Margrave’s Bastard Son was The Emperor - Chapter 74

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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 74. Unexpected Assault
A narrow gorge where dense trees and foliage blocked out the sky entirely.
A man slipped on moss-covered rocks, and in that same instant, those following behind tumbled down in a chain reaction.
Thud!
“Ahhhhh!”
“Watch out!”
“For heaven’s sake, look where you’re going!”
“Oh dear, tsk tsk. Are you alright?”
The procession, formed by groups scattered throughout, stretched so far that neither its beginning nor end was visible. Most were merchants, but there were also a considerable number of those who had paid to join the caravan to cross into other territories.
“Can you stand?”
“Yes. Thank you.”
A man grasped the arm of a fallen woman and helped her up. Her hair was pinned up and covered with a headscarf—the typical attire of a woman from the Hawan Kingdom.
The Steward shouted while reorganizing the disorderly line.
“Keep moving forward! The congestion gets worse the further back you go!”
“Yes, yes. We’re going. When will we get out of here?”
“We just entered. It’ll take at least a week.”
“The wheel is stuck here! Push from behind with us!”
It wasn’t just people moving. Boxes that couldn’t fit on carts had to be dragged by rope, and caged rare beasts, foreign furniture, and heavy raw stones were all definite burdens on the procession.
The woman brushed off her hands and grumbled inwardly.
‘Ugh. Really… I’m an idiot for eating that meat so eagerly.’
From now on, she would never eat meat that Kakantir gave her, no matter what happened.
Su clenched her lips and fingered the pouch of Gula powder she’d packed. It was now the second day since departing from the Hawan Kingdom. She was gradually learning through experience how the merchant caravan’s march proceeded.
‘Three meals a day. For dinner, they always boil a stew with everything left over from before.’
She had prepared Gula powder, which caused food poisoning symptoms, and the venom of yellow scorpions as well. Her goal was to use these to keep the procession trapped in this gorge as long as possible. If they turned back, that would be even better.
“The sun is already setting.”
Being near a remote region, darkness descended fiercely once the sun began to set. The vice-captain checked his timepiece and clicked his tongue. At this rate, they might not escape within a week.
“Alright! We’ll rest here for today. Prepare dinner. Don’t stray too far, and prepare your sleeping arrangements as you see fit.”
“Ugh. I’m dying. I’m dead.”
“Who the hell ordered this anyway? Damn it!”
“Who else? Some nameless nobleman, I suppose.”
Once the order to rest was given, everyone set down their loads and groaned. Su, being an outside guest, didn’t have a stretcher, but the members each carried at least one load as heavy as themselves.
“Um…”
Su approached the place where dinner was being prepared and spoke carefully. The large pot contained everything left over from today’s meal.
“Is there anything I can help with? I know I paid for passage, but everyone seems so exhausted…”
Her true thoughts screamed at her to ask if they expected her to eat that garbage, but Su displayed the utmost kindness. This was precisely why Kakantir had chosen her.
‘Kakan knows well that you are responsible. It will certainly be cold and arduous work. The other warriors have fiery temperaments and might struggle to endure, but you are different.’
‘And above all, isn’t your speed the best in Cheonrye? Since this is a solo operation, if problems arise, you must escape rather than engage. No matter how I think about it, there’s no one but you.’
It was clearly insane. She’d fallen for Ian’s sweet talk and was now suffering like this. Going to the Hawan Kingdom was one thing, but moving with the merchant caravan was hardship upon hardship.
“Help? Hmm.”
“Please don’t worry about it.”
“Would you mind holding this for a moment?”
The Steward swept his gaze over Su with suspicion, but perhaps due to exhaustion, he decided to accept the favor. After all, she seemed far more helpful than those men over there scratching at their groins.
“It won’t be too heavy?”
“Not at all… well, it’s a bit heavy, but it’s fine.”
“Just wait.”
Su held the pot with an awkward smile. The Stewards in charge of cooking glanced at her briefly, but soon they were too busy rushing about, preparing the evening meal.
Swish.
She slipped one hand into her pocket and found the Gula powder. Then, naturally, she sprinkled the contents into the pot.
The Spice Bringing Member looked at her with bewilderment.
“You can put it down now. You’ve been holding it all this time?”
“Oh my.”
‘Damn it… he said to keep holding it.’
Su forced down the furrow forming on her brow and smiled. The man marveled at how strong the woman was, then roughly stirred the contents with a ladle. The Gula powder mixed into the jumbled mess of food.
“Let’s start serving! Who’s on duty today?”
“Don’t know. You do it again.”
“You bastard, I went hungry last night too!”
“I’ll do it. I’m not very hungry anyway.”
“What? You?”
When Su volunteered and even offered to help with her arms, the Steward handed over the ladle readily, bewildered but willing. The serving duty meant you could only eat if food remained, so there was no reason to refuse.
Clang, clang, clang!
“Come now. Everyone line up in a single file!”
“Who is she?”
“A dependent who joined us at Hawan.”
Su greeted people with an affable manner and swirled the pot. Whenever she spotted undissolved clumps of Gula powder, she carefully crushed them with the ladle.
“Hey, the seasoning’s a bit light.”
“Is it? Just a moment. Would you like me to sprinkle some of this?”
To those requesting more seasoning, she even sprinkled Gula powder with shameless audacity. He ate the jumbled stew along with the Gula powder and soon opened his eyes wide.
“…This is…!”
‘Oh no, did he notice?’
“…Why, why are you like that?”
“The seasoning is perfect. Thank you.”
The man turned away with a thumbs up.
Su let out a pitiful sigh and continued stirring the ladle. They all needed to get stomach aches so she could return to the desert….
“Hahahaha! The food tastes like honey today!”
“Can’t I have another bowl? Cough, cough.”
Unaware of Su’s thoughts, the laughter of those relieving their fatigue shook the forest. A wolf’s howl echoed faintly in the distance.
* * *
Marquis Merelrof’s estate.
“Mom, I’m hungry.”
“Suck on this. Don’t chew it. We’ll eat dinner soon.”
At the Boy’s whimpering, his Mother retrieved a strip of dried meat. After sucking on it once or twice, the Boy unconsciously began chewing it, drawn in by the savory flavor.
“I told you not to chew it!”
“Waaaaaah!”
The Boy burst into tears at his Mother’s harsh scolding.
This wasn’t unique to just this household. The neighbors’ homes, the houses in front and behind—all suffered the same plight. The price of enduring the worst harvest in living memory was staggering. Though foreign trade routes formed the primary economy, still… this was unbearable.
“We’re ruined.”
“Tell me about it. I’ve never seen anything like this in all my years.”
“Didn’t we have this last year too?”
“Nothing this severe. When blood mixed into the river, that’s what caused all this mess. Shouldn’t we demand compensation from Bratz?”
“Hold on. Didn’t you hear? Apparently someone from Marquis Merelrof’s estate tried to kill Ian. That’s why relations have been so awkward.”
This was a catastrophic harvest beyond all precedent. The food stores they’d accumulated last year to prepare for hunger were nearly depleted. Yet they couldn’t appeal for mercy from Marquis Merelrof either. One misstep might provoke him to demand even higher taxes.
“I heard people from Bratz saying Gula tastes quite good…”
“Do you want to become a beast? Then I’ll roast you myself and eat you up. Hehehehe!”
“No, I’m serious. There’s an Advisor who came from the imperial palace, and he apparently ate it regularly. Since we’re on the frontier, news travels slowly here. But up there, they say even the imperial family and nobility all eat Gula.”
“You fool, you believe that?”
“That’s why he even offered money to collect Gula.”
“But…”
He wanted to object, but no suitable response came to mind. He’d heard they were collecting weeds for payment, and now they were planting and cultivating them densely across the land. It sounded like mere rumor, given how thoroughly they’d blocked outsiders from entering.
“Ah, forget it—Gula or whatever. I just hope the merchant caravan arrives soon. At this rate, we’ll be sucking our own fingers.”
Everyone nodded in deep agreement with someone’s words. When the caravan arrived, they could provide lodging and facilities, receiving money and food in return. And that wasn’t all—they could use that to buy food from the caravan again.
Since they’d done this every year, whenever the cold wind blew, they always gazed northward. Toward the direction where the Hawan Kingdom lay.
Clop, clop, clop!
That’s when it happened. A single horse thundered down the village’s main road. By his clothes and banner, he was clearly a Foreigner. He gripped the reins and asked the Villagers.
“Which way leads up to the great mansion?”
“Go left down that road and keep climbing. But… are you from the merchant caravan coming from the Hawan Kingdom?”
“That would be correct.”
His expression didn’t look good. The Villagers hurried to stop him and asked.
“What’s the matter?”
“The caravan got stuck in the gorge. Everyone ate something bad and came down with severe food poisoning—can’t move an inch. The physicians all collapsed too, so there’s nothing we can do. I rode ahead for help. Now let me through.”
The Man rushed toward the mansion to seek assistance. The Villagers stood frozen, watching his retreating figure. One phrase kept circling in their minds.
“They got stuck in the gorge?”
Then when would they arrive? Or would they arrive at all? Everyone looked up at the Merelrof mansion with hollow eyes.
Meanwhile.
“What? What did you just say?”
Marquis Merelrof also couldn’t believe it and kept asking for confirmation. This was a massive caravan of well over a hundred people. Yet they’d all contracted food poisoning and gotten stranded?
“It seems the evening meal was the culprit. At first only a few showed symptoms, but as time passed, more fell ill… now more than half are bedridden and unable to move.”
It must be quite a sight. All those collapsed bodies in that dense forest. Merelrof stroked his beard, trying to calm his startled mind.
“Tsk, tsk. That’s why I keep telling them to stop boiling everything together like pig slop!”
How could a Count understand the circumstances of a caravan that crossed seas and traversed lands? Food poisoning during a march was indeed common, but cases where everyone fell ill so severely were rare. Usually it was just stomach upset or mild discomfort.
“In any case, please dispatch a physician to them. The medicine we prepared ran out in just one day.”
“How do you intend to pay for the treatment?”
“The guild members will be paid by the guild, and outsiders will hire privately.”
“Where is the location?”
“Around here.”
“It’s quite a distance. I’ll have them charge double for travel expenses.”
Marquis Merelrof gazed at the map the man pointed to, adding with undisguised greed. Based on the location, they had barely ventured beyond the entrance to the mountain range.
“The guild master said to proceed as I see fit. Saving lives comes first, after all. However, since we’ve also sent word to the Hawan Kingdom, it would be best to hurry.”
“Very well. Wait a moment. Outside! Butler!”
“Yes, my lord.”
“Summon all the physicians in the estate, except for the elderly who find it difficult to walk.”
Soon after, the butler brought word that the physicians had been gathered, and Merelrof dispatched soldiers to escort them.
Horses bearing the physicians departed in a single line from the estate. The villagers watched their shadows fade with troubled hearts.

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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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