Trash of the Count’s Family - Chapter 84

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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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“What—how is this bastard here!”

Crude, utterly unbecoming words for a nobleman spilled reflexively from Benion Sten’s lips. As his hood slowly peeled away, his face was revealed—ashen and drained of color.
The Black Dragon approached him with deliberate, measured wingbeats.

“Why are you so startled?”

An innocent voice reached Benion Sten’s ears.

“Is it… unfamiliar to see me without blood on my hands?”

The Black Dragon’s expression remained utterly blank, belying the gentleness of his words. Raon—the Black Dragon—drew closer to Benion Sten with measured steps. Black mana rippled and undulated around him.

Benion Sten stumbled backward.

“Ugh!”

He trampled over a subordinate writhing in pain as he retreated further and further.

“Benion Sten.”

The Dragon speaks. He calls out his name.
For four years, Benion Sten had not seen a Dragon that could speak.
The creature before him now was different from the one he had known—that existence that bled beneath the lash and cudgel. The small frame remained unchanged, yet the once-enslaved being now stood before him as a superior species.

“You didn’t expect me to return, did you?”

He hadn’t. Benion Sten had only thought of recapturing the Dragon and properly training it. A foolish notion. His retreating feet trembled violently. There was no helping it.

“No, wait, what is—”

Crimson-black mist crept toward him. From his legs, the dark fog rose slowly, coiling around his body like a serpent. But escape was impossible.

“Glad to see you.”

The Dragon spoke those words of greeting while binding Benion Sten’s limbs immobile with mana. The serpentine mist, rising steadily, crept toward his chin.

“Gasp!”

Benion Sten groaned once more before falling silent.
A hissing sound like a serpent’s cry cut through the air. Despite his usual elegant appearance, his face was now utterly wretched.

“No, this can’t be…”

The crimson mist crept up to his nose.

This was something I had never experienced before. Bound and helpless, I was utterly powerless.

The blood-red mist slowly enveloped my nose and face. I tried not to breathe, but the mist inevitably seeped into my nostrils.
My breath grew shallow. Then, through the crimson haze, I could see the contorted visage of a dragon.

“I am Benion Sten. I’m delighted to meet you.”
“…Cough!”

Raon could see Benion Sten’s face through the crimson mist. Having absorbed the weak poison fog from On and Hong, Benion Sten’s body trembled violently.
Raon released the mana threads binding Benion Sten.

Thud. Benion Sten’s body collapsed, poisoned and intoxicated. He had already lost consciousness.

Raon gazed down silently at the fallen Benion Sten. Then a hand came to stroke the dragon’s head.
It was Kale Heniatus. Having descended lightly from the rooftop railing using Wind’s Sound, he stroked Raon while gazing down at Benion Sten.
Raon’s voice rang out.

“Weak. Disappointingly weak.”

Kale Heniatus offered a bitter smile. The voice sounded quite sorrowful. But Kale Heniatus asked in return.

“So you want to stop?”
“No. I’ll do the same to him.”

At the unwavering response, Kale Heniatus tapped the dark, round head gently. He glanced around before speaking.

“Begin.”

Tap, tap. On and Hong, the cats perched atop the building, descended lightly. As On manipulated the mist, it parted slightly, revealing Choi Han.

“Everyone is waiting at the entrance of the Alley.”

I watched as the Black Dragon Raon slowly became transparent before giving my order.

“Tell them to come.”
“Yes.”

Soon two small carriages entered the Alley, filling the narrow space completely. A figure descended from one of them.

“Ah, good morning. Young Master.”
“Take them away.”

The Mad Priestess Kaige swallowed hard as she observed Benion’s two subordinates collapsed as if poisoned, and Benion Sten slung across Choi Han’s back.
She had not witnessed what transpired within this Alley. Not only was her vision obscured by thick fog, but Choi Han had been standing guard.

The faces of the two fallen subordinates were contorted, while Benion lay unconscious, his expression twisted with terror.

“There is no time.”
“Yes? Ah, yes!”

At my indifferent tone, she quickly collected herself and instructed her two accompanying colleagues to move Benion’s subordinates.
Instead, Kaige approached me as I prepared to depart in another small carriage with Benion.

“You remember, yes? Four days from now.”
“Yes. That will be sufficient.”

The way I spoke with calm certainty and the manner in which Choi Han hurled Benion into the corner of the carriage appeared serene. Yet this sight sent a chill down Kaige’s spine.

Kale Heniatus, who had faced a bomb in the Capital to protect everyone. The atmosphere was different from the Young Master who had aided her and Taylor. But Kaige soon wore a faint smile. For the plan to succeed, she needed to act with resolve.

“Yes, I will trust you. Since it is the date you have specified, Young Master, I must remember it well.”

Four days. Recalling that moment, I answered this anxious excommunicated Priest with certainty.

“Yes. Do not worry—I cannot possibly forget. Certainly not.”

I spoke dryly while gazing at Benion’s unconscious face.

“Each day will feel like a year, so forgetting is simply impossible.”

He turned his gaze toward Kaige and offered a greeting.

“Then I’ll be on my way.”
“Ah— yes.”

The intensity in Kale Heniatus’s eyes as he looked at Benion Sten was seared into her mind. Kaige watched until the carriage carrying Kale Heniatus and his companions disappeared down the alley.

‘…He did say he wouldn’t kill him, after all.’

Kale Heniatus had promised to hand over Benion Sten’s custody without taking his life. Because he was not someone who broke his word, and because of that, Kaige and Taylor had been able to devise this plan and trust him.

“If you’ve decided to trust, then trust.”

Kaige steeled herself. From today onward, she needed to move swiftly.

“Is everything loaded?”
“Yes.”
“Then let’s go.”

The carriage she rode in pulled away from the alley. It headed in the opposite direction from Kale Heniatus’s carriage.

Kale Heniatus’s carriage was bound for the opposite side of the Lord’s Castle in Sten Territory—a rather luxurious district where wealthy territorial residents, barons, and knights gathered.
Because it was known as the Wealthy District within the territory, the streets were immaculate, and every mansion displayed elegance and affluence.

Clop, clop. The carriage carrying Kale Heniatus, racing through the early morning mist, came to a halt before a mansion. The main gate of the mansion slowly opened. Creak, clang. As the sturdy iron gate swung wide, the carriage proceeded toward the rear of the estate.

An ordinary mansion. Behind that mansion stood a single door leading downward into darkness.

“A fine house.”

Kale Heniatus stepped down from the carriage, offering a light observation, then turned his gaze toward the coachman’s seat. The coachman was wrapped deeply in a robe.
As the hood lifted slightly, a face became visible.

“Go.”

Odeus, concealed within the hood, lowered his head with a rigid expression and quietly slipped out through the rear entrance of the mansion. He wanted nothing more than to turn around and look at Kale Heniatus once more, but he restrained himself.

‘I made the wrong judgment.’

It was a task he couldn’t entrust to his subordinates, so he moved himself. Now he understood why Kale had asked him to serve personally. What they were doing couldn’t be left to underlings.

‘A torture chamber.’

He was certainly known as a virtuous young nobleman. Exceptional in his spirit of sacrifice, too. Yet reality proved different. Choi Han was righteous and upright, yet he followed Kale’s orders faithfully.
Odeus recalled his nephew, Bilos, a bastard who claimed to follow Kale.

Despite his weathered face, Odeus’s eyes remained sharp and clear. He hurried. For the next four days, he had to complete the service Kale had instructed him to perform.

“The problem is how naturally they follow along.”

Odeus muttered in a voice too low for others to hear, then vanished into the mist.

Once Odeus was no longer visible, Kale opened the door leading to the basement.

Creeeeak. With a chilling sound, the entrance door slowly swung open.

“You’ve arrived?”

Vicross stood right before the door. He had arrived the previous evening and was already here at the Mansion. The son of the assassin Ron, a swordsman, a chef. Many titles adorned him.
But he also bore the name of a torture technician.

“Yes. Let’s move him.”

At Kale’s words, Choi Han hoisted Benion onto his shoulder and headed deeper into the basement. Vicross followed with a displeased expression, yet he remained at Kale’s side, occasionally glancing at the Black Dragon flying overhead.

Kale pretended not to notice Vicross’s gaze toward the Dragon. He had explained the Dragon’s existence to Vicross immediately upon his arrival yesterday.

He had accepted it readily.

‘As expected.’

The moment Kale mentioned that the one who had procured ingredients during their journey was a Dragon, Vicross accepted it without hesitation. However, since Kale hadn’t told him about Benion, Vicross found the current situation quite displeasing.

‘Still, he follows orders well.’

He followed commands with meticulous precision.
Kale felt this even more acutely the moment they descended into the basement.
The basement was quite spacious.

“That’s good.”

One corner of the basement I descended into was lined with various equipment—things Vicross had prepared. At the sight of those grim instruments, I swallowed hard and turned my gaze toward Raon.

“It’s identical.”

Raon assessed the basement’s appearance with composure. It had been arranged to resemble as closely as possible the cave where the Black Dragon had to live until he was four years old.

Choi Han draped Benion over a chair. Vicross looked at me and asked.

“So I should work on this man?”
“Yes.”
“How should I proceed?”

The answer to that question came not from me, but from Raon’s lips. Vicross found himself face to face with the dragon who had flown before him.

“I will repay him exactly as I was treated.”
“…Treated?”

Vicross didn’t know the dragon’s circumstances.

“Yes. I was raised in captivity for four years, enduring torture and abuse every single moment. And I was imprisoned in a cave. For the next four days, I want to be compensated for those four years of my life.”

The calm voice of a four-year-old child echoed through the space. Choi Han wiped his face with both hands, while On and Hong stood at a loss.

I watched Raon silently, arms crossed. Raon was truly a magnificent being. To speak of one’s own suffering with such composure—it was something I found difficult to imagine.

“Let me be specific about what I endured. First, I will be whipped hard enough to strip the skin from this great dragon’s sturdy hide.”

Raon described in detail the abuse he had suffered during those four years, speaking earnestly as he watched Vicross listening carefully. He truly wanted to repay him.

“And hitting the bleeding wounds repeatedly is standard practice.”
Crash!

Raon turned his gaze toward the sound that rang out as he was speaking.
I had kicked the chair Benion was sitting in unconscious. He collapsed to the floor, but the sleeping drug was so potent that even after being kicked, he remained unconscious.

I straightened my disheveled shirt as if nothing had happened and spoke.

“Keep doing what you need to do.”
“…Understood, human.”

Raon resumed his account of the past. With time running short, he recounted only the essential details, though with precision. When his story concluded, silence settled over us.

I studied Vicross intently. A faint smile tugged at the corner of my mouth.
Vicross withdrew white gloves from his pocket—the kind he wore to avoid getting soiled.

“Blood will dance through the air, it seems.”

He pulled on not one, but two pairs of white gloves. I had never read in any book about Vicross donning two pairs at once.

“Vicross.”
“Yes.”

Vicross turned to face me at my call.

“Before that, prepare some food.”
“…Food?”

Vicross’s expression made it abundantly clear what he thought of this mad request. Yet I gestured toward Raon, my shoulders squared as if to say he approved.

“Raon needs something to eat.”
“He hit me during mealtime, saying the sight of my blood stimulated his appetite and made the food go down easier.”
“…This is insane.”

Choi Han spat out a curse. Vicross withdrew yet another pair of gloves. He spoke to Raon and me.

“I shall prepare a banquet.”

As he said this, I observed the hardened resolve in Vicross and thought, as always, that he had a weakness for sentiment. The Wolf Tribe children were the same, and though he was a master of torture, Vicross harbored an unexpected tenderness toward the young.

Vicross ascended the stairs to prepare the banquet, asking casually as he went.

“Shall I cripple them?”
“No need.”

Raon answered.

“Yes. But you will be joining us as well, young master?”

I let out a small sigh at Vicross’s question, my brow furrowing slightly.

‘Not something I particularly wish to witness.’

I had always despised bloodshed and war, yearning instead for a peaceful existence. Yet this time, circumstances were somewhat different.

In a corner of the basement, I had installed an invisibility magic apparatus. Should my identity be exposed, it would prove troublesome, so I had arranged it so that I could only observe in secret.

‘I doubt I can enjoy a banquet while watching torture, so I suppose wine will have to suffice for me.’

It was clear that a brutal scene would unfold. Inevitably, my stomach would turn, and my anger would rise. In such moments, alcohol was the answer. I was about to open my mouth to request wine when Raon spoke first.

“I understand. Weak human, do not worry. You need not watch.”
“Yes. Young master, it may be difficult for you.”

Following Raon’s words, Choi Han spoke, and On and Hong nodded in agreement. I opened my mouth with a bewildered expression.

“What are you talking about?”

I patted Raon’s head as I passed by him.

“I should watch. Otherwise, are you saying I’d let you watch alone?”

There were times when one had to endure, no matter how difficult. I retrieved a potion from my magic pouch and tossed it to Vicross.

“If you feel like you’re dying, use the potion. Then you’ll be able to last four days.”
“As expected.”

Vicross nodded as if my reaction was only natural. Since he had accompanied me to the aftermath of war as well, he found the reactions of Choi Han and the Black Dragon rather puzzling.

“Then let us prepare.”

As head chef, Vicross displayed his full prowess, laying out an elaborate banquet in the basement. A banquet prepared solely for Raon.

* * *

“Ugh… ugh….”

Benion groaned, his body writhing. He felt heavy, as if suffocating despite his limbs not being bound—the air itself seemed to weigh upon him.
Soon his consciousness sharpened, and his mind cleared.

“Gasp!”

Benion’s eyes snapped open in shock. Before him lay a banquet.
A feast worthy of the finest noble houses spread across the table, and atop it, the Black Dragon gazed down at me.

Clang!

Benion turned his head. The metallic rattle of shackles around his neck and limbs echoed in his ears.

“Ugh… ugh—”

He tried to speak, but no words came. The magical shackle around his throat silenced him.
Like Raon before him, he could not produce human speech.

Scrape, crack!

A whip dragged across the floor—a massive one studded with metal and glass shards.
It resembled the very whip that had struck Raon.
A masked man in black, wielding that whip, slowly approached Benion.

“Begin.”

Raon spoke.

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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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