Margrave’s Bastard Son was The Emperor [EN]: Chapter 326

While Ian and his group were confronting the Clifford carriages,

Otrick, supporting Philic, came down in front of the gatehouse. The atmosphere was quiet, with hardly any people waiting. This was the closest gatehouse to the Clifford Kingdom, which was why the inspection and procedures were more stringent than elsewhere.

Border guards who had been waiting inside rushed out in surprise.

“A, a mage?”

“Greetings. What brings you here? We only heard that the Clifford delegation would be arriving soon.”

“Are you alright? This one doesn’t look so good…”

Kwaaang!

As Otrick showed his identification, a loud roar came from afar. The guards were startled and lowered their bodies, using telescopes to look at the source.

Amidst the running carriage group, there was an object rapidly floating in the air. Upon closer inspection, it was a person. A streak of light, whose identity could not be discerned by the eye, flashed, and a tremor like an earthquake rose from the soles of their feet.

Otrick entered the outpost and shouted.

“Temporarily close the border. The Clifford carriages must not pass, so signal them to stop.”

“What? But the permits have already been approved?”

“There’s no time, just do it!”

“Ah, yes, yes! Understood! Hey! Close the gate first!”

“Buffalo horn! Flag!”

They had only been thinking of waving goodbye next to the wide-open border, but this was like a bolt from the blue.

The guards hurriedly began to raise the chains. They climbed onto the guard post and waved a red flag, and soon, they began to blow the buffalo horn alternately.

“Blow it louder! Didn’t you eat?”

“W-we came out while eating.”

“But their speed isn’t decreasing at all. What if they don’t stop?”

The way they were running was unusual. They were shouting as much as possible as if there was a problem, but what if they collided like this? The mages might be fine, but shouldn’t they evacuate?

As the guards muttered worriedly, Otrick angrily snapped.

“What do you mean, what to do? We have to stop them. Go ahead and set up obstacles. I’ll-”

Ziiing. Ziiing.

As Otrick released his magic power, the guards’ eyes widened and they froze. They were border guards in name only, having been born and raised in the frontier their whole lives. As Otrick gathered his strength, Philic, who had been as still as a corpse beside him, grabbed his arm.

“Otrick. Give me some magic power.”

“Huh?”

“You saw it earlier. I can’t help at all right now. Just a little is enough. Hurry.”

It was a very natural request. It was not unusual for mages to share power, and especially in times like this, it was more efficient for two people to create a protective barrier, even if they were a little lacking, rather than one person giving their all.

Philic reached out his hand, but Otrick looked awkwardly into the distance.

“I’m sorry, but it’s okay. I’ll try it alone.”

“…Do you know what you just said?”

It wasn’t just one or two carriages, but dozens were rushing at full speed, and he was going to try to stop them alone? As Philic stared at him in disbelief, Otrick’s ears turned red and he shook his head.

“I know, I know. I’m sorry. You help the guards from behind. I think that would be better.”

“M-Mage! The ground is suddenly rising!”

“Uwaaaah! I-I-Is that okay?”

“Who told you to stop blowing the buffalo horn? Keep blowing!”

“……”

At the guard’s words, Otrick turned his head.

Taking that opportunity, Philic hesitated and stepped back. Now everything was clear. Starting from Ian testing him and draining all his magic power before departure, to his colleague not sharing his power now.

Otrick didn’t seem to know the details yet, but it was clear that Ian’s orders were firmly behind it. Philic tried to ignore his pounding heart and continued to back away.

‘The mages have stepped in, so the Clifford carriages will stop. If so-‘

Then the whole story would be revealed. In that case, it would be better to leave Bariel first. Everyone was looking towards the carriages now. There would never be a better opportunity than now.

Philic ran towards the border.

Tadak tadak!

‘If I just cross that, I can escape immediately.’

“Huh? Mage? Why are you-”

“Get out of the way!”

“Mage!”

“Philic!”

Philic ran forward with all his might, as if falling. He pushed the bewildered guards out of the way with all his strength and passed them. They couldn’t have imagined that a mage would attempt an illegal departure, especially in front of everyone.

Otrick turned around at the small commotion and reflexively gathered magic power and released it.

‘Otrick, if by any chance-‘

It was almost a reflexive reaction. A reaction created by the secret order Ian had given.

‘If Philic causes problems such as taking hostages or trying to escape, subdue him decisively.’

Puh-uhng! Pung!

Philic fell forward. The guards, realizing the situation, rushed at his back to restrain him, and soon others joined in.

Philic gritted his teeth. He desperately squeezed out all his energy and released his magic power. He was about to blow away those clinging to his limbs.

“Philic! What the hell-!”

“Let go! Let go of this! Damn it!”

“What did you do!”

“Uwaaah! Mages! Why, why are you doing this!”

Ziiing! Ziiing!

Puh-uhng! Kwaaang!

Due to the clash of large and small magic powers, a roar erupted, and moans, screams, and shouts disappeared in an instant.

* * *

“Hmm. Messed up. Messed up.”

Berik muttered, looking down at Philic, who was tightly bound with ropes. He was covered in blood and unconscious. Berik lifted his lips, opened his eyelids, and shook his limp arms like toys.

Barsabe nudged his shoulder with her knee.

“Stop playing around and quickly put on the magic sealing stone.”

“Yes, yes. I understand. But I wonder if his molars are gone too?”

“…You’ll die.”

Unlike Berik, who was chuckling, Otrick was sitting in a corner of the gatehouse, shedding tears. The betrayal of his colleague and the guilt of hurting someone with his magic power were overwhelming. The mages patted him on the back, but the more they did, the more Otrick wailed.

“Hic, no, I thought Philic was…”

“I know, I know. That bastard is a son of a bitch.”

“Because I’m not an external worker, hic, I’ve never used magic on a person, so it turned out like this, I’m sorry. The guards too…”

“Oh no, it’s okay. We’re fine. We’re soldiers, you know. Small injuries are everyday occurrences.”

It was not an everyday occurrence for the quiet gatehouse to be so noisy.

The injured members of the Clifford delegation were waiting for a doctor from a nearby village, and those who could move were recovering the half-destroyed carriages. Ian looked around at the scene and called out to the child who was standing there in a daze.

“Now. Prince Noah.”

There was no answer.

May was right next to Noah. She was intentionally avoiding looking at Philic, but that made it even more certain. It was clear that she knew him.

“The mages are bringing a doctor from the village. Once this is settled, we’ll inform Clifford of the situation. Before that, it seems like we have something to talk about.”

They could not leave the Bariel territory until everything was revealed. If that happened, they would not be able to ask for any help from Clifford, and they would be stranded in the wasteland.

“Okay, okay. I understand. Haa.”

Noah gestured to May to bring something. She reluctantly nodded, and only Ian and Noah moved away from the commotion and sat facing each other.

“It was a few days ago. To be honest, I don’t know exactly when.”

“Three days ago, it is estimated to be between night and dawn.”

“Yes. Three days ago. It was an uneventful day. We were passing through the forest and spent the night there, and that’s where we set up camp. And as you suspected, we were attacked.”

Squeak.

May carefully entered and placed a heavy pouch down. It felt like it was full of something, with a clinking sound.

“At first, I thought it was just a group of simple bandits, but it became more and more strange. In the end, I drew my sword.”

Noah shrugged his shoulders, showing his sword. It looked like it was for decoration because of the jewels embedded in the scabbard, but it wasn’t. The blade was a dull black. It was made by melting and coating a magic sealing stone.

“But Philic had no wounds.”

“Yeah. Right. It was someone else who faced my sword.”

“…There was another accomplice.”

“Didn’t you expect that? Even if you didn’t, that guy doesn’t seem any different from other mages. How could he handle the official Clifford delegation alone?”

He was a person who had shown many unsightly things due to the curse, but he was the successor of a nation. As he entered the center of Bariel, he would have naturally prepared for danger, and the guards protecting him would also be skilled fighters comparable to knights. As Ian tilted his head as if curious, the guards drew their swords and showed them.

Sreung.

“Does Clifford use precious magic sealing stones like that? Just melting them into a sword.”

“The mages that the kingdom needs to keep in check are only on the outside, so that’s the best we can do.”

It wasn’t wrong. The purpose of the imperial palace was to unite the magic department, and the priority of other countries was to kill them.

“So, do you know who was with Philic?”

“Don’t you know better than me?”

Noah gestured with his head towards the pouch. When he opened the entrance, there were a lot of jewels that Ian knew very well.

Idgal. The amber-colored, sparkling Achilles’ heel of mages [a substance that weakens mages].

“…That’s right. I know better.”

That was the person who told Philic about Melanie’s survival. Contacting Melanie meant that they were related to the Rutherford Merchant Guild. Idgal was nothing less than evidence that confirmed everything.

“They wanted the jewels that Your Highness had bestowed. The intention seemed clear, but we couldn’t help it.”

It was night, it was a surprise attack, and it was a foreign land. Noah’s side had no choice but to accept the other party’s proposal. However, they had made a different choice here…

“You made an unfortunate choice.”

“It was the best we could do. Until you guys came after us.”

They received Idgal as a price.

If they had just had the jewels stolen, they could have used that as an excuse to gain an advantage in the alliance they were about to form. Well, they would have suffered the humiliation of the kingdom’s official delegation being defeated by only a few people.

“It was a mage. Since we couldn’t protect the jewels that Your Highness had bestowed, we couldn’t predict what kind of excuse it would be used for!”

“Still, it was right to reveal it. If you had-”

His position as the head of the magic department would have been difficult, and at the same time, there would have been tension in the diplomacy between the three countries.

Noah had covered everything up and instead chose to take a ‘price’. A price that was incomparably more valuable than the fertilizer they would get from the alliance. The power to keep mages in check.

“Is this all of the Idgal?”

“……”

They were returning after clearly witnessing the power of the mages in Bariel. Those who rained flowers from the sky, created the universe, and upheld the prestige of a great nation.

If Clifford could secure Idgal, which was comparable to a magic sealing stone, they could also have a response capability comparable to Bariel.

“Prince. From now on, I will not ask twice. And if anything different from what we have discussed is revealed, I will not show any leniency.”

Noah glared, but couldn’t say anything in particular. He was grasping the situation very accurately.

“…We have signed a contract to directly contract with Clifford for a hundred times that amount. It was a payment in exchange for the jewels.”

Ian silently rubbed his forehead. This alone was quite heavy, but a contract for a hundred times that amount. It was clear that the production of Idgal was progressing more actively than expected.