Margrave’s Bastard Son was The Emperor - Chapter 98

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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 98. Conviction
The Monue coal mine had fallen into a state of half-death.
First, the chaos that swept through the territory during summer had caused all the miners to abandon their pickaxes. By the time they descended to the village to protect their families and secure food, winter had already arrived before anyone realized it.
While winter was easier for work than summer, Gula’s rations had filled the warehouses to bursting, leaving no real reason for them to return.
‘Coal profits aren’t particularly substantial anyway, and the more we extract, the fewer resources remain. It’s better to hold onto what we have and exert our strength at an opportune moment.’
Clatter-clatter-clatter.
The carriage jolted harshly along the night road. Mac, sitting obediently beside me, tilted his head with a bewildered tilt. He seemed utterly confused as to why he had to ride in this contraption.
“I apologize. But I cannot follow you, nor can I commune with you. I’ll send you to the coal mine.”
If I released him from the manor first, he would surely be lost beyond my ability to catch him. My pocket watch already indicated we had been traveling for an hour. It seemed we should be arriving soon…
Screech.
“Count Ian. From here on, the road is too treacherous for the wheels. We’ll need to proceed on foot.”
“Is that so? Very well.”
As my carriage came to a halt, the soldiers following behind also stopped and dismounted. While they all prepared their lanterns, I released the warrior’s hawk into the sky.
“Come now, let’s hurry. Just follow the hawk.”
“We’re entering the forest! Follow me!”
“Gather around the lanterns and walk together!”
What a commotion on a moonlit night. Fortunately, there were no clouds in the sky, so it wasn’t pitch black. I climbed the barely-visible path with the soldiers.
“Is that the coal mine over there?”
“Yes, it appears we’ve arrived.”
“Ah, there!”
Whistle!
Inyoung, standing at the mine entrance, stretched out his hand and let out a sharp whistle. The hawk gliding through the sky descended gracefully and spread its wings.
“Count Ian. You’ve arrived.”
“Where is Berik?”
I looked around and searched for Berik first. The other warriors were nowhere to be seen either. I wondered if this was an urgent situation, but the warrior who had come to greet me wore an expression that was simply bewildered—nothing more, nothing less.
“He’s been striking things inside rather vigorously…”
“Striking? What is he striking? A knight?”
“I’m not entirely sure myself. You’ll understand once you see.”
As I stepped into the entrance, I could feel the air quality change dramatically. I covered my lower face with my sleeve and followed the warrior deeper.
“Have you ever been here before? This is my first time.”
“I’ve only heard reports. This is my first time venturing this deep inside.”
I was surprised at how spacious the tunnel was. The ceiling seemed to be well-excavated compared to similar-sized mines, and it appeared there were no problems for workers to move about.
“But why is he doing that inside? If heat were applied, it could be dangerous. Given Berik’s temperament, I’m worried the mine ceiling might collapse.”
At my playful question, the warrior laughed heartily. His laughter echoed through the coal mine, and the soldiers following behind let out sighs of relief. Entering a coal mine at night had been quite terrifying for them. At least it seemed there would be no deaths to worry about.
As the cold winter wind ceased to be felt, the warrior pointed with his finger to one side.
“It’s here.”
A narrow entrance that could barely be called an opening. Whether it was a fissure created by a collapsed wall or something else, it didn’t look like a proper passage.
Crash! Bang!
Clang!
“Haa, haa…”
“Berik. Stop that and come out. Let me try.”
“Ugh, seriously! What is this thing!”
“I said come out. It seems like you’re putting more force into pulling than pushing.”
Voices echoed from deeper within—a conversation between Berik and the warrior accompanying him.
The light was so dim it seemed ready to extinguish. It appeared they had ventured this far with only a single emergency lantern.
“Berik.”
“Ah! Ian!”
Clang!
Berik was striking something with his sword. When the soldier holding the lantern tried to step forward, I grabbed his arm and pulled him back.
“Count Ian?”
“Give the lantern to me and the warrior. The rest of you return and guard the tunnel entrance.”
Berik was just ahead anyway. It was wise to send the soldiers back just in case. They wouldn’t be much help if things went wrong.
“Yes? Ah, understood.”
From their tone, it didn’t seem like a dangerous situation, but the sudden order was certainly unusual. Still, the air was foul and the smell acrid—the soldiers weren’t reluctant to leave quickly.
“Hey, everyone turn around and head back from the rear!”
“We’re leaving? Really?”
“That’s an order! Move, now!”
The soldiers retraced their steps, and I ventured deeper with the warrior.
Thump-thump.
I felt my heart pounding. It wasn’t a nervous physical response—it was an external stimulus emanating from powerful magical energy.
‘This doesn’t make sense. Why is such an aura here…’
Clang! Ting!
“Damn! Shit!”
“Your sword will break, Berik.”
“Oh? Ian!”
Berik was swinging his blade at something that shimmered with a translucent violet glow. Judging by the bubbles visible within, it appeared to have a liquid quality, yet the sword couldn’t leave a single scratch on it.
“Ian. What is this?”
“You think I know everything?”
“So you don’t know?”
“I do.”
Puulu, was it? The lower half of the captain of Merelrof’s Three Knights was submerged within it, half-consumed. Given the absence of wounds, the cause of death was undoubtedly this strange ‘ore’.
“It appears to be a type of mana stone.”
Could Berik not sense the magical aura? I raised the lantern to examine his complexion, but his flushed cheeks from swinging the sword made it impossible to tell.
“A mana stone?”
“You remember that brooch we used in Bratz before, don’t you? It’s similar—an ore that responds to magical energy and gains special properties.”
“But this isn’t just a rock. There are bubbles inside it.”
“Appearances can be deceiving. We’d need to cut it open to know for certain, but it’s definitely a mana stone.”
There are many types of mana stones. From sealing stones that once bound Emperor Ian’s power, to those capable of recording voices or tracking locations, to those that create pocket dimensions for storage, to those that amplify magical wavelengths when carried—the possibilities were as endless as magic itself.
“How did the knight end up like this?”
I gestured for him to stop and step back. It seemed he’d struck the mana stone so hard the blade had dulled. Berik wiped away beads of sweat as he answered.
“I chased them this far. Well, Mac certainly knows how to track prey. The trail disappeared midway, so I wondered if they’d hidden here, and sure enough they had.”
“When you found them, were they still alive?”
“Yeah. At first I thought they’d just passed out, but they died pretty quickly.”
“So you don’t even know how they got stuck in there.”
“Looking at the bottom, there are traces of something flowing. I’d guess it was liquid that hardened into this solid state from some kind of stimulus.”
As Berik crouched down muttering, I grabbed the back of his neck and yanked him backward. Then I gave him a light flick on the head.
Smack!
“Ow!”
“Don’t pretend it hurts. All of you are so reckless—what would’ve happened if you’d gotten swallowed up like that fool?”
“No way. It’s this hard though?”
“It could suddenly melt and attack, or keep oozing out from somewhere else. Tsk tsk. Anyway….”
When I spun around, the warriors awkwardly averted their gazes. I couldn’t understand why the soldiers were all so alike.
Simple-minded and fearless!
“You all will report this to Nersaren.”
“Ah, Ian. We definitely said we should head back. But Berik got fixated on this and wouldn’t budge.”
Berik rubbed his forehead and frowned.
“But, if that’s a mana stone, it’s worth a lot, right?”
“Its value is immeasurable.”
“If it keeps coming out, this place is a jackpot?”
“We’d need to investigate….”
My response trailed off. To investigate the extent and probability of mana stone deposits, assistance from the Magic Ministry was essential.
Which meant only the Magic Ministry could estimate where mana stones were buried.
“Ian?”
Looking at the mana stone with the knight’s corpse embedded in it, I felt as though I’d been struck on the back of my head.
“…That’s it. Of course.”
“What? What is it?”
“We return to the manor immediately. Seal off the mine. Don’t let anyone in and nail the entrance shut completely.”
“What about the body?”
“There’s nothing we can do about it now. We leave first.”
I turned to hurry away, and Berik, still crouching, alternated his gaze between me and the knight’s corpse with a bewildered expression. But soon he and the warriors lit the path ahead for me.
“Suddenly doing this scares me.”
“Isn’t Wesley, the Magic Minister, one of Prince Gail’s key supporters? That’s it, that’s it! I wondered why they were so obsessed with this particular border region among so many, and now it makes sense!”
Tap tap tap!
They definitely knew.
Or rather, even if not certain, they’d targeted the Bratz territory based on some degree of possibility. If they’d suspected mana stones were buried nearby, they couldn’t possibly let this slip.
‘So now everything makes sense.’
They couldn’t have asked for better conditions. The military forces that had been accumulating due to the neighboring barbarians, the situation where imperial intervention was needed through peace talks, Count Derga’s tax evasion. And on top of that, mana stones buried nearby!
I could even understand why they’d tried so desperately to keep Mollin alive. Bratz was worth so much that Mollin, who managed this place, was equally invaluable to them.
“Return to the manor! Seal this place off immediately, and have some stay behind to inform the nearby miners of the situation.”
I shouted as I exited the mine shaft. Not far from the village, there was a temporary settlement where only miners gathered.
The escort soldiers, who had been gathered in small groups chattering away, startled and quickly returned to their positions.
“Yes, understood!”
“I know the darkness makes it difficult, but let’s move faster.”
“Ah, yes yes. Please board quickly.”
The quiet forest suddenly erupted into chaos. The lantern lights that had been gathered in one place scattered in all directions, and I pressed my forehead with the weight of my complicated thoughts. Berik, who sat across from me, glanced over subtly.
“Did you hit it that hard?”
“What?”
“Your sword strike.”
“…Never mind. But didn’t you sense the mana? I felt it respond the moment I stepped inside.”
“Huh? No. I was fine.”
A Mage Knight was ultimately a warrior at heart. Moreover, since he still had inexperienced aspects, it was understandable.
Screech.
We rushed back as quickly as we had come and arrived at the manor once more. Hena, who hadn’t been sleeping, greeted me and handed me a clean shirt while asking.
“Will you be going to the bath? Master Romandro is still in the study, though he ate soup earlier and has been working since.”
“No. I’m going to the basement.”
“The basement?”
It had been quite some time since I last made this journey. I descended the basement stairs without hesitation and soon stood before the prison at the end of the corridor.
“Open it.”
Click.
The prison, which had no windows and always kept lantern light burning, suddenly stirred. Mac and Dgor, who had been sleeping, jolted awake. Mollin sat on the sofa reading a book.
“W-what is this about?”
Confusion spread across Mac’s face. The reason they had been left to live in neglect was because I couldn’t make a decision. What to do with Mollin and his companions.
“Count Mollin. A letter has arrived from the imperial palace.”
“Don’t you dare lay a hand on the master! You bastard!”
“It contained matters regarding Count Mollin’s disposition.”
I stared at him intently and threw out a lie. The grayish old man’s eyes seemed to gleam with an ashen light.
“Is that so? What did it say?”
“It said you must prepare yourself, as you will be heading to the capital soon.”
Mollin calmly arranged his book. He seemed to be thinking about something. Though one can never truly know another’s heart, I found myself able to read his expression.
‘There’s no way.’
That attitude of utter disbelief.
I was certain of it.
Mollin knew the true nature of the mana stone.

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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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