Chapter 127 (2/2)

Not only was he surprised. But all the staff and knights around him were surprised.

“Are you trying to make fun of me?” Asked Tyron.

“No, I would never do that. If you know the history of our family, you would be aware that I have no reason to be loyal to my Empire.”

‘Hmm, that is true,’ thought Tyron.

The forerunner of the Baroque Empire was the Libiya Kingdom.

When the ancestor of the Empire, the Karno de Baroque, revolted, Rakan had fought against them and lost, which led to the fall of their noble status.

‘If he didn’t make a name for himself on the continent by defeating the Devil King Saymon, Rakan would have surely been executed,’ thought Tyron.

However, it had been over 500 years since that had happened.

The Imperial family didn’t care for the renowned warriors, and the Rakan family didn’t show any sincere loyalty to the Imperial family. They only fulfilled the responsibilities that they had to perform for the Empire.

“A while ago, during the battle of the territory, I caught the Count, the royal collateral. The Emperor was confused and angry, which was why he appointed me as the commander of such a dangerous Fortress,” said Luke.

“You mean your words?” Asked Tyron.

“Yes, in the meantime, my ancestors have done their duty silently because of their land and the powerless people they had to look after. However, I think differently from my ancestors.”

“So, you will surrender?” Told Tyron.

Feeling a little convinced, Tyron nodded.

At that time, one of the staff intervened in their conversation.

“Then, if you want to surrender right now, why are you doing it at this time?”

At that question, Luke thought for a while.

“You hope that we will leave you right away without harming the people. Do you know how the empire treats the nobles who have surrendered to the enemy?” Asked another staff.

The Baroque Empire would wipe out the existence of the nobles who surrendered. They would take away their land, execute all of their relatives, and erase all of their records from history.

In addition, their retainers would be enslaved, and their people would be charged with heavy taxes. The traitors would be torn apart limb from limb.

“However, there are times when the punishment is light. The case when overwhelming armies like yours would try to take on one land,” said Luke.

As the nobles of the Empire, there were duties that the nobles had to perform. They were active servants of the empire.

When it came to fighting against a large army, even without any support troops to help them out, there was no way that they would be treated as servants.

It was a breach of the contract which talks about war, and the reason for surrender would be valid.

“Since I am the only one, I have no blood relatives who would be punished. And if the situation of us being isolated gets known, no retainers or people would be punished. It is a waste of time and land, but I think that it is something that I need to do to start anew.”

“So, you don’t want us to attack for a few days but pretend to do so?” Asked Tyron

“Yes, Give me one week, no just five more days.”

At the words of Luke, Tyron and his staff looked troubled.

Honestly, the pretend war was better than seeing the blood of soldiers flow. It was better to continue the war after a few days.

The question was how reliable could their enemy be.

‘The commander has come in and suggested surrender. It can be reliable. However…’

There was one thing that was troubling Tyron.

“You know of the significance and the need, but there is no guarantee that everyone under you would surrender, right?” Asked Tyron.

“Everyone is facing a hard time. The knights and the soldiers in the fortress are all left behind nobles or displaced nobles. Some of them have to fight till the end in the Fortress, but they won’t go against the flow,” assured Luke.

“Is that so? But, what if…”

Tyron’s words faltered a little, and he looked at Luke before asking his question.

“What if we don’t accept your request?”

Philip, who had been quiet till then, looked over at Luke with nervousness. If the opponent refused their proposal, then blood would flow in the barracks.

Luke, however, didn’t panic and responded,

“Then we will fight till the end. I will gather all the gunpowder and the magic stones our side has and blow up the Fortress.”

“Uhm…”

At the radical answer from Luke, which was very different from what he was talking about, Marquis Tyron and his staff went stiff.

Although the Torlot Fortress was just a ‘bridge’ for the Republic to reach the Baroque Empire, they needed to keep the Fortress as intact as possible.

Thinking, Tyron had come to a decision.

“Okay, we will accept your offer.”

“Thank you.”

Tyron spoke coldly to Luke, who bowed his head.

“If you break your promise, everything that happens after that is all on you. Your life is at stake, and the glory of your dead ancestors will be defiled.”

“You don’t have to worry about that.”

Luke smiled widely.

His life was always at stake, and Luke never honored his dead ancestors.

His only concern was whether the other person would be keeping their promise or not.

Luckily for Luke, the old wizard who was seated in front of him wasn’t a sneaky person, which meant that he could rest.