Emperor of Steel

In the Count Felipe estate to the southwest of the Baroque Empire.

A new flag was fluttering on the land, the land which had the strongest military power and largest neutral territory.

The flag with a Dragon crest like the Baroque Imperia family, but the difference was the dragon had its wings wide open.

Many of the guards which were around the flag were orcs, goblins, and monsters.

Monsters armed with steel weapons, such as any human soldiers were faithfully guarding the region without any distractions.

And the human knights and soldiers seemed relatively unconcerned.

In the beginning, the humans seemed rather cautious to see the monsters move around them.

However, after recognizing that the monsters wouldn’t harm them, they began to do their duties.

“It seems more like an elite soldiers than a monster.”

“They are definitely much better than the new recruits of our troops.”

“How can they be like that? Did they submit themselves because of some weird magic?”

In front of the knights who were mumbling, an armed orc came ahead.

The orc which seemed incredibly overwhelming when compared to the size of a troll spoke to the knights with a flimsy voice.

“Kuek, not magic. Our king has the power of God Dragon. Orc, submit to the power of the dragons. The power of the God Dragon made the orc strong and clever.”

“Uhm, that so? Even being a monster, you know how to handle the bows and fire guns.”

“Woah, the power of a draconian is surely amazing.”

The knights recalled the first time they had met the ‘king’.

The man whom Count Felipe had introduced as a new king to take down the tyrant Emperor was a masked man.

The masked man brought in tens of thousands of monsters from the territory, and he was the Orc Hero Shaikan who turned the Navarre duchy upside down.

Shaikan, who appeared with a mask in front of the neutral nobles, gathered all the remnants of the Western Army into the mansion, claimed himself to be the 3rd crown prince, Reichard de Baroque, and a legitimate successor to the Libiya Kingdom.

When the words spread, everyone seemed rather suspicious than surprised.

In the midst of the turmoil with the Empire due to the civil war, he seemed like a fraudster trying to take advantage.

Although Duke Butler stood beside the man to guarantee his claim, the words of a man who lost to the Emperor had no authority.

That was when Shaikan, who had awakened the power of the Draconian transformed into a dragon and roared, and the doubts in the minds of nobles disappeared at once.

Everyone wet their pants and decided to obey the man.

“Then who would win over your king and the Crazy Emperor?”

“Obviously our king will win. No matter how strong Emperor Rudolf was, he was still a human, but our king is half human and half dragon, with the power of the God Dragon.”

“Right. He can split a Gigant with a single strike.”

At the knights who were constantly talking, the orc which was near them screamed.

“Knights, stop talking. Get into your position.”

“Ah, that orc is nagging us… Uh! What are you doing?!!”

The orc grabbed the knight who was mumbling and lifted him into the air.

And spoke with a much colder voice than before.

“I am much stronger than a knight. And my rank is higher too. I’ll have to hit you if you mess around.”

“Ah, understood! So just stop now…”

“Kuek! Speak with respect!”

“Understood, I was wrong! I won’t ever do that again!”

Upon hearing those words, the Orc released the knight who was full of himself, and the knights went back to patrolling the area.

Count Felipe, who was looking at the scene from a window spoke.

“No matter how important, to keep a monster above a human…”

However, a cold voice from behind entered his ears.

“It was decided by the king. If you have any objections, you can go and ask him yourself.”

The count turned.

He caught the glimpse of the man who spoke such cold words.

An old knight seated in a chair, and he was the representative of the Western nobles, Duke Butler.

Duke Butler had appeared alongside Shaikan, and he was currently the lieutenant general of the Libiya Kingdom and commander.

“And not all of the monsters are above the humans.”

“That is true…”

In fact, it was the truth, only a handful of monsters were superior or high ranked than the regular knights.

But for humans like Count Felipe, humans had to be superior, unconditionally.

“The thought is good, but a diligent monster is much better than a lazy human. And a hundred times better to believe a loyal monster than a man without good faith and loyalty.”

Crack!

The moment Butler said that the pen in his hand broke.

In his mind, the image of Marquis Vanden, the traitor had flashed.

Cough!

Count Felipe choked when the energy coming out of Butler’s body was suffocating him.

“Oh, please calm down, Duke!”

With that plea, Butler immediately came back to reality.

Perhaps the energy he had released was of anger, but all the devices and things inside the office were all smashed.

And Count Felipe was breathing out cold air, drenched in sweat as if he had come out from a steaming room.

“Oh my, I am sorry. I began to have a bad memory when I was talking.”

“It is alright. I can understand.”

Maybe it was better to not talk about monsters. It was because it looked like Butler could crush the bones in his body when talked about humans and monsters.

Even if the man was still defeated by the Emperor, Duke Butler was still the Sword Sage of the Baroque Empire.

Felipe, who was determined to live, changed the subject of the conversation.

“That is okay, but there are people talking about the national marriage.”

“National Marriage?”

“Yes, His Majesty is still unmarried. Some nobles say that he should choose a lady for the nation so His Majesty can be able to focus more on the foreign affairs.”

Butler chucked at Felipe’s words.

“Uh, those men speak too simple. Thinking, speaking, and wielding power will be much better.”

“hahaha…”

The words of Butler made Felipe sweat again. And he didn’t want to be wrong, he was actually aiming for the position.

Felipe who only had sons was already willing to adopt a step-daughter from his distant relatives.

However, there was an enemy.

A woman who empowered Shaikan by integrating 15 small and medium estates across the western and southern Empire.

Felipe who recalled ‘her’, went weak.

‘I will never lose to a lustful wench from abroad! No, never!’

Count Felipe decided to make his stepdaughter as a queen.