Emperor of Steel

The next day, Luke left the lodgings alone.

Disguised as a pilgrim, he spent several hours looking around the palace and the surroundings.

‘It will be impossible to infiltrate it by myself.’

Just as he had expected, the soldiers and the guards around the palace were many, and the paladins were everywhere.

Infiltrating with dark magic could be advantageous, but the moment one would use it; they could be aware and the paladins would rush in like bees.

‘I will have to think of a different method…’

As soon as the Pope had come out of the palace, they could decide on some contact points, but they couldn’t see any.

Nevertheless, it wasn’t easy to get in contact or kidnap a palace main or servant and brainwash the person for Luke’s use.

Due to the rebellion which was happening, the eyes of the guards were flashing.

“Is there no fine way to do this?”

Luke had been thinking very hard for quite a few days on how it was supposed to be done.

Philip informed that a man had come from the mercenary guild. It was the priestess maiden he saw in the mercenary guild the other day.

“Come from the Guild?”

“Yes, Sir Aldof has asked me to.”

The middle-aged man who they had considered to be a member of the mercenary guild had surprisingly high status. He was a senior executive of the 3rd rank.

On that day, an employee had missed coming to work, leaving a vacancy, so he took the role.

“Do you want to introduce us to the client?” Asked Luke.

“It is like that, but Sir Aldof will let you know of the details in person.”

At the end of the words of the maiden, accompanied by Philip, he went to the Mercenary Guild.

They didn’t have to wait for long as the meeting was determined before itself.

In the room, Aldof who was finishing on the weapons welcomed Luke upon arrival.

“Welcome.”

“What could be the reason that I have been asked to come to the guild?”

“Hu huu, since I have a lot of reasons, please take a seat.” Responded Aldof.

Aldof, who pointed to a chair, smiled a little and opened his mouth looking at Luke.

“Do you like tea? This is a rare tea which has been brought in from the southern continent…”

“I don’t enjoy it, but please get to the topic.”

“You seem to be impatient.” Said Aldof.

Realizing the words that Luke meant, Aldof went straight to the point.

“Do you have any intention of joining our guild?”

The mercenary guild connected the clients to the mercenaries and collected commissions, but they had their own quests.

Which was why most of them had direct mercenaries, and offered to recruit them directly.

When the mercenary guilds recruit mercenaries, it increased the power of the guild and they would be able to earn a higher price for requests.

“We will pay the money without fail. So…”

“I don’t feel like it.”

Seeing Luke refused without even listening to it, Aldof clicked his tongue.

“Tch, well, I can’t help it in that case.”

Since Aldof seemed like someone who was hiding something, Luke had expected something to happen sooner or later.

Still, he let him speak of his suggestion, but he refused it even before he could finish the story.

He looked at the other side and explained why he called Luke.

“As you might already be aware, the leaders of the Holy Empire are now assembling an army to go against the rebels. But the response of the lords is much worse than imagined.”

According to Aldof’s explanation, the failure of the initial suppression of the rebellion has led to an increase in the number of lords and nobles supporting the rebels.

Which was why Archbishop Constantine was struggling with trying to control them.

“The central troops had been on the ground for a month, but the problem is with the local lords. There are quite a few nobles who have declared themselves to be neutral or have come out uncooperatively as an excuse to keep their powers.”

Since the one in power was in Central, one didn’t lack the Gigant power of the riders.

However, in order to stabilize and secure the area where the rebellion has occurred, many normal troops such as the knights and infantry were needed.

“Which was why he decided to hire a large number of mercenaries and wanted to bring in an end to the shortage that he has.”

“Hmm…”

Luke who listened to the story showed some signs of being interested. The reason he had come to the Holy Empire was to meet the new Pope.

If it was confirmed that she indeed was Reina, he was going to take her back, otherwise, he would just head back to his estate and stop pursuing her.

He had entered the empire in the disguise of a mercenary as it was easy to infiltrate, however, he had no intention of intervening in their civil war.

“I…”

Luke’s mind was desperately trying to refuse the request. The way to meet the new Pope was in the palace and could be done with the task offered.

So, he asked with an interested look.

“The conditions?”

“Let’s see, 10 expert mercenaries and your daily hiring cost could be close to 1,000 pesos. And if you succeed in the mission, you’ll get another 3,000 pesos.”

“Supply or affiliation?”

“The supply would happen there like any other mercenary. And I think that you’ll be placed under the fourth army under Count Marcus.”

According to Aldof, the Fourth Army was a reserved kind.

They would be responsible for filling the gaps and supporting the allies’ vacancy in the rear guard, convoys or in the battles.

After hearing a little bit more about the work, Luke had made them draft the contract and signed it.

As they walked out of the mercenary guild, Philip who had been silent all through the meeting, decided to ask.

“Lord, do you plan on joining their civil war?”

“Yeah, maybe we might get to see the face of their New Pope in that way.”

Thoughts were running through Luke’s brain.

It could be that the New Pope would come out and bless the rebels.

“And if not, if we can build a revolutionary merit in this war, we might get called to the palace.”

“If that is what you want, then we’ll have to run wildly.” Philip stated.

It wasn’t that Philip was reluctant to join a war.

The most necessary thing for the Rakan knights was the practical experience, so he did think that it was a good opportunity.

“It would be a good experience to see how the Holy Empire would deal with the occasions of war.”

“On top of that, one can also see what it looks like to be involved in a civil war.”

Luke, convinced that the civil war in the Baroque Empire wasn’t too distant, and vowed to learn everything that he could from the current situation.