Chapter 80
His head was stinging. From the back of his neck where he had been beaten, his whole body was sore. As soon Lange regained consciousness, he was wracked with a fit of coughs.
The old cloth over his head was full of dust. He coughed for a while, then slowly began to check his condition.
‘Fortunately, I think I’m not crippled…’
Except for his hands and feet tightly bound to the chair, his body was generally intact. He thought at least one of his limbs was gone when he woke up. He didn’t want such a scary situation, so he was relieved.
And since his limbs were intact, if he was lucky, he might be able to get out of here. The question is how to escape from this place.
‘Because I can’t see, I don’t even know where this is……’
The cloth covering his entire face made it difficult to see. At least, seeing the red candle light flickering through the worn out fabric, he could at least tell that he wasn’t in a room with a window.
And speaking out his voice a little, his words rang out. It could have been a room like an empty warehouse.
‘Seeing that they’re still keeping me alive, they must be trying to figure out who’s behind me, right?’
Lange calmly organized his thoughts and checked the strength of the ropes tied to his limbs. As expected, the rope was tied so tightly that blood did not flow through it properly, so it seemed that there was no room for even a finger to enter. Damn it. Lange let out a curse.
He had no superhuman strength to break the ropes with his bare hands. In other words, if this continued on like this, he would get beaten up and then die.
‘No, calm down. Has this happened only once or twice? You’ll find a way if you just keep your wits about you…’
At that time. There was a creak and the sound of the door opening, and then he felt someone enter the room. After a while, the cloth covering Lange’s face was pulled off. Lange, who was finally able to see properly, squinted his eyes at the bright light.
“Ugh.”
“Wake up, spy bastard. There is still a lot to do between us.”
Wham! A thick hand landed on Lange’s cheek. Lange’s whole body was shaken by the unexpected hit. He soon spat out blood from his mouth, and only then could he see the face of the person who had hit him. It was a man with a long scar on his face.
“Hey, let’s solve it with words in a good way. What’s the use of using your hand on someone.”
“Huh, pretending to be relaxed. Let’s see. Will it continue to be that way?”
The man moved away from Lange and approached the table. The table was full of what appeared to be instruments of torture. Looking at it, Lange felt a chill run down his spine. He was familiar with those instruments of torture. If he hadn’t been caught here, he’d be the one holding those instruments of torture.
‘Ha, what goes around comes around, they say.’
How unlucky. Lange was mourning by himself, and he let out a deep sigh. Who would have known that his sins would come back in this way?
To be honest, it’s not as if he wasn’t expecting it at all. He just vaguely thought it was something that would happen in the distant future. Who knew it would happen so fast?
“Well, look here. Shall we solve it verbally? Don’t you have something you want to ask me? Ask me, and I’ll tell you.”
“Yes, there are many things I want to ask. But I want to have some fun. Isn’t it just a matter of opening your mouth anyway?”
“Haha, you have a knack for saying scary things.”
That bastard. As he shoved the words he hadn’t been able to say into his throat, Lange smiled awkwardly. If I get out of here, you’re dead. He stared at him, trying to remember that person’s face.
Before long, the man stood in front of Lange holding a long iron skewer. Lange broke into a cold sweat as he felt his whole body shivering once more.
“Right hand?”
The man asked, looking around the iron skewer.
“What?”
“Are you right-handed?”
“Crazy bastard.”
Lange spit out curses before he knew it. It was because he roughly predicted what the man would do to him next. Thanks to that, the man even smiled as if he had noticed.
“I’m considerate. I thought that if you were right-handed, I might cripple your left hand.”
“What a tearful consideration. I don’t need anything like that.”
“What a pity. Then I’ll decide however I want.”
The man held up the iron skewer. And he was about to slash at Lange’s right hand. Knock, someone knocked on the door from outside. The man looked back for a moment. Lange was delighted with this and encouraged the man.
“There’s a visitor. Why don’t you go?”
“Annoying. I’ll finish it and go.”
“AARGH!”
In an instant, the man thrust the iron skewer into Lang’s right hand. A burning pain rushed into the palm of his hand. Lange screamed and his right hand trembled.
He could see the iron skewer penetrating right through the middle of his palm. He was in so much pain he felt like he was about to die. He had been through many things, but he was not accustomed to suffering.
“To let your guard down.”
The man looked down at the screaming Langue and said a word. Then he walked up to the door and opened it and left. A small voice passed through the open door. Lange tried to eavesdrop on it as best he could, but his right hand made it difficult to concentrate.
Soon the conversation was cut off and the person who entered the room was not the man who had put the iron skewer in Lange’s hand, but someone wearing a white mask.
Lange looked at him carefully. It felt like he had seen this walking posture somewhere. The person, like the man before, stood in front of the desk, picked up a sharp knife, and approached Lange.
“…Hey, what’s stuck in my hand right now… Can’t you see it? It’s a bit of a foul to do that at the same time—”
However, this time the other person didn’t stab Lange with it, but cut the ropes that bound his hands and feet. While Lange was bewildered and looked at that person stupidly, the iron skewer on Lange’s right hand was pulled out. Lange once again screamed loudly.
“To live only with your mouth.”
Clank! As the iron skewer rolled across the floor, Lange’s eyes widened at the familiar voice.
The other person took off the mask and revealed their face.
“Lange Geoffrey, you look ridiculous.”
“…Your Excellency!”
“How did you get here?”
The Marquis’ subordinate, who had been waiting outside, covered the man’s face with a cloth and seated him on a chair, tying his limbs.
Lange now had a bandage wrapped around his right hand, and he looked at Beatrice, who was sitting leaning against the desk. His face showed that he needed an explanation.
“I’m always keeping an eye on your whereabouts.”
“I’m not asking that. I want to ask why Your Excellency went this far.”
“Let’s call it a coincidence. Anything else?”
Beatrice nodded her head as if telling him to hurry up and ask.
“Have you known about this place before?”
“I know everything. It’s part of my plan.”
“…No way.”
While Lange was shocked, she nodded her head again.
“Next.”
“…Why did you erase it?”
“You mean my dog’s past? Because that’s important.”
“Your Excellency!”
Reluctantly, Lange shouted, and Beatrice just snorted lightly. She took one of the cigars out of her coat pocket. After finishing all the work, a subordinate came over and lit her cigar. A line of smoke rose from the tip of the cigar as Beatrice put the cigar in her mouth.
“Geoffrey, why do you think I assigned you to him?”
Afterwards, Lange calmly answered the Marquis who exhaled smoke.
“It was to keep an eye on Sir Shine. There was also no one worthy to assist him.”
“Yes, the reason I assigned you to him was because he needs to be surveilled.”
“But for the purpose of surveillance, you gave me no order separately. Even if I report it, you don’t answer it on time. Surveillance is just a cause, and you had a separate purpose, right?”
Hearing Lange’s question, Beatrice let out a chuckle. He was quick to notice. She went off the desk she leaned against and looked at the man strapped to the chair.
“Geoffrey, you will never come back under me.”
“What is that…”
“Your affiliation will change under him.”
“I need more explanation, Your Excellency. I am only temporarily…”
Then Beatrice turned around and looked at Lange. She opened her mouth in a rather low voice.
“Nothing is temporary. Everything is limited to the present. Because if there is no now, there is no next. Geoffrey, you will be the conduit between me and him. That’s your role. You asked why I erased his past?”
“…Yes.”
“Duke Callias has been a thorn on my side for the past few years. You know very well how much I want to mess with him. But there was no reason. So I had to make a justification. Of course, not just that bastard, I have to clean up the garbage that has been in my plan so far.”
It is not necessary to have justification to get rid of one garbage, but if the garbage is forming a mountain, it’s a different case.
Beatrice had prepared enough oil and torches to spread all over the mountain to clean up the mountain of garbage. And now it was time to light that fire. If she were to throw a single ember at them, the trap she had set would devour all that garbage and become a huge flame.
“This country is still thriving. The loyalty of the people of the kingdom to the royal family is also high. That’s why the King’s power comes from the bottom. It’s no use just putting the trash out of sight. So why not show them? A big flame.”
“Your Excellency, what is that…”
“He is my important card. It’s like luck rolling under my feet, guaranteeing my victory. So I’m never going to let go of that luck. Shouldn’t he rather be coaxed so that he can’t have useless thoughts?”
Beatrice threw the cigar on the floor and rubbed it off with her foot.
“My dog will be the next Duke Callias.”
Of course, to make that happen, we’ll have to drag the current Duke to the floor. This is such a place, Geoffrey.
Seeing the Marquis’ smiling face, Lange was frozen and unable to say anything.
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