Episode 116
“Did you say sincerity?”
“Indeed, I did.”
Mikhail Lancaster responded to Dale’s question with a calm smile.
“The northern demon territory leading to the Dark Land has long been a thorn in the side of the Saxon Duchy.”
”…”
“That’s why, isn’t it, Lord Dale? You’re turning this demon territory into a ‘land of opportunity’ to attract the empire’s influential figures.”
During the northern expansion era, Dale, as the Viscount of Saxon, had accurately gauged the frenzy of the ‘Artifact Rush.’
“As you mentioned, Prince Mikhail, there’s always a give and take.”
Yet Dale remained unfazed, smiling serenely. Adventurers would seize fortunes in this demon territory while also serving to thwart the threats emerging from this dark land. It was an unspoken agreement between the Saxon Viscount and the adventurers.
“If our Saxon Duchy were to ally with you and the Lancaster family,” Dale continued, “what would the Lancaster Grand Duchy offer us in return?”
Mikhail Lancaster’s sincerity in proposing an alliance with Dale.
A brief silence fell.
“We will give you what the Viscount of Saxon desires,” Mikhail Lancaster replied. What Dale desired.
“──An alliance against the demons.”
”……!”
“That will be the ‘form of alliance’ officially established between our Lancaster family and the Saxon Duchy,” Mikhail Lancaster stated.
“A vassal alliance to protect the empire against the threats from the northern demon territory and beyond, the ‘Dark Land.’”
“Quite a compelling justification,” Dale replied, feigning interest.
An alliance against the demons to counter the threat of the demon territory. With such a noble cause of ‘protecting the empire,’ the royal family couldn’t openly oppose the alliance between the two duchies.
Moreover, for Dale, it meant gaining unparalleled strength for the development of the demon territory. After all, the Lancaster Grand Duchy was one of the empire’s foremost great vassals.
As both Dale and Mikhail had said, it was a transaction with give and take, and there was no particular reason to refuse the offer.
Nevertheless.
“It seems the situation with the Lancaster family is worse than expected,” Dale remarked coolly, assessing the situation. He wasn’t foolish enough to blindly sign off on immediate gains.
“The Saxon family in the north… Surely the Lancaster Grand Duke knows how it would appear to the empire and the royal family to ally with the dark clans.”
Yet, despite the political risks, they were willing to seek Saxon’s help.
“How dire is the situation?”
”…….”
It was a direct question without hesitation. But Mikhail Lancaster merely gave a wry smile, as if he had expected it.
“My brother has officially become the son-in-law of the York Marquis family after getting engaged. Furthermore, ‘Sir Sephelia the Swordmaster,’ a branch member of the York family, is directly pressuring my father.”
Sir Sephelia the Swordmaster. At that name, a flicker of unease crossed Dale’s face.
“The vice-captain of the Order of the Iron Cross…”
The Saxon Duchy’s Night Raven Knights, the Brandenburg Count’s Saint Magdalena Knights, and the Lancaster Grand Duchy’s Rosy Cross Knights.
Each of the empire’s vassals had their own knightly orders, and the royal family at the pinnacle of the empire was no exception.
The Order of the Iron Cross.
The royal family’s personal guard and, alongside the Red Tower, the strongest knightly order executing the ‘spirit of the empire.’
“Officially, the royal family claims it’s ‘Sir Sephelia’s personal decision,’ but implicitly, they’re siding with the York Marquis family.”
Upon hearing this, Dale responded.
“Then the Holy Sword must have sided with the York family as well.”
”……!”
It was a sharp insight even Mikhail Lancaster hadn’t anticipated.
Sir Sephelia the Swordmaster and the Holy Sword of the Brandenburg Count. Two of the continent’s Seven Swords were supporting the York family, pressuring the Lancaster Grand Duchy. Under the pretext of upholding the rules of primogeniture, or ‘the traditions of the empire.’
With the continent’s Seven Swords each having their own reasons to support the York family, it was a situation the Lancaster Grand Duchy couldn’t handle alone. Even if the head of the Lancaster family, the Celestial Sword Lancaster Grand Duke, was the strongest warrior with the title of the empire’s greatest sword.
“That’s why you’re seeking an alliance with the Saxon Duchy, which is at odds with the Holy Sword, isn’t it?”
”……As expected, your insight is unparalleled, Lord Dale.”
Mikhail Lancaster replied.
“You’re right. The York family’s second daughter, ‘Catherine,’ formed an alliance by getting engaged to the Brandenburg Count’s eldest son.”
”……Did you say the Brandenburg Count’s eldest son?”
A name unexpectedly mentioned.
“Yes.”
“Then if the succession dispute escalates into war, there’s a possibility the Count’s eldest son might join the battlefield.”
“With the Holy Sword involved, I think it’s highly likely.”
Mikhail, unable to grasp Dale’s intentions, tilted his head slightly. The expansion of the conflict between the York and Lancaster families, with the Brandenburg Count’s father and son involved, wasn’t an unusual outcome.
However, upon hearing those words, Dale smiled without a hint of hesitation.
“Deal.”
“Deal…?”
“Oh, it means I’ll accept your proposal, Prince Mikhail.”
Dale replied.
With the ‘genius of defeat,’ whom even Dale couldn’t dare challenge, active in the enemy’s camp… and with a legitimate opportunity to confront the Holy Sword Brandenburg Count, what was there to hesitate about?
Even now, he recalled the divine oath etched in the heart of the Holy Swordmaster.
The ‘indefinite truce agreement’ made with Charles VII in the Kingdom of Britannia was still intact in Dale’s possession, and technically, the ‘war with the Kingdom of Britannia’ wasn’t over yet.
And as long as the war wasn’t over, the Brandenburg Count had no choice but to obey Dale’s orders absolutely. That was the content of the geass to obey the supreme commander of the imperial army.
“To desire peace, prepare for war.”
After finishing his calculations, Dale smiled.
In a situation where fortune seemed to roll in like a pumpkin on a vine, he maintained his composure with effort.
It was at that moment.
Boom!
A chilling presence approached the place where the two were conversing.
A monster dwelling in the depths of the labyrinth.
The assassins of the ‘Shadow Court,’ including the master of the killing sword, Baro, turned their heads, but Dale extended his arm. As the ruler of the demon territory, the Viscount of Saxon.
“Stand down, all of you.”
“By your command.”
At those words, the assassins in bird masks vanished simultaneously. They melted into the shadows throughout the labyrinth.
Just like knights or mages who have reached a certain level, assassins were no different.
“In commemoration of the alliance between our two duchies…”
With the assassins of the Shadow Court retreating, Mikhail and Dale remained there.
And as they watched the approaching monster, the S-rank adventurer 《Faceless》 spoke.
With a shadow cloak fluttering like a black robe, and leaving behind the ‘Peacemaker’ in Mikhail’s hand.
“Shall we seize the fortune of the ‘Artifact Rush’ together?”
“That’s exactly what I wish for.”
Dale said, and Mikhail smiled silently.
An apostle of fire and light. Mikhail Lancaster’s ideology was dangerous. And there was no ruling out the possibility that he might one day stand in Dale’s way.
Nevertheless, in this world, there are no eternal enemies or friends.
And at least for now, Mikhail Lancaster was not an enemy to be defeated.
In their shared interests, they were allies seeking to obtain what each desired.
The white and blue rose, symbolizing wise nobility.
The emblem representing the York Marquis family, one of the empire’s great vassals.
The York family had no ‘extraordinary powerhouses’ like the continent’s Seven Swords or the Five Tower Lords.
Yet, their firm standing as one of the empire’s great vassals was thanks to the ‘wisdom’ symbolized by the white and blue rose.
The lord’s castle of the York Marquis.
There, two of the continent’s Seven Swords were present.
Sir Sephelia, the vice-captain of the royal family’s personal guard, the Order of the Iron Cross. And the war hero of the empire, the head of the Brandenburg Count family, the Holy Swordmaster.
Lastly, the Holy Swordmaster’s son, Philip, who in some sense was not undeserving of the title ‘the empire’s greatest genius.’
“Thank you all for making the difficult journey.”
In the midst of the tense atmosphere, the York Marquis spoke.
And the ladies of the York family stood by the gathered powerhouses, smiling.
Catherine, the York family’s second daughter, engaged to the Brandenburg Count’s eldest son. Her pure smile was enough to make ‘Philip the Philanderer’ struggle to contain his overwhelming joy.
The eldest son of the Lancaster Duchy, Richard Lancaster, was also present.
He was smiling warmly at Margaret, the eldest daughter of the York Marquisate.
It was a scene that seemed like something out of a dream, as if they were caught in an enchanting spell.
”…”
Watching this, Sephelia, the Ghost Blade, turned her head away in disgust.
The York family didn’t have the extraordinary warriors that other great houses of the empire boasted.
However, the York lineage possessed something those houses did not: ‘wisdom.’
From birth, the daughters of the York family were rigorously trained in this wisdom, and through it, they established an unshakeable position that commanded respect from the continent’s mightiest.
Just like the ‘Marchioness of York,’ who was whispering sweetly by the Marquis’s side at that very moment.
“You are all gathered here for one reason only,” the Marquis of York began.
“The Duke of Lancaster’s decision to pass the family inheritance to his second son blatantly disregards the ‘traditions of the empire.’”
“You would do well not to underestimate the Celestial Sword.”
After a long silence, Sephelia, the deputy commander of the Iron Cross Knights and known as the Ghost Blade, spoke up.
Being a woman, she was the only one able to maintain her composure, unaffected by the York family’s allure.
Yet her warning meant nothing to the ‘Marquis of York,’ who was little more than a puppet.
“Are you, the esteemed deputy commander of the Iron Cross Knights, intending to deny the traditions of the empire?”
”…”
Sephelia did not respond.
She merely bit her lip, contemplating the true nature of this empire.
The Red Tower’s Marquis Yurith family, the women of the York family, the imperial lineage, and countless other families lurking in silence beneath the surface.
Vampires, dream demons, and the non-human entities that ruled this empire.
In the face of their regime, there were few choices available to a mere knight from a noble family.
All she could do was bow her head and follow, as she had always done.