Emperor of Steel - Chapter 598
Chapter 598: Parliament and Black Tower 2
The dark magic-related bill was decided with 164 to 136 in favor of it.
Although the margin was short, there was no unexpected movement of disagreement.
It was because there were signs that the law was already decided, and they tried to move on to the next one.
Honestly, it was closely related to their interests and rights.
“The decision has been made to enact the legislation, so please let us know the details and a clear plan.”
At the words of Bishop Pascal, a young man called Craig, who was one of the neutralists along with Aiden, rose.
He was the fifth son of a former Milton Kingdom noble and was a student.
“I think that it would be a good idea to refer to the treatment being provided by the Holy Empire as they have already implemented it.”
Several members of the same neutralist group agreed with Craig’s words.
“Sir Craig is right.”
“If it was the King, then working in cooperation with the Holy Empire should be fine.”
Following the neutralists, the royalists and the noblemen expressed their opinion too.
“However, the warlocks, who have already committed crimes and are on the watchlist, shouldn’t be accepted.”
“Even if a dark magic research institute gets created, people might turn anxious, so the place needs to be considered after careful thought.”
All kinds of opinions were gathered, and finally, the ‘Dark Magic Management Law’ was created.
The detailed points of the law were as follows.
1.Limited dark magic research is permitted to prevent the evil behavior of those related to dark magic.
2.Dark Magic Institutes are collectively called <Black Towers>, yet they will be thoroughly monitored and supervised by the kingdom’s government, and it will be supervised by wizards and religious men.
3.Warlocks participating in the study process need to be recruited. Their behavior and mentality are to be thoroughly screened and then registered.
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The warlock registered in the Black Tower can’t leave the area without permission.
The use of dark magic by anyone registered in the Black Tower is prohibited.
….(Skip)…..
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The bill may be amended at any time depending on the circumstances in the future.
Looking at them all, Luke nodded his head.
At first glance, from a warlock’s point of view, their freedom would be viewed to be greatly restricted by the law.
However, it could be seen differently. They would be officially recognized, and their existence could be declared.
‘It is impossible to change everything at once. It should be done one after the other.’
Luke was planning to register some of the Dark Moon Magic Tower warlocks into the Black Tower.
If he could get them registered, there wouldn’t be those who would deviate from their own research.
The question was where to put the Black Tower.
The bill stated that related studies on dark magic shouldn’t cause damage or anxiety to the residents and to install it in an area where monitoring them would be easy.
‘It is annoying, but should we try putting it on Jason Estate? The home of Dark Moon is already there…’
Jason estate was a separate land from Symphonia.
An undeveloped area close to the Holy Empire with no population.
However, being too isolated could raise doubts in people’s minds about their management.
In addition, if it came out that Luke had been raising warlocks in the past, it would turn as a huge hit for his position.
‘Maybe I need to find something near the capital. Should we rebuild the old fortress on the west hill?’
Thinking so, Luke went out of the parliament that was bustling with new bill discussions.
His must-see was over, and as king, he had to look after the state affairs.
If he had time, he would’ve seen it till the end. However, he didn’t have the time to sit there and watch.
Luke reached the capital.
Erwin, the Court Wizard, had been organizing the papers and the research materials published in the kingdom’s magic world over the month.
Luke was interested in magic, so summarizing it was part of her routine.
‘Huh? Someone is contacting me?’
Erwin pulled out the magic communication device, which was vibrating.
However, she wasn’t able to answer it, which only made her more curious.
It was because this was her first time seeing the coordinates of the incoming communication.
‘Who could the caller be?’
There were a few childish wizards.
They typed any coordinate and teased or lied to the answerer.
There were even cases of fraud, so it was recommended to not answer calls from unknown coordinates.
Erwin didn’t answer it at first.
However, even after 2 to 3 times of not answering it, the call kept on coming, so she answered.
If the other side was trying to play a joke, she decided to kill the man even if it meant tracing back the communication wave to the other side of the world.
“Who are you?”
The face on the marble was too blurry for her to recognize it.
Besides, there was a lot of noise, and the voice kept getting cut.
‘A joke?’
It was when Ewin thought that, finally, a clear voice came.
– I was ordered by His Majesty Luke… Came to Southern Continent… Eli.
‘If it is Eli…!’
Eli was one of the fairies whom Luke had sent to the Southern Continent to crush any conspiracy attempted by Arsene. She was the one who called Erwin.
A fairy wizard of 7th magic circle.
As an elder in Fairy, she was fluent in magic.
Erwin asked her right away as she was curious and scared that the connection would fail again.
“I heard that you all went to Yemaek with Prince Jo Won-rak. Are you all doing fine? Hold on, how did you even contact me from the Southern Continent?”
From what she knew, for a magic communication to be initiated from the Southern Continent to the Northern one, a special item had to be there.
It would be impossible for a call to be done without an artifact such as an antenna, which Luke had.
-Well, Yemaek Royal family… Long-distance communication… A treasure made it possible… So.
According to Eli’s explanation, the treasure was made by the excellent craftsmen during the time of old Yemaek.
It was just a replica, but it was pretty much like an artifact from the ancient Abaron Empire.
It was called a treasure, and it had the function of amplifying magic communication.
‘Maybe, it was similar to the antenna that he made?’
However, it wasn’t such an important thing.
-A word with His Majesty… I need. Please, call him.
“Your Majesty is out of office. You will have to wait.”
Erwin immediately sent word to the parliament.
However, Luke appeared earlier than she thought.
It was because he was already back from his visit to the parliament.
And on his way back, he encountered the attendant sent by Erwin, and he walked quickly to speak to Eli.
“I heard the reports that Jo Won-gyun took control of Song Imperial family. So, you are in Yemaek now?”
-Yes, Your Majesty. Unfortunately, we failed… By the time we went, everything…
The representative of the fairies that were commissioned by Luke only chose the strongest from each race and sent them to the Southern Continent.
However, it was already late when the fairies got there.
Well, the result was rather worse. They felt bad for even being there.
Jo Won-gyun’s men, who grasped the contact between Jo Won-rak and the fairies, accused the 3rd crown prince of planning a revolt with goblins of the Northern Continent.
Eventually, the fairy warriors escaped with Jo Won-rak, who was framed, and evacuated him to Yemaek, the nation of his fiancé.
“That happened, huh? But why are you reporting this to me over such a long-distance device?”
If it was such a simple situation or report, all they had to do was inform him with the help of the trade lines.
However, they could only use the Yemaek Royal Family’s treasure to contact him, and there was a strong reason behind it.
-The Song Empire… declared war on Yemaek…
”What!?”
-There are already troops on the border… The movement isn’t that huge…
According to Eli’s explanation, the Song Empire revealed their intentions and then declared war on Yemaek.
The cause of the war being that Yemaek didn’t release the 3rd prince, the sinner of the empire.
However, considering the fact that large troops were being deployed on the borders, their intention to occupy Yemake was clear.
‘Tch, the Song Empire is trying to spill blood in the Southern Continent? If that happens, things will go according to Arsene’s will.’
Luke heard from Hwang Bo-sung the futures he had seen, and he knew what kind of world Arsene wanted to create.
Taking over the Southern Continent, he would use it as the outpost to invade the North.
Using the countless resources and humans in the Southern Continent, he would be able to create an Undead army.
‘The Rhodesia Continent was destroyed because of the Undead army that came from there. A future that doesn’t exist now…’
Eli was hesitant to speak since Luke was deep in his thoughts. However, she still decided to say what she had to say.
-The 3rd crown prince, Jo Won-rak, and the King of Yemaek, Biryu… from Your Majesty Luke… requested help… to stop those behind… to stop them.
‘Behind? They mean Arsene.’
He managed to defeat Arsene with his own hands in Anbury City.
He might not appear right away in the war.
Even if a Lich was immortal, restoring its body could take a lot of time especially if its power was lost.
‘But it is Arsene. If that monster appears there, no one will be able to stop him.’
Although there was Saint Nanda, his location was never known.
And even if Arsene didn’t appear, the situation was unfavorable to Yemaek.
The Song Empire was the strongest nation on the Southern Continent. It had troops as well as supplies.
In addition, with the help and support from Arsene, they might destroy the Royal Family of Yemaek.
‘It might be better for me to join the war.’
If Arsene appeared again, Luke could destroy him once again.
And it didn’t matter if he appeared or not.
He just couldn’t stand the fact that the Song Empire might take over the Southern Continent.
“Fine. I’ll come there.”
Fortunately, all the urgent work in Symphonia Kingdom and Holy Empire was done.
The rest of his tasks could be handed to his retainers and officials.
This was why Luke decided to go to the Southern Continent.
Eli went wide-eyed at his decision.
She thought that asking Luke to help them would be difficult. However, Luke agreed too easily.
-Your Majesty will… Is this possible?
“Of course. Would you like me to come quickly?”
The Song Empire had declared war.
It wouldn’t be strange if they started the battle right away.
Therefore, the faster Luke went, the better it would be for Yemaek.
-I will inform… the King of Yemaek… 3rd prince.
Once the magic communication with Eli was done, Luke summoned his aides in the royal palace.
