Chapter 733: Rat in the Bay 2

Clap! Clap! Clap!

Thump. Thump.

Bam baba bam~!

In the middle of the Nemesis city, the guards of the Castia Kingdom were marching in with bright and cheerful music.

The residents of Nemesis were staring at them as the military marched.

“Those men are marching now?”

“This morning, the Volga Republic men passed us by.”

“I heard in the city square that tomorrow, the Irea Kingdom men will march?”

It wasn’t a grand parade of victory, but it was a kind of march that was done by all of the Continental Alliance nations except for the Symphonia and the Holy Empire.

A victory event of one’s own with their own arms and military demonstration.

In particular, the Navarre duchy seemed to be very troubled at the march. Perhaps, it was because they had a sense of inferiority as they still belonged to the Baroque Empire.

“Damn it, won’t they stop it?”

“Right, I am so tired of hearing these drums and trumpet sounds. I don’t want to hear them anymore!”

“What can we do? Our nation is ruined.”

“No, don’t be so pessimistic. It is a good thing that the things didn’t get worse than this.”

Except for the noisy marches, there was nothing done by the alliance that caused trouble for the people.

On the contrary, they actively pursued reconstruction and acted compassionately to gain public sentiment.

In contrast to the rumors that President Vladimir, who was called the human butcher or demon, was comforting the residents.

“If there is any sin, it all belongs to Rudolf. In fact, in the past, our nation had a secret agreement with the Libiya Kingdom about dividing the Baroque Empire, but I won’t allow it this time.”

He had no intention of taking over the Baroque Empire estate and promised to actively cooperate in building a new nation for the Baroque people.

The people were pleased with the appearance of the leaders of the alliance who seemed to be humble, but still, the people seemed anxious.

It was the nobles who were the ruling class in the empire.

The nobles of the ruined Baroque Empire, who managed to survive, gathered together to discuss their future.

“What will happen to this nation?”

“What do you mean what? We are ruined. The Baroque Imperial is going to disappear now.”

“We are just fortunate that the Continental Alliance didn’t tear this nation apart.”

“Well, President Vladimir said that he would help in establishing a new nation, right?”

At the question from a fat nobleman, the other nobles raised their voice.

“You are such a fool! And you believe that? He must be planning to make a puppet nation with those republicans!”

“God, if I knew this would happen, Emperor Rudolf should have done something at all costs before these Alliance men entered.”

“Do what? There was nothing he or we could do.”

There were all kinds of nobles who held their breath because of Rudolf’s tyranny, and now, they were regretting it.

Currently, the Continental Alliance regarded the reconstruction of the city as their top priority, so the nobles weren’t caught or imprisoned.

However, those who were acting suspiciously were being inspected by the commanders of the alliance, and their mansion and villas were taken away to be used for storing food and supplies.

“If I knew this was going to happen, I would have gone away.”

“Phew, right. I saw those who ran away but came back with Count Ferrero, but they looked so creepy…”

“I almost died from stomach ache…”

It was when the nobles were complaining, suddenly, a young man ran into the room.

“Father, news!”

The nobleman, the father of the young man, looked at the kid and asked, “What is it? Did the Continental Alliance men come to capture us?”

“No, that’s not it…”

The young man took away the breath of many with the news he brought.

“It was said that Count Voltas went to Luke de Rakan!”

“What? That guy who we didn’t even know if he was alive or dead did?!”

The nobles jumped up from their seat.

Voltas was known as the right arm of Rudolf, and most of the nobles were taken out of their positions because of Voltas’s plans.

As a result, they held grudge against him.

However, currently, they had bigger problems than that.

“He wasn’t caught, but he went to King Luke by himself… What is he doing?”

“This isn’t something we can stand and watch.”

The nobles who thought so got up from their seats.

They didn’t know what Count Voltas was planning, nor did they have the intention to just look at the nation’s downfall.

By the time the ruined nobles were busy moving, Luke was already talking with Count Voltas.

With a simple greeting, Voltas normally spoke to Luke who seemed shocked.

“You seem shocked.”

“Because I thought that you would have died when the Imperial Palace exploded. Or I thought you would have run and hid yourself.”

At Luke’s word, Voltas smiled bitterly.

When Rudolf activated the time travel device, he was there too.

When the Symphonia troops led by Luke were fighting Rudolf’s SS knights, he slipped out of there and escaped the Imperial Palace with his daughter, the queen.

He had already judged that the situation wasn’t going according to plan, and his prediction was indeed right.

After that, the Imperial Palace exploded without a trace, and the Alliance occupied Nemesis. The Imperial Military leaders then surrendered.

Everything was out of order.

In such a situation, he ran back to find Luke.

“You didn’t seem to be scared. Didn’t it come to your mind that my hand would hit your throat?” Asked Luke while coldly glaring at Voltas.

It was because Voltas, who was beside Rudolf, had always given plans and ideas to torment Luke even before he became a king.

Despite Luke’s hostile attitude, Voltas responded calmly, “Well, if you were Lord Luke, it would have been. But King Luke would surely be different.”

“Different? Why?”

“Because you are well aware that you cannot rule a nation by involving your personal emotions and beliefs.”

For Rudolf, Luke was a traitor. And Voltas, his right arm, was constantly monitoring the traitor’s movements.

Whenever he felt like there was a gap, they planned to capture him.

But more than he thought, Luke’s actions and his reactions were splendid.

Having established Symphonia, he adequately embraced and absorbed the nobles of the Milton Kingdom and focused on making people trust him and solidifying the foundation of the nation rather than putting his family’s grudges ahead.

“You are completely different from Emperor Rudolf, who was always overwhelmed with emotions and wasting his power through constant wars. I admired how this young man was cold yet patient.”

“Huh, are you flattering me?”

“Yes, flattering is right. But, this is the truth.”

At Voltas’s words, Luke’s lips formed into a smile.

However, his eyes still held a cold glare.

Yet, Voltas continued, “As Your Majesty knows, I have been the right arm of Rudolf. That is why I have the administrative information of this nation. I don’t know how much territorial concessions the Symphonia Kingdom would get from this war, but I am confident that I can be of considerable help in running the state affairs.”

“Uhm…”

“I am well aware of where Rudolf hid his treasure and the legacy of the Baroque Imperial.”

“You would know. You must have been the emperor’s most trustworthy ally.”

Voltas had a bitter smile at Luke’s sarcastic response.

Yet Voltas was confident.

He was convinced that Luke wouldn’t dismiss him, especially since he held precious information and administrative skills.

“If you accept me, I will do my best to stabilize the new territory.”

“Is that all?”

“Yes, you just have to accept that. I don’t want anything like estates or titles.”

What Voltas wanted was to be a real player who had power in the Symphonia.

And if he could have that power, he would be able to obtain any province or title at a later time.

At Voltas’s offer, Luke closed his eyes to think.

In a second, he quickly responded, “You could have made the same offer to the kings of other nations too, right? Was it because they would have killed you?”

“It was because I thought that His Majesty might be the New Emperor of the continent.”

“Me?”

Luke looked at him with a frown on his face.

“Yes, Your Majesty became the king of a nation at such a young age and destroyed the empire, which has been around for 500 years. I thought that you had enough skills to conquer the continent.”

It wasn’t just a compliment but a real logical judgment.

Moreover, Luke had been rumored to have a strong relationship with Pope Veronica III of the Holy Empire.

Princess Reina, well, the Pope of the Holy Empire was told to have a complicated relationship with Luke.

“Surely, Luke de Rakan will conquer the continent. If I am under him, I can save my family!”

Voltas was certain.

However, there was something he didn’t know.

There was a way on how Luke could take all the information he had without having to take Voltas as his subordinate.

“It is true that I might need you.”

“You see it too.”

“But even then, shouldn’t we punish the war criminals who made the people suffer, just so the justice can stand, right?”

At Luke’s words, Voltas’s eyes widened.

Pop!

Before he could even step back, knowing that the negotiations are broken, Luke’s hand moved first.

He grabbed Voltas’s head.

Luke was going to pull out the memories of Voltas with Mental Magic, just as he did with Zehart, the descendent of Arsene.

“Yo-Your Majesty! Don’t do this… Ahhh!”

Without any word, all the important information in his head got passed to Luke.

Voltas, whose mind was being overwhelmed in a short period of time, turned dizzy, losing focus.

“Your Majesty, what is it?”

When the scream came in, Hwang Bo-sung entered the room where Voltas and Luke were talking.

Luke shook his head.

“It is nothing. He realized that he wasn’t wanted here, so he tried to run away. I had to use my hands to stop him.”

“Is that all?”

“Take him and put him in jail. Tomorrow, he will be executed in the square in front of all the people.”

“Yes.”

The guards bowed and dragged out Voltas’s body.

He wasn’t conscious, but perhaps, his body sensed danger. Voltas burst into tears and peed.

Once considered as the greatest man to control the empire became miserable in the end.