Emperor of Steel

Flames which were soaring in the north street created a secondary problem.

The people inside the capital, upon hearing the sudden shelling and seeing the fire ablaze began to run out.

“What just happened?”

“That is the place where the patients were isolated…”

To stop the disease from spreading, they knew that the patients were sent to another location, it was a publicly released statement.

People who figured out what was going on and those who just wanted to save the patients screamed at the Central Army which was surrounding the north street.

“What are you doing? Put out the fire already!”

“My wife is in there! Open the gates, you damned bastards!”

People whose families were in the fire threw stones or rotten fruits at the central troops who were standing on the side of the barricades and walls.

Most of the soldiers and officers were silently letting the people take out their anger, however, not everyone thought like that.

“These men!”

A commander from the Central Army who got hit by an egg yelled at the people.

“We are following the Emperor’s words! Get out of here! Or we will have to persecute you according to the law!”

Despite the warning, those who were already in anxiety with their families stuck in the fire didn’t retreat.

“Law my ass! Law is meant to protect people, what are you doing here?!”

“You caught the nobles and killed them, and now you are burning people to death!”

“If you are going to kill, just kill us already!”

The stones being thrown only increase.

It turned so worse that the Gigants of the Knights of Guard had to block the path, yet people showed no signs of yielding.

Well, it only made the people rebel more fiercely.

“Everyone, you shouldn’t be like this! Open those gates!”

“I will take the lead! Those who want to save your family follow me!”

Woah!

The furious people rushed towards the city gates.

Thousands of people ran at once, the Knights of Guards and Gigants were so flustered that they didn’t dare to do anything.

“No, no, you shouldn’t do this!”

“Go back! Dammit! You think we are doing this because we like it?”

The soldiers waiting at the gates tried to calm the people.

However, could it be possible to reason with families who were seeing their loved ones burned on the other side of the city?

The commander who lost his reasoning, ordered for an attack if the gates got breached.

“Those who oppose Your Majesty’s orders will be considered as rebels! Kill the mob!”

Soon the capital’s residents turned into rebels in a matter of seconds.

Pung!

The people who were flocking to the north gates were wiped out.

“Uahh! My, my legs!”

“You bastards! How can you do this?!”

The suppression didn’t just take place on the people who were near the gates, but on the roads where the people were standing close to barricades.

However, this only made the people explode in rage, but they could barely fight back the army which had weapons in their hands.

And like that, the night blaze created rebels.

Clink! Clink! Clink!

Late night, Count Ferrero, who was spending his night in the military office got up with the ringing of the loud bell.

‘What? No…?!’

He immediately picked up his sword and went out, the lieutenant ran towards him and reported.

“We have trouble, Commander! The people of the capital are rioting!”

“Huh, surely they would.”

Ferrero sighed.

It wouldn’t have been so depressing if the troops of the Libiya Kingdom had infiltrated their capital and turned it into a mess.

Ferrero was already expecting something like that to happen, however, the sword in his hand felt heavy as it was the people who were rioting.

This time, he would have to cut down the people with his sword.

‘If I knew I would end up doing this, I would have gotten my life taken in the hands of His Majesty…’

During the day, Ferrero was given the order to transport all the infected patients to the north streets.

As he was unable to carry out the Emperor’s command to kill the patients for stopping the epidemic, he assigned the task to his vice, Viscount Dick, telling him that he wasn’t in good health to move.

Viscount Dick was a passionate Emperor’s nobles, so he wouldn’t hesitate to carry out any order from the Emperor.

His faith and loyalty could be seen by the smoke and flames soaring on the north.

The people of the capital, wouldn’t have been able to cope with their families being burnt alive, so they would have collided with the Central Army and the Knights of Guards who carried out the orders.

And the clashes between them would have grown out of control and turned into a riot.

‘What is His Majesty really doing… Kuek, all this is because of that Kepler bastard. This wouldn’t have happened if he didn’t want to take advantage of the damn plague!’

Ferrero was having a mental breakdown.

A knight who came from the Imperial Palace riding his horse conveyed the Emperor’s next orders.

“His Majesty has stated that you need to send out the remaining troops from the Central Army to subjugate them.”

“Subjugation?”

“Yes, it was stated that this riot was caused by the enemy spies.”

‘Enemy spies? What nonsense!’

It was definite that Emperor Rudolf too knew why such a situation had formed.

But to think of such baseless reason to make forces move, to conceal the massacre of patients and to establish a justification of riots.

“Please hurry up. He told us to look at this as the situation created by the enemy who wanted to distract us, he has ordered us to suppress them thoroughly and take them down.”

‘He is only pouring more oil to the blazing fire!’

Ferrero already knew that if he followed the orders of the Emperor, it would cause more havoc and unable to calm the people.

And the riots wouldn’t just stop in the capital, but all through the Empire.

In addition to that, knowing what was happening, people would justify the founding of Libiya and Symphonia Kingdom due to the cruel nature of the Emperor.

‘We need to stop things from getting any worse!’

Ferrero thought of heading to the Imperial palace and withdrew such order.

However, before he could even take a step, a messenger knight came to relay another word from His Majesty.

“And His Majesty said that he wouldn’t withdraw this order. He said that anyone against this would be ruled as disobedience and treason, and asked to fulfill the mission faithfully.”

“Kuek, fine. Just go back already.”

At the words of the messenger, Ferrero nodded his head with anger.

He realized that the Emperor had lost his rational judgment.

Although the Empire got divided into three, the public sentiment had deteriorated in the aftermath of the war, yet the people of the capital and the neighboring nobles sent support to the Baroque Imperial family.

Though it was the fear of getting killed by the Emperor, there were those who sympathized with the Emperor who lost his wives’ kids and was betrayed by his own nobles.

There was a slight understanding, so Ferrero too, endured Rudolf’s suppression.

However, the relationship between the emperor and the capital people was completely disrupted.

“Did he decided to venture on the path of no return?”

Ferrero, who had a bitter laugh, ordered to move.

Even if the Emperor’s subjugation orders were kept aside, the people had to be calmed down.

‘May God help you!’

For a man who had no faith, it was his first time searching for God.