The Story of Hero Among Heroes ~The Founding Chronicles of Arestia Chapter 81

Weekly chapters (2/2)

Back to the main plot again.

Enjoy~

Chapter 81 – After the Battle

Inside the Heinz palace; the throne room.
Emperor Sephiros sat on the throne with Arcadia aristocrats standing on the left and right. In the center were Ares and Sovereign Gail, waiting for their fate.

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The Arcadia Empire main army retreated to Redgear and reorganized.
Silvia urged the Emperor to send reinforcements, but their progress was slow. No wonder. They have never seen that many monsters before..
Each of aristocrats deliberately slowed down to prevent their side to sustain damage.

A messenger came five days later. The content of the message being, that Ares had repelled the advancing horde of monsters and the capitulation of Grants Princ.i.p.ality.
Is it a lie or the truth? Is it an enemy tactic? The wary Arcadia forces headed to the Grants princ.i.p.ality after finis.h.i.+ng their preparation…

There, they could see the flags of Arcadia Empire fluttered, and the gate to the capital is wide open.
Ares greeted the Emperor at the gate.

[Schwarzer little lord, well done.]

Delighted, Sephiros got off of his horse and shook Ares' hand.

No one has ever seen the Emperor to act that way so the aristocrats were immensely surprised. It's obvious to them that Ares had obtained a good position in the Emperor's heart.

An eerie silence struck as they entered the capital. It's only natural, as their enemies are still walking around the city.
However….there was no hostility.
Apart from Sephiros, the aristocrats and the military officers… they all felt as though they've entered a trap as they stepped into Heinz.

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As Sephiros entered the palace, the appointment today was announced.

He would be receiving the capitulation directly from Gail.
The Sovereign Gail had retired and the Grants Princ.i.p.ality is virtually gone.
Aside from Gail, the officers of Grants Princ.i.p.ality with have to obey to the new lord who will be appointed later by the Arcadia Empire.

The chamberlain read the decree out loud in place of the Emperor.

The aristocrats were once again surprised that the Grants royal clan and the retainers were spared.
Sephiros used to punished his opposition severely.
Therefore, the whole ceremony felt unnatural to the aristocrats.

But still, unlike Trevoir and Redgear, Grants Princ.i.p.ality did not get to maintain the ruling position. In fact, their capitulation procedure is different from the others.

The fate of the region is worrying.
Who will rule the vast but troubling territory of Grants? No one knows for now, as the Emperor did not give any hints in relation to that matter.
Many of the aristocrats actually felt terrified by the retainers of Grants and preferred for them all to be punished severely.

However…they couldn't do anything about it now. No one dared to speak. No, in the first place, they had no right to speak here.

Many glances were focused on one man.

Ares Schwarzer

The person in question was smiling a little, observing the other aristocrats' action.

In this campaign, 300,000 strong imperial soldiers were dispatched, but it's no exaggeration to say that Ares and his private soldiers did most of the work.
Conquering Brittany and Trevoir with lightning speed, then forcing Redgear to surrender while the main forces were still struggling to siege the two fortresses. Later on, not only he repelled the countless numbers of monster horde attacking Grants, but he also brought Grants Princ.i.p.ality to capitulate.

These four countries may be small and not a superpower like Thracia Kingdom or Wolfgard, But one of these countries was a country that had remained undefeated for the entire 100 years, the Grants Princ.i.p.ality. And yet the undefeated country surrendered in such a short time.
And moreover, the victory allowed the Empire to gain a foothold to conquer the eastern part of the continent.

One can say that it's not the Arcadia Empire who had won this campaign;it was Ares who did.

[Ares Schwarzer's achievements and merits are tremendous in this campaign. This shall be discussed further once We returned back to the capital.]

[This Ares, acceptd the decree.]

Afterwards, Ares said his thanks.

[Everyone, well done. We will return to the Royal Capital shortly to rest. The Thracia in the west is moving suspiciously. That requires our utmost attention as well, so get ready to return]

[ [ [ [ [ Yes, Your Majesty!] ] ] ] ]

All the aristocrats bowed their heads in unison.

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During all that, Scion was biting his lips.

What had gone wrong??

The strategy that he and Gala had concocted was perfect.

While Ares was fighting Darius, he had dispatched Gala to infiltrate the capital Heinz with the Demon King artifact at hand. Thus luring the countless amount of monster to rush toward Heinz.
He then set up a plot to flood Depay river, forcing the entire 300,000 strong Arcadia forces to retreat and unable to partic.i.p.ate in repelling the monsters.
Heinz and Ares were supposed to be swallowed by the monsters, therefore secretly removing one of his greatest political enemies. He's not interested in Heinz. He merely wanted to… improve his position.

Scion's plan was to help Annerose ascend the throne. He would later proceed to take the highest authority by becoming her『Regent』, then eventually take over Arcadia and establish the Rozenheim dynasty.

Ares Schwarzer is in the way to achieve this dream.

Everything went well at first. Ares steadily fell in to Scion's trap. But who knew that Ares would still end up getting on top.

[More opportunities will come my way for sure… I just need to pull him away from the Capital, and I will slowly make him lose his place in the Capital in the meantime…]

Thought Scion inwardly.

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That evening.
Ares, Sigurd and Darius were standing on top of a hill overlooking the Land of Demons.

The 『Land of Demons』spreading to the west was illuminated by the setting sun. But thanks to that, they were able to confirm the terrain and the forests from a distance.

[Please explain. This『Land of Demons』is indeed the closest threat to Grants. But if you can manage the demonkins, then this rich land will be yours to develop…]

[Easier said than done. There are too many magic beasts living there, not to mention the demon lords. Moreover, if we focus our strength there, we'll have trouble dealing with the barbarians from the north and the Aryans from the east… Truly troublesome.]

Darius explained with a bitter look on his face.

[Even so… someone still has to do it.]

Having said that, Ares turned to Sigurd and Darius.

[Most likely, I will be appointed to govern this land. No one other than me is brave enough to be willing to go to a place with so many dangerous spots around it. No aristocrats would be willing to govern this land. Impossible…even if it was given freely to them. And that's where I'll enter the picture. It's the obvious choice for everyone.]

After a short pause, Ares continued, this time, facing Darius.

[For me, this place will be the first step to reach my dream… many things need to be done… Could you lend me your help? I need your strength.]

Darius smiled and drew the sword hanging on his waist, presenting it to Ares.

[I am but a man who only knows how to fight. If you don't mind, then allow me to fight for milord until the time my life finally runs out.]

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On the next day, Arcadia Empire forces began marching back to the Royal Capital.

Gail and his sons will temporarily hold the reins of the Grants government until Sephiros decided on the new lord. This was also very unusual.

[Milord, my father and I will do our best until you return. So please come back as soon as possible.]

[He really makes for a good retainer…]

As Sigurd distorted his face in response, Ares smiled happily.

[Seeing Darius acting polite like that is kind of uncomfortable to see. I think it'll take a month before the new lord is decided. Until then, please do your best.]

That said, Ares urged his horse to run.

Darius laughed in satisfaction as he looked at his soon-to-be new lord's back.

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[Heavenly Commander] Darius Grants

Said to be the strongest among Ares' [Six Heavenly Generals].
There are many anecdotes and no shortage of topics regarding this person.
Breaking through hundred thousands of enemies on his own.
Fighting a battle to the death against one of the Eight Demon lords.
A duel with King Zaccard.

His exhilarating and affectionate persona, as well as his unmatched valor…made him the most popular warrior figure to be featured in literary and artistic works and people praised him as the deity of war.