Emperor of Steel

Chapter 30: Taking the First Step 3

By the time Luke arrived, the giant storehouse had huge piles of rocks and trees.

On one side, there was a large box, which contained the Arzen and other magic stone materials, including the end-of-life ores.

“The rock is very hard. The quality of wood is very good too...”

“These are the finest materials that are used to build forts and castles. We always bring in only the best.”

In response to the assessment done by Luke, the executive of the Hades Co. spoke with pride.

The Hades Co., which did trade in the underworld, chose that name to make their creditors feel death. It was much smaller than Alon but was very famous as it was known to be very faithful and thorough.

They also stop by once in a month to sell daily necessities to Rakan’s manor.

“But, where are you going to use them? Are you maybe trying to repair the Devil King’s castle?”

“You don’t need to know that. How much was it?”

“That will be 50,000 pesos.”

The executive gave out a receipt.

“It’s more expensive than I thought.”

“Hahaha, you said it yourself. We only give our customers the best quality. In addition, we all need to live...”

“Okay. I’ll check it out.”

Luke handed over the 50,000 pesos and sent back all the merchants. He later went into the underground workshop with the box containing the magic stones.

Energia.

It was a power plant that supplied mana to a machine or a device.

There was one in the Magic Tower or the laboratories, the Arzen cable along with the magic stones, and the complex magic circles.

In some ways, it was similar to the core engine that was inside the Gigants; the only difference was their size and power.

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In the past, Luke’s Energia was so powerful that he was able to create and operate a Golem legion.

“It has been a very long time since I have touched this.”

With heartfelt emotions, Luke began to touch the Energia.

Once the components were selected, they were either broken or needed to be replaced. The metals and the materials purchased through Hades Co. were productions of the identical parts.

“Huhu, my workmanship isn’t so rusty.”

His body had changed, and the black magic circle had fallen down to 3 circles, but his experience and knowledge were still there.

He made the parts in a relatively short time and put them back.

After reassembling the Energia, he used some light magic.

Kiiing! Kiiinggg? Iiiing!

With huge screeching sound, the Energia began to work.

500 years had passed, but it began to wok like a brand new one.

The first movement of the laboratory’s mana was supplied to the Teleporting Circle from the Energia.

The light from the Teleport Magic Circle was going out to the studio, and soon the stones and trees in the warehouse began to be summoned.

Kung! Thung!

Chiiing!

The machinery of the lab began to move automatically and the production of the golems started.

The stones and trees were trimmed from the trunk and branches, and the finished parts were engraved with magic circles by tools with flame magic.

During his time as Saymon—Luke—used to automate all the Golems with the machines in the lab.

It was so he could mass-produce things with minimum manpower, but he couldn’t do this process forever.

In addition to the common materials such as stones and wood, the golems were made of precious magic stones and some other magic materials.

And processing those magical materials required elaborate and careful work, and that was something that couldn’t be done using the machines.

Hades had a small number of magic materials that were needed for the Golems, and the amount of Golems that could be made was just 20.

“Let’s not rush. I need to do it one after the other.”

A lot of things couldn’t be done at once.

No matter how urgent the task was, rather than rushing for the results, things had to be done gradually. That was how he wouldn’t fall behind because of unexpected problems.

Once satisfied with the working workshop, Luke moved to a secret lab and began practicing dark magic.

In the evening, when Luke had returned to the manor, Hans was there nagging him.

“Young Lord, did you go to the Devil King’s Castle once again by yourself?”

“Didn’t I use to go there when I was young too?”

“At that time you were a kid, but now Young Lord’s life is at...!”

Hans was trying to explain something, but he stopped halfway.

“Whatever the case is, it is dangerous to go outside the manor all by yourself. So please take your escort Philip, or don’t go out at all.”

“Well, okay.”

Luke nodded and went into the office in the manor after having his dinner. It was to envision how to develop the estate land.

However, his thoughts had to be put aside for a while.

Inside the office, Dixon and the other retainers came into the office and cried out.

“Young Lord, to revitalize our commerce, we need to build new roads and add more stores to the villages. And the money to build highways and stores...”

“What are you talking about!? We need to clear the land first! Agriculture needs to be our first priority! Please provide some funds for the land clearing!”

“Huh! In order to increase the population, the living conditions of the residents need to be improved first, so...”

The retainers had met with the executive of the Hades Co., who returned after delivering the goods that day.

They heard from him that their Young Lord had neatly paid out 50,000 pesos.

It was because of that, that these people knew about it.

The fact that the Young Lord had money in his hands after betting and gambling in the Gigant Arena was known.

So they ran and begged one after the other for Luke to invest in each of their respective ideas.

Luke had a sullen look.

In that state, investing in anything was similar to drinking poison.

‘Didn’t 30,000 pesos, which were used for the mine, flew off just like that? There was a reason for that.’

If it wasn’t properly planned, he could be fooled in the hands of the experts or the field officials and would have to spend much more than what was needed.

“Stop!”

Luke shouted. He asked them to be quiet and responded with a firm look,

“I understand what you people are trying to say. But I have clear plans on how to invest in the estates, so don’t talk about it anymore.”

“But...”

“Didn’t I tell you to not talk about it!?”

Kwang!

Luke hit the table in the front, which made Dixon and the retainers go silent.

While looking at Hans, who had arrived a while later, the retainers all had a sad expression and left the office.

“By the way, why is it that I don’t see the wizard Mute?”

Luke asked the other day too, as it was strange that Mute—the only wizard and a retainer of the estate—wasn’t seen.

“The wizard Mute stays in the magic lab all day long, and he hasn’t come out since the day you had the accident, Young Lord.”

“Hmm, really?”

Mute was from a small town’s magic tower from the neighboring kingdom.

Reluctant of getting tied down to just one place, he left the magic tower of his town and wandered around the continent and then reached Rakan 12 years ago.

It was then that the Iron Mage who worked for the Rakan estate had died.

In the end, the former son-in-law asked and recruited him, and Mute who was very impressed with the effort and the character of the son-in-law settled at the Rakan estate as a retainer.

And to this current day, he had been working as an Iron Mage and the wizard of the estate.

But one month ago, an accident had taken place and he chipped off.

The other retainers tried to talk to him, but he had regarded himself as a sinner saying that he was the one responsible for the Gigant.

‘Maybe I should go and see him?’

The most necessary and tiresome worker in the estate was that of a wizard.

The other retainers could be deceived, but there was no room for Luke to deceive a wizard.

Which was why he thought that he could either make the wizard into his man or banish him.

Luke stood up and headed to meet the wizard.