Margrave’s Bastard Son was The Emperor [EN]: Chapter 741

Deep into the night.

The Royal Palace of Tolun was asleep. Or, to be precise, it was as quiet as if it were asleep. Aside from the occasional changing of the guard and their quiet greetings, there was no sign of any particular activity.

Tap, tap!

Thus, even in his sleep, Kumasha could perceive the footsteps running through the hallway.

It was noisy. Anything out of the ordinary was always a problem. The child slightly opened his eyes, his white pupils darting in the darkness.

For a fleeting moment, the numerous perspectives connected to the child flickered rapidly. Where was it? Where and what had happened again?

“Your Highness!”

“Something terrible has happened!”

It wasn’t just one or two. A throng of ministers rushed in, rudely reporting to the king’s chambers.

Kumasha, still lying down, merely turned his head slightly towards the door. When there was no response, they urgently made their presence known again.

To dismiss the attendants and come directly like this.

‘What on earth could have happened?’

“The, the mages of Bariel seem to have entered the capital!”

“Please, rise, Your Highness! Please!”

“This is no time to be like this!”

“There’s no sign of him. Is he even inside?”

“Yes, of, of course.”

“But why isn’t there any response!”

“Your Highness! Are you listening! The mages from the Masantar Temple have somehow made their way up here!”

Yet, the child did not rise. He merely turned his gaze towards the ceiling, slightly frowning.

The burns from the Ruswena War still lingered all over his body. Why forbidden magic was called forbidden, the child seemed to understand vaguely, even though he was not a mage.

“And it seems the Mayor of Artor is dead.”

“……!”

Kumasha’s eyes, which had been indifferently listening, widened. The child unknowingly raised his upper body, and the ministers, hearing the rustling of the bedding, breathed a sigh of relief. So, he was listening after all! Even though he’s his father, he must be concerned, right?

“…What are you talking about?”

“It’s information that the mayor’s mansion has been burned down. Mer, the head of the investigation there, reported it directly, so it’s definitely true. From what I’ve heard, it seems Ian Hiel, the Minister of Magic, is directly responsible for this-”

Flick! The child’s head snapped back. At a different speed from when he first woke up, dozens, hundreds, thousands of scenes flashed before his eyes.

But they didn’t appear easily. A burning mansion and his father’s corpse, things like that. Surely, someone among the citizens would be watching, since it was a big deal.

Artor, that is, his father, were there so few puppets near him? Why?

“……!”

Something else was visible. It was the eastern wall of the palace. A long, moving light in the darkness.

The one watching it seemed to be the chief of the wall defense, and judging by how he stood stiffly without moving, he seemed quite shocked.

And for good reason, this was enemy territory. They wouldn’t even be able to grasp the terrain since it was in front of the capital of Tolun, yet they had dared to march at night. That alone showed how great Bariel’s confidence was.

“…East wall of the palace. The Bariel army has arrived.”

“Yes? What do you mean, Your Highness?”

“The Bariel army has reached the capital!”

Kumasha shouted irritably, and outside, the sighs of the ministers could be heard one after another.

What to do was up to the king’s choice, but the child continued to stare blankly into the air. He had to find it. The burning mansion…….

“Ah.”

He could see it. He didn’t know who it was, but the burning mansion was directly in front of him. No one was moving to put out the fire. He didn’t know why they were just standing by, but Kumasha didn’t mind it.

Turning his head, he saw a small child, about five years old, sitting down and crying.

‘Aris.’

His half-sibling. He had heard that his mother had died, but when was that?

Although he had become mayor, his vulgar nature was still there. Due to his father’s violence and frequent affairs, his second wife had withered away from illness and died.

‘What is he saying…….’

Kumasha continued to watch the crying child. Then, suddenly, he felt a strange sense of elation rising within him.

His half-sibling, who had the same father but lived a different life than him. Just thinking that he was feeding even that one with his name sometimes made him want to vomit.

Yes! You should be like that too! My old days were so miserable because of that incompetent father! You too, you should be like this, it’s only fair!

“…….”

But that was only for a moment, the child turned his gaze to the flames of the mansion. His father was probably inside. Once the fire died down, not a single trace of him would remain.

It was truly well done, that damned bastard, he deserved to die! Kumasha nodded, trying to think that way.

Then, suddenly, he made eye contact with himself in the mirror next to the bed. The connection was broken.

“Your Highness. Forgive me, but I will enter.”

“Attendants, quickly go in and tidy up His Highness’s attire!”

“Y-yes, excuse us, Your Highness.”

It was because of the attendants’ presence.

They approached with quick steps, heads bowed low to avoid eye contact with the king. Thus, no one saw the king’s strange expression. A face that was neither smiling nor crying, this complex face.

The child was smiling and crying at the same time. It was a complex mix of resentment towards his father, a faint lingering longing, and resentment towards the unbreakable bond of kinship.

“…I will dress myself.”

Kumasha took a deep breath for a moment, then got out of bed and put on his clothes. If he went outside, he would immediately face the cunning ministers. Before that, he had to compose himself so that there would be no room for criticism.

Now that his father was dead… even if he was caught, he would only hurt himself, but still.

Creak.

Kumasha, having changed his clothes, opened the door himself. The ministers who had gathered bowed deeply, and the child quickly passed them, giving instructions.

“The mages will come straight to the palace.”

“T-to the King, you mean?”

“These things are trying to trample Tolun-!”

“Their movements have been swift since the Masantar Temple incident.”

“How did they get in? I thought there was a device to detect magic at the immigration checkpoint.”

“They came in disguised as slaves caught by slave traders.”

“They used children.”

The words ‘swift movements’ particularly bothered him. Kumasha tapped his head, pausing for a moment.

What was the king doing, the ministers looked at him with curiosity, but that was only for a moment.

“Banusa. Answer me.”

Ah, he was trying to contact Banusa.

Come to think of it, where was Banusa now? Didn’t she say she would come up first after seeing the mages arrive at the Masantar Temple? It had been more than enough time for her to arrive, but there was still no report.

“Banusa.”

“Are you unable to connect?”

“Be, quiet.”

When one of the ministers, unable to bear it any longer, slipped in, Kumasha glared at him. Then, putting aside the connection with Banusa, he went down to the basement. Dozens of ministers followed the child.

Tap, tap!

In the basement, there was a miniature model of the capital of Tolun. It was a model in name only, a huge structure that stretched for hundreds of meters.

Fortunately, the inside of the capital was almost complete. The problem was the outside.

“We can identify the path the Bariel army is taking, but the terrain there is still incomplete.”

“So, are you saying we should just wait with our hands tied for them to enter the capital? We’ll all die if we do that!”

“That’s right. Then it will be truly irreversible. And with the mages as well… we must block their path as much as possible and stop their advance.”

“The wall defense should be responding appropriately by now. They’ll report soon!”

“Your Highness? What are you trying to do?”

Kumasha strode towards the eastern wall of the palace. Then, he traced the unfinished terrain outside the wall with his fingertips, gauging the path.

‘This much is no problem even without a model.’

Unlike Burgos or Ruswena, this was her territory. He knew without looking how the paths were laid out and how the enemies would inevitably come up.

“Needle.”

Kumasha rolled up his sleeves and held out his hand. The attendants quickly approached and handed him a red needle case.

It wasn’t a thin, ordinary needle. It was a needle made of bamboo. Kumasha fiddled with it for a moment, then put his hands together and focused his mind.

Swish!

A dark vision. Everything was dark because it was nighttime. The enemy was even in stealth, and the vision was as small as a pinhole, making it difficult to identify the target.

But-

‘I can see it.’

No matter how well they hid, there was always a light they couldn’t help but emit. Without hesitation, Kumasha inserted the bamboo needle there.

Kwaaaang!

At the same time, a faint tremor echoed from afar. The ministers stepped back in surprise, and soon realized that blood was flowing from under Kumasha’s chin. A nosebleed had burst from the intense magic.

“Y-!”

“Shh!”

Was a little blood a big deal? It was just that his body wasn’t used to using a different kind of magic. Either way, the fact that there was a tremor outside was important.

Thud!

After that, Kumasha repeatedly stuck the bamboo needle into the sand, shaking his body. The more he did, the louder the tremors outside became.

In response, the ministers exchanged glances and rushed outside to move the troops, while the attendants hovered anxiously around the king.

“Your Highness. Are you alright?”

“…I’m fine. I’m more than fine.”

Ian Hiel, the first thing he did after barging in here was to kill his father. It was a challenge, a dare. Taking away what was precious to each other, to see who would suffer more.

The child felt an indescribable emotion surge up as he stabbed the needle again. Strangely, the last face he had seen of his father wouldn’t leave his mind.

* * *

“Your Majesty. There, the capital is visible.”

“Set up camp around here. What about Ian’s signal?”

“There’s still no signal. Judging by the coordinated movements on the wall, it doesn’t seem like there’s a problem inside.”

Jin looked at the capital through a telescope. It certainly didn’t seem like anything had happened inside the city. The enemy seemed to be diligently tracking the movements of the Bariel army and moving as trained to defend the city.

Jin lowered the telescope and turned to the mages.

“Any message magic, or anything like that?”

“I’m sorry. The distance is too far to connect. And it’s hard to sense any magic. We’ll have to scout from the sky.”

It was night anyway. Jin’s army would stop here, let the soldiers rest, and then launch the siege as soon as the sun rose.

“The surprise attack was somewhat successful. How about attacking now, while the defense forces aren’t strong?”

“No. We don’t know what kind of devices Tolun has set up, so the mages and magic swordsmen should retreat. The Imperial Defense Force will lead the way.”

If Ian was inside, he would surely let them know when the time was right to attack.

It was the moment when the soldiers were about to disperse to set up camp at the Emperor’s command.

Swoosh!

“……?!”

The magic swordsmen reflexively gripped their swords at the strange sensation they felt from somewhere. But they soon realized that it was not an attack that could be blocked with a sword.

Zing! Zing!

The mages spread a protective barrier as wide as possible, but a strong impact landed where they had not been able to provide protection.

Thud! Thud!

A tremor as if an invisible giant was striking with his fist.

It was not easy to figure out what was happening in the darkness. But soon, Jin realized.

“……!”

In the middle of the camp, the bodies of the soldiers were crushed.