Margrave’s Bastard Son was The Emperor - Chapter 75

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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 75. A Request for Help
“Cough!”
“Are you alright?”
“Ah… my stomach, it hurts so much.”
“Someone bring water…”
“Excuse me. Try to stay conscious.”
It was a scene of chaos. Half-delirious bodies hung suspended among the dense thickets. Every last one of them clutched their stomachs, groaning in agony. Su darted about, lending her efforts to tend the afflicted.
“When will the doctors arrive?”
“Ugh. Who knows. Since they left empty-handed, they probably won’t get here until tomorrow at the earliest? Unless they lose their way.”
Su perked up her ears, eavesdropping on their conversation. If the doctors arrived by tomorrow, they would resume their journey after treatment. The pace would certainly be slower due to the loss of strength, but they would still reach Merelrof eventually.
‘Hmm.’
Su murmured while gazing at the ridge extending down the mountainside.
“Which is closer from here—Merelrof or the Hawan Kingdom?”
A man drenched in cold sweat answered. He seemed to be rambling on purpose to distract himself from the pain.
“We haven’t traveled far, so Hawan is closer.”
“And the road toward Merelrof stays treacherous, but the Hawan side is mostly flat terrain until you enter the mountains, isn’t it?”
“Then the doctors from the Hawan Kingdom will arrive first.”
“But I don’t trust them—there are too many quacks over there.”
“There are quite a few gypsies, true? Still, it’s a proper kingdom. They wouldn’t let a healthy person die, would they?”
“Ah… I want to go home. Not lying here in the mountains covered in dew, but resting in a bed for days on end until I recover.”
They all lamented and exhaled wearily. Regardless, Su approached the pot of boiling water and made a show of adding firewood. Then, after glancing around, she flicked the venom from a yellow scorpion into it.
‘Not enough to kill them. Just enough to cause pain and make them delirious. It’s unfortunate, but… there’s no other way.’
The yellow scorpion’s venom also contained compounds that induced abdominal pain. While a lethal dose would kill, since they were sharing this enormous pot of water among everyone, there would be no problem.
“Hey. Give me some warm water.”
“Yes. One moment. I’ll let it cool first.”
At someone’s request, Su turned around with a radiant smile. Then she moved among the patients again, creating an atmosphere as if an angel of mercy had descended.
“Is she the woman we entrusted ourselves to? At least she’s unharmed—that’s a blessing.”
“Exactly. If someone hadn’t skipped dinner that evening, we’d all be dead.”
Su wiped away her sweat and laughed.
‘Damn it, if I ever make it back, I swear I’m never, ever leaving the desert again.’
Her outward appearance and inner thoughts were somewhat at odds, but regardless, she was diligently fulfilling her duty.
Once the doctors from the Hawan Kingdom arrived, she would subtly manipulate them into turning back that way.
“Hey. Wait.”
As Su was about to fetch water, someone grabbed her wrist. It was the Deputy Captain. He seized her hand and began examining it closely.
“W-what the…”
Bewildered, a curse caught in her throat before she could speak. Regardless, the man frowned as if he’d expected this.
“Your hands aren’t ordinary.”
“What do you mean? My hands aren’t that big!”
“Not that. You have calluses embedded in your knuckles and palms. That’s typical of someone who knows how to throw a punch.”
At those words, Su stopped her panic and glared at the man. The Deputy Captain glanced at her inner pocket and warned her quietly.
“While you’re being reasonable, take out what you just put in your pocket.”
“Do you have nothing better to do? Just spy on what I’m doing.”
Behind the cart, the view was blocked. If I raised my voice, it would certainly reach the people. I clenched my teeth and muttered under my breath.
“You’ve been ruining the mood of someone trying to help since earlier.”
His smirk was anything but ordinary. The Deputy Captain reached for the dagger at his waist to threaten me.
“…Damn it, what the hell are you doing?”
Thwack!
My fist flew at him immediately. It landed squarely, and he collapsed with his mouth hanging open. Just then, several people clutching their aching stomachs came around the cart toward us.
“Is something wrong?”
“We just heard something break….”
“No….”
The people blinked their eyes, alternating their gaze between the Deputy Captain sprawled on the ground and me. As if they couldn’t comprehend the situation at all.
That was when it happened.
Rustle!
A sound came from beyond the bushes, and then a figure suddenly burst out. A stranger wearing a hood, breathing heavily. The traces of wandering through the forest for a long time were evident.
“…What is this? What’s going on?”
“Where the hell is this place? Damn it!”
The Unknown Woman pulled back her hood slightly. I hesitated for a moment, then screamed at the top of my lungs.
“Aaaah! Thieves! Thieves!”
“What? Thieves?”
“Damn it! Get your weapons!”
“Wait, hold on. Listen!”
At the commotion, the merchant caravan’s guards staggered and drew their swords. They could barely stand, but there was no choice before the threat of thieves.
The woman who appeared from the bushes stepped backward with a bewildered expression.
“Look. You’re calling me a thief out of nowhere. I’m from the Imperial Palace investigation-”
They were the Central investigation team searching for the bodies of Mrs. Mary and Chel. I recognized Erika’s face and struck first. At the same time, I overturned a water bucket, extinguishing even the firewood.
Whoosh!
Clang! Clang!
“Aaaah! Kill them! Kill them!”
“What, what is this? Damn it!”
“Where’s the fire? Fire! Light the fire!”
Battle erupted in the mountains shrouded in darkness. Without hesitation, their blades turned toward each other. I quickly climbed up into a tree and watched the bloody clash unfold.
‘Half dead, half fled. Well, whether it’s Hawan or Marquis Merelrof, everything will be settled before the doctors arrive.’
Besides, I could spread the rumor of thieves appearing without much effort—the icing on the cake. I admired my own quick thinking and patted my own head. If I’m lucky, I might be able to return to the Desert by tomorrow.
* * *
“No….”
Marquis Merelrof couldn’t find his words. Even if it was unexpected, could it be this unexpected?
The doctors who returned a week after being sent brought back only three patients. The grand and majestic procession that the Estate Villagers were waiting for was nowhere to be found, no matter how hard one looked.
The Marquis looked around with a vacant expression.
“Where are the others?”
“Count, it appears… there were bandits.”
“What nonsense is this!”
“When we arrived following the guide, bodies were already scattered everywhere from an attack. Fortunately, as we moved slightly toward the Hawan Kingdom, we found survivors, but they were ambushed without warning and scattered in all directions.”
“So… what happened then?”
“During the chaos, the merchant leader was particularly badly injured, so they returned to the Hawan Kingdom. The distance was closer that way, after all. We only brought back those survivors who wished to rely on us.”
The misfortune was that the merchant company’s location happened to be closer to Hawan. Moreover, it was the path they’d come by, so the geography would be familiar to them.
Merelrof was merely the “Frontier” of Bariel, but the Hawan Kingdom was itself a massive city, so the merchant leader had judged it the appropriate place to reorganize the company.
“Grraaaagh!”
Marquis Merelrof let out a roar without thinking. He was a gaunt man who rarely raised his voice, but this situation was far too catastrophic.
“Blast it all! Blast it! That’s why I said not to eat that wretched gruel! You incompetent fools!”
Crash!
Merelrof irritably hurled the scattered items on the table. The doctors who had returned after a week of hardship backed away, cold sweat pouring down their faces. They knew Merelrof’s circumstances better than anyone. The villagers would soon be sucking their fingers out of hunger, for there was nothing to eat in the estate.
“Then… we shall take our leave.”
“Forgive our intrusion, Count.”
Bang!
The doctors rushed out of the room without bothering to determine who should go first. Merelrof fell silent, pressing his forehead with his hand.
“…Butler.”
“Yes, Count.”
“What were the prices in Sheiron again?”
Sheiron was a city to the northwest of Merelrof. Unlike Merelrof, which survived on trade in the Borderlands, that place had clearly prospered and emerged as a commercial hub.
But the problem was…
“A few days ago, we received information that a sack of wheat was being traded for six silver coins.”
The relative economic disparity was too great. Merelrof was indeed the Frontier, while Sheiron was a great metropolis that flourished second only to Central Bariel.
In Merelrof, a sack of wheat could be obtained for three silver coins, but in Sheiron one had to pay double. That was information from a few days ago, and with the current situation worsened by rumors of bandits, who knew what the prices were now.
“If we depart now?”
“I would estimate it would take around nine days.”
It was because of the mountain range the merchant company had traveled through. The range encircled Merelrof and extended northwest, strong for defending the estate but requiring a steep price to traverse. Yet the journey from here to Central took only a fortnight…
“It cannot be helped. I will send people.”
“How much budget should we allocate?”
“Take applications from those in need of provisions. Once the list is compiled, we will form a trading expedition from those names.”
Of course, provisions meant were not free.
A decrease in villagers would deal a significant blow to the estate in the long term. Each head was equivalent to productive capacity. The standard method was to help them avoid starvation first, then raise taxes and collect them when the harvest season approached.
“Excuse me, Count.”
“What is it?”
The Count glared irritably and demanded an answer.
“The journey to Sheiron is one thing, but the return is problematic. The temperature there is lower than here, so snow will fall quickly. Crossing snow-covered gorges while carrying all that cargo seems… rather impossible, does it not?”
“And? What are you trying to say?”
Even the experienced merchant company had been devastated, struggling against unexpected food poisoning and bandits. How could the villagers, born and raised here, possibly endure such hardship?
“What if we requested assistance from Bratz?”
“What?”
“The roads through the Hawan Kingdom are effectively impassable for now due to bandit infestations. We’ll have to wait until rumors of the kingdom’s subjugation efforts circulate.”
“Listen, Butler. I’m already aware of that. Isn’t that precisely why I’m suggesting we go to Bratz?”
“It appears Bratz has developed Gula as a food source. They say it provides excellent satiety, offering satisfaction even in small quantities, so if we urgently procured a small amount….”
The Butler trailed off. He had met the murderous gaze of Marquis Merelrof. The warning was unmistakable—one more word and dismissal would follow.
“Purchase weeds with coin?”
“…The price would certainly be reasonable.”
“Enough. I thought you were a man of wisdom, but you’re nothing but chaff. Would I place something on my table that even pigs and dogs refuse to eat!”
“My apologies.”
“Go at once and investigate the market prices in Bratz.”
The Butler lowered his head and departed through the door. In truth, Marquis Merelrof’s actions weren’t entirely incomprehensible. It was simply that the situation had spiraled far more gravely than anticipated.
Creak.
‘…There’s no helping it.’
Once again, if the master would not act, the butler must step forward.
He returned to his quarters and retrieved parchment and quill. After deliberating at length, he pressed pen to paper.

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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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