Emperor of Steel

That night, there was a party in the Rakan lordship as Belik had been taken into their group of trusted men.

It wasn’t just the elderly men from the Volga, but also the old Rakan retainers who greeted the man.

Luke didn’t neglect his work as a Lord, but sometimes he pursued things arbitrarily, such as going through long-distance teleport gates to see Princess Reina of the Holy Empire.

So, Hans and the other retainers hoped that Belik would lead their young lord to a brighter path.

“What is this?”

After the party, Luke went to Belik, who was resting in a room given in the manor.

Luke handed out a document to him.

The ink wasn’t even dried yet.

“As you can already see, it is an appointment letter handing you the position in the Red Wolf Knights.”

“Yeah, I did see that, but why do I have to go back to that place?”

Belik had heard stories about the Marquis of Rakan in the party.

Under the guidance of the young lord, the estate continued to grow rapidly and achieved remarkable expansion and development.

And the story of Lamer city, which was known to be the best trading city of the Baroque Empire, was under the rule of Luke.

So he decided to take advantage of the fraudster who pretended to be his son and wanted to spend a comfortable life in Lamer, where Pyotr II spent his last years.

However, the young man was asking him to go to the Albertville estate and become a commander for the Knights.

“I heard that you smashed the Red Wolf Knights. And on top of that, you took down the Gigants of Albertville.”

“And so? Do you want me to make up for smashing up those weak good-for-nothing men?”

When Belik was disgusted with that document, Luke smiled and said.

“Of course, you are going to compensate. Not to me, but to Reina.”

“What? Why are you suddenly dragging Princess Reina into this?”

Belik, who frowned at it, decided to listen to what the man had to say.

“Though I am not willing to ask, I want to know more about Princess Reina. Where is the princess now?” Asked Belik.

“She is in the Holy Palace of the Holy Empire.”

“The Holy Palace?”

Belik was shocked at what he heard.

Recently, he had helped out Erwin. But that was the very place where Princess Reina was!

“I don’t get it, why is she there? In the Holy Palace, only the high priests and paladins are given the permission to move.”

“Hu hu hu. Are you aware of Veronica III?”

“Are you talking about the Pope with miracle power? Well, there was a rumor that she was a princess from a country, and was an angel sent…!”

Belik, who spoke till then, grabbed Luke’s shoulders with shocked eyes.

“No, No way!”

“Exactly. Veronica III is Reina.”

Belik’s expression which was stern till then laughed out loud. He loved it so much that he jumped up.

“Hahaha! Uahhh! Princess Reina has become the Pope of the Holy Empire!”

“It isn’t still known to the outside world. We thought about the situation outside the Empire and decided to keep it a secret.”

“Ha… that was why Pavel was trying to say something to me. But how did she even become a Pope?”

At Belik’s question, Luke explained everything in detail since the moment Reina disappeared.

Belik who listened to the story with twinkling eyes, turned serious after Luke was done.

“Okay. For overthrowing the Baroque Empire, the heavy burden has been rested on the Pope’s shoulders.”

“It is also for the people of the Holy Empire. But one great man made the Albertville, my estate and ‘Reina’s estate’ into a wasteland for his desires.”

When Luke stressed on the word of Reina’s estate, Belik’s expression turned red.

“That, that was beca… I didn’t want to make such a huge fuss…”

“Surely there was no ill intension. But look at the results. If the Gigants were smashed and the lordship turned into a barren place, what if some underprivileged people attacks?”

“But isn’t the civil war done?”

“Not long ago, some indigenous forces organized resistance and raided the estate. And there is no guarantee that it won’t happen once again.”

Luke didn’t mention that the forces who were currently working in the Rakan estate were under him.

There was nothing that could be said in the situation.

Luke continued to speak, “Reina is currently trying to stabilize the Holy Empire. But there are forces against her over there.”

The faction of Constantine was recently evicted by the reform.

At that moment, Arch Duke Gregory was there with her which made the faction scared, but they are bound to raise a rebellion as soon as the opportunity arises.

“In order to regain power, they will try to create even the smallest disturbances into huge flames. You were the Vice-captain of the Guard Knights, so I will assume that you know what I am worried about.”

“Understood. It can be done. You just want me to roll out the weak and recover the power of the estate to its original form?”

“No, we need to grow at least twice as much. We will need funds and supplies, so please hurry up.”

There was a reason why Luke was trying to empower the Albertville estate.

It was to hold the ankles of the Eastern army of the Baroque Empire.

The eastern army, along with the northern army was a modified group under the control of the Emperor.

‘But things will turn difficult when an invasion from the outside occurs.’

Luke was planning to use the Albertville estate to shake the eastern Baroque Empire in event of a civil war against the Emperor.

By holding onto the ankles of the eastern army to reduce the power of the Emperor, Luke would be able to get his hands on the eastern side of Baroque.

“I came here… I came here to scam the fraudster, and got scammed again.”

Belik, who sighed received the letter of Red Wolf Knights’ recommendation.

He got up from the bed and took the appointment letter in his arms.

“Are you leaving already?”

“I was told to hurry, right? Can I use the long-distance teleport gate?” Asked Belik.

“There are a few spare magic stones.”

Luke was ready to send Belik.

Since it was a waste to send him alone using magic stones, he provided with military funds, Gigant repair parts, and Iron mages to help in the Albertville estate.

Shortly before leaving, Belik turned to Luke and said, “Keep this in mind. I am working for Princess Reina, not for you.”

“I am fine either way.”

When Luke smiled, Belik seemed displeased and moved to the subspace.

The turmoil between the fake father and fake son, which had shaken the Rakan estates for a while, had reached an end.