Tyranny of Steel

Berengar stood in the ballroom within his Royal Palace. At the moment, Austria was seeing its first instance of peace since the days before Berengar ’s ascension to power. After nearly six years of constant warfare, Austria could finally say they were not officially engaged in any conflict.

While there had been years where no major war occurred that Austria took part in, the kingdom still had its hands, and troops in foreign battlefields supporting their allies, such as the Hussites and the Granadans. Technically speaking, there were currently Special Operations units such as the Jaeger Regiments and the Jagdkommandos that were busy engaging in peacekeeping operations within the Sultanate of Granada.

However, this was not officially an armed conflict in the traditional sense, more of providing security to an allied region filled with unrest. As far as the Austrian public was concerned, their Kingdom was not involved in any ongoing wars, and that was something to celebrate.

As a result, Adela, who is the Minister of Cultural Affairs, put on a massive feast in her husband ’s honor, and that of the soldiers who have shed blood for the sake of the fatherland. At the moment, various nobles, wealthy entrepreneurs, and a few high-ranking military officers were all gathered in the Royal Palace feasting on fine dining, and drinking their fill of wine.

As the King of Austria, Berengar was forced to endure polite conversation with a variety of people, most of which behaved in a sycophantic manner, which he found displeasing. Despite his actual thoughts, Berengar acted as if he enjoyed every moment of the conversation.

By now he was dreadfully exhausted from pretending to be somebody he was not, and had walked to the balcony for a quick smoke break. He pulled out a hemp cigarette from the container within his jacket and lit it as he smoked his troubles away.

The young King of Austria smirked at the full moon, which illuminated the night sky above as he thought about all the things he had done since he was reincarnated into this world. Even if his social obligations were tiresome, it was nice to have a break from the years of brutal warfare he had led, or so he thought.

However, as Berengar was alone with his thoughts, he thought about all the souls that he had reaped in his tenure as a warrior king, including that of his only brother. His smirk turned sour, and his hands shivered. One memory in particular haunted his mind, and that was the time where he was alone in the dark, wounded, and trapped by his brother ’s attempt to claim his life during that cave-in at mining town.

Without realizing it, a single phrase escaped his lips as he gazed off into the night sky.