Margrave’s Bastard Son was The Emperor [EN]: Chapter 399

Berrick rested his chin on the table, staring at the bubbling liquid. The other mages were watching him closely. No matter how they looked at it, it didn’t seem edible, yet he was going to drink it?

Some whispered to their neighbors, suggesting they should seriously stop him. They couldn’t speak loudly, though, because they were wary of Acorella, who was smiling brightly while holding a document for recording.

‘Drink it? Ian, I’m going to drink it?’

‘Yes, our little puppy Berrick. Go ahead and try it. You’ll drink it in two parts. First, focus on the taste and describe it, then record any physical abnormalities and changes every hour—’

‘I don’t know about that. It’s annoying.’

While Acorella was excitedly flipping through the papers, Berrick ignored her and gulped down the drink in one go.

The mages were horrified and huddled around Ian, who raised his eyebrows worriedly.

‘Burp.’

‘You mutt! You never listen! I just told you to drink it in two parts, didn’t I?’

‘Hmm. It’s delicious.’

‘…Delicious? How? Specifically.’

‘When something’s delicious, you say it’s delicious. It’s just delicious.’

Snap. Acorella broke her pen with a smile. He was a brave test subject, but he was also so ignorant that he wasn’t helpful for research.

Berrick wiped his mouth and checked his body for any changes.

‘Berrick, are you okay?’

At the mage’s question, Berrick nodded. It was no different from drinking a cool beverage. He looked at Acorella with suspicious eyes.

‘Isn’t this a failure? There’s no reaction, no reaction at all.’

‘Is the side effect mental instability? How dare you call the great Acorella’s work a failure. Berrick. Come here. I’ll make you throw up what’s inside.’

Ian flipped through Acorella’s report. Countless listed ingredients and a meticulously written manufacturing process. Although Ian couldn’t fully understand it as it was in the realm of experts, he could notice some peculiarities compared to the previous enhancer report.

‘Acorella. Are these in parentheses substitutes? Five new ones have been added, and I don’t know what Rudlecl is.’

‘Rudlecl is a substance found in monster blood. Although it hasn’t been properly researched yet, I heard from a Clifford Royal Palace researcher that it has a similar effect to the Bytairol used in the enhancer.’

‘So, there’s monster blood in it? Here?’

‘Yes. So?’

Is there a problem? Acorella smiled, her eyes sparkling. In other words, it was rotten blood squeezed out from the synthetic monsters they had cut up after the battle.

The mages were aghast and protested, while Berrick, not knowing what was going on, just sniffled.

‘Are you crazy? You mixed that rotten blood in?’

‘You guys, you’re all dying now and will continue to die in the future. Are you in a position to be picky? If it works, you should be willing to eat dirt. Tsk tsk. Back in my day, huh!?’

‘Ian-nim. Please scold her. Captain Acorella, she’s going to cause a real problem. No, we’re going to be in big trouble.’

‘Berrick already caused it. He’s done for now.’

‘Berrick. I’m saying this now, but I liked you. Your dog-like side was dog-like, but I still liked it. Farewell. Yeah.’

‘Burrrp.’

Berrick, who met Ian’s gaze, burped loudly. He had directly drunk monster blood. The mages, not knowing that Berrick was an Atan [a person with a unique constitution], just pitied him for drinking rotten blood and hugged him.

‘Why are you all like this? Explain it simply.’

‘The blood you kissed earlier, you just drank it.’

Berrick’s eyes widened, and he turned his head sharply toward Acorella. She was holding a broken pen and her eyes were sparkling.

‘Why? Is there a reaction? How is it? Does your stomach hurt? Your insides? Even the smallest thing is fine, just ramble on.’

‘Y-you crazy woman! I’m going to fight you for real!’

‘Oh, good! Let’s see how good the enhancer effect is. Come at me.’

Zhiing. Zhiing.

As Berrick and Acorella tried to release their magic power at the same time, the mages rushed to stop them.

The conference room turned into a mess in an instant. The door opened, and Prince Noah stood frozen in surprise, just staring at the scene.

Squeak.

‘Ah.’

‘P-please come in, Your Highness!’

‘W-was it too noisy? Hahaha! Ha!’

‘Come here, how dare you feed me that!’

‘You said you’d eat it, why are you yelling at me?’

‘Both of you be quiet! The prince is here!’

‘Down with Acorella!’

‘That idiot, he’s using the word ‘down with’ without knowing what it means.’

‘Why wouldn’t I know? It means to kill!’

‘Ahem ahem! Shush! Quiet!’

The mages awkwardly smiled, separating Berrick and Acorella to opposite ends.

The prince slowly walked in between them. He had a look that said he didn’t know what this mess was all about. But well, it wasn’t urgent, and he didn’t really want to know. He handed a piece of paper to Ian.

Swish.

‘What is this?’

‘A letter to be sent to Vergos and Ruswena. It’s an agreement on confirming the safety of the mages and exchanging prisoners. Minister Tweller and Commander Jeyrut helped, so there shouldn’t be any particular problems, but I thought it would be good for Sir Ian to know the contents in advance.’

Noah coughed unnecessarily. In fact, it was written with the intervention of two old veterans from Bariel, so even if there was a problem, Clifford could avoid some responsibility. He came in person with the paper to imply that and to appease Ian, who was sensitive due to the side effects.

If Ian gave his final approval, they would immediately send a messenger to attempt contact. Didn’t Minister Bariel threaten them? To bring all the mages before him within a day.

‘…….’

Ian’s eyes turned a little cold. He seemed to have returned to normal, but the coldness was dripping down again like before.

The mages huddled together, exchanging glances. It seemed that he would continue to be like that when facing other countries besides Bariel, so it would be better for them to handle things on their own for the time being.

‘The content is fine.’

‘Then I’ll send a messenger right away—’

‘But this itself is the problem.’

Ian tapped the end of the paper with his fingertip.

‘Do you know Damon and Eriphony? Just this act of asking about the survival of the mages will give them a lot of information.’

They had one in Ruswena, so that was fine, but they didn’t know how many they had on the Vergos side. If there were no prisoners on that side, asking about their whereabouts would become their card. They could deceive them into thinking they had something they didn’t to negotiate or trick them, and above all, they could guess the rift in the alliance between Clifford and Bariel.

Damon and Eriphony were such people. They were not just reading the words, but also reading the situation flowing beneath them.

Noah’s brow furrowed slightly.

‘Then what should we do? Along with this, we plan to search the area near the wall with scouts, including magic swordsmen. Don’t you want that?’

They were doing their best to save the mages, so why was he throwing a wet blanket on it? Ian tilted his head.

‘No. Do it. If that’s Clifford’s best. However, what I want to say is that just because Tweller and Jeyrut helped write the letter, it doesn’t mean we share the responsibility. This is a letter sent from Clifford.’

In other words, don’t even think about shifting responsibility. Shallow tricks won’t work. Even if Clifford gave everything in the war, it was separate from Bariel. If something happened to Bariel, they would be held fully responsible. It was a kind of warning.

‘So, choose carefully.’

Was there no better way? Could they be sure that this was the best? Even if a small number was written on a dice they had thrown, could they overcome it?

At Ian’s chilling advice, Noah took the paper.

‘Don’t worry. This is my best, so it is Clifford’s best.’

‘Then that’s a relief.’

‘The sun will rise soon. Well, everyone should rest instead of doing that.’

Even if the situation was a bit ambiguous, the mages were key members of Clifford’s support forces. It would be better to get some sleep and prepare for the next battle than to waste their energy like that.

But at that, Berrick was reminded of what he had drunk and attacked Acorella again.

‘Down with! Down with!’

‘You idiot! You can’t use that word in front of the prince!’

‘Where did he pick that up? I’m going crazy.’

Squeak.

Fortunately, Noah left the conference room without saying anything. And he handed the paper to the messenger who was waiting, and sternly ordered.

‘If you can go inside Vergos and Ruswena, do so.’

‘Yes, Your Highness.’

Not harming the messenger who entered the camp was an unspoken rule of war. It was because it was more beneficial in the long run to understand and coordinate each other’s interests, rather than based on unconditional revenge and anger.

The two messengers, each with Clifford’s flag on their backs, dashed out of the wall. One going straight ahead, and the other veering to the right and moving away. Noah sighed, hoping that good news would return.

‘Your Highness. What about that child?’

Zaira was lying down in the middle of the Clifford camp, fast asleep. She had cried and screamed and made a fuss, but she had given up and fallen asleep. It was more accurate to say she had fainted.

Noah shook his head as if he was fed up.

‘Don’t pay any attention to her. It’s under the jurisdiction of the Bariel Magic Department.’

‘Yes. I understand.’

‘Your Highness. Dawn is breaking. I will go out to search for bodies in front of the wall. And Commander Jeyrut of the Imperial Guard has dispatched magic swordsmen. We will patrol the forest area in groups of four.’

Noah checked his pocket watch. Could there have been no contact so far? If there was, it was important to find the traces and check their range of action.

As Noah issued the order to begin the operation, the wall gate opened again. The dark night was gone, and a dim aura settled over the surroundings.

The soldiers, armed, slowly walked through the field of corpses, identifying their own people and carefully checking if there were any mages among them.

Tap tap!

Neigh!

Following them, the scouts spread out like disappearing shadows. Each went to the left and right to check the enemy’s camp and range of action.

Caw, crows that had not filled their bellies cried loudly and flew up.

* * *

It didn’t take long for the messenger sent by Noah to return.

A soldier on the wall rang the bell to welcome the messenger’s return. The soldier, who had entered, took a sigh of relief as soon as he stepped on the ground inside the wall.

‘Why did you come back so soon? The reply?’

‘Haa, the reply. Yes. I, I brought it. Where is Your Highness?’

‘He’s in the operations room.’

The gatekeeper soldier looked at the messenger with a puzzled face. There was a bundle on his back that hadn’t been there when he left. When he touched it, it was a rather large box.

‘What is this?’

‘It’s the reply from Vergos.’

‘Oh my, what the heck…….’

Something felt uneasy. The gatekeeper turned his telescope toward Ruswena, but there was no sign of anyone returning from that side yet.

Wasn’t that normal? If an important message was sent, the leaders and subordinates would have a meeting and write a reply accordingly. It was natural that it would take some time, but the Vergos side had just handed over the box as if they had been waiting and sent the messenger back.

Knock knock.

‘Your Highness. The messenger who went to Vergos has returned.’

‘What? Already?’

‘Yes. I, I’m sorry, but I couldn’t go inside. And this is King Damon’s reply. He said it would be good for Your Highness and Sir Ian to see it directly.’

Prince Noah untied the cloth covering the box, and soon realized that it was five Bariel mage robes soaked in blood. His head went dizzy for a moment.

And-

‘What on earth…….’

A tightly closed box.

The generals, with dry lips, suggested.

‘I will open it, Your Highness.’

Swish.

The general slowly opened the lid of the box.

Inside was a human head.