Emperor of Steel - Chapter 106

Chapter 106

The Torlot fortress was located in the middle of San river .

The San river, which originated from the Volga republic, flowed into the Baroque Empire and the Torlot fortress was situated on a hill overlooking the river’s meanders in a ‘U’ shape .

The parade ground in the center of the stone fortress was insignificant .

Soldiers and knights had to be fully trained . The normal white dust had to rise .

However, only a dozen people were in the parade ground—those were the knights .

And there were a few who were resting in the shade of the tree .

The dress of the knights wasn’t in place .

Their breastplates couldn’t be seen, and the buttons of their uniforms were open, revealing the hair on their chest .

“Seniors! Won’t you train?!”

A slim girl with a knight’s armor asked the ones taking a rest .

The senior knights rolled over the floor and said,

“It’s bothersome . ”

“Anna, do it . ”

“I already did this morning,” spoke the knights .

At their response, the girl knight, Anna, frowned .

“Ugh, the new commander will come today! What would he say after seeing the seniors act like this?”

She wanted to give the new commander a good first impression .

However, it looked like the seniors hadn’t thought about that .

“He would probably swear . ”

“I heard it is going to be a kid in a blue uniform . What solid information do we have?”

“Right . What good can practicing do, right?”

“Anna, you go and practice . If the new commander knows, he will make us suffer,” said the senior knights .

The knights of the Torlot Fortress were mostly sons of nobles, who had been enlisted for two years .

Most of them were second-class nobles or lower class nobles . However, because of the lack of any historical background of their families or their family’s support, they were placed at the forefront of the poorly conditioned war .

In fact, they were no different from being abandoned . They had nothing to be motivated about .

And as a result, most of them wanted to avoid crossing swords with the enemy and just wanted to be discharged after their time .

‘Kew! I don’t know much either . ’

Shaking her head, Anna picked up her sword and began to practice .

Being a girl from the Baron family, she had been always told that she was talented in fencing .

With support from her parents, she was able to attend the military academy . She graduated earlier this year and was deployed to Torlot fortress .

However, the atmosphere in there wasn’t what she had heard .

The soldiers were rough and had poor skills .

Most of them had come in after being changed from their original troops, moved out of jail or for misdemeanors, and most of them came in because of debt .

So their discipline was a mess .

However, the actions of the knights and officers, who had to correct them, weren’t on point either .

Like the knights who just spoke earlier, they were taking naps or playing cards or just plainly having fun laughing .

They would say that they were going to patrol, but they were going to go fishing instead or would pick a fight with other people .

The former fortress commander was always stuck in his office room and couldn’t see any of it . The moment he was informed that a new commander was going to join them, he left that very morning .

He left without even waiting for the new commander to take his job .

‘Haa, won’t the Volga try to take down the fortress if things go on like this?’ Thought Anna .

Anna was scared .

She became a knight . She was a talented swordsman . However, she didn’t want to die and leave her family .

And to do that, she had to change the attitude of the senior knights, but it wasn’t a task that a young woman could do .

Anna was in concern over this and that .

Brrrng!

Kun! Kung! Kung!

A trailer full of luggage and a Gigant came across the parade ground through the fortress gate .

Three people got off the trailer and the Gigant stopped in front of the fortress office .

‘That might be the new commander,’ thought Anna .

It was very likely .

With her eyes shining, she rushed over to the office .

“It is completely open . ”

Those were the first words that Luke uttered after seeing the Torlot fortress .

The walls of the fortress seemed to have been neglected for a long time and looked like they would crumble quickly, and there were no soldiers patrolling around .

The knights began to appear in the parade ground at last .

There weren’t that many people who gathered to train, and it was just before the end of the day so not many soldiers were there .

“It was much worse than the information I got from the guild . ”

Philip’s face became distorted,

“Let’s go inside first,” said Luke .

Luke sighed and they stepped into the building .

At the same time, the envoy, which ran from the barracks, came . He stood in front of Luke and his party and gave her salute .

“Salute! Anna de Noah from the 7th knight of the Northern army . Are you the new commander, sir?”

“Yes . This is Luke de Rakan who has been appointed as the new commander here . ”

‘Ehet!’

Anna was flustered, and her face became red .

Just a moment ago she had saluted to Philip . It was because of his appearance and age . He looked like the new commander .

However, Philip had stated that the new commander was the one next to him .

As she looked at him, it was a young man wearing the badge of rank on his shoulder which symbolized that he was the commander .

“It, it was a huge mistake on my part, my apologies sir!”

“Okay . But are you the only one?”

As Anna was flustered, several soldiers ran from the inside of the headquarters .

They were the ones in charge of the administration of the fortress . The ones who were playing cards and chess jumped out of their seats to see their new commander .

Unlike the knights wandering in the shade, they were dressed quite properly .

“Salute! Congratulations on your appointment!”

“…”

Once again, Philip silently pointed his hands over to Luke, saying the new commander was beside him .

Just like Anna, their complexion turned red at their late realization .

“So, sorry, Sir . Since you are so young…”

“Leave that, I want to unload my luggage first . Please guide me to my office . ”

“That, that…”

One of the officers spoke with a hesitant look .

Realizing that something was off, Luke turned over and asked Anna,

“Sir Anna, be my guide . ”

“Understood . ”

Luke followed Anna to the office .

He climbed up the staircase and went straight to the hallway on the right and reached the room which said ‘Commander’s Room’ .

Not caring if the other soldiers were restless, Luke opened the door .

“Ahh, ahh!”

“Ahhh!”

As if two snakes were mating, a pair of man and woman were tangled up naked on the couch . It seemed like they were in the most heated moment .

Anna’s face turned red, and Erwin had her usual cold face .

It was a very ridiculous situation, Luke just laughed .

“F*ck! Didn’t I say to not come in when I am doing my thing?!”

The man, who was on top of the woman, looked back while talking, but he couldn’t help but feel nervous when he saw Luke .

“Sir Darren . He is the new commander,” said the soldier who followed them

The man, who looked at Luke after hearing those words, got up and put his pants on .

He marched toward Luke .

“This is Darren de Juke, fortress infantry commander . ”

‘Juke? Where did I hear that name before?’ Thought Luke .

While Luke was feeling a little bit suspicious, Philip told him,

“The Count of Juke, a great conglomerate family . In the Empire, they have a grand alliance with the nobles who fit in the five fingers . ”

“Ah…!”

Luke nodded to himself .

The Jukes had a company that was established 500 years ago .

There was no noble family in the Nemesis who wasn’t bribed by the nobles of Juke .

They weren’t nobles at that time, but the family had spent enough money on the imperial and the senior nobles of the nation .

‘This is the guy responsible for this fortress to be like this . ’

Luke understood the whole situation at once .

No matter how troublesome it was to gather the troops, if the military was such a mess, then there had to be a strong reason behind it .

However, a senior officer, who was supposed to take the lead for thousands of troops, was malevolently behaving like that . There was no way such an atmosphere could be changed .

“Sir Philip, do you have any punishment that comes to mind?” Asked Luke .

“Huh?”

At the sudden question from Luke, Philip wasn’t able to answer immediately . Luke decided to ask the question clearly this time .

“What is the military punishment for not enduring and performing such an act in the camp?”

“Ah, such an act within the army camp is 50 whips . ”

“Then get the punishment ready . ”

At the order from Luke, Darren’s eyes went wide and asked with an arrogant smile,

“Huh? I am being punished for having some bitch in an empty room?”

“Culprit shut your mouth,” said Luke .

“You can’t do that to me? I will let my father know… Kuk!”

As Darren wasn’t going to back down, Luke punched Darren’s abdomen .

Darren, who was hit by the sudden punch, lost his consciousness after letting out a scream .

“Take him out,” said Luke .

Luke simply overpowered Darren and ordered him to be taken out, and the officer who came later dragged Darren out .

Seeing that sight unfold, Anna couldn’t help but look at Luke with a lot of hope .

‘Wah, that was amazing! How can someone the same age as me do such an outstanding thing?’ Anna thought to herself .

Darren was infamous in the fortress .

With the support of his family’s connections, he used to run around wildly . The former commander and the commander before him gave in to his family’s power, and the recent one too had done the same .

The fencing skills of Darren’s weren’t that bad; such a person couldn’t be taken down with just one punch . However, it was possible because of the punishment sentence .

‘I need to tell this news to my seniors!’ Anna thought .

Running to the parade ground with a happy and cheerful expression, she went and told what she had witnessed to the senior knights, adding exaggerated details to her story .

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