The Overlord of Blood and Iron

“Grandma, Arshelly thinks . . . ”

Arshelly was good with words .

Kwak Jung had taught her what to say, but even without them, her efforts would have been incredible .

Why?

It was because she didn’t want her beloved father, Kang Chul-In, to be an unmarried and lonely man .

In addition,

“Imperial Princess . ”

“Yes?”

“Don’t you want a younger sibling?”

“S-sibling?!”

“That’s right . A cute little sibling!”

“ . . . !”

“When his Majesty and his spouses get married, they can make your younger siblings via ovulation, fertilization, implanta… no, not that! I meant by holding hands!”

“Gasp…!”

Arshelly had been coaxed into doing as Kwak Jung had told her .

That’s right; let’s get a younger sibling!

With that goal in mind, Arshelly continued her persuasion .

“I wish for daddy to get married . ”

“But!”

Park Sun-Ja gave her a stern expression .

“He can’t have two wives! That’s bad!”

“No, it’s ok~!”

“H-huh?! What did you say…?”

Park Sun-Ja was puzzled . She could not comprehend why this innocent little girl was supporting Kang Chul-In in polygamy .

“Grandma . ”

Arshelly spoke .

“Daddy, no, Royal Father is . . . ”

“R-Royal Father?”

“That’s right!”

“What… do you mean?”

“Well, Royal Father is a ruler of a nation . ”

“R-Ruler?”

“Yes!”

“You mean… over in the ‘other world’?”

“Yes! That’s right . ”

“ . . . !”

“Royal Father will soon be a king!”

“What in the world…!”

Park Sun-Ja did not even know that lords existed . The information was too much for her to handle .

A king?

Her son was a king over in the ‘other world’? Ruling over an entire nation?

“What do you mean? Explain to your grandma, now!”

Park Sun-Ja coerced Arshelly .

“Alright, grandma . ”

Arshelly maintained her composure and explained everything from the start to finish, as Kwak Jung had told her to .

She mentioned Pangaea, lords, and what kind of character Kang Chul-In was in the ‘other world’ .

“I-I see . ”

Park Sun-Ja mumbled to herself, as if she was lost in her thoughts .

“Daddy would never have an affair!”

“I didn’t know that… so, it was just a difference in culture . . . ”

“Yes, grandma!”

“It’s still difficult to swallow… that he has two different families . . . ”

Park Sun-Ja muttered in confusion .

Strictly speaking, Kang Chul-In only had one family with multiple wives . Park Sun-Ja, however, saw it differently from her perspective .

“Mrs . Park?”

At that moment, Lee Chae-Rin gently opened the door and peeked her head in .

“M-Ms . Chae-Rin?”

“May I enter?”

“S-Sure . I also have something to talk to you about . ”

Park Sun-Ja gave her the permission .

“I’ll be leaving, grandma! Have a pleasant talk!”

Arshelly was sensible enough to leave immediately .

“You may sit here . ”

“Thank you . ”

“What are you thinking, Ms . Chae-Rin?”

Park Sun-Ja went straight to the question .

“Are you really planning to marry my son? As his second wife?”

“Yes, I am . ”

Lee Chae-Rin replied firmly .

“How . . . Is that possible? You can appreciate this situation, Ms . Chae-Rin?”

“Yes . I’m also an Overlord, after all . ”

“ . . . !”

“This is more than just a marriage between a guy and a girl . It signifies a unification between Laputa and Dorado . ”

“H-However, there is no love . . . ”

“No, Mrs . Park . ”

Lee Chae-Rin spoke with a slight blush on his face .

“I-I . . . ”

She finally leaked her true rationale .

“I love Mr . Chul-In!”

“ . . . !”

“Mrs . Park, I can handle it!”

“No,”

Park Sun-Ja shook her head .

“Ms . Chae-Rin is such a good lady . It doesn’t have to be my son . . . ”

“No!”

“ . . . !”

“I-I… don’t think any other guy can be my husband . Ever since I got to know Mr . Chul-In, I couldn’t find anyone as supreme as him . ”

“Ms . Chae-Rin . . . ”

“Furthermore… I myself am no ordinary woman . I’m some sort of a queen . Who other than Mr . Chul-In could handle me? Mr Chul-In’s the only man for me . ”

“I-Is that right? Ms . Chae-Rin may end up unfortunate . . . ”

“Nope . ”

Lee Chae-Rin shook her head .

“I’m confident . I will definitely be a beloved wife and a great daughter-in-law . ”

“But the jealousy . . . ”

“I tossed that emotion out of the window . ”

“ . . . !

“The moment Mr . Chul-In decided to become the ruler of Pangaea, he was destined to have more than one woman around him . ”

It was strange logic, but not false . It was just a bit difficult for a normal Korean to comprehend .

“Mrs . Park, please permit our marriage . ”

“ . . . ”

“Please!”

Lee Chae-Rin pushed on with a headstrong resolve .

Phew… I guess having a talented son is not always a good thing . . .

Park Sun-Ja, thanks to Kang Chul-In’s superiority, had to face dilemmas that no other layman could ever encounter .

***

“Huu . . . ”

Kang Chul-In let out a long sigh on the rooftop .

“This is driving me nuts . ”

The fact that he couldn’t just go headstrong on this matter made him extremely frustrated .

Even a hundred thousand enemy soldiers didn’t scare him, but his mother Park Sun-Ja was so hard to deal with .

“Son! You should not be a playboy just because you have it good! I’ve never seen a playboy who was actually decent! That’s not good at all!”

Kang Chul-In suddenly remembered Park Sun-Ja’s words .

“Mother, that’s not . . . ”

He tried to explain, but,

“I have nothing more to say . ”

Park Sun-Ja had already turned her back against him . Kang Chul-In was caught in a dilemma .

“Mr . Chul-In . ”

At that instant, he heard Lee Chae-Rin’s voice from his back .

“You came . ”

Kang Chul-In replied, with his gaze fixed on Seoul’s night scenery .

“Yes . ”

“You’ve done… well . ”

“No problem . Don’t we all have to strive to get what we want?”

“ . . . !”

“I learned that from you, Mr . Chul-In . I’m just doing what I usually do, so don’t mind me . ”

“You . . . ”

As Kang Chul-In was replying, Lee Chae-Rin suddenly embraced him from the back without notice .

“I love you . ”

“ . . . !”

“I really, really love you . ”

Her confession was as sudden as her back hug .

Thump, thump, thump!

Kang Chul-In could feel Lee Chae-Rin’s heart racing, almost as if it was going to explode .

“When I first… met you, Mr . Chul-In… you were a newbie whom I wanted to protect . ”

“ . . . ”

“It was amazing to see you struggle to survive in this dog-eat-dog society . ”

The Kang Chul-In Lee Chae-Rin mentioned was an average employee before the Great Summoning happened .

“Hence, I tried my best to take care of you . You did seem burdened by it, though . ”

“ . . . ”

“And I began to like you since then . ”

“ . . . !”

“Even before the Great Summoning… for the longest time . ”

Honest, heartfelt words .

Thanks to them, Kang Chul-In could recall his past memories and feelings which he had forgotten .

A newbie .

He always had that someone who was friendly to even a lowly intern like him .

“Aren’t you tired, Mr . Chul-In? Drink this . ”

“Hang in there!”

“The boss is always like that . He is retarded . So don’t pay too much attention to it . ”

“What’s your plan for… this weekend?”

Lee Chae-Rin had always been displaying her feelings subtly, and Kang Chul-In had started to appreciate her caring and cheerful behavior .

“When the Great Summoning happened… I was honestly scared . It’s true that I relied on you the most, and that I ranted a lot to you . ”

“ . . . ”

“But not now!”

Lee Chae-Rin embraced Kang Chul-In tighter .

“I no longer depend on you . Instead, I wish to be your trustworthy supporter and wife . ”

“ . . . ”

“I love you! Even if I can’t have you all for myself . . . ”

At that moment .

“ . . . !”

Lee Chae-Rin’s body was swept around .

“Are you really fine with this?”

Kang Chul-In faced and asked Lee Chae-Rin, who was now in his arms .

“Of course!”

“You sure you won’t regret it?”

“Certainly!”

“If you happen to regret it, then I will let you off . . . ”

He was about to finish the sentence with ‘anytime you want’, but he couldn’t continue .

“Heub!”

It was because Lee Chae-Rin’s moist lips had sealed his lips tight in a blink of an eye!

***

While Kang Chul-In was focusing his attention on domestic affairs, a coalition had gradually formed in the north, with Albrecht Vilhelm in the center .

In the land of Bifrost, the Lord’s Hall . . .

“From this moment onwards,”

Albrecht Vilhelm, wearing a luxurious cape, raised his Epic-ranked sword Balisada high up in the air .

“We, as one, will fight against the evil Overlord Kang Chul-In, and achieve peace in this continent!”

Immediately, all the lords gave him a standing ovation .

“My brothers!”

Vilhelm shouted at the audience .

“I, Vilhelm, have respected your wishes and became the chairman of the North Coalition! I will, however, never abuse my authority, and I promise to listen to every ruler intently! With that, let me open up the first topic for discussion!”

He spoke in a grandiose tone, but in reality, he had already grasped the whole of the North Coalition under his control .

Overlord rank 2 .

An enormous amount of land, a robust economy and an endless talent pool .

A concrete alliance with Overlord Ao Xin .

In fact, Vilhelm was the one who created the North Coalition . All of his speeches were nothing but a façade .

“As the chairman of the North Coalition, I propose to position our army to the west!”

That was the only sentence which he actually meant .

The west .

By advancing the allied troops towards the Deathwin territory, Vilhelm aimed to pressure Kang Chul-In and prevent his move in the next spring .

“I agree!”

“Vilhelm, I’m with you!”

“Let’s destroy Kang Chul-In!”

“We can’t let that demon advance to the heart of Pangaea now can we?!”

All the lords in the North Coalition supported Vilhelm .

“Wait . ”

At that moment, a man with pale skin and white hair stepped forward . It was Andrei Ivanovic, the vampiric Overlord .

“Overlord Andrei Ivanovic… any suggestions?”

Vilhelm questioned him with a slight hint of skepticism .

“Is pressuring alone enough?”

Andrei’s red eyes gleamed .

“It seems like an overly timid move to me . ”

“Timid you say . . . ”

“What if we conquer Deathwin? Won’t that be more beneficial to our coalition’s safety?”

“Hmm… but isn’t it winter, soon?”

Vilhelm opposed .

“Our coalition is still in the midst of formation . If we start a war at this point . . . ”

“We are an alliance . ”

“ . . . !”

“The enemy may be strong, but he is alone . Why stop at pressuring? Even a simple war of attrition will be burdensome for Kang Chul-In . ”

Andrei glanced sharply at his audiences and continued .

“I agree wholeheartedly with the chairman’s opinion, but to merely pressure Kang Chul-In is equivalent to giving him time to stabilize . I believe that conquering Deathwin right now is a better move, even if costly . ”

He had a point .

However,

This sly vampire bastard…!

The problem was that Andrei intended to stand back and watch while Vilhelm and Ao Xin did the work .

A war of attrition?

As Vilhelm mentioned, an imminent war would undoubtedly cost Vilhelm and Ao Xin . The other lords didn’t have the ability to participate in the war, after all .

Even if they did, they would give a myriad of excuses to contribute as little as they could .

In other words, Andrei manipulated his words cleverly to place the burden solely on Vilhelm and Ao Xin’s shoulders . The other lords were bound to agree to his suggestion as well .

“Hmm… that makes sense, too . ”

“As Overlord Andrei had mentioned, our coalition is strong enough to strike now . . . ”

“I agree with him . ”

“Chairman Vilhelm, what do you think?”

The response was immediate .

The cunning lords of the North Coalition were leaning towards Andrei’s opinion .

… Touché .

Vilhelm gritted his teeth .

He had assumed that he had control over the North Coalition, but that damn Andrei was tackling his influence .

Of course, it would be great if they could conquer Deathwin . However, that was not all .

Vilhelm also needed time .

He had to amplify his influence and power to ‘perfectly’ gain control over the North Coalition .

His final goal was to conquer Pangaea, after all .

“What’s your view on this, chairman Vilhelm?”

Andrei inquired .

“I . . . ”

Vilhelm replied .

“I respect your opinion . ”

“Is that so?”

“Immediately after this meeting, we will form the first allied troop to conquer Deathwin . ”

Vilhelm didn’t have a choice .

Andrei Ivanovic had valid logic and Vilhelm didn’t have any excuses . He had to send an army to at least ‘pretend’ to conquer Deathwin .

You will pay for this, you sly blood-sucking bastard .

Vilhelm glared at Andrei .

Well then, have fun .

Andrei responded with a relaxed expression .

***

W-What is this…!?

Lee Chae-Rin was surprised .

So hard… to compose myself… Heuk…!”

Kang Chul-In’s kiss was akin to a thousand-year-old snake’s movements .

How could a man’s tongue move so flamboyantly? And how could someone’s kiss be so soft and delicate? Lee Chae-Rin’s mind was blanking out .

She was the one who initiated the kiss, but she succumbed to Kang Chul-In’s kissing technique within ten seconds .

Thump,

Thump, thump!

Lee Chae-Rin’s heart raced uncontrollably .

The kiss was short and succinct .

“Lee Chae-Rin . ”

Kang Chul-In spoke .

“Yes, Mr . Chul-In . ”

“No matter what happens . . . ”

“I’m listening . ”

“I will never let you starve to death . I promise to feed you . ”

“Pfft!”

Lee Chae-Rin broke into laughter .