Emperor of Steel

Thud! Thud!

A prison located deep beneath the Imperial Palace in Nemesis.

There was a person who had been imprisoned in there a few days back in a special prison that was allocated only for rebels or sinners who have committed crime similar to treason.

The man in there had grown his beard almost similar to a bandit. His arms and hands were all sealed with magic to block the usage of aura.

He had been in that mess for the past few days.

His clothes were soaked with food and traces of torture could be seen all over his body.

But the most difficult thing for the man was that he wasn’t able to see anything through his eyes due to the darkness.

The only sound one could hear was the drops of water that fell from the ceiling onto his body.

It wasn’t just some old-time prison. Rather, it was a deliberately designed prison to make a sinner suffer.

If it continued to stay so silent for the next few days, the sound of the water drops would begin to seem louder than any roar.

Before prisoners died in that prison, it was common for them to go crazy.

Nevertheless, the man, who was being held in there, opened his mouth with a heavy sigh.

“What is the situation at the capital?”

He was looking at the prison door.

The guard’s face could be seen through those bars.

The guard, who brought him his meal, laughed.

“You still care about the people, Count?”

The guard knew the man in the cell.

He was Count Ferrero, the commander of the Central Army, and the greatest asset to the Baroque Empire.

The gap between the guard and the count was too huge for him to even look at his face.

However, they were in the prison of the Baroque Empire, and whoever was in there had to be treated as a sinner.

The guard knew that not a Sword Master, even if a Sword Sage entered the prison to take the Count out, they would be able to.

Even to that day, Count Ferrero was being dragged to the torture chamber and was being brainwashed.

Being an Advanced Sword Master, he was able to hold his thoughts, but he was bound to become the Majesty’s faithful servant.

“Do you know why you have been dragged in here? Please answer me.”

“Huh, are you that curious?”

In response to Ferrero’s answer, the guard opened a small side door beneath the thick bars and pushed in a moldy piece of bread.

“The plague has disappeared and riots have been subjugated. Also, the enemies you stood up from were killed or executed.”

With the last bit of strength in him, Ferrero screamed on top of his lungs for knowing that the people who believed in him were killed.

“They were all just trying to save their families!”

“It is no use to say that to me. I am just a prison guard. It is better for you to look ahead, Count. Shouldn’t you be more concerned about your family? They are made to suffer more than those people, right?”

“…”

He didn’t seem to say it out loud, but the faces of his family came up to Ferrero’s head.

His first wife had died early, so he had remarried and asked her to look after his kids.

He felt a lot of gratitude for his good wife, who never spoke badly about him even though he was always busy with military affairs, and his kids who were proud of their brave father.

The pain he felt in his body was a lot more than his scars.

“It isn’t too late now. It would be better to ask His Majesty for forgiveness. If you don’t want to let down your family and their lives by continuing to do this, act humble.”

When he was done speaking, the guard turned and left.

“Phew…!”

As the guard disappeared, Ferrero sighed.

His family’s state caused him to turn anxious. However, his heart was aching for failing to keep his promise to the people.

‘Your Majesty, this is too much.’

Count Ferrero felt regrettable that the Emperor, the strongest knight on the continent, whom he had respected all this time, was only getting farther away from him.

Count Ferrero’s mansion was being watched by the Knights of Guards of the Imperial family.

The Count’s family were all anxious inside the mansion. They were all waiting for some news about their father.

“There are a lot of talented people than I thought.”

“We can’t see them, but I am sure that there are War Mages hiding there.”

Luke and Philip watched the mansion from a nearby place.

Luke, who had come to Nemesis, was afraid to use too much time.

It was because the throne couldn’t be left empty for too long.

However, the information given by the officials of Hydra and Imperial Intelligence made him change the operation’s plan.

“Since his family is confined in the mansion, I don’t think that the Emperor has abandoned Count Ferrero completely.”

If Rudolf, who had a crazed personality was planning to punish Count Ferrero, he would have killed his entire family or locked them all in prison.

Before reaching there, the Count thought that his family would have been killed.

“That is true. And if the Count doesn’t bow his head, the treatment will change.”

Luke decided to change the operation and rescue Ferrero along with his family too.

Luke, who previously took the blueprint of the Imperial Palace and the Count’s mansion, gathered the personnel involved in the operation.

“Count Ferrero will be taken care of by the first group led by Sir Philip. The Count’s family will be taken care of by 2nd group, Belfair, Scarlet, Erwin, and the 3rd group will be led by Henry. They will ignite the enemy barracks and other offices.”

“Understood, Your Majesty.”

“The time for the operation will be at midnight. I hope everyone will be on time and ready.”

Luke ordered everyone and gave the teleport scroll to everyone when the time came to escape from the capital and to inform if anything happened.

On the other hand, he already prepared a gift for Rudolf.

In fact, Luke was more focused on the ‘gift’ rather than the rescue operation of Ferrero as it was supposed to help greatly in the future.

‘Huhuhu. I expect a lot of responses.’

When the thought of how the Emperor and ‘he’ would respond, Luke couldn’t help but smile.