Margrave’s Bastard Son was The Emperor [EN]: Chapter 688

‘This is a disaster.’

That was the thought that flashed through the minds of the Balzhuaad merchant group members and the advance soldiers the moment they saw Philia’s body.

They didn’t have time to notice the shocked and grieving mages, or Ian, who stood frozen, holding Philia for a long time.

‘What do we do?’

First, the Balzhuaad merchant group.

They were the ones who had fled the civil war in Hawan and slipped into Merelop. Without going through proper entry procedures, they had infiltrated deep into the center to assess the situation while avoiding danger.

Above all, they were a group that freely crossed borders using magic paintings, so it was crucial to establish a friendly relationship to appease the imperial palace’s scrutiny of them.

And that was precisely the reason for helping Philia move.

‘If it’s revealed that our Balzhuaad merchant group brought Lady Philia here… what will happen to us? She’s the mother of the Minister of Magic. Damn it! It looked like she was out secretly; did we get involved in something we shouldn’t have?’

They were about to ruin everything in an instant while trying to gain some merit.

While the Balzhuaad merchant group members were reeling and racking their brains, the advance soldiers were also trembling.

‘Lord Roel is injured!’

Roel was a descendant of Chunryeo and the younger brother of Ian Hielo. The desert warriors were important for defending the border, and this was acknowledged by the imperial palace. Therefore, weren’t they told to quickly guide Roel to the border?

But with a moment’s carelessness, a terrible thing had happened.

‘This is a big problem.’

They had failed to protect Roel. And as a result, Philia had suffered the consequences. It was all their fault, their sin.

Philia had even warned them earlier that there was an unspoken danger lurking, targeting Roel.

“Damn it!”

They were trying to make a name for themselves in the war and get ahead, but everything was over before they even took a step.

The soldiers exchanged troubled glances. It was as if they didn’t know who should take responsibility for this.

“Lord Roel!”

Until Roel finally lost consciousness and collapsed, they stood there stiffly in the heavy and uncomfortable situation. When Ian, who was holding Philia, picked up Roel, only then did the mages and residents move to handle the situation.

“I, I will take him to my mansion first, Lord Ian.”

“……”

“Lord Ian, I will take care of Lord Roel.”

“……”

“…What are you all doing? Move the carriages. We will return to the village and sort things out.”

At Hale’s command, the Balzhuaad merchant group and the advance soldiers flinched. In particular, the Balzhuaad seemed deeply troubled about whether to follow or not.

Wasn’t now the only chance to escape, in this chaotic situation? If Minister Ian Hielo regained his senses, he would surely try to confirm the course of events.

Thud!

As the mages flew towards the village first, the merchant group members, thinking this was their chance, immediately turned their horses around. Then, the soldiers, who had been having similar thoughts, noticed this and reacted instantly.

“What is it?”

“They are the ones who were escorting Lady Philia. Th, they seem to be running away?”

“Damn it! Catch them! We can’t let them get away!”

If things went wrong, they might have to take full responsibility for Philia’s death. They had to keep those guys by their side, even if it was just their corpses.

Neigh!

At the officer’s command, the advance soldiers quickly spurred their horses. Even though the Balzhuaad was a wandering merchant group, most of their journeys were through magic paintings. They couldn’t outrun professionally trained soldiers. It was only a matter of time before they were caught.

Swoosh!

Nevertheless, the merchant group didn’t seem to have any intention of stopping easily. In response, the advance soldiers eventually drew their swords and moved forward, slashing the backs of the fleeing merchant group members.

“Aaaah!”

As the man who fell from his horse let out a painful groan, the officer’s mind raced. If he played his cards right, he might be able to avoid responsibility for this situation. He gestured to the soldiers and gave instructions.

“Let’s go into the village. We will search for any remaining insolent remnants, and if there are any, we will eliminate them.”

* * *

“Line up!”

The residents cowered at the soldiers’ intimidating tone. They had been so happy that support forces were coming from the capital, but this was a complete shock.

What did they have to do with the fact that the Minister of Magic’s family had been attacked? Even the mayor’s wife had died on the spot, they heard.

Complaints were slowly rising, but in front of sharp swords, they had no choice but to watch their words.

“No, those guys are ridiculous. I heard it was something like brainwashing; how could mere soldiers figure that out?”

“Please, lower your voice.”

“Instead of doing this here, shouldn’t they be ransacking the mayor’s mansion?”

“They can’t even look in that direction right now. I heard the Minister of Magic is there with his younger brother. What if they get scolded for just making eye contact?”

“Whether they get scolded or not, who cares!”

“Oh my, elder. I told you to lower your voice. Those guys are soldiers from the imperial palace, soldiers! Not the village guards here.”

As they said, the soldiers didn’t have the ability to distinguish the puppetized people. Even the great mages only found out after receiving a tip from Lady Darci, so how could they have a way?

They were just checking IDs and making them sing the Bariel national anthem. It was all very suspicious and unprofessional.

“But why aren’t they checking over there?”

“They’re refugees from Hielo.”

“So what?”

“You don’t know why? They’re not touching them because they’re from Minister Hielo’s territory!”

They were doing all this to appease the minister’s anger; would they be crazy to arrest his people?

The Karenna residents waited for their turn with their arms crossed and annoyed faces. They were already having a hard time with less food and inconvenience because of the refugees, but what was this all about?

“Next!”

An old man stepped forward in front of the soldier, holding a child’s hand tightly. He was a man with a particularly rough, wheezing breath. A spy? He was an old man who would be lucky to wake up alive tomorrow.

The soldier was about to pass him by, but he read the special note on his ID.

“You’re from Hawan?”

“…Yes?”

“I asked if you had naturalized.”

“Uh, I don’t remember when it was. It’s been decades, when this one’s mother was young……”

The child looked up at the soldier with sharp, clear eyes. Transparent eyes that seemed to know everything. That they were harassing innocent residents to lessen their guilt over the death of the minister’s mother.

The soldier’s face flushed red for a moment, and he grabbed the child’s shoulder and pulled him without realizing it.

“You two, this way! We will investigate in detail later!”

“No, look here. We are really Bariel people. And who would harm whom? I am old, and this is a child……”

“Don’t talk back! Your sin will only get heavier.”

“Oh, please have mercy……”

“If you’re talking about sin, what sin are you talking about?”

“What?”

It was the child who spoke up. The child asked, holding the old man’s arm tightly.

“I don’t understand what sin we have that makes it heavier, so I’m asking.”

“Oh, look at this?”

The soldier grabbed the child by the collar. The startled old man rushed in and begged him to let go, but the soldier just roughly pushed him away.

“We are currently carrying out a mission under the imperial order of the Great Bariel Empire. Anyone who interferes with us is interfering with the imperial order. Stop pretending to be smart and just follow the order.”

“My grandfather is from Hawan, but he has lived as a Bariel person longer than he lived as a Hawan person. And I have never been outside of Karenna.”

“But why do you keep talking back so clearly-!”

Slap!

The soldier lightly slapped the child’s cheek. He didn’t like his impudence, but he was just trying to scare him, considering he was a child.

But-

“Oh?”

The child, rather, held his head up high and glared at the soldier as if telling him to hit him more. He was still young and didn’t know what it meant to stir up trouble.

The angry soldier continued to slap the child’s cheek, and the old man trembled, unable to bear to watch.

“You brat, still going to the end? Do you want to go before your grandfather?”

“……”

The child bit his lip, then with all his might, he headbutted the soldier’s chin.

Crack!

“Aaaah!”

With the sound of a bone breaking, the soldier tumbled to the ground, and the soldiers who were checking on the other side rushed over in surprise. Blood dripped from between the fingers of the man who was holding his nose. His nose bone was broken in just one hit.

“You, you, you little punk!”

“Come on! I’ll take down a guy like you-!”

Thud!

The child bravely charged, but how could he win against grown men, especially soldiers? The beating continued one-sidedly, raising dust.

Then, the residents, unable to watch any longer, stepped forward and began to stop the soldiers.

“Stop it! The child didn’t know what he was doing.”

“Yes, he’s a very strange child, famous in the village. Please, don’t… oh, you’ll kill the child!”

“No, aren’t you all going too far? We know it’s just for show. That’s why we’re cooperating without complaint, aren’t we? If you do this, we’ll be in trouble too!”

“That’s right! We’re letting the refugees from Hielo stay in our homes, feeding them, and taking care of them with all our hearts!”

“The so-called support forces from the capital aren’t even thinking about catching the enemy; why are they catching an innocent child?”

The residents, who were already full of complaints, began to shout one by one. The area became chaotic in an instant. The flustered soldiers swung their swords wildly and shouted.

“Shut up! Be quiet! No one knows if there are any Toolun spies hiding among you.”

“You look the most like a spy!”

Thud!

The child, who had fallen to the ground, finally got up and headbutted the soldier’s abdomen. Any other child would have been scared and begged for mercy, but his temper was truly terrible. The more you touched him, the more he sharpened his edge; it was like he had seen it somewhere before…….

“You brat!”

It was the moment the soldier was about to swing his sword wildly as a threat.

Thud.

Hale, who had stepped in front, stopped his sword with his fingertips. As magic was released, the tip of his sword scattered like dust.

“Gasp!”

“What is all this commotion?”

“H, Hale, Commander.”

“We, we were searching for Toolun spies in preparation for any possible danger.”

Hale looked back and forth between the residents and the soldiers, frowning as if puzzled.

“The way you’re acting, you guys look more like Toolun spies.”

“What kind of thing is that to say!”

“Otherwise, how could you treat the residents of Karenna like this?”

Karenna was at the forefront of Bariel territory, and now it was the only place for refugees to stay. It was obvious that their help was absolutely necessary for the people of Hielo.

Hale glanced at the fallen child, then turned his head and looked at him properly.

“Hmm?”

The way he spat out thick saliva and a broken tooth was not like a young child. And it was even somewhat familiar. Where had he seen that before? Hale tilted his head and asked the child.

“Are you okay?”

“Yes, well. It feels like I’ve been to the gates of the underworld. I’m fine.”

Oh? Even the way he spoke?

Hale, just in case, gently placed his hand on the child’s forehead. A faint magical energy was felt. But it wasn’t that of a mage.

“You-”

“Yes?”

“Cedric!”

The old man crawled over and hugged his grandson tightly. With a strength that he didn’t know where it came from.

Hale was slightly pushed aside by that, but he didn’t take his eyes off Cedric. A dirty temper, a faint but clear magical energy. And a familiar demeanor.

“…You, you’re a magic swordsman?”