Emperor of Steel

The morning that came after that night was rather white.

A ship with a white flag on its pole was moving across the river from the Symphonia Kingdom.

“Should we sink it?”

After the suffering from the previous night and the long endless night, Darland just shook his head at the question of his red-eyed lieutenant.

“No, we need to save what little gunpowder we have. I do understand what you are thinking, but I want to listen to what they have.”

Shortly after, the soldiers brought in a middle-aged man onto the observatory deck of the ship.

Count Darland, who saw the man’s face, was shocked.

“C-Count Ferrero!”

“It’s nice to see you, Darland. The last time I saw you was on my way to the capital. It has been almost a year, right?”

“Yes, exactly a year and a month. But why in the world would you…? I heard that you were imprisoned for going against the emperor. Did you escape and fled to the Symphonia Kingdom?”

“Well, somehow, it all ended that way.”

Ferrero sighed and spoke about his purpose for being there, “Anymore fighting and resisting is meaningless. Just surrender.”

“Surrender?”

Darland was shocked.

The expressions of the knights around Darland were stiff too. However, Ferrero continued to speak without any hesitation.

“Last night, all the gunpowder warehouses and food supply houses were burned. And even the core power, Gigant troops which followed us recklessly to fight us either drowned in the river or were captured.”

Somehow, the enemy troops managed to sneak into the city with their small Gigants and set fire to all the supply houses, and all the information was provided by Ferrero.

It was natural for Ferrero to know all the important military secrets as he was a Commander of the very place and the Chief Commander of the Southern Army during the war.

“Even if you did flee to the enemy nations, how can you betray us as a knight?”

At the yell from Darland, Ferrero’s face distorted.

“Betrayal, yeah, betrayal… Well, I’m indeed a traitor. However, it was Emperor Rudolf who broke that relationship first.”

“H-His Majesty?”

“Yes, I asked him to stop the ruthless murder and slaughter of the innocent people of the capital. However, I was dragged into the dungeon and was tortured. He took my family as hostages and threatened me. How do you expect me to continue to be loyal to him?”

At Ferrero’s words, Darland understood the situation.

“Was that what happened?”

“Yeah, and there is something that you don’t know. The plague that spread in the capital was also because of the emperor’s greed. I objected to using it. However, he didn’t even listen to my words.”

Darland couldn’t help but sigh at the terrible betrayal a loyal knight had to face.

From what he knew, Ferrero wasn’t a person who would make up words that weren’t true.

Rather, Emperor Rudolf was indeed ruthless.

Darland knew that the emperor’s greed and need for strength were strong. However, he never imagined that he would lose his sanity over it.

‘His Majesty really did a huge mistake.’

What had already happened couldn’t be changed.

It was a huge mistake from the emperor to accuse Count Ferrero, a strong pillar of the Baroque Empire, someone who was considered as a model for chivalry.

If other nobles and knights knew about it, would there be anyone who would choose to be loyal to Rudolf?

“That is why you don’t need to be loyal to him till the end.”

“But I can’t surrender just because my situation has turned difficult. Soon, the reinforcements will arrive. Don’t you think that the Symphonia Kingdom should be careful?”

At the words of Darland, Ferrero spoke with a compassionate look, “Look here, how many hours do you think you’d last if we attacked constantly?”

“That…”

“Would you be able to endure our attacks till the reinforcements reach you?”

With the lack of gunpowder, it was impossible to use canons, which was a core power for the island cities.

And with the Gigant mostly drowned, the Southern Army had no other option of stopping the Symphonia army.

It was certain that they wouldn’t last even for a few hours.

“Your stubbornness will only mount for more sacrifices of the soldiers, so surrender.”

At the words of Count Ferrero, Darland’s expression became distorted.

If there was some other man, Darland could have yelled and stopped the man from speaking.

However, Ferrero knew very well about the Southern Army.

And there was no way things would go according to Darland’s wish.

‘Damn it! If only we had the Gigant power, we could have endured them…’

With the Gigant alone, they could have managed to maintain the land till the reinforcements reached them.

However, Bodley, the man whose head was full of muscles, ran to the river and destroyed everything!

“Please give me some time to think.”

Darland, who realized that his situation was impossible to turn, eventually asked for time.

“You will need time to persuade the men. I can give you exactly an hour.”

Said Ferrero from his ship, and returned back to the Symphonia army camp.

After he left, there was some turmoil and noise, and in the end, the Southern Army raised their white flag and the Symphonia Kingdom’s troops succeeded in invading Sherwood.