Margrave’s Bastard Son was The Emperor [EN]: Chapter 416

A man lying languidly in bed opened his eyes.

Although the midday sun was blocked by blackout curtains, the noise from the street that he couldn’t quite shut out had awakened him from his nap.

He raised his upper body and naturally reached for his pipe. Sensing a slight presence, his subordinate reported from outside.

“Lord Rutherford, did you cough?”

“Yeah.”

Click.

At his reply, which was like permission, the door opened. Then, the light from outside poured in brightly. The subordinate carefully examined the clothes and liquor bottles scattered under the bed, as well as some white powder, and approached him.

Nothing had changed much overnight. As Rutherford leaned back on his pillow with the pipe in his mouth, the subordinate lit it for him and said,

“Overnight, ‘that’ Idgal was broken.”

Rutherford’s appearance was even more clearly revealed by the light. Black, long straight hair, and a handsome face, marred by rough scars here and there. Rutherford raised an eyebrow and asked back,

“‘That’ Idgal?”

“Yes.”

“Show me.”

As if expecting Rutherford’s command, the subordinate took out a small pendant from his inner pocket. It was wrapped in a white handkerchief, and it was not only broken but almost shattered. Rutherford smiled and fiddled with it with his fingertips.

“Looks like it met its real owner.”

The child with golden hair and beautiful green eyes. The foolish child who didn’t know how great and fantastic the power that bloomed from his fingertips was.

Rutherford took a deep drag of his cigarette, as if satisfied, and then exhaled with a smile. He got up abruptly, wearing only a gown, and pulled back the curtains.

Shwaaak!

The entire view of Toolun was visible at a glance. Circular domes with colorful flags were lined up, and in the alleys between them, the prayers of those who believed in the underground gods and tens of thousands of other minor deities never ceased.

Rutherford leaned against the window frame and scanned below.

“If they’re going to call on the underground gods, they should do it underground, why are they doing it outside? Don’t you think?”

“Did you have trouble sleeping?”

“Yeah. But I feel good. It’s like I received a gift as soon as I woke up.”

Rutherford smiled and flicked the pendant pieces. They rolled away and disappeared somewhere, but no one cared. The broken Idgal had fulfilled its role just by existing.

“Let’s get ready.”

“Yes, Lord Rutherford.”

“Are there any updates on the guys who went to Clifford and Luswennia?”

“The last news was that a battle broke out in Clifford. The northern minority, Vergos, and Luswennia, Clifford, and Bariel are said to have participated.”

“Judging by the fact that the Idgal is broken, it’s safe to assume that Ian reached Damon. Then, the Vergos side is checkmated, right?”

Tap.

Rutherford lightly flicked the cigarette ash out the window. His eyes, visible from the side, seemed to be turning a deeper blue.

Whenever he was lost in thought, a deep blue ocean would appear in his eyes. The subordinate had never seen the sea, but if such a world existed, he thought it would surely resemble Rutherford’s eyes.

“It’s a bit of a shame that Damon came out like this. There’s still a lot I haven’t received.”

“Yes. About 50,000 gold coins are missing, including gold and silver. It would be good to keep an eye on the movements of the Vergos side.”

“This is a trade secret, so you can’t just go around telling anyone. Even if it’s a shame, it’s right to fix and use Damon. Find a way to secretly send word that we’ve almost found the regression method. If he dies before then, there’s nothing we can do.”

Rutherford hummed a tune and opened the windows to the left and right.

The moment Ian poured out his magic had finally come. The child who held a vast universe had shaken the world, so now the southern part of Bariel, the Clifford area, would be dominated by rifts.

If that happened, everyone would want the Idgal, and he, who held the lifeline, would naturally be able to infiltrate the empire. It was a long-cherished wish. One he had waited and waited for.

Knock, knock.

“Lord Rutherford, how would you like your meal?”

“Bring it in. How can I skip a meal on such a good day?”

At his permission, the door opened again. While the servants from the luxury inn were carrying in the food, a man slowly entered. Rutherford opened a new bottle of wine and held it up to him.

“Clark. I have good news.”

Clark. A man of strange fate who had drifted to this distant land, taking the heir of the Mereloff family from the Bariel border as his escort.

Clark bowed his head at Rutherford’s toast. He didn’t know what the good news was, but if his ‘master’ said it was good news, then it must be so.

“We’re going back to Bariel.”

“……!”

“You wanted to go, didn’t you? What was her name again? The woman you loved so much is in Mereloff of Bariel.”

“I never mentioned it.”

“Do you think I wouldn’t know just because you didn’t say it?”

How could he not know that a slave had strangled the family’s heir with his own hands? It was an easy conclusion to come to with just a little understanding of the situation.

Dive Mereloff, who believed in the underground gods, had been pushed all the way to Toolun for some reason, but he must have wanted to return to his territory someday. Clark didn’t want that, so as a result, he had no choice but to kill his master with his own hands. So that Lady Rien could escape from the family and find her own happiness.

“When we go back, I can bill Lady Rien for your price. You know I’m a merchant, right? I’ll get every last penny, so you better speak well when you meet her.”

According to Toolun law, murder is punished by murder. But since Clark and his master were foreigners, they were going to be given a flogging as an exception, but Rutherford saved them then. For the reason that they were from the same country, a reason that didn’t suit a merchant at all.

Clark moved the dishes with a stoic expression, but he couldn’t stop his heart from pounding.

‘Come back.’

Everything about Lady Rien that he had seen last was still vivid. He had thought he would only meet her again in death if the gods allowed it, but as Rutherford said, the good news was truly good news.

Rutherford detected a very small smile on Clark’s lips and took a sip of wine. Whether he was stupid or naive. Of all the many people who had been imprisoned, he didn’t seem to know why he had chosen Clark.

Rutherford paused with the knife in his hand.

“Ah. Those kids who met the king-”

“Yes.”

“Let’s get rid of them right away. If there’s a place to lean on when the rifts start to appear, it won’t be as fun, right? Until I go myself, let’s make them feel a little anxious. Huh?”

“Understood.”

He was referring to his subordinates who had made the offer to Damon and Eriphony. It wouldn’t be a bad choice to simply have them return, but if Rutherford’s merchants were to die mysteriously in Vergos and Luswennia, wouldn’t that create an opening for them?

The justification for war is not limited to countries. This was a kind of insurance. He didn’t know what would happen later, but it would be easier to keep all possibilities open for now.

At Rutherford’s command, the subordinate nodded and turned his body, then gestured to Clark. It was a signal to go out together.

Click.

“Clark.”

“Yes?”

“What if you go back and the woman isn’t there, or she’s with someone else?”

Clark paused for a moment with his hand on the doorknob. But soon he realized that it was a luxury. It was only yesterday that he had prayed to see Rien just once, but now he couldn’t ask to be with her.

Toolun. This was the land of the gods. A land where countless gods hid in the alleys, gnawing at the hopes and desires of humans. Clark knew that well.

“…Excuse me.”

Squeak.

Clark closed the door without any further reply, and Rutherford burst into laughter. That guy, he was more useful than he thought.

The value of a person is determined by their inner drive, and such a deep and strong will was welcome even from Rutherford’s point of view. As long as he moved as he wanted, in any way.

Thwack!

“This is going to be fun.”

Rutherford stabbed the center of the steak with his knife. It looked like a human heart, but Rutherford seemed to like it.

‘See you soon, Ian.’

Originally, he was planning to go in around autumn, but things had turned out interestingly. Everything seemed to go wrong from the time the rebellion broke out in the imperial palace, but in the end, the pleasure of things returning to their place was beyond words.

Rutherford smiled and cut off a piece of meat. Following his knife, uncooked blood slowly flowed down.

* * *

Kugugugung!

Kwaaaang!

“Evacuate! Evacuate!”

“Get out immediately! There’s no time to pack your things!”

“W-what is all this? S-suddenly-”

“You’ll die asking questions, you fool! Run!”

“Mom! Mom!”

“Help me! Help me here! My foot is stuck!”

The western part of Prodohna, the capital of Clifford, was in chaos due to a sudden disaster.

Buildings shook from the earthquake and collapsed, and the earth cracked, and the lush vineyards disappeared. Heat was rising from the gaps. Those who lost their footing and fell inside melted without even having time to scream.

There were no volcanoes nearby, so where did that lava come from? Those who had lived in Clifford their whole lives couldn’t think straight in the face of the sudden situation. Was this really their hometown? Was this really the place they knew?

Kugugung!

Shwaaaak!

“Aaaagh!”

The earth continued to crack as if taking root. One person staggered and fell below, and then lava erupted as if a stream of water had sprung up.

The gaze of the person who was watching in despair slowly followed up to the sky, and the lava turned into ashes as it came into contact with the air.

The form was gradually taking shape. It had no form, but it existed. The first monster to be created from the rift, Dust.

“T-t-t-that……”

The shocked person fell backward and opened his eyes wide. He didn’t know its exact identity, but he knew for sure that it was a monster, instinctively.

The moment the Dust swayed its body with the wind and rushed at the people, celebrating its birth.

Ziiing.

Puh-uh-uhng!

A magic sphere accurately pierced through the monster’s torso. The ashes scattered along its trajectory. People looked at it blankly and then turned their heads.

There was a person in the sky. A mage.

Surely, they were the mages who had fought with them at the barrier.

“Don’t just stand there! Keep moving!”

“We need to get out of here! What are you all doing?”

“O-okay! L-let’s go! Thank you!”

“Thank you! Thank you!”

“Slowly! Move in an orderly fashion! The path ahead is narrow!”

In the meantime, the royal palace soldiers continued the evacuation. Some were rescuing those who were about to fall into the rifts, and others were bravely wielding their swords against the Dust.

This was the lowest of the low-level monsters that signaled the beginning of the rift. In fact, it was ridiculous to even call it a monster, and it was more accurate to see it as a symptom.

Shwaaaak!

The mages carefully examined the continuous earthquakes and the gradually increasing heat, and engraved it in their minds. It was to be delivered to Ian without fail.

“My god. It’s really a rift.”

They too were seeing a rift for the first time in their lives. They couldn’t take their eyes off the splitting earth, with a mixture of curiosity and fear.

At that moment, they felt a different kind of movement from somewhere.

Tap tap tap!

“Let’s see, let’s see! Is there a party going on!?”

It was Ephram. She was approaching the rift with her subordinates, and just as the mages were about to stop her.

Shwaaak!

“Stay still until Ian says something.”

Berick stood in front of them. Ephram laughed as if dumbfounded and slung her sword over her shoulder.

“Bullshit. Wipe the drool from your mouth before you talk.”