Emperor of Steel

To the south of the capital, Bless, Holy Empire, was a large ornate marble mansion that stood out of place with the scenery. It was the mansion of high priests and nobles.

Even though the evening had just started, there was pleasant music and the sound of drunk men and women laughing.

“Hohoho, here, here!”

“Where are you? If I catch you, I won’t let you go!”

Count Marcus, who was blindfolded, was playing tag with the women and was on his feet searching for his targets.

The nobles and knights, who were drinking with him, were all laughing at his act.

The sound of laughter became louder when Count Marcus was about to fall while trying to stand up.

“Hahaha! You are drunk, Count!”

“Surely, the alcohol works well, but you should have exercised. I mean if you want to stand on par with your brother and not an orc.”

Everyone laughed at the words of the nobles that were close to Marcus said.

Marcus was currently too fat to be recognized. Perhaps, it was because he continued to have prosperous days since the civil war.

Marcus managed to get on his feet with the support of his servants and took off the blindfold to look at his friend, who spoke out earlier.

“Exercising? Then should we stop by for a hunt later?”

“Sure. Apparently, there are a lot of deers near Solver Fortress in the North. Since the lord there is my relative, let’s go out and get some air.”

“Solver? Ah, that is too far from here. Why don’t we just go to the capital?”

“The capital? Do you know what we can hunt there in the capital? A silver dark fox.”

Wheeeing!

At the words of Count Marcus, the hall went silent.

His friends, who were laughing and chatting till then, the crew and servants who were hosting it, even the orchestra men who were playing music, shut their mouths and had blank expressions on their faces.

It was because everyone knew who the silver fox that Marcus mentioned was.

Pope Veronica III.

Although rumors were already circulating, people and her budding forces still regarded her as an angel sent by God.

But for the opposition forces like Marcus, she was a fox-like wench who cleverly took over power without letting anyone know her true colors.

“Let’s go get our men and catch them together. Without the Fort, let’s go and hunt without fear.”

“Marcus, you have been drinking too much.”

“Ha! Too much? You are calling me drunk?”

Marcus grabbed another bottle.

Acting like a drunkard in the back alleys, he approached the nobles and knights.

However, he was disappointed.

It was because none of them seemed to be willing to join him.

As usual, the people, who complained about the reforms of the Pope or her treatment toward their faction, were all quiet.

Everyone pretended as if they haven’t heard what the man proposed.

‘Tch, all of you are f*cking cowards. I thought that there would be at least one or two who would come along.’

Honestly, there was nothing wrong with them being scared or backing off.

In order to get rid of the Pope, they had to defeat the greatest paladin and the Saint Guard’s leader Arch Duke Gregory.

In addition, the public wouldn’t let them.

When a scandal about the Pope rose recently, some of the opposition nobles and priests, who tried to use it politically for their benefit, had been attacked and beaten up by the angry people.

As such, they knew that the people’s trust in Veronica III was too great to move.

There was no possibility of success by revolting.

Of course, Count Marcus didn’t expect to get past things.

They were all in the same faction, but they couldn’t find someone who was strong enough to tackle her.

On the contrary, there could be someone out there who would want to occupy the position of the Pope and use it.

They really needed someone like that.“Wheeeheheh! Whether I’m drunk or not, I am going to catch that fox, Phew!”

Marcus, who shook his bottle, suddenly went on four legs and put his head into the skirt of a woman.

He pretended to have caught her.

“Here it is! The fox is here, huahhh!”

“Kyah! Count!”

The nobles shook their heads and laughed upon seeing what Count Marcus just did.

What Count Marcus just did made everyone there forget what he just said earlier.