Margrave’s Bastard Son was The Emperor [EN]: Chapter 629

De-eeng! De-eeng!\n\nTadak tadak!\n\nAs dawn broke, alarm bells rang throughout Tolun. The residents, who had stayed up all night because of the large fire, looked up at the sky with hollow eyes.\n\nThe scorching heat had subsided, and it was a cold dawn. Before them lay the charred corpses. The residents stared at the people moving busily in the distance. The corpse with the severed ear was here, but where were they all rushing to?\n\nKwaang!\n\nThe guards raided all the lodging facilities in the capital of Tolun. This included the luxury hotel, [Rander]. The manager was startled by the sudden visit of the guards and jumped up from his desk.\n\n”What’s going on?”\n\n”Are there any guests staying here who are from Vergos or Bariel?”\n\nInstead of waiting for an answer, they rushed up the stairs before the manager could even reply.\n\nThe hotel staff tried to stop them, asking them to be considerate, but they were met with fierce glares. The staff looked to the manager for help, at a loss.\n\n”Yes. We have some Bariel guests who checked in yesterday. I must ask again why you are doing this.”\n\n”What are their names? Is this the ledger?”\n\n”Look here! This is not right. This is [Rander], the finest luxury hotel in Tolun. You can’t just-“\n\nCheok.\n\nAt the manager’s protest, the guard unfolded a letter. It was a search warrant stamped with the royal seal. It also warned that anyone who interfered would be arrested.\n\nThe manager gave in, raising both hands, and then gestured for them to step aside, leading the way. At least that way, the guards wouldn’t just barge into the guest rooms.\n\nKnock knock.\n\n”Excuse me. Did you cough?”\n\nBut there was no response from inside. The manager cleared his throat and knocked on the next room, but it was the same. There was a guard, so they should have responded, but no one came out.\n\nWait, did they even come back from the arena yesterday?\n\nWait a minute, the arena?\n\n”Get the master key.”\n\n”Manager.”\n\n”It’s okay. Hurry.”\n\nThe news of the guard captain’s death had spread quickly last night. The manager, who had been awake all night, had also heard the news. The problem was that he hadn’t connected it to the guard the guests had brought with them.\n\nThe manager took a deep breath and opened the door to the room.\n\nClick!\n\n”Gasp!”\n\nThe manager gasped in surprise. It was completely empty, with no luggage left behind, except for a napkin and a gold coin on the small table.\n\n”There’s something written on the napkin.”\n\n”It’s in the common tongue, Manager!”\n\n”Ah, yes, yes. I’ll read it. So, um. ‘We had a good rest. If the guard is looking for us, please tell them. We are the ones you are looking for.’ …Was it the guard swordsman who killed the guard captain? Oh my!”\n\nThe manager asked in surprise, but the guard only frowned and snatched the napkin. It was key evidence.\n\n”How many were there? What did they look like?”\n\n”There were four of them. A middle-aged man who seemed to be the head of the family and his two children. They seemed to be siblings, and the sister was said to be blind. And the guard was a burly man with red hair.”\n\n”Did you know they were mages?”\n\n”Mages? All of them?”\n\n”I don’t know. I’ve only heard that some or all of them are spies from Bariel and also mages. You know the slave market was closed, right?”\n\n”Yes, yes. How could I not know?”\n\n”It seems they took something after killing the Ear Cutter last night, ahem. I’ll explain the details later. Come with me and give additional witness testimony.”\n\n”Yes, yes, I understand! Oh, and the carriage! We have the carriage they came in. You can take that too.”\n\nThe guard nodded and turned towards the carriage storage. Since traces of the wanted people had been found, [Rander]’s business would be suspended for the time being.\n\nMeanwhile, inside the carriage heading to the guard headquarters, the manager carefully wrote down the descriptions of the four people.\n\n’Hmm. So-‘\n\nA middle-aged man with brown hair and a beard, a boy with fair skin and beautiful blonde hair, a woman whose face he couldn’t see but whose posture was particularly upright and impressive, and a guard who was ugly and had red hair. Now that he thought about it, it was a very strange combination.\n\n”It will go directly to His Majesty, so write it as truthfully as possible. It would be good if you had some drawing skills.”\n\n”Oh, thankfully, I can draw. To run [Rander], you need to have basic education.”\n\n”How annoying. Stop showing off and just draw.”\n\nThe manager pondered for a long time with a pencil in hand, then carefully began to draw lines.\n\n* * *\n\n”So, this is the portrait?”\n\n”Yes, Your Majesty.”\n\nKumasha rested his chin on his hand and picked up the edge of the paper. Next to the crude drawing were detailed descriptions of hair color and the manager’s impressions. It wasn’t very satisfactory, but what could he do? The child slowly examined the contents and muttered.\n\n”Here, could the woman whose face is not visible be a member of the Barsabe unit? Did they say they saw her hair color?”\n\n”No, they say she was wearing a veil.”\n\n”Hmm. It’s strange that they brought a member who can’t see to Tolun, especially near the royal palace, but then again, it seems like a good choice. Since she’s the same woman, it will help in finding Philia, and if necessary, we can get clues about her vision, right?”\n\nIt wasn’t a question to get an answer, but a way to organize and understand things himself.\n\nAccording to the report from the interpreter child who survived the Ear Cutter’s hideout, it was Ian Hielo who took Philia. They called each other mother and son. And this meant that they didn’t come from Bariel, but formed a group in Vergos.\n\n”Ian Hielo and Barsabe. What was the name of this one? Ah, Beric! That’s right. I remember Ian Hielo calling him that.”\n\nKumasha looked closely at the paper, dredging up faint memories. Inside the Agiar Castle, which he had seen through Barsabe, there was a man who seemed to have a rather nasty temper. His identity was a magic swordsman. He must also be a member of the Imperial Guard.\n\n”I don’t know who the other one is.”\n\nThe child leaned back on the sofa, frowning. A mage, a magic swordsman? Or someone with another ability? As the child pondered in silence, the prime minister, who was sitting next to him, cautiously asked.\n\n”But, Your Majesty. If Ian Hielo was the one who caused the disturbance last night, wouldn’t he have already left Tolun? Since he achieved his goal, there’s no reason to stay.”\n\n”I agree. From what I’ve heard, mages’ portals don’t always hang in the sky. It’s a bit difficult, but if it’s someone like the Minister of Magic, it wouldn’t be a problem anywhere. It’s highly likely they returned under the cover of darkness last night.”\n\n”There’s no need to stay here and risk danger. After some time, Bariel will officially raise an objection and ignite the flames of war, so it’s right to prepare for that. The fact that they came directly from Vergos means they have evidence of the royal palace’s actions.”\n\n”Wouldn’t Philia herself know?”\n\n”Well, if she knew a little about Tolun, she might have noticed, but judging by the fact that the Ear Cutters used an interpreter, I don’t think so.”\n\nThe prime minister briefly raised his hand to calm the ministers. That was all good. But the important issue to be discussed now was different. It was the defense system of Tolun.\n\n”It has been revealed that a mage can enter Tolun at any time if they set their mind to it. It’s important to come up with a countermeasure. The royal palace is protected by sorcerers, but still, it’s a transcendent ability of a different kind.”\n\n”It would be good to hire mercenary mages.”\n\n”There are about five people left in the capital now, right? We need more talent. How about lifting the closure of the slave market and giving work to the merchants? Since all the Ear Cutters are dead anyway, the market closure is meaningless since we can’t find Philia anymore.”\n\n”I agree. Let’s look into it.”\n\n”And, also…”\n\nKumasha’s eyes narrowed. It was ridiculous that they called the king’s silence a virtue and decided on matters by exchanging opinions among themselves.\n\nThe child flicked his fingertips and then jumped up from his seat and left the office. The ministers were flustered by the sudden action, but the prime minister gestured that it was okay and followed the child.\n\n”Take a break for a while.”\n\n”Oh my, really. In the face of a major event.”\n\n”Ahem. Have a cup of tea.”\n\nSqueak.\n\nKumasha opened a space where many dolls were gathered. Among the piles of them, the child familiarly picked one up. It was the doll connected to Barsabe. Her vision was still connected, but since Barsabe hadn’t taken off her blindfold for a single moment, it had been put aside for a long time.\n\nKumasha lightly gathered his hands and connected the doll to himself.\n\n”Your Majesty.”\n\n”Shhh. I entrusted you with the task and left my seat, how can you do this? Be quiet, it’s distracting my concentration. I’m borrowing Barsabe’s eyes.”\n\nKumasha was supposed to not show his emotions. The prime minister silently stood there, watching the child’s back. The young king’s brow twitched slightly.\n\n”Hmm?”\n\nIt was still dark. He couldn’t see anything. But what was slightly different from before was the texture of the darkness. It was as if the cloth covering her eyes had changed, and a little light was seeping in.\n\n”… !”\n\nThe child stopped in surprise. Soon, the vision slowly cleared, and he began to see.\n\nBeric was standing in front of her. He seemed to know that Kumasha was looking, and he waved his hand with a serious face. And then, he raised his middle finger, showing it clearly. He even stuck out his tongue, mocking him.\n\n”What’s wrong, Your Majesty?”\n\n”Not yet.”\n\n”Yes?”\n\n”They’re still in Tolun.”\n\nBarsabe turned her head. Then, she showed the Tolun words written neatly on the paper.\n\n-Prepare for death.\n\nTaat!\n\nThe next moment, the vision shook rapidly.\n\nKumasha’s eyes also moved busily to grasp the surroundings. It was definitely a Tolun-style building. Where was that? Why were they suddenly running? Prepare for death, was it a warning to me?\n\n”Prime Minister! To the underground!”\n\n”Why, Your Majesty?”\n\n”Ian Hielo’s group has moved! They’re moving!”\n\nAt those words, the prime minister’s face turned pale.\n\n”Is there no one outside? Escort His Majesty to the underground!”\n\nThe child continued to concentrate, frowning. Location. Figuring out the location was the priority. If he could know exactly where they were, piercing their hearts would be a piece of cake. Had they left the capital of Tolun? Could it be-\n\n”Wha, the royal palace?”\n\nThe royal palace was visible in Barsabe’s vision. She was clearly running at superhuman speed. Without being aware of the surrounding gazes, she was running down the main street with all her might, heading towards the royal palace, with her identity revealed.\n\n”Damn it!”\n\nAt this rate, Barsabe would reach the royal palace before they could move underground. Of course, there were sorcerers in charge of defense in the royal palace, but since the power of the Imperial Guard was unknown, the situation was unpredictable.\n\nKumasha threw the Barsabe doll away and then went to the desk and took out a dagger.\n\n’If you approach, I’ll kill you.’\n\nThe child recalled the path that Barsabe had been running on and looked around the royal palace with his second eye. Where was it? Where could it be? Barsabe!\n\nChwaaak!\n\nAt that moment, a blue hair came into view. She seemed to have jumped to get over the wall of the royal palace.\n\nKumasha, sensing the target, stabbed the doll with the dagger with all his might.\n\nThwack!\n\nSo hard that it pierced the desk floor.\n\nKumasha felt his heart pounding and slowly raised his head. The view outside the window was still peaceful. Only the people in the room were feeling an intangible fear and watching Kumasha.\n\n”…Check outside, see if there’s Barsabe’s corpse.”\n\nMeanwhile, at that time. Ian lowered his telescope. Barsabe also exhaled and leaned against the wall, and Philia hugged her worriedly.\n\n”Are you okay, Barsabe?”\n\n”Yes, I’m fine.”\n\nBarsabe looked up at the barrier that was protecting them, sprawled out. It had taken a lot of magic power to move the decoy like the real thing.\n\nBut it seemed they had found what they wanted. Ian was nodding in satisfaction as he recorded something on the map.\n\n”The range in which the king can react immediately is limited to the royal palace. It seems that physical or temporal conditions are needed to exert influence over the entire capital of Tolun. If they had created a stage as large as the entire capital, it would surely not be inside the royal palace where they reside.”\n\nSince it would be quite large. However, it might be possible if it was underground in the royal palace. Judging by the fact that there was no special alert reaction when the magic swordsman approached the royal palace, it seemed that there were no magic users either.\n\n’Now that they know that mages have infiltrated, they will strengthen security and defenses against Bariel. Before that, it’s good to figure out their main power.’\n\nIan, having reached a conclusion, nodded to Beric.\n\n”Beric. It’s your turn now.”