Margrave’s Bastard Son was The Emperor [EN]: Chapter 98

‘Child, listen to the sound of the falling snow.’ First Prince Marib suddenly recalled his mother’s words and looked out the window. As always, snow was falling. Every year, miraculously, the Empress’s voice echoed in his mind the moment the first snow fell. “Ah, it’s the first snow.” Aide Paal smiled as he handed Marib documents on his desk. Winter was cold and difficult, but wasn’t it the season for the end and the beginning of a year? Marib turned his head without much emotion and muttered. “The New Year’s banquet will be held soon.” “Yes, it is. The main palace is very chaotic. The finance officer in charge says he argues with Lady Delaina’s chief attendant every day. Over the budget, of all things…” Delaina was the Emperor’s concubine and the only woman who attended to him. The Empress’s seat had been left as an unspoken vacancy for quite some time after both Marib’s and Gale’s mothers had died. ‘Has it already been over ten years?’ Several times, there had been talk of appointing a new Empress, but it never even made it to the agenda. It was the only thing Marib and Gale agreed on. Until their mothers returned, no one could take the Empress’s seat. No one but their mothers could call them sons. “It’s hard to say if they’re just clueless. I don’t know why they make such a fuss every New Year’s.” “The New Year’s banquet is originally His Majesty’s responsibility. Since His Majesty is not well, it’s only natural that the closest concubine would take over. Isn’t it an honor?” “To receive a word of encouragement from Father?” Marib tried to erase his mother’s face as he continued to speak. He wished his aide would say something useless to distract him. “Well, it’s a bit easier with Lady Delaina around. If it weren’t for her, we would have had to prepare for the New Year’s banquet. If we had to prepare for the New Year’s banquet on top of not being able to leave work on time…” The aide, who had been complaining, lightly slapped his own mouth and organized the documents. He was excited because of the snow. His mouth was running off without knowing the time or place. “When is Romandro supposed to come up? With Sir Ian, I mean.” “There has been no separate message from the Imperial Palace, but they were scheduled to come, so I expect they will be leaving soon.” “What about Molin?” “It seems he will arrive in the Central before Sir Ian. I think the administration will recommend a leave of absence, but it’s not certain. I’ll assign someone to him as soon as he arrives.” “That man has a tenacious life.” Marib’s annoyed mutter made the aide cautiously look at him. Because the appointment of the Chief Justice at the New Year’s banquet and the Magic Department’s checks to test him had not been resolved, they had no choice but to postpone Molin’s execution. That was how it had continued until now. Until the day the first snow fell and the New Year’s ceremony was approaching. “Paal.” “Yes, Your Highness.” Marib lightly pressed his brow and called his aide. Paal’s shoulders stiffened, because whenever his name was called like that, a question always followed. “Is there no way?” A way to kill Molin and get rid of the Magic Department’s checks. “If it weren’t for the Sildam potion, we wouldn’t have to rack our brains like this. The biggest problem is that the Magic Department has no room to intervene in other departments.” They couldn’t trust the written reports alone about how far the potion development had progressed, whether it was effective, and whether there were any physical side effects. Aide Paal hesitated for a moment before answering. “As the matter is quite serious, other departments are also voicing their opposition.” “But the administration is unyielding, isn’t it?” Silence was affirmation. Every day, proposals related to the matter were sent to the Emperor, but none had been properly approved. “Since we have custody of Sir Molin, it would be best to wait until the New Year’s banquet. And if Sir Ian is assigned to the Magic Department, it will be easier to check their information.” Paal glanced at his superior and cautiously offered his opinion. But judging from Marib’s expression, he didn’t seem very pleased. It was just a reminder of what he already knew. “Bring me the report from the Magic Department.” “Yes, I’m sorry.” Marib once again went through the Sildam potion report submitted by the Magic Department. It was meticulously written, but it was something that no ordinary person could understand. Not only could he not understand it, but he even had trouble reading some of the words. ‘To interpret this, I have to get help from the Magic Department again, what a pain.’ It wasn’t like this before. Even just a few years ago, the Magic Department, as those who had inherited sacred power, maintained neutrality and firmly guarded the center of the Imperial Palace. But after Wesley became the head of the Magic Department, that balance had been broken. “What about the report comparing it to the homogeneous potion?” “Here it is.” Based on the more common homogeneous potion, they could check what was newly added and removed from the Sildam potion. Marib, who had been carefully examining it for a while, paused. “Luron?” Luron. It was a name he had never heard before. Judging from the notation next to it, it seemed to be a magic stone…. “Paal, the Sildam potion is said to contain a magic stone called Luron. Find the related information.” “Ah, I happen to have something I requested from the Magic Department.” The aide jumped up and rummaged through the pile of files on the trolley. Then, he took out a stack of papers about a hand span thick and flipped through them. “Shall I read it to you?” “Yes.” Marib turned his gaze back to the report and waited for the aide’s explanation. There were a total of five special ingredients that were only included in the Sildam potion. “Luron, it’s a superior rare magic stone.” “Superior rare?” That meant that it was rare, valuable, and that there was a lack of related data. The first sentence had already gotten on Marib’s nerves. “If it’s superior rare, there wouldn’t be enough to research, but they say that both human trials and efficacy tests have been conducted?” “That’s what the report says. It’s superior rare, but only a very small amount is used, so there are no problems with supply.” “Well, it’s only going to be used by those who are about to be appointed anyway.” “The Magic Department managed a total of 15 kilograms of Luron. 5 kilograms were used during the research process, and about 10 grams are used per dose of the Sildam potion.” “Usually, hundreds of kilograms of commonly used lower-grade magic stones are maintained, aren’t they?” “Luron was only reported to academia last year.” Tap, tap. Marib tapped the desk as if telling him to keep reading. It was a magic stone he had never heard of before, but compared to other materials, it was definitely rare. “The location of the deposit is unknown. It’s usually said to be near ordinary ore veins, but there are few samples. But there’s something unusual…” “What is it?” The aide tilted his head as if he had never seen such a magic stone before. “It’s said that it exists as a liquid, but when it reacts to external magic power, it hardens like a stone. For example, when a mage entered a deposit that had been reported, a miner’s foot standing on the Luron was immediately trapped.” The depth was up to his ankles, but it hardened immediately, so there was no way to get it out. The tightening was so severe that they had to cut off his healthy ankle before his entire leg became necrotic. “It’s fortunate it was just his ankle.” “There have been no reports of it being deep enough to swallow a body. That would have been a disaster. If his entire lower body had been trapped, oh my.” “Anything else?” “Ah, it has a purple color, and the more bubbles that rise when it hardens, the better the magic power response is said to be. I don’t know what a good response means to mages, though.” That was the end of the explanation distributed by the Magic Department. They probably had more detailed data internally…. “I think we need more information about Luron.” “I’ll investigate it.” The aide nodded as if to leave it to him and gathered the documents. Meanwhile, Marib looked out the window again. The snow that had fallen had stopped. “By the way, is the solidified magic stone manufactured as is? It seems like they’re putting it in as a powder, not a liquid.” “The report doesn’t state how it’s fused. However, it says that its hardness is so great that it can’t be scratched by any ordinary means.” “Then how do they do it?” The aide quickly flipped through the report and read out the information he wanted. “It seems to be broken by a mage’s magic power. There are research results that show that the stronger the magic power condensation, the easier it is to handle.” Marib rested his chin on his hand and tapped the table. So, that means…. “It could also be a standard for distinguishing mages with strong magic power.” * * * “Wait!” Romandro shouted, reaching out his hand. Unlike the calm Ian and the seemingly indifferent Beric, all the holes in his face were widened. His eyes were wide, his nostrils were flaring, and his mouth was wide open, showing no signs of closing. “W-wait a minute. What did I just hear?” “I said there’s magic power in the Monne mine.” “Magic stones in Monne? Magic stones? The ones I know about?” He felt like his head was spinning. He wouldn’t feel like this even if he were struck by a bolt of money while walking down the street. Magic stones in a small mine that he only knew as a coal mine!? “Ian! Ian! Wooaaah! Oh my god!” “Lord Romandro, you’re fully awake now.” “How can I not be awake now? You must have done something great in your past life! Magic stones!” He had done something great in his past life, indeed. Ian chuckled and raised both hands. It was a sign to please calm down. “But the problem is that we don’t know the identity of the magic stone. There’s no information. Judging by the fact that it was holding onto the knight’s corpse, it seems dangerous, but it also doesn’t…” It was like he had seen it, but not quite. Ian just smiled awkwardly. All the magic stones Ian had seen so far had gone through dozens of refining processes. He couldn’t be sure because he was trying to identify it as a raw ore. “Is there a problem? I’ll contact the Magic Department right away…” Romandro’s excitement, which had been burning hot, quickly cooled down. He had realized exactly what the problem was. “It seems that this is why His Highness Gale was aiming for this place. Even if it’s not certain, it seems he had some idea and was aiming for this place.” “I-if the Magic Department finds out about this, they’ll definitely make an even bigger fuss.” “I agree. The good thing is that no one but us knows about it.” Ian suddenly thought of Mac and D’Gore, who had been constantly wandering outside the mansion. He had thought they were just messing around with Gula, but now that he thought about it, it seemed they had also been going to the mine. “H-how big was it?” “It was enough to swallow an adult man’s lower body.” “Oh my god. I’m going crazy. You’re really amazing!” It was a value that could not be calculated. Even a lower-grade magic stone was worth as much as a diamond of the same volume. What if it was a mid-grade? No. What if it was a superior grade? Romandro, who had been daydreaming, snapped back to his senses and grabbed Ian’s shoulder tightly. “You could even build a country with this. Hahahaha!” “…Isn’t that something a consultant to the Imperial Palace shouldn’t say?” “Ah, I’m just saying! Just saying!” Ian chuckled and replied. “I don’t plan to report it to the Central for now. After all, the mine is on this territory, and I think it would be better to go into the Magic Department and see how things are before dealing with it.” “Yes. I think so too. It would be good to discuss it with His Highness Marib.” “Please leave that to me as well. I’ll tell him.” “Ah, yes, yes. The owner should do it.” “I’ll go to the mine as soon as it’s light tomorrow.” He needed to go and take a closer look at the magic stone. At Ian’s words, Romandro immediately turned his head to check the time. One o’clock in the morning. It felt like time was going by terribly slowly.