Emperor of Steel

Luke, who had done all that work, exploded internally when he looked at the ugly atmosphere which rose in the capital.

If there indeed was a small clash between the emperor and the nobles, then it would surely develop into a civil war.

If a civil war broke out, even if the Emperor won it, he would suffer a lot of damages.

That would be a great chance for Luke to kill on the two enemies that he has.

‘I thought that it would take around 10 years for this situation to develop, but this would unexpectedly save me a lot of time.’

When Luke was in his own thoughts. A group of people had entered the room after a knock.

“Sir Luke!”

A slender beauty with silver hair, among other men approached him.

Anna, who had guided the people inside looked astounded at them.

“Reina?! No, how, why are you here?”

Anna was surprised because the face of Luke was colored with joy and smile.

Before coming to the capital, he had sent a letter to her but never did Luke imagined that princess Reina would come to the capital to see him.

“You had said that you were going to the Capital for rewards. And I couldn’t wait to see you any longer…”

Not knowing that she was getting emotional seeing Luke, Reina’s face blushed at her own words.

“You aren’t hurt anywhere, right?” She asked with her blushing face.

“Hahaha, you see I am all fine. So, have you been doing well? You weren’t sick any time, right?”

“My heart was in dread with the worry of the young Lord.”

“Oh, my…”

The two of them were busy talking to each other after a long time and they didn’t even care if they were being watched or not. It was all because of the time that they had spent far away from the other which made their love grew strong.

But from the standpoint of the others who didn’t know of their feelings, that didn’t mean much.

“Uhm, Lord. Do you not see us?”

“Ah, you people have come too.”

Hans and the other retainers looked sad. It was because the Lord whom they had raised from the stage of a child wasn’t even looking at them, he looked very ungrateful.

Not knowing that, Luke asked,

“How would I even think that everyone would be coming here, especially if there was nothing to report to me?”

“Since princess Reina decided to come, we too wanted to come to see your face.”

The retainers heard that their Lord had survived the Volga Republic War and was set for merit.

But they were all worried that Reina wouldn’t be able to handle herself after meeting Luke.

They were all under the fear that Luke was either injured or hurt and was acting strong for the sake of the princess.

“Take a seat first. And princess, you too sit down.”

Luke making Reina sit close to her looked over at Anna.

“Sir Anna. Please get some refreshments in here.”

“Understood, sir.”

As usual, with her weak voice, Anna had replied and left the room with shoulders hanging.

However, Luke had his eyes only for Reina, so he didn’t realize that Anna seemed unusually upset.

When everyone in the room sat down, they all talked about the current situation.

The retainers looked at Luke’s condition and relaxed a little.

Soon, the reports about the estates began to flow in.

It was the same as the reports which had come in two months back and nothing drastic had changed.

The estate was managed well by the retainers, and the Lamer city was more prosperous than ever, especially after the war, under the leadership of Reina and the Merchant Union.

In addition, the Katarina Magic Tower which was under Mute was growing at a steady rate with wizards flocking in, and Mute going to the streets to pick up kids with magical qualities from the estate.

“And as a result of the Lord’s command, the recruitment is happening steadily, we have seventy thousand soldiers, five hundred knights, and eighty Gigant.”

Luke was satisfied with the difference that he saw from the estate the moment he opened his eyes and the current time.

“You have all been working hard this time. However, we still have a lot to do to achieve our goals.” Said Luke.

“Understood.”

The entire party of Luke responded,

“Ah and, Sir Hans. I heard that the Information Guild was being created, did it happen?”

Luke asked with some thoughts in his mind.

“I was going to proceed with the Lord. Please come inside.”

As Hans clapped his hands, the door opened with a middle-aged man entering.

The man who entered came down and knelt before Luke.

“I am Hudson, Lord.”

“Hudson is…”

Hans explained the history of Hudson to Luke, who was still looking at him.

“He is very competent that he was once put to work in the Information Guild of the Capital. He was driven to betrayal by his subordinates and was saved from death at an appropriate time. He is the right person to do it, which was why I appointed him as the head of ‘Argos’.” Said Hans.

“Argos? The name of an estate?” Asked Luke.

“Like the monster with hundreds of eyes, I heard about it which lives in another continent. If you have another name in mind, I will change it right away.”

“No, it is fine. Let it be like that.”

Luke stared back at Hudson and asked him,

The Information Guild didn’t just work by sitting behind a luxury desk. One had to go around and have the professional knowledge and connections to know about something.

In that sense, it seemed appropriate for the man to work as a member of the Information Guild.

The only concern Luke had was, whether or not he could place his trust in him. In addition, Luke could see a magical wave moving in Hudson’s head.

“It looks like this friend has a mental magic at work?”

“Oh, did you recognize it? As you can see, I placed that in his head as a means of forbidding him from betraying us. And it was with his consent.”

At the words from Hans, Luke stared at Hudson with shock, and Hudson nodded his head.

The Brainwashing done by the Mental Magic or Dark Magic had the same effect of preventing a betrayal.

However, unlike the brainwashing, which makes the person simply obey the orders, mental magic causes extreme pain when the words of a task that is banned were done.

In reality, dark magic was forbidden, but the mental magic was always used by the nobles to prevent their workers from betraying them.

And it could be used in a general setting, but it was heard that not many were ready to volunteer for it.

In that sense, this Hudson man was surely a unique one.

“But, who did the forbidden magic to you?”

“Since Sir Mute knew, he didn’t mind to do it.”

Luke listened to what Hans had to say and asked Hudson,

“Don’t you regret it?”

“These men have saved my life, and I am being given a chance to use my chance at life. If I can, I will give my soul and loyalty to you.”

Seeing Hudson bow down, Philip couldn’t think to himself.

‘How would he react if he knows that the Lord really can take his soul?’

Not just souls, but he was the Master of the evil demons.

Philip was surprised when he found out recently that there were a few subordinates to Luke.

“I will give you a great reward for your work, so please do not disappoint me or my people.”

“I will do my best.”

After Hudson stated his loyalty, Luke called in Anna and Alex and introduced them to the retainers.

In the future, the two of them might join Luke’s group as the retainers, so he wanted them to turn familiar with the others.

“There are lots. There are many, but you will have to meet them later.” Luke said.

“Oh! At first glance, they look like very strong friends.”

“I look forward to the future.”

Alex smiled lightly at the generous compliments of the retainers, but Anna was eager to listen to Reina.

He always wondered if there was anyone better than her.

However, right in front of her was an elegant beauty with perfect proportions, a natural dignified grace that would make any woman feel frustrated.

If there was something that Anna was better than Reina, then it would be the sturdy body she formed after joining the knights.

It was a wall that Anna would never be able to exceed…

‘Kuk! I won’t lose to her!’

Anna, who was burning with the flames of rejection, shot a look at Reina.

However, Reina met her eyes with a gentle smile.

“But, Lord, isn’t the atmosphere at the capital rather unusual? Is there anything that you know?”

When asked by a retainer, Luke explained only the things which were fine to be told.

When he told of the story, everyone in the room was shocked.

“Hmm, hopefully, there might be a civil war.”

“Would it be to our advantage if the two forces bite and tear of each other?”

“Hopefully we have a chance to resolve the debt they pushed us into 500 years back…”

“Yah! Did you forget where we are? Here the birds listen to our words in the day and the rats during the night. Be cautious and careful with your choice of words.”

The retainers immediately shut up with the words of Hans.

It could be that both the nobles might know of their words.

“Okay then, since it has been a long day, take a good rest and we’ll meet tomorrow for any further discussions.”

Luke decided to get to bed as he was tired from all the interactions he had with the retainers during the day.