Margrave’s Bastard Son was The Emperor - Chapter 626

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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 625. In Search of Cutoff Ears
“Welcome.”
The Lander, a luxury hotel in the capital of Toolun.
The manager personally opened the door and quickly assessed his guests. The shirt collar bore a dignified elegance, yet appeared quite worn—suggesting this was no one currently active in service.
The manager smiled courteously while observing those who followed. Hmm, he travels with remarkably few servants.
“Do you have rooms available?”
“Of course. What sort of rooms would you prefer?”
“Three clean, tidy rooms. Preferably on the first floor if possible. My daughter’s mobility is limited.”
“Ah, I see. May I ask for identification?”
The woman with her face veiled must be the daughter. Her posture is remarkably upright for someone with mobility issues, the manager thought. As he reached for the identification, the boy beside her took the woman’s hand and guided her to the side.
“Sister. There’s a decorative piece nearby. Please be careful.”
She’s blind. Tsk, tsk. So young too—how did this happen to her?
The manager examined the identification and confirmed the Border Guards seal. The classification number was 009-11… indicating a fallen noble from Bariel. He shrugged and handed the keys to the man.
“I’ll show you the way. Do you have luggage that needs to be carried?”
“No. We’ve left everything with the carriage, so we’re fine.”
“Very well, this way please. Is this your first time in Toolun?”
The red-haired swordsman following the family of three furrowed his brow, his eyes sharp with displeasure. The manager turned the corner and gestured down the corridor.
“You may freely use these three rooms. Should you need anything—cleaning, bathing, meals—please don’t hesitate to ask at any time.”
“Ah, one moment.”
“Yes, sir.”
The man produced a gold coin from his pocket and offered it as a tip. Even a fallen noble remains a noble, after all. The manager bowed respectfully and accepted the coin with both hands.
“Because of my daughter, I was wondering—might you have a woman available to attend to her continuously?”
“All day, you mean? I’m sorry, but we don’t have anyone available at the moment. However, I’ll look into it.”
“I’d appreciate it. If possible, someone fluent in Bariel would be ideal. My daughter isn’t accustomed to the common Gaia tongue.”
“Yes. I’ll do my best. Please, rest comfortably. The rooms across the way are all vacant.”
“Thank you.”
After the manager bowed and withdrew, Barsabe stumbled to the bed and sat down heavily. She immediately kicked off her high heels.
“These are instruments of torture, I tell you.”
“No joke. My feet reek.”
“Enough. Stop before I order you to wash them.”
Heil loosened his outer garment and surveyed the room. The weather was more humid and warm than expected.
Meanwhile, Ian didn’t unfasten a single button as he touched the wall and cast a spell—an incantation to prevent their words from leaking out.
“It’s late today, so we’ll begin tomorrow. Captain Heil, you’ll focus on gathering information from the royal palace. Berik, Barsabe, and I will investigate the slave markets.”
“Understood, sir.”
Accessing information from the royal palace wasn’t particularly difficult. Money—simply spending plenty of it would suffice. Dine at ultra-luxury restaurants, drink coffee, enjoy a few casual card games, and naturally someone nearby would be conversing.
Given the spending level of such establishments, they would certainly be royal officials, merchant lords using Toolun as a route, or foreign nobility. Whoever they were, obtaining information posed no problem.
“You’ll live well then. Lucky you, Captain. Can’t I go that way too? It’s awkward moving alone, isn’t it? I’m supposedly a noble.”
“We’ll hire a servant separately. Berik, you, me, and Barsabe—we can’t afford to catch the eyes of royal officials. King Toolun already saw much through Barsabe’s eyes that day.”
Especially the two Imperial Guards, who were distinctive in appearance, and Ian himself was hardly inconspicuous.
Barsabe flexed her aching feet and added her thoughts.
“And honestly, you’re not cut out for that kind of work anyway. The slave market would suit you much better.”
“I can’t argue with that, but it’s irritating to hear.”
“Barsabe, what if the manager brings a servant who speaks Bariel?”
Ian finally removed his outer coat. As he posed the question as a test, Barsabe straightened her posture and answered. She had already devised a plan for every possible scenario.
“I’ll find fault and send them back. I’ll steer them toward the slave market instead.”
If she gave the impression that a free servant couldn’t handle Barsabe, they would naturally be introduced to a slave merchant.
Knock, knock.
The sudden sound made all four of them freeze. But only for a moment. Barsabe hastily crumpled on her shoes and moved to the sofa, while Heil sat across from her and pulled out a cigarette to smoke.
Berik stood there blankly, so Ian gave him a look—what was he doing without opening the door?
“Oh, right. I’m the errand boy. Who is it?”
“My apologies. It’s the manager.”
“Come in.”
The manager smiled awkwardly and nodded.
“Well, I just inquired, but it seems it will take some time to find a servant who speaks Bariel. As you know, Toolun has almost no contact with Bariel.”
“How long will it take?”
Actually, that was fine. Heil stroked his beard and asked, while the manager bowed apologetically.
“Yes, so I was thinking of introducing you to a slave merchant if your funds allow—”
If your funds allow? All four of them instinctively sensed something was wrong with the situation.
“The thing is, the royal palace closed the slave market today.”
“Closed? By the royal palace? What on earth for?”
“Ah, don’t worry. It won’t last long. The overall atmosphere isn’t that serious. I don’t know the details myself, but from what I’ve heard, a slave who was supposed to go to the royal palace was stolen by a band of thieves. But since it appeared on the market, they’ve taken temporary measures to recover it.”
Heil’s gaze naturally turned toward Ian. The royal palace, a bandit attack, a slave? There was a strong possibility this was related to Philia. Heil continued the conversation as if nothing was amiss.
“She must be quite valuable. For bandits to dare covet something belonging to the royal palace.”
“Yes, I’ve heard rumors that she’s a very beautiful woman, but the bandits wouldn’t have done it without knowing that, would they? Otherwise, they couldn’t have put her on the market so brazenly.”
“So the royal palace intends to eliminate the bandit gang?”
“I’m not sure about that. They’re called the Cutoff Ears—a notorious gang in the region. If the palace tries to wipe them out carelessly, both sides would suffer significant losses, wouldn’t they?”
“From what you say, they sound quite infamous.”
“Haha. Yes, well, they’re a group of wandering mercenaries gathered together, but they’re all skilled, so everyone avoids them. And they’re not entirely unreasonable either. If you pay them fairly, they handle jobs cleanly, or so I’ve heard.”
“Is that so? Do they have a separate base?”
“No. If we knew that, the royal palace wouldn’t have closed the market. It will take time to find them. The Cutoff Ears will be cautious and wait to see how things develop. In any case, that’s why finding a servant will take some time.”
“…Given the situation, there’s nothing to be done about it.”
Ting!
Heil flicked another gold coin to the manager and added:
“I want to rest well until tomorrow. Tell the other servants not to disturb me.”
“Yes, understood.”
“And one more thing. Is the slave market far from here? As you can see, I only have one guard.”
“It’s fairly close, but you needn’t worry. This place, Lander, boasts the finest security in Toolun. I can say with confidence. Just rest well.”
That would do. Heil gestured, and the manager bowed deeply before withdrawing. The moment he closed the door and left, Heil, Berik, and Barsabe retrieved daggers from their bags and fastened them to their waists.
“Ian. I’m not sure if now is the right time, but it’s certainly an opportunity. The bandit gang called the Cutoff Ears has Philia. If we find them before the royal palace, we can rescue Philia safely.”
“Yes, and if I may say so, if Philia was put on display as merchandise, they would have taken care in managing her. There’s a high probability that Philia is unharmed.”
“Damn, this works out. I wasn’t fond of this heat anyway.”
With the slave market transactions blocked, Cutoff Ears had only two options: hand her over to the Royal Palace, or take her to another country to complete the deal.
Whichever choice promised more profit seemed likely, but once they discovered that Philia was Ian’s mother, naturally the latter would fetch a higher price.
‘However, if we consider the additional costs of making an enemy of the Royal Palace, we could hand Philia over to them at a reasonable price. The real objective is to sever the connection between the Royal Palace and the bandits. We have no choice but to secretly contact them and reveal that we’re here in Toolun ready to pay immediately, without the Royal Palace knowing…’
The difficulties were substantial. We had to search faster than the Royal Palace in this unfamiliar foreign land and find the bandits.
“Judging by how they blocked the slave market transaction, negotiations don’t seem to have gone smoothly.”
“Right. I think so too. The Royal Palace will want to reclaim what was taken from them, while the bandits will demand fair payment. If they only cared about money, sending Philia to Bariel would be profitable, but the Royal Palace’s pressure must be too intense for that.”
Ian fell silent for a moment, thinking about where and how to begin, when Barsabe, sensing the silence, spoke up.
“Ian. Actually, there’s something that’s been bothering me since earlier.”
“What is it?”
“All those Cutoff Ears are former mercenaries, and they cut off their victims’ ears and take them. It seems like a custom among the underground fighting pit people.”
Being former mercenaries, it was a natural progression for them to drift into the underground fighting pit to make a living. Since money was wagered on the matches, the fighters had no choice but to fight to the death.
Those who lost in the matches received a kind of ‘mark’—the amputation of a body part.
“Ears are preferred because they heal without affecting fighting ability. Why not start by investigating that? If you search carefully, you’ll find people connected to them.”
It made sense. As Ian nodded, Heil and Barsabe blew out all the candles in the room.
“I’ll find out the location. I’ll just say the owners are all asleep and I’m going to check out the fighting pit, right?”
“Meet us outside.”
“Okay. Grab my robe too.”
*Click!*
Once Berik left, the three of us watched out the window until complete darkness fell.
As the sounds of people faded, Berik tapped lightly on the window as a signal. We immediately climbed through and slipped into the alley.
*Tap tap tap!*
“Remember this. You must not cause a commotion, and your identity must not be discovered.”
“Yes, Ian.”
“But Berik is really leading the way, right?”
“I know the location! Why? Do you have a problem with it?”
“Of course. You can’t even tell your right from your left.”
“That’s not true!”
“Quiet. Berik, what did the manager tell you?”
“Go out, head straight down the left alley, and when you see the general store, go straight past it.”
At his words, all three of us stopped simultaneously. Without a word, we turned back the way we came.
“Idiot. We came down the right alley.”
“Huh?”
As Berik wiggled his fingers trying to figure out right from left, Heil silently grabbed him by the collar and dragged him along.
Time was precious. Darkness was fleeting, and there was much to discover.

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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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