Margrave’s Bastard Son was The Emperor - Chapter 43

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 43. What’s in the Sack
Clang!
Deo barely parried the blade that Berik swung down at him. Despite his dramatic improvement in skill over these past months, the gaping wounds riddling his side seemed to have leveled the playing field between them.
“Ugh.”
“Berik. Are you alright?”
At my call, Berik glanced back over his shoulder. That grin spreading across his face looked far too delighted for the circumstances.
“Yes, yes. So don’t talk to me. Master.”
Blood mixed with the spittle he hawked onto the ground, but who was I to argue if he said he was fine? He launched himself at Deo again with the speed of lightning, his blade tracing wide arcs as he relentlessly targeted the man’s vital points.
Clang! Clang!
“Count!”
Deo barely evaded while remaining fixated on protecting his master. Berik’s smile gradually faded, clearly displeased by that devotion.
Count Derga threw caution to the wind and hurled himself at me again.
“Die, Ian!”
Whoosh! Hiss!
The Count’s curse became a signal flare. The Cheonrye warriors unleashed their arrows in unison, while those wielding swords instead vaulted over moss-covered rocks and charged forward.
They were predators with prey directly in their sights.
Each step was powerful, precise, and devastating. The atmosphere reeked of the sheer pleasure they took in slaughter—utterly alien and grotesque.
Screech!
Squelch!
“Aaahhh! Help me!”
“That’s right. Run well. Keep fleeing.”
“Drive them that way! Push them over there!”
“Gendal! I’ve got this one!”
The warriors made quick work of the scattering soldiers’ final breaths. Not that it mattered whether they lived or died—they were expendable rabble. The dew-dampened earth drank in their blood.
“Oh right. We’re supposed to take the bodies with us, aren’t we?”
“Just the heads. Can’t carry the torsos. Too much hassle.”
Clang! Clang!
“That one over there looks worth something.”
“Bel, wasn’t it? Seems to be friends with that knight fellow.”
The small fry were swiftly eliminated. The elite knights found themselves surrounded by prowling Cheonrye warriors, like a wolf pack circling wounded prey.
Meanwhile, Count Derga gasped in ragged, choking breaths, drool streaming from his mouth. Su merely deflected his attacks without mounting any counteroffense—she was simply exhausting him through attrition.
“I…an…! Ugh!”
“Enough of that, Father.”
“You… how did you…?”
Su grabbed the Count by his hair and slammed him into the ground. Pinned beneath my feet, Count Derga thrashed with a flushed face, but it was futile.
I knelt on one knee and muttered quietly.
“I cannot fathom whether it was courage or greed that drove you to conspire with Bumart in the Great Desert where Winchen holds her ground. Not that it matters to me, but as your son, I find it difficult to bear.”
Scrape.
At the sharp, cold sound of the blade, Count Derga’s eyes bulged from their sockets. Su calmly cut away his hair with an expressionless face.
He was the enemy of enemies—one who had seduced my family and sought to kill my spiritual pillar. A traitor among traitors who had sworn alliance only to sharpen his blade against me in the shadows.
“What, what are you doing! What is this!”
“I’m cutting something else instead of your neck. The time hasn’t come yet.”
For a perfect revenge and operation, there were moments when one had to exercise restraint. To soothe the boiling rage within me, I had to cut something—anything.
“How dare you, you lowborn wretch! Do you think you’ll walk away unscathed?”
“Be quiet. You’re making me feel like I’m slaughtering a pig.”
“What, what did you say? You vulgar thing!”
“If you hate your hair so much, shall I cut your neck instead?”
Su pressed the dagger against Count Derga’s throat, muttering under her breath. A savage, scorching fury dripped from her like blood. Count Derga swallowed hard, his vacant eyes rolling, and just then he witnessed blood vessels bursting from Deo’s neck.
“Ugh….”
“D-D-Deo…!”
Berik circled slowly around Deo as if playing a game. He thrust mercilessly at vital points as if practicing. Deo’s eyes bulged wide as he collapsed forward.
Thud!
“Aaaahhh!”
Then the left side. The knights surrounded by the Cheonrye were no different. The moment they showed an opening, their necks were torn into. Even the knights I’d considered elite fell helplessly.
“Ha….”
“Don’t worry. This isn’t the place where my father will die.”
I caressed Count Derga’s cheek and smiled radiantly. Then Su pulled a black cloth mask over Count Derga’s head and tied it tight with cord.
Whack! Whack!
“Aaaahhh!”
Then came relentless beatings. Warriors passing by while cleaning up corpses also stomped on Count Derga’s back and spat out curses by the handful.
Whack! Smack!
“You bastard, how dare you lay hands on Winchen….”
“When should we kill him? Lord Ian?”
“Why can’t we just do it now?”
Count Derga had long since lost consciousness, his lower body soaked, his hands trembling uncontrollably. So Chel took after his father—they were spitting images of each other.
I glanced at Kakantir and answered.
“For now, I’ll hand him over to the Central Authority. We’ll create an opportunity later.”
If I held the initiative, I could let the Cheonrye execute Count Derga however they wished. But first, it was important to present him as the Imperial Palace desired and gain their trust. Not Erika’s, but the central figures of Variel, half a month’s journey away.
Unlike the warriors who smacked their lips in disappointment, Kakantir simply nodded from a distance. It meant everyone understood.
“Everyone, clean this up.”
“Yes, Kakan.”
“Kakan! I see traces of the Central Army in the distance!”
“We’re just a step too late!”
Berik chuckled and wiped the blood from his blade on his pants. Whether it was a satisfying warm-up, his expression looked considerably lighter.
“Berik. Your wounds—if they get infected here, it’ll be hard to treat.”
Medical personnel were limited, and there were far too many territorial residents injured from the battle. Adding Berik to that would only complicate matters.
But Berik sniffled indifferently and lifted his shirt to show me. The bandages the Cheonrye physician had wrapped were still intact.
“I’m really fine, you know?”
“…How on earth?”
“I don’t know either. Every time I swing a blade, the stress melts away, so maybe that’s why my recovery is faster? Stress is the root of all evil, after all!”
Swish, swish! Unlike the sword wielded with precision, Berik’s words were nothing but playful nonsense. I studied his wounds carefully, yet I couldn’t make sense of them at all.
“Let’s head down!”
“Central Army scouts, keep it down a bit!”
“You’re the loudest one. Ahahaha.”
A warrior hoisted the burlap sack containing Count Derga onto his shoulder and shouted.
I passed by the headless corpses and made my way toward Bratz’s mansion. Above us, Cheonrye hawks continued to circle.
* * *
“Lady Erika! Lady Erika!”
“The Cheonryeo Tribe has returned!”
Boom, boom, boom!
At her subordinate’s cry, Erika rushed to the window and drew back the curtains. Crude barbarians strutting through the main gate with unabashed confidence. They were all drenched in blood and carrying some sort of burlap sack.
“What of the Central Army?”
“A messenger bird arrived. It seems they’ll be camping in the forest. They’ve found traces of Count Derga and his soldiers.”
Click. Erika bit her nails and frowned. She had a bad feeling about this. It was because the expressions of those who had entered and returned from the same forest seemed unusually bright.
After dismounting from Kusile, I entered the main building with several warriors.
“Wait, you must first seek Lady Erika’s permission—!”
“Quiet. Did we rent out the entire mansion?”
“Show some respect! We are the Imperial Palace Investigation Unit!”
“Is that so? We are the heart of the Great Desert. Get out of the way.”
From the sound of commotion in the corridor, it seemed my subordinates were blocking my group. Erika swallowed a sigh and opened the office door. The spacious corridor was packed with men.
“What is all this commotion?”
“Ah, Lady Erika.”
I lightly arranged my sweat-dampened hair and lowered my head. It was certainly a respectful gesture, yet it contained not a shred of deference or reverence.
“I asked what the commotion was about. Ian.”
“We’ve returned after pursuing Count Derga’s trail. What business could there be?”
At my glance, a warrior hurled the sack directly onto the floor. With a dull thud, the corridor echoed with a boom. Erika’s subordinate hesitantly approached and cut open the sack’s opening with his sword.
“Ugh!”
Soldiers’ heads rolled out from inside. Some were torn off, others cleanly severed. As Erika recoiled in disgust, covering her mouth, the warrior laughed brazenly.
“Oh my. My apologies. Since we turned Bratz into a sea of blood, I thought you’d be accustomed to such things.”
“Shut your mouth! You lot really do push every boundary….”
“Ah, the real one is here.”
Boom!
Another burlap sack was hurled down. The sound was different this time.
This time, Erika herself opened the sack’s opening and peered inside. Count Derga, bound with a cloth mask covering his face, was meticulously secured.
“Count… Derga?”
“Is it really him?”
“It appears to be.”
Though unconscious, he seemed to be in no mortal danger. The investigation unit members hesitated and looked back at Erika. As if unsure what to do.
“Do you believe us now?”
“…Hmph. You’re not entirely without skill. Move Count Derga to the Underground Prison!”
“Yes, of course!”
The subordinates tried to drag Count Derga, but his corpulent frame wouldn’t budge an inch. Even when they barely managed to hoist him onto their shoulders, he tumbled forward with a single step.
“Careful, careful!”
“Ugh!”
Thud!
How could anyone not laugh at the sight? The Cheonrye warrior chuckled and called out.
“Need help? At this rate, he’ll roll all the way down to the basement. He’ll die before we even get to execute him.”
“Hahahaha!”
“We did well to bring him back. Otherwise, what were we supposed to do? Nurse him back to health and ask him to walk on his own two feet?”
Even Kakantir, who had remained silent, couldn’t suppress his laughter. As Erika’s face flushed crimson as though it might burst, I smoothly redirected the conversation.
“Well then, now that we’ve captured Count Derga, what are your plans? If possible, I’d prefer we carry out the execution promptly and depart.”
“Your words are quite presumptuous, Ian. My task isn’t finished yet. I must eliminate everyone bearing the surname ‘Bratz.'”
“What do you mean by that?”
“I haven’t found the key figures yet—Mrs. Mary and Chel. If you’re idle, go down to the village and search for them. You’re welcome to stay there in the meantime.”
“Is there a possibility they’ve left the area?”
“Highly unlikely. I can pinpoint the day they disappeared. No women left through the city gates that day.”
With that, Erika tossed her bound hair and strode confidently back to her office, subtly asserting that this location was precisely where they were hiding. Only her bewildered subordinates remained in the corridor, fumbling helplessly with Count Derga.
“Help them move Count Derga.”
“Yes, Kakan.”
After instructing his subordinate, Kakantir gestured to me. His gaze suggested he wanted a brief word. I readily moved to follow him toward the back of the corridor when I hesitated.
“What?”
Berik had followed along without any sense of propriety.
I glanced around as though checking the surrounding gazes, turning my head left and right before instructing him.
“Don’t follow me. Go find Philia.”
“Ah, right! Your real mother?”
“Yes. You helped her hide, so you know the way, don’t you?”
“Of course I do.”
Despite his confident answer, his expression looked flustered. Surely he hadn’t forgotten? As I was about to add something, Berik suddenly bolted out of the mansion.
“Lord Ian.”
“Yes, Kakan.”
I left Berik behind and faced Kakantir. His expression felt distinctly rigid.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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