Margrave’s Bastard Son was The Emperor - Chapter 590

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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 589
Fire. The Interrogation of Rutherford
“Ugh.”
Barsabe’s eyes fluttered open as her head throbbed with splitting pain. The Mage who had been tending to her legs startled and gently pressed her back down as she tried to rise.
“Captain Barsabe, are you regaining consciousness?”
“It hurts so much… my head…”
“That’s only natural. You’ve endured much. Still, I’m relieved you’ve come to your senses. The doctor warned that if you remained unconscious until tomorrow, it would be truly dangerous. You must be parched, but please wait a moment. You cannot drink water immediately.”
The Mage administered an Akorelra amplification injection into her arm and handed her a damp cloth, instructing her to moisten only her lips first.
Barsabe gazed at the tent ceiling and asked.
“How many days have passed? What of Rutherford?”
“It’s been four days. Rutherford was safely captured that night. I heard there will be an execution ceremony for the remnants soon. Ian went in that direction as well, and His Majesty along with most of the Imperial Guards should be inside Agiar Castle.”
“I see. That’s fortunate.”
The mere fact that they had captured Rutherford allowed me to endure everything. The agony of my body being torn apart, the humiliation I suffered during battle, the shame of confronting my own inadequacy—all of it.
“What is your physical condition exactly?”
“I’m not certain what you’re asking. Daily activities, or combat?”
“Both, actually.”
“I suspect I’ll be excluded from combat going forward. I have countless lacerations and gaping wounds scattered throughout my body. However, since the Imperial Guards’ strength is not what it once was, I cannot speak to the superiors’ judgment. As for daily activities, well, as long as I don’t overexert myself, I should manage somehow. Surely you’re not counting training grounds and such as daily activities, are you?”
As the Mage chattered while changing the gauze, Barsabe laughed bitterly without responding. Too many comrades, including Bonita, had died. I was ashamed to be lying here like this.
“Ah, and Captain Barsabe. Is there any discomfort when you speak?”
“No. There’s no problem. Why do you ask?”
“Oh, it’s nothing.”
The Puppeteers of Toollun seemed to have touched the inside of Barsabe’s cheek, and I was worried, but it appears to have healed quickly.
The Mage handed Barsabe clean clothes and stood up.
“Rest for a bit, and if you can walk, try walking. I’ll bring the doctor.”
“Yes. Thank you.”
Left alone in the tent, I slowly changed into fresh clothes. My head still felt like it might split open, but with no part of my body uninjured, such pain was inevitable.
After waiting for some time with the Mage not returning, I gathered strength in my legs and walked carefully.
Whoosh.
Since this was my first time inside Agiar, I furrowed my brow and looked around. In the distance, I could see the collapsed castle walls.
That chaos happened just four days ago. As I thought this to myself and was about to search for the Mage, it happened.
-I can see you.
A sudden voice swept through my mind. The sensation was so eerie that I reflexively turned around and faced a Palace Guard Comrade standing there with a welcoming expression.
“Barsabe, you’re awake? You look like you’re doing well.”
“Ah, yes. Sorry. I’ve been lying down for a while.”
“Why would you say that? But why are you out here? Shouldn’t you rest more?”
Was that voice just now from him? Had my poor condition caused me to mishear my comrade’s greeting as an auditory hallucination? I laughed awkwardly and shook my head.
“The Mage hasn’t returned.”
“He was called away urgently earlier. There seems to be some problem inside the castle.”
“What?”
“I don’t know. Something happened during Rutherford’s interrogation, it seems. I didn’t hear the details either. Go back and rest. I was about to head in myself.”
Barsabe paused briefly in contemplation, then turned her body as if to follow. If they were remnants, they were surely the ones who had toyed with her sword. She wanted to witness their final moments with her own eyes.
“Why is she turning her body this way?”
“Let’s go together.”
“What are you saying? The person who just woke up.”
“The ones being executed are Mage Knights, right? I owe them a lot. If I can’t repay that debt before I die, I’ll get sick and never be able to hold a sword again.”
So shut up and go get the horses.
Though her body bore countless wounds, Barsabe remained unchanged. Her colleague was about to retort, but remembering her stubbornness, he took a step back instead. He grasped the reins of a horse resting in the stable and urged her.
“Just go and look. Understood? Don’t overexert yourself, please.”
* * *
Rustle.
In the vast open space, not a whisper of wind stirred, making the silence feel all the heavier. The only sounds were the ragged breathing of those kneeling and the rustling of papers as Ian turned them.
The Bariel Soldiers kept their spear points tense, while Rutherford smiled with his head slightly bowed. As if he had never anticipated his circumstances would come to this, yet still clinging to a vain hope that it was not yet over.
“There are so many questions to ask that finding where to begin is itself a task. Rutherford. Did you know there was a Laromedia habitat beneath the cliff?”
At the question Ian posed, Katimako picked up his pen.
They had descended the cliff and investigated Laromedia, but nothing particularly significant had been revealed. Only a cautious opinion that Laromedia seemed to have established its habitat not long ago.
“…The God informed me.”
“The Underworld Deity?”
The Underworld Deity beneath the fissure issued orders to Rutherford, who trampled upon Gaia? Was such a thing possible?
It was already established fact that the Underworld Deity sought to expand its influence over Gaia and cause the fissure. This meant that without the fissure as a medium, such a thing could not occur.
Ian rested his chin on his hand and furrowed his brow.
“It is a mystery. Rutherford, how exactly are you connected to the Underworld Deity?”
“…The Underworld Deity is a new religion of Toollun.”
“I am well aware. The true identity of this ‘God’ you follow and worship is precisely that.”
Rutherford bit his lower lip and glared at Ian, but Ian showed no particular reaction. He was lost in thought.
How could the Underworld Deity issue direct orders to Rutherford? If that were possible, could it not also influence someone else besides Rutherford?
I needed to know whether it was possible because of Rutherford specifically, or whether the Underworld Deity possessed some separate ability of its own.
“Did you have prior contact with Toollun?”
“….”
“You received support from Puppeteers, and ten years ago—before you moved directly yourself—the place you made your base was also identified as Toollun. Tell me in detail through what process you formed this connection and what you did during your stay.”
Ian asked calmly, but neither Rutherford nor anyone else seemed inclined to answer.
After several seconds of silence, Ian gestured orders to the soldiers. Their blades flew not at Rutherford, but at the Mage Knights beside him.
Slash!
“Aaahhh!”
“So you can speak. Yet I wonder why there are no answers. If Rutherford does not respond, you will bleed. If you wish, continue your silence. I will break it with your screams.”
“W-we first met Rutherford in T-Toollun!”
As the soldier raised his blade again, one of the Mage Knights could not contain his fear and cried out.
“We heard rumors that the Caravan Master was seeking guards, so we went there. That was him. I joined quite late, so I don’t know much about the process, but by then there were already many powerful people gathered from various places.”
“Was the price for turning Bariel into an enemy and throwing the world into chaos merely money?”
As Ian asked with contempt, the man’s pupils wavered slightly.
“At first it was, certainly at first it was—yes, it was.”
“Then what about later?”
“Later—”
As he faltered and spoke incoherently, Jairot, who had been observing, approached and whispered to me.
“It could be a form of brainwashing. Much like what I experienced in the northern monster territory, the Underworld Deity may have inscribed false loyalty into his mind. Without that, there’s insufficient justification.”
“I concur. No matter what ability Rutherford possessed to create Idgal, it would be foolish to antagonize Bariel based on that alone.”
At that time, Idgal was merely a means to control the Mage and Mage Knight. Though it possessed the power to utterly destroy those with magical prowess, fear alone could not extract such excessive loyalty.
Then….
‘Was there a crack in Toollun? Given that he heard the Underworld Deity’s voice, I can only conclude that Rutherford himself is connected to that being.’
“So you’re Ian Verosion.”
Rutherford, who had been silent for some time, finally spoke.
“The one who inherits the Verosion name in the future of Bariel, you say.”
“That’s correct.”
Rutherford’s body convulsed with laughter.
The man has finally lost his mind. Everyone frowned and watched him intently, while I tilted my chin slightly as if inviting him to speak freely.
“How does such a person come to be in this place? Has the name Verosion become unnecessary in the future of Bariel? If so, that is nothing but pure joy, and I cannot help but laugh.”
Regardless of why he came here, the very fact itself proves that something is amiss with Bariel. Either the Emperor becomes unnecessary in the future of Bariel, or my aid is desperately needed in the current Bariel.
Rutherford let his long hair fall and murmured.
“You know, Ian. You resemble me quite a lot.”
A soul transferring to another body, creating Idgal, being connected to an entity called God, having traversed the abyss, and so forth.
Unlike the clarity in my eyes, those around me reacted immediately.
“Irreverent words demand a price, Ian. Shall we sever a finger?”
“Eek!”
The scream came from Rutherford’s Mage Knights.
But I had instead gleaned a clue from his provocation.
‘Just as I could create Idgal upon entering the bastard Ian’s body, Bandor was able to create Idgal upon entering Rutherford’s body.’
If so, then Rutherford’s very existence was the Underworld Deity’s creation.
“When I met the bastard Ian in Bratz, you, Rutherford, could not easily create Idgal. But because the bastard Ian helped you, you overcame it.”
The God’s intention to suppress the monster and seal the crack, and the Underworld Deity’s intention to subdue the Mage and topple Bariel, meshed together perfectly.
Through that, the bastard Ian gave Idgal to Rutherford. Just as I had pierced Berik’s bloodline.
‘But the God deemed it right for the bastard Ian’s existence to remain in Bratz. So he must have made a contract spell with Rutherford, the opposing force, to gain a grace period. Had he not, the bastard Ian would have been abducted and collared by Rutherford under the circumstances.’
“…Did I say I would go to the Imperial Palace? I swore loyalty and would open the path toward the Palace, but for now I wished to live alongside my Mother. If you desired it, we could even bind a contract through magic, yet you moved so hastily.”
It was not a question seeking an answer. After all, I possessed the body at the right moment and survived, entered the Palace at the right moment and eliminated Arcen, and reunited with Rutherford at the right moment to descend into the abyss.
Likely, everything that will happen henceforth will be interpreted as “the right moment” in the pages of history.
“So that was the contract’s terms.”
I nodded in understanding and passed over the document.
“Next is the question regarding Damon, King of Burgos.”

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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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