Emperor of Steel

Brandon, the capital of Symphonia.

Flames erupted in the south and west, but the royal capital seemed to have a very peaceful time.

Of course, the people there weren’t like they didn’t have anything to worry about.

In particular, the anxiety of people on the battlefield was extreme.

“I don’t know what kind of men would always go for war.”

“This is all because of the Grenada pirates and the monsters.”

“Isn’t this just the beginning? Maybe more wars will happen from now.”

The merchants on their way to the royal capital with the goods were talking to pass away their boredom.

Their only concern was the situation in the capital.

During this time, the sales and the income would vary a lot depending on the state, so they had to pay a lot of attention.

At that time, a priest, who was riding in the same carriage, slipped into their conversation.

“It is all because the king has no values.”

“What is that? There is no one who is as great as our king!”

“Yes. At this level, His Majesty is like the Holy Lord!”

Thanks to Luke, the trade had grown significantly over the last few years.

The tyranny of lords, who collected huge taxes, disappeared. Also, The movement of goods was safer, and the roads were secured and well maintained, so it was good for travel.

From where could that priest be?

In the past, some merchants or lords would monopolize the special products from the Southern Continent and would sell them back at higher prices.

“These times cannot be compared to the times when those nobles used to tie up our limbs.”

“Right, I wish that His Majesty lives for a very long time.”

When the merchants were speaking in support of Luke, the priest spoke again without considering their opinion, “Aren’t there far more damage now to our soldiers and people on the border because of this continuous warfare?”

“Not at all, where did you even come from, priest? There was only once that His Majesty Luke had gone for war. That was to punish the tyrannical Baroque Empire.”

“Right, apart from that, it was Milton and the Grenada who attacked first.”

“My distant relative lives in the Lamer city, and he almost died two years ago because of the pirate attacks.”

“Anyway, His Majesty needs to end the enemies and eliminate any war…”

Listening to the merchants, the priest frowned.

It was because the people’s support for Luke seemed stronger than expected.

‘Well, if those who I am going to meet are crooked enough, they will be able to fulfill the mission.’

After a while, the priest arrived at Brandon and entered the royal city with an ID prepared in advance.

The priest, who said his goodbyes to the merchants passing the gate, seemed shocked.

‘Is this really Brandon?’

The priest had once stayed in Brandon during his childhood.

This Brandon was no way the same small city. It was so developed and vibrant that it couldn’t be compared to the past.

High rise buildings were lined up along straight roads. Thousands of people and wagons passed on the roads and alleyways.

Among the people in the road, there were few fairies and Southern Continent men. Rare spices, silks, and ceramics lined up in the markets and shopping streets.

It was almost like the capital of the Baroque Empire, Nemesis, in its brightest time.

‘There was a reason why the men supported Luke.’

Nodding his head, he entered a shabby bar that was two blocks away.

Only flies were flying in the daylight with no customers, but the bald owner, who was guarding the counter, frowned when the priest entered.

“Our store doesn’t accept priests as customers. I have no intention of paying offerings so please go.”

“I didn’t come as a guest or to ask for an offering.”

The priest approached the bald owner and whispered, “I came here from the high priesthood to meet with Michelle from Canaan. Look at this.”

The priest showed the old rosary to the owner.

At first, he just looked at it, but then, he noticed the letters engraved on the rosary and was shocked.

Returning the rosary to the priest, he looked at the entrance and said, “Open that door and enter. There will be someone to guide you.”

“Thank you.”

The priest had a gentle smile and entered the small door at the back of the counter.

He entered into the alley after passing the door.

A rough-looking man with a knife mark on his face stood far away and spoke, “Follow me.”

Although he didn’t have to, the priest silently followed the man.

The man with the mark on his face went round and round on several cramped alleys to see if anyone else was tailing him and then guided him to the mansion.

Creak!

“You are late for the meeting, Baron Bruce.”

When he opened the door of the mansion, a noble lady with striking beauty greeted him.

The priest, well, Baron Bruce, opened his mouth with a cold face instead of the gentle expression he had been putting up till then.

“There were heavy checks all over Symphonia. Maybe it’s because of the war. Rather, is everything prepared?”

When Baron Bruce asked, the officer of the Libiya Kingdom’s intelligence agency, Janet, nodded.

“Yes. I put them all in one place. I was waiting for you, baron, to come.”

“Okay, let’s go over right away.”

Deciding to save time, Bruce decided to meet the men right away.

Janet led him to a closed room in the mansion.

On the way to the room, Janet spoke, trying to figure something out.

“But I still don’t understand His Majesty’s intention. I thought that we were only focusing on the war against the Baroque Empire, but to suddenly touch Symphonia is a little off.”

“The Baroque Empire is done. It is so done that the crazy emperor makes no sense anymore. Rather, the Symphonia Kingdom is dangerous. If we leave them, they will end up destroying us in the future.”

“Well, what could someone with Dragonian powers be so scared of…”

“Be wary of your words! Do you want to lose your life?”

Janet shut her mouth when Baron Bruce yelled at her.

It was because he might just do it.

“We need to do what we are told. You don’t need to question everything you were ordered.”

“I am sorry, Baron.”

Bruce nodded at the apology of Janet.

But even he was feeling a little skeptical about the matter. It was because looking at the wealth of Brandon and the people’s faces, it seemed questionable if his operation would succeed.

Above all, just as Janet mentioned, there was no reason to touch the Symphonia Kingdom at such a point.

Obviously, if it came to thinking about the future, all they had to do was check, but they wondered if there was anything good coming out by touching other nations without information.

‘He has the Dragonian power, but Your Majesty isn’t that great. Even then, it is hard to understand the sudden change of course.’

Immediately after the founding of the nation, Shaikan didn’t delay in attacking Baroque despite the opposition from his retainers, but one day, he suddenly stopped the war and foreign activities.

In the process, they began to recruit new talent from outside and everyone taken seemed suspicious.

In addition, Libiya’s political stand changed.

In the past, people were afraid of Shaikan, so they couldn’t help but just follow along with the order.

However, it wasn’t the case of the high-ranking nobles.

But now, everyone seemed to have turned into his puppet dolls and just followed the orders given.

Thanks to that, the work did get faster, but people couldn’t feel a sense of security like the past.

‘Well, maybe there are just my anxious thoughts. It’s probably because I am getting old.’

And no informant was supposed to have thoughts of their own.

It was because the moment the informant had doubts, the mission would turn into a mess.

That was why they were always taught to obey orders.

While Bruce was in his thoughts, he entered the room.

As he entered the room, he saw four men seated around the table.

One middle-aged noble, who looked greedy, and three young stubborn men.

The middle-aged noble complained to Janet’s face.

“Yeah, Miss Janet. I was waiting here because you asked me to, but it is too much for me to sit in the same place as commoners. I am going to be the successor of the nobles of the Symphonia Kingdom you know!”

At the words of the middle-aged man, who raised his voice, the three young men scoffed.

“Huh, I guess you only lived with your pride and loneliness all your life.”

“I know. To be with a high ranking noble is just business.”

“People like him always think they are more important than they are.”

At the young men’s words, the middle-aged man’s cheek shook.

“T-these men! You dare to say all those things?!”

The moment the noble was about to explode, Janet stepped in.

“Hohoho! Viscount Lamerit, that is bad for your health. I’ll invite you over to our salon later and give you a special service, so please relax, okay?”

“Kuhm, only for this madam’s beautiful face.”

With Janet’s cute face, Lamerit managed to calm his anger.

She ran a salon. Paradise in Brandon was a social club and luxurious.

Paradise was just a year old, but there were many people there including Janet. They all had good looks, and they attracted nobles, merchants, and bureaucrats and made them enjoy their time.

And such, quite a lot of information could be gathered from the men.

“Hoho, we are supposed to be in the same boat in the future, so how about we introduce ourselves to each other first?”

“Okay. But who the hell are these young ones?”

At Viscount Lamerit’s question, Janet introduced the three men.

“These are the executives of the ‘Red Dawn Revolutionary’.”

“What? Re-red Dawn Revolutionary?!”

Viscount Lamerit seemed startled.

It was because the Red Dawn Revolutionary was the most extreme organization among the republicans.

They had been active even before the founding of the Milton and Symphonia. They were notorious for choosing any means or methods to build a republic government.

They had been engaged in the so-called struggles and assaulting government officers or assassinating the nobles and as a result, their power weakened greatly after the massive subjugation done by the Baroque Empire 20 years ago.

However, they did not disappear completely, and after the founding of Symphonia, they began to appear again.

Even when the Symphonia Kingdom was founded, they were running around saying that Symphonia was ruling as a dictatorship under disguise.

However, it had little influence on people expect for letting people know that the organization was still alive.

Republicans like Aiden and Hegel were also paying attention to the Red Dawn Revolutionary.

It was feared that these extremist activities could end up trampling on the republicanism emerging in the Symphonia Kingdom.

“You were Lamerit, right? I will tell our comrades to remember your name.”

At the words of a young man whose eyes were stern, Lamerit turned sweaty.

In fact, it seemed like they were assassins.

“Now then, next, this is Bruce Baron from Libiya Kingdom.”

At Janet’s words, Lamerit and Red Dawn Revolutionary officers glanced at Bruce.

“What? Noble of the Libiya Kingdom?”

Viscount Lamerit seemed shocked once again, it was because the Symphonia was currently under war with a monster legion on the northwestern borders.

Of course, that wasn’t confirmed to be the Libiya Kingdom’s doing.

However, people with some perception skills were able to guess it.

Currently, the only nation in the Rhodesia Continent that could use monsters as a large army was the Libiya Kingdom.

Anyway, when he got introduced, Bruce stepped forward and opened his mouth.

“You must be wondering why I suddenly got here. I will tell you one thing in advance. The work we are supposed to do will be good for you and won’t hurt you.”

What could the plan be?

Lamerit tilted his head at Bruce’s words, but Bruce kept on talking.

“What I am saying now is a secret which we will have to take to our tombs.”

With that, he began to explain something to the four.

Those who listened to the explanation seemed startled at first.

However, once they were done listening to it, their expression turned full of greed and spirit.