Margrave’s Bastard Son was The Emperor [EN]: Chapter 588

“Ugh.”

Barsabe groaned and opened her eyes, her head throbbing as if it would shatter. The mage who had been wiping her legs was startled and tried to help her sit up, but then gently pushed her back down.

“Squad Leader Barsabe. Are you feeling a little better?”

“It hurts so much, my head……”

“It’s understandable. You’ve been through a lot. Still, it’s a relief that you’ve regained consciousness safely. The doctor was worried because he said it would be really dangerous if you didn’t wake up by tomorrow. You must be thirsty, but please wait a moment. You shouldn’t drink water right away.”

The mage gave her an Acorella’s booster shot [a type of healing injection] in her arm and handed her a wet cloth. It was to moisten her dry lips first.

Barsabe looked at the tent ceiling and asked,

“How many days have passed? What about Rutherford?”

“It’s been three days. Rutherford was safely captured that night. I heard there will be an execution ceremony for the remaining members soon. Sir Ian has gone there, and most of the Imperial Guard, including His Majesty, are inside Agiar Castle.”

“Is that so? That’s a relief.”

The fact that Rutherford had been captured was enough for Barsabe to endure everything. The pain of her whole body being torn apart, the humiliation she had experienced during the battle, and even the shame of facing her own shortcomings, all of it.

“What exactly is your physical condition?”

“I don’t know what kind of question you’re asking. Are you talking about daily life, or combat?”

“I’m curious about both.”

“I don’t think I’ll be included in future battles. I have so many wounds all over my body. However, since the current strength of the Imperial Guard is not what it used to be, I don’t know what the higher-ups will decide. As for daily life, well, I think I can manage as long as I don’t overdo it. Surely, you don’t consider going to the training grounds as daily life, do you?”

As the mage chattered while changing the gauze, Barsabe smiled bitterly without replying. Too many comrades, including Bonita, had died. It was not the time for her to be lying here like this; she felt pathetic.

“Ah, and Squad Leader Barsabe. Do you feel any discomfort when you speak?”

“No. I’m fine. Why do you ask?”

“Oh, it’s nothing.”

She had been worried that the Toalun puppeteers might have touched the inside of Barsabe’s cheek, but it seemed to have healed quickly.

The mage handed Barsabe clean clothes and got up.

“Rest a bit, and if you can walk, try walking around. I’ll go get the doctor.”

“Yes. Thank you.”

Left alone in the tent, Barsabe slowly changed her clothes. Her head still felt like it was going to break, but since there wasn’t a single part of her body that wasn’t hurting, this much pain was to be expected.

After waiting for a while, when the mage didn’t return, Barsabe put strength in her legs and walked carefully.

Swoosh.

Since it was her first time inside Agiar, she frowned and looked around. In the distance, she could see the collapsed castle walls.

‘It’s already been three days since that chaos happened there.’ She thought to herself, and just as she was about to go look for the mage,

-I see it.

A sudden voice flashed through her mind. The feeling was so eerie that she reflexively turned around and met the eyes of a fellow Imperial Guard member, who was standing there with a welcoming expression.

“Barsabe, you’re awake? You look good.”

“Ah, yes. Sorry. I’ve been lying down for too long.”

“What are you talking about? But why are you out here? Shouldn’t you be resting more?”

‘Was that what ‘I see it’ was?’ Was she hallucinating her comrade’s greeting because she wasn’t feeling well? Barsabe smiled awkwardly and shook her head.

“The mage isn’t coming back.”

“He got an urgent call and left a while ago? It seems like there’s a problem inside the castle.”

“What?”

“I don’t know. It seems like something happened during Rutherford’s interrogation. I didn’t hear the details. Go back and rest. I’m going to go inside.”

Barsabe hesitated for a moment, then turned as if to follow. If they were the remaining members, they must be the ones who had toyed with her using swords. She wanted to see their end with her own eyes.

“Why is she turning this way?”

“Let’s go together.”

“What are you saying? You just woke up.”

“The ones being executed, they’re the magic swordsmen, right? I owe them a lot. If I can’t pay them back before they die, I’ll get sick and never be able to hold a sword again.”

So shut up and go get a horse.

Although she was injured everywhere, Barsabe was still herself. Her comrade was about to retort, but remembering her stubbornness, he backed down. He grabbed the reins of a horse that was resting in the stable and urged her.

“Just go and watch. Okay? Don’t overdo it, please.”

* * *

Rustle.

In the vast open space, where not a single breeze blew, the silence felt even heavier. The only sounds were the rough breathing of those kneeling and the sound of Ian turning pages.

The Bariel soldiers did not relax their grip on their spears, and Rutherford was smiling with his head slightly lowered. It was as if he had never expected his situation to turn out like this, yet at the same time, he still held onto a vain hope that it wasn’t over.

“There are so many things to ask that it’s hard to know where to start. Rutherford. Did you know that there was a habitat of Laromedia [a type of magical creature] below the cliff?”

At Ian’s question, Katimaco grabbed his pen.

They had gone down the cliff to investigate Laromedia, but nothing particularly significant had been discovered. However, there was a cautious opinion that it seemed like Laromedia had not been there for long.

“…The god told me.”

“The Underworld God?”

The Underworld God, who was under the rift, gave instructions to Rutherford, who was standing on Gaia [the world]? Was this possible?

It was a given that the Underworld God was trying to create rifts to expand his influence on Gaia. This meant that he couldn’t do it without a medium like a rift.

Ian frowned, resting his chin on his hand.

“It’s a mystery. Rutherford, how exactly are you connected to the Underworld God?”

“…The Underworld God is a new religion in Toalun.”

“You know it well. The identity of the ‘god’ you follow and worship is exactly that.”

Rutherford bit his lower lip and glared at Ian, but Ian showed no particular reaction. He was lost in thought.

How could the Underworld God directly give orders to Rutherford? If that was possible, couldn’t he influence someone else besides Rutherford?

They needed to know if it was possible because of Rutherford, or if the Underworld God had a separate ability.

“Have you had exchanges with Toalun from the beginning?”

“……”

“You received support from the puppeteers, and it has also been identified that the place you used as a base 10 years ago—before you started moving directly—was also Toalun. Tell me in detail how you became connected, and what you did while staying there.”

Ian asked calmly, but neither Rutherford nor anyone else seemed to be about to answer.

After a few seconds of silence, Ian gestured to the soldiers. Their swords flew not towards Rutherford, but towards the magic swordsmen next to him.

Swish!

“Aaaah!”

“You can speak. But I wonder why there’s no answer. If Rutherford doesn’t answer, you will bleed, so if you want, keep silent. I will break it with your screams.”

“I, I first met Rutherford in Toalun!”

As the soldier raised his sword again, a magic swordsman couldn’t hold back his fear and shouted.

“I went there after hearing a rumor that the head of the merchant group was looking for bodyguards, and that was him. I joined almost at the end, so I don’t know the process well, but at that time, there were already people who were known to have some power gathered there.”

“Was the price for turning Bariel into an enemy and trying to disrupt the world just money?”

Ian asked back as if he was pathetic, and the man’s eyes began to shake slightly.

“At first, it was like that, definitely at first—yes, it was.”

“Then what about later?”

“Later—”

As he couldn’t continue his words and rambled, Jayrut, who had been watching, approached and whispered to Ian.

“Isn’t it a kind of brainwashing? Just like what I experienced in the northern monster zone, he might have had a false loyalty engraved in his heart by the Underworld God. Otherwise, there’s not enough justification.”

“I agree. No matter how much Rutherford had the ability to create Idgal [a magical power-dampening substance], it’s foolish to antagonize Bariel just with that.”

At the time, Idgal was a means of controlling mages and magic swordsmen. It was a power that could completely defeat those with magical power, but it was not possible to gain excessive loyalty just with fear.

Then…….

‘Was there a rift in Toalun? Judging by the fact that he heard the voice of the Underworld God, it seems that Rutherford himself is connected to him.’

“Ian Verosian, was it?”

Rutherford, who had been silent for a long time, opened his mouth.

“From the future Bariel, the one who carries on the name of Verosian.”

“That’s right.”

Rutherford chuckled, his body shaking.

‘That guy has finally gone crazy.’ Everyone frowned and watched him, and Ian slightly raised his chin as if to say, ‘Say whatever you want.’

“How can such a person be in this place? Has the name Verosian become unnecessary in the future Bariel? If so, that is the greatest joy, so I can’t help but laugh.”

He didn’t know why he was here, but the fact itself was proof that there was a problem in Bariel. It meant that either the emperor was no longer needed in the future Bariel, or that Ian’s help was desperately needed in the current Bariel.

Rutherford lowered his long hair and muttered.

“Looking at it, Ian. You and I are very similar.”

The fact that his soul had moved into a body, that he could create Idgal, that he was connected to a being called a god, that he had been to the abyss, and so on.

Unlike Ian’s calm gaze, the reactions of those around him were immediate.

“There is a price to pay for disrespectful words, Sir Ian. Cut off his fingers.”

“Eek!”

The ones who screamed were Rutherford’s magic swordsmen.

However, Ian rather gained a clue from his provocation.

‘Just as he was able to create Idgal after entering the body of the illegitimate son Ian, Bandor was also able to create Idgal after entering Rutherford’s body.’

If so, it meant that Rutherford’s existence itself was a work of the Underworld God.

“When I met you, Rutherford, in Bratz, you clearly couldn’t easily create Idgal. But the illegitimate son Ian helped you overcome that.”

The intention of the god, who wanted to suppress the monsters and seal the rifts, and the intention of the Underworld God, who wanted to subdue the mages and destroy Bariel, perfectly coincided.

As a result, the illegitimate son Ian gave Idgal to Rutherford. Just like he had opened Beric’s bloodline.

‘But the god thought it was right for the illegitimate son Ian to remain in Bratz. So, he made a contract magic with Rutherford, the head of the merchant group, to gain a grace period. Otherwise, the illegitimate son Ian would have been kidnapped and collared by Rutherford.’

“…Did I say that I would go to the Imperial Palace? That I would pledge my loyalty and open the way to the Imperial Palace, so I wanted to live with my mother for the time being. That if I wanted, I could make a contract with magic, that’s what I said.”

It wasn’t a question that required an answer. In the end, Ian possessed the body at the right time and survived, entered the Imperial Palace at the right time and killed Arsen, and then reunited with Rutherford at the right time and entered the abyss.

Perhaps all the things that would happen in the future would be interpreted as ‘the right time’ in a page of history.

“That was the contract.”

Ian nodded as if he understood and turned the page.

“Next is a question about Damon, the king of Vergos.”