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The day Luvias announced she was taking a stand against her brother Stied, we received a call from Diaria who was staying in the Cristopher estate, and told us they would be joining us. That first alliance got the ball rolling, pushing those who were on the fence to join us as well.

Luvias was well-liked in the country, known as the princess that decided to put herself in danger fighting demons as a hero. But we were establishing our base of operations in Surfour, which was only a small territory with a small military force. There was not much we could do right now.

On the other hand, Stied still had control over most of the country, exerting his authority everywhere. It was not even worth comparing how little our forces looked compared to his numbers, and the army that existed before his coup already numbered more than ten thousand soldiers. Then he had his black knights to top it all off. Luvias and I were afraid that not many people would risk joining our side.

But our expectations were exceeded.

“I’m Viscount Stanley, I offer my help!”
“The family of Baron Marshire too!”

Only three days had passed, and we heard more people pledging their allegiance than we expected. At first I assumed Stied had pissed off more people than I thought, but then I noticed something else.

All the territories that offered help were located in the south, not too far away from Surfour. There were a few exceptions like the Cristopher family on the other side of the country, but that was because Diaria was there, so it was not the same.

Since all those territories were far from the capital and closer to Surfour, I thought that they probably assumed we would attack them to take over their cities if they did not ally themselves with us. They were clearly thinking too deeply about this. We would be wary of places that did not offer an alliance, but we did not have the power or time to go defeating all of them. Such resources were better spent attacking Stied directly.

“Brother, I’m glad you’re safe.”
“Thanks to those two, yes. I wouldn’t say it was the most comfortable ride, but it was certainly memorable.”

Magna arrived within three days as scheduled, and he sounded tired as he untied himself from the rope that secured him. Karin and Ciel looked as energetic as ever on the other hand.

“It’s been a while, you two…or maybe not so much now that I think about it.”
“I know, I’m just glad to see you again.”
“Diaria isn’t here yet?”

As we went out to receive them, they noticed that Diaria was not with us, and kept looking around for her.

“I’ll tell you about her later. There’s food ready for you, so make sure you eat and rest.”
“I’ll take you up on that offer, I’m beat.”
“There’s nothing in the sky so I’m pretty bored too.”

All our forces were gathering in the castle, so there was an air of strictness inside, but the two did not seem to mind that as they headed for the dining hall. I noticed multiple soldiers and knights start to whisper to each other seeing the two girls. They were well-known in Surfour, but almost mythical rumors about them had spread in other cities. It seems that belonging to the hero’s party had more effect on others than I expected.

Prince Magna looked tired after his long trip flying, quite worn out from it, but I could still feel a sharp and determined spirit in his eyes. Luvias told him he could rest if he wanted, but he answered by shaking his head.

“We don’t have much time. I have to do everything I can before we clash against our enemy.”

Even the drawing room that once was sullied with Grom’s blood was completely clean now. All the broken furniture had been switched with new items, making it a perfect room for a noble to show his visitors. Magna sat down on a sofa that still smelled brand new, and after a deep breath he slapped his cheeks softly to wake himself up.

“Alright, mind updating me on the situation, Luvias?”
“Ah yes, we’re forming more alliances than I had expected.”

Luvias sat in front of Magna, and after a quick nod she began talking while Grom spread a map on the table. The different regions were colored on it, showing which had offered help, which had publicly denounced them, and which had not given an answer yet.

“Hmm…the situation looks quite obvious.”
“What do you mean?”

Neither me nor Luvias really understood what he meant, so we tilt our heads in confusion. Magna looked at us with disbelief, but then he took a breath and looked at the map again.

“Look at it. This map makes two things obvious about our allies.”
“Two?”
“First…look around here.”

We noticed many of our allies were nearby…was there anything else to see? I glanced at Luvias, but she looked just as confused.

“The location, yes, that’s something. But look at the ranks of our allies.”
“…Ah!”
“I see…that’s what you meant.”

We only noticed this when Magna pointed it out, but our allies were all pretty low on the ranks of nobles, to put it somehow. But those that openly supported Stied were bigger families with a long history. In other words…

“They’re all trying to climb up the ladder…”
“Yes, that’s it. They’re nobles that never had much power to begin with. They’re trying to bet everything on us, expecting to gain a lot if we succeed. I’m not saying every single noble out there thinks that, but I just want you to realize that they’re not all righteous men either.”
“…”

Luvias’ face looked grim. She had a really virtuous personality, and did not stand nobles who did things purely for profit, but she could not allow herself to express those feelings now. Magna paid little attention to her, continuing his explanation.

“But if we look at it from another perspective it’s a pretty good chance for us. There are people we could not touch at all during peaceful times, but now we have a reason to attack them. We can clean up the country from old families that festered in those territories, giving the country a breath of fresh air once we win.”

Magna said that with a cold smile, Luvias and I could not say anything back. He did not care if we were in a bad situation, he always found a way to turn it around into something positive. I felt a chill down my spine realizing this is how most nobles operate.

(I don’t like him…I feel like there were a lot of people like him back before I retired too though.)

I doubted he was the kind of person to plan a hit on someone with a smile, but he was clearly no saint either. Luvias noticed her brother was also someone she could not always see eye-to-eye with, and instinctively took a step back.

“Anyway, how many men have we gathered now?”
“I think around five thousand is a safe assumption for now. Though they’re all men from different territories all over the country, so they don’t move as one cohesive army yet.”

Usually during emergencies, the first ones to move are the knights in the capital. The knights and soldiers of smaller territories are there mainly to protect their local land, and to buy time until the main army arrives. But that assumed the assailants would come from outside the country, things were different during internal conflicts.

We had to train them to stop moving like small provisionary forces, and instead act like one large and cohesive army. Right now they were basically a bunch of low level soldiers that never worked together, simply acting on their own when needed. The way things were, I could imagine them running away the moment things took a bloody turn.

“Five thousand…that’s still a far cry from Stied’s numbers.”
“I know, but we can’t afford to run away now.”
“Of course. I’ll be counting on you to inspire courage into them so they can give their all on the battlefield.”

There was no reason to just sit idly while we waited for more soldiers to gather from other provinces. An army of tens of thousands of soldiers was probably being organized as we spoke. Meanwhile the only forces we could really trust were Grom’s. It was quite an unsettling situation.

“Well, we just have to plan around it then.”
“Master?”
“Do you have something you’d like to suggest?”

The prince and princess looked at me as I began to grin.

“I happen to have a lot of experience. Either way, just listen to what I have to say.”