Emperor of Steel

Returning back to the camp, Luke summoned priest Luther and told him all the information Wilf had given him.

Priest Luther couldn’t hide how absurd the story was.

“For a warlock to protect the survivors… I- I can’t believe that!”

“Huh, I guess it is surprising.”

Luke, could only smile.

“What do you mean surprising?”

“I never expected you, who I thought would be an awakened man would be so prejudiced. Not all warlocks are evil nor are all priests are good. Have you ever seen those who serve the God, corrupt and cross paths into darkness?”

“But that is…”

Luke began to speak before Luther could counter.

“Do you remember about a paladin named Schmidt, who died during my eyes in the civil war of the Holy Empire?”

“You mean Count Schmidt, the former commander of Saint Guards? Of course I do! He was a sinner who murdered innocent women in the capital after torturing them.”

“It was a murder done to the innocents. But let me tell you. Even after committing such tremendous sins, he was still able to use divine power, not just the Count, but there are so many paladins who showed inappropriate behavior and personalities which a paladin shouldn’t, yet they have divine power.”

“…”

“Have you ever wondered why that was?”

Luke’s question could only bring silence from Luther.

Although there were numerous times where they would criticize and lament about the unclean priests and conduct of the paladins, never have they once thought about how they were all able to maintain their divine power.

“Well, that is not that important right now. From what Wilf said, the process of the zombie disease spreading might be related to the water near Jackson?”

“Well, the man called Wilf might be right.”

Priest Luther brought out a map of Jackson.

The map was a copy from the meeting room in the Holy Palace, where details about the spread of the zombie disease were marked in detail along with the dates.

Because of that, Luke was able to see the towns close to the village to the cities and the time in which the infections spread.

“Right away, the pipelines need to be stopped. With the current number of men, we might not be able to stop the zombie disease.”

Currently, the army of the Holy Empire which surrounded Jackson was like a steel barrier, which would block humans and monsters.

However, it was centered on the land, and the river was excluded from the surveillance.

Of course, they did try to prevent the incoming boats, but now, they seemed to care about the water animals or what the river carried.

If there were zombies swimming in it or diving, no one would even notice the sight of them crossing the waters.

However, no one ever saw a sight of zombies using water to cross lands.

“But, Your Majesty. What if the warlock’s words are wrong, everything would turn into a mess.”

“Surely that could be too. But we need to immediately purify the water, make sure that the zombie disease isn’t related to water. What do you think is the reason for the Holy Empire to focus their eyes on the containment of Jackson?”

The reason why the Holy Empire was blocking Jackson with all their might and forces was if the situation spread from the place, the army wouldn’t be able to control the spread.

Therefore, if there was any possibility, it was necessary to prepare when the disease was still under their hands.

Luther, whose complexion went pale right away, rushed over to a magic communication crystal and contacted the palace.

He asked the seniors in the palace to clean up all the rivers and the streams which would flow their way from Jackson.

-Do we really need to do that?

The senior men were shocked at what they were being asked to do.

It was because, from what Luther said, a huge number of wizards and priests had to be mobilized.

“You need to bring in all the wizards and the priests in the Holy Empire. And the ground water around Jackson is very likely to be contaminated, so make sure that the people would always boil the water or purify it when they drink.”

-Yes, we will make sure that it happens.

With that, the communication got cut.

Fortunately, all of the officials were running out right away, making sure that they hadn’t wasted any time to help the people.

Probably by the time the magic communication was cut, somewhere, the water could have been touched.

And they didn’t want it to reach all the way towards them.

After contacting them, priest Luther spoke to Luke.

“For now, we will be able to stop the spreading.”

“Thank you for following my words.”

Luke’s thanks didn’t seem like they were directed at Luther’s speedy actions.

“We are the ones thankful for you to come over to our Empire and help us. And for His Majesty to be the other half of our Pope, how would you even be able to avoid it?”

“Huh? you knew?”

Seeing Luke flustered, made Luther smile.

“Well, rather than that… didn’t Wilf know how to deal with the zombie disease?”

“I’m sorry, but he said he didn’t know how to cure it. But I think that he might be able to find it soon.”

“I hope it will be done just like Your Majesty’s words.”

After the conversation, the two of them had their dinner and went to bed.