Emperor of Steel

After finishing the first attack by capturing Vanden, Luke left the other matters to the commanders and returned to Brandon.

The one who welcomed Luke was Hudson.

When he heard the news that the King was returning, he went to meet him and relay the information, which made Luke’s mood change.

“Is that happening in the Holy Empire?”

“Yes, according to our source of Argos, the situation is getting worse over time.”

‘Oh my God. The Holy Empire had been peaceful since the last civil war, how could such a ridiculous thing happen over there?!’

Trying to calm his mind, Luke immediately pulled out a magic communication ball and entered the coordinates to contact Reina.

This wasn’t the usual circumstance where Luke had sources that informed him of things before.

The zombie disease was a mysterious disease that he wasn’t familiar with.

‘Well, I did hear things similar to it.’

It was in the information of the future, which had been erased by Karen, according to what Hwang Bo-sung had told.

An undead legion which appeared on the continent after Luke and Reina passed away.

It was said that the place where the undead walked through, ended up being the haven for more undead, to the point where the entire world was filled with undead.

The disease wasn’t mentioned, yet, the aspects seemed very familiar.

Maybe, in the so-called future, the disease was overlooked because of the war.

‘I need to hurry, yet, it is likely that Arsene is involved in this. Which means, Reina and Holy Empire are in danger!’

Woong!

Magic was infused into the magic communication ball, which began to radiate with bright light, and soon a human figure began to shine.

However, the humans wasn’t Reina but a middle-aged wizard.

-Excuse me. But why was I contacted?

“I am Luke de Rakan, the King of Symphonia Kingdom. Who might you be and where is Holy Pope?”

-Auck!

Shocked by Luke’s introduction, the wizard yelled out and hurriedly introduced himself.

-I-I have taken the communication ball of the Pope in her stead. Hol-Holy Pope… is currently at… that…

When the communication wizard was nervous at answering the question, Luke spoke.

“I was informed that something bad was happening in the Holy Empire. I would like to discuss this with the Holy Pope, could you please direct her to the room.”

At the request of Luke, the wizard closed his eyes and answered.

-Holy Pope isn’t at the palace right now.

“Isn’t in the palace?”

-Yes, three days back, I was entrusted with the magic communication ball and Pope went to Jackson with the Saint Guards.

“Wh-what?!”

Luke was shocked at the unexpected answer.

It was because Jackson was the place which was reported to have become the den of the zombies, and was a too dangerous place to be visited without knowing the details of the disease.

Even if one had amazing guards around, they would still be infected with the zombie disease if they were unlucky.

Yet, that woman went to Jackson without any fear!

“What was Arch Duke Gregory even doing? Didn’t he even try to stop the Pope?!”

Shocked by Luke’s outburst, the communication wizard stumbled back into the ground.

-T-that, well… although he did try, she was too stubborn so he went along with her.

“Huh! Dammit…!”

Luke thought of her act as outrageous, yet some part of him knew why she did that.

Reina chose to remain as the Holy Pope to help the Empire and its people.

And as time passed, the people of the empire began to love her for her acts.

‘That was why she must have gone herself to prevent the spread of the zombie disease. And she left the magic communication ball because she knew if she took it along, I would object to it.’

Luke tried to calm his anger. And spoke to the wizard who was still in shock.

“Fine. If you are contacted by the Pope, let her know to contact me using these coordinates.”

-Ah, yes.

Luke, who cut the magic communication couldn’t shake off the troubled feeling in the pit of his stomach.

How was he supposed to safely bring her back and how to help the Holy Empire overcome that crisis?

“I need to go there and do something.”

After making a decision, he convened the officials into the throne room to inform them about the situation in the Holy Empire. And told them about his decision to go there himself and fix the problem.

That was when Prime Minister Hans and the other officials went full swing at him.

“Your Majesty! You just came back from the attack, why would you have to go right away?”

“That is right. It is very likely that Emperor Rudolf will attack us to reclaim his lost land. Your position shouldn’t be empty in such situations.”

“And isn’t that zombie disease something that priests could handle? I think that you, going to the Holy Empire is very dangerous for us!”

The room turned noisy in an instant.

He was expecting their contradicting opinions to some extent, but over the top concern made Luke irritated.

Bang!

He hit the handle of the chair to silence everyone.

“The one who is in the Jackson estate is the one I love. Do you mean that we should let her be in that dangerous situation?!”

“We do understand the heart of Your Majesty, but to involve personal feelings into national affairs…”

“These aren’t my personal feelings! The Holy Arthenia Empire is the most important alliance for us to take down the Baroque Empire. We will never be safe if they fall into the crisis!”

Although he didn’t mention, it was more than necessary for the Holy Empire to be stabilized, as they would be needed to protect the future of the continent from Arsene’s Undead legion.

Yet, the mouths of the officials began to work again.

Luke looked around at the men who were still opposing his decision and spoke.

“I didn’t call for the meeting to get your permission, but this was to notify you about my actions and prepare for any measures. So organize the troops to leave for the Holy Empire right away, and form a system which will run the state administration while I am away.”

“Huh, understood, Your Majesty.”

Hans signed and bowed his head.

He wanted to stop Luke more than anyone else, yet, he knew about Luke’s stubbornness and was able to understand his feelings.

“…”

Luke’s expression turned distorted seeing the reactions of Hans and the other officials.

They were dissatisfied with their extreme reliance on Luke and his words.

‘Yet, this is unreasonable. I led every step till the founding.’

It was all because of Luke that the Rakans were able to see victory against the Baroque Imperials and win.

Which was why the retainer believed him, but on the contrary, he too turned dependent on them without realizing.

‘I shouldn’t do things like this in the future. I need to make sure that there is no problem in running the state even in my absence and make sure they agree to it…’

And it wasn’t something which he could think and execute right away, so he decided to take care of it once he was done helping out the Holy Empire.