Emperor of Steel

After receiving the rewards, Luke went back to the place where his party was gathered.

Unexpectedly, Luke was being congratulated more than he had expected.

“Congratulations, Lord Viscount. No, shouldn’t I be referring you as marquis from now?”

“Lord, just skip their praises. I too wanted to listen being addressed as Baron Philip.”

“But, where would the new estate be located? I hope that it would be close to the Rakan estates.”

Unlike the rejoice of his party members, Luke’s expression wasn’t so bright. Reina, who was quick to notice it, asked him with a puzzling question.

“Well, that doesn’t particularly look like a happy expression.” She stated.

“I think that the merit had been given because the situation needed it. My head hurts thinking what the Emperor has in mind for this.”

It wasn’t given to him properly, but as the title was high, it held a social class society, the responsibility which came with it was huge.

Luke was concerned that the Emperor would put up some weird principles and plan something fishy to get rid of him.

“If it is possible, I want to be called with that title rather later.” Said Luke.

One of the attendants approached Luke when he was talking.

“Marquis Rakan, your majesty is looking for you.”

“Thought so…”

Luke nodded as if he knew it was going to happen, and Luke silently followed the attendant away from the group.

The attendant guided him to a closed room that was on one side of the banquet hall.

The splendidly decorated room was completely blocked from any outside contact, and closed as soon as one entered, no noise from the banquet made its way into the room.

“Came? Come and sit here.”

The emperor, seated in the middle of the room on a couch; was drinking wine and invited Luke to take a seat.

As Luke approached, he sat down and had taken the glass of wine which the Emperor had handed him.

“You did a very good job. Which is why I am in great debt to you.”

“It is a huge compliment.” Luke politely replied.

“But…”

The Emperor, who had a slightly upset expression, continued his words,

“Why did you come back after breaking a few fortresses of the enemy? Couldn’t you have just captured them all?”

If that had been done, it would have been much more advantageous to claim the victory. When claimed as ‘occupied’, the word held higher power.

Luke who heard Emperor’s resentment replied bluntly,

“It wasn’t like I didn’t do it because I couldn’t do it. It was because I lacked the troops and the Gigants needed for it.”

With that Luke intended to say ‘Why would you even resent when what you did was a mistake?’

“Even then, you could have taken at least one manor right?” The Emperor asked.

“I wanted to avoid such situations. I thought it wouldn’t be good if the war prolonged.”

Like the Emperor said, getting a manor across the river wasn’t such a huge task.

However, it was very likely that the fiery counterattack of the Republic’s army would much be greater than one could handle.

Which was why Luke came back with just the battle wins.

“Well, I understand. Don’t worry too much. I just think that it was a pity.”

“I understand it too, your majesty.”

There, the conversation ended between them.

The Emperor took a sip of wine, and turned over to Luke once again and said,

“Did you like my rewards?”

“Is there any winner who would dislike it?”

“Huhuhu, aren’t you worried that you be asked to work hard as the title gets higher?” The Emperor asked.

Luke, was definitely concerned about it; he couldn’t help but smile awkwardly when the Emperor pointed out what he was most worried about.

But he didn’t let the words come out of his mouth.

“I know it is a virtue to take on the responsibility as high as one goes. But, I fear that there will be numerous people who could be jealous and spread rumors, or resent the Majesty for doing this.”

Luke put a very lengthy statement, and its summary was ‘Just let me be’.

And it wasn’t like Rudolf not to know what Luke was saying.

“Let them hate, why should one who has established great pride be treated moderately?”

“This war was just a fluke. The enemy is still far away.”

It was true, and it was a long way till then.

In order to slash the Emperor’s neck who was in front of him, and to destroy the Veritas Magic tower, Luke had to build his strength and forces.

“I will take care of those greetings, so you don’t have to concern yourself with those matters. By the way, were there any other rewards that you would like from me than the ones I gave you?”

When the words came out from his mouth, Luke couldn’t help but ask,

“Excuse me for my service.”

“That isn’t possible.” Immediately replied the Emperor.

“Then, if you can shorten the service period…”

“That, I am definite when it comes to equality.”

‘Tch! goddam bastard!’ Luke swore in his head.

Every time his attempt was rejected, Luke felt like he had been insulted over and over by the Emperor.

“No other thing? I will listen to other things as much as I can.”

Luke thought for a moment.

The Emperor wouldn’t be going to kill Luke so easily.

The fact that he raised the title of Luke showed that he wanted to use it as an arrow in case a dispute arose in the future with the nobility.

To do that, he was trying to sway Luke’s heart as much as he could.

‘Then, it is better to tear this matter as quickly as I can.’

Luke thought and demanded what he had in his mind.

“Then please give me a hero Gigant.”

“What? A hero Gigant?”

“Yes, I hope that it is as much up-to-date as possible.”

Something with more than 3000 fights, the Hero Gigant was an ultimate weapon.

In particular, the Hero-class Gigant needs a rider of the Sword Master and was a strategic weapon that would determine the direction of any battle or war.

Luke needed it for power, but he needed it for research purposes too.

Hero class Gigant was a masterpiece with all the power of modern magic engineering.

In addition, the latest type was literally a combination of magic and technology.

However, the Hero class Gigant was a definite advantage when dealing with the Imperial family. Due to the agreement between the ten Magic Towers and the Imperial family, no other noble could buy the Hero-class Gigant.

‘Even if we study at Katarina Magic Tower based on the blueprint, it will take a while to produce the Hero-class Gigant. Even for the Dark Moon, it will take a few months…’

Wanting a hero class right away, he decided to take it from the Emperor.

“Hero-class is only allowed for the knights of Sword Master or higher… you’re major is no less than the Sword Master, so I will work hard.”

“Thank you for the consideration, Your Majesty.”

The talk ended there.

It was a question of what the Emperor was plotting against him for the future, but Luke who was determined went back to the hall with satisfaction.