Margrave’s Bastard Son was The Emperor [EN]: Chapter 627

“Ian, is this the place?”

Ian and Beric scanned each building with clotheslines in the darkness. They often came up empty, finding places with no signs of use, no basements, or no hidden passages.

The two climbed to the top of the tallest building in the market and looked around.

“Ian, should we come back tomorrow morning? Or should we bring Hale and Grinder? It’s a bit much for just the two of us. You know, Grinder can make clones too.”

“Wait.”

Ian frowned and gestured to Beric. At the same time, Beric sniffed the air, catching a scent carried by the wind.

“Huh. It’s that smell from earlier.”

The smell of blood from the arena.

“…Beric, do you see that man running over there?”

“Yeah, I see him.”

Ian hesitated for a moment, then took a stance as if he were about to jump off the railing and told Beric,

“He could be one of the thieves who heard about the arena. Beric, let’s follow him.”

* * *

“Ian Hiel, the Minister of Magic of Bariel?”

“Y-yes, that’s what they said.”

“Damn it, this is crazy!”

The Cutters [a group of thieves or mercenaries] jumped in surprise, and the boy who was acting as the translator flinched. He had taken the job translating Bariel, but he would have refused if he had known it would be like this.

The client was a Cutter wanted by the authorities, and the target was the mother of the Minister of Magic of Bariel. As the boy tensed up, Philia carefully took his hand, as if to reassure him.

“Why didn’t those crazy bastards from the royal palace have a flag? Those dead guys, they were royal puppets [agents of the royal family].”

“They must have been moving secretly. Now it makes sense. They can’t go to Bariel, kidnap the Minister of Magic’s mother, and announce, ‘We’re from the Royal Palace of Toolun.'”

“I’ve heard rumors that the Minister of Magic is a pretty boy. Yeah. Looking at his mother’s face, I can see why.”

“Is this the time for such nonsense? Things have gone to hell.”

“Your name is Philia, right? Should we ask around in Bariel, just in case?”

Philia nodded vigorously when her name was mentioned. She couldn’t understand the loud, blustering words, but it was clear they were discussing her identity.

“Forget about checking. They’ve already closed the market, haven’t they? That says it all. That merchant we met in the market!”

“Maya?”

“She definitely knew. She spoke Bariel well.”

“That’s right. She knew Philia’s identity, so she was asking for so much gold. Ugh, damn it! This is why people need to learn! If we had someone who could speak Bariel, we wouldn’t have returned to Toolun!”

“Who are you blaming? You can’t even speak your own language properly.”

“Okay, okay, calm down, let’s sort out the situation.”

The royal palace had issued an unofficial wanted order for the Cutters. Now that the slave market was closed, the merchants whose livelihoods were cut off would be searching for them with a vengeance.

“If we hand Philia over to the royal palace, we can forget about getting paid. We’ll just have to settle for the price of the royal puppets’ lives. And that’s if they’re generous.”

“That’s right. The royal palace only told us to bring Philia, they didn’t mention anything about the aftermath. If we hand her over, we’ll all die.”

“It’s no small matter that the royal palace kidnapped the Minister of Bariel’s mother. That means we’re one of the very few ordinary people who know about it. I think we’re going to die.”

“Then, is the best option to send her to Bariel?”

The thieves all looked at Philia at the same time.

“…It’s not easy.”

“I know. The border guards must have been reinforced, how are we going to get her to Bariel? Let’s say we go to Bariel, hand Philia over, and get paid. We can’t return to Toolun.”

“As bad as it is, it’s better to live here than in Bariel. None of us can speak a word of Bariel.”

“We could be hunted down and exterminated. I think it’s better to bow to the royal palace first while there’s still room for negotiation.”

As the thieves argued, refusing to budge, Philia’s eyes darted around. Judging by the situation, it seemed that those who wanted to stay in Toolun and those who wanted to go to Bariel were in conflict.

‘If they could gain a huge profit from Bariel without opposing the Toolun royal palace, the thieves would choose that. But the problem is, I don’t know what that method is.’

There must be a clever way, how would Ian have persuaded these guys in this situation? Just as Philia was about to speak after deep thought-

*Thud!*

“T-trouble!”

A thief rushed in from outside, throwing the door wide open. Everyone was surprised and about to snap at him, but they were silenced by the information that followed.

“Marni’s arena has been shut down.”

“…What?”

“T-the problem isn’t just that, the captain of the capital guard died at the arena. Along with about a dozen guards.”

“Does that mean Marni killed the captain of the guard? No way. He’s different from us. He’s got a lot to protect.”

“Exactly! Don’t you know what this means? The royal palace set a trap! What do you think Marni, who was captured by the royal palace, will do? Like you said, that guy has a lot to protect!”

If he didn’t reveal information about the Cutters, he would be charged with treason for killing the guards. That meant that information about this secret hideout would be leaked to the royal palace.

The thieves, understanding the situation, all stood up at the same time, looking troubled.

“Sh-shit, what do we do now?”

“Let’s contact the royal palace. We’ll hand Philia over!”

“The royal palace is trying to catch Marni, you think that’ll work in this situation? There’s no time to think. Pack your bags. We’re going to Bariel.”

“You crazy bastards! Don’t you know this is our last chance?”

“If we run and get caught, we’ll die for nothing!”

As the thieves shouted in agitation, Philia pulled the translator boy closer and grabbed him. The atmosphere was getting more and more hostile. And then, finally-

*Thwack!*

“Kyaaa!”

A fight broke out. One of the thieves grabbed Philia’s shoulder, and another thief punched him to pull her away.

Philia’s body swayed violently, but no one paid her any attention. They were just throwing punches to subdue anyone who opposed their opinion.

“Give me the goods!”

“You little shit, are you crazy!”

“If you want to die, you die! Is your head not working?”

“Going to the royal palace is the way to live, how many times do I have to say it?”

“Do you think the Minister of Magic is a joke? 300 gold coins, no, even more is possible! Don’t you know this is the opportunity of a lifetime?”

*Smack! Thwack!*

It was a conflict caused by the lack of a leader to unite the thieves, and it was the end. Philia and the boy took refuge in a corner, and then huddled up to protect their heads.

“Damn it, come here!”

At that moment, a man with a bloody nose and mouth found Philia and roughly pulled her. Philia couldn’t tell if this man was on the side of the royal palace or Bariel. As Philia struggled in confusion, the translator boy told her instead.

“Philia! That person is on the side that wants to go to the royal palace.”

“Ah, n-no! Let go!”

As Philia resisted fiercely, the man grabbed a large handful of her hair. As if he would never let go of the goods. The boy tried to stop him, but he was no match for the man’s size.

*Thud!*

A dull thud was heard from outside. It sounded like something falling, but the thieves were too caught up in the fight to notice.

*Thud!*

And again. This time, some of the thieves noticed and turned their heads, but they couldn’t even imagine that it was the sound of the latch on the entrance to their hideout breaking.

*Creak.*

The wooden door opened carefully. Only darkness could be seen through the gap.

The thieves finally stopped fighting and turned their gazes outside. Something felt uneasy. As people who had been chasing and being chased their whole lives, they instinctively sensed danger.

“W-who’s out there!”

“Identify yourself and keep your distance! Otherwise, you’ll be taking the goods as a corpse!”

Philia trembled as she watched the dark hallway. If she was dragged to the royal palace, what would happen to her? Would she be causing trouble for Ian and Bariel? Then maybe… yes, maybe it wouldn’t be a bad choice to end her fate here with the thieves.

Philia thought of Ian, Roel, Nershaln, and all the people she loved.

*Swish.*

“Y-you crazy!”

Then, she grabbed the dagger that was pointed at her. As she tried to stab herself in the neck, the thief was surprised and moved the sword to the side.

At that moment.

*Chwaaak!*

A secret underground room with no windows. A fierce wind blew in, taking their souls away.

The startled thieves paused for a moment. They saw golden eyes shining brightly in the darkness.

“… !”

Eyes that shone like those of a beast. They couldn’t dare to imagine the owner of the gaze. Was it a person? Or a monster?

Unlike the thieves who were frozen in surprise, Philia took a breath, filled with emotion rising from her chest.

“Get down.”

The pale voice was speaking in Bariel. Philia pushed away the man who was holding her shoulder tightly and lay flat on the floor, closing her eyes. The translator boy, who understood Bariel, also instinctively crawled under the desk and hid.

“Wh-what?”

When Philia suddenly lay down, the thieves awkwardly bent over. And in that state, they were met with a sudden light.

「Gu-gyeom [Hooked Sickle]」.

A cold, huge scythe. The scythe, which moved in a straight line as fast as a gust of wind, cut through the necks and bodies of the thieves.

*Chwaaak!*

“Kuh-eok!”

“Ugh!”

Philia ignored the hot liquid that was dripping down from above her head and covered her ears.

It was truly in the blink of an eye. The surroundings became quiet in an instant, but Philia couldn’t move easily.

*Swish.*

Soon, a small touch reached her back. When Philia turned around in surprise, she met golden eyes that sparkled like stars. It was Ian. The most beautiful and shining son in the world.

Philia forced her trembling body to rise and wrapped her arms around Ian’s neck.

“Ah…”

“It’s okay. Are you hurt anywhere?”

“I-Ian…”

“Yes, Mother.”

“Ian, Ian…”

As Philia burst into tears of relief, Ian patted her back repeatedly.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have gone out that night.”

“It’s not your fault. They were determined to go to Bariel, Mother.”

“H-how did you find this place? Did you come alone?”

Maybe it was just her imagination, but Ian looked a little thinner. The war with Burgos must have been tough.

Without realizing that her own condition was more miserable, Philia kept looking at her son with a worried frown.

“Ian!”

*Thud!*

“Is this the right place? It smells a bit like blood. There’s no one in the building on the other side, oh! Philia!”

“Beric!”

Beric, who had been kicking the door, smiled brightly when he found Philia. The two hugged each other tightly, enjoying the joy of reunion, and Ian nodded to Beric after briefly looking at the bodies of the thieves. As if telling him to take Philia out.

“Philia, this way.”

“Ian, what about you?”

“I’ll take care of the cleanup. Please go outside.”

*Zhiiiing!*

*Chwaaak!*

As soon as Beric put his arm around Philia’s shoulder and went outside, Ian created a small flame with his magic. He couldn’t erase all the traces, but he could confuse the royal palace that was chasing them.

*Creak.*

After pouring kerosene and letting his magic flow over it, the flames rose fiercely. Ian turned around without hesitation.

After a while, when the flames reached the ceiling. The boy who had been hiding under the desk poked his head out. There was no one there. And the flames grew stronger.

*Crackling!*

*Chwaaak!*

“…Eek!”

The boy stepped on the severed bodies and ran outside, and without hesitation, he ran towards the guard building.