Emperor of Steel

Chapter 260: The Battle 1

The grand banquet hall of the empire, with godly yet subtle music.

One of the most prestigious places in the Holy Empire, and it had been closed down since the former pope had been declared ill.

And such a place, after four years, was holding a huge party, and numerous nobles participated in it.

The purpose of the banquet was to celebrate the victory, but a lot of nobles and priests who weren’t involved in the war had gathered there too.

Before the banquet could pick up the pace, the early arriving nobles gathered and talked with each other.

The older nobles gathered among themselves of the same faction and began to drink wine while boasting about their strong and long-lasting friendship, and the priests—instead of alcohol, drank tea and talked about common interests.

“Uhm Uhm, did you know that Arch Duke Gregory has begun to engage himself in the domestic affairs?”

At the question of a noble, the one next to him immediately answered.

“There have been a lot of talks about that. At the award ceremony which happened in the morning, Archbishop Constantine didn’t even make a sound.”

“However, even if Archbishop Constantine has been the regent of the Pope, hasn’t Arch Duke Gregory been in the Empire for a longer time?”

“Obviously. The Great Arch Duke Gregory is honored and respected by numerous paladins of the Holy Empire, and hasn’t ever been beside the Pope, right? Until now, he had been very ignorant of politics, but if he decided to get in, then Archbishop Constantine and the Marius faction would get pushed out.”

“This this, standing in line?”

“And with that mercenary, captain Lev. Knowing that he had the skill, Arch Duke quickly recruited him.”

“I know!”

As the middle-aged nobles were talking about the new change in the Empire’s politics, the young nobles boasted about their spirits and youth.

“Is that really true, Baron Peron?”

“It is, lady. You should have seen the enemies scattering like ants when I stood in front of the Alvera Seige with my sword in my hand and shouted at them.”

“Oh my!”

“That is really brave!”

As the nobles in their late 20s who participated in the war began to spit up their saga’s, the eyes of the ladies around went wide.

Luke, standing in the middle of the grand hall, laughed at the scene.

‘I thought that this banquet was going to be a bit different as it was being held in the Holy Empire. But not much different.’

There was no way he couldn’t have felt disappointed.

The banquet place godly, and solemn, almost like the one held at the Baroque Empire.

The music was more serious, and there were no nobles who were either drunk or acting presumptuously.

‘It looks like everything is the same apart from the place we live.’

If it wasn’t for Reina, he wouldn’t have gone there. Those who were jealous of him kept staring at him.

As expected, there were quite small groups of people who were jealous of him.

“Kyak! That one, isn’t he the captain, Lev? The one who broke down meteors falling from the sky.”

A man who recognized Luke asked when a noble in front of him snorted and said.

“Huh, ridiculous story. He must have definitely done something.”

“Right. They must have firmly mistaken it.”

Most of the nobles who didn’t take part in the war were trying to slander Luke’s reputation.

They weren’t going to believe stuff which they hadn’t witnessed with their own eyes.

But there were a few, like Count Marcus who knew but distorted the story.

“What good would it do to give a land? Things like that should be handed down to the men who know how to handle it. But to hand it over to people who don’t know about anything other than weapons, they won’t even care…”

Whether Marcus grunted or not, Luke was there waiting for Reina to make an appearance.

Right when he was getting bored, Luke decided to bully the bat which was on his shoulder.

-Aht! Master, stop it! What do you want me to do if my identity get’s revealed?

With Luke’s mischief, Belfair who lost balance from his shoulder fluttered his wings and protested telepathically.

-It is alright. You are hiding the Magi entirely now, and the effects of the solver sword will make the priests think of you as a friend.

-Bu, but even then… ehit! Don’t, stop! Stop tickling me!

By checking Belfair’s skills during the day, Luke came to know that something unexpected had happened to the Vampire assassin.

The silver sword had thought him to build up divine power and the reason was entirely unknown, but it was clear that the divine power could coexist with the Magi.

Divine power in the demon’s body?!

That could overturn the world if it came to be known.

But thanks to that, Belfair was able to enter the Holy palace without any problem.

As Luke was teasing Belfair, a young woman’s voice entered his ears.

“Oh my, oh, is that a bat?”

“Some say they aren’t carnivores or omnivores, but in fact, they are good beasts who eat pests and mosquitoes.”

“Really? When you look closely, it is kind of cute.”

Luke’s pet had made a nasty impression on the dazzling eyes of a lady who stared at it.

However, seeing that it was a baby bat, her expression softened, and that body of the bat was filled with divine power.

“Can I please touch it, for once?”

-Please tell her no!

“How many times you want to.”

When the permission fell, the lady reached out and began to pat Belfair.

Belfair did try to run away trying to show that he didn’t like it, but Luke managed to hold him down with his fingers.

“Kyak! Look at it struggling!”

“It’s like a shiver runs through your body when touched!”

“It is so cute! I too want to touch it once.”

“Me too!”

As one lady began to touch it, the ladies around began to notice it and approached Luke asking for permission to touch or stroke Belfair.

‘Kuk! The descendant of a vampire family, I have been humiliated by the human women…!’

Belfair, whose face was stiff constantly tried to resist by squirming.

But, it seemed like the women loved it when he did that.

Eventually, he learned that not doing anything was the best outcome for that situation.

Seeing Belfair look devastated, Luke asked the women to give the bat some space and moved to another place.