Margrave’s Bastard Son was The Emperor [EN]: Chapter 610

“How dare you, a spy—!”

The man, his cheek stinging from the slap, glared at Danit, eyes wide with fury.

Danit seized on the word ‘spy.’ It was clear the royalists had discovered the low-grade weapons. Otherwise, there would be no reason to threaten Kayla’s safety.

The man smirked, looking down at her, but Danit, unfazed, struck his other cheek.

Smack!

“How dare you spout such nonsense? A spy? Who do you think has kept you alive until now that you dare act this way?”

“Are you crazy!”

He could let it go once, but not twice. Just as the man was about to grab Danit by the hair,

“Now, now. Let’s talk this out, shall we?”

Nakina firmly grabbed the man’s arm, stopping him.

This was why Danit could speak so confidently. No matter how many men attacked, they couldn’t defeat a single mage, and the head of the magic division was standing right behind her. As the mistress of the Holin ducal family and the person in charge of the Vergos weapons business, her safety was considered secure.

Hail, with a cigarette dangling from his mouth, looked around, wondering what was going on.

“Talk it out? Talk it out? I’ve been hit twice already!”

“Let bygones be bygones. Isn’t the future what matters? Is Lady Kayla here? Is she here?”

“No, you bastard. And who the hell are you to speak so casually?”

Thwack!

The man roughly shook off Nakina’s hand and raised his fist to strike again.

Then, Nakina ‘lightly’ placed two fingers on his forehead—

“Do you want a flick on the forehead?”

Zzzing! Zzzing! Bang!

She ‘lightly’ unleashed her magic power as well.

“Ugh!”

The heavy man fell, unconscious, but for Nakina, it was just a warning. She raised an eyebrow as if nothing had happened.

Seeing this, the soldiers gripped their weapons tightly, surrounding the three of them, ready to attack at any moment.

“I thought there was a commotion, and it seems the Madam has returned.”

At that moment, royalist officers emerged from the mansion. Could Kayla be with them? Danit’s gaze darted around, but her daughter was nowhere to be seen.

“Let’s hear in detail what this is all about?”

“What is there to hear? You know it well.”

The royalist officer said, throwing a sword in front of Danit. It was a low-grade weapon supplied by Holin.

Danit slowly raised her cold gaze, and the royalist glared back at her. An older officer, who seemed to be the leader, turned to Nakina and Hail.

“Mages, please step aside from this matter. You are not people of Holin, but of the Emperor, are you not? This is a problem of a noble who has manipulated Vergos. If you get involved, it can only be taken as the will of the Imperial Palace. Is it truly the Emperor’s will to push the people of Vergos, who are trying to protect the legitimacy of Runkvis, into a death trap?”

It was indeed the Emperor’s will. And the royalists knew this as well. Holin and Vergos had been trading weapons for ten years. The fact that this happened in the midst of war could only mean that the Imperial Palace was involved.

However, stating this directly was a different matter.

‘The royalists have already decided that they cannot stand against Bariel. So, they intend to seize and eliminate the Holin family, which has caused problems. The Holin family is the most prominent ducal family in Bariel, so if they seize them, they can look for an opportunity to oppose the Imperial Palace.’

Hail chewed on his cigarette, looking at Nakina. She seemed to be thinking the same thing.

‘Just as the Holin family is trying to achieve their ambition by using the royalists as a stepping stone, are the royalists also trying to drag the Holin family down to negotiate with the Imperial Palace? Is that right?’

‘The process may be different, but the goal is correct.’

‘What should we do, Captain?’

Judging from the royalist officer’s statement, if they handed over Danit willingly, they might be able to negotiate for the occupation of Kalamat. It would reduce unnecessary bloodshed and open the gates peacefully, easing the war fatigue of both sides.

She wanted to ask to confirm this, but as soon as she did, Danit’s safety would be in danger.

“Wait a moment.”

While Hail and Nakina were pondering, Danit, sensing the shift in the atmosphere, opened and closed her fan. The gesture seemed to cut off the connection between the royalists and the mages.

“You keep calling me a spy, which is very unpleasant. Let’s hear what’s so wrong with the weapons that caused this mess.”

“What?”

“Tell me with that big mouth of yours.”

Danit’s feigned ignorance was truly absurd. Wasn’t Kayla already captured? There was no telling how the confession had been obtained. Hail and Nakina wondered if it would work, but one of the officers’ eyes narrowed slightly.

“Madam Danit. Your brazenness is truly detestable. Can you say that after seeing those low-grade, faulty weapons?”

“Low-grade? Faulty? Ha! That’s ridiculous. You seem to have forgotten that it was your royalist subordinates who transported the weapons from Bariel to here. We saved those bastards from going to the battlefield empty-handed, and now what?”

Swoosh.

Danit picked up the sword lying on the ground.

“If there’s a problem with the goods, shouldn’t the first step be to find all those involved and clearly identify the fault? I’ve been trading with Vergos for ten years. Ten whole years! But how many years have those who transported the weapons been doing it?”

The supply officer, suddenly pointed out, waved his hands in a fluster.

“N-no, that’s not it. That crazy woman is just talking nonsense.”

“Doesn’t everyone know? That there are people within the military who are taking supplies out and profiting from them. Whether it’s big or small. It was overlooked during the war because it affected the morale of the entire army, but in fact, there were people punished for it the year before last. You all remember, don’t you? The five bodies that were hung at the gates of Kalamat.”

On a small scale, they would sell the supplies they received to add to their household income, or exchange them with outsiders for what they needed. Every soldier with a family did that.

Then, there was a time when they took out a box of goods by the crate and profited from it, and as Danit said, those who were caught at that time were executed according to military law.

“Who knows if they took the Holin weapons and replaced them with low-grade goods from who knows where? Can you really be so sure?”

As Danit became more assertive, the royalist nobles scoffed. They told her not to talk nonsense.

“Stop acting, Madam. You have no shame. If the supply officer had tampered with it, wouldn’t you have noticed? Have you forgotten that the first people to arrive in Kalamat and inspect the quality were you and your daughter?”

“The weapons we checked at that time were definitely fine. That’s why I’m saying this. Head of the Magic Division, please throw this away.”

Danit handed the sword she had picked up from the floor to Hail, gesturing for him to do it quickly. Hail hesitated for a moment, then struck the sword against the wall.

Clang! Shatter!

He struck it hard several times, but the sword did not break easily. It was a high-grade weapon that had been mixed in with the low-grade ones in very small quantities. Danit raised her head as if to show off.

“The weapons my daughter and I checked were definitely high-grade.”

“Don’t talk nonsense. It seems you found a proper sword in the meantime. No matter how much you struggle, you can’t escape. You can’t cover the sky with your palm [an idiom meaning you can’t hide the truth].”

“Fine! And if you’re not really a spy, then why did Kayla run away?”

“Since she confessed, you should also kneel before Vergos and apologize. If you do, we will spare your life out of old friendship.”

You can’t cover the sky with your palm, but you can cover their eyes. Danit opened her fan wide and then gently moved it, brushing her hair back. Now was the important part.

“…Confessed?”

“Yes.”

“Then, bring her here and show her to me.”

Confession? Don’t make me laugh. Kayla would never, ever confess. Danit pointed with her fan as if she had caught them in a trap.

“I can’t believe it until I see Kayla confessing with my own eyes. What are you saying she confessed to when nothing happened? What a slander!”

If Kayla was brought before her, everything would be easier. She could check on her safety, and it would also be possible to rescue her with the help of the mages. Of course, the mages seemed to be hesitating, but she was confident she could persuade them. So, show me my daughter now. Danit glared at the royalist officers with a glint in her eyes.

They seemed to have noticed Danit’s intentions, and they began to whisper to each other, sharing their opinions.

“Ahem. We cannot do that.”

“Why not? Didn’t you say she confessed? If you suspect me, no, the Holin family, without any evidence, it is a discourtesy to the Imperial Palace, which granted us the business rights. Let me remind you again. I have just come from meeting His Majesty the Emperor of the Great Empire of Bariel.”

As Danit shouted confidently, the royalists’ mouths hardened.

The mages were observing without adding a word, as they had said at the beginning. But, if the situation turned to Vergos framing the Holin family and trying to eliminate them? How would the Emperor interpret this?

“You’re making a fuss over just one sword, Madam.”

“I have no choice but to make a fuss when I’m being wronged. Otherwise, who would listen to my voice?”

“It seems there were some normal ones mixed in with the low-grade weapons. But we’ve already confirmed that a significant number of the weapons of the soldiers here are problematic. An investigation is also underway inside the Kalamat gates. According to the interim reports coming in, Madam Danit, it’s already over a thousand.”

Hail and Nakina glanced at Danit. Looking at the situation, the ‘game’ that Danit was creating seemed quite useful. That is, the statement that the Vergos royalists were deliberately framing them.

Whether it was true or not didn’t matter. What mattered was that it was useful.

‘How about we take the Madam and the royalist nobles together? I think Ian would be able to handle them appropriately.’

‘I agree.’

It was also the only way to protect Danit without the royalists’ resistance.

Just as the two were about to step forward, Danit pointed her fan at the royalist officer.

“Over a thousand, you say?”

“That’s right. You can’t deny that either.”

“I have no intention of denying it in the first place. If there is a problem with the product due to the Holin family’s fault, it is right to pay the price.”

What was this now? What kind of trick was this? As the royalist officer frowned, Danit quickly added and shouted.

“If it is a weapon supplied by the ‘Holin family.'”

“What are you trying to say?”

“The Holin family produces all weapons by hand with its own technology. If I see it myself, I can confirm whether the problem is due to the transportation process or the Holin family.”

Danit lightly twirled her fan and gave instructions.

“I will conduct a full investigation. ‘Collect all’ the weapons and bring them back. Then I will check and take responsibility. In the way you royalists want.”