Margrave’s Bastard Son was The Emperor [EN]: Chapter 480

“Move it!”

“I’m going! Don’t push me!”

“Ugh, you’re lagging, lagging behind.”

Landre’s subordinates, each wielding a hand axe, led the way up the mountain. Their steps were so sluggish that their pace was incredibly slow.

Landre kicked his subordinates’ butts repeatedly, urging them to hurry. At this rate, they’d come down empty-handed.

“Master, how much further do we need to go?”

“Just go as far as we’ve come. You’ll see the dryad [a tree spirit], so keep your eyes peeled. And don’t ask any more questions! It’s tiring.”

Sweat trickled down Landre’s thick chin. He was at his limit, his absolute limit. It was amazing he’d even made it this far with his bulky frame; just walking was an ordeal for him.

One of the subordinates whispered to the person next to him, looking at their master.

“But what’s so special about the dryad tree that he’s like this?”

Judging by how worked up he was, it seemed like a valuable item, but when they saw it tied up in the warehouse, it looked no different from any other firewood.

“Don’t you know? If you burn it, it’ll last for at least a couple of months.”

“What? A couple of months? Does that mean it doesn’t burn?”

“It does burn, but very slowly. In winter, even three bundles of it are enough. That’s why people in the market are begging for just one branch, and sometimes the passing merchant groups pay a good price. I don’t know the details, but judging by how pharmacists are interested in it, it must be useful in that field too.”

“Oh, that’s amazing.”

So that’s why. Otherwise, the master wouldn’t have gone through all this trouble to climb the mountain. He must be trying to keep an eye on them in case they try to steal even a single branch.

“Is it easy to cut? I heard that every time you hit it with an axe, it makes a sound that tears your eardrums.”

“Yeah. That’s why some people have gone deaf.”

The subordinate glanced back at Landre. Sure enough, there were white wads of cloth stuffed in his ears.

“But it’s okay right after the mole people come out of their tunnels.”

“Why?”

“They harvest the dryad’s fruit every few months. The dryad only screams when someone tries to take its fruit. If there’s nothing to protect, it’s as quiet as if it’s asleep. That’s why he’s trying to cut it down at that exact time.”

“Oh. I see.”

Otherwise, he would have been up the mountain every other day, trying to cut down the dryad. There was no way the master, who was crazy about money, would leave a gold mine alone, right?

At that moment, someone walking ahead waved their hand.

“Master! There are traces!”

“Traces? What kind of traces?”

“Footprints! And some of the bushes are flattened. It seems they went this way. Uh, two people.”

“Not mole people?”

“No. They’re human. The width of the feet is just right.”

Landre’s eyes, which had been wiping away sweat, gleamed with greed. Was it Hott, who had gone out in the morning and disappeared, and a stranger? Or two strangers? Landre snapped his fingers as if telling them to hurry and track them down.

Rustle.

Tap tap!

And not far from there.

They found a deeply dug pit trap and two men sprawled out. It was Hott and a red-haired stranger.

“Hott! Are you okay?”

“Oh my, what in the world happened?”

“Who is this? Hott, wake up.”

While the subordinates were shaking Hott awake, Landre opened his thick backpack.

It was filled to the brim with dried meat. He naturally took one out and ate it as he rummaged through the contents. It was clear that they were strangers, but they didn’t have a single decent piece of clothing.

“Hmm?”

A thick pouch! Landre instinctively felt its weight, and soon, he felt his breath catch as he saw the shiny gold coins inside.

Good heavens, good heavens. What in the world was going on? He was about to faint from joy, but then he found an identification document at the bottom of the backpack.

-Imperial Guard, Magic Swordsman Berik.

“……!”

“Master. What should we do with this guy?”

“Shh! Shh shh!”

When one of the subordinates grabbed Berik’s hair and shook it lightly, Landre was horrified and waved his hand.

“Don’t you let go of that hand?”

“Yes? Ah, yes, yes.”

Wasn’t the Imperial Guard the elite unit that served the Emperor by his side? And a magic swordsman? The magic swordsman who could split the earth with one swing of his sword and tear the sky with two?

Landre calmly surveyed the situation with trembling hands. Now, his hands were shaking not because of the gold coins, but because of his own life, which he didn’t know what would happen to.

‘Hott must have accidentally run into the magic swordsman and tried to take advantage of him without knowing his identity, but ended up getting beaten instead, right? But why is the magic swordsman lying down? And why is someone from the Imperial Palace here? I don’t understand.’

“Master?”

“…Kill him.”

“Ah, yes. I understand.”

At Landre’s mutter, the subordinate gripped his hand axe.

“No, not that one! Hott, I mean.”

“Yes? Hott?”

“What are you doing? Kill him. Or we’ll die. This guy is a magic swordsman from the Imperial Palace.”

It was a kind of tail-cutting [a way to distance oneself from trouble]. By killing Hott, they needed to show that the person who tried to take advantage of the magic swordsman had nothing to do with them.

The magic swordsman was tricked by an unknown person, and Landre and his subordinates just happened to find him on their way and helped him. Yes. That was the most appropriate situation.

“And this one, take him to the mansion.”

“Are we going down? What about the dryad?”

“Are you kidding me? How much do you think this guy is worth right now? Retreat!”

What about the backpack? Should they lie and say it wasn’t around? No. The opponent was a magic swordsman. They didn’t know what kind of abilities he had. A hasty lie could make the situation worse, so they should be careful for now. Landre sadly put the gold coin pouch back into the backpack and tied it tightly before handing it to his subordinate.

“Descend the mountain!”

“De, descend…”

“You guys, take care of Hott and come down properly.”

“Yes, Master.”

Sigh. Even yesterday, they were eating and sleeping together, and now he had to kill his own family with his own hands, he didn’t feel like it. But what could he do? That’s how slaves were. They lived without wanting to, and they died without wanting to, that was their fate.

The subordinate spat on his palm and firmly fixed Hott’s head with his foot.

* * *

“I’m hungry.”

Berik muttered to himself as he opened his eyes. He patted his stomach, which was hollow, and realized that it was well past mealtime. Berik stared blankly at the unfamiliar ceiling and thought. Why am I here? Where is this?

…Ah! I was hit with a hammer by those mole people, right? As the memory he had completely forgotten came back to him, Berik shouted loudly and threw off the blanket.

“You bastards! You’re dead!”

No matter what, wasn’t it right to pay back what he had received? The moment Berik picked up the black sword neatly placed in the corner of the room-

Bang!

“Are you awake?”

The door opened as if they had been waiting, and servants rushed in. They were carrying neat new clothes and a tray full of food.

“Huh?”

“Are you feeling better?”

“Wh, what is it?”

“Our master found you unconscious and brought you here. What happened in the forest? We opened your backpack to confirm your identity, but please don’t be too upset. Ah, no. First, please eat. It’s been two full days since we brought you here.”

“What? Really?”

“Yes. It’s true.”

He had been unconscious for two days? Berik frowned, still pressing his throbbing temples. Then, the hammer he had been hit with came to mind. It looked like an ordinary hammer on the outside, but no matter how he thought about it, it must have been a magical item. What was it?

Ah, never mind. Berik naturally took the tray and grabbed the rice bowl. Without any suspicion, he was captivated by the meat soup in front of him.

“Please eat. I’ll go bring the master.”

“Hey. Wait a minute.”

“Yes?”

“Give me more rice.”

“……?”

He had emptied the rice bowl in just a couple of spoonfuls. The servant rubbed his eyes, wondering if he had seen correctly. When the servant didn’t seem to be moving, Berik responded as if he had realized something.

“I know, I know. You need to pay for food if you want to eat. Here, take it.”

Clink!

Three gold coins lightly bounced. That should be enough for one meal, according to his standards.

The servant hurriedly took the gold coins and then backed away and left the room. It was more like he ran away.

Thump thump!

“What’s that noise? Is a wild boar running around?”

“Oh my, Magic Swordsman. Are you feeling better?”

“Wow. It’s real.”

Landre, who had heard that Berik had woken up, rushed into the bedroom. His hands were tightly clasped, and his back was bent in a deep bow.

Berik held up the empty rice bowl and greeted him.

“Are you the owner of this house?”

“Yes, yes. Are you feeling better? What happened? If we hadn’t found you in the forest, it would have been a disaster-”

“Thanks for helping me, but there’s not enough food. I paid, so don’t stop and keep putting meat in it. Beef would be good, do you have any?”

Berik waved his hand as if he was too lazy to explain the situation. He wasn’t the type to explain in detail what had happened in the mountains, and he had to fill his stomach quickly and then go catch the mole people.

Landre seemed to hesitate at the unexpected behavior, but then he just gave a silly laugh.

“That’s the laugh of someone who’s short on money. I’ve seen that a lot.”

“I’m sorry to say this as soon as we meet, but we’re not that well off. But we hired a doctor and a pharmacist to treat the magic swordsman… and my family members couldn’t work because they were taking turns looking after the bedroom.”

“Ah, you talk too much. Let’s just get to the point. So, how much?”

“Te, ten would be appropriate.”

“Damn, that’s a rip-off……”

Berik muttered a curse but still flicked the gold coins to Landre. Anyway, he had already received help, so it was up to them to put a price on it.

In fact, no doctor or pharmacist had ever come, but Landre cheered inwardly as he picked up the gold coins.

‘See, there was no need to bring it so dangerously! He’s from the Imperial Palace, so his spending is amazing!’

Berik drank the meat soup to the last drop and carefully observed the man who was the owner of this house.

“Hmm?”

Landre’s jacket was strangely eye-catching. It was so tight, as if he had stolen a child’s clothes, and the back was all torn. But…

“Hey.”

“Yes?”

“Is that… your clothes?”

“Ah, yes, yes. It’s mine? We didn’t touch the magic swordsman’s belongings.”

It was somehow familiar. It was worn and stained, making it hard to find its original color and shape, but it was very familiar to his eyes. It didn’t have any special pattern, it was just a plain shape.

“Hmm. Why?”

“Wh, why are you doing this?”

“Come closer.”

Landre hesitated for a moment, then cautiously approached Berik. The closer he got, the deeper Berik’s brow furrowed. Uh oh? Look at this?

Clang-!

Berik threw the tray away and buried his nose in Landre’s top. Sniff sniff. At the blatant sniffing, Landre was horrified and covered his body with both hands.

“Eek! Wh, what are you doing!”

“Stop making a fuss. Stay still. I’m disgusted too? This, this smell is very familiar…”

“You shouldn’t be doing this!?”

“Ugh, seriously. Then take off your clothes.”

“Take off my clothes? Me? Why?”

Berik firmly grabbed Landre’s shoulders, who was struggling, and focused on the stained part. Looking closely, it was blood. And it was very familiar blood.

“…Ian’s.”

Squeeze.

It was Ian’s. It had been a long time, but it was a blood smell he could never forget.

Berik grabbed Landre’s collar tightly and muttered.

“Cough! Oh my! Why, why are you doing this-”

“Where did you get this?”

“…Yes? What are you talking about?”

“This clothes! Damn it. This one that’s all torn on the side because of you!”