Emperor! Can You See Stats!?

Chapter 102: The Reason for the Call

A young man with a rough tone of voice. 

Nuada greeted him with a friendly expression.

“Friend! Long time no see.”

“Nuada. I see you’ve settled the matters in the north, since you answered my request.”

“Well, it’s not like I have nothing left to do, but how could I refuse a friend’s favor? And there’s also someone here who can match me…”

He grinned and looked at Jegal Unhyeon, who was his target. 

The person who received his gaze also smiled slyly and provoked Nuada.

“I admit your youthful spirit, but as I said before, you should show some respect to your senior. It will be better for you in the future.”

“Why don’t you try to knock me down first?”

“Hooh…”

“Let’s settle our personal grudges later. Jegal Unhyeon, you should act your age too!”

Eurius shook his head and intervened again. 

They both had strong competitive spirits, so he couldn’t get to the main point if they kept bickering like this.

“If you say so, my lord.”

“I’ll hold back for now, for the sake of my friend.”

They seemed ready to clash again at any moment, but they surprisingly obeyed Eurius’s words.

Nuada owed him a great favor, and Jegal Unhyeon was here as his subordinate today, as his polite speech indicated.

After calming down the situation, Eurius opened his mouth again.

“You must already know the reason from Jegal’s family, and did they tell you why I called you here, Nuada?”

Nuada scratched his head.

“Something about the owner of the martial arts I acquired turned out to be your subordinate? I don’t know much about the rest of the complicated story.”

“Typical of you. Well, I don’t intend to force you to obey me as a friend anyway.”

Eurius smiled faintly, but Jegal Unhyeon looked a bit displeased.

‘He’s supposed to be the leader of the White Tiger Hall, but he’s like that…’

That was why he deliberately picked a fight with Nuada.

He knew that Nuada was a talented warrior, but he couldn’t accept his attitude towards Eurius.

“But I’m going to revive the White Tiger Clan here for now.”

“Sasinjihoe?”

“An excellent choice, my lord.”

Nuada looked puzzled, while the people from Jegal’s family nodded with anticipation.

“As you know, White Tiger Hall is connected to the north and Nuada took it over, so we can say that it has inherited its legacy.”

It wasn’t exactly like a mudoon in the eastern continent, but White Tiger Hall was practically revived by Eurius. Weren’t Nuada’s tribe’s warriors learning Baekho Hosinki?

“But I’m going to change its form a bit. This is the western continent, and White Tiger Hall is practically severed here, isn’t it?”

“There is Jeonin as long as he is here, so it’s hard to say that it’s completely severed even in the western continent…”

Jegal Unhyeon’s dissatisfaction was exactly that. 

In his common sense, even if it was the western continent, Jeonin was Jeonin! Nuada should have served Eurius as his lord.

But Eurius chuckled here.

“That’s why you allowed him to speak casually in private, right? This is an order, so don’t bring it up again.”

“…”

Jegal Unhyeon became speechless. It was a subtle revenge on his part.

‘Do you have anything to say about manners when your first impression was like that?’

He had anticipated that there would be a problem with honorifics when he heard Jegal Unhyeon’s slander about Sasinjihoe.

What if he had made Nuada his subordinate completely? 

It was awkward to do that now, and anyway, if he moved his base to the western continent, he had to adjust to them somewhat.

‘If you come to my empire, you have to follow my laws!’

It was a famous saying of the emperor that was only passed down in the imperial family. He needed to sort out his power firmly here. How could he unite them when they had different values and continents?

‘And I don’t think I have to worry too much.’

Jegal Unhyeon was peculiar in his personality, but surprisingly a typical warrior who would never disobey his words. 

Nuada was also a born fighter who had a simple value system.

“If that’s what you want, my lord, we have no choice but to follow.”

“Well, we’re practically brothers, aren’t we? You can think of it as something similar.”

As he expected, the two agreed readily. But even then, sparks flew when their eyes met.

‘I have to sort out the hierarchy clearly. No matter how talented he is, he’s a young punk with no manners…’

‘I don’t know if he’s an easy opponent, but I have to try it first to find out!’

Eurius watched them with a sneer and finally moved on to the real point.

“First of all, I’ll tell you why I temporarily revived the White Tiger Clan.”

Jegal Hwayeong, who was sitting on a chair, opened his mouth with sparkling eyes.

“Excuse me, but is that related to the Great Emperor?”

“That’s right. Our true goal is to collect the legacy, but there are too many factors that hinder it right now!”

Eurius explained that he had to go to the eastern continent for the problems related to the cult, or Magyo, and for collecting the legacy. 

But how could he go there when Grand Duke was sharpening his knife behind him?

“So I’m going to get rid of Grand Duke first and then head to the east.”

Jegal Unhyeon raised a question here.

“My lord, I have a question.”

“What is it?”

“I’ve heard that Grand Duke is one of the top-notch experts in this continent. But I don’t think he’s too much for your status and our power.”

Eurius was the emperor of the empire. And there were three superhumans here!

And Jegal Unhyeon couldn’t compare him exactly, but judging by his age and position in the eastern continent, his skill wouldn’t be much inferior.

He had gathered such a level of power, so why didn’t he attack Grand Duke right away?

But Eurius shook his head.

“It would be if you only compare the power. But Grand Duke is one of the most prestigious people in this continent.”

“I’ve heard that he’s one of the three great warriors of the western continent… Is that so important?”

“He’s practically the face of all imperial knights. It’s a pity that his character doesn’t match, but his skill and reputation are unmatched.”

Eurius began to explain slowly. Why did his father, who was called the Iron-blooded Emperor, fail to eliminate the Duke even though he knew of his treachery?

***

After the era of the players, the Scharnos Empire maintained a feudal system on the surface, but in reality, the Emperor’s authority was extremely strong. 

He had the command of the Imperial Guard and the powerful central army.

No matter how high-ranking a noble was, the scale of their private soldiers was strictly limited. 

And since most of the outstanding knights came from the Knight Academy in the capital, the power was concentrated in the Emperor’s hands.

But there was one exception: the Wilhelm Ducal House. 

This prestigious martial family, commonly known as the Sword Clan, had a vast territory that was almost equivalent to a kingdom. 

They also enjoyed the privilege of tax exemption.

“It was practically a kingdom… No, if you consider the southern forces that sided with the Duke, you should think of it as more than that.”

“But even if he was an excellent warrior, why did he get such privileges?”

‘That’s one of the reasons why I have to catch the Duke!’

Eurius opened his mouth again with a stiff expression.

“That’s because the first Wilhelm Duke was not a player, but a very talented knight who was the only disciple personally taught by His Majesty. His merit was highly valued and His Majesty granted him such special favors.”

Just like Beatrice’s family, the three great martial families of the continent were all related to players in some way.

‘There’s a high chance that I’ll find something related to players’ legacy if I investigate the Duke. And it’s likely to be directly connected to His Majesty.’

But this was a secondary issue. Eurius had already obtained His Majesty’s legacy from the royal report.

“And the most important thing is legitimacy!”

Eurius had decisive evidence that the Duke had a rebellious heart through Wallace. 

But if he could have branded him as a traitor with one person’s testimony, the Emperor would have cut off his head long ago.

“What about his knightly forces? Even if there are some losses, if we secretly join forces with this side, we might be able to eliminate that bastard.”

Eurius corrected him as well.

“We’re not dealing with just one superhuman. And his knights are not easy to deal with.”

The Golden Lion Knights had suffered a lot of damage recently, but the Duke’s family had many excellent knights under them as a martial family. 

They were a formidable force when combined.

“And Patrick Marquis, who is guarding the southern front and is also a superhuman, will probably side with the Duke unless something happens. He’s almost like his disciple!”

“It would be hard to eliminate them for sure even if we step in with two fourth-stage warriors.”

“That’s why it’s difficult to get rid of him for sure unless we isolate him so that no one can side with him.”

Eurius also explained about the Duke’s soldiers. 

On the surface, they were known to be much smaller than the central army, but according to the Emperor’s investigation, they had trained a considerable number of troops separately.

And if you add the soldiers of the southern nobles who followed him, although they were shaky lately, they would probably form a huge army that was bigger than any ordinary kingdom.

The Emperor wondered why Eurius said he was ready to catch the Duke when even he couldn’t do it easily if he intervened personally.

“It’s true that in a small-scale skirmish, it might not matter, but war is not something that can be decided by one or two strong people.”

The Jegal family was also good at military affairs enough to enter that field. Everyone nodded at Eurius’ explanation.

“So are you going to fight him head-on? Or avoid him? It sounds like you don’t want to wage war. Why did you call us here? What’s your reason?”

Finally, Nuada asked bluntly. Why did Eurius declare the revival of Sasinjihoi while emphasizing the risk of war?

“…”

After hesitating for a moment, Eurius opened his mouth.

“The reason I called you separately is to ask you to prepare for a counterattack.”

“A counterattack?”

Everyone in the hall tilted their heads. 

The current situation was that they couldn’t attack first because they were worried about damage, but overall, this side had a significant advantage.

But he said that the Duke would attack first?

Eurius smiled meaningfully.

“Soon enough, the Duke will try to pick a fight with us.”

And he finished his sentence with full confidence.

“That will be our golden opportunity to strike him down!”