TSBSFVW 85

Chapter 85
Bread Thirteen. The Tower Built on a Swamp (7)

When the wad of cloth that had been covering his mouth was removed, saliva dribbled out. Malina shuddered in disgust.

“You’re making a fuss over spit. You used to sleep covered in monster blood and be fine.”

“That was then. Now that I handle food, I’ve developed a sense of hygiene.”

“You didn’t have that before?”

“…I didn’t…”

Malina admitted her past shortcomings humbly.

You can’t keep working as a mercenary while fussing about cleanliness. If you complain that something’s dirty or gross, you’ll be looked down on in a world already full of men. Fortunately for Malina, during her active years she’d had a better sense of hygiene than most men. In fact, people often scolded her to wash more.

No matter how dirty those shaggy, hairy men looked, would they be dirtier than her? Malina insisted she was better, but thinking back now she was a little… no, a lot dirtier.

Seth drew in a ragged breath and wailed.

“Y-you bastards! How dare you do this and expect to come out unscathed — aaagh!”

Malina shoved the cloth wad back into Seth’s mouth.

“Ughhh…”

“Oops, he was being noisy so I—”

Morris said.

“It’s okay. I wasn’t planning on letting him go anyway.”

“Ughhh!”

“As Master said, those who dare such things must have assumed they wouldn’t be found out. I didn’t want to get into another messy business either.”

In front of Elli he’d talk big about not killing every enemy, but in truth Morris thought killing was the easiest solution.

If killing didn’t cost much, it was actually a decent fix.

But you can’t use it often, and killing difficult people takes much time and money. It’s a matter of efficiency.

The Duke of McClure was typically the sort of man who was hard to kill.

If they set their mind to it they could kill him, but the aftermath would likely be messy. Cost and time aside, that was the issue.

Usually in such cases it was best to hand them what they wanted and pretend to be an ally, but if that side bore a grudge, it was a different story.

If showing them you’re not an easy target did nothing, then violence and threats were effective solutions.

“Master, I want you to arrange a meeting with the Duke of McClure.”

They needed to learn what the Duke wanted to set the future strategy.

“Ughhh!”

“Malina, free him.”

Malina used her fingertips like she was touching something dirty and pulled the cloth wad from Seth’s mouth.

“Pht, phtew! You bastard, Morris Herzog…!”

“You even remember my name. You’re not completely stupid, huh?”

“How dare you do this to the son of a duke and expect to get away with it…”

“I’m tired of those threats. Like I said, I wasn’t planning to let him live anyway.”

“Y-you wanted a meeting with Duke McClure…”

Seth Hastings, dried-out and shrunken, looked like a frightened mole. Malina couldn’t help but chuckle. Hearing that, Seth narrowed his eyes and glared at her.

“Just write a letter.”

“You think I’d cave to threats?!”

“You don’t need that tongue to write a letter, do you?”

“Eek…”

“You want attention, and you want to win back favor from the Duke who dislikes you. How pathetic.”

“What could you possibly know….”

“Enough to guess. Especially with shallow ploys like yours, your true motives are obvious. You got a little favor from Prince Marc and puffed yourself up, then you were dumped and now you’re burning up inside, right?”

Seth bit his lip in anger.

“You’re no longer the Hastings heir, you’re just the duke’s son — no title. Don’t make a fuss over it.”

“What do you intend to do by meeting with His Grace? He may have asked you, but it’s not like I said things that weren’t true — ugh!”

“So that tongue of yours is unnecessary, huh.”

A long finger snatched his tongue and pressed hard. The pressure felt like it would tear it off; Seth went pale and desperately shook his head.

Seth, who’d been happily drunk at the regular card club, woke up bound and gagged in this man’s office.

When he screamed, he was stepped on; when he cursed, he was struck. When he asked who the man was, the man told him his identity and then beat him again.

Morris Herzog.

The owner of the trading house that sponsors Cookie Walking.

Seth had wailed that it was because of that pig that this was happening, and Morris had looked genuinely puzzled.

“Why do you carry those useless eyes?”

“Huh…?”

“How can I make Elli look like a pig…”

The look of genuine curiosity sent chills down his spine.

Even the violent Marc had never given Seth such a chill. Marc, though cruel, was simple and easy to handle; Seth had never been truly afraid of him. But in front of the man now, Seth was genuinely terrified.

After that he behaved and was left without water for hours.

“If you carry something useless, people will misunderstand. They’ll expect it to do its job. Isn’t that deception? A fraud.”

“It’s surprising to hear you say that, Morris Herzog.”

Malina couldn’t hold it in and cut in. Morris chuckled.

“Just set up the meeting. That’s all your use is.”

“A— my father won’t stand for it.”

“He’ll grieve that his useless son died drunk. Acute alcohol poisoning isn’t that unlikely these days. Do you do drugs, by the way?”

“I don’t! I never have!”

“What a shame. You should’ve learned from Prince Marc.”

“If you kill me, Duke McClure won’t just sit idly by. He promised to back me if I spread rumors!”

“You believe that?”

“….”

“You’re so naive. The Duke of McClure would be happier if you disappeared. One less loose mouth is one less worry.”

Only then did Seth realize that there was no one to rescue him or even come looking for him.

‘So I should die for spreading a few nasty rumors about a pig?!’

This was too unfair.

It was true that he’d led the rumor campaign at McClure’s direction.

He’d even made things up and spread them.

But the people who amplified those rumors were the public.

Most people joined in simply because they disliked the suddenly popular Elli and wanted her downfall.

No matter who started it, it was bound to happen sooner or later.

Seth, on the verge of being thrown out of his family, had desperately needed the bag of gold Duke McClure tossed him and thought reconciling with McClure was vital.

He believed firmly that if the Duke said a few words to his father, his situation would change.

“How can you trust that snake of a man?”

“I have nothing left to lose…!”

Seth cried out, choking.

He’d been stripped of his position as heir. The dream of marrying Irlene had shattered.

The future he believed he’d surely possess had vanished despite him having done nothing wrong.

He couldn’t understand why he had to receive such cold looks and be treated as worthless.

He was miserable, and he hated the way Elli, praised as a genius and flourishing, kept succeeding even more.

‘That thing’ — something he couldn’t believe shared blood with a ducal family — was a filthy, contemptible bug.

An ugly pig even his father despised.

“Genius” my foot — something was definitely wrong. It was clearly thanks to that fox-like man’s cunning.

He simply revealed truths the world didn’t know yet, so there was nothing to hold back.

In reality, considering Duke McClure’s power, whether Elli had Herzog behind her or the Mammoth Trading House, she still wouldn’t be a match. The Duke had arranged unfavorable investigations that led to the bakery, Martop, being roasted, and Cronin’s newspaper promoted the slander.

It felt as if the whole world finally recognized how worthless the pig was, and Seth was elated.

Now the world had finally returned to normal, or so he thought.

But to resort to cowardly violence to make someone submit—he wanted to sneer that the pig was uncouth and crude for using such methods, but that pig had a lot going for her. Seth tried to plead, hoping it would sound like persuasion rather than begging.

“If you kill me, you’ll lose a lot too, Morris Herzog. Be wise. I’m someone you can talk to. If we discuss this rationally…”

“Lose?”

Morris scoffed.

“I was born a commoner; I’m not afraid of losing.”

“Think about it! You have a trading house and property!”

Was that a plea? Did it sound like persuasion? Seth clung desperately.

“You can’t become wealthy if you’re always afraid of losing.”

“You should be afraid sometimes! You need to maintain and grow your assets! Isn’t money important?!”

“Right. Money’s important.”

“Yes! It matters.”

“But having money doesn’t make someone human. There are people worse than beasts.”

“…”

Morris laughed heartily.

“Killing is a joke.”

“Gah…”

“Lead the way. Come with us.”

“Damn.”

Seth finally broke down and cried. That was a devil.