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–––Luvias’ viewpoint

After rescuing Grom, we established Surfour as our base of operations to oppose Stied, without asking the citizens or nobles. We had gotten rid of many of Stied’s soldiers with brute force, but the citizens that had aligned themselves with the black knights and partaken in their atrocities were imprisoned. With all of those people off the streets, the city quickly regained its old livelihood and safety, the many vendors opening shops again and the streets filling with people. But there were a handful of people who were in less of a good mood, gathered in a room of Grom’s castle.

“Princess, the soldiers of Surfour don’t even reach a thousand men. To be honest, I doubt we can do much if we attempt a straightforward attack.”
“I concur. I believe it’s best to buy some time until we gather enough allies.”

Hearing that from a knight commander and governor Grom, I nod in assent. We were gathered in Grom’s room, me, my Master, Grom, and four knight commanders. The maids and guards that were usually in the room had been ordered out. They would wait outside the door until our meeting was over.

“What do you want to do though, Luvias? No matter how many people they bring here, I could drive them off on my own if you want.”

The governor and the knight commanders smiled wryly hearing Master say that with a carefree voice. If Stied gathered his men from all over the country, his army would easily number more than ten thousand men. But Master said that was no problem.

Even I struggled to imagine seeing her confronting such a large army alone, but if she caused enough chaos their army would become dysfunctional. Even more so considering how unprepared and cowardly most of Stied’s men were. Just a few large scale spells would destroy most of his force once their lines fell into disarray.

Someone without much experience would think there was nothing to worry then, she could take care of everything. But that would be a really bad idea. If Master went to handle everything on her own, what would happen with her afterwards?

She would be seen as the beautiful girl that took down Stied with relentless force. And she was a member of the hero’s party. They would celebrate her accomplishment and congratulate her one after another, but once there was no need for her strength, she would be seen as a hindrance.

It would end the same way as in the past, when she was known as Brave. I had no intention of making her go through that ever again. So I rejected the idea of letting her do all the fighting. I had to be the one carrying the load this time. That was probably the reason why she asked what I wanted to do as well, so I shook my head silently.

“No fighting alone, Master. We’ll fight as a cohesive army, and show everyone we accomplished this victory together. If we rely on only one person for our victory, that person will end up needing to carry everything again.”

Lapis sighed in relief, that was the reply she was hoping for.

“I see. But like Grom mentioned, we’re sorely lacking in numbers. What should we do about that?”
“…I’ll contact all the other territories. I’ll announce to the entire country that I’ve started an uprising here. That should increase our manpower, and the fight should be over after a few skirmishes.”

After Stied’s coup, many nobles and citizens became bitter against him, but it was still hard to imagine they would gather simply calling them. But if we achieved one major victory, even those who kept watching silently from the sidelines would rush to join me.

“I’m sure the first fight will leave the strongest impression. Stied will try to gather the biggest army he can muster to crush us early on as well, so we really need to make the first victory ours.”
“When do you expect that to happen?”
“Within one month. Considering the situation, I doubt Stied will want to delay for too long either.”
“We need to get ready right away then.”
“Yes.”

Master was right, we did not have time to just sit doing nothing. We have to gather men from all over the country and form our army before Stied gets here.

I turn to look at Grom and he nods, bringing the long distance communications magic device to the table. It was usually only used to contact one person far away, but it also had the capability to call many people at the same time. But it could only transmit in one direction when that happened. I would need to wait for the responses to come individually afterwards.

“Cough.”

I cleared my throat and touched the device. I was getting nervous. My choice was about to change the lives of many people. I could not shake off the nerves. My hand felt stiff and I froze, but then I felt a hand on top of mine.

It was Master, I could feel her warmth, and her smile slowly loosened my stress. And just like that, my stiff body felt loose again. I picked up the device and sent an emergency transmission. That way every device in the country would broadcast my announcement.

“…This is the Third Princess of Bordaule, Luvias speaking. I have an announcement to make to the entire country. I can no longer overlook my brother, Prince Stied’s atrocities! I’ve decided to take arms and rise against Stied to return the country to its correct path, to stop those abusing their authority and harming innocent people, and more importantly, to bolster our defenses against the threat of demons! Those who sympathize with this movement come and join me! I repeat! I, the hero Luvias, and my party, are rising to action against Stied! We’ll rescue the king, and take down Stied! Those who wish to help our cause and liberate Bordaule come gather in the city of Surfour!”

I said all that in a flurry, then let go of the device. I said it, now there was no way to avoid a full-on attack. The first step was done, so I sat on the Sofa letting go of my strength. I barely had any time to relax, as the magic device began ringing before I could even think of the next step.

“Can you hear me? Princess Luvias, I’m Verna, the daughter of the Cristopher family. We wish to become your allies, can we talk?”

So soon?! No one had expected an answer so quickly, so we were all surprised. If I remember correctly, the Cristopher family’s estate was located on the northern border of the country. I had met Count Ralph, the head of the family, before. He looked like a lively guy…but it was a bit odd to hear his daughter making the call. Thinking about all that could be done later, now I had to focus on answering the call on time.

“This is Luvias. Thank you for answering so soon Lady Verna. I’m surprised to see the results so quickly.”
“We just went through some troubles on our side, you see. To be precise, we just chased out all of Stied’s black knights that were occupying our territory. Your friend, Diaria, is here helping us.”
“Diaria? Why is Diaria all the way over there?”
“Well, maybe it’s best if she…ah, yes, you can talk.”

I could hear some faint whispering, and then a familiar voice came from the device.

“Luvias, can you hear me? This is Diaria. Is Lapis there too?”
“Diaria, why are you all the way over there…”

I felt glad hearing her voice after so long. She sounded like she was doing well.

“Well, a lot of things happened. I wish I could go into details, but I don’t want to hog your time on the magic device. In short, the Cristopher estate is your ally now. I’m sure you’ll get a lot of calls from other places soon, so we’ll publicly announce the alliance to the country tomorrow.”
“Thanks. If you’re there we can attack from both the south and north then.”
“We don’t have many men so we’re only able to hold our ground though. Either way, let’s talk more tomorrow.”

With that, the call was over. I had not expected help from so far away, but knowing we could cover the entire country made me feel better about myself.

“It seems Diaria is hard at work too. But that’s a good start, Luvias.”
“Yes. The Cristopher family might not have many men, but their public support goes a long way. Just one public ally should get the ball rolling.”

Things were going well. But before I could think anything more, the device rang again. I sighed a bit as I picked it up, realizing I had a very busy day ahead of me. But when I heard that voice I felt my body freeze.

“…Can you hear me? Luvias? It’s me, Magna, your brother.”