The Story of Hero Among Heroes ~The Founding Chronicles of Arestia - Chapter 157 – Urgent Summon

One day, about half a year after Ares returned from the northern land.

The count of Redgear, William couldn’t hide his confusion when an urgent summon for him to go to Heinz arrived.

In the frontier area, once every three months, the lords of each territory, including Ares’ direct retainers, and the heads of the big towns, would meet in Heinz to decide on policies.

However, such an urgent call never happened before… Not in the entire 2 years since Ares first gained control over the area.

[What in the world is going on…]

William pondered as he looked through the glass window of his carriage. Outside was the old『Gold Tiger General』Zion riding atop his horse.

Other than himself… Zion was also included in this urgent summon.

A highway that crosses the Land of Demons…while travelling along the so-called『Road of Beginning』,  William couldn’t help but to wonder about what kind of meeting awaits him.

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As soon as William arrived at Ares’ mansion, he immediately headed to the『Round Table Room』.

The important meetings of the Schwarzer Frontier territory were usually held in this room.

At first, the round table confused William, but that’s no longer the case now. Behind him, Zion looked on the table with interest.

[Hoho. Is this…the round table you told me about?]

[Yes… it confused me at first.]

Whilst saying so, William took a seat on one of the chairs.

Looking around, everyone present also cannot hide their confusion.

William observed them one by one…then stopped his gaze at a certain man. He hadn’t seen this man again for these past few years or so.

[That… General Darius? You have come back…]

Yes, Darius, who was supposedly still in the Aryan territory, was here.

Darius sat quietly with his arms crossed, his eyes closed.

In the meantime, the number of people kept increasing. The last who hadn’t appeared yet were Ares and his wives and important staff like George and Shion.

There was a strange tension in the round table room, causing everyone to remain silent.

William and Zion looked at each other. They could only wait apprehensively for the person who summoned them to appear, which didn’t take too long.

[I’ve made you wait, everyone.]

The Lord of Frontier, Ares Schwarzer, finally appeared in the Round Table Room with his usual bright smile.

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Ares quickly sat down on one of the empty seats. George and Shion sat on either of his sides, with his wives sitting on the seats next to the two. Since the northern expedition, Ares’ wives who actively participated in both the domestic and military affairs started to also attend the meetings.

William’s gaze was met with his sister Liliana’s. After exchanging smiles as a silent greeting, the two focused their attention to their lord once more.

[Pardon me for summoning you all so suddenly. But there is a big discovery happening recently; also a big movement is about to begin… so I feel the need to gather everyone to discuss it.]

Hearing that one part caused William to swallow his saliva. Ares mentioned 『Big Movement』just now. Their lord is not someone who would deliberately exaggerate stories so something big is really going to happen.

Which means this would involve the entire continent.

He started to feel excited at the possibility.

[First of all, from domestic affairs. George, please explain.]

[Yes. Firstly… in the mountain Nora is developing… we found that it’s filled with a large amount of high purity magic stones… and also, a vein of mithril was discovered there.]

[What?! High purity magic stones!?]

[A mithril vein was discovered there!?]

The unexpected report raised a commotion.

It was only natural as both high purity magic stones and mithril are rarer than gold and silver.

High purity magic stones carried a much higher magic power in both quality and quantity than those produced by the『Dragon Vein』in the Land of Demon.

High purity magic stones are formed from the crystallizing heart of magic beasts with strong magic power. The highest quality known so far were the『Phoenix’s Heart』and 『Dragon’s Heart』 embedded on Sharon’s and Liliana’s valkyrie armors. Other than the 『Dragon’s Heart』, high purity magic stones only a few ranks lower in quality were found scattered inside the mine.

The other discovery, the mithril vein, is also a huge thing. Most equipment with magical properties in this continent are crafted from mithril. Thus most well known warlords and adventurers prefer to use mithril products.

It may not be as sturdy as the three supermetals like adamantite, orichalcon, and the eastern islands’ hihiirokane, but mithril has greater magic conductivity and certainly sturdier than iron or steel.

It is even more valuable than the『Black Iron』that is said to be the king of iron. It is certainly a coveted material, especially by those who dabble in magic.

[This certainly cannot be announced to the public. The Empire will confiscate it immediately after the announcement. But that doesn’t mean we must leave it alone.]

George spread his gaze to everyone as he said this.

It will be immediately confiscated if it becomes known. This much is obvious to everyone.

It was too huge of a discovery…

If confiscation really occurs, many more people will come and go and the Frontier area will move into a worse direction. In addition to that, it would also make the development of the Frontier area, which had been kept a secret up until now, to become known, which will in turn cause the land to be confiscated as well.

However… that doesn’t mean they should leave the discovery be.

[Therefore… we will not sell or give it to others and instead use it secretly to further develop our land. Something that all of us can benefit from, like armors and weapons. We will also use them to produce 『Combat Golems』and 『Magic Trains』.

[What is a『Combat Golem』?]

Because an unfamiliar word suddenly popped out, the Count of Trevoir Louis asked.

It was Ares who answered that question.

[The『Combat Golem』….it will be made entirely from mithril. And a high purity magic stone will act as its heart. Theoretically, it may become a golem with a will of its own.]

Everyone was stunned hearing such an unimaginable usage.

George then made a follow-up.

[The general idea is to use the high purity magic stone as a power source for the『Magic Train』in order to enable the train to travel faster. Well, theoretically speaking, the train may also develop its own will… but that might be interesting too.]

George said such a scary notion lightly. William and Gray could only shake their heads lightly at the thought of a train with a will of its own… Meanwhile, Ares and the others didn’t seem to mind.

[But once such a golem can be fielded to battle, we might need to reorganize our army.]

This time around, Elan spoke up. This time Shion was the one to answer it.

[Indeed. Our second agenda for this meeting… is the army reorganization.]

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Shion started his explanation.

[The Dragon Knights are becoming more and more viable for combat recently. They can certainly be incorporated into the second army. The Aryans under Darius are strong enough to become the core of his army. And then… there are also the warriors of the east that Shu is calling in… I heard that they’re all considerably strong fighters. They’re scheduled to also join the army in one year’s time.]

Shu nodded in confirmation.

What Shion was thinking about is the placement within the army.

Dividing the powerful soldiers of the frontier area that had been trained in the last few years into 5 armies then mixing in the special units into them.

The 1st army will be centered around the 『Legions』that Ares led.

The 『Dragon Knights』under Sigurd’s command will act as the 2nd army’s core.

The 3rd army will have the 『Aryans』headed by Darius as its center.

Shu will lead the 4th army with the『Murakumo clan’s samurai』acting as the core.

[The 4th army will mostly be in defensive duty until the samurais arrive. Until then, Shu will be in charge of commanding and training the 4th army. He’ll also serve as deputy commander for lord Ares in the meantime.]

[Understood.]

Shu nodded in affirmative to Shion’s explanation.

Shion then resumed.

[The 5th army will have the skeleton soldiers to aid it, with Shadow-dono will be joining as deputy commander. A『Combat Golem』will also be assigned to this army.]

The 5th army, led by Shion, will have the skeleton soldiers and the new 『combat golem』as its core. They will be in charge of defensive battles

After entering Heinz, Shadow had been busy at work collecting skeletons. The demand for skeleton workers was so high their presence had already become indispensable for domestic affairs.

This time, it was decided to use that power freely for military purposes (as it originally should have been).

[Reorganize our army and prepare for war. Our peaceful days… are nearing its end.]

Shion said that last part casually. But it was enough to turn the previously noisy room solemn. Shion turned to Ares. Their eyes met, and Ares responded with a nod.

Receiving the confirmation, Shion started talking once more.

[All of you may wonder, why are we arming ourselves again? And…. why everyone was summoned in a hurry this time… and without a doubt this time, there will be a big war in two months.]

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[There are two pieces of important information. First of all, the west… it has been reported that the battle against Thrace will begin in earnest shortly.]

While saying so, Shion spreaded out a map on the round table. It was a large map depicting the western part of the Arcadia continent. Shion then pointed at two spots on the map with his iron fan.

[The army will advance from these two directions. The first one will go through Archduke Saxon’s territory to enter Thrace, while the other will go through the late Morolto’s territory… currently ruled by princess Sylvia, to attack from 『Tranberg Principality』. There is no doubt that the Empire gathered the soldiers in these two areas. According to Rouen-dono’s report, the Archduke’s soldiers were instructed to gather there.]

Listening to Shion’s explanation, someone asked.

[I get it if they’ll be passing through Archduke Saxon’s territory… but why bother going through Tranberg Principality? A country known for the『Steel Battalion』led by the『Battle God』King Alvarez Tranberg?]

It was Grants’ consultant Gail who spoke this time.

Everyone nodded in agreement to Gail’s question.

Alvarez Tranberg

Currently in his late forties, Alvarez is in the peak of his life, still active and energetic as a national leader despite his age.

He was a well-known military genius, single-handedly enabling even a small country like Tranberg principality to retain its independence despite being sandwiched by much larger countries such as Wolfgard.

He hadn’t suffered any defeat in his whole life and Tranberg’s Steel Battalion bore the name of the strongest cavalry in the continent. It’s said that if only he was born in a stronger country, he would’ve conquered the continent.

Tranberg was like untouchable land for other countries. None had invaded for the past several years.

Hearing Gail’s question, Shion nodded.

[Yes, that should be common sense. However, it seems that the young lord of Rosenheim will be diving personally into this battle. Perhaps he’s aiming to achieve『great merit none other could surpass』. Just like what our lord did in the past.]

While saying that, Shion threw a glance at Ares, which Ares replied with a shrug.

[Scion now arguably leads the largest faction in the Capital. Marriage with one of the Princesses will at least secure the position of the Prime Minister in the future. But…. that alone will not be enough. He lacks influence within the military body.]

Shion looked at everyone present then took a short breather.

[Going through Tranberg… is a feat that no one had managed to accomplish. At first, he’ll probably try to negotiate his way, but I don’t think the King of Tranberg would agree so easily. They will have to settle the matter in battle. Therefore he’ll try to win by using overwhelming numbers.]

According to the information, certainly, a large number of soldiers was being gathered under Princess Sylvia’s banner. Everyone nodded in agreement.

[Or perhaps he has another plan. Apparently he has a mysterious staff member working for him. Either way, king Tranberg will not go down without a fight. If it’s possible to defeat him with sheer numbers, he would’ve been defeated a long time ago… but the question is, are the soldiers from the Schwarzer territory gathering there as well? The Schwarzer territory does not have any justification to refuse fielding their troops unlike here in the Frontier area.]

Following Shion, Ares also spoke up.

[Well, we can certainly rest assured about that. The necessary precautions have been taken. I’m not going to let father’s precious soldiers die in vain.]

Ares chuckled.

[I also hear that Rouen-dono will be leading. That must be why Milord looks assured.]

Shion also chuckled in return.

[This war, the empire will most likely lose. Horribly… not only in Tranberg, but also those marching from Archduke Saxon’s territory. The Thrace military is not to be trifled with as well. Besides, I’m sure Archduke Saxon will get in their way. The reason why Scion wanted to pass through Saxon’s territory is to test the latter. But I’m afraid that will only backfire… And if the empire suffers a defeat here… there will surely be a great commotion.]

[Well… Hold on a second!]

This time, William raised his voice.

[If it’s fairly obvious, then… how come His Majesty『Thunder Emperor』allowed all of this to happen??]

Many nodded in agreement to William.

[His Majesty Sephiros is well known as the『Thunder Emperor』. Surely such a person could see this coming…]

After hearing these questions, Ares gave Cornelia a glance… and answered.

[Perhaps, His Majesty… didn’t do anything… no, He can’t really do anything about it…]

Ares’ words caused everyone to take a deep breath. The room fell into silence.

There were rumours floating around about how the emperor had fallen sick. But how can Ares be sure about that… nobody knows. But everyone’s glancing at Cornelia, only to be replied with silence.

Shion then asked Ares.

[Milord… I dare not to doubt your words…… but can you tell us why His Majesty can’t against it?]

Ares shook his head in a bitter face.

[…I’m sorry. I can’t say yet…]

The calm was returned to the round table.

[A year from now… in a year, the time will come to talk about it. Until then… please wait.]

Everyone sighed then fell into silence. It was George who broke this silence.

[…then we will 『certainly』talk about it in a year to come. We have a more important matter to discuss now… let’s move on to the next topic on the agenda.]

George looked at Shion again.

[This time, it’s regarding the movement in the east and how will we move in response to that. Let me explain the most important topic at the moment.]