Emperor of Steel

“A very long time ago, there was a nation called Yin on this earth. It was said that the people of Yin were the goblins from the north, who at that time used to cultivate humans like livestock.”

‘Uh? This surely sounds like…’

The nation of Yin that Zegal Moon was referring to sounded very similar to the Mado Abaron Empire. The goblins were the fairies.

“Humans learned a lot of literature from them. However, apart from that, most of the men in high-status were goblins. Dissatisfied with that, the humans revolted. The rebels had lost in the hands of goblins, but at that time, a man called Heechang appeared and changed the situation.”

Heechang, who had learned skills from a nice goblin, created a huge hole by stabbing a spear of light and dark into the ground.

The evil goblins got sucked into the hole and never appeared.

‘A spear of light and dark, in the ground, a huge hole…’

At the story of Zegal Moon, Luke recalled the situation before he got sucked into the subspace.

A barrier that sucked in all power.

To escape from there, Luke gave out Magi and Arch Duke Gregory used divine power.

The contrast natured energies created collisions inside the barrier and created a subspace as a reflux process.

‘This sounds very similar to the old-time story which he is saying. Considering that there are many metaphorical expressions in the traditional stories and legends, I never thought that something similar could happen in the southern continent.’

While Luke was thinking, Zegal Moon continued, “Honestly, it is very hard to believe an old story like that. However, the fact that you have saved the 3rd crown prince and Hui is a reminder to me. So whenever you need help, we will always be there for you.”

Luke was swayed by those words and decided to talk to the head about what he wanted.

“Then, would you mind giving me the iron core?”

“Iron core?”

“I don’t know if the head knows, but I tried to buy the iron core once already.”

Luke told him about how he was developing a Gigant and how he asked Kirillov to buy it for him.

At that, Zegal Moon seemed like he did know something about it.

“Hmm, that did happen. Nevertheless, for a few reasons, the northern merchants did try to find the iron core. I guess this was the reason.”

“Since you are aware of the reason, will you sell it now?”

At Luke’s question, Zegal Moon, who was seated, got up.

“Follow me.”

The place where Zegal Moon took Luke was a rocky mountain behind the main road.

Passing through the complex cluttered road and other things was a cave that was guarded by warriors.

“I see the head.”

“Glory to the clan!”

With the strong greetings of the clan warriors, the party approached the cave.

The cave was blocked by a thick gate, and showing that, Zegal Moon spoke, “Normally, this had been banned from the outside world since 10 years ago, but I think I can show it to you.”

There was a reason that the value of the cave had decreased when compared to the past because of the struggle between the clans was fierce.

In order to survive in the midst of the unfamiliar situation as such, they thought that it would be advantageous to have at least one strong friend from the royal forces.

Kuuuung!

The iron gate that was 30 centimeters thick opened.

Its iron gate wasn’t one but threefold.

When the threefold gate opened and what expected to be a city in the cave turned out to be a large-scaled cavity.

The underground cavity was like a spider web, and the passages were all around. However, it wasn’t all dark, there were flowers and fresh bushes growing around.

It was because the inside of the ceiling was bright with daylight.

‘This, this is amazing! Only the dwarves of the ancient Mado Empire can make this…’

For Luke, who was lost in thoughts, Zegal Moon briefly explained the origin of the cave.

“According to the legends, the cave belonged to the goblins. Even now, in the deepest part of the mines ‘black iron’ or ‘cold iron’ can be mined at times.”

However, it was said that rather than for mining, the place had been used as a warehouse for stocking the goods of the Zegal clan, or a workshop for weapons or labs for tactical arts.

“The iron core is in this room.”

The place guided by Zegal Moon was a workshop that produced the Puppet.

Inside, along with a half-finished puppet, were what supposed to be the pieces of iron core rolling on the floor.

However, Luke’s eyes were drifting in the thickly dusted room.

“It looks like the work here has stopped for quite some time.”

“Huh, it did. Perhaps, the Puppet in front of your eyes will be the last Puppet the Zegal clan will make.”

At the deep sigh of Zegal Moon, Luke asked cautiously, “Are there any problems with the iron core?”

If that was the case, then it was huge drawback.

“Most of the iron core that grew on the mountain plateau in the south got killed because of the drought that lasted for several years.”

The provincial plateau near the border between the Song Empire and the Barat Empire was the only source to gather iron core.

There were thousands of large and small iron core plateau, and most of them had died due to the heatwaves and long periods of drought.

“Honestly, it wasn’t because the rain didn’t fall. The problem was that the drought caused the insects to gnaw through the crops and the iron core trees were no exception.”

It was a tree that was known to be hard, but the pests even ate a tree’s roots, so the trees died.

In addition, it was said that the natives burned poisoned trees to chase off the pests and that led to wildfires.

“It was a disaster I guess,” said Luke.

“The sky was to blame. Fortunately, few remaining seedlings were left behind.”

That was why the Zegal clan refused to sell the iron core wood.

Though the iron core was a precious metal, their essence was lost because of the unstoppable disasters.

‘It doesn’t look like it was a lie… But even then, things might get difficult.’

And Luke wasn’t planning on using it only for the tuning helm of his Gigant.

If possible, the idea was to apply the tuning helm to all the Gigants in the lordship, and not just Orion.

However, listening to their situation, he was forced to step back on his plan.

‘Should I just give up? Is there any way to use magic or something?’

If he could solve the problem, it would be possible to get a constant supply of the iron core.

However, as almost all of them were wiped out, reviving them wasn’t going to be an easy task.