Emperor! Can You See Stats!?

Chapter 13: Superhuman (Grandmaster)

There are eight people in the continent who are called [Superhuman], who have transcended the human limit and reached the fourth stage of martial arts.

But how would they rank in terms of strength?

No one knows for sure.

The continent has been peaceful for decades, without a single war. The people who reached the realm of superhuman never had a chance to fight each other and compare their skills.

But even among the superhumans, there was a rough comparison based on their age and achievements, and people usually named these three as the strongest warriors in the continent.

The Sword Saint Wilhelm, the Grand Duke of Scharnos Empire, the largest country in the continent!

The Crusader Dios, the Duke of the Holy Kingdom’s Guardian Family!

The Executor Galeus, the Archbishop of the Church of Mars, the God of War!

These three had shown their undeniable power and were among the oldest among the superhumans.

One of them, Dios, the superhuman of the Holy Kingdom, was troubled by a headache.

“Rize, so this time…”

“I’m not going. Period.”

“You’re almost seventeen. But you haven’t even made your social debut, let alone get married…”

“Father, you promised!”

“Oh come on, do you think your condition makes any sense?”

In front of Dios stood a beautiful girl with a promising future.

She had golden hair that shone like gold dust and blue eyes that anyone would look back at on the street. Her name was ‘Beatrix.’

She was Dios’ only daughter who he had late in life.

She was beautiful beyond words. Her personality was a bit stiff because she grew up in a military family, but she was basically kind and considerate.

‘If only she didn’t have any talent for swordsmanship.’

It was good that she was interested in swordsmanship as she was born in a family that was known as the guardian of the Holy Kingdom, but the problem was that her talent for swordsmanship was too outstanding.

She had reached the third stage at the age of sixteen. She had enough talent to aim for the fourth stage depending on her efforts.

But Dios felt uneasy about it.

‘I finally had a daughter after having three sons, but I can’t stand to see her wearing sweaty armor and swinging a sword like a man.’

He already had three sons who all had enough talent to reach the fourth stage before he died.

He didn’t need his daughter to wield a sword.

‘If I have to, I can just force her to go.’

She might have some pride, but she wouldn’t disobey his words. But he felt guilty about doing that.

‘Did I ever think that a promise I made when she was young would make her like this?’

“If you don’t want to get married or make your social debut, then make another possible condition! Don’t just say you don’t want to get married.”

Beatrix said firmly.

“As I told you before, I don’t want anyone who is not my age and can’t beat me.”

So far, there have been dozens of suitors who have been attracted by her appearance and challenged her to a duel, only to be carried out on a stretcher.

‘Ugh, I can’t break my promise, but I don’t want her to miss her prime time either.’

Dios’ forehead wrinkled deeper.

He would find a decent groom who had a good family and reputation, even if he was from another country.

‘The problem is where do I find a young man who can beat Rize?’

“Your Grace! The envoy we sent to the empire has returned.”

“Ah, why do you have to report that to me!”

Dios was about to scold him with an annoyed expression when he heard something unexpected.

“They said they found someone who meets your daughter’s condition in the empire!”

“What? Who is it?”

It didn’t matter much if he was from another country as long as he was decent and had a good family or reputation, since the Holy Kingdom was an absolute neutral country.

The envoy looked a bit hesitant.

“But his status is a bit…”

…

“I want to learn from the superhumans of the empire.”

Eurius’ voice echoed clearly in the banquet hall.

“Ahem, from the superhumans?”

The emperor’s face changed slightly as if he was embarrassed for a moment and then returned to normal.

‘You bastard, did you plan this?’

Eurius’ request was not easy for him as an emperor.

Even if he was an emperor, it would be a great insult for them to ask them to teach his son.

But they were also his knights after all.

He wanted to reward Eurius for his amazing feat. And he couldn’t take back what he said in front of so many people, especially from other countries.

‘At least the Imperial guard captain, Count Carlos, should be persuaded somehow.’

The emperor quickly calculated in his head and returned to his stern expression.

“Your wish will be granted. But the superhumans are the face of all the imperial knights! You have to be careful with your actions as if you were facing me.”

“Your Majesty, I have one more small request.”

“What is it?”

Eurius quietly looked at the knight behind him.

“All the achievements I have made so far are thanks to the guidance of Sir Heinz.”

Eurius continued with a sincere tone.

“He is a loyal and talented knight who has no flaws. Please let him also learn from the superhumans with me.”

The emperor was a bit nervous about what request he would make, but he laughed.

‘That’s actually better.’

It would be less insulting for them to teach an elite Imperial guard who was already chosen, rather than his son who was just educated.

“Of course, I have heard good things about him as a talented knight. Your wish will also be granted.”

“Your Majesty! Your Highness, Thank you!”

Sir Heinz looked at the emperor and Eurius with gratitude.

He never dreamed that he would be able to learn from the superhumans, who were only eight in the continent, even though he was an Imperial guard with a humble origin.

He was a bit disappointed when Eurius asked to learn from the superhumans at first. But the first prince didn’t abandon him and gave him a great opportunity.

Eurius looked at him with a gentle gaze.

‘Please become my subordinate, Sir Heinz.’

What he lacked most at this point was power that could be his ally.

Raising Sir Heinz and meeting the superhumans of the empire would be the first step to solve that.

…

Count Wallace was in a very bad mood lately.

There were two reasons for that.

The first was the grand duke’s scolding that started again.

“Is that bastard really the ignorant brute you said he was, who only knows how to swing his sword? The timing is too perfect to be a coincidence, don’t you think?” 

The duke had spent a fortune to secretly obtain a rare ginseng root from the eastern continent, which was hard to find even there. He did this at the request of the second prince, Leonhart, who wanted to impress the emperor with a valuable gift.

However, Eurius’s unexpected action ruined Leonhart’s plan. He had wasted his money for nothing.

‘Do you know how much I paid those damned Blue Dragon merchants for that ginseng!’

The second problem was the Blue Dragon merchant guild itself.

It all started when he cut the budget for the northern road construction project.

He didn’t say anything, but the duke had a smug smile on his face. This was a huge project that involved many bureaucrats from the emperor’s faction, and he was one of them. 

He naturally expected to give a large share of the trade to his own Ryan merchant guild. The profits from such a massive state project would be unimaginable if he could monopolize the trade.

But Marius, that stubborn old man, suddenly interfered.

“Of course, we have to conduct a fair bidding competition for this state project, don’t we? Let’s send out an announcement to all the merchant guilds in the continent first.”

The duke’s face turned sour.

“Heh, Marius, sir. Couldn’t you consider our position a little bit…”

Marius suddenly glared at him.

“Don’t tell me you’re trying to mix your personal interests with this project that His Majesty entrusted us with?”

“…”

The duke had nothing to say.

Most of the bureaucrats in the emperor’s faction were loyalists who would gladly give up their lives if the emperor asked them to. He was supposed to be the second-in-command of the emperor’s faction after Marius, so he had to set an example.

Marius put more force into his eyes and scolded him again.

“And while we’re at it, what about Prince Eurius’s education? What’s going on with that? I heard he spends all day swinging his sword around. How can I trust you with…”

In the end, the duke had to listen to Marius’s nagging for hours that day.

And then he lost a significant part of the trade in the open bidding. He went to protest, but this time Marius just threw a piece of paper at him.

“What is this!?”

Marius didn’t even look at him and just snapped his fingers.

“This is the contract details of the Blue Dragon merchant guild that competed with your Ryan Trading Company in the bidding. Take a look and see for yourself.”

“…”

He had nothing to say again. The price written on the paper was clearly cheaper than what Ryan merchant guild offered.

But the duke couldn’t help but wonder.

‘What kind of company is this that can offer better conditions than Ryan Trading Company, which is supposed to be the best in the empire?’

He recalled what had happened in the past two years and shook his head.

‘Something is wrong.’

His solid trust with the duke was fading away, and he had lost most of the huge profits he had hoped to gain from the northern part of the empire to some other unknown guild.

‘At least I thought I could control the first prince as I pleased.’

Slowly, doubts began to grow in his mind.

It was too perfect, just as the duke said. The first prince himself had only trained hard all this time, but he and the duke had gained nothing from it.

The only good thing was that the second prince was doing well.

Prince Leonhart excelled in all his education and recently received good reviews for handling practical affairs near the duke’s territory.

If he looked at the overall evaluation so far, the second prince was still very superior!

That was a relief, but he and the duke still felt uneasy.

“What’s wrong?”

He would have to wait and see what the problem was.