Emperor of Steel

The next place Luke visited after the parliament was the Black Tower.

The Black Tower was created after the first Warlocks Management Act in the parliament.

The tower, which was built in a fortress outside Brandon, had around 300 warlocks, white wizards, engineers, and priests.

The purpose of monitoring and guidance of the warlocks, it was given as the duty for the priests.

And it was a matter which was set by law.

However, even the white wizards and the engineers who were dispatched to support the work, looked suspicious of the warlocks.

They looked at each of the actions, their magic spells, even the robes they wore.

Because of that, the Black Tower which was created, was under constant surveillance.

It was fortunate that there were no major incidents there.

“Huh, look at this. This is tough.”

“That is right.”

The top floor of the Black Tower.

It was where the office of the tower was made, two people were sitting facing the other and sighing deeply in their discussion.

It was Mute, Meister of Katarina Magic Tower and Meister Johas of Dark Moon.

The two were tasked with the duties of managing the Black Tower jointly, but they were struggling with the task which didn’t seem to be very easy.

“As the conflict between the wizards is getting worse, what are we supposed to do?”

“I am also worried about it. I came to the capital to work for the nation and His Majesty… but the friction here is a lot worse than expected.”

“Tch, I thought that things would get better with time.”

It was when the two Meister’s were clicking their tongues and discussing. The magic communication ball placed on the table rang, and a message was relayed.

“Meister, Your Majesty is coming!”

“What?!”

Mute and Johas jumped up from their seats.

The two of them hurriedly adjusted their clothes and led the elders and trusted disciples, to meet the king.

However, the atmosphere behind the two people, where the people lined up, was bad.

Warlocks and the wizards kept staring at each other, as if shooting lasers at each other.

In their eyes, there was hostility.

It was when Mute and Johas tried to speak to them.

Dak! Dak!

The king’s dedicated carriage and escort knights that led on with six white horses appeared.

When the King and the party arrived, the two Meister’s politely bowed.

“You have come, Your Majesty.”

Following the two Meister, the elders and the disciples knelt together.

“God bless Your Majesty, the sun of Symphonia Kingdom!”

“Blessings to Your Majesty, who is shining like a star in the dark.”

Looking at them, Luke opened his mouth.

“Stop it, stand up. Today I came to see the two Meister, the others can go back and work hard.”

“Yes, Your Majesty!”

“We understand!”

The wizards returned and Luke moved into the Black Tower along with the Meisters.

He bit his lip when the maid brought tea into the room and opened his eyes.

“I expected it to some extent, but the aura here doesn’t seem good.”

It was a statement he managed to form by seeing the people who were competing to greet him before.

He didn’t yell at them right away because he was the King, but it was obvious that people were more anxious inside the tower.

“We thought that with time it would end, but they still seem to be frustrated.”

At Mute’s answer, Luke shrugged.

“I am glad that the heads aren’t confronting each other.”

“It is because if we fight, things will only get bigger.”

In fact, until Luke went into the Southern Continent, the two Meisters too were suspicious of each other.

It was because of the prejudice that was created over the past, and their different stands on a topic.

However, as the friction between the wizards and warlocks continued to intensify, both the Meisters began to sit down and talk about how the problem should be solved.

As a result, the two could find a common ground.

“The path taken is different, but the position of me and Johas have is the same. But still, we are having a hard time cracking down the subordinates.”

“As we talked about it, we started to get closer.”

As the words of the two Meister, Luke nodded.

“Surely, open conversations can resolve misunderstandings and solve problems easily. Given the experience of the two, it won’t be much of a problem to reduce the friction between both classes.”

“I don’t know. We also encouraged them to have conversations with each other, and hold individual talks, but the effect…”

Mute seemed skeptical.

However, Luke’s lip was of a smile instead of anger.

“It can’t be forced. Both need to create a topic that will pull them all into it.”

“Topic… do you have any other options, Your Majesty?”

When Johas asked, Luke nodded and said.

“Once I am gone, spread the rumors that the King is bringing in a bunch of zen skill users from the Southern continent. Well, it would be better to release it to a subordinate at a drinking party.”

“Zen skill? Are you saying that there are more people like Zegal Soha on the Southern continent?”

The two also knew that there was the title of a Court tactician in the Symphonia Palace, and Zegal Soha was in charge of it.

She also had some knowledge about the weapons used, but she never polished it.

Magic and zen were different, and the influence of zen on the Rhodesia continent was too small.

“By the way, what would everyone think if it was said that I brought a huge number of zen users? Won’t they feel a sense of crisis?”

Since both the Meisters were smart, they both understood Luke’s words at once.

“Nothing is as good as an external enemy to unite the people. But, Your Majesty might lose the trust of the wizards.”

If it was rumored that the King wanted to use zen users instead of wizards, the loyalty of the wizards might fall.

And that would sometimes lead to a reduction in the morale of the wizards. In the worst case, it would lead to a fall in the quality of the Gigant, the main weapon of war.

“If that happens, it will happen. But as long as there are rumors, there won’t be anything to worry.”

After tapping the shoulders of both men, Luke instructed them on what they were supposed to do and left the Black Tower.

Todd, who lost a bet against Luke a few years ago, was brought over to Rakan Estate.

Since then, he steadily accumulated skills and achievement and became an executive of Katarina Magic tower.

He was dispatched to the Black Tower to be in charge of research, and the day after Luke visited the Black Tower, he was visited by his colleague, Humphry.

“Hey, did you hear the thing?”

Todd, who was looking at the Gigant’s design raised his head at Humpry’s question.

“What do you mean?”

“There is a rumor that Your Majesty is recruiting a large number of zen users from the Southern Continent.”

“What? Zen skills?”

“I heard it directly from Elder Jufier, and Meister Mute said that at a drinking party.”

A zen user, it was a word that was heard.

They were said to be very similar to wizards, and that they were like the wizards of the Southern Continent.

It was said that there was one such court tactician in the Symphonia Royal Palace.

“Okay. But what about it?”

Humphry, tapped his chest getting frustrated at the simple question of Todd.

“Yeah, man! It is a problem because those zen users will take away our positions!”

“Wh-why?!”

He heard the rumors about zen users, but didn’t know much about the zen.

There was very little information about them.

“It is only a rumor, but Your Majesty is thinking of letting the zen users make the puppet.”

“Puppet?”

“You don’t know Puppet? The large doll which Count Hwang Bo-sung, the commander of Guard Knights brought out during the battles!”

“Ah! The weapon similar to a Gigant?”

“Yes, the movement and stability of the Puppet were seen to be better. It seems like he might want them mass-produced instead of the Gigant.”

The wizards of Katarina Magic Tower had observed the battle between Luke and the Sword Masters.

At that time, they saw Puppet, summoned by Hwang Bo-sung, and they were very curious about them, but they came to know that only a zen user could make it.

“Oh my god! We are doomed then!”

“That was what I was saying!”

Why were the wizards receiving the treatment and support from the nobles?

It was all because of the Gigants.

In order to secure the Gigant with superior performance than the other kingdoms and nobles, the wizards of the tower were sponsored continuously.

But, what would happen if the Gigants were replaced?

The support and money sent for them would have to be returned.

In the worst case, the wizards of the Symphonia Kingdom would be pushed away.

No, just the Symphonia, but within a decade, the Puppet would be considered to be higher in the continent.

“Aren’t we supposed to stop that from happening?”

Todd’s question made Humphry doubt his ears.

“Stop? How can we stop?”

“That, well, like a strike of protest…”

“Huh, you think that it would work? Don’t you know how Your Majesty’s works? Wouldn’t everyone disappear right away if he gets mad?”

When he was generous, he was generous, but when he got mad, he could commit ruthless acts.

Especially if the target is a noble.

The two people who had memories of being hit in the past, went stiff.

“There is only one way. If you don’t want to be pushed by the zen users, we need to change Your Majesty’s mind by making a Gigant with a better performance.”

“Better than Puppet? However, with our magic and skills, isn’t this a bit too difficult?”

“Of course, with our ability it is difficult. But…”

Humphry looked at the warlocks who were working on the other side.

That look, Todd noticed his thoughts.

“Let’s join hands with the warlocks?”

“It is something the nation allowed us. In fact, there are several collaborative projects and research already in progress.”

Of course, because of the conflicts between the wizards and the warlocks, the research didn’t proceed much.

It wasn’t that they didn’t know how to improve the Gigant, they didn’t have the skills.

However, because of the deep-rooted distrust and conflict, they were unable to reach out.

However, it seemed like it was time to change the attitude.

No matter how it seemed, it was warlocks who were in the same subject of magic, and communicating with them seemed a lot easy.

“I heard the warlock guys talking in the restaurant a few days back, and they said that flexibility issues could be drastically improved with a bio golem or something.”

Todd asked, with a disgusted expression at Humphry’s words.

“Bio Golem? Isn’t that an undead?”

“It is not using a corpse, it was said that it was made by something like muscle tissue, as a medium. I don’t know anything about it.”

To know more than that, they had no choice but to contact the warlocks.

Fortunately, the Dark Tower was an area where the exchange of information was permitted.

They just didn’t do it because they were reluctant to do it.

“Damn, I have said quite rough things about them, how can I go and talk to them now…?”

At Todd’s words, Humphry shrugged.

“Don’t worry, they will also turn restless very soon. Let’s meet them at a restaurant or workshop, and greet them.”

Rumors about the recruitment of zen users spread among the Katarina Magic Tower, and the warlocks too.

Rumors began after Johas called them for a drinking party and told them, he specifically asked Dark Moon tower warlocks to spread it.

“We shouldn’t be pushed over by them!”

“Right. I barely took a chance and came into the world, I can’t let everything change again!”

“This is so bad! But let’s just join hands with the white ones and create a new Gigant!”

The wizards and warlocks who felt the sense of crisis and thought of the same remedy, then actively began to open up an exchange of dialogue unlike before.