Emperor of Steel

A glowing evening.

Bright and cheerful music could be heard from the permanent residence of Lamer. It was because the banquet was being held in the hall of the residence, which had been just recently repaired.

The banquet was held in order to honor the triumph of the Battle of Territory which had happened a month ago.

The nobles, the knights, merchants, scholars, priests and so on.

People from all the walks of life attended the banquet, dressed in elegant and colorful clothing.

Among them were the retainers of Rakan estates, and many of the people who served Count Monarch in the past.

The common things the people who had come were, none of them had a good relationship with the Count, they never cooperated nor were they friendly, which was why they extended their hand to the Rakan Viscount who won the war.

“I am seeing you after a long time, Mrs. Baron. Did your husband suffer because of that pig of a count that we had?”

“Hohoho, that man should be in jail, rotting while eating soybean soup. By the way, how is your business? I heard that you moved to the southern side to continue the business?”

“Only temporary, we just moved to the headquarters on the port side, on the south island…”

People who were meeting others after a long time were greeting each other, some were making new acquaintances.

Among them, the nobles who were under Count Monarch were struggling to talk with Rakan’s retainers.

In particular, the efforts of the nobles, the Baron who received their manors back, were having tears in their eyes.

“Mr. Dixon. Is it true that young Lord Luke plans to sell some of the lands of the Count’s territory?”

“It was told like that. Honestly, it is too much for us to manage, the Count is huge.”

Dixon’s words made the heads of all the nobles turn in his direction.

If the estate was being sold over, they could aim for being the 1st.

Not having the entire estate was the same as not being a lord.

Even with the title of Baron, the baron called as Emperor and the Baron called as Prince still had a difference, and they were treated completely different.

The Emperor of Baron would be similar to a subordinate of the Lord, and the prince would become someone like a knight.

So the latter one didn’t have the right to ask the Emperor for his plans when the actual lord of the land had been defeated, there was no guarantee of the estate handovers.

“Well, then wouldn’t the Lord had his ring, that is needed for the notarization of selling the lands? The ring of Count Monarch would be with him as he ran away…”

“The ring of the Count had been found in the bedroom. So, there is no problem.”

The fact was, the ring had been taken away from the dead body of the Count, however, Dixon had no idea about it.

The death of Count Monarch was a secret that only a few along with Luke, Rogers, and others knew.

And as Dixon had stated that nothing was wrong with the notary, the nobles couldn’t help but cry.

“Uh, how can that be? Our family had become retainers to the Count because of the ancestor’s ties to him, not because we favored the count in any way.”

“Well, the decision will be taken by the young Lord.”

“Uhm…”

“I can’t believe it but, I am going to send my eldest son to the Rakan estate. His skills in fencing aren’t that great, but he has studied military education and Emperor affairs. Take him and train him yourself.”

There were numerous pleas occurring all over the banquet hall.

There was no reason for them to oppose Luke, who had the Lord’s ring, which stated that he was the master in the war, and he owns the entire region of the Count, and they didn’t have the strength or the Gigants to rebel against Rakan, who just received the power of the Count.

Watching the scene, Knight Rogers smiled.

‘The young Lord would probably do something very unexpected.’

It wasn’t necessary to sell the territory belonging to the Count if people only cooperated with the young Lord.

The reason he wanted to sell the territory came from the thought that they wouldn’t be able to manage if a rebellion broke out.

‘But there won’t be a situation where we won’t sell one land either.’

The places of Baron Goth, including those others who had been imprisoned, or those who fled away like Cain, would be disposed of.

Rakan’s own forces weren’t enough to dispatch new officials over to the new land.

“Luke de Rakan, the owner of Rakan Viscount, and Princess Reina Petrovna Kirillov of Volga!”

When the atmosphere went bright, the bell rang and the announcement had come.

All the nobles who had been talking with the others turned over to the door.

The door of the huge banquet hall opened, and Luke walked along with Reina with their arms wrapped in each other.

Luke, who wore a strict banquet dress, while Reina, dressed in an antique and elegant dress, looked very natural.

‘This young man is the descendant of warrior Rakan!’

‘Unlike the rumors, he is very dignified.’

‘Who is that? It was stated that he was weak like a girl!’

Those who saw Luke for the first time were flustered to see something different from what information they had.

In the battle that he had won, it was taken as Cain’s incompetence to be prepared beforehand and the neglect of Monarch.

But the story of the young Lord defeating three Gigants and chasing one out was considered to be an exaggeration of Luke’s efforts.

However, the boy, or rather, the young man, who appeared in front of them was high and proud to be called a loser.

In addition, the speculations they had flew out of the window, and the presence felt stronger.

Most of the people were very overwhelmed by the man, and unknowingly bowed to him the moment they had entered.

The retainers of Rakan who had witnessed it couldn’t help but look very happy.

As Luke saw everyone’s attention on him, he opened his mouth.

“Thank you for responding to my invitation. And also to those who had come here with a purpose.”

Luke gazed around the room once again and then continued to talk,

“Today, this place will celebrate the victory of the warrior and to commemorate the defeat of the foolish. Let’s lift up the glass and share the joy together.”

Hans who was waiting behind with glass of wine handed it over to Luke and Reina.

Luke lifted his glass and spoke with a very firm and strong voice,

“For the glory of the brave warriors and the future of Rakan territory!”

“Wahhh!”

Everybody lifted their glasses.

Luke’s smile was filled with contentment.

The scene he witnessed that day seemed to have washed away the hard work that had been spent into stabilizing the Count’s territory over the past month