Margrave’s Bastard Son was The Emperor [EN]: Chapter 274

Beric plopped down on the ground, staring intently at the paper. He didn’t care that people passing by were glancing at him.

He held the paper up to the light, his brow furrowed. Even if he couldn’t write yet, he could at least read names and numbers. But the person in charge had scribbled so carelessly that he couldn’t make heads or tails of it.

‘Beric. This is my name. The 180 written here is for height, right? Then what’s this 177 below it?’

It was the medical check-up form from the first stage, the physical exam. They had processed hundreds of people quickly, so the person in charge’s handwriting was all over the place.

He was already illiterate, so white was paper and black was writing. Siochi, who had been listening quietly, shook his head.

‘…Number 180, Beric. Height 177.’

‘My height is 177? No way! What about you?’

*Swish!*

Beric snatched Siochi’s form and compared the same items. His height was ‘179.7’, even with the decimal point. Beric jumped up and waved the paper as if protesting.

‘Are you kidding me? There’s that much difference between me and Sio’s height? And why didn’t you put a decimal point for me? I want to measure again!’

The official mechanically moved his pen, not even looking at Beric. He was quite famous in the Imperial Palace, after all.

The department in charge of the process had warned them several times to be careful of the red-haired man, so they could easily ignore him. There were hundreds of people waiting, and he was just messing around.

‘Next!’

‘Hey!’

‘There’s a standard chart in front. Please check your form, and those with any disqualifications should exit through the right door. Thank you.’

‘Hey, you!’

‘Those of mixed race with physical peculiarities should report separately and receive a new standard chart. Those without disqualifications should exit through the left door. Next!’

*Thump!*

The official stamped the forms as if telling them to get lost. He was ready to disqualify anyone who said another word.

Siochi, sensing the danger, pulled on Beric’s shirt. He urged him to hurry and go through the left door.

‘Those who have completed the physical test, except for those who failed, please submit your name tags!’

‘Put them in here. Numbers 101 to 200, please line up first. If you don’t want to spar, come here and submit an application! You will be assigned to the National Defense Forces. If you want to join the Imperial Guard, sparring is mandatory!’

‘Even if you spar, those who are not in the top ranks will also be assigned to the National Defense Forces!’

‘Think carefully! You cannot change your application after submitting it! The sparring rules are being explained outside!’

The training ground, which was usually just one large hall, was now divided into separate spaces with temporary walls according to the procedures and needs.

It looked like a maze when viewed from the first floor, but the cross-section would be clearly visible from above. The two of them slipped into the crowd moving to take the physical test.

*Clang! Clang!*

Then, a bottleneck started to form. It was in front of the makeshift arena where the Imperial Guard’s magic swordsmen were competing for promotion. This was why Ian had personally stepped in.

Safety control through magic. High-level combat always captured people’s attention and made their blood boil, which was related to morale.

None of the Imperial Palace staff told them to move back. Instead, they made way for them to see better, allowing the crowd to enjoy the magic swordsmen’s battle.

‘Wow. Amazing.’

‘So that’s how magic swordsmen fight. It’s beyond imagination.’

‘The mages must be even stronger, right? They say they can tear the sky apart.’

‘Is that even possible? No matter what, that’s too much.’

‘No, if magic swordsmen fight like that, why can’t mages do it? Amazing, amazing. The rumor that one person is equal to an army wasn’t a lie. Hahaha!’

‘Well done! Wooooah!’

Those were the magic swordsmen. They served the Emperor, protected the Empire’s safety, and safeguarded the daily lives of the Empire’s citizens. With them, there was nothing to fear, so the citizens could rest easy, and those who would become soldiers should be proud. That was the intention of the Imperial Palace.

They hadn’t said a single word to inspire them, but the crowd was already feeling something boiling within their hearts.

‘Why are you going inside from there?’

‘It’s okay! There’s still a chance! Ray! Wake up!’

‘The honor of the Imperial Guard is right in front of us!’

The other guards who were waiting also joined in the excitement, shouting out words of encouragement. Fight! Keep fighting! It was partly for the position of captain, but the ultimate goal was to uphold the pride of the Imperial Palace. And to strive for endless strength for that purpose.

‘So, so cool.’

‘Yeah. How many people did they say they would select for the Imperial Guard?’

‘The number of people wasn’t disclosed. I guess you have to be in the top thirty, right?’

‘Thirty people? That’s really tough.’

‘It’s always been an elite group there. Not just anyone can get in. If there are fewer applicants for sparring, there might be a chance. Hmm, I’m conflicted.’

They were always objects of awe, but they stood out even more because they were all dressed in their cool uniforms. It was so flashy that it shook the hearts of those who had thought they wouldn’t spar.

*Boom! Bang!*

*KABOOOM!*

The magic swordsmen’s swords clashed, creating a huge explosion. Acrid smoke soared in all directions, and a whirlwind swept through, but it didn’t last long. It disappeared without a trace before reaching the feet of the spectators. It was as if an invisible wall was blocking the crowd from the magic swordsmen.

‘Magic! Did Ian do that?’

*Buzz. Buzz.*

*Bang! Clang!*

It was thanks to the mages on the second floor who were maintaining the protective barrier with magic, ensuring safety.

Beric looked around for Ian, but he wasn’t there. Had he gone somewhere else? After looking around a few times, he made eye contact with Jayrut instead of Ian. *Tch*, how annoying.

*Swoosh.*

Beric made a threatening gesture by running his thumb across his throat. Captain Jayrut, just you wait. If I become captain at the end of this selection, I’m really going to kill you.

But Jayrut completely ignored Beric and just stood there with his back straight, recording something on the documents. He was probably scoring the sparring participants.

‘…….’

‘Ah, yeah, yeah.’

Siochi tugged at Beric’s sleeve, urging him on. Leaving the magic swordsmen’s fight behind, they went outside. Now, after taking the basic physical test, they could eat, rest, and wait until the match schedule came out.

*Tweet!*

It was Barsabe. Since she couldn’t train anyway, she seemed to have come to help because the staff was short-handed. Beric was happy to see her and tried to greet her, but Barsabe firmly ignored him, distinguishing between work and personal matters.

‘Line up!’

‘L-line up!’

*Tweet!*

‘The basic physical test will focus on the following: strength, endurance, agility, dexterity, and flexibility! First, there are two types of running tests.’

This was the real deal. This was the part that would be included in the real score. The other participants took off their shirts, showing off their threatening bodies, and engaged in subtle psychological warfare.

On the other hand, Siochi just lightly jumped in place to warm up, while Beric didn’t even do that.

‘Nuaaaah!’

He just made a strange shout with his arms and legs flailing. His appearance was so funny that laughter erupted from all around.

Barsabe ran her tongue over the empty space where her tooth used to be and put the whistle in her mouth. Even if it was someone else, she couldn’t let Beric, who had made her like this, fail.

*Tweet!*

‘Woooah!’

With the whistle signal, the men ran forward with all their might. It was the Imperial Palace at midday, where the sun was particularly hot.

* * *

Unlike usual, only officials were present on the second floor. Unable to cross the chaotic first floor, the staff moved through the upper floor, the mages who were in charge of safety with the protective barrier, and…

‘That guy, he’s quite skilled.’

‘Indeed. Especially his resilience. Yes.’

‘That last technique was particularly good. I think he deserves extra points. It’s not often used in real combat, but it’s worth preserving. Ahem.’

The superiors of the Imperial Guard and the National Defense Forces were watching the sparring. In fact, the superiors of the Imperial Guard were basically Jayrut and his right-hand man, while the National Defense Forces had as many heads as each of their affiliated armies, so there was a big difference in ratio. Still, the Imperial Guard had priority, so everyone was busy adding their opinions and watching Jayrut’s reaction.

One of them frowned and pointed to one side.

‘But, that guy…’

‘Is that, is he actually sparring right now?’

Even though they were far away, it was particularly noisy. It seemed that while other sparring matches were just filled with shouts, all sorts of curses and nonsense were coming from that side. It was a one-sided beating due to the overwhelming difference in skill, which made the commotion possible.

*Thud! Thwack!*

‘Sparring? Yeah! This is what I wanted! You bastard!’

‘Ugh, uhhh…’

‘Say what you said last time!’

‘Y-you son of a bitch-‘

‘Yeah, I’m a son of a bitch! Why are you calling me!’

*Whack!*

The National Defense Forces officers clicked their tongues and called for someone. The blood was pooling on the floor, and if they left it like that, a corpse would be carried out of the test site.

‘Hey, who’s that over there? The second sparring arena on the left.’

‘Ah, it’s Hump and Beric from the 294th unit of the 4th Army of the National Defense Forces. Both of them have won four matches so far.’

‘National Defense Forces?’

They were not ordinary people but soldiers already belonging to the National Defense Forces. They had encouraged the selection of talented people to participate in sparring to save face, fearing that all the top-ranked talents would go to the Imperial Guard.

It was an operation to promote the idea that the National Defense Forces also had strong people, or that strong people also admired the National Defense Forces as much as the Imperial Guard. But the scene of someone getting beaten to a pulp like that was not part of the plan.

‘Someone’s going to die, let’s stop it around here. Ah, and since they’re from the National Defense Forces, we said let’s be nice about it. We asked them to avoid matchups as much as possible. But who the hell-‘

The officer stopped, about to ask who had made the matchups. He remembered the name Beric. The right-hand man of the Minister of Magic, and a magic swordsman who was with Prince Jin.

A servant looked troubled and glanced at the other side.

‘Ooh! Beric is doing well! One-two, one-two punch! Ian, no! Sir Ian! Look at that! That’s the guy who made Beric bleed!’

‘Yes. I’m watching, Sir Romandro. Before that, please look at this. Compared to the year before last, the number of participants has tripled. It’s twice as many as expected. Do you have any idea why?’

‘Hmm. I don’t know. I haven’t heard anything in particular. Maybe it’s because the Imperial Guard selection was held together this time? The Imperial Guard’s salary is much higher than the National Defense Forces, so maybe everyone was tempted. It would be good to conduct a survey of the participants. Knowing the reason will surely help with future recruitment.’

‘I think so too. I will report this to the Prime Minister as well.’

As Ian handed the report to the mage, Jin gently grabbed his sleeve. He had finished the snacks he was holding. Jin smiled bashfully, and Ian asked kindly.

‘Your Highness. Do you like it?’

‘Can I eat more?’

‘Of course. Who would object?’

‘Beric! Beric! Wooooah! You did great just now! One more! Oh my, it was worth feeding you meat! You’re doing great!’

Romandro punched the air, cheering loudly for Beric. Jin also clapped his hands in surprise, and Ian kept receiving reports from the magic department and the processing department.

*Swoosh.*

Ian casually flipped through the match schedule, counting how many more times Beric and Siochi would have to spar. Based on the scores that the officials had given, Beric was definitely in the lead, and Siochi was closely following behind.

‘Hmm?’

‘What is it? Is there a problem?’

When Ian asked as if puzzled, Romandro leaned his head toward the documents. Then, he muttered in a shocked tone.

‘Oh my, what is this? Who made the matchups like this? Are Beric and Siochi going to fight each other like this? Why?’

‘Wouldn’t it be safer for the Imperial Guard or the Defense Forces to eliminate one of them before the top ranks are decided? And…’

It was obvious who had made the matchups without even looking. Ian looked up at Captain Jayrut. He was also looking this way, and their eyes easily met.

‘Interesting.’

Ian shook the documents, and Jayrut put his hand on his chest and gave a simple salute. As if to say he wouldn’t deny it.