Overlord of Blood and Iron

“Milord.”

Standing in front of Kang Chul-In, Alfred cautiously opened his mouth.

“I have something to tell you.”

“If you’re talking about marriage, then I refuse.”

Kang Chul-In struck first.

“T-That… though that it important, that wasn’t what I was going to talk about. It’s actually about Secretary Lucia.”

“Lucia?”

“Recently, she seems depressed, and down compared to before.”

At Alfred’s words, Kang Chul-In tilted his head in confusion.

“Is it because she’s been too focused on her training?”

Though Kang Chul-In hypothesized.

“I think that it’s actually somewhat of a mixed reason.”

Alfred’s opinion seemed to be different.

“What do you mean by that?”

“Milord, I think that you were too indifferent towards Lucia. She’s your secretary, yet you haven’t visited her for 3 months personally.”

“Well…”

Kang Chul-In also had things to say about this.

How busy had he been this winter?

There wasn’t a single day where he had been able to sleep for over 3 hours. He had been able to ‘survive’ a terrifying workload that would have overworked a normal person to death. And Lucia was also busy training her ass off.

“Thankfully though, milord hasn’t spent personal time with anyone other than Arshelly. Still… I’m sure that Secretary Lucia feels conflicted right now.”

“Complicated?”

“It also seems that she might be experiencing some sort of anxiousness due to me. Maybe this is also the reason for her working so difficult. I’ve heard that she’s been able to beat General Drakan in arm wrestling recently, so you can really see how hard she’s been working.”

“Ah…”

At that, Kang Chul-In finally understood what Alfred was saying.

Alfred was my secretary and subordinate in my past life. It makes sense that she feels like this due to the sudden appearance of Alfred.

Now that he thought about it, Kang Chul-In had never explained the existence of Alfred to Lucia, or the other officials of the Laputa territory. It made sense that Lucia was anxious; nervous that her position as secretary might be usurped.

“This old one is nothing but an old vampire, and a butler who does milord’s errands. Milord, I think that you should take better care of Lucia, in case she gets upset at you.”

“You’re right.”

Kang Chul-In nodded his head at Alfred’s words.

“Though it may be different for other people, I should have taken better care of at least Lucia.”

“Yes, milord.”

“Since I have time now, I’ll go see her.”

Kang Chul-In quickly walked away.

-------

In the inner part of the Laputa territory, the training facility.

“Pant… Pant…”

Gasping for breath, Lucia’s shoulders heaved.

It had already been 5 hours.

Morning, the training that started as soon as she woke up didn’t show any signs of stopping even after lunch. Since winter, she had been working herself like this.

“Huuu….”

With a deep breath, Lucia finally put down her sword and shield, Zenith and Aegis. A nearby maid quickly helped Lucia take off the armor that she was wearing.

“Thanks, Hestia.”

“It’s nothing, Secretary Lucia.

Hestia shook her head, and bowed respectfully.

“Hestia.”

“Yes?”

“Do you know what milord is doing?”

“This humble one doesn’t know either. I think that he’s either in the office or training in his personal training area.”

 “...Is that so.”

“Shall I go ask where he is?”

“No, it’s alright. Milord doesn’t have time to even sleep properly at night. I don’t think it’s right to disturb him.”

Lucia spoke bitterly.

“Go, and get the bath ready for me.”

“Yes, secretary. I’ll do so immediately.”

Bowing, Hestia scrambled away.

“Huuu…”

Lucia sighed.

“Milord…”

Swiping the sweat on her forehead, Lucia thought of Kang Chul-In.

“How can you not look for this girl for 3 months, milord? ...How could you do this to me, milord…?”

“Sorry.”

“It’s alright, milord. It’s because you’re busy… Kuk!”

Unconsciously answering the voice that had come out of nowhere, Lucia turned her head.

“M-Milord!”

Standing there was Kang Chul-In.

“H-How…”

“I’ve come to check your progress.”

Unable to think of a good excuse, Kang Chul-In spoke randomly.

“I-Is that so…”

“I’ve heard that you’ve been working very hard recently.”

“No, milord. I’m still far off of being able to aid milord in battle properly. And… though this may seem a little rude, can milord come to see me another time?”

Lucia spoke awkwardly.

“...Next time?”

Kang Chul-In didn’t know what to do. He hadn’t come to visit her in a long time, and now she wanted him to go away?

Don’t tell me…

Recalling the attitude of the Valhalla dungeon towards him, Kang Chul-In thought that Lucia might be a little bit angry and resentful towards him.

“Lucia, it it because you’re angry at me?”

“N-No, absolutely not!”

Lucia shook her head vigorously.

“I-I’m very happy that milord has come to visit me!”

“Then what’s the problem?”

“The state that I’m in right now…”

“Your state?” 

“It’s too much…”

“......?”

“The one time milord comes to visit me… And I happen to be in such a mess of a state… Can you not see all the sweat pouring down from me right now? Sob…”

“Is that the reason?”

Kang Chul-In spoke indifferently.

“You’re beautiful, so I don’t see the problem here.”

“B-Beautiful?”

“I think that right now, you’re hundreds and thousand times more beautiful than when you just put makeup on your face.”

“Huk…!”

Lucia blushed at Kang Chul-In’s unexpected compliment.

“I-Is that so?”

“Of course.”

Truly, Kang Chul-In wasn’t just offering lip-service.

Lucia’s current state was very beautiful and enticing.

First of all, her body was alluring.

With height that topped off at nearly 170cm as well as perky breasts, thin waist, and large hips, she was stunning. Lucia had a beautiful, toned body.

And the sight of her lemon-colored hair and white face being soaked with sweat wasn’t something that one could see anywhere. If any Korean from Earth saw her current state, Kang Chul-In wouldn’t be surprised to see them drooling.

“I look highly upon people who work hard.”

Kang Chul-In spoke.

“I’m extremely proud to see your current state, where you are working hard as a secretary, to attain even higher heights. As expected of my secretary.”

“.......!”

“Just like what I had said in our first meeting, you are my secretary. No one can replace you. Though you weren’t able to stay by my side due to the busy winter, you will be near me at almost all times due to the coming Lord Meetings.”

“Of course!”

“And… I’ll take you along with me to go to the ball before the Lord Meetings too.”

“T-To such an honorable event!”

At Kang Chul-In’s words, Lucia was about to burst with happiness.

Before the official Lord Meetings was always a ball, where lots of programs such as Item Auctions between the lords, as well as award ceremonies were present. 

To think that Kang Chul-In would take her to such a place like that, Lucia was extremely moved. Her previous anxiety and depression seemed to be cured at once.

“If not for you, who’s my secretary, who else can go there?”

Kang Chul-In smiled.

“Milord…!”

Lucia vowed with a stiff face.

“From now, I’ll be practicing how to dance!”

That was right.

Lucia… didn’t know how to dance.

-----

With the remaining 50 days before the Lord meetings, Kang Chul-In was planning on doing his best in preparation.

“Good. Nothing’s changed.”

Looking at the message that had come about the Lord Meetings, nothing about the order had changed. This was the contents of the message:

Entrance → Feast → Ball → Auction → Awards Ceremony → Conference → Return

...That was the order.

As for the entrance, I’m the last one.

With an overwhelming amount of Lord Points, Kang Chul-In had proudly stamped himself as the 1st place of all Lords, meaning he would enter last. It was as always, where the main character would arrive the latest to the scene.

Auction, huh… I remember that there weren’t any important items that came out during the first Lord Meetings.

How could there be many good items for Lords who had just began? It would be good for Kang Chul-In’s mental health to not have high expectations.

The important thing is the conference.

This was what Kang Chul-In paid attention to.

The conference was where every Lord would sit around a gigantic table, and talk.

And in that very conference, Kang Chul-In was planning to publicly humiliate Alex Rothschild.

Kang Chul-In’s gaze lingered on the black chest that laid on his table.

Inside this chest was an important object that would be able to publicly humiliate Rothschild. Staring at this chest, Kang Chul-In was unable to wipe the smirk off his face.

And… Aleister.

When the Lord meetings were over, Kang Chul-In was planning to play around with Aleister. And, the second that he deemed Aleister’s existence useless…

Ting-!!

The glass cup that Kang Chul-In was holding shattered into pieces. He had subconsciously destroyed the cup while thinking about Aleister.

That was how much hatred Kang Chul-In had.

If Kang Chul-In didn’t have any plans for Aleister, he would have been long dead.

-----

50 days had passed in a blink of an eye, and the time for the Lord meetings had finally arrived.

There was almost no change in the Rankings.

The fact that Kang Chul-In was 1st also didn’t change.

[Notification!] From this time onward, there will be no changes in the Lord Rankings until the Lord meetings are over!

10 minutes before the Lord Meetings started, this message popped up. The rankings of the 1st Lord Meetings had been decided!

I’ve already used the Soul Backup.

In the Lord’s hall, Kang Chul-In who was waiting for himself to be summoned to the Lord Meetings was thinking of what kind of authority he would be given as an Overlord.

Would a new ability be given to him?

Or would nothing be given to him?

...He couldn’t tell. 

“Milord, please look behind you for a second.”

Alfred spoke.

“What is it?”

“It’s a cloak, milord.”

“A cloak?”

Kang Chul-In frowned. He hated things that were cumbersome.

“Alfred, you know that I don’t like those…”

“Milord, this is the first time in this life that you’re going to be rising to the position of Overlord! And not only that, you’re at the highest ranking among all the Lords! Don’t you think that you need to show off your majesty to those who are below you?”

Listening to Alfred, it made sense.

Even in Earth, they said that a man’s worth could be seen through his suit, car, as well as watch. Kang Chul-In understood that by taking a little care of his visuals, he would seem more imposing.

“If you just wear this cloak, there will be no one to doubt milord’s majesty, and there will be none that dares to challenge you.”

“Fine.”

As Kang Chul-In reluctantly nodded his head, Alfred deftly put on the cloak for Kang Chul-In.

“M-Milord...!”

“Woah…”

“Milord, you look cool!”

“As expected of someone who’s an overlord!”

“Milord!”

As Kang Chul-In put on his cloak, all the officials of Laputa spoke in amazement.

Roarr-!!

Even the Godbeast Altaica seemed to agree.

That was how imposing Kang Chul-In looked right now.

The black apparel that Lucia and Alfred had personally designed for Kang Chul-In showed his body balance yet didn’t seem informal…

And the hair of Kang Chul-In that Lucia had personally styled and cut made Kang Chul-In seem much more manly.

And finally, the cloak was the icing on the cake; amplifying the majesty of Kang Chul-In manyfold. This was a true Overlord. No, it would be believable to say that Kang Chul-In wasn’t just an Overlord, but an emperor or a King.

“Ehem…”

Coughing, Kang Chul-In tried to get rid of his embarrassment.

At that moment…

Pzzt, Pzzt! 

At the middle of the Lord Hall, sparks flew, revealing a dimensional gate that lead to where the Lord Meetings would be held. It was finally time for Kang Chul-In to make his appearance!

“Let’s go.”

Arm in arm with Lucia, Kang Chul-In looked to his side. 

Roar…!

And the Altaica, who was participating as the ‘pet’ of Kang Chul-In, stood next to them, looking majestic.

It’s time. Time to finally become Overlord again.

Reminiscing about the past, Kang Chul-In finally began to walk towards the gate.