Volume 9 Chapter 1 Part 5

Although it was no longer very important, Kato was ordered by Hostio to be in charge of diplomacy with the Factory Alliance through the Meletes family. In addition to that, the Artuk Treaty recently established independence from the Fantasia Union, and the leader of the Artuk Treaty, Earl Theo Cornero of Sistina has Siluca Meletes as his contracted Mage, so Kato was also placed as the one responsible for the diplomatic matters with the Artuk Treaty.

Of course, he hasn’t stopped working in the arts. As a result, he has been quite busy lately, to the point where he started to feel a little resentful of the fact that he was a member of the Meletes family.

Cato paid attention to Alexis, who was the star of the banquet, and instructed the orchestra on the selection and tone of the music to suit the mood of the moment.

In the Fantasia Union, banquets are a form of diplomacy… or maybe it would be more accurate to say that banquets are just as important as diplomatic meetings. At first glance, all that the Lords are doing is drinking alcohol and act merrily, but the truth is that under that guise, they were all engaging in secret discussions with one another.

The main topic of discussions was the Marquis of Dawson, Bernard Durham. For as long as the Lords of the Union could remember, he was always standing in opposition to Earl Vilar Constance, who was a member of the Fantasia Union’s faction that was in favor of the war with the Factory Alliance, and didn’t want to send his forces to aid him when the Factory Alliance attacked Artuk together with the Nords and Dartania. And once Kurt Gallas, the Earl of Leclerc started fighting against the Alliance in the northern part of the continent, he acted in the same way against him.

As a result of his actions, two of the Fantasia Union’s Lords who risked their lives to fight against the factory Alliance ended up losing their lives, and the Marquis himself has defected into the Factory Alliance when Marine Kraische promised to make him one of the Electors. As expected, it was an act that was unethical of a Fantasia Union’s Lord, and although there were no other Lords who followed Marquis Dawson, Kato thought that this was the moment when the Union would fall apart.

However, much to Kato’s surprise, Alexis suddenly began to act, gathered the Lords who were loyal to him, and then he personally led the attack against the Marquis of Dawson, resulting in the Union’s total victory and the Bernard’s subjugation to Alexis.

The Union was united once more, and in order to capitalize on this momentum, a Lord’s Conference was held during which the Lords of the Fantasia Union were supposed to discuss how they should handle the looming threat of the invasion of the Nords. However, at the meeting that had been going on until recently, opinions were divided between those who favored naval warfare and those who favored land warfare, and a heated debate ensued.

Alexis seemed to want a naval battle with the Nords, but he was given the condition that if he wanted other Lords to support him with that, he’d have to present them with an actual plan for battle. Kato felt that the Earl Miguel Suavi of Estrela skillfully guided the statements of Alexis and King of Ismeia in order to arrive at that exact outcome.

Maybe he actually doesn’t want a naval battle. He boasts of a powerful naval force under his command, but this is probably because he is afraid that if he was forced to fight against the Nords with it, he’d be dragged into a war of attrition that he’d inevitably end up losing.

Earl Julio Bellini, King of Ismeia, who had a powerful navy on par with the one of Estrela strongly advocated in favor of the naval warfare. He has even led a fleet from the South Seas.

Earl Julio was originally from the faction that wanted the all-out war with the Factory Alliance, just like the Earl of Artuk and the Earl of Leclerc. However, due to location issues, he did not participate in the subjugation of Marquis Dawson. Therefore, he sought an opportunity to regain his lost ground, but whether he could find an opportunity to actually do so, that question was still in the air.

(The Lords of the Fantasia Union are all old men.)

There are many Lords in the Union who are skilled in politics and diplomacy. This is probably due to the fact that most of them are from prestigious families in which their Crests have been passed down through the generations. In addition, many of them had the experience of studying abroad at Elam, and had received the same level of basic education as a student at the Magic University.

People believe that the age of Lords will come someday when the Age of Chaos will finally be brought to a close. However, the Mages Association of Elam controlled the Lords through a peerage system, and thus controlled the entire continent through various other means.

Kato belongs to the Meletes family, which is known as the Lords faction, but he understands that much. However, there were rumors that the Association feared that the Factory Alliance would actually destroy the Fantasia Union and unite all the Crests into a Grancrest through the use of force. This is because, unlike the Fantasia Union, the Factory Alliance does not like the prosperity of Elam and the fact that Elam doesn’t share its prosperity with other nations, and some people even whispered amongst themselves that this is the reason why 「The Tragedy of the Grand Cathedral」took place.

There were whispers that an incident like the Great Auditorium tragedy would occur someday.

(No matter how believable their excuses might be, there’s no way that the Mages Association wasn’t involved in that incident at all.)

It was at that time that Hostio Figrus, the Head Mage of the Ducet family came to see Kato.

「What do you want me to do? 」

Leaving the performance to the musicians themselves, Kato asked Hostio while feeling a little bit nervous, since he thought that maybe he made some kind of mistake and he didn’t realize it in time.

Although Hostio was a chubby person and had a gentle demeanor, he is actually a complete perfectionist whenever his duties were involved. He himself always works quickly and does not make mistakes whatsoever, nor does he allow others to make mistakes. It’s also because of that perfectionism of his that when others do end up making mistakes, he cannot forgive them for it.

Hostio then led Kato to the corridor outside of the main hall, and after checking his surroundings, he begun the conversation.

「A little while ago, I’ve received a message from Siluca Meletes. She was offering that the Artuk Treaty could send reinforcements to help us fight against the Nords, but that was probably just a superficial thing and an excuse, since she probably wanted to know how the meeting was going. 」

「So, what kind of answer did you give her? 」

「I told her what this Lord’s Conference was about. I also told her that it would take several days to make a proper decision. 」

「Personally, I don’t mind receiving help from the Artuk Treaty, so I think we should just go with it. 」
Kato smiled bitterly. He was thinking that the Artuk Treaty was doing a really good job.

It has repeatedly repelled the invasions of the Heavy Knights of Waldrind and recaptured Artuk, which they once lost to them, even though Waldrind was hailed as the strongest nation on the continent. They incorporated Sistina and Dartania into the Treaty, and newly added Medinia and Fargard to it as well. The bond among their Lords is strong, and Theo Cornero showed his military strength regardless of his origin or age. He became the new leader of the Artuk Treaty instead of Lassic David, and all the other Lords have chosen to willingly subordinate themselves to him.

Waldrind alone can no longer even invade Artuk Treaty’s territory.

The Treaty aims to achieve military balance between the three powers. Theo Cornero, the Lord of Siluca Meletes, was now an Earl, even though he obtained that title quite unexpectedly. It is natural for him to seek stability. However, if the Union were to be defeated by the Nords, there would be no hope for military balance. And according to the public opinion, the Nords would still have the upper hand in battle.

「For the Fantasia Union, it is essential to fight together with the Treaty, but we must be careful so that they do not make peace with the Factory Alliance alone. Sefaud Latkins is old, but Siluca Meletes is still young. And since you are a Meletes as well, make sure that the Union has an advantage over the Treaty and that you use them to your advantage. 」