Emperor of Steel

“Wah! Long live the pope!”

“Long live our pope!”

At last, the pope had got out of the wagon.

Luke, who got mixed with the soldiers who were cheering, stepped forward.

A little further, and he could finally confirm whether Pope Veronica III was really his Reina.

At first, Luke tried to check it through mana.

Even if the people there weren’t wizards, each individual had their own mana waves.

However, for a human who didn’t have a developed mana circle, checking the weak mana waves was a troublesome task.

What was more, it was harder to find as there were thousands of soldiers around.

If there was a way for him to confirm, it was to approach her as close as he could.

Luke narrowed the distance and finally got a chance to see the pope who was being escorted by Marquis Valentino.

But with just ten steps left to get close, he couldn’t help but stop.

The paladins, who were blocking the front, were like iron walls.

‘Are these men the Saint Guard?’

Their bodies itself seemed very strong.

They were actually one of Luke’s favorite knights, but they were just being an annoyance to Luke now.

If he could, he would have blown them up, but Luke just stared at the pope.

‘This…!’

The pope was wearing a veil over her head, making it very hard for Luke to even make out her face.

Because of the dizzy energy of the crowd, mana waves were still hard to detect.

Right when Luke continued to look for other means.

Tang!

A sharp arrow popped out from the crowd.

The arrow, which was flying quickly after being released from the bow, was aimed at the pope.

Kang!

A momentary burst of fire blew in the air. The arrow quickly bounced off to a vacant spot.

In front of the pope was a young man with a plunged physique. He blocked the arrow and relayed his commands.

“Protect the pope!”

Orders fell from Arch Duke Gregory. The Saint Guards, who were close to the Pope, surrounded her in no time. In addition, the paladins scattered immediately and searched for a person who had invaded their peaceful meeting.

“Do not stand! On the floor! Fall on the floor!”

“Hick! No, it wasn’t me!”

“Do not move! Any suspicious person will be immediately considered as an assassin!”

The soldiers all went flat on the ground like frogs. They were scared of the Saint Guards.

Luke lay down as well. In that situation, if he immediately left the place, he could have been framed, and then he would have gotten brought into something very tiring.

‘Dammit, what is this now!?’

With the loss of Eisenberg, the prevailing Konrad Kingdom might have tried to assassinate her with unclear thoughts and ideas.

But in that very situation, Luke was critically trying to make sure if the pope was Reina!

‘There is no time to grumble. If the assassin isn’t caught soon…’

The pope, whose life had been threatened, might be asked to return. Even if the pope didn’t go back right away, it was likely that she wouldn’t be allowed to meet anyone for her safety.

‘A mistake. All because I was looking forward to seeing Reina, I wasn’t able to stay alert…’

Luke began to think about the situation before the assassination attempt.

Arrows flew in with a sharp sound.

That meant that the arrow wasn’t from a longbow.

Common sense suggested that in such crowded places, the cry of an assassin could be heard and noticed.

‘It wasn’t attempted from a distance. The sound definitely came from around here, and the weapon used wasn’t a bow; something else was used.’

He could guess what the equipment was.

It was a handgun.

People called it the hand cannon or firearms. It was a weapon loaded by gunpowder that was from the south—the Song Empire.

A weapon that placed gunpower or small arrow into a metal stick. If used right, it could be utilized to kill a knight that was wearing armor.

However, it wasn’t a weapon that was commonly used in the Rhodesia Continent as it had no effect over Gigants—heavy armored weapons.

However, a few mercenaries carried it with them for the purpose of shooting an enemy commander or when dealing with knights beyond the expert class.

Luke came to know about its information because of the new recruits who wanted to join the Red Wolf Mercenaries.

“You are the assassin!”

“Uh? No, no! It wasn’t me!”

“Don’t lie! If so, then why do I smell gunpowder from your body?”

Paladins, just like Luke, were finding suspects everywhere. Most of the mercenaries had hand canons or other handheld artillery weapons.

“Where did you hide your weapon?”

“I’m telling you. I don’t have anything of the sort! Why are you doing these things to me… Kuak!”

“Don’t act smart with me and speak out!” Yelled the paladin.

“I-it wasn’t me! It really wasn’t me!”

Luke frowned as he saw the suspect get beaten by the paladins.

He thought that the weapon used for the assassination was a hand canon as well, but something seemed off.

‘The gunfire did ring, but there was no smell of gunpowder or smoke. In addition to that, the mana had reacted smoothly…’

Luke hurriedly looked around.

Considering the place where the gunshot rang, the assassin was likely to be very close.

The assassin could have retreated already, but what if he chooses to attack again?

“You! There you are! Why are you looking around?”

One of the paladins, who belonged to the Saint Guards, found Luke looking around.

Luke kept looking to try and find the assassin.

“Didn’t I ask you what you’re doing?” Yelled the paladin.

“Be quiet! You are distracting me!”

Luke pushed off the hand of the paladin, which was placed on his shoulders, looking for mana that had a suspicious reaction. Luke rushed away.

The assassin was still there.

On top of that, he was much closer to the pope than one would have anticipated.