Margrave’s Bastard Son was The Emperor [EN]: Chapter 684

Jin’s hand, which had been idly flipping through documents, paused. Those watching him from the side shrank back, wondering if something was wrong. He was someone who never missed even the smallest mistake and remembered even the slightest discrepancy between what was said and what was written. He was more frightening when he was calmly critical than when he raised his voice.

“Your Majesty, is there perhaps a problem…?” the minister asked, worried.

Contrary to the minister’s anxious question, Jin’s face was serene. It meant that the issue wasn’t with the documents. He simply turned his gaze quietly towards the window.

“I sense a presence.”

“A presence?” the ministers echoed.

What was that all of a sudden? The ministers’ gazes followed Jin’s, but none of them could detect any change that could be called a ‘presence’.

But Jin seemed certain. He completely put down his pen and stood up from his seat.

Knock, knock.

It was then. A servant cautiously knocked on the door from outside. He was someone who wouldn’t make a sound unless it was something important, which immediately suggested that something significant had occurred.

“Your Majesty. The mages have returned from Elvasa.”

Oh dear. It was indeed something significant. The ministers lowered their heads and exchanged glances. Elvasa was the capital of Ruthwena. The fact that the mages who had left to counter the sudden attack on the Hielo territory had gone all the way to Elvasa beyond the border meant…

“Your Majesty. Sir Ian has accomplished a great feat.”

“Did they come directly from Elvasa?” Jin asked.

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

It was a return that encompassed both a war report and the Emperor’s escort. Jin lightly adjusted his collar and said that he would go immediately.

“Have them wait in the reception room.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“Let’s stop here as well, everyone. Since the mages have returned, our discussion is no longer meaningful.”

“You are right, Your Majesty.”

“Roughly gather and organize the documents.”

Jin said this and left the conference room first. The eagerness in his steps was not just a delusion felt by one person. While the ministers murmured and gathered the papers, Tweller stood still, watching only Jin’s back.

“What is it, Minister Tweller?” one of the ministers asked.

“…It’s nothing,” Tweller replied.

There was something that flashed in his eyes, but Tweller erased it with the words that it was nothing. He followed the Emperor, who was already far away, and moved towards the reception room.

Thud!

The reception room wasn’t far. It could be a delusion because Calamat Castle itself was not as large as the Bariel Imperial Palace, or it could be that he was too distracted by his joy to notice. Whatever it was, the footsteps rushing into the reception room were not just the Emperor’s.

“Your Majesty!” a voice called out.

“Commander Acorella,” Jin acknowledged.

“I heard Sir Ian was here. Nahahat. Let’s go in!” Acorella exclaimed.

It was Acorella and his subordinates, who had returned from the mine. Acorella, who had been running with his robe flapping, stopped calmly when he found the Emperor. He didn’t even think about fixing his disheveled hair and robe.

At Jin’s gesture, the servant guided them inside the reception room.

“His Majesty the Emperor has arrived,” the servant announced.

Creak.

As the door opened, they were immediately met with the sight of the mages, who looked quite haggard. Cuts and scratches here and there were basic, and they were soaked in a fatigue and the scent of blood that couldn’t be washed away, subtly exuding the traces of war.

“Sir Ian,” Jin said.

“Your Majesty,” Ian replied.

As Jin entered, Ian and the mages bowed their heads. Jin gestured as if to say it was okay and instructed them to be at ease.

“What happened?” Jin asked.

Hielo? Are the warriors of the Great Desert safe? Since they came from Elvasa, Ruthwena was a given, but what about Hawan? That unrestrained king, Eldert? There were so many things to ask that he was at a loss for words.

Ian lowered his gaze for a moment and reported to Jin.

“…There are some survivors, but Hielo was nearly annihilated. It seems that the power of the forbidden mage was too overwhelming for the warriors of the Great Desert to withstand.”

At his words, Jin paused. It was because he was reminded of the warriors who had flown through the portal during the Marib and Gale civil war long ago. Some called them barbarians, but they were strong warriors who knew loyalty and pride.

Swoosh.

While everyone was silently solemn, Beric unconsciously ran his hand through his hair. He was reminded of Nersarn’s last moments, who had held the stars of the desert in his eyes.

At that, Jin also remembered. Even the scene of him laughing and chatting with them at the engagement ceremony, and dancing ridiculously with Beric.

“…It is a regrettable matter,” Jin said.

“It was confirmed that the forbidden mage belonged to the Ruthwena Royal Palace mages, and accordingly, Hielo officially protested to Ruthwena according to its border autonomy. However, as smooth communication was not possible, Hielo had no choice but to cross the Ruthwena border to respond,” Ian explained.

The current report was not from the Minister of Magic but from the lord of the Hielo territory. He was saying that he had gone directly to Ruthwena to ask about the wrongdoings that had trampled on his people and land.

“Then?” Jin prompted.

“I have left all the doors of the ownerless royal palace wide open,” Ian stated.

Eldert was dead. And the capital of Ruthwena, Elvasa, had fallen. It had only been a few days, but it was a destructive war for everyone. Ian stated the result in this one sentence.

“What about the other territories outside the capital?” Jin asked.

“I don’t know what their position will be, but they will all make wise choices. Currently, Prince Noah of the Clifford Kingdom is in charge of the cleanup of Elvasa. There is a magic stone diagram in the basement of Elvasa, and it was connected to the southern part that borders Clifford.”

“Clifford,” Jin repeated.

It felt like the pieces on the giant chessboard called Gaia were moving on their own. The sewage flowing down from Toolun would have reached Clifford by now.

“That side is also in a difficult situation. The main camp has sent an investigation team following the trail of Vergos’s milk [a reference to a contaminated water source]. The goal is to accurately identify the source of the sewage and reduce the time for action. Clark is among them,” Ian reported.

“Clark?” Jin questioned.

“He was so insistent on being sent to Hielo, so I gave him a chance,” Ian explained.

He said that he would grant him a new identity if he completed his mission. In addition to that, the Holy Knight Eirin was also with the investigation team, but Jin deliberately did not mention it.

“…Is that so,” Jin said.

Ian simply nodded slightly. It was Clark’s chosen path, so what could he say? Merelov was also someone who would do anything to return. He just hoped that since he had left, he would have some remarkable achievements.

Anyway, that wasn’t the important thing right now.

“Your Majesty, about Hawan. Things have become more complicated than expected,” Ian said.

“Complicated?” Jin asked.

“They have made contact with a country beyond the Blaster Sea at the eastern end and have obtained a new weapon capable of opposing mages,” Ian explained.

“What?” Jin exclaimed.

Besides the magic sealing stone and Idgar, could there be a weapon in the world that could oppose mages? Aren’t they the ones who inherited the power of God?

“It is called a fire cannon,” Ian stated.

Ian briefly explained what had happened in the battle. Its basic operating principle, range, and destructive power. Since he had already seen the weapon once in the future, he added that it was in its early form.

“According to Bertie Erica, it seemed that the leaders had succeeded in contacting those mages. It’s a shame that we couldn’t get more information due to the puppet master’s attack, but this makes it clear that Toolun’s evil hand has taken deep root in Hawan,” Ian concluded.

Was it just Hawan? Even in Karenna, a small provincial city of Bariel, the puppet master’s evil hand had reached.

Counting the heads one by one, Acorella raised his hand and asked.

“Sir Ian. I don’t see Captain Hale and Tommy? Did they perhaps die?”

“Heok, Commander Acorella! What blasphemy is that…!” one of the mages exclaimed.

“No, why? It’s just a question, a question!” Acorella defended himself.

His eyes wide open and shouting was exactly like Acorella. Ian shook his head.

“There was intelligence that a puppet master was hiding in Karenna, so they were dispatched to take care of it. They will return later. If nothing goes wrong, probably within three days,” Ian explained.

“Ah, I see. That’s a relief,” Acorella said.

Acorella clapped his palm with his fist and was relieved.

It was a bit gruesome, but it wasn’t a completely unfounded worry. They had fought against the forbidden mages, so it was practically a miracle that they had returned alive.

“You guys are amazing. I’m not being sarcastic, I’m really curious how you managed to come back unscathed against the forbidden mages… I’m really curious,” Acorella admitted.

“Except for the mage who attacked Hielo, the rest were all those who had fallen due to external forces, not their own will. There was an opportunity because they were moving under the orders of the King of Toolun,” Ian explained.

“And it was confirmed that they were connected to the king’s nerves?” Jin asked.

“Yes. I faced him,” Ian confirmed.

“Ah,” Jin responded.

Damn it. Acorella smiled and muttered inwardly. Wasn’t it that damned King of Toolun who had called him back to Calamat from his mine development?

“But Sir Ian. Surprisingly, there is no particular reaction from Toolun. I thought they would come down immediately,” Acorella said.

Toolun, who shared senses through puppets, clearly understood the war situation. That most of the mages were in Hielo, and that the Emperor’s escort in Calamat was empty.

If it was an opportunity, it was an opportunity that would not come again-

“The scouts, and we, have been patrolling the north in shifts, but there is nothing unusual. There has been no contact from the investigation team that went up to investigate the sewage either,” Acorella added.

Toolun was quiet. It was so unfair that he had given up mine development and returned to Calamat.

At Acorella’s words, Ian’s eyes narrowed slightly.

“Is that so?” Ian questioned.

Could it be that they haven’t arrived yet? Normally, that would be the case. It was quite a distance from the capital of Toolun to Calamat.

But the opponent was Toolun.

‘Even a small city like Karenna has puppets, so there are no puppets in Calamat, the capital of Vergos? That’s strange. The brief gap when we cleaned up Elvasa and came here. The King of Toolun would have known that it was an opportunity that would not come twice.’ Ian thought.

Since the war clouds between Toolun and Bariel had already thickened, it didn’t make sense that they were hesitating because of the political situation. In any way, whether they failed or succeeded, it was natural that there would be an attempt to take Jin’s life.

‘Even if not puppets, there are spirit mages. If it’s a wind spirit mage, their mobility would be quite excellent,’ Ian considered.

There must have been a reason within Toolun that made them ‘unable to move’. Ian made that judgment and proposed to Jin.

“First of all, now that we have returned, it would be good to keep an eye on Toolun’s movements. Once Astana’s testimony officially reaches the Imperial Palace, it will be okay to move then,” Ian suggested.

He was referring to the official document from Katimaco, which testified that Toolun was involved in Philia’s kidnapping.

Of course, Toolun would deny it outright, but that wasn’t important now.

“And while we wait for that, we want to proceed with the work of eliminating the eyes and ears of those guys that are hidden everywhere,” Ian continued.

“Is it possible to distinguish them?” Jin asked.

“It won’t be easy, but fortunately, we have a helper. I am sorry that it is too bizarre to show to Your Majesty,” Ian replied.

What is it? Acorella asked with a look, but the mages just shook their heads. If Acorella saw Mrs. Darci, whose eyeballs were just rolling around, it was obvious what his reaction would be.

“And when that process is somewhat organized, we would like to inform the Imperial Palace and conduct a large-scale search. Please grant us permission, Your Majesty,” Ian requested.

“Of course, Sir Ian. It is absolutely unacceptable for vile things to wear human skin and live hidden in Bariel. Everyone, please do your best,” Jin said.

“Yes, Your Majesty. We will do our best,” Ian replied.

Jin’s voice was firm and stern. Even though they had returned from a major war, the Ministry of Magic had no time to rest.

At this, the ministers, who had been standing in a line outside listening to the conversation, widened their eyes and looked at each other.

So, with only about a dozen people…

“Is it true that the Ministry of Magic went and, well, cleaned up Ruthwena without any other help?” one minister asked.

“From what I hear, it seems so…” another replied.

“Heo. Hehe,” a third minister chuckled in disbelief.

It was beyond the realm of understanding. How could Ian and the Ministry of Magic report such a tremendous matter so casually? And why wasn’t His Majesty so surprised?