Volume 8 Chapter 1 Part 5

「Speaking of the Meletes family, the contracted Mage of Theo Cornero, who became the new leader of the Artuk Treaty also goes by that name. 」

Theo Cornero’s name is now spreading throughout the continent, where he’s being hailed as a young hero, but it is said that he was once nothing more but a Wandering Lord. According to rumors, it was his contracted Mage Siluca Meletes who first found him and saw his potential.

「Siluca Meletes is Aubest Meletes’ adopted daughter. She is also called a genius at the Magic University. 」

「Meletes is a prestigious family that has produced many excellent Mages over the years, and they were still actively sending out contracted Mages to various Lords all around the continent. Although they are inevitably divided into enemies and allies, they remain loyal to their assigned Lords with whom they have forged contracts, and there is no divide between them based on the class and Social standing of their Lords. 」

Benedict carried on with his explanation. He was unusually talkative right now, even for the standards of the contracted Mages, so he was probably holding Aubest Meletes and the entire Meletes family in an unusually high regard. He was ready to continue talkingeven more, but his story was interrupted by a knock on the door before he could continue.

「Pardon the intrusion. 」

Along with the voice, the old chamberlain who had gone outside to dispose off the destroyed tea set returned.

「What is it? 」

Kurt asked

「Your wife…no, Lady Patricia Soasson has arrived together with her children. 」

「Patt is here?! 」

For a moment, Kurt’s expression flashed with joy, but it quickly turned grim again.

「Why the hell did she come here? I thought I have told her that for the duration of the war with the Factory Alliance I will be isolating myself from my wife and children. Tell her to leave immediately. 」

「I already did, but then she said that she came here not as your wife, but as a messenger on behalf of her family, the Baron Soasson family. 」

The old chamberlain answered while looking as if he was in awe.

「…In that case, It should be alright for me to meet up with her, right? 」

Kurt thought for a moment, and then he looked back at Benedict.

「I don’t think it’s going to be a problem. 」

The contracted Mage nodded with a smile.

「Alright, then let the messenger enter the room! 」

Kurt said resolutely, while being busy the bending and stretching of the fingers on both his hands. Eventually, the old Chamberlain brought his wife Patricia and her two children with him, bowed reverently, and immediately left the room.

「Thank you for coming. Is the Baron in good health? 」

Kurt said so in a calm tone. However, even he could easily notice that his voice was sounding unusually hoarse right now.

Patricia Soasson checked the outside of the window on her side, and then slowly approached Kurt and hug him so tightly that their bodies were practically bumpingagainst each other. Seeing their mother do that, her children quickly followed her example.

After a moment of hesitation, Kurt finally put his arms around the three of them. `

「Father… 」

His son continued to hug him with delight in his voice

At that moment, Kurt came to his senses and left the three of tchem in a hurry.

「Didn’t I tell you that when we said goodbye? I’m no longer your father. 」

When he heard him say that, his son cried and shook his head in denial. His daughter, who was in a state of shock, desperately tried to hold back her tears and say something while giving Kurt a pleading look.

「Please, call out to my father and other neighboring Lords to help you. It might not be much, but I’ve also brought something that might be of use to you with me. 」

With her small, slender hands, Patricia reached out to the bag she had tied to her waist. Once she opened it, Kurt saw an ornate box filled with all kinds of expensive jewelry. They were all lighter and more expenive than gold coins, although the exact value depended on the type, size and the quality of each separate jewel.

“I don’t want you to be using something like this to help me.

「But this is the only thing I can do to help you. 」

Patricia turned to Kurt so that she could stop him from trying to not look at her. And after a short while…

「… I gratefully accept your gift then. 」

Kurt bowed his head while feeling that something hot was welling up inside of him from the bottom of his heart. At this rate, he won’t even have enough money to continue the war against the factory Alliance for 10 more days. However, he is not the only one who was feeling the heavy burden of the prolonged war. His subordinate Lord and their knights and soldiers must’ve been suffering just as much as he was.

Kurt then invited his wife and children to sit with him at the dining table.

Immediately, an old Chamberlain entered the room carrying a tray with sweets and tea on it. He set the plates and the cups on the table, bowed respectfully, and left.

The children happily reached for the sweets.
「Is it not going well? 」

Patricia asked while they were eating. She probably knew full well that the war situation was not going well, and she just wanted to make sure about it.

「This isn’t something that you need to concern yourself with. 」

Kurt didn’t want to disclose every single information to her, but he didn’t want to lie to her either. The fact that he had gathered a large number of mercenaries with the lure of high rewards has now become a burden to him. Things were good until they defeated the Ocean King Eric, the ruler of the Nords, and brought Ford, Sandrumia, Vanberg, and Rann in the northern part of the continent under his control.

If only they could defeat Marine Kraische, the leader of the Factory Alliance and take he Crest away from her, that would be a fatal blow to the Alliance from which it would presumably never recover.

However, as if she knew perfectly well what their intentions were, Marine Kraische did not agree to have a single, decisive battle between the Factory Alliance and the Fantasia Union.

She was changing her base of operations from time to time, and whenever she would encounter someone from the Fantasia Union, she would barricade herself and her forces in their current fortress. The power of the light-infused crossbows wielded by the Heavy Knights of Waldrind is indeed tremendous, and while the Union forces could do something against them in a regular field battle, then in a siege battle there is almost nothing that could be done against them. And no matter how many mercenaries could fight on Kurt’s side right now, he simply cannot allow himself to have them all die in vain.

Because of that, they had no choice but to set up camp outside the castle and block the enemy’s movements. However, during this time, the Lords who were aligned with the Factory Alliance were rising up in various places. After breaking their camp to quell the situation, the Heavy Knights of Waldrind would immediately leave the castle and attack the Lords of the Fantasia Union.

This kind of battle has been repeating itself for about half a year. Benedict had not anticipated such a long war.

「My father told me that you owe a lot of money. That’s why I was sent back home… 」

When he sent her back to her parents’ home, he only said that he’s doing it because a family would be nothing but a hindrance to him in the war.

「It’s like I said back then. I want to put everything I have into this war. 」

「And I understand that. 」

Patricia nodded her head quietly.

She is not only beautiful and elegant, but also very intelligent. He was drawn to it and took her as his queen because of it. Soon after that, she blessed him with two healthy children, and Kurt couldn’t have been more happy.

However, if the Factory Alliance wins the Great War and takes control of the entire continent, all of that is going to be lost.

The territory ruled by Kurt was located in the northeastern part of Allonne, bordered by areas of conflict with the Factory Alliance, and also facing the North Sea. If Waldrind or the Nords ever decided to invade it, they would be the first target that would fall prey to their onslaught.