contorted in anger. Looks like Mislav pressed the wrong button.

「Only someone from a prestigious family that has been Lords for many generations is suitable as a leader of the Artuk Treaty! The Ducet family and the Kraische family are just like that .However, the current leader of Artuk Treaty is Lassic David, whose father was a mercenary, and Theo Cornero, a commoner, is about to take his place! A real Lord would never resort to using the power of his subjects in order to fight and win his battles! 」

「Don’t you feel a new era might be incoming then? 」

Mislav spoke hesitantly.

「I can feel it… 」

Alfred nodded his head, albeit reluctantly

「That’s why I’m so scared. 」

「Why? 」

Mislav asked curiously.

「Because in that era, I don’t see a place for myself anymore. 」

Mislav seemed to be convinced by those words, and said nothing more on the subject.
Alfred knew that he was a mediocre Lord at best. Therefore, he acted carefully in everything he was doing, which is why he was described as sluggish by others. However, in an era where prestigious Lords were valued the most, those below the rank of Viscount needed to constantly prove their worth to everyone around them to keep being relevant, and that’s why Alfred felt intense disappointment at the reality of him being attacked by Dartania’s army and that he was unable to even hold out against them and now needed to flee.

「What will you do after this? 」

Mislav calls out to him out of concern.

「Maybe it’d be best for you to retreat and gather your forces again? It’s not decided yet that the army of the Artuk Treaty will lose, so it’ll be important to be on the battlefield when we win. But that’s for you to decide. 」

「Me? Why? 」

「I will bear all the stigma for the mistakes that I committed. From now on, you are the head of the Shakes family. You’re going to be the one who’s going to lead us to the new era. 」

* * *

「We don’t have time to chase down the fleeing enemy! 」

Milza gave the command and re-aligned the ranks of his soldiers.

Dartania’s army cut through Clovis’ camp in all directions, killing several Lords and hundreds of soldiers at their disposal. Even though their opponent had let his guard down, Terius once again thought that the Dartanian warriors led by Milza could safely be called the strongest on the continent.

(Why did Lord Aubest send me to Lord Milza in the first place?)

Milza was known for his hatred of Mages, so he was probably sent to him because there was no other Mages who wanted to go to him of their own will. But even so, he shouldn’t have sent someone who was a student who freshly graduated Magic University who only completed two Faculties to a Lord like Mllza. It was like asking for trouble.

(Would it have been better if I remained just a liaison?)

Terius thought to himself. If Milza were to lose this battle and die, it would all be because of his own poor thinking then.

Aubest Meletes likes to say that the Mage only proposes a plan, and it is the Lord who makes the final decisions. Terius knew that too. That is why he was thinking desperately and risking his life to formulate plans for him. He was also proud of the fact that Milza had gradually started to trust him more and more.

However, reality was too cruel.

Looking at Milza now, he really felt that the only possible outcome here was him losing the battle, and he felt frustrated that he couldn’t use elemental magic that would be useful in a battle such as this one. Fortunately, he is good at horsemanship and can use weapons. He is also good at treating injuries.

(However, there is no way Lord Milza would ever become injured in a battle with regular enemies.)

Terius was sure of that.

「Next one, over there! 」
Seeing a small army forming a camp on the right hand side of Clovis’ army that was fleeing, Milza pointed the point of his sword towards his army’s new destination.

「That’s Kirch’s army. I heard that in the recent battle of Castle Unicorn, Solon, the Theater King of Kirchs fought bravely against your forces in order to allow the Earl of Regalia to flee to safety. 」

Terius said after checking the weapons and heraldic flags of the enemy’s army.

「I heard that he gave a great performance as the tragic king at the end. However, in that battle, he lost his title of Theater King and his subordinate Lords, and the current head of the family, Yorgo, is just a Baron. He cannot even call himself the King of Kirchs anymore. 」

「His troops count… around 1000 people. 」

Mages are trained to be able to guess the number of troops in the Lord’s armies at a glance, even if that’s only going to be a rough estimate.

Apparently, the Chaos in Kirchs subsided relatively quickly, and the city-state flourished since ancient times. It was the first ruler of the South Seas, and there are several Kirchs-style city-states in other countries, mainly along the coast of the South Seas. Laxia, the capital of Sistina, was one of them. However, Terius heard that Kirchs lost its position as the rulers of the South Seas when their ships stared getting swallowed up by the Chaos Vortex when they were trying to reach Sistina.

「Let’s show them that their rightful place is under our heel! 」

Milza shouted out with enthusiasm, and at his command, Dartania’s army took up a cone-shaped formation and tried to penetrate Kirch’s army like a wedge.

Yorgo Dalaras, the Scribe King and leader of Kirchs, was in the process of writing a record of this battle. After receiving a warning from one of the subordinate Lords that Clovis’s army, which had been in the vanguard, was routed by Dartania and now Milza was coming towards their own base, he slowly looked up.

「Hmm, I can’t prevent this. 」

Yorgo made that conclusion when she saw the Dartanian army approaching his camp directly.

He quickly wrote down the aftermath on a new piece of paper and told one of his aides to run to Lassic with it.

「Now, let’s go meet my death head on. 」

Yorgo said while receiving the mask from his servant.

It was in the shape of a lion. His father, Solon, was a theater lover and wanted his soldiers to act out roles on the battlefield. He devised a mask that could be attached to the face and cheeks of his helmet, and always fought while wearing it. He even created his own battle flag, the 「Persona」.

As a child, Yorgo was happy about his father’s love of theater, but because his father was so passionate about it and wasted so much money on it, Yorgo began to dislike theater at some point.