The Story of Hero Among Heroes ~The Founding Chronicles of Arestia - Chapter 97 – Arestia

It’s been a month since Ares arrived at Grants, which also means it’s time for the conference of representatives of four former countries; Grants, Redgear, Trevoir and Brittany to be held.

[It’s only been a month since his arrival, but a lot has changed since then…]

Redgear’s William commented as he peeked at the vibrant scenery of Heinz through the window of his carriage.

The previous Heinz was often attacked by monsters, so people tend to walk around while armed. In short, it’s the image of a crude and underdeveloped land.

In fact, William had a bad memory of being attacked by magic beasts when he visited Grants in the past. The road was rough and the cityscape looked more like a rural village or a suburban area. From those impressions, he’s hard-pressed to believe that it was a capital city of a country.

But what about now?

On his way here, no monster attacked his group. The road was well-maintained and easy to pass. The street was already cobblestone and most of the cityscape had already changed from wooden buildings to stone and brick buildings. Unlike before, the market was more vibrant with more stores opening for business. There were smiles on people’s faces as if they’re having fun.

[When the lord changes so will the country… is it? Then I too, will try to follow.]

As William muttered to himself, he began to think about the conference of the four former countries, which had seen so many changes under Ares’ leadership.

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William was guided to a large hall with wide round table in the middle.

While he was pondering over the hidden meaning behind the round table, someone greeted him.

[King of Redgear… oh, now it’s Earl of Redgear… this is the first time we meet.]

When William turned around, he saw a well dressed, tall, silver haired man was standing there.

[…ah, pardon me for greeting you without introducing myself first. My name is Gray. I’ll be representing Brittany.]

Gray bowed his head as he spoke. William hurriedly responded upon seeing this..

[Please do not bow to me. We are of equal position right now.]

[I was originally just an adventurer… while William-sama was formerly a king. How can it be equal…]

[It’s in the past. Please stop. We are comrades now.]

William said as he offered a handshake. Gray, in turn, finally raised his head back.

[Well then, now we are talking. I’ll look forward to working with you in the future.]

Gray took William’s outstretched hand and two finally shook hands firmly with a smile on each face.

Afterward, William asked Gray a question.

[By the way, Gray-dono… do you happen to know where we should sit?]

[No… I actually have the same problem.]

At that moment, the door opened once more. This time around, it was Trevoir’s Louis and Simon.

Just the same, both looked at the round table in confusion.

[This is… where should I sit?]

[What’s with this round table…? This way we won’t know where the leader will sit…]

Seeing this, William and Gray could only smile at each other.

[It appears that we are not the only ones not in the know.]

[It seems so. But… this is a problem. What should we do then?]

Right then, the door once again opened along with a loud noise.

[Ah! Milord hasn’t arrived yet. I made it in time!]

[If only we finished the sparring early, I won’t be this panicked… it’s because of you as usual…]

[You’re just being petty, Sigurd! At least we made it in time.]

The two big-bodied loud men who seemed to be getting along well entered the hall. They then sat down on the chairs without much thought.

[…isn’t that Grants’ crown prince, Lord Darius!?]

Surprised to find Darius there, William shouted out of shock.

[Oh, hi, everyone. You’ve come from afar, so why don’t you take a seat? Aren’t you tired from standing around like that?]

Pressured by Darius’ voice, William, Gray, and Louis, hurriedly sat on nearby seats. Simon simply stood behind Louis.

This sort of randomly choosing seat is…. despite that thought, William and the others didn’t dare to voice it out because Darius was there.

Soon after, yet another voice could be heard from behind the door.

[As I told you already, you don’t have to become my assistant…]

[I will leave the corps to Liliana-dono in the meantime… however, I want you to teach her Schwarzer-style tactics and commands.]

[Then you shouldn’t have gone to me…]

[By the way, what is wrong with that Liliana-dono?]

[……….]

[Don’t tell me, you’ve touched her too?]

[….alright, let’s start the conference already.]

[…milord… isn’t it still a bit too early?]

The door opened to the voice of Ares, Shion, and George.

William was about to stand up, but Ares immediately stopped him.

[You don’t have to do that every single time, you know? Just save up the energy for something else more important.]

With a refreshing smile, Ares sat on the vacant seat without much thought, just like Darius and Sigurd did. Shion and George took the empty seats next to him.

[Excuse me…]

The Earl of Trevoir Louis opened up.

[Ares-dono is our leader. So I thought that it would only be natural for you to sit on a throne… but this round table does not signify which one of us is the leader. Would you please elaborate…?]

[Isn’t it just a seat?]

[!?]

[I don’t need such a thing when it’s unnecessary, do I? Everyone is here to confer for the good of the people and nation. There is no need for difference in rank here.]

It was a concept well beyond their current common sense. Louis, William, and Gray all gave Ares an amazed look.

After that, Ares continued to have a small talk with the other participants. When several civil officers, including Gail finally took the remaining seats, Ares coughed and formally began the conference.

[Alright… now that we are already acquaintanced with each other, let’s proceed with the conference. First is the political aspects. The moderator of this session is this person, George.]

[In Ares-sama’s stead, I am George, the State Secretary. A pleasure to meet all of you.]

That said, George expanded the map of the four former countries.

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George proposed 3 policies for the three countries.

The first were land and agricultural reforms.

Both Trevoir and Redgear were known as rich and prosperous lands.

[But there are still some room for further development.]

That said, George introduced the double-cropping method that has been encouraged in Schwarzer Territory and became the latest agricultural breakthrough in the Empire. In addition to that, new farming tools, fertilizers as well as the method to cultivate the land were also introduced with illustrations.

[These lands are fertile grounds. It’s best to turn them into big farmlands. Let’s turn them, along with Grants once we opened up the Land of Demons, into the largest agricultural land in the continent.]

For both William and Louis, George introduced new methods that they hadn’t known yet before.

The next proposal was about commerce.

[There are a lot of merchants in Brittany right now. We’ll have to review the tax system in order to increase logistics.]

[ What do you mean? Isn’t Brittany’s tax already too high as is?]

[But just opening a small stall requires a lot of money. If you tone the cost down, there are bound to be more people to do business]

In Brittany, one must pay the tax first before being able to start a business. George proposed to abolish that tax to allow people more freedom to do business.

[If water is stagnant, it will soon dry down. Same goes with gold. Steady movement is needed to keep it alive.]

In this way people can do business more easily, while still paying taxes on interest… that was George’s proposal.

[Of course, let’s not limit it to only Brittany. Practice it everywhere. In addition to that, we’ll also abolish tariffs in each territory so that merchants can trade between cities more freely.]

The last proposal was about civil engineering projects.

[Let’s build a『road』.]

[Road?]

[Yes, a highway that connects one city to another city.]

George added while pointing at the map.

[We need to build『Roads』that can grant everyone safe passage between cities. This may not be work that will be concluded after a year or two, but it’s the most important work. Also…]

He paused for a while before resuming.

[These roads will not only be limited to the ground. We will also be using the Depay River as a vast waterway.]

The Depay River is a vast river that runs from Redgear to Grants. It’s usually flooded during the rainy season so it’s hard to develop the fertile lands around it.

[A waterway is currently under construction in Heinz. We will also do this in other places. By building these waterways, we can prevent flooding. And we can also transport supplies with boats through it.]

In short, George recommended three policies.

Agricultural reform, commercial reform and infrastructure development.

Nobody voiced their opposition so it was certified right away.

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[Next, Shion will explain our future military strategy.]

That said, Ares turned his gaze to the sleepy-looking glasses wearing black haired man.

[My name is Shion… I’m Ares-sama’s military advisor. Pleased to be acquainted with all of you.]

Shion then began to share his plan with William and the others.

What he proposed was pretty much the same to what is currently being applied in Grants.

First was regarding military formations and then the plans for the next few years.

The military formations were particularly given detailed instructions.

[We’ll send troops to Brittany in order to maintain security, so please do not hire mercenaries. Mercenaries’ morale and loyalty are very low to begin with and we need to sharpen the skills of our own soldiers to begin with. This will also allow competent people to advance in ranks.]

[Trevoir can maintain security with their own soldiers. In turn, Trevoir will have to send their soldiers to Grants for mandatory joint training to improve their skills.]

[Same goes with Redgear’s army. Liliana-dono will lead these army to play a major part in defending the borders and supporting the main forces. These soldiers will also be trained alongside Grants’ soldiers.]

After that, Shion began to talk about the future of the continent, just like he did back at the office.

[You mean, there will be no further eastern campaign from Arcadia?]

[Yes. No doubt about it. However, just to keep a facade, we’ll still have to station some soldiers on Fort Jax southeast of Redgear…]

But Shion didn’t stop there.

[What is worrying now is the movement of one of the great powers in the east. In particular concern is the movement of the Byzerd Principality… and there is also that newly-born Dormadia Kingdom. Not much is currently known about this kingdom, which makes it a threat we need to be wary of in the future.]

William showed his agreement to Shion’s explanations.

[Back in Redgear, I heard from the messenger of Renato Principality that Dormadia Kingdom uses magic beasts as a support to their army. There is also a rumour that the king himself is actually a demonkin. But that’s it. They also tend to destroy and plunder any country they conquer… causing every country nearby to increase their vigilance. Regarding Byzerd, it faced political changes several years ago after the second prince Zachard, known for his bravery, ascended the throne…]

[Those are interesting information. I think it’s necessary to investigate further.]

Shion then declared in a strong tone.

[Grants, Redgear, Brittany, and Trevoir. These four former countries must work together in both military and political matters as though they all belonged to a single country. The situation may change every moment. It can get out of hand. So in order to survive… we must work together. Let this『Cursed Land』become the beginning to everything.]

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[Can I add a few more things?]

When the conference was about to come to an end, Earl of Trevoir Louis who had been listening silently up until now, spoke up for the first time.

[The proposals of both George-dono and Shion-dono are indeed the right thing to do, Trevoir will do its best to follow through. Having been able to exchange opinions with both William-dono and Gray-dono also makes this conference truly fruitful.]

Louis then continued after a short pause.

[According to this conference, all four regions must work together as one, with Ares-sama acting as our leader. So my suggestion is… we should decide on the name for when these four gather together.]

Grants, Trevoir, Brittany, and Redgear. These four former countries are collectively called as『Schwarzer’s Frontier Territory』at the moment. But Louis insisted for a separate name.

[ I see… we can’t simply call it the 『4-Country Alliance』or『Cursed Land』. Do you have a suggestion?]

George who unusually showed interest in Louis’ suggestion responded.

Louis and Simon looked at each other, then said with a small laugh.

[How does Arestia sound to all of you?]

The conference room was filled with silence for a while until Darius broke it with a laugh.

[Interesting!! So the name of the lord becomes the name of his land! Truly interesting!]

Following that, Shion and George also chuckled.

[That’s a good name. I like it.]

[I think it’s good enough? Easy to understand.]

Everyone else also showed their approval with a laugh.

Seeing this, George concluded it.

[Well then, since everyone is in favor of this suggestion…]

[But… what about my opinion…?]

Turning around, there was Ares with a bitter look on his face.

[Rejected.]

[But I haven’t even said anything yet!?]

[For now, it’s rejected because it’ll be like pouring cold water on this good atmosphere.]

[…too domineering…]

Ares went drooping on his chair.

[Even so…. I do think that it is a good idea. Surely we all have survived due to the pity of Arcadia Empire’s throne. However… we are not serving under Arcadia. All of us are here because we follow Ares-dono as our true leader.]

Others showed their agreement to Gail’s words.

William said it the loudest.

[Exactly. That is our pride. I would like to cooperate, so that this very name can be revealed to the world one day. Lord Leader-dono]

As if on cue, everyone else also swore their willingness to become Ares’ subjects. Ares could only laugh bitterly from witnessing this. Seeing the situation, George then announced the dissolution of the conference.

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[Arestia.]

That name was originally a cipher for Ares and the others to call the conference of the four former countries.

Their very thoughts. Their obedience was not for the Arcadia empire, but to Ares Schwarzer. Thus their loyalty was directed to Ares as an individual, instead of Arcadia.

It can be said that this name was very convenient way to embody that thoughts.

They were formally known as the『Schwarzer Frontier Territory』, but in secret, they called themselves『Arestia』.

However, this name would later become the official name for their country which will rule the entire continent for a very long time… but of course there was no way they are aware of this at the moment.