Emperor of Steel

The early advances of the revolutionary army were smooth.

The closer they were to the capital, the stronger was the influence of the Marius factions and around 150,000 troops could be blocked with their efforts, and it was nothing less than a suicide to clash with the army.

‘But once we enter the Konrad region, the story will change.’

Luke had a reason for believing that.

Duke Ferrierd had been in the Konrad for long, and most of the villagers and residents believed the ‘Maron Par’, led by the Archbishop/ Duke.

In addition to that, the walls of Eisenberg, the gateway city to Alvera, were known to be very strong and large. Even the first-class canons would get repulsed from the strong walls.

“All halt! Today, we camp in here!”

The messenger ran from the front to the back and told them the words of the chief commander to the army.

The 4th squadron settled and set up their camp.

Evening dinner, white smoke rose everywhere.

“This sounds, a little easy?”

Speaking of dinner, the subordinate knights spoke.

They had been on the march for around 10 days and the enemy wasn’t seen yet.

“Are they feeling scared with the thought of such a huge army coming at them by any day?”

Listening to their words, Luke shook his head and said.

“That won’t be the case. Perhaps the enemy will be seen if we continue to march along the way tomorrow, beyond the boundaries of Konrad territory.”

“Would that happen?”

“So, don’t drink till late at night.”

At Luke’s orders, the knights looked very disappointed. A group of mercenaries appeared and talked to them.

“Oiku, the fallen noble. You were having dinner. But, will eating the porridge and bread be enough to give you strength?”

“Right. If it was me, I would catch even a horse and cook it. ”

“Kul Kul Kul!”

They belonged to the Garlic mercenaries, who were quite good in the Holy Arthenia empire.

Most of them were nomads from the northern meadows, with the number going around 500 and a large mercenary group with around 30 expert class mercenaries.

However, unlike the other mercenaries, they didn’t receive any special treatment because they had no Gigants by them.

But they found a mercenary with Gigants with them.

That too was of a small number and didn’t seem to be as good, and they seemed to like countrymen.

After hearing rumors, they knew that he was a fallen noble who was wandering their land.

Of course, the Garlic mercenaries were greedy for the Gigants.

“Hey, you don’t have to eat like beggars, sell your Gigants over.”

A nasty mercenary with a little wart on his forehead spoke, stepping forward.

His name was Gavel, the captain of Garlic mercenary.

It had been an annoying few days, so he asked Aldof who was an expert for help.

There was a reason why he remained to be a mercenary despite his outstanding ability.

Since he was a nomad, he learned nothing other than to wield a sword. And he could never betray the allegiance he swore for money.

In any case, he began to haul around men who seemed similar to him and created a mercenary group.

“Look here, can’t you hear what I am saying? The price I do is good!”

“Don’t feel like it.”, responded Luke.

“Uh uh, speak good words when one speaks good.”

“I would if you would have spoken anything good.”

When Luke firmly shot back, Gavel silently resigned.

But within a while, he soon began to ask again.

“Uh, Look at how he is glaring at me? Whom do you think you are looking at! Lower your eyes!”

Gavel had no intention of paying for the Gigants.

Gigant wasn’t something that could be found anywhere, and he wanted to use the good things.

That was why he was instigating the Red Wolf Mercenary trying to create a conflict.

If the other person pulled out his sword first, then he would have to pay an appropriate amount for that act.

And Gavel would complain to the commander of the 4th squadron and ask for a Gigant instead of money as compensation.

Because he was a fallen noble, he would have some strong pride and take out the sword.

At that time, he would ask for a Gigant as compensation.

That was his entire plan.

“Captain, please be patient… their guys are…”

When Philip noticed the wicked trick of Gavel, he tried to warn Luke.

And Luke had no intention of enduring it.

No, rather he had thought very clearly about the situation. For mercenaries like Gavel, there were a lot of those kinds of men and he was going to place a mark for him.

When the opportunity strikes, Luke was going to use it.

‘I have a lot of other things to do too.’

Luke, threw the glove of his hand and filed for a duel with Gavel.

“Wah! Duel!”

“The mercenaries are fighting!”

The men were bored with a long march.

As the news spread about the duel, the soldiers for the 4th squadron flocked like ants. Even the commander, Count Marcus went there.

“What the hell is happening?”

“A match between Gavel from the Garlic mercenary and Lev from the Red Wolf Mercenary.”

Count Marcus frowned at the report.

“What? A fight you say? I surely forbid men from indulging in any friendly fights, right?”

“But it isn’t a training fight, it is a duel!”

“Duel? Isn’t a duel done with nobles or knights?”

“I heard that Lev is a fallen noble. In addition, mercenaries often settle disputes with duels. The only difference is the loser needs to pay a huge reward.”

“Really?”

Intrigued by the story of the lieutenant, Marcus too decided to take a look.