chapter_0070

70 – Hydra and Dog

70 – Hydra and Dog

A few days after Leo joined Cron as an advisor, a letter arrived for the lords of the Southern Alliance.

The content of the letter was very simple.

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I cannot lower the compensation nor pay the taxes.

Everyone, take care of your own territories.

Then the rebellion will naturally disappear.

Lord of Cron / Calix Crone

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The lords of the Southern Alliance were enraged by Calix’s letter, which directly attacked their vulnerabilities.

They immediately convened a meeting to devise a countermeasure.

In the meeting place where everyone gathered, Tuel, the lord of the Ukraine family, representative of the Southern Alliance, and a lackey of the Northern Duke, slammed his hand on the table and shouted.

“The reason Cron is ignoring us like this is that we haven’t taken a strong stance!”

“Hmm…”

Tuel was a hardliner who had argued from the beginning that they should mobilize their armies to strongly pressure Cron.

However, there was fear that if they fought Cron head-on, their army might suffer significant losses from the power of the Krone Knights’ archers, the Dreyhart warriors, or the large-scale massacre magic of Crimson Sorcerer Sharen. Thus, the discussion turned to pressuring through dialogue.

However, when Calix flatly rejected their proposals, Tuel’s voice grew even louder.

“If we just sit here like this, Cron will look down on us even more. The people will become more arrogant and rebel, and everyone will lose the territories inherited from their ancestors. Just like that Hadem! Do you want to see that happen to yourselves?”

Hadem was a disgrace, but on the other hand, he was also a role model for the lords.

Some lords admired him for living freely and doing as he pleased with his strong power, and Tuel was one of them.

Hadem had fallen into disgrace and was confined.

The thought that he could become like Hadem made Tuel fear Cron, prompting him to take action.

“So what do we do?”

“What do you mean, what do we do? We fight!!”

Tuel believed that they could not avoid a fight.

But this was not a battle without odds.

“If we gather all the knights and soldiers from our six families, we will have 12,000 men, and there are 22 magicians! If we fight head-on, even if Cron receives support from other families, we will win.”

They estimated Cron’s total strength to be around 5,000.

Even with support from the Silla family and the Lion Family, they wouldn’t exceed 6,000, and no matter how high the quality of Cron’s soldiers was, having double the numbers was enough to secure victory.

And while they feared the large-scale magic of Crimson Sorcerer Sharen, if each family concentrated their magicians against Sharen, it was not impossible to restrain her.

Large-scale massacre magic has a short range and requires a lot of magical power and incantation, so support from the surroundings is essential.

With 22 magicians, while they might not defeat Sharen, it was entirely possible to prevent her from using area magic.

If they clashed with Cron, they might suffer significant losses, but it would be possible to resolve that by claiming damages from Cron after their victory.

After calculating, the lords agreed with Tuel’s words.

“Yeah! Let’s fight!”

“Since it has come to this, let’s see it through to the end!!”

Thus, on that day, the six families resolved to fight Cron.

The blades of the six families turned toward Cron.

“…and they will resolve for war,” Leo said while playing the lute in the meeting room where Calix, Hart, Ricain, and everyone else had gathered.

It was not a prediction; it felt as vivid as if he were actually witnessing it.

“Even if the six families resolve to do so, isn’t declaring war against us too extreme?”

“Why do you think that, Captain Ricain?”

Ricain had many questions about Leo’s words.

No matter how much the six families disliked Cron, Ricain believed they would not start a war.

After all, Cron, like Klaus, had not attacked first nor violated any contracts.

“No matter how much they dislike Cron’s success, starting a war without justification will not be overlooked by the Platinum Council.”

Ricain did not believe that the Platinum Council would simply watch a large-scale war involving more than ten related families.

However, having observed the Platinum Council from within the system, Leo knew much more about the situation than Ricain.

“The Platinum Council will watch and wait.”

“Why?”

“Because there are many within the Platinum Council who envy Cron.”

Under normal circumstances, the Platinum Council would have ignored the demands of the six families.

But now, the situation was different.

Cron’s actions had spread throughout the continent through bards and the common people.

Many nobles viewed it as a dangerous ideology that favored the commoners, and they suffered significant losses due to the unauthorized departure and flight of free citizens.

Besides the six families close to Cron, many nobles who had suffered in such a manner were also present within the Platinum Council.

The reason they had remained silent until now was the fear of losing face if they were criticized for not being able to handle such rumors.

However, Cron had grown too powerful, and there was fear within the Platinum Council that if they left this spark unchecked, they too might suffer.

It was with the help of those members of the Platinum Council who thought this way that Tuel was able to form the Southern Alliance.

“Tuel will demand a war trial from the Platinum Council. And it will be approved and communicated to us.”

“That can’t be… No matter how corrupt the Platinum Council is, they couldn’t have sunk that low.”

Ricain could not believe Leo’s words.

Just then, there was a knock at the meeting room door.

Knock, knock—

“What is it?”

The door opened, and a soldier entered.

He was holding a letter.

“I report. A letter has arrived from the Platinum Council.”

Calix received the letter from the Platinum Council.

And he read its contents.

“What does it say, my lord?”

“…The Platinum Council has approved the war trial of the six families.”

Calix answered Noah’s question.

It stated that the Platinum Council approved the war trial of the six families.

A war trial was a trial to determine who was right in the event of a conflict between families.

This method of trial, based on the belief that the righteous would be protected by the gods and would win, typically occurred when families reached an irreparable catastrophe.

It was a trial that the Platinum Council would not easily approve, as it could lead to a massacre against a family.

Yet, it had been opened against Cron.

“Th-this can’t be…”

“Hart!”

Hart, the deputy, nearly collapsed as his legs gave way.

Ricain quickly caught him, but Hart’s complexion was not good.

He had seen many families suffer devastating losses due to war trials.

The thought that the blade would turn toward Cron filled Hart with terror.

But Leo calmly continued to play his instrument and said.

Ding—

“It’s later than I expected. It seems that with so many heads, they are not able to unify their opinions well.”

Hart felt a bit angry at Leo’s calm demeanor.

After all, their family might be ruined, yet Leo appeared too relaxed.

“Advisor Leo, are you not afraid of the current situation?”

“What is there to be afraid of?”

“What did you say?”

There was no fear in Leo’s expression.

Instead, he seemed almost at ease.

Ding—

“They are not a giant hydra. They are merely six dogs huddled together in fear of the might of the silver dragon.”

In legend, there is a dragon called Hydra with three heads.

Many heroes died in fear as they faced that dragon, which could survive even if one head was cut off as long as other heads remained.

While Hart saw the Southern Alliance families as such a hydra, Leo did not.

To Leo, they were just six dogs mistaking themselves for a ‘hydra.’

“Though they think they are a hydra now, they will soon realize they are just dogs.”

“Do you have some kind of strategy?”

Hart had heard from Calix about Leo.

He believed that if Leo were a genius capable of devising incredible strategies, he would surely have a way to resolve this situation.

In response to Hart’s words, Leo replied.

Ding—

“Of course, I do. And it has already begun.”

Leo’s strategy had been in motion since the moment he arrived in Cron.

Doubt had become poison directed at the six families.

Author’s Note (Postscript)

??: We have no appearances.

??: It’s sad.

???: Let’s just eat popcorn and watch.