Emperor of Steel

Upon receiving the contact from Luke, the Hallis Magic Tower rushed toward the Rakan estates.

They carried all of their needed stuff along with the Iron Mages and the related equipment into a trailer and began to temporarily erect a magic tower on the outskirts of Lamer to improve the old Gigants.

Luke directly went to the Hallis Magic Tower to see if they had received the directions on how the Gigants had to be modified.

As it was a temporary magic tower, he assumed that they would be having a lot of shortcomings such as accommodations and facilities. However, there didn’t seem to be many problems.

It was because of the financial support and the supplies of the Lamer city that were so generous that there didn’t seem to be any shortage of support.

“Good thing. You can get to work soon.”

At the words of Luke, Meister Meril, the head of Hallis Magic Tower, bowed his head to express his gratitude.

“It is all thanks to you Lord that we could get support like this.”

“And you will have to work hard from now on. But, didn’t Marquis Mayers interfere on your way here?”

Regardless if they were small or medium magic towers, they were still asked to pay heavy taxes.

So, they thought that leaving wouldn’t be so easy.

“Fortunately, he didn’t seem to care so much because of his war with the Emperor. Besides, there isn’t much he could say because it was an old magic tower, and we handed over the materials at a cheap price.”

“Is that so? Well, if there is anything else that you need, please let me know.”

After talking with him, Luke walked toward the lord of Lamer.

To meet Pavel, who was currently there on behalf of Reina to look after Kirillov.

“Is the trading going well with the southern continent?”

“It sure is. The tradelines are increasing every year, and the type and quality of the products are steadily increasing. With this trade, we plan to increase 12 branches we currently have to 30.”

In addition, it was said that they were beginning to make branches in the Song Empire and Yemaek of the southern continent, as well as the Rhodesia Continent.

“In 10 years, I feel like we will become one of the best companies in the Rhodesia Continent.”

“You think so? Just thinking about it makes me feel good,” said Luke.

The Kirillov Co. was developing remarkably with the efforts of the Volga Kingdom.

Instead of rebuilding the ruined empire, Luke wanted to take advantage of the economic power.

“By the way, what happened with the iron core?”

Luke had instructed them to secure an Iron Core wood for the making of his own Gigant and Orion.

It was to reduce the manufacturing cost by replacing the very expensive radium alloy.

“Well, our men in the Song Empire came in contact with Zegal Clan, and they refused to sell them to us.”

“Tch, I need to make them sell it.”

“I hope so too. We heard that the principles of the Zegal clan are quite confidential, and they say that they have no intention of selling the Iron cores or the Puppets unless one has built a long line of trust with them.”

‘Tch, it’s exactly what Hwang Bo-sung said. I need to postpone this once again.’

Luke decided to use radium allow for his exclusive Gigant and later add a tuning Helm to Orion as soon as the iron core gets secured.

After talking with Pavel about that, Luke had taken the administrative report for an hour.

The reports from the executive fields were quite satisfactory.

Among them, the recommendation of the young executive Zetos was catchy.

“Currently, we are trying to attract a Magic Tower to foster the magic industry, but this won’t be enough. It will be necessary to establish an academy and cultivate excellent talents for becoming wizards.”

“Academy…”

Currently, there were large and small educational facilities in the Marquis of Rakan. However, there was no large professional institution like an academy.

“There is one great region around the Marquis. Even in the future, the Academy is a must for us.”

“Sure, that does sound right, but establishing an academy is not an easy task.”

The most difficult part for the academy would be to have professors and instructors familiar with related subjects than to just build up facilities.

To nurture the useful talent, it wouldn’t be difficult to just employ any professor.

It was necessary to have at least a few reputable and knowledgeable characters.

“Once I discuss with the retainers, we will make a plan. And then let’s think about selecting the site and funding resources.”

“Yes, Lord.”

After giving a series of instructions, Luke went back to his manor.

After coming back, he took some rest when Hans ran over and said, “Lords, Marquis Mayers has sent an envoy.”

“Envoy?” Asked Luke.

“Don’t you think that maybe this is a request to join the noblemen?”

Just a few days back, there was a letter from Marquis Mayers.

The letter asked Luke to join the forces to defeat the lunatic tyrant Emperor and turn Luke into a nobleman.

Normally, he had to respond since the man was praised by the Lord. However, Luke just used it as a fire blazer for the fireplace.

He didn’t have such a lacking mind to get in between the fight of a crazy Emperor and greedy noblemen.

When he didn’t receive a reply to his letter, the man sent a person.

“Tell them that I am not here.”

“I already did, and they said that they will come back for you. He must have been ordered to only return after getting an answer,” responded Hans.

“This is so annoying.”

Luke knew that he was bound to meet the man.

However, he didn’t go right away and decided to go out the next day to meet him.

Since Hans had already said that the Lord wasn’t present, Luke wanted to annoy the envoy, which had annoyed him for an answer.

“I was told you came.”

“It has been quite long, Lord.”

It was Baron Bazzo who had come as an envoy of Marquis Mayers.

Luke had already met the man once before joining the Imperial Army, but unlike that time, Luke was now being treated very politely.

It was because of Luke’s current position, which was no different from that of Marquis Mayers.

“I was told that you are suffering from a disease, but I guess they were all just rumors. I am glad to see you healthy and strong,” said Bazzo with a smile.

“Where did you get those rumors?”

“Huhuhu. From a very reliable source.”

Luke had used Henry and the Imperial Intelligence service to deceive the Emperor a few days ago when Luke was asked to be assassinated.

However, that was only the extent of the rumors, which they had to spread, so the rumors couldn’t have spread to the other nobles.

Nevertheless, Baron Bazzo knew about it.

‘Does Mayers have someone in the Imperial Intelligence?’

There could be, but Luke didn’t seem to be overly cautious about it.

It was because betrayal of information leakage in the future would be impossible for the Intelligence because of the subjugation that happened last time.

“I needed to rest my body for a while, that’s all. But what’s the reason for you to come here? To ask me to join the noblemen?”

“If the Marquis of Rakan will be joining our side, we will have nothing more to ask. All the other households will come to side with us.”

Even after 500 years, the Warrior Rakan still held the same name in the knights of the continent.

Therefore, there were still many who sympathized with the fall of the Rakan family, and those who were disgusted with the Baroque Imperial for doing it.

And what would happen if the rumor spread that the Rakan family was fighting against the tyrant Emperor?

The number of noble groups who would join would jump a lot.

Among them, there would be lords with Gigant troops and excellent riders.

“Can you stand on our side?”

“If I was willing to do so, I would have already sent my knights to Marquis Mayers. Unfortunately, I am currently overwhelmed with just managing my territory, and I can’t pay attention to anything until I find the whereabouts of Princess Reina.”

‘This blatant child!’

In the midst of the fight between the nobles and the Emperor, it wasn’t like Baron Bazzo wasn’t aware that Luke was secretly hoping for the fall of the Empie.

However, the man was foolish enough to reveal his thoughts in front of a kid.

“That is a pity. I won’t be asking you for anything more, but I hope you listen to this. While we were fighting the Emperor’s army…”

“Don’t attack you from behind? Would that be all?”

Bazzo nodded at Luke’s words.

“If we are hit on our back, we won’t be able to do our best. So, I need to know this clearly.”

The eyes of Bazzo changed.

“And what if I can’t promise that?”

At Luke’s question, Bazzon replied with a very normal voice,

“Then, my Lord said that his sword will be aimed at the Rakan before the Tyrant Emperor.”

The warning of Marquis Mayers could be true.

Even if Luke had changed his position, the man would have acted the same.

Luke smiled and responded,

“Hu. Unless Marquis Mayers lays his hands on me first, I have no intention of fighting. And, what benefits would you get from fighting other people rather than the tyrant himself.”

“If that is your will, we can fight the Emperor with confidence.”

Luke and Bazzo stared at each other and then smiled.

However, both of their inner feelings were different.

‘Keep your eyes open for now. Once you get all tattered up after fighting the Emperor, I’ll clean you all up.’

‘This sly boy! Bastard! Once the Emperor falls, it will be your turn.’

The two men shook their hands without speaking their true intentions and wrote a promised treaty with a magic seal and signature.

The agreement allowed the southern noblemen to know there would be no one going behind their backs, and Luke would be able to build his reality without fear of war coming at him.