Margrave’s Bastard Son was The Emperor - Chapter 485

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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 485
Fire. Mount Raza
Somewhere on Mount Raza, where dense, lush foliage blocked out the sunlight. Berik had been climbing for nearly an hour with his backpack slung forward and Ian on his back.
The terrain was treacherous enough that climbing it bare-handed was difficult, yet Berik moved with such lightness that Ian felt barely any discomfort. His breathing remained steady, his pace never faltering—the stories about training with ten backpacks strapped to his body weren’t exaggerations.
Ian watched his own feet swaying and asked.
“Berik. Are we going the right way?”
“Yeah. That’s right. White trees with dark foliage.”
“…But everything around here looks like that.”
“No, no. I recognize it when I see it. Why? Are you hungry? Want me to get some jerky?”
In that moment, I had overlooked something crucial. Berik was directionally challenged.
When we reached the base of the mountain, he’d sprinted ahead with such confidence, shouting about killing all the Mole Children, that I naturally assumed he knew the way.
Even now, Berik seemed convinced he knew where he was going, but from my vantage point on his back, it was clear he didn’t. I tapped his shoulder repeatedly and spoke up.
“I think we should head back to the estate and bring a guide with us.”
“We’re almost there, really.”
“It’ll be harder to descend once the sun sets.”
Then Berik’s gaze suddenly fixed on something distant, and he stopped.
I was looking in the same direction, but the scenery was no different from what we’d seen so far. Trees, brush, and winding dirt paths. There was no sign of the massive hole or battle traces Berik had mentioned.
“They’re here.”
“What is?”
“The Mole Children’s stares. I can feel it now.”
Berik set me down and whispered quietly. He didn’t know their exact location, but they were definitely watching us from somewhere nearby.
Given the Mole Children’s appearance and their underground habitat, they might be beneath the soil. Berik stomped loudly and shouted.
“I know you’re there, you little moles! I came to pay back what you did to my head! This time, I’ll strike first, fair and square!”
“Berik. Not fair and square—equally.”
“Equally! I get the first hit!”
I gestured for Berik to calm down. It seemed his Mage Knight abilities had detected their presence, but I couldn’t sense even a hint of wild beasts. My magical power and physical abilities had hit rock bottom.
Carefully, I looked in the direction Berik was facing and spoke.
“Master of Mount Raza, Dera Tribe—are you there?”
“You little moles!”
“We are emissaries sent under the orders of the Imperial Palace. There seems to be some misunderstanding between us, and we wish to see you. We desire to speak with you.”
“Come out! Are you planning to stab us in the back again, you cowards!”
“Berik, be quiet.”
“…Come on out, you bastards.”
After my warning, Berik muttered curses under his breath. But there was no response from the other side. Even for such a reclusive tribe, it would be difficult to ignore the Imperial Palace’s presence in Bariel. Berik was waving his credentials around for all to see, yet the surroundings remained silent.
“Berik. Are you certain you sensed the Dera Tribe?”
“Of course. I’m watching them right now.”
Hmm. What could it be? As I pondered for a moment, stroking my chin.
Something glinted ahead, flickering. Before I could even register its form, something hard gripped my wrist roughly.
Crack!
“Ian!”
“Ah.”
Then came a violent pulling force. I reflexively twisted my body and found myself face-to-face with a woman’s visage carved into the tree trunk.
‘A Dryad!’
Tree spirits bound to their wooden forms by fate itself. They were known to possess quite aggressive temperaments in defending themselves. I resisted with all my strength, but my body was dragged helplessly forward.
“Damn it!”
Zing! Zing!
Berik reflexively unleashed his mana and drew his black sword. Was he really going to drag someone who looked like they’d snap if you so much as poked them? This madness!
The air currents around him shifted violently. With a light bound, dirt, pebbles, and leaves scattered and flew away in rough waves.
“You’re not letting go!?”
I’ll sever this pathetic branch in one stroke. Just as Berik moved to bring his sword down without hesitation, a hammer came flying from somewhere. It belonged to the Dera Tribe.
Whoosh!
Clang!
This time I didn’t leave my back exposed. Berik immediately twisted his sword arc to deflect the incoming hammer, and he ground his teeth. These mole bastards, attacking right now of all times!
“Berik!”
“Ian, just wait!”
I had fallen to the ground and was barely holding on by gripping a stone. I felt all my strength draining away. What had Lady Lien said back then?
“How terrifying it is to consume the body of a loved one and spend your entire life rooted in a single place,”
They absorb the living. Whether beast or human. It was the Dryad’s method of survival.
The moment my left hand slipped and lost its grip on the stone, vines wrapped around Berik’s ankle as well.
“Damn.”
Another Dryad. So the presences I’d felt from all directions weren’t the Dera Tribe—they were these creatures. Berik met the gaze of something watching him and raised his middle finger.
“Can’t you tell what’s edible and what isn’t!?”
Then he lowered his stance, shifted his center of gravity, and prepared to swing his sword. These were just pathetic branches. There was no reason for Ian to suffer like this!
But then, another hammer came flying.
Whoosh!
Clang!
“Ugh!”
This time it struck my temple directly. With a ringing sound, Berik’s vision went dark. If I got hit twice more, I’d lose consciousness, and then there’d be no chance.
It was the moment Berik concentrated his mind and amplified his mana release even further.
“You squid bastard. Trying to cut without knowing anything.”
“A, a mole!”
“Shut it. Before you go back.”
“What are you—!”
The Dera Tribe member appeared.
Trudging along, a mole wearing suspender pants haphazardly glanced around, then picked up the hammer that had fallen to the ground. He then passed by me and approached the Dryad.
“Hup!”
Muscles bulged in his short, stocky arms once more. And so the Dera Tribe member swung the hammer relentlessly at the Dryad’s face.
Clang, clang. After several clear ringing sounds, the Dryad’s wooden vines began to go limp and drooped.
“Ah.”
It released me. I got up, cradling my bruised wrists. All the while, the Dera Tribe member continued leaping and striking down at the Dryad’s face.
“Listen, regardless of what you cut or harvest, you must knock it unconscious first. Otherwise, the eardrums burst. The ears tear apart. I’m not exaggerating—if the body is even slightly weak, blood pours from the eyes, nose, and mouth.”
Crash!
The Dera Tribe member, satisfied with that, turned toward Berik. The squid-like creature lay flat on the ground, eyes glaring. Should I help him or not? The hesitation was evident, but it didn’t last long.
“Since you claim to be from the Imperial Palace, I’ll let you live. Got it?”
If trouble arose here, it would inevitably drag him into annoying complications.
The Dera Tribe member deliberately stepped on Berik’s head, then brought down his hammer on another Dryad’s face.
Crash!
Berik’s ankle was freed as well.
Berik stomped on the branches roughly, crushing them, then rushed toward me. My wrists were a mess, and my body was covered with scratches from being dragged.
“Ian, are you alright? Damn, you look like a beggar.”
“It’s fine, Berik. I’m okay.”
“Listen here. You said you’re from the Imperial Palace?”
The Dera Tribe member pointed his hammer at both of us, delivering a sharp warning.
“Whatever it is, we’ve made our home here since Bariel’s beginning. We cannot tolerate anyone disturbing our lives. Above all, we are victims of past events.”
Being a beast-folk, they were especially cautious. It was one reason humans made noise on Mount Laza and occasionally stole things without facing consequences.
Even if they formally raised complaints, who would listen to the claims of a mole-man? Wasn’t it fortunate enough that they weren’t being driven out as monsters?
“Victims? The true victim is my subordinate who wandered lost into the mountains and got beaten with a hammer by you lot.”
I grasped the Dera Tribe member’s position and circumstances instantly, but chose to deny it first.
“…Subordinate, you say?”
The Dera Tribe member’s button-hole-sized eyes narrowed. Then, glancing at me, he looked over at Berik in succession.
No matter how I looked at it, it was a combination of a boy who hadn’t undergone a coming-of-age ceremony and a rough, foul-tempered man. The superior is the blonde one?
“…Well, judging by the way he speaks, it does seem right. I wondered if the nation was falling apart when some street ruffian claimed to belong to the Imperial Palace.”
“What? You done talking?!”
Berik charged forward furiously, and the Dera Tribe member took a stance inviting combat. I slipped lightly between them.
“Do you know someone named Lien?”
“Who?”
The Dera Tribe member hesitated. What was I talking about?
To gain trust from a closed-off and wary opponent, appropriate external leverage is necessary. I smiled and continued.
“Lien. The name may have changed, but it should definitely exist in the Dera Tribe’s memory. One who inherited Dryad blood and personally cut down her own mother before fleeing. I hear you were close to her?”
And finally, the name of that scrap metal pile—something absolutely unknowable to anyone unrelated.
“You received the Drifter as well.”
“…!”
“Don’t be upset. Lady Lien owed me a debt, and I received it as repayment. Anyway, I’m delighted to meet the famous owner of Mount Laza. Shall we introduce ourselves properly?”
I extended my hand and introduced myself.
“I am Ian Hielo, Minister of Magic of Bariel. That one over there, whom you beat with your hammer, is Berik, a Mage Knight of the Imperial Guards.”
You’re done for, Berik mouthed silently, hurling curses with both hands. Seeing this, the Dera Tribe member wrinkled his nose but, without further comment, clasped my hand.
“…Pim.”
“That’s a damn weird name.”
“Your face is weirder.”
“Hey, hey now. That’s not something you should say!”
Pim casually dismissed Berik with a nod. Lien felt the same way, and above all, there was something about the Dryad I wanted to hear.
“Do you have supplies for treating wounds?”
“Of course—! Mmph!”
Berik was about to protest, asking what we took him for, insisting that his enormous backpack was stuffed with first-aid supplies. But I clamped my hand over his mouth before he could finish.
“I’d be grateful for your help.”
“This way.”
Whoosh.
Pim led the way, parting the undergrowth, and I signaled Berik with my eyes to carry the backpack. The Dera Tribe—living the same day over and over, yet ultimately creating a different future. We had been invited into their tunnels.
* * *
Romand, who had been frantically organizing documents, suddenly lifted his head. The window seemed unusually bright today. The slowly swaying branches allowed him to sense the warm breeze as well.
The midday sunlight streamed directly onto Ian’s empty seat, and the faint layer of dust was plainly visible. No matter how much he wiped it, there was no one sitting there anymore.
The moment Romand looked for something to clean.
Knock knock.
“Romand. Are you busy?”
“Hmm? Not at all.”
“I’m informing you that the conference will begin shortly.”
“Right. Thank you. Let’s go together.”
“And also….”
Romand tucked the documents under his arm and wore a puzzled expression. Something had come up.
“What is it?”
“An unusual messenger bird has arrived.”
“Unusual?”
“Yes. I think it would be best to verify it first before reporting to the Prince.”
Romand received a single sheet of paper from his subordinate. It was wrinkled and creased, bearing the unmistakable marks of its sender’s troubled circumstances.

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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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