Volume 8 Chapter 2 Part 2

「It would be an honor to be compared to both of them after I die! 」

Gwendal declares this, bowed to the rest of the attendees, and left the hall. People just stood and watched in silence as his figure disappeared behind the hall’s double door.

「I hope that the rest of you are going to be more realistic than him, my dear Lords. Don’t you think that war is a barbaric act? Many lives are lost because of it, territories get devastated, buildings are getting destroyed, and works of art are reduced to ashes. Although it is true that we might end up being ruled by the Factory Alliance, I believe it would only be for a short time. The time will come when the elegant and sophisticated monarchical culture of the Fantasia Union will be transmitted to our neighbors in the east, and one of us will be recognized as worthy of being an Emperor. 」

Bernard skillfully wielded his eloquence against his fellow Lords from the Union.

The more subordinate Lords a single Lord has you have, the more influence he’s going to get at Marine Kraische’s Electoral Council. After that, all that he’d have to do is to win against Marine Kraische and the Factory Alliance through politics instead of war.

Marquis Dawson was expecting applause from the Lords who were in attendance, but contrary to what he was expecting, not a single one of them was clapping their hands together. After a while, the attendees simply bowed to him one by one and left the hall. In the end, all the guests were gone, and only the servants of the Duram family remained in the hall with him.

「I’m sure they’ll understand over time that this is the only way for us to survive. Isn’t that what you said as well? 」

Bernard called out to the Head Mage who has come to his side.

「I agree with you. 」

The words that he was looking for came out from the Head Mage’s mouth.

「I will immediately contact the contracted Mages of the Lords that were invited here today. You didn’t get much reaction from your guests because they were probably wary of how others would react to them expressing support for your idea. If you apply to them individually, they will definitely accept your proposal to submit themselves to you. 」

「I guess so… 」

Bernard murmured as if he was trying to convince himself that this was indeed the case here. Then he nodded his head again and again.

「Still, what happened here left a rather foul taste in my mouth. I’ll have to tell Oras, who should be on his way to the territory of the Earl of Leclerc that he should be very wary of Baron Gwendal. 」

He was heading there because Bernard bought the Earl of Leclerc’s territory by working with the financial institution of Elam, and then he gave it to his nephew Oras Burel along with the title of Earl.

(This is the correct way to use money.)

Bernard called out to Kroot Garrus, who had foolishly died in battle without knowing even something as simple as that, in his heart.

* * *

The news of the death of the Earl of Leclerc in battle and the betrayal of the Marquis of Dawson, who has defected into the Factory Alliance reached Sefaud Latkins, a Diplomatic Mage working under Theo Cornero, and then he spared no time and effort to get these news to Siluca Meletes as soon as possible.

It was past midnight, and Siluca was trying to sleep in her room in Castle Unicorn, but was unable to because the gloom that was hanging over her heart after she learned the dreadful news. Now that Theo made Castle Unicorn his base of operations in Artuk, he was staying in the room that was previously being used by Vilar Constance, and Siluca moved to the room that Margaret, his Head Mage was using, because that way she could always be close to Theo in case something unexpected ever happened.

Noticing the footsteps of Siluca in the corner, Irvin, Emma and Luna immediately appeared before her. Irvin was already dressed in his Chamberlain attire, but the twins were still in their nightgowns.

When she knocked on the door, Theo answered immediately.

Emma opened the door and Luna headed into Theo’s bedroom while Siluca entered an office lined with luxurious furniture. This room is also the same as it was when Vilar was still living here, performing his duties as a Lord..

Luna brought Theo, who was still in his own night attire, shortly after.

Seeing Siluca’s expression, he seemed to realize the seriousness of the situation, and sat down at the table with a stern look on his face. Irvin was busy preparing tea for the both of them.

Siluca then relayed the information that she learned from Sefaud to Theo.

「So Lord Kurt perished in battle… 」

After Theo muttered with a somber expression, his eyes dimmed for a moment and he remained silent.

「I was hoping he’d be able to take care of himself… 」

Siluca couldn’t help it but to feel sorry for him.

The Earl of Leclerc was probably in a tight financial situation. On top of that, he was challenged to a decisive battle by Marine, and he took a gamble with it, as a result of which he fell right into a trap which was laid out for him. Apparently, a group of mercenaries sent by Marquis Dawson as reinforcements betrayed him during the battle, and that was the direct reason for his death.

「Is it certain that Marquis Dawson will be welcomed into the Electoral Council by Marine for what he’s done? 」
「It seems that he revealed this information while holding a banquet where he gathered all the Lords he had close friendships with. Then, he called upon these Lords to submit themselves to him if they wanted to save themselves from being killed by the Factory Alliance, but I think that Marquis Dawson would be the only one the Factory Alliance would accept. However, if the Lords did fall for that deception of his and submitted themselves to him, then that would mean that Bernard Duram would obtain the title of Archduke, meaning that he would hold the highest title out of all the Electors from the Electoral Council. 」

「Assuming that the Factory Alliance will stay true to that promise, of course. 」

Theo scoffed.

「That’s right, but because he believes that the Factory Alliance will honor the agreement between them, he decided to protect the Factory Alliance no matter the cost, and that’s what drove him to come up with a plan that ultimately destroyed the earl of Leclerc and further weakened Fantasia Union as a whole. 」

On top of that, Marquis Dawson himself came out of that decisive battle between Waldrind and the Earl of Leclerc with minimal losses.

「I can’t believe that a Lord as great as Marquis Dawson didn’t even notice that the Factor Alliance is using him to weaken the Fantasia Union. Didn’t his contracted Mage say anything to him to warn him about that? 」

「According to the information that I received from Mr. Latkins, the Magic Division of the Marquis of Dawson will only say to him the things that he himself wants to hear, so there’s no way that any of his contracted Mages would say something like that to him. 」

The relationship between the Lord and his contracted Mages can vary greatly from Lord to Lord. A contracted Mage is basically an advisor for his Lord, but if there was ever a need for it, then a contracted Mage can take on the responsibilities of a Lord for a time, and sometimes they are treated like nothing more than a Lord’s personal scribe.

Marquis Dawson seemed to be the type of Lord who’d use his contracted Mages, no matter how excellent they might be, as mere cronies to do his bidding.
「And what about the Lords of the Fantasia Union whom he called to subordinate themselves to him? 」

「I’m sure they were all upset to hear something as outrageous as that, but at that moment no one was willing to give Marquis Dawson a direct answer. However, after that meeting, the number of Lords who are in favor of going to war against the Factory Alliance has supposedly increased. 」

「I wanted them to unite around the Earl of Leclerc, but this is going to make it difficult for them to fight together with the rest of the Fantasia Union… 」

Theo smiled bitterly.

「It’s always the case that things don’t go as planned whenever we want them to. 」

Siluca nodded her head.

「The important thing is how to fix it. After graduating from Magic University, we’ve been through so many situations like that that I actually started to hate it. 」