Emperor of Steel

“We need to bring back the princess right away!”

In the meeting room of the manor, the Volga retainers were speaking terrifyingly loud.

In particular, was Victor, who hadn’t been able to get a good night’s sleep since the disappearance of the princess and then pounded his chest.

“I will be the one to bring the princess back. So please send this old man, Lord!”

Victor was ready to leave his current post if Luke allowed him to.

Of course, Luke who knew his heart had no intention of rejecting his request.

“Please be calm, Sir Victor. We surely need to bring back Reina, so let’s move after we think about it.”

“No, i don’t understand, what is there to think about! This old man will go and come back!”

Luke with a stern face talked to Victor who wasn’t able to hold his emotions.

“The situation in the Holy Empire isn’t so great. And Reina hasn’t contacted us in the last 2 years despite being back from the Spirit World.”

“You think there were obstructions?”

At the question of Pavel who was calmer than Victor, Luke nodded and said, “Exactly. And I wonder if the Holy Empire would react calmly if we went to visit Reina.”

“Well, at those words I would have agreed with the Lord.”

Pavel, who was in bureaucracy for the last years, had a different sense of how things were done.

“If the information sent by the Dark Elves is indeed correct, then the real power of the Holy Empire is with Archbishop Constantine. But if he stays in power and stays as regent, it means that there was a reason for it.”

Luke nodded at Pavel’s words.

“Because a scarecrow would never be put in power.”

Even the scarecrows of the monarchs would never be put in power without a reason.

And the current case seemed like that, usually, such things were done to maintain the lineage of ancestors.

“What about Holy Arthenia Empire? I heard that the Pope doesn’t get married. Isn’t that right, Priest Maron?”

Luke asked Maron, the Priest of Rakan territory, who nodded. But that didn’t stop the thought of entering the mind of Maron.

‘Even without any official wives, the popes did have lovers.’

But such stories about the denomination weren’t supposed to come out, or it could lead to its end.

Meanwhile, Luke was talking.

“If they can’t get married, they won’t be having any heirs, so it isn’t a case lineage problem. Moreover, the Holy Pope needs to be elected from the Conclave”

“Then, maybe because to upkeep the Pope?”

As one of the retainers said, he shrugged his shoulders.

“I don’t know the entire details, but it seems like an internal situation in the Holy Empire. The thing I wanted to say was, getting Reina would be very troublesome.”

Luke had just the same thing once again, the same words which said at the beginning of the meeting, getting Reina would be hard.

It was shocking what he said next.

“To be honest, I don’t care if she comes back here or not. I’ll just be glad if I can meet with her when the time comes.”

“Lord…”

“Think about it, Reina could be the Pope to the Holy Empire. She always tried to follow the God’s will and cared for the powerless people. So…”

Luke who was trying to say something, got up from his seat.

He looked at the retainers with intense eyes and expressed his will.

“If it wasn’t her intention to stay there, I would definitely bring her back. Especially, if she is being kept against her will.”

With those words, the Volga’s old men seemed impressed, but the others, especially Maron seemed distressed.

“I understand your will. But if we do something wrong, we will have to clash with the El Kassel and the Holy Empire.” Said Maron.

The El Kassel had more than half the continent’s population as its believers.

Even in the Rakan estates, there were believers of El Kassel denomination.

The Holy Empire was a traditional powerhouse that surpassed Baroque’s power.

However, that didn’t let Luke change his words.

“If anyone stops me from bringing her in such situations, I wouldn’t mind going against the Gods either.”

Rogers applauded Luke’s comments. Philip too thought that it was natural as he was the heir to the Devil King.

“You, you would really fight?”

At the question from Maron, who was flustered, Luke smiled and answered, “I don’t mean to fight without reason. And if there really was a God in there, I don’t think he would standstill when the Empire was going corrupt.”

“Anyway, you plan on picking up the princess, by yourself I guess?”

At the question from Hans, Luke nodded. Dixon being troubled with it, asked, “I understand your wishes and hopes. However, according to the Imperial law, a noble cannot go abroad without permission. If the emperor gets the news that the Lord has gone to the Holy…”

“Then, I’ll have to deceive and sneak around. I have prepared things for it, so don’t worry.” Luke said, trying to assure Dixon.

At those words, the other retainers asked how he would prepare. Philip who was the only one who knew smiled faintly.

“But still, it is dangerous for just the Lord and Sir Victor to go there, please take a few more escorts. It would be better to deceive them by saying you’re a mercenary.”

At the words of Rogers, Luke nodded his head.

It was easy for those who were in war to act as mercenaries.

Moreover, given the current unstable state of the Holy Empire, there was no better camouflage than being a mercenary.

“The escort forces will be of Rakan Knights, how is that commander?”

“Then let’s do that. All of them are good enough to make sure the Lord is kept safe.”

Luke, of course, had no intention of taking the Rakan knights just to protect himself.

If the knights went along, they could get the experience which they couldn’t get in the closed estate.

After a few days, in the dawn.

Luke, led by 30 knights, quietly left the manor.

His goal was the city of Bless, the capital of Holy Arthenia, which sheltered Reina.

The sun was rising bright in the east, showing Luke and his knights the direction they had to head to.