Chapter 53
Chapter 53
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 53
Chapter Title: Tie the Rope
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But the gag was still stuffed in his mouth. It was a measure to make him feel shame as he gazed upon the end of the world, carrying the frustration of not being able to utter a final word.
Deruga blinked his bloodshot eyes and twisted his face into an expression too horrible to describe.
“Die!”
The crowd cried out for his death en masse. Stripped of his clothes, he was nothing more than a pathetic human, yet it was unclear what exactly made him so loathsome.
“Put the rope on him.”
“Put the rope on him!”
The noose was slipped around Deruga’s neck. Five squad members below began pulling on the thick rope. Deruga’s body slowly rose into the air.
“Ughhh…….”
“Anyone with a grudge against him, throw stones. The stones you hurl will become Bariel’s central pillar and the wall that solidifies the imperial palace’s prestige.”
He thrashed and shook his body, but it only tightened the noose further. The count rising into the air resembled a well-butchered pig.
The people burst into mocking laughter, and the Cheonryeo tribesmen, led by Kakantir, stood stone-faced to witness his end.
“Waaah!”
“Throw! Kill him!”
Thwack! Thud!
Dozens of stones flew toward the gallows all at once. Erica retreated under the protection of her investigators and watched Deruga, who was suspended in the air and pelted with stones.
That was when it happened.
Swoosh! Thunk!
A single spear flashed like lightning and embedded itself in Deruga’s side. One of the Cheonryeo tribesmen had thrown it. The crowd paused in surprise for a moment, but the once-boiling fervor did not cool easily.
“Deruga!”
Swoosh! Swish!
Dozens of spears flew toward Deruga’s dangling body. It was the retribution of the Cheonryeo warriors. Most lodged in his thighs or back, and soon blood dripped down the shafts.
Swoooosh!
And the final one. Kakantir, who had been stroking the sharp spear tip, furrowed his brow as he checked its trajectory. Deruga’s body was starting to sag. Without hesitation, Kakantir hurled the spear, and it pierced his chest with a sound unlike any other warrior’s throw.
Right through the heart, Ian thought.
“Guhk…….”
Deruga’s eyes rolled back in their sockets as he exhaled his last breath. Soon after, the rope’s trembling ceased completely, and everyone witnessed Deruga’s death.
“Deruga Bratz is dead.”
“Deruga Bratz is dead!”
Bwooo-
The water horn signaled the end. The people cheered and hurled insults at Deruga’s corpse. They turned the squad leader’s declaration into a chant and reveled in the festival.
Ian merely watched the spectacle with a strange gaze.
“Are you alright, Lord Ian?”
“…Pardon? Were you speaking to me?”
“You didn’t throw anything. Truth be told, it should’ve been your hands around his neck instead of that rope, no?”
Kakantir glanced slyly at Ian. Strangling his neck instead—hardly a pleasant notion.
“Well. But now that he’s dead, it does feel a bit odd. Reminds me of words I couldn’t say.”
“Words you couldn’t say?”
Words begging forgiveness from the bastard Ian.
Not from Emperor Ian, but from the bastard son Ian.
In this life, history had changed, but if things had gone as they should have, Ian would have crossed the border and become a handful of sand by now. At a young age, solely because he bore the count’s blood. After Ian’s death, his birth mother Philia would have died too. Countess Mary wouldn’t have let her live.
“Doesn’t it feel refreshing now that it’s over?”
“It does, but I know this is just the beginning.”
Ian stared fixedly at Deruga’s body swaying in the wind. From this moment, the name Bratz vanished from the world forever.
* * *
Deruga’s corpse was to remain hanging in the square for several days. It was necessary to clearly show the fate of those who defied Bariel.
As Erica oversaw the cleanup of the gallows, she asked her subordinate.
“Any word from the Central Support Forces?”
“It came. But, well…….”
“What now?”
“Mary and Cheal’s tracks have vanished.”
“Ha. Fuck. From where?”
“From the looks of it, they never spotted them entering the forest. They’re still searching based on traces of a campfire and such, but it cuts off near the valley. They’re hitting a wall. And…….”
“And?”
Please don’t let it be more bad news.
Reading Erica’s glare, the subordinate answered with great reluctance.
“They received a messenger bird from the Grand Council too.”
“…What?”
“If the pursuit of Mary and Cheal is delayed, the soldiers are to head to the capital. They say it’s an order to recall all troops dispatched to the provinces, but we’re not sure if it’s an official Grand Council decision.”
It was Prince Marib’s doing. Second Prince Gail had caught on to the troops stationed in provincial estates, so it was a fitting countermeasure. But unaware of this, Erica squeezed her eyes shut and muttered.
“Shit’s really hit the fan.”
If even the Central Support Forces couldn’t find Mary and Cheal despite being embedded there, how were her investigators supposed to chase them? Even if they did, those two Cheonryeo bastards would tear them apart.
“But Lady Erica, didn’t you get a letter from Lord Molin?”
“What?”
“The Support Force captain said Lord Molin instructed him to follow the Grand Council’s decision for now. He asked what we should do, but I couldn’t answer since we hadn’t heard anything.”
“Lord Molin sent word?”
Erica whipped her head around in surprise. There was no way Molin would send it to the Central Force captain and not her. Only then did Erica realize there was a problem with the messenger birds.
“With mana stones, they couldn’t have gotten lost.”
On the same principle as the brooch, mana stones formed a single mass that generated magnetism, guiding the pigeons precisely to their target. They’d even perch motionless by the window.
The subordinate pondered before offering an opinion.
“Don’t we have a lot of hawks at the estate? Maybe they got eaten…….”
It made sense. Erica scowled and immediately fetched her horse. Her subordinates called out as they cleaned the square, but Erica galloped straight to the estate.
Bang!
“Ian! Ian!”
“…What’s the matter?”
“I need to gut every single hawk here.”
Suddenly appearing and demanding to slit open hawks’ bellies. Ian set down his documents, and the Cheonryeo tribesmen wore incredulous expressions. But soon realizing she was serious, they issued threats.
“Don’t talk shit. Before the hawks’ bellies get slit, I’ll slit yours.”
“If even a single feather gets plucked, you’re done for. Want to hang next to Deruga?”
“The hawks ate the messenger birds!”
“Ah, the messenger birds.”
Ian nodded as if finally understanding. Erica had wondered what nonsense this was. Seeing that, she froze, her face turning to one of suspicion.
“You knew?”
“Precisely, it wasn’t the hawks eating them—there was an accident. The messenger birds were properly buried, and I extracted the mana stones from their crops separately.”
“Daring to pilfer imperial palace messenger birds? That’s a grave crime, Ian!”
“They weren’t from the imperial palace. It was a personal letter from Molin, wasn’t it?”
At those words, Erica felt her heart sink. What had Molin written? He wasn’t foolish enough to put their plans in writing. But it could still be seen as evidence of treason later on.
Erica’s attitude softened.
“Hand it over.”
“Of course. I was planning to give it to you as a parting gift when you leave Bratz. Wrap up Deruga’s public display within three days.”
Leave within three days, and I’ll return the letter. She’d be expelled anyway, but this gave her a convenient excuse.
“Lord Molin seemed quite urgent with that letter. We’d be even more grateful if you left right now instead of in three days.”
Erica’s pupils shook violently as she guessed at the letter’s contents.
In truth, it was just that there were issues with the lord appointment and he’d soon come down with advisors, but Erica had no way of knowing. It was more a letter to console her disappointment than relay news.
Erica’s hands trembled as she intoned each word.
“Fine. Tomorrow, I’ll retrieve the body and leave.”
“Music to my ears.”
“Ian, just as I’m leaving, you’ll have to flee before the advisors arrive. You don’t think you’re free just because you didn’t take the Bratz name, do you?”
A curse delivered with utmost desperation and fervent wish.
But the words didn’t faze Ian at all. Seeing no reaction, Erica glared at the Cheonryeo tribesmen and continued.
“The advisors are officially appointed to manage the territory. It means a bastard from a brothel backed by barbarians isn’t someone they’ll play noble games with.”
“You’d better retract the ‘barbarian’ remark, Captain Erica. If the advisors come asking about you, I might be in a tough spot.”
Hard to phrase a death threat with such elegance. But to Erica, who’d lost her title and now had to chase Mary and Cheal endlessly through the borderlands without respite, it barely registered.
“I’ll come back. Be prepared. I’ll turn every grain of sand in the Great Desert upside down.”
“I don’t think so.”
“Don’t dream in vain, Ian. Pathetic.”
At Erica’s words, Ian placed a hand over his heart in noble courtesy. Then, an overflow of mana surged. His green eyes turned golden, and an incomprehensible flow of power emanated. Erica stared, dumbfounded, entranced.
Ziiing.
“You’re the one who shouldn’t cling to vain hopes of returning, Erica. Focus on finding Mary and Cheal’s corpses to take back to the capital. If you’re unlucky, you’ll drop dead out there.”
“…Mana User?”
“Then go. I can’t see you off far.”
“…….”
The warriors, seeing it for the first time, watched Ian with fascination. But it was fleeting. Soon, seeing him return to normal, their excitement deflated.
“Is that magic? That’s it?”
“Yeah, that’s what Berik showed us back then.”
“They say it’s different if you become a full mage?”
“What is it? How does it work?”
“I dunno, just overheard it, man.”
Leaving the chattering, delighted Cheonryeo tribesmen behind, Erica dazedly walked out the door.
Mana User.
Now she understood how Ian had swayed the Cheonryeo Tribe and gained the confidence to become lord.
“Lady Erica, are you alright? What did he say?”
“A Mana User.”
Far from being demoted to slave, they’d be clamoring for him in the capital.
For the first time, Erica realized she had been utterly defeated in Bratz. Her subordinate approached to check her complexion, but she had no mind to respond.
“Lady Erica?”
“…Pack up.”
“Yes?”
“We’re leaving the territory. Go hand Deruga’s body over to the Central Forces, and we’ll pursue Mary and Cheal.”
Was there anything more futile than chasing the dead? Since they’d suffer anyway, it was better to start quickly and show loyalty to the palace.
Meanwhile, Ian reviewed documents amid the warriors’ banter. Gazing at the distant blue forest, he thought of someone.
“It’s about time…….”
Time to see Philia. Ian’s birth mother, hiding somewhere in the forest. With Deruga and his family dead and her son returned, she no longer needed to hide—but more importantly, there was something else.
‘The reason Ian came to possess the potted plant.’
Wasn’t she the only one who knew that clue?