Emperor of Steel [EN]: Chapter 24

5. Encounters with Fairies

1

Thud, thud, thud!

The carriage, having left the Imperial City of Nemesis, headed north along the main road.

Since it was quite a distance to the city of Krom in the northern part of the Empire, the carriage changed horses at each relay station along the way.

And when there were no relay stations, they stayed at inns in villages or camped out.

They had prepared supplies for camping in advance, so there were no particular inconveniences.

After traveling for five days since leaving the Imperial City, as the sun was setting while passing through a wasteland near the northern road, Luke had the coachman find a place to camp.

There happened to be a campsite not far away.

However, there were people who had arrived earlier.

About 30 people were sitting in small groups around a dozen or so cargo wagons, with torches lit.

They were a mix of merchants and mercenaries.

“Should we just pass by?”

Many mercenaries had a bad reputation. And there were plenty who pretended to be merchants but were actually swindlers.

Therefore, Philip was not keen on camping with strangers in the wilderness.

He was confident he could handle them if they clashed, but he was tired from the journey and wanted to avoid any unnecessary trouble.

However, Luke shook his head and refused.

“Didn’t you say the next village is at least a day away? Let’s just sleep here.”

“Tch, understood.”

At Luke’s decision, the carriage entered the campsite.

Just as the carriage stopped and the coachman and Philip were preparing dinner, one of the merchants, who had been watching their group intently, approached them.

A middle-aged man with a bald head and a protruding belly greeted them with a smile.

“I am Clark from the Merin Trading Company. May I ask which family you belong to?”

“We are from the Rakan baronial family.”

At Philip’s answer, the bald man, Clark, looked startled.

He had thought they were just scions of some noble family, but to think they were barons. Moreover, the Rakan family!

Clark spoke with an even more polite attitude.

“Ah! You are descendants of the legendary hero, Rakan. If it’s not too much trouble, I would like to offer you dinner. Would that be alright?”

He had heard a month ago that the Rakan baronial family had won the territory war against Count Monarch.

Having absorbed the second-largest territory in the south, the Rakan baronial family’s reputation and standing had risen.

He had to treat them well in many ways, even considering future business.

Clark, having seated Luke at the head of the table, brought out a bottle of fine wine he had been saving and struck up a conversation.

“But what brings you on this road with such a small entourage?”

“I just have some business to attend to.”

Luke replied casually.

Clark’s plump appearance, which seemed greedy, did not sit well with him, and there was something suspicious about him.

That was why he had refused Philip’s suggestion to pass by earlier.

He had used the excuse that the village was far away, but what really bothered him was something else.

It was the trading company’s cargo wagons.

The cargo holds were enclosed on all sides like boxes with thick wooden planks. Moreover, the doors at the back were secured with sturdy latches and locks.

Considering that ordinary merchants’ cargo wagons had open structures, with goods piled high and covered with oiled waterproof tarps secured with ropes, this was unusual.

‘The goods loaded in those cargo wagons are obvious. But these guys have acquired something quite unique.’

Luke frowned as he sensed mana emanating from the cargo wagons.

Unaware of what Luke was thinking, Clark spoke again.

“By the way, where is your destination?”

“Why are you so curious about where others are going?”

Instead of answering, Luke asked back, and Clark looked troubled.

“Well… it’s a bit presumptuous to ask on our first meeting, but I was wondering if I could borrow your extraordinary strength, my lord.”

“My strength?”

“Yes, I heard you are a Destroyer-class powerhouse….”

Whether he used magic or swordsmanship, if he had defeated four Gigants [giant monsters] with his bare hands, it meant he had great skill and extraordinary courage.

He judged that such a strong person could sufficiently solve their current problem.

“There has been a mage targeting us for the past three days. He is so skilled that we have already lost half of our goods, and more than twenty mercenaries have died or fled.”

No wonder the merchants and mercenaries looked so disheveled.

Luke glanced at them and said,

“Then why don’t you ask the road patrol for help?”

The roads and canals were the lifeblood of the Empire’s commerce and logistics.

Therefore, patrol units always roamed around, sweeping away bandits and monsters who engaged in looting.

“The problem is that the opponent is beyond the level that the road patrol can handle, and they demand a huge price.”

“……”

“So, I dared to ask you, hoping that as a descendant of a hero, you would have a strong sense of justice and be willing to help.”

Perhaps the Rakan of old would have readily accepted this request with a burning sense of justice.

However, Luke was not the kind of person who was filled with a sense of justice like Rakan, and he had a rough idea of what the situation was, so he did not answer immediately and hesitated.

Then, Clark, becoming anxious, broke out in a cold sweat and opened his mouth.

“Although it is not much, I will pay you handsomely.”

“Payment, what kind of payment will you make?”

“Well, that is….”

“You’re not thinking of ending it with just a few gold coins, are you?”

Luke asked as if he already knew everything.

At this, Clark presented the biggest card he could offer.

“I will give you 5,000 gold and one of the goods.”

Only then did Luke nod as if satisfied.

However, his true intentions were different.

‘I need to go to a place where there are few people, get rid of these guys, and rescue the slaves.’

Luke smiled inwardly as he saw the slave traders he had not seen in a long time. He was thinking of getting rid of these guys without leaving any evidence.

When he was Seymon, he had rescued slaves several times. Especially if the slave was not human, he would be even more proactive in rescuing them.

After being reborn, Luke was even happy to meet a slave trader again.

‘Those who buy and sell slaves are not worth living.’

That was Luke’s thought.

“Ahahaha, Baron. Then, please take care of us.”

Thinking that he had received his permission, Clark smiled brightly and poured wine continuously.

2

The next day, after being treated to a lavish dinner, Luke began to move with the merchant group.

Clark tried his best to accommodate Luke, treating him to everything from meals to lodging with the finest quality.

Thanks to this, Luke was able to travel very comfortably.

One day, after two days had passed, they passed through a forest where monsters frequently appeared.

‘Shall I take care of them now?’

A forest was perfect because it was not easy to escape, and there would be no witnesses.

Just as Luke’s right hand was about to grab the hilt of his sword, something suddenly flew from the side and knocked down two mercenaries who were on the outer edge of the procession.

“Kuaaak!”

“Aaaak!”

Sharp ice spears were embedded in the eyes and chests of the mercenaries who had fallen with screams.

“Damn it, an attacker!”

“Everyone, prepare for battle!”

The mercenaries stopped the cargo wagons and took up defensive positions. Clark quickly crawled under a cargo wagon.

Luke couldn’t help but chuckle at his agile movements, which didn’t match his physique.

“It’s dangerous, my lord!”

Crack!

Philip swung his sword with an urgent cry.

Then, the ice spear that was flying towards Luke shattered into pieces and scattered.

“I could have blocked it myself.”

“This is not the time to say that. We need to leave these slave traders behind and get out of here.”

It seemed that Philip had also figured out the identity of the merchant group.

Indeed, what else could be transported in such box-like cargo wagons other than slaves?

“But it seems too late to leave.”

From the direction where the ice spear had flown, a fireball the size of a watermelon flew towards them.

At first glance, it looked like a very ordinary fireball.

However, Luke sensed an unusual flow of mana from that fireball.

“Dodge! You’ll die if you try to block it!”

At Luke’s shout, Philip hurriedly moved away from the spot with him.

At the same time, the fireball, which had split into dozens in mid-air, rained down like a shower.

Kwakwakwakwang—!

‘Good heavens, it’s like artillery fire!’

Philip was speechless at the sight of the spot where they had just been being completely blown away.

He had heard from Clark that the attacker was a skilled mage, but he had no idea it would be to this extent.

“With this level of mana flow, it must be at least a 7th circle mage.”

“Really?”

When Luke nodded, Philip was startled.

A 7th circle mage was a master-class figure in most small and medium-sized magic towers.

Why on earth would such a person attack these slave traders?

But there was no time to think for long.

“They’re coming! Watch your feet!”

A mage wearing a pure white robe and holding a staff that shone with a brilliant golden light appeared from the forest.

However, Luke and Philip could not pay attention to the mage. This was because thin streams of water were fiercely shooting up from the ground.

“Keok!”

“Kuaaak! My leg!”

The streams of water that shot up were strong enough to pierce through armor.

The mercenaries fell without being able to do anything, and Luke and Philip were busy dodging.

However, they could not avoid all the water arrows that were shooting up from the ground.

“Shield!”

“Aura Armor!”

Luke used defensive magic, and Philip protected his body by emitting aura all over his body with his expert-level skills.

Seeing their response, the mage paused for a moment and then began to chant a spell in a low voice, as if trying to manifest another magic.

“Hey! We have nothing to do with these guys!”

“You’re wrong, Sir Philip. No matter what we say, they won’t believe us.”

If they had seen them being treated well, not to mention being with the slave traders, it was enough to cause a misunderstanding.

‘And that mage will never listen to human words.’

At first, he thought that the mage was targeting the slave caravan for wealth.

However, looking at the mana emanating from the opponent, he could tell that was not the case at all.

That mage was not human.

‘A different race. Among them, an El…!’

Luke’s eyes widened in surprise as he examined the mage and thought about something.

The mana wave he felt from him had suddenly changed.

‘This, this is the 7th circle attack magic, Phoenix Wing!’

The Phoenix Wing is a fire magic that does not disappear until it annihilates a specific target.

Its power was so strong that it could melt even steel into molten metal in an instant.

The mage had almost finished manifesting the magic and was looking at them.

It was no longer possible to respond with ordinary white magic. To confront it, he had to show his true skills.

Having made that judgment, Luke spoke to Philip.

“Sir Philip, do you trust me?”

“Yes, I do.”

When they had encountered Juan’s gang, the lord had believed in his innocence.

He didn’t know what he was trying to do now, but he didn’t want to betray Luke, who had trusted him.

“Good, then don’t be surprised by whatever I show you from now on.”

The moment Luke finished speaking, the mage deployed the Phoenix Wing.

Kuooh!

The firebird born from the 7th circle magic looked like a legendary phoenix.

The noise of it burning the air as it flew sounded like the cry of a real phoenix.

Luke pointed his right hand towards the firebird that was rushing towards him and uttered a spell.

“Dark Impact!”

Just as a purple light formed at Luke’s fingertip, the space around it twisted.

The firebird, which was rushing into the space that was twisted into a vortex, was torn to shreds and scattered flames in all directions.

‘That’s, black magic!’

The mage’s eyes widened.

He had thought that the young man in front of him was somewhat skilled, but a useless fellow who had sided with the slave traders. But to think that he was such a villain that he had even mastered black magic!

‘No, this black magic is different from the usual. It’s like….’

While the mage was hesitating, Luke rushed in, deploying quick magic.

The flustered mage hurriedly created a wind to stop Luke’s charge.

However, Luke was faster than the mage imagined. Because of that, the mage activated blink magic instead of the wind cutter he was trying to deploy.

“Hmph, are you suggesting a game of tag?”

Luke also immediately deployed blink magic and infiltrated behind the mage. And he tried to grab the mage’s nape, but his hand cut through the air.

‘This is illusion magic? And invisibility magic as well!’

He had manifested two magics at the same time.

So-called double casting.

Moreover, he had even grasped the opponent’s psychology and tactics.

Indeed, he was worthy of being a 7th circle mage.

Thud!

‘This is bad…!’

A golden staff suddenly appeared in the air and struck Luke squarely in the solar plexus.

Luke realized he had once again fallen for his opponent’s trick.

He had expected an attack spell while she was hidden, but instead, she had approached and struck a vital point directly.

Furthermore, using her 7th circle mana, she deployed a Strength spell, momentarily boosting her physical power to an upper-expert level.

If he had been hit directly, he would have coughed up blood and collapsed.

However, Luke instinctively twisted his body, and the protective charm given to him by Reina reduced the impact, allowing him to avoid a fatal blow.

Whoosh—!

‘What, what is this?’

The moment the staff touched the charm, the mage sensed a strange and mystical power.

Distracted by this, she failed to realize that her attack had failed.

That’s when Luke launched a counterattack.

Realizing that she was not an easy opponent, Luke unleashed one of the demon abilities he had absorbed.

“Sonic Wave!”

“Aaaah!”

The moment his eyes flashed, the shockwave of the ultrasonic attack struck the mage.

The mage screamed and flew backward from the dizzying impact.

After crashing through several trees, she landed hard on the ground.

3

After the battle, Philip rushed to Luke, asking if he was alright.

“Are you alright, Lord?”

“Yes, I survived thanks to the protective charm the princess gave me.”

Luke took out the charm he was wearing around his neck.

The metal casing was slightly dented from the staff strike, but the contents were intact.

Philip sighed in relief at Luke’s safety, but then his expression turned troubled.

“Lord, about the power you used earlier, could it be….”

“Yes, it’s what you think it is.”

‘It’s really the Demon King’s power!’

Philip’s face stiffened.

He had suspected as much.

Luke had been acting suspiciously, sneaking in and out of the Demon King’s castle while evading him and the other retainers.

So, he had wondered if Luke had secretly acquired and mastered the Demon King Seymon’s techniques, and it turned out to be true!

“You must be disappointed. A descendant of the hero has fallen into something he shouldn’t have.”

“Can you… control that power?”

The reason black magic is shunned is that it is difficult for mages to control.

Uncontrolled power immediately devours the mage’s soul and corrupts them.

When Luke nodded, Philip’s expression improved.

“That’s good enough for me. I don’t like being fussy and picky like the old retainers. If a cat can catch mice, who cares if it’s white or black?”

Philip knew well what Luke had done so far.

That’s why he could trust him, and he decided to trust Luke’s will to believe in his innocence even more.

“But I have a request, please don’t turn me into a death knight even if I die.”

“Alright. I’ll make you a dullahan [a headless rider] as I said before.”

“Lord!”

“Hahaha, don’t worry. I haven’t learned the magic to make such things yet, and I won’t in the future.”

After teasing Philip a little, Luke turned around.

Clark and a few mercenaries, who had barely survived the earlier attack, were cautiously approaching and examining the fallen mage.

“What is it? It’s a woman?”

“And an elf too. That’s why she was chasing us!”

Clark, finally understanding the reason, frowned and grabbed the fallen elf mage by the hair, shaking her.

“Hey, elf wench! What did you do with the goods you stole from us? Speak! Wake up!”

Clark raised his hand to slap her cheek, as she was still unconscious.

Luke grabbed his hand.

“Who told you to touch that woman?”

Crack!

“Aaaah!”

As Luke infused his aura into his grip, Clark’s wrist broke like a twig.

“Ugh… Why, why are you doing this, Lord? That bitch is….”

“I know, she was trying to save her kin from you. But I also don’t like you guys who capture and sell good fairies as slaves.”

“Th, then why?”

“Why did I escort you? It was to accompany you to a place where you wouldn’t be seen by people and bury you there.”

“Eek!”

Unlike Clark and the mercenaries who were terrified, Philip nodded with an expression that said, ‘I knew it.’

Thinking that the reason Luke had become slightly (?) evil was because he had learned the Demon King’s techniques.

“Now, shall we clean up the trash?”

“Aaaah!”

Clark and the mercenaries were terrified and ran away.

They didn’t think they could fight against someone who had defeated an elf mage they couldn’t handle.

Their actions were very wise, but they could not escape Luke’s grasp.

“Petro Light.”

The moment Luke’s eyes flashed, Clark and the mercenaries fell to the ground.

They were puzzled, but then they were horrified to see their bodies slowly turning to stone.

“Hiiiik! Please save us! Please!!”

Luke did not listen to their pleas, the same pleas they had ignored from countless fairies.

Philip also just sneered with a satisfied expression.

The screams of the mercenaries and slave traders, which had been echoing miserably in the forest, faded as their tongues and mouths turned to stone.

And they became stone statues guarding the secluded forest.

“Ugh, where am I….”

Erewyn, regaining consciousness, quickly looked around.

She had been tracking the slave traders who had captured the fairies for the past five days.

After rescuing some fairies, she had attacked the traders for the last time, but she ended up fighting a black mage who was in league with them.

The black mage was very strong.

She had been defeated by a black magic she had never heard of, despite being a 7th circle mage.

‘But what happened?’

She had expected to be bound or have some kind of magic seal on her.

But not only was her body fine, but she was even covered with a blanket to keep her warm.

The staff she had received from her master was also right beside her.

As Erewyn was bewildered, she saw the black mage and his subordinate releasing the fairies who had been trapped in the wagons.

The look in their eyes as they cut the chains did not have the same dirty greed as the slave traders.

‘Why are they saving them? Weren’t they in league with the slave traders?’

Erewyn was thinking this when the black mage suddenly turned around and spoke with a surprised expression.

“Oh? You’re already awake. I thought you’d be out for a bit longer.”

Luke casually instructed Erewyn, who was glaring at him.

“If you can move, make some porridge. Those people look very hungry.”

Slaves are usually well-fed because they are commodities, but that was not the case at first. They were sometimes starved and abused to break them in.

Fairies are usually more resilient than humans, but they were very weak after not eating or drinking properly for five days.

She knew better than anyone that they needed to eat something right away.

‘Who is this man… No, I should ask that later.’

It was not right to delay while a human was taking care of her kin, just to satisfy her personal questions.

Erewyn got up and made porridge as Luke had instructed, and distributed it to the fairies.

Then, she took out herbs from the subspace in her ring that were effective in restoring energy.

Luke watched the scene with an intrigued look.

“Is that a subspace artifact? You have something quite rare.”

“I got it from an ancient ruin a long time ago. If you want, I can give it to you after emptying my belongings.”

The subspace was small, only enough to carry clothes and a few belongings.

It would be a little inconvenient without it, but it wouldn’t be bad to give it as a reward to someone who had saved her kin.

However, Luke refused her offer.

“I don’t need it. I have the same thing. And I didn’t do it for a reward.”

“Then what did you do it for?”

“There’s no need for a reason to save someone in trouble. That’s all.”

‘A person….’

Not many humans considered fairies as ‘people’.

This was the same even in the Volga Republic, where fairies were treated well, and even the priests who preached to love their neighbors had difficulty seeing them as equals.

It was because of envy, jealousy, and fear.

Fairies had superior looks, longer lifespans, and exceptional talents compared to humans.

If humans had not grown faster and reproduced more quickly than fairies, the masters of this world might have been fairies, not humans.

“Anyway, since we’ve met like this, let’s introduce ourselves. I’m Luke de Rakan. What’s your name?”

‘Rakan?!’

Erewyn looked at Luke with a dumbfounded expression.

To think that the righteous human who had saved her kin was a descendant of the hypocrite Rakan, who had trampled on the wishes of their ancestors!

Erewyn’s gaze, which had been friendly towards Luke until just now, turned as cold as ice.

“Hey, I’m asking what your name is.”

At Luke’s urging, she reluctantly revealed her name.

“Erewyn. My name is Erewyn Lesa.”

‘Erewyn Lesa?’

This time, Luke’s eyes widened.

As far as he knew, Erewyn was an elf mage who had made great achievements in the continental magic world.

“Are you perhaps the one who devised the method for creating artificial magic stones…?”

“Yes. It was the most regrettable thing I’ve ever done in my life.”

“Regrettable?”

At that point, Erewyn closed her mouth.

She still had many questions about Luke, but she thought she could no longer talk to the descendant of a hypocrite.

4

Thanks to the food and the medicine Erewyn had made, the fairies were able to quickly recover their strength.

Luke was wondering what to do with them.

If he just took them to the city, they would be treated as slaves or spies of the Volga Republic, and sending them to the Rakan territory was too far.

‘Their original villages must have all been burned down….’

As Luke pondered, he remembered the words of the dead slave trader.

He had said that half of the goods had been taken by Erewyn.

If she had saved the fairies, she must have protected them somewhere.

“Hey, I think we need to move these people to a safe place.”

“…….”

“Why aren’t you saying anything? Is it because I’m a descendant of Rakan?”

Luke also guessed why Erewyn was suddenly acting coldly.

After hundreds of years, the hero who was revered by humans was the sworn enemy of the fairies, who had defeated Seymon, their liberator.

‘Damn it, I’m that Seymon!’

He could only mutter these words to himself, not reveal them openly.

Philip or Erewyn would surely think he was crazy.

Anyway, Luke couldn’t waste any more time, so he tried to urge her again.

At that moment, Erewyn opened her mouth with a very displeased look.

“There’s a fairy village two days north of here. I sent all the ones I rescued earlier there.”

“Really? Then we can send these people there too. Guide us right away.”

At Luke’s urging, Erewyn retorted coldly.

“The people of that village won’t welcome humans.”

“Why? Are you afraid we’ll spread rumors? If that were the case, the Lord wouldn’t have saved them!”

Philip, unable to watch any longer, stepped in.

He was usually lenient towards women, especially beautiful ones, but Erewyn’s attitude was not to his liking.

“And our Lord is different from the founder. He is so bold and unconventional that he willingly accepted the Demon King’s techniques to save his territory!”

‘It’s not exactly to save the territory.’

It was just that he wanted to protect his precious castle and get revenge, and that’s how it turned out.

Luke was dumbfounded by Philip’s words, who didn’t know his circumstances, but he didn’t feel the need to correct him, so he kept his mouth shut.

However, perhaps because of Philip’s protest, Erewyn’s expression changed slightly.

‘He learned the Demon King’s techniques? So that’s why he was able to use black magic similar to the dark mages of Dark Moon.’

Dark Moon was the successor to the Darkness Tower, which had revered Seymon in the past.

If he had learned Seymon’s techniques, it was natural that they would be similar.

With this, one of the questions about Luke was resolved, but Erewyn still had an unresolved question.

It was the aura like nature that she had felt when she had struck Luke’s solar plexus.

It was not only vast and magnificent, but it also made her feel a longing that made her heart flutter.

‘If my guess is correct, this person might be related to the Tears of the Earth.’

The Tears of the Earth had shown its power several times in the past.

Some fairies had recorded the feeling at that time and passed it down to later generations, and Erewyn had also seen these records.

And the sensation she had felt earlier was almost identical to what the fairies had sensed in the past.

‘I need to confirm more. If so, taking this person to the village might be a good idea.’

Having made that decision, Erewyn got up and said to Luke and Philip.

“I’ll guide you. Let’s leave right now.”

“Looks like you’ve changed your mind.”

When Luke grinned, Erewyn retorted coldly.

“I’m just going to keep an eye on you since you’re different from your ancestor.”