Emperor of Steel [EN]: Chapter 130

8. The Fall of Sherwood

1

‘Commander! Despite our forces’ counterattacks, the enemy continues to attempt to cross the river!’

Count D’Arlang nodded, as if he had anticipated it, upon hearing his adjutant’s report.

As expected, the enemy had launched a large-scale river crossing under the cover of night.

‘What’s the overall situation?’

‘Some of the enemy have landed on the southern riverbank near the city walls, but the Gigants lying in ambush have dealt with them.’

‘What about the artillery battle? Are our forces holding up?’

‘Thanks to your instructions to reinforce the defenses of the artillery batteries, we haven’t suffered significant damage yet.’

D’Arlang smiled at the continuous stream of satisfactory reports.

‘Heh heh heh, things are going well. I’ll turn those Symphonian bastards into water ghosts.’

It was at this moment that D’Arlang was thinking this.

Suddenly, flames erupted within the city, followed by the sounds of smashing and screams.

Startled by the scene outside the window, D’Arlang jumped up from his seat.

‘What’s going on?’

‘Well, perhaps an enemy shell has unfortunately landed inside the city…’

D’Arlang slammed his fist on the desk, raising his voice at his adjutant’s nonchalant attitude.

‘Don’t give me vague answers! Go and find out what’s happening right now!’

‘Yes, sir!’

The adjutant, having been scolded, quickly sent a messenger to investigate the situation.

Meanwhile, the commotion in the city grew even louder. Count D’Arlang, unable to sit still due to his anxiety, could only stare out the window.

‘This isn’t good. Something has definitely happened!’

He hoped that his gut feeling was wrong.

Around the time something happened in the city, Baron Bodri, the Gigant unit commander, was having a drinking party inside the castle with his squadron leaders and senior riders.

He had sent his subordinates out but had not gone to the riverbank to lie in ambush himself.

He didn’t want to engage in the trivial fighting of ambushing landing infantry, and he didn’t want to follow the young commander’s orders to the letter.

‘Come on, drink up! Drink up!’

‘Commander, is this really okay?’

One of the squadron leaders asked with a worried expression, and Bodri frowned.

‘Okay? What’s the problem?’

‘It’s true that organizing the ambush personnel is within your authority, Commander. But if it gets out that we were drinking during wartime…’

‘So what? We’re just having a pre-victory celebration drink.’

‘Commander!’

Clang!

At the squadron leader’s protest, Bodri slammed his glass on the floor.

Then, with a scowl, he shouted.

‘So what, I say! So what if we’re not there? The great commander can handle the siege with just the artillery! We’re just extras anyway, extras!’

Under the influence of alcohol, Bodri unleashed the emotions he had been holding back.

Some of the squadron leaders and senior riders, also tipsy, nodded in agreement.

Even in a siege, it was incomprehensible to them that the Gigant unit, the flower of the battlefield and the main force of the war, was being treated so poorly.

‘Damn it, we’re the last card to use when the city gates are breached? What are the chances of the city gates being breached in this situation? What are the chances of the enemy entering the city?’

Thump! Kwaaaang!

It was while Bodri was roughly expressing his dissatisfaction that the ground shook and a loud explosion echoed nearby.

The squadron leaders and senior riders looked at Bodri in surprise.

‘Commander, could this be…?’

‘Hmph, what could it be? It’s probably just a stray shell that landed in the city.’

‘But the power seems unusual, doesn’t it?’

Despite his subordinates’ words, Bodri continued to drink.

But then, a messenger hurriedly opened the door to the quarters and delivered urgent news.

‘Enemy attack! Enemy Gigants have entered the city!’

‘Wh-what?!’

Bodri was so shocked that he fell backward with his chair.

Barely managing to get up, his body still unsteady from the alcohol, he grabbed the messenger by the collar and asked.

‘What happened? How did the enemy Gigants infiltrate the city?’

‘I-I don’t know. Anyway, it’s chaos outside right now. They’re setting fire to the food storage and armory, and smashing military buildings.’

The explosion from earlier was the sound of an armory exploding.

Feeling as if he had sobered up instantly, Bodri, pale-faced, spoke to the messenger.

‘Does the commander know?’

‘Of course. He’s already been informed. He said he’ll lead the reserve forces to hold them off, so you should hurry and subdue the enemy Gigants.’

‘Oh, my god! What on earth is going on!’

Enemy Gigants had appeared in a place they thought was impossible to breach!

As Bodri stood frozen in disbelief, his subordinates’ shouts reached his ears.

‘Commander, give the order…!’

‘Ordinary knights and soldiers can never stop rampaging Gigants!’

There is one rule in war.

That is, Gigants must be stopped by Gigants.

That is why Gigant riders are considered a much higher-grade troop than ordinary knights, and their pride is exceptional.

‘L-launch! Everyone, launch and annihilate the enemy!’

As soon as Bodri’s belated order was given, the riders rushed to their Gigant hangars.

Bodri, his body still unsteady from the alcohol, hurried to his Knight-class Gigant.

‘Damn it, how could this happen!’

The young commander’s concerns had come true.

Bodri’s face, crumpled with the thought that the situation was going terribly wrong, did not easily smooth out.

2

Hobart’s Crab squadron split into three groups and swept through the city of Sherwood.

They had received information about the city’s layout and main supply depots from Count Ferrero, so they had no trouble causing chaos.

‘There! There are enemy Gigants!’

‘Quickly, support… Kuaaak!’

Knights on horseback blocked the Crab squadron’s path, but their defenses were no more than straw.

No matter how small, low-powered, and lightly armored the Crabs were, they were still Gigants [large humanoid war machines].

They were not beings that could be stopped by the spears and swords of infantry or knights.

Of course, there were exceptions.

Expert-level knights or War Mages above the 6th Circle could inflict some damage on Gigants.

But unfortunately, there were no such strong individuals in Sherwood right now.

‘Commander! Enemy Gigants have appeared at the eastern supply depot and set it on fire.’

‘Tch! They’re popping up everywhere.’

D’Arlang, who had entered the city with about 1,000 reserve troops, bit his lip at the continuous stream of bad news.

He couldn’t understand how enemy Gigants had appeared inside the city and were causing such chaos, but the urgent matter now was to stop the enemy quickly.

If all the food and gunpowder in the city were lost, they would no longer be able to hold the siege.

‘You go to the eastern supply depot and put out the fire. The rest of you follow me.’

D’Arlang led the knights and soldiers towards the supply depot that had not yet been attacked.

Not long after he arrived, three Crabs led by Hobart appeared.

Their armor was covered in blood and soot, as if they had already rampaged elsewhere.

‘Were there such small Gigants? Could it be…?’

As D’Arlang wondered at the enemy Gigants, a piece of information flashed through his mind.

The large sewer that led out of the city.

While it would be impossible for a normal Gigant, a Gigant of this size could easily enter.

‘Commander, it’s dangerous!’

D’Arlang snapped back to his senses at his adjutant’s urgent cry.

The enemy Gigants were rushing in at a terrifying speed.

Thump! Thump! Thump!

‘Kuaaaak!’

‘Uwaaak!’

As the Gigants charged, swinging their greatswords and pincers, the knights and soldiers in formation were sent flying, reduced to bloody messes.

D’Arlang would have suffered the same fate if his adjutant hadn’t thrown himself in front of him.

‘Commander, you must retreat now.’

‘Damn it, those bastards!’

D’Arlang watched in fury as the Gigants smashed the doors of the supply depot.

‘What the hell is our Gigant unit doing!’

The squadron that had been lying in ambush outside the city would take time to return.

Half of the Gigant unit had remained inside the city in case of an emergency.

But they showed no sign of appearing!

Crash! Crack!

Finally succeeding in breaking down the doors, the Crabs entered the supply depot, set it on fire, and fled.

‘No, no! Put out the fire!’

‘It’s dangerous, Commander! What are you doing! Escort the Commander!’

The adjutant, stopping D’Arlang from running to the depot to put out the fire, retreated from the supply depot with the surviving knights and soldiers.

They had judged that it was already too late.

Boom! Bang!

No sooner had they retreated than a huge explosion shook the ground, and a fiery light soared into the sky.

The gunpowder and shells stored in the depot had exploded all at once.

‘Th-the fire is spreading everywhere…’

‘Run away! Run!’

The flames quickly spread to the nearby granary and armory.

Count D’Arlang, having lost everything before his eyes, could only wear a blank expression.

3

Meanwhile, Bodri’s Gigant unit, which had belatedly launched, was roaming the city trying to catch the Crabs.

But it was not easy to eliminate the Crab squadron.

Hobart and the other Crab riders knew their machines’ performance and combat capabilities well, so they avoided fighting enemy Gigants as much as possible.

Because of their fast high-speed mobility and relatively small size, the Crabs were able to dart in and out and hide, which only made Bodri and the Southern Army riders more frustrated.

To make matters worse, Commander D’Arlang was urging them to subdue the enemy quickly, which pushed their irritation to the limit.

‘Kuaaak! Can’t you come out, you cowards!’

Hobart, who had hidden his machine behind a three-story building, sneered as he watched Bodri wildly swing his greatsword.

‘Heh heh heh. He’s really worked up.’

Was this how our allies felt when they struggled against the Grenada Kingdom?

Thinking about it, he felt a little sympathy and a little sorry.

‘There! He’s hiding there!’

A knight on horseback shouted, having discovered Hobart’s hidden Crab.

‘Oh, no, I’ve been spotted?’

‘You there! Stop!’

Thump thump thump thump!

As Hobart immediately fled, Bodri and several Southern Army Gigants chased after him.

They were determined to catch the rat-like Gigant, tear it to pieces, and dismember the rider.

But when Hobart drove the Crab into a narrow alleyway, they could no longer pursue him.

The Southern Army’s large Gigants were unable to enter.

‘Kueeeh! That slippery bastard!’

‘We need to block the path. I’ll hurry to the other side… Ah! Commander!’

Ignoring his subordinate’s words, Bodri pushed his Gigant into the alleyway.

Being a Knight-class, which was a head taller than a normal Gigant, the houses on both sides of the alleyway were destroyed by the impact.

Crash! Crack!

Urrr-!

‘Uwaaak! Why are there Gigants here!’

‘O-our house is collapsing! I haven’t even paid off the loan yet…!’

The citizens, startled by the sudden impact, screamed in dismay.

Hobart, who was fleeing from Bodri’s reckless behavior, clicked his tongue inwardly.

‘Did I provoke him too much?’

‘Stop right there, you! If you’re a knight, fight fairly!’

‘How am I supposed to fight fairly? Look at the difference in Gigant output.’

The Knight-class had an output of about 2,000 phytes [a unit of energy], while the Crab had a core engine output of 500-600 phytes.

In other words, a head-on fight was out of the question.

Hobart ignored Bodri and continued to flee, and Bodri’s Gigant, which was chasing him, tripped and fell over.

He was excited, but he had also made a mistake in controlling it due to his drinking.

Thump-!

‘Uwaaaak!’

As Bodri’s Gigant fell, a three-story building was destroyed, and the people inside were killed.

‘Kuek, what a disgrace…’

Quickly righting his machine, Bodri chased after Hobart’s Crab, which had gone out onto the main street.

After going some distance, he could see Hobart standing still, no longer running away. Not only that, but several Crabs were gathered together.

Looking closely, he could see that allied Gigants were positioned at every intersection, narrowing the encirclement.

‘Heh heh heh. The rats have entered the trap!’

But Bodri and his subordinates did not know.

That there was a hole in what they thought was a jar.

The Crab squadron, having returned to the place where they had originally infiltrated, entered the sewer one by one.

‘Oh! They’re escaping!’

Startled, Bodri shouted and ran forward.

However, the Crab squadron was retreating faster.

Just before Hobart disappeared last, he raised the middle finger of his Crab, and Bodri went berserk, wildly swinging his greatsword.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

He struck the sewer entrance as if he were chopping firewood with an axe, but only managed to slightly damage the entrance.

‘Kuaaak, you bastards!’

As Bodri, his reason gone, tried to force his Gigant into the narrow sewer, his subordinates stopped him.

‘Captain, hold on!’

‘If a Knight-class [A large, heavily armored Gigant] enters the sewer, it’ll get stuck right away!’

Only then did Bodri regain his senses and immediately ordered them to bring oil. He planned to pour oil into the sewer and show those bastards the taste of fire.

However, things didn’t go as easily as he thought.

The oil, which was stored as military supplies, had already been completely burned up by the Crab squadron along with the warehouse.

‘Captain, if we go to where the sewer meets the river, we might be able to catch them!’

At the words of one of his subordinates, Bodri immediately led his unit to the east entrance.

But what he saw was the Crab squadron leisurely crossing the river with leather tubes.

‘Kuhhh, we should have chased them faster!’

In his eagerness to show them the taste of fire, he had momentarily forgotten that the exit for them was obvious.

His judgment was clouded by alcohol and excitement.

‘What should we do now, Captain?’

‘Damn it, bring the transport ships! We’ll cross the river and pursue them!’

After a moment of thought at his subordinate’s question, Bodri gave the order.

‘What? Nighttime river crossings are quite dangerous. Moreover, we’re still in the middle of a battle, and we need to get the commander’s orders…’

‘Are you saying we should just let those bastards go? Do you think that pompous commander will allow it? He’ll just scold us for not properly eliminating the enemy.’

At the word ‘scold,’ the squadron leader and riders flinched.

They had been having a drinking party before the enemy attacked.

If that fact became known, they would not be able to avoid severe punishment.

‘Hurry and bring the transport ships! And it’s not like I’m acting without thinking. We’ll catch them off guard this way. They wouldn’t expect us to cross the river in this situation!’

The riders, finding Bodri’s persuasion plausible, called back even the comrades who had gone out on ambush and headed to the north port.

And there, they began loading the Gigants onto the transport ships without any explanation.

‘W-what is the meaning of this!’

The officer in charge of the north port was startled and tried to stop them.

Bodri put his sword to the officer’s neck and said coldly.

‘Shut up! We’re just borrowing the ships for a moment to pursue the enemy. If the commander asks, tell him we’ve gone to show those bastards a hot time!’

Bodri, having commandeered the ships without any orders, threatened the sailors and set out to cross the river.

Commander Count Darlang was unaware of this situation for some time.

He was busy putting out fires in the chaotic castle and securing the remaining supplies.

When he was belatedly informed of the situation, he jumped up.

‘Stop them immediately!’

Darlang gave the order belatedly, but it was already too late. The transport ships carrying the Gigant unit had already reached the middle of the river.

‘Your Highness, the enemy fleet is approaching.’

‘What?’

‘It seems they are chasing after the Crab squadron.’

As Bodri had predicted, the Symphonian Kingdom army had not expected them to cross the river at all.

They judged that they would not do anything so reckless and foolish.

However, just because they hadn’t expected it didn’t mean they hadn’t prepared for it.

They had deployed forces at every possible river crossing point to prevent any such eventuality.

‘Shall we order the Gigant unit to mobilize?’

‘First, tell the artillery to attack and stop the river crossing.’

No sooner had Belik’s order been given than the artillery unit waiting at the river crossing point began to bombard the Southern Army’s transport fleet.

Boom! Rumble!

As the shells rained down and battered the ships, the startled sailors frantically changed course.

However, the sudden change of course caused the ships to become entangled and collide, making them look as if they had run aground.

The Symphonian artillery unit continued to bombard them.

‘Kuaaak, you traitorous bastards! Don’t be so cowardly, let’s fight fair and square with Gigants!’

Bodri, who was thrashing about on the deck with his sword, was hit by a shell and sank along with his Gigant.

Due to his foolish actions, the Baroque Empire’s Southern Army in Sherwood lost even its last card.

4

The next morning, after a sleepless night.

A ship with a white flag at its masthead crossed the river from the Symphonian Kingdom’s camp.

‘Shall we sink it?’

At the question from his adjutant, whose eyes were bloodshot from the previous night’s battle and cleanup, Darlang shook his head.

‘No, we need to save the remaining gunpowder. And it seems like an envoy, so let’s at least hear what he has to say.’

Shortly after, the soldiers brought an unarmed middle-aged man to the observation deck.

Count Darlang was shocked when he saw his face.

‘L-Lord Ferrero!’

‘It’s good to see you, Darlang. It’s been almost a year since I saw you at my inauguration ceremony just before I went to the Imperial City, hasn’t it?’

‘Yes, it’s been exactly one year and one month. But why are you here…? I heard you were imprisoned for committing a crime recently, surely you didn’t escape and defect to the Symphonian Kingdom?’

‘Hah, it just turned out that way.’

Ferrero sighed deeply and revealed the purpose of his visit.

‘Further resistance is meaningless, so surrender.’

‘Surrender, you say?’

Darlang jumped up.

The expressions of the knights around him also turned grim, but Ferrero continued without paying them any mind.

‘Last night, the gunpowder warehouse and the food warehouse were completely burned down, weren’t they? And even the core force, the Gigant unit, recklessly tried to cross the river and launch a surprise attack, only to end up as fish food or washed ashore and captured.’

It seemed that Ferrero had provided the information, as the enemy’s special forces unit, riding small Gigants, had infiltrated like ghosts and accurately targeted the supply warehouses to set them on fire.

As he was once the commander here and the one who reorganized the Southern Army, it was natural that he knew all the important military secrets.

‘Even if you defected to the enemy country, how can you, who follow the code of chivalry, betray us?’

Ferrero’s face twisted at Darlang’s rebuke.

‘Betrayal, betrayal… Yes, I suppose I have betrayed you. But it was Emperor Rudolf who broke the bond of loyalty first.’

‘Y-Your Majesty?’

‘Yes, when I advised him to stop the merciless slaughter of the people of the Imperial City, he imprisoned me in the dungeon of the Imperial Palace and tortured me. And he even took my family hostage and threatened me. How could I continue to be loyal?’

At Ferrero’s protest, Darlang asked as if he didn’t know.

‘Did such a thing happen?’

‘Yes, and you may not know this, but the plague that spread in the Imperial City was also caused by the Emperor’s unreasonable greed. I opposed it, but he didn’t care.’

Darlang couldn’t help but sigh inwardly at the deep sense of betrayal and anger that had surfaced on the face of the loyal knight.

As far as he knew, Ferrero was a man of rough character, but he was not one to make up stories.

In comparison, Emperor Rudolf was indeed a man of ruthless character.

He knew that he was ambitious and cunning, but he didn’t know that he had lost his reason to this extent.

‘His Majesty has made a big mistake.’

What had already happened could not be undone.

It was a big mistake to falsely accuse Count Ferrero, a pillar of the Baroque Empire and a representative of chivalry, and hold him accountable.

If other nobles and knights knew this fact, who would try to be loyal to him?

‘So, you don’t need to be loyal to him to the end.’

‘But we can’t just surrender because the situation has become a bit difficult. Reinforcements will arrive soon, so shouldn’t the Symphonian Kingdom army be more careful?’

Ferrero gave Darlang a pitying look at his retort.

‘Look here, how long do you think you can hold out if we attack you head-on?’

‘That is…’

‘Can you really hold out until the reinforcements arrive?’

Due to the shortage of gunpowder, they could not properly use the cannons, which were the core force of the siege warfare.

With most of the Gigants lost in the river, the Southern Army had no way to stop the Symphonian army from crossing the river.

They would probably not last even two hours.

‘Your stubbornness will only increase the sacrifice of the soldiers. So, surrender.’

Darlang frowned at Count Ferrero’s words.

If the opponent were someone else, he could have shouted loudly and tried to deceive them by confusing information.

However, Count Ferrero was a man who knew the Southern Army better than he did.

There was no way that bluffing would work against him.

‘Damn it! If only we had the Gigant force, we could have held out somehow…’

If only they had the Gigants, they could have somehow maintained the siege warfare.

But that muscle-headed Bodri had recklessly forced the river crossing and ruined everything!

‘Give me some time to think.’

Realizing that further resistance was impossible, Darlang finally gave in.

‘You’ll need time to persuade your subordinates. I’ll give you an hour, so try to calm them down.’

With that, Ferrero boarded the ship again and returned to the Symphonian Kingdom army’s camp.

After he left, there was some noise and commotion, but in the end, the Southern Army raised the white flag, and the Symphonian Kingdom army succeeded in entering Sherwood.

5

Marquis Vanden, who was rushing south with the advance party, received shocking news a day away from Sherwood City.

It was the information that the Southern Army had surrendered to the Symphonian Kingdom.

‘W-what? Count Darlang raised the white flag?’

‘Yes. We witnessed a white flag being raised in the territory north of the river. And currently, magical communication between our army and Sherwood City is cut off.’

At the report of the communication mage, Marquis Vanden flew into a rage.

‘Kuaaak, if the Southern Army surrenders, there’s no point in me going to support them!’

For Marquis Vanden, it was truly the worst possible outcome.

He had planned to secretly cross the river when he arrived in Sherwood and strike the rear of the Symphonian Kingdom army.

He had intended to surround the enemy from both sides and crush them like a sandwich, but now he would have to fight a difficult siege battle with only the support army’s forces.

‘That foolish Darlang! They said he was better at defense than any other general in the Empire, but how could he not last three days! The title of Star of the Battlefield is a waste on him, a waste.’

The cause was elsewhere, but Marquis Vanden, who had no way of knowing that, was furiously denouncing Count Darlang.

‘Your Excellency, will you retreat as we are?’

The adjutant asked with a cautious face.

At this moment, when he was so angry, he could become an object of his anger if he wasn’t careful.

Vanden, who was frowning deeply, thought for a moment and shook his head.

‘No, we will continue to advance.’

‘But Sherwood City has already fallen…’

‘Hmph, it’s just a matter of retaking a lost city! We’ll wait here for a while and join the main force before going down.’

If he returned empty-handed just because the Southern Army had surrendered, would Emperor Rudolf allow it?

Absolutely not.

Therefore, Marquis Vanden decided that he had to achieve at least some results, even if he could not retake Sherwood City.

For example, by beheading the enemy commander.

Anyway, having made a decision, he rested there and waited for the main support force.

But then, the adjutant spoke again.

‘Your Excellency, will the main force be enough?’

‘What are you trying to say?’

‘The number of enemies is greater than ours, and they are occupying Sherwood City, which is good for defense. I think we should petition His Majesty for more troop support.’

Vanden flared up at the adjutant’s suggestion.

‘It’s not necessary. I have a brilliant plan, so don’t contact His Majesty.’

‘But…’

The adjutant, who was about to continue speaking, shut his mouth at Vanden’s terrifying gaze.

‘Are you trying to add to His Majesty’s worries, who is already on edge because of the rebels calling themselves the Kingdom of Livia? Have you thought about what would happen if you did?’

‘I-I was just…’

The adjutant trembled like an aspen at Vanden’s sharp and eerie gaze, which was as sharp as an aura-infused blade.

‘You just need to follow my orders. So, refrain from unnecessary words and actions!’

‘Y-yes, Your Excellency.’

Vanden, who had silenced his adjutant, went to find the communication mage to urge the main force to advance.

He was forcing an unreasonable operation without properly considering it, driven by the obsession to achieve merit.

‘The expeditionary force has captured Sherwood City!’

‘Ooooh!’

Luke and the officials, who were in a national policy meeting, cheered at Sebastian’s report.

They had been worried because Sherwood City was known as an impregnable fortress that was difficult to capture by any means, but fortunately, good news had arrived.

‘They captured it faster than expected.’

‘Yes, they say they made good use of the Crabs [Small, agile Gigants].’

‘Is that so? Certainly, light Gigants are not to be ignored.’

At Luke’s words, the officials, including Prime Minister Hans, nodded in agreement.

Generally, people thought that the higher the output, the bigger the size, and the thicker the armor, the better the Gigant was.

However, good weapons were not about specifications.

If used properly in the right place, they were good weapons, good Gigants.

Hans said with a bright face.

‘By capturing Sherwood, which was the goal of this expedition, we have opened a route to advance into the central part of the Baroque Empire.’

‘Yes, it will be a fatal blow to the Baroque bastards.’

The Baroque Empire, which was at war with the Kingdom of Livia and was being checked by the Volga Republic in the north and the Holy Empire in the east, now had to prepare for the attack of the Symphonian Kingdom in the south.

The greater the threat of war, the more burden the country would bear, and the more its national power would decline.

For the Baroque Empire, it was truly the worst possible outcome.

‘The problem is whether Rudolf will just stand by and watch. He will definitely try to retake Sherwood.’

‘That’s right. But for Rudolf, the Kingdom of Livia, which is shaking his legitimacy, is a more pressing issue.’

Unless Symphonia pushes the knife deeper, the Baroque Empire will not turn its blade towards Symphonia either.

Of course, disputes and invasions at the level of checks and balances will occur frequently.

Perhaps they will try to use other countries, just as the Milton Kingdom used the Grenada Kingdom.

‘Anyway, we need to be thoroughly prepared. Tell the expeditionary force to avoid escalation and to thoroughly manage the occupied territories.’

Luke, who was giving instructions, shook his head.

‘No, it would be better if I went there myself soon.’

‘Your Majesty, Sherwood is far away.’

‘I think it’s not necessary for Your Majesty to go there when you can leave it to the generals.’

Despite his ministers’ dissuasion, Luke did not change his mind.

‘If I use teleportation continuously, I can get there in two days. And if I go there myself and commend their achievements, the morale of the expeditionary force will increase, and if I directly soothe the public sentiment, the occupied territories will stabilize much faster.’

‘Of course, but what if there are assassins from the Imperial Army lurking?’

‘Hah, you don’t have to worry about that.’

Luke had already taken control of Hydra, the Baroque Imperial family’s assassination organization.

And there was almost no one in this world who could kill him by assassination.

However, he could not completely ignore his ministers’ advice, so he decided to travel with one squadron of the Royal Knights.