Chapter 305

Chapter 305

(TL Note: Content Warning, this chapter is quite disgusting)

“Guwaaack!”

Count Zachary let out a sound like a pig being slaughtered as he opened his eyes.

However, he couldn’t get up. His arms and legs were tightly bound.

The same went for Administrator Rieur, who lay unconscious beside him.

‘Night?’

He had no idea how much time had passed since he lost consciousness, but the stars in the sky made it clear that it was now night.

‘Where is this? Wait, could it be... the Demon’s Swamp?’

He was sure of it. This was the tropical rainforest located about half a day’s journey west of Carpathia Castle.

A massive swamp within it, known as the “Demon’s Swamp,” lay before him.

Not only was it a huge swamp, but it was also such a hot and humid place that people rarely ventured there.

Even hunters avoided it because not even animals lived in this swamp. No, it was a place where they couldn’t survive.

It was infested with countless bugs and insects.

“Why am I in a place like this...?”

“Oh, what’s this? You’re awake?”

A voice came from behind him.

Count Zachary squirmed, turning his body in the opposite direction.

There, he saw two men sitting on a felled tree stump.

One was slim, while the other had a build like a bear.

“R-rats?”

“That’s right. Quick on the uptake, huh? Well, you did see us earlier, so that makes sense.”

The slim rat snickered as he approached.

Looking down on him, a noble, speaking informally, and even sneering.

Under normal circumstances, Zachary would have had him flogged, but he wasn’t foolish enough to attempt that now.

“W-Where did Sir Caron go? I’d like to have a word with him...”

“He left a long time ago. But don’t worry, we’re here to keep you company.”

Whatever it was that amused him so much, the slim man couldn’t stop chuckling.

“Since we’ll be spending some time together, introductions are in order. I’m Roy, and the guy over there is Bernstein.”

“I-I see. I’m Count Zachary...”

“No need to say more. We know exactly who you are. Hey, wake up that pig beside you.”

Roy lightly kicked Administrator Rieur’s stomach.

“Uh, ugh... W-Where am I!?”

As he watched Rieur begin to grasp the situation, much like he had moments ago, Count Zachary fell into deep thought.

Based on his demeanor, this rat named Roy seemed like a particularly nasty piece of work.

‘What is Caron’s intent?’

Rats who disregard nobles, a swamp, and this foreboding atmosphere.

The answer was simple. They were trying to make him talk.

‘They want me to confess to all my crimes and accept a punishment greater than mere suspension. What a cheap trick. Even Caron, the Empire’s famed rat, isn’t all that impressive.’

They wouldn’t actually torture him. Confessions extracted through torture weren’t admissible.

While most nobles feared Caron, Count Zachary did not.

He knew that instances of Caron torturing nobles were exceptionally rare.

Moreover, Duke Aziz was under the Emperor’s protection. As the Emperor’s tool, Caron couldn’t possibly torture him.

“Both of you have come to your senses? Then let’s get going.”

“Where are we going?”

“You see that boat over there? We’re heading there.”

The rat named Bernstein had somehow moved close to the swamp.

A small wooden boat was floating there, and he was untying the thick rope that tethered it.

“Let’s start our delightful little boat ride.”

Creak—Creak—

With occasional groans from the old wooden boat, it carried them toward the center of the swamp.

“These damn bugs...”

“Ugh...! Get them off me! I can’t stand bugs!”

Though bugs clung to their bodies, Count Zachary and Administrator Rieur couldn’t brush them off.

Roy watched them with apparent amusement, his chuckles never ceasing.

As its reputation as the Demon’s Swamp suggested, it was home to all sorts of bugs and larvae.

So much so that even animals avoided setting foot here.

Why had they been brought to such a place? Could it be...

“Y-You’re planning to drown us, aren’t you?”

Administrator Rieur muttered in terror.

With stones tied to their feet, there would be no need to retrieve their bodies if they were thrown into the swamp. The bugs would eat their flesh clean.

“Aww, come on now. Drowning a high noble and an administrator? That’s just absurd.”

“Y-Yes, of course. That’s too much.”

It’s just Caron’s sick way of trying to make us talk, they thought.

While the two pigs were thinking along these lines, Roy continued.

“That’d be too easy.”

“W-What?”

“You should have time to reflect and repent sincerely before you die.”

Roy pulled something out from his pocket. A small vial.

Sometimes, quiet people had softer hearts.

Yes, he’d try to persuade him instead.

“C-Can you hear me?”

“...”

“P-Please, spare me. That guy’s insane. There’s no way Caron gave him these orders. You know that, don’t you?”

Despite Count Zachary’s pleas, Bernstein remained silent.

Roy, who had snuck up beside him, laid a hand on Bernstein’s shoulder.

“What’s up? Still curious about something? If you’ve got questions, ask me. This guy can’t talk.”

“I-I just wanted to have a conversation. He seemed like a good friend.”

“He’s a good friend, alright. But it’s going to be difficult.”

“You’re going to stifle even someone else’s will? How harsh.”

“That’s not it. Like I said, it’s not that he doesn’t talk. He can’t talk.”

“What do you mean...”

As if to answer Count Zachary’s question, Bernstein opened his mouth wide.

Count Zachary and Administrator Rieur’s eyes widened.

It was missing. Something that every human should have in their mouth.

A tongue.

“Want to know why he doesn’t have a tongue? When he was a kid, a lord dragged his parents away.”

“...”

“They told him that if he wanted to save his parents’ lives, he’d have to give them his tongue. So he cut it out himself... but all they gave him back were his parents’ corpses.”

Roy chuckled.

“Why aren’t you laughing? Isn’t it a funny story?”

“...”

“Oddly enough, it’s pretty similar to what you did this time. Well, you were worse. You wiped out an entire family, left no one alive...”

Finally, Count Zachary understood the look in Bernstein’s eyes.

He intended to keep them alive for as long as possible. To care for them meticulously. To deliver the greatest pain.

Such seriousness was reflected in his gaze.

“So if you want to escape, it’s faster to persuade me. Changing his mind won’t be easy.”

“T-This is...”

“Oh, my story? I’ll take my time telling it. We’ve got plenty of time. Lots and lots of time. Oh, looks like the guests are already here.”

Rustle—

Buzzing—

They could feel it all over their bodies. More bugs were clinging to them.

For now, they were just sucking the honey, but once the honey was gone, the next target was obvious.

Inside their bodies.

They’d bore through the skin and get inside. If they laid eggs in there...

There would be no need to go seeking Hell. Living right here would be Hell itself.

“D-Don’t do this!”

“S-Save me, please! Aaaaah!”

Administrator Rieur screamed.

A large bug had flown over from somewhere and bitten into his neck.

Honey seeped into the torn wound, and through the opening, several small insects swarmed inside.

“Damn it...”

Thud!

Roy smashed his fist down, squashing the bug.

Then he poured a potion over the wound.

“Ah... my mistake. I didn’t think they’d get inside so quickly. I’ll have to be more careful.”

Even if the potion healed the wound, it wouldn’t kill the bugs already inside.

They’d build nests, eating away at the flesh.

Lay eggs, give birth to babies, tear apart the flesh with their parents, grow, lay more eggs.

The process would repeat endlessly.

“Until the day you both meet your end.”

The client’s order was to inflict the longest possible suffering, and that was exactly what Roy and Bernstein wanted too.

Roy was disappointed. The bugs that had just entered Rieur’s body would only hasten his death.

“Well, it’s fine. We just have to be more careful from now on. Don’t worry, I’ll take care of any big bugs. Ah, I’m too nice for my own good, you know.”

“Uuurgh!”

“Yeah, yeah. I’ll give you water and food too. No need to worry about starving to death. Though... with your bodies, I doubt you’d die even if you went without food for two weeks.”

Count Zachary and Administrator Rieur. They had never despised their own fat bodies more.

The more flesh they had, the more there was for the bugs to eat.

Naturally, that meant they’d suffer for a longer time.

“S-Spare me! I was wrong! I admit it, it’s all my fault!”

“Aah, so damn noisy. Bernstein, get the gags. The pigs are squealing too much; I can’t concentrate on my work.”

In the Demon’s Swamp, where no one passed by.

Count Zachary and Administrator Rieur’s groans echoed without end.

–TL Notes–

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