Margrave’s Bastard Son was The Emperor [EN]: Chapter 410

Ian wiped the sweat from his brow and took a sip of cool water. His strength was completely drained, making even swallowing difficult, but the coldness was a comfort. He looked down at his hands, which weren’t entirely clean. Even though the servants had wiped them with a damp cloth, traces of the enemy’s death still lingered in places.

“……”

And the magic, so intense it seemed to cover those deaths.

Ian covered his eyes with his arm and then let out a weak sigh. The path he was walking was too rough and chaotic. What on earth was God looking at? Without even realizing it, how far had he come, and what kind of path lay ahead?

Ian suddenly thought of the detached house he had shared with Naum. On days like this, he wished he could read a book in a room with a large window. With someone who was comfortable to be with, like air.

“Ian-ahhh!”

Thump! Bang!

Ian recognized the owner of the voice just by the sound echoing from the end of the hallway. It was Beric. He came running like a rolling ball, opened the door, and then rushed towards the bed.

Ian slightly turned his head to look at Beric. For all the commotion, there was no tension. It wasn’t a big deal, just his usual self.

“Why.”

“They’re here. Weird guys.”

“The Atan?”

“Yeah. The curly-haired chief is coming up.”

Did he know that the description of ‘weird guys’ included Beric himself? Ian raised an eyebrow and asked.

“Beric, when you crossed swords with Efdiram, did you feel anything?”

A race that awakens and manifests. Through Jayrut’s investigation, it was almost a given that Beric was an Atan. The problem was that he wasn’t aware of it himself, but that was also a relief.

Beric crossed his arms and snorted roughly.

“Yeah, I did.”

“What?”

“It was a little tough, but manageable.”

“……”

“I thought if I had a little more muscle, I would have been fine?”

Ian narrowed his eyes and smiled. What was he expecting, really?

Footsteps were heard from behind the door that Beric had burst through. The sound of countless overlapping footsteps. It seemed the mages were escorting and monitoring Efdiram.

“Yo. You alive?”

As soon as Efdiram saw Ian, she gave a casual salute and pulled up a chair. Behind her, the mages were sulking with displeased expressions.

‘They’re annoying.’

They were all thinking the same thing.

What was going on? Ian asked with a look, but Hale just scratched his nose. He had taken the full brunt of Efdiram’s sarcasm about how the mages of the great Bariel Empire could not know about Chuswae [a magic that temporarily takes away abilities from one’s future self]. They wanted to argue back, but they couldn’t, so they could only express their dissatisfaction with their expressions.

Efdiram pointed at the mages with a nod and laughed.

“Well, you’ll have to live a long time. What good are these dumb kids? Right? Minister Ian Hielro?”

“Who is the one behind you?”

“Ah, my family. The ones who take care of my messes. Do you want to know their names? Or is this the Empire’s way of greeting?”

Efdiram glanced at Ian’s palm, not hiding her interest. How on earth did the minister of the Imperial Magic Department use the magic of Chuswae, and why was the object it was used on Idgal, and why did Damon have it? She had a lot of questions.

However, Efdiram did not expect an official from the Empire to readily give up information. Even if her curiosity was pure, weren’t people from that side always like that?

Ian lightly shook his head and held out his hand.

“The Empire’s greeting is like this.”

“Ah, we do this too.”

“Did everyone enter the barrier?”

“No. What do you guys believe in? My people are outside.”

Efdiram leaned back on the chair. It was a natural choice for her safety and the safety of her subordinates.

“How about we talk over a meal?”

“Ah, I’ll bring my own food. Looking at your condition, you don’t even look like you can get up? And I’m very shy. I get indigestion when I eat with strangers.”

“That’s funny.”

“Who is it?”

One of the mages retorted reflexively, and Efdiram turned around just as reflexively. Ian calmly drank some water, watching this.

Dealing with these people was easy. Their purpose was clear, and there was no division. On the surface, they seemed blindly devoted, with no gaps, but that was their weakness. Conversely, it meant that they could flexibly choose any path to achieve their goal.

Ian just needed to give them a better option than Damon. Ian started.

“You saw King Damon being captured, right?”

“Of course. I have good eyesight.”

“Officially, Vergos has been defeated. There are still the Ruswennans and the northern minorities, including you, but that is an unchanging fact. I don’t know what kind of deal you made with Damon, but it would be good to first recognize that it has been broken and cannot be fulfilled.”

“You don’t know what kind of deal I made with Damon? Come on. I don’t like being tested like that.”

They would create a rift and cause a monster outbreak, and the Atan would cooperate to receive plenty of delicious blood, as much as they wanted.

It was obvious. Given the Atan’s nature of not being particularly attached to material things, what they valued would be primal satisfaction, like satiety. Whether it was psychological or physical.

Ian pretended not to know and continued.

“If you naturally break the contract with Vergos and return to the north, I will not question your participation in the war. Furthermore, Bariel will strengthen its control over the north through Vergos, and when that happens, I will give you territory where you can roam freely. However, you must keep the line.”

“You’re going to confine us and raise us like livestock?”

“That’s not what I meant.”

“If you put up a fence and tell us to live and eat only here, what else is that but livestock?”

“Humans put up fences on their own boundaries and spend their lives there. Even if you are Atan, you are still human, so it’s a natural way.”

Efdiram was silent, tilting her head as if she was thinking about something. The mages focused on the back of her head, and then they heard a playful voice.

“Then okay. I understand. Good things are good, and if we keep rampaging, it could stimulate the rift, and we can’t predict the movements of Vergos’s remaining soldiers, so it would be good for each other if we leave. Right? And it would be so sad if we lost our people in the process.”

She was very accurately aware of the influence the Atan could have in the current situation. They were not powerful enough to turn the tide of the war, but they were enough to throw a wrench in the atmosphere of victory.

In particular, the Imperial Defense Department wanted a perfect and clean victory above all else. It was the first expedition led by the Crown Prince himself, and this event would determine the position of the Imperial Palace. Furthermore, Ian, as a minister of Bariel and a supporter of Jin, wanted that as well.

“That’s right. It would be sad. Besides your unique territory in the north, is there anything else you want?”

According to the original history, the time when the Atan would gain power due to the great monster outbreak was not far off.

Even if nothing else, it was good to prepare some measures to minimize the damage, so Ian was not going to miss this opportunity. The Atan were not people you could easily meet, and even less so, sit down at a negotiation table like this.

“Yes! Let’s eat some meat.”

“Well, Clifford will provide that as much as possible on humanitarian grounds.”

The Clifford attendant, who had been listening quietly, flinched and backed out of the room. It was to inform Prince Noah of this fact. Beric’s daily consumption was already overwhelming, and now, enough meat to feed the entire Atan tribe? It was safe to say that the next year’s livestock farming was ruined.

The mages clicked their tongues and glared at the back of Efdiram’s head. They wanted to starve her if they could!

“And tell only me.”

“What do you mean?”

“You’re a minister, so you know, right? The Chuswae magic. Why did it activate through that object at that time? I’m so curious that I can’t even think about food.”

Efdiram grinned and looked back at the mages. Look at this, you guys. You’re dying of curiosity, right? Even if you never know, I’ll know before I die, a clear expression of teasing.

The mages rushed forward and threw out a word each.

“Minister Ian. Don’t say a word!”

“Yes. It would be better for us to gather our strength and cut down these Atan guys. That would be good for Clifford’s cows too.”

“You keep saying things since a while ago, do you think this is a playground? Did you come here to play? Atan chief? Huh?”

“Minister Ian. There is no reason to give out information. It would be more beneficial for you to rest after defeating someone like Beric. We’ll take care of the rest.”

“What? Someone like Beric? You, what does that mean?”

Beric jumped in at the mages’ fierce opposition, and it became a mess. Ian quietly let out a sigh.

Idgal. And Damon. Both were words that could not be associated with Ian, the minister of the Magic Department. If there was any connection, even if it was as thin as a thread, it would be a problem. And she was asking him to tell only her about it? Even the members of the Magic Department were being careful and not speaking carelessly!

“Hey, if you’re jealous, just say you’re jealous, you blockheads.”

“Bl-block?”

Efdiram snapped her fingers and called out one of the mages.

“The one who said ‘someone like Beric’ earlier, come out.”

“Yeah! I can’t stand that either. Are you comparing me to this curly-head? Are we even family?”

“Why are we family? You’re the Imperial Guard. We’re the Magic Department. Our rice bowls are different. The people who feed us are different too.”

“Ian gives me my food? Who gives you your food?”

“M-Minister Ian gives it to us.”

“Then what’s the difference!”

Beric jumped at the mage and grabbed his collar, and Efdiram started clapping, saying he was doing well.

Ah, so it was subtly annoying again. Beric and the mage frowned at her at the same time. But Efdiram just winked lightly and added.

“Well, or give me that Beric guy.”

“What? Me?”

“What? Him?”

Efdiram spat out her gum on the floor and shrugged.

“Don’t you guys really know? Or are you pretending not to know? Beric, he’s an Atan. His head is still soft, so he doesn’t even know what he is. I’ll take him and use him well. Sometimes, when I’m bored, I’ll use him to sharpen my sword.”

“You sharpen your sword… with people?”

“I can’t. But I think Beric would be good for it?”

As Efdiram burst into laughter, the mages hesitated and moved forward, blocking Beric. They thought she was out of her mind, but she was truly gone.

“Th-that Beric, he’s kind of, useless.”

“That’s right. Even though Beric looks strong, he’s actually a bit… If you take him, he’ll just cost a lot to feed.”

“Yeah, yeah. That’s right. I wouldn’t take him if I were you.”

“Isn’t that right, Minister Ian? He causes some trouble, but it wouldn’t be right to send him somewhere else. He’s kind at heart. He’s an idiot, though.”

No matter what, they couldn’t hand Beric over. The mages, who had just drawn a line saying their rice bowls were different, were now carefully watching Ian’s expression and defending Beric. Beric poked his face out from between the mages.

“Yeah! Ian! I’ll eat less from now on!”

“How much?”

“…I think I’ll have to see when the time comes. Anyway, I don’t want to go! If you try to sell me off, I’ll really bite you.”

Efdiram gestured to Ian as if to choose. Just as Ian was about to say something.

Tap tap!

“Excuse me, Minister Ian!”

The attendant who had gone to report to Prince Noah returned urgently.

“A urgent letter has arrived from Bariel. It was sent directly by Crown Prince Jin. They said that Minister Ian must receive it directly……”