Chapter 216
Chapter 216
The Iron Emperor — Chapter 216
King Bera Han could not understand their actions. No—he could not begin to understand them.
"Let us say your coming here was the will of heaven."
Jin-cheon looked at King Bera Han with one corner of his mouth curled upward.
"But the will that unfolds from this moment on is my will."
King Bera Han saw a fierce flame burning in Jin-cheon's black eyes.
"My will is to protect the people who wish to live within my domain from the cutting winds of this world and give them the strength to fight. That is my will. It is not to take revenge on behalf of the ancients."
King Bera Han wanted to say something in response to Jin-cheon's words, but he could not open his lips.
"However, judging by the present circumstances, it seems the time to punish them will come whether I wish it or not."
As Jin-cheon let out a faint smile, even the great empires posed no threat whatsoever.
In King Bera Han's eyes, Jin-cheon was like steel refined tens of thousands of times in scorching fire—born in flames hot enough to melt the world, yet possessing both coldness and hardness.
"What is your will?"
"Will..."
King Bera Han was at a loss for words.
Before his very eyes, he had learned that the legends were true.
He had seen the legends being fulfilled according to his ancestors' last wishes, and their punishment would someday be carried out.
What remained was...
King Bera Han felt his head go utterly empty.
"My... will."
Feeling the heat drain from his heart and blood, he plunged into the abyss of despair.
"You are dead."
Jin-cheon's cold voice rang in King Bera Han's ears.
He needed to offer some rebuttal, but there were no words he could say.
"A being without will is not human. It is a beast. Even beasts and insects possess the will to live, so do not claim that you possess will."
The brutal words tore into King Bera Han's chest without respite.
"I..."
The great hall of the Haian Palace suddenly surfaced in his mind.
The nobles clamoring in the great hall of the Haian Palace were nobles of the Haian Kingdom, yet the words from their mouths were oaths of loyalty to the empires.
"I..."
The people of the Haian Kingdom, living in Haian yet despised by the empires' subjects. A country that existed, yet was not a country for its people—merely an empty shell for the empires' power struggles.
"I... the Haian Kingdom..."
Something he had long dreamed of.
The image that had appeared before him when Gauri manifested—brief though it was, it was a sight he had come to admire.
"I want to make the Haian Kingdom a true nation, not merely an empty shell."
The blood that had gone cold within King Bera Han heated once more, and his slowed heart began to race again.
"Then make it."
"I need help!"
King Bera Han cried out desperately.
"You are still far from it."
Even at Jin-cheon's cold rebuke, King Bera Han's blood, which had already begun to heat, did not cool, and his heart did not slow.
"What do you mean!"
Jin-cheon continued to berate King Bera Han in the same icy tone.
"Long ago you latched onto the traitors, and now you come latching onto me!"
"Teach me!"
Jin-cheon spoke.
"Cast aside tranquility and throw yourself into the raging waves. And do your utmost. It is said that heaven helps those who know how to help themselves."
At Jin-cheon's words, King Bera Han cried out.
"My late father and grandfather likewise threw themselves into the raging waves, struggling with all their might to change this country! They flailed desperately to help themselves, yet heaven did not extend its hand. So what more would you have me do!"
King Bera Han asked, his voice thick with pent-up frustration.
Gazing up at the sky, Jin-cheon began to speak in a low tone, unlike before.
"Someone once told me. That there are things a human cannot achieve even when giving their utmost. And that if, at that moment, that person truly gave their utmost, heaven would extend its hand. That is why I was taught to give my utmost. This is the one thing I have to say to you."
King Bera Han waited for the final words.
"Give your utmost."
They were words that even some beggar brat on the roadside could say to children. But Jin-cheon added one more sentence.
"And if even then, heaven casts you aside..."
With every movement of Jin-cheon's lips, King Bera Han's pupils widened.
"I will become your heaven."
Tears welled in his large black eyes and streamed down his cheeks.
'Your Majesty.'
Jin-cheon's form grew hazy.
'Your Majesty.'
The memory of that day sinking back into the darkness.
'Your Majesty.'
A memory he could never forget even in death surfaced from his dreams.
"Your Majesty. Did you have a dream?"
"Su..."
When King Bera Han opened his eyes, Lian Su was already there, looking at him with concern.
Freed from the dream, King Bera Han touched his own cheek.
Moisture had trailed down from the corners of his eyes. He smiled toward Lian Su, who was watching him with concern, and said,
"Su. It was not a dream. I saw my heaven."
Seeing King Bera Han's smile, Lian Su—perhaps from relief—gave him a radiant smile in return.
* * *
The nobles hurried toward the palace's great hall. For some reason, every one of them wore an angry expression.
"A Legion Creation Decree, of all things..."
Marquis Iwaen wore a look of sheer disbelief as he pushed through the nobles and quickened his pace. Once inside the great hall, Marquis Iwaen and the other nobles of the Council of Nobles took their seats and each began voicing their opinions, making the palace's great hall sound less like a throne room and more like some marketplace.
"His Majesty King Bera Han enters!"
The chamberlain's voice rang out as King Bera Han entered the great hall. The clamorous hall recovered a moment of silence, but only briefly—soon the voices of many nobles formed a sea of noise once more.
The moment King Bera Han took his seat, Marquis Iwaen rose from his place, bowed his head to pay his respects to the king, and immediately posed a question.
"Your Majesty, this humble servant has heard that you have issued a decree to establish a new central army."
At Marquis Iwaen's words, all the nobles fixed their gazes upon King Bera Han.
Under the heated stares of all the nobles, King Bera Han nodded and answered Marquis Iwaen's question.
"That is correct. Is there a problem?"
"Your Majesty, we beseech you to reconsider!"
"We beseech you to reconsider!"
The instant Marquis Iwaen voiced his request for reconsideration, nobles rose one after another, bowing their heads and calling for reconsideration in unison. Only a handful of marginalized nobles merely looked on or watched with disapproving expressions.
"For what reason?"
When King Bera Han posed the question to the nobles, Marquis Iwaen, as if representing them all, began to explain the reasoning.
"Why establish a legion in our peaceful Haian Kingdom? It is entirely unnecessary."
"With the Hawk Corps absent, we are in a situation where we lack a proper legion. That is why a new legion is being established. What is the problem with that? And is it not only natural for a country to have an army to defend it?"
Marquis Iwaen replied without hesitation.
"Our Haian Kingdom is a neutral state. What need has a peace-oriented Haian Kingdom for a legion? Such things are needed only by lawless brutes who make war their business."
"And what is that supposed to mean? Then what was the Hawk Corps before it?"
"The Hawk Corps was established to help maintain stability on the continent; it was essentially a peacekeeping force, was it not?"
When Marquis Iwaen countered again, King Bera Han stared at him in bafflement and replied.
"Then what exactly is the problem?"
In truth, the problem Marquis Iwaen wanted to seize upon was the form of a central army. A central army that answered to the king was hardly welcome to the nobles.
"This servant is saying that it is simply unnecessary. And should a situation requiring armed force ever arise, we need only gather the private soldiers of your servants and respond. Should that prove insufficient, we need only request strength from the Federal Empire. This servant, meager though he may be, can accomplish that task."
King Bera Han nodded at Marquis Iwaen's words and smiled.
'With the ogre gone, the orc now proclaims itself king of the forest.'
King Bera Han knew the old saying had proven true, but let none of it show on his face and replied with feigned concern.
"Marquis Iwaen's words are also correct. However, the situation currently sweeping across the continent tells me that my judgment is right."
"What do you mean by that?"
When King Bera Han agreed with Marquis Iwaen's opinion yet deliberately wore a grave expression as he spoke, another noble stepped forward and posed a question.
"Do you still not know, even after seeing the Gauri and South Roselin allied forces' invasion of North Roselin unfolding in the Roselin region?"
"That matter is..."
"Even a country with greater military strength than ours, like North Roselin, failed to properly concentrate its forces and brought about the disastrous result of allowing the enemy to the gates of its capital. We too once suffered the humiliation of being forced to open a path and had no choice but to comply..."
Marquis Iwaen could only grimace at King Bera Han's words. Not a word of it was false.
"For that reason, I intend to use this opportunity to raise approximately thirty thousand elite soldiers and establish the Haian Kingdom Defense Corps."
"However, given the current state of the Haian Kingdom's finances, even that will be difficult."
Another noble rose, raising a practical concern.
In truth, with Haian's intermediary trade, establishing a legion of not just thirty thousand but a hundred thousand would be possible—but so much was siphoned away here and there that the royal treasury was barely scraping by.
"Hmm. Marquis Iwaen."
Marquis Iwaen answered King Bera Han's call.
"With Marquis Iwaen's abilities, try asking the Federal Empire to fund it. How does that sound?"
"Th-that is..."
Marquis Iwaen's face contorted.
What nation in the world would provide funds to raise another nation's army?
King Bera Han, perhaps realizing that his own suggestion defied reason, tilted his head for a moment, then waved his hand and burst into laughter.
"Hahaha! It was a jest!"
"Hahaha."
When King Bera Han burst into laughter, Marquis Iwaen, reading the room, followed suit with a laugh. After laughing for a good while, King Bera Han leaned slightly forward from his throne, swept his gaze over Marquis Iwaen and the nobles, and spoke.
"I am always grateful for your lordships' loyalty."
At King Bera Han's sudden expression of gratitude, the nobles, though bewildered, bowed their heads and paid their respects.
"You are too gracious, Your Majesty."
Looking at them, King Bera Han wore a pleased smile and continued.
"I am deeply moved by your lordships' loyal devotion—that even should the worst occur, you would mobilize your private soldiers to defend the realm. So, with that in mind..."
At King Bera Han's trailing words, the nobles began to feel unease.
And sure enough.
"In that case, would it not be far better to gather a portion of your lordships' private soldiers and form a single legion? That way, in an emergency, forces could be concentrated swiftly, and there would be no need for separate conscription or training. How splendid would that be?"
In the end, King Bera Han had circled back to where he began.
"Your Majesty, that is..."
"Trusting that it will work out splendidly thanks to the loyal devotion of all you nobles, I shall take my leave first."
"Your Majesty!"
With a single glance at the nobles rising like a swarm of bees, King Bera Han said his piece and walked out.
The nobles were thrown into bewilderment.
In any case, this was not something they could simply obey, but neither did they have a compelling pretext to defy it. Marquis Iwaen could force the issue only because of his standing, and even that would be difficult to sustain for long.
The Roselin War that King Bera Han had obliquely cited was itself a reason they could not ignore, and conversely, the existence of Gauri was also something that troubled their minds for some reason.
Given the military strength now coming to light, could the nobles' private soldiers not be swept aside in an instant?
Once dead, even the aid of the Federal Empire or the Holy Empire would be useless. In the end, after discussion, the nobles began to put forward a compromise.
In truth, thinking about it differently—since the force would be composed by gathering each noble's private soldiers, it was effectively no different from planting their own people without needing to worry about opposing factions. And since King Bera Han would not be directly leading the unit, they judged that they could easily steer the selection of the commander who would lead the legion.
King Bera Han had not failed to anticipate their reasoning either. To be precise, both sides had engaged in this tug-of-war knowing exactly what the other was doing.
He had judged, however, that there was one advantage he could gain—small though it was—in the weakening of the noble factions and the ability to use the legion to draw the nobles into conflict with one another.
By leveraging that, he could build up forces loyal to himself and create an opportunity to draw marginalized provincial nobles and their troops officially into his fold.
"One step at a time, slowly."
Leaving the clamoring nobles behind him as he exited the great hall, King Bera Han walked on.