Emperor Of Steel [EN]: Chapter 10

10. Veritas Magic Tower’s Conspiracy

Although the Alon Merchant Guild was infamous for its high-interest loans, it was one of the top five largest merchant guilds in the Baroque Empire. With a history spanning over 100 years, it dealt in hundreds of different goods, and its profits rivaled those of a small duchy. As a result, they looked down on most nobles.

Derin, a high-ranking member of this merchant guild, had been summoned to the main branch in the imperial capital. The place he was called to was a secret room deep within the main branch, where a single candle barely illuminated the darkness. There, Derin waited for the person who had summoned him, prostrating himself like a commoner before the Emperor.

*Gulp!*

‘The actual owner of the guild? Why would such a person call for me…?’

Before coming here, Derin had met with the guild master. The guild master, who was also his uncle, had given him a stern warning. He told him that ‘that person’ he was about to meet was the true owner of the guild, and he should not make even the slightest mistake in his words or actions. It was surprising that the guild had a true owner, but what bothered him was the look of extreme fear on his uncle’s face as he conveyed the message. If his uncle, who usually remained composed even when dealing with high-ranking nobles, was so flustered, who could this person be? Could it be the Emperor of the Empire?

While Derin was wondering, a sinister voice suddenly came from the front without any sign of approach.

“So. You. Are. The. Boy. Called. Derin?”

Derin quickly lowered his head at the voice, which was impossible to guess the age of and sounded like scraping metal. And he replied in a very nervous voice.

“Yes, I am. But may I ask why you have summoned me?”

“Last. Year. I. Ordered. The. Guild. Master. To. Secure. The. Fortress. Of. The. Demon. King. Seymon. But. It. Seems. That. Did. Not. Go. Well.”

‘H-huh!’

He had been wondering why such a trivial task had been given to him, the head of the southern branch, but it seemed it was an order from the actual owner of the guild. His face turned pale in an instant. He remembered that he had failed to complete the mission.

Derin wailed, hitting his forehead on the floor.

“P-please, spare my life!”

“Heh heh, who. Said. I. Would. Kill. You? Rather. Tell. Me. How. That. Task. Failed.”

Derin, who had turned deathly pale, hesitated for a moment whether to lie, but then told the truth. He had a strong feeling that the other party was not someone who would be fooled by a lie.

“Huh, the Young Lord. Won. A. Lot. Of. Money. At. The. Lamer. Gigant. Arena? And. He. Bet. On. Princess. Reina’s. Side. When. Everyone. Thought. She. Would. Lose?”

“Yes, that is what I have been told by my sources.”

“Hmm, then. Count. Monark. Will. Not. Stay. Still.”

“Given his nature, I believe he will surely seek revenge on the Young Lord.”

“Heh heh heh, that. Greedy. Pig. Would. Do. That.”

Feeling that the other party was not in a bad mood, Derin cautiously asked.

“But why the Demon King’s fortress…?”

“Why. Did. I. Order. You. To. Buy. It?”

“Yes! Although knights and aspiring knights visit to commemorate Rakan’s achievements, isn’t it a useless place except for some tourist income?”

Although he had followed the orders from above, Derin had always been curious about that point.

“Heh heh heh, that. Fortress. And. The. Surrounding. Area. Have. A. Secret. That. People. Do. Not. Know. About.”

“A secret, you say?”

“That’s. Right. It. Is. A. Fact. That. I. Only. Learned. A. Few. Years. Ago. The. Fortress. And. The. Surrounding. Area. Are. Located. At. The. Convergence. Point. Of. Natural. Mana. Streams. The. Mana. Concentration. There. Is. Quite. High. So. If. A. Mage. Or. Knight. Trains. There. They. Will. Show. Rapid. Growth. And. It. Is. Also. Very. Advantageous. For. Building. Magic. Towers. Or. Magic. Workshops.”

‘The Demon King’s fortress is a Mana Field?!’

A place where mana flows, where mana streams converge. People called such areas Mana Fields and considered them lands blessed by mana. Most of the top 10 magic towers on the continent were located in Mana Fields. In addition, royal palaces and academies in each country were also located in places with high mana concentrations, although to varying degrees.

“Now. Do. You. Understand. Why. I. Tried. To. Secure. That. Place?”

“Yes, I understand now… Hup!”

Derin’s face turned pale as he nodded. Mana Fields were areas that people were desperate to seize. It was common for thousands of soldiers to die trying to take even a small Mana Field. Therefore, there were lords who knew their land was a Mana Field but kept quiet about it, fearing it would cause trouble. But now he knew such a crucial secret!

“I, I, I… I didn’t hear anything. I will never reveal what I heard today!”

“So. You. Want. To. Live?”

“Yes, if you spare my life, I will pledge my loyalty… Hwaaaak!”

Derin was startled and took a step back as he faced ‘that person’ who had appeared right in front of him like a ghost. It wasn’t because ‘that person’ was dressed as a mage that he was surprised. Nor was it because the emblem on the robe was a lily, which symbolized a high-ranking mage of the Veritas Magic Tower, one of the two major magic towers on the continent. The reason why a primal instinct and fear to escape arose was because of ‘that person’s’ very existence.

With a gaunt skeleton, dark eye sockets, and ominous glints in his eyes, that person, or rather, that thing, was a Lich. An immortal being with the power of darkness!

“Come. Here. I. Will. Not. Harm. You.”

“Hic! No! Spare me! Uwaaak!”

Derin struggled violently, but his body was pulled towards the Lich by a force beyond his control.

“Do. Not. Fear. You. Will. Become. Part. Of. Me.”

Pooook!

With a gruesome sound, the Lich’s skeletal hand pierced through Derin’s chest and pulled out his heart. Unlike the limp body, the Lich began to chew on Derin’s still-beating heart without hesitation.

Crunch! Crunch!

Each time the chilling sound of chewing raw flesh was heard, drops of blood fell onto the floor. The skeleton, revealed by the flickering candlelight, gradually changed into the appearance of the dead Derin. And the voice also changed to Derin’s.

“The Rakan Territory… Even though it’s annoying, I have no choice but to take action myself?”

The Lich grinned and lightly fluttered his robe. Then, Derin’s body, which had been pierced through, disappeared without a trace, and the faintly glowing candle also vanished without a trace. And the being that had come from the darkness disappeared back into the darkness.

Volga Republic Presidential Residence.

In the presidential office of the residence, where a red flag with a double axe symbolizing the republic fluttered, two people sat facing each other. One was Vladimir Lecov, the president who led the republic’s revolution and now leads the republic, and the dark elf woman opposite him was Sylvia Aratra, the head of the Volga Intelligence Agency’s Second Bureau.

“So, you’re saying there is no ‘Tear of the Earth’ within the Volga Kingdom?”

Sylvia replied to President Lecov’s question with a lively tone.

“That is correct, Your Excellency.”

“Hmm, then does it ultimately belong to Princess Reina?”

“According to the reports from the observers around the princess, it seems that Princess Reina does not have it either.”

The Tear of the Earth was a treasure passed down through the Volga royal family, a legendary item said to have brought rain when a great drought struck the Rodisia continent in the early days of the kingdom. It was said that very few people in the royal family had actually seen it, and this treasure would appear and disappear each time a major natural disaster occurred in the kingdom, resolving it. In people’s memories, it was simply regarded as a ‘divine object’ that prevented natural disasters, but some of the leaders of the Volga Republic thought differently. They believed that the Tear of the Earth was the key to fulfilling one of their long-cherished desires over the past thousands of years. Thus, they joined the republican revolution to obtain that key, and eventually succeeded in seizing the royal palace.

However, no matter how much they searched the royal palace, they could not find the Tear of the Earth, or anything similar to it. So, at first, they investigated whether the exiled royal family had taken it. However, they infiltrated spies and thoroughly searched Peter II, the queen, and the princess, but none of them had it. They turned their attention back to the country and searched anything related to the royal family, even the most distant relatives, for over ten years. But still… they could not find the Tear of the Earth anywhere.

“Then, could the Tear of the Earth have flowed to the southern continent?”

“That is not the case. High Elf Erenes has stated that it definitely exists within this Rodisia continent.”

“Hmm, this is troublesome.”

In fact, President Lecov had half given up on finding the Tear of the Earth. He thought it was a loss to focus the republic’s intelligence on something that he didn’t know where it was, and he didn’t know how much it would help even if he found it. However, unlike him, who was human, the thoughts of the different races who called themselves fairies were different. Among them, the thoughts of the elves, including the dark elves, were very different, and they seemed to have staked their race’s fate on finding the Tear of the Earth.

‘Haa, if the fairies weren’t one of the pillars of the republic’s revolution, I would just ignore them…’

However, the fairies were clearly one of the three pillars that made the revolution successful, and they had formed a very close relationship with the other pillar, ‘Dark Moon’. So, the president could not ignore their demands.

“Then, what do you want me to do?”

“Please grant us permission to bring Princess Reina here.”

“H-her?!”

The president looked startled.

“Yes. It seems we will have to investigate thoroughly, even if it means reading all of her memories.”

‘They’re crazy, they’re crazy!’

It was not easy to kidnap a princess from the southern part of the Baroque Empire, but even if they did kidnap her, problems would arise. Kidnapping a princess who was so highly regarded that she was called a saint could lead to criticism from various countries on the continent. Even now, they were being checked by various kingdoms because of the rapid spread of republicanism. But now they were going to be publicly branded?

‘They say that once the fairies get worked up, they’re even scarier, and that’s exactly what they’re like.’

Usually, fairies were pure and kind compared to humans. However, once they got angry, they were truly terrifying, and the president, who knew that fear well, had no choice but to grant their request.

“Alright, I grant it. But please treat her with the utmost respect. She is working hard to help refugees, so her popularity is high even within the republic.”

“Understood.”

On the day the president’s permission was granted, the best agents of the Volga Republic’s intelligence agency crossed over to the Baroque Empire.

(To be continued in Iron Emperor Volume 2)

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