Some awkward phrasing, but oh well.
P.S. Next "chapter" is about illustrations of the main characters. Might as well jump right to chapter 105.
Elisabel and Diane joined as my new staff members. The next day I was drinking with Damond, the duke of Fillsand
We were in his own private room.
The liquor was high quality, but that didnāt prevent the tension between the two of us.
As far as Iām concerned, I want an answer regarding the alliance with Fillsand. Naturally, Iām not going to let the Duke involve me with his invasion of the Felde kingdom.
On the other hand, the duke wants to win me over and take over the territory of the Felde kingdom together.
On our last reunion, Ā as a prerequisite to form the alliance I imposed him some conditions.
The first was, to quell the disputes between his children in order to consolidate his own power.
There are other conditions, but Iām reserving them for the time being.
[... Elisabel is going with you, right? Well, please take care of her]
[Now, Iām the one thatās grateful, still is it fine to let her go?]
Strictly speaking, this was contrary to the condition of āHaving the duke cooperate to mend the relationship of his three childrenā.
But I intend to let it pass.
In the first place, it was a condition for protecting Elisabel, so he should be aware of that.
[If sheās useful to you, sheās useful to me, besides having her at hand, would put us on good terms indefinitely]
The duke seemed relieved.
Heās not the kind of evil person to take pleasure in hurting others, but having said that, as a father his love for his daughter is appalling.
Elisabel clearly understands that, so she herself chose to come to Jiiteas.
Heās the same age as me, still I said such arrogant things despite not having children of my own. Ā Itās depressing but Iāll have to make do with it.
[How are Balzade and Agbeil doing?]
The duke poured more wine on my empty cup, heās timing was like we are already used to each other.
[I already proclaimed Balzade as my official successor. Heās always been an uninteresting guy, but heāll do fine. For some reason heās quite capable when it comes to the Felde kingdom and the Schultz.]
[Thatās good to hear, I also think heās quite capable]
Itās a shame he didnāt go into much detail about his two sons.
Still, Balzade manage to win the trust of the Schultz tribe, so I know what kind of man he is. The duke really doesnāt seem to think much about his sons.
Thereās a limit to how generous he can be as a ruler.
[Agbeil also seems to be more relaxed around his brother. I also donāt intend to do anything more than deciding the order of succession]
[Is that so, I think he seems promising too]
Contrary to his brother, Agbeil resembles his father, heās calculating and cunning. And can also think from the perspective of the weak.
He has already acknowledge his brother as the ruler, if they cover each otherās weaknesses ruling over Fillsand will go smoothly.
[That reminds me, didnāt Agbeil told you something?]
The duke was pouring more wine on my cup while smiling. Be damned this father and son.
Certainly, Agbeil has been secretly reporting to me.
[Ah yes, it was something like: āIn the future, if my father wants to betray you, Iāll let you know in advanceā]
[Grrr, thatās so like him. Itās because heās like that I didnāt say anything to him, please donāt think I want to betray you]
[Will do, let me say this just in case... donāt lay your hands on them]
[These brats have been prowling at my feet, donāt worry about it]
Well, for the duke and his children, that much is fine I guess.
More than anything he wanted it to be over, I also couldnāt do anything for their mother, the duchess.
[So... For the father that somehow managed to bring his family together, what kind of reward awaits him, lord wizard?]
In a plain manner the duke got down to business. The flame of ambition was burning inside his eyes.
[Ah yes, about the other dayās proposal, Fillsand need new lands for expansion, right? In that case I have the perfect region to use]
As I said that, I pointed at a region in the map hanging in the wall.
A vast open piece of land at the northern region of Fillsand, the āPlains of Twilightā.
[... That place is infested with undead... you are aware how preposterous is that?
Are you planning to use your sorceries to deal with it?]
The duke was staring at the map intently.
He interrupted me but didnāt denied my proposal, more than keeping his composure he didnāt know the extend of the power of my sorceries.
Of I donāt know a spell that can eliminate a seemingly endless number of undead from a vast extension on land. However during my stay in Fillsand I visited the library and the sages to gather information about the Plains if Twilight, so Iām not completely aimless.
[The outbreak of undead 120 years ago, came to be known as the 'storm of the deadā, thereās probably a source for the outbreak, and Iām planning on eliminating it]
[Thatās extremely dangerous... Is that not the case for wizards?]
Truth is, thereās only incomplete information about the āStorm of the deadā. Thereās something causing it, so I need to eliminate that something, or thatās my partial conjecture.
That said, If I could have the dwarves help me mass produce golems, claiming that land by sheer numbers wouldnāt be impossible.
If I haven't prepared this amount of bait, I would never have been able to satisfy the dukeās lust for conquest.
[What do you think? Iāll need to prepare... so in one or two years I promise to restore the āPlains of Twilightā into the former āPlains of Dawnā, until then I will like to assist in the restoration of your territory and improve the commerce between Jiiteas]
The duke is deep in thought.
Given the situation, Iām glad Iām showed off the power of wizardly when I eliminated the dark beast legion.
If not for that my proposal would have been laughed off.
[Very well, anyway the arable land and villages on the path of the dark beast legion were damaged, itāll take time to repair those and also reinforce the army. Iāll wait for 2 years]
[If we reclaim the Plains of Twilight, within 20 years we can construct one or two prominent districts, with ten years remaining to overthrow Felde.]
Iām sorry for him, but in 20 years I wonāt be helping him with the invasion.
In a way, I feel guilty for deceiving him but...
[By the way Margils-dono]
[When the dark beast legion attacked, at first I thought that would be the end of Fortitude castle. But when you completely destroyed them... I was relieved]
[Somewhere inside me, even if a little I thought about how important are the castle, my subordinates, the town, Ā the population... I wonder if Iām getting old...]
The āevil meā, the duke of Fillsand who misused his mighty power.
Meeting with him was extremely meaningful for me.
At the very least I havenāt made any mistake that could make me resemble the duke.
And while that might be true.
The things I have done, and the things I have to do, no one can guarantee that they would be ārightā.
Even in modern Japan, finding whatās ārightā itās next to impossible.
I wonder if the ārightā thing exists in this world?