I Regressed to My Ruined Family – 30

 #I returned, and my family was ruined (31)

A few days after talking with Lawrence.

Hans’s plan to rest comfortably in the inner castle was completely overturned.

That was why he was now imprisoned in a dungeon that was notorious even in the viscount’s domain.

It had already been three days since he had been in this damn prison.

His face was now emaciated, unlike three days ago.

It wasn’t just his face that had changed.

His entire body was covered with wounds.

“Ugh…”

The conversation he had with Lawrence a few days ago kept repeating in his head.

“If you go back like this, Hans’s life will be in danger. He’ll probably be killed without anyone even knowing.”

It was a shocking statement.

He was stunned.

Lawrence continued in a blunt tone.

“Do you really think Cheiman would just sit there and wait for news from the viscount, trusting only the butler?”

“……”

“In my opinion, there’s an 80% chance that he’s being followed. He’s either trying to confirm whether he really wants to surrender or if this is a distraction by the Grand Duke. That is, if he’s not a fool.”

When he heard those words.

How cold his spine felt.

Hans instinctively realized.

Lawrence was right.

Chayman wasn’t a fool, and he wouldn’t send only one person to wait for news.

“Let’s assume that someone skilled enough to escape Hans’ notice was following him. Wouldn’t they have already spotted him entering the inner castle?”

“They entered the inner city through a small side door. They didn’t go in through the front gate, so… couldn’t we just say that they had help from an accomplice?”

“Well, doubt is not an emotion that can be easily dispelled. If you, who said you hated and despised the Grand Duke, were seen walking straight into the lion’s den…”

“…

There was no need to go inside the inner castle to get information.

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All he had to do was secretly call one of the people working in the inner castle. This already created a contradiction.

At this moment, Cheiman’s suspicion must have begun to deepen.

Hans looked dejected.

“Then… what should I do?”

“If you want to live, you must do exactly as I say from now on. That’s the only way to dispel the count’s suspicions.”

The more she spoke, the more Hans was horrified.

In short, she was telling him to just roll with the punches.

But he had no choice but to agree.

Even Hans thought that he would have to do at least that much to dispel the count’s suspicions.

“I’m crazy… Ugh… How could I not have thought of such a simple thing!”

Under normal circumstances, he would have suspected that he was being followed.

But at that moment, he was so caught up in his pride and sense of superiority at having successfully deceived a high-ranking nobleman like the count that he didn’t even consider that possibility.

That was why he was now imprisoned in a dungeon.

Soon, the door of the dungeon opened.

It was Lawrence who appeared.

“Is the dungeon comfortable?”

“Ugh… You call this livable?”

The cold seeped into his bones, and his body was shivering. Perhaps because he hadn’t slept for several days, his eyes were hollow.

His body and lips were dry and cracked.

“There’s no choice. You have to stay in a real prison if you want to look the part. Shall we begin today?”

Lawrence took out all sorts of tools, including a whip, from inside the prison cell.

They all looked extremely painful.

Hans’ eyes trembled at the sight.

It had already been three days of this.

He felt like he was going to lose his mind.

“Please… Please go easy on me. I’m going to die if you keep this up!”

“You won’t die from this.”

“How can you be so sure? I feel like I’m going to die right now!”

“I’ve done this many times.”

“But…”

“Are you going to keep whining like this? Should I just let you go as you wish?”

Only then did Hans become silent as a bee.

He couldn’t do that.

In order to clear the count’s suspicion, he had to look like he had been pushed to the brink of death.

Lawrence lit a stick of incense.

It was supposed to be an incense stick containing medicine to alleviate pain, but he doubted its effectiveness.

“Let’s begin.”

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Lawrence pulled the whip taut and struck Hans’s body.

When another red line appeared, Hans screamed inside his head.

Even though Lawrence said he would go easy on him, it didn’t mean he wouldn’t feel any pain.

The whipping was especially painful.

“Ugh!”

“Nine more.”

“Aaah!”

After the whipping was over, all kinds of torture began.

“Is this… really showing mercy?”

From the process of delicately drawing blood from his fingernails to the process of leaving bruises all over his body.

Every step was incredibly painful. He was told that this was being done at a level that would not leave any lasting effects.

It was hard to believe.

“Really… This person is truly terrifying.”

How could he push his own ally so hard?

The person torturing him right in front of his eyes was undoubtedly a madman.

“I’m crazy, I’m crazy!”

How could someone like that make a strategist quit in tears in just a few days?

He wanted to slap himself hard for having such naive thoughts a few days ago.

It was he who ended up crying and begging for mercy.

After about three hours, Lawrence put down his tools.

He looked at Hans’ body and nodded with satisfaction.

“This should be enough for the count to trust him.”

“Ugh…”

That was true.

Now that he had been pushed to this extent, Hans would not think of the Grand Duke’s side as his allies.

Even if they were allies, his appearance was so pitiful that it was easy to believe he would change his mind overnight.

“There will be a commotion in the underground dungeon tonight.”

“A commotion…?”

“The prisoners will start a riot. During the commotion, Hans will escape from the inner castle with the help of accomplices who were informed in advance.”

“If that happens…”

“Someone who was following Hans will probably reach out to him out of curiosity. That person will have the revised contact information, so we can contact the count at that time.”

“I understand.”

That night.

A great commotion broke out in the inner castle.

Starting with fires being set everywhere, news spread that people imprisoned in the underground dungeons had escaped.

Hans’s name was on the list of escapees.

Hans, who had escaped the inner castle in the middle of the night looking like a beggar, was approached by a man in armor.

“This way, please!”

“Who… who are you?”

“I am a knight of the Count’s household. I have been ordered to escort Hans. Hurry, this way!”

Hans flinched.

Just as Lawrence had said, Cheiman had indeed assigned a knight to follow him.

‘I almost got caught without anyone noticing…’

He had narrowly escaped being dealt with by that man, Cheyman. With a desperate expression, he rushed toward the knight.

“Please… please save me!”

“Follow me.”

Together, they made their way through the maze-like path. After running for quite some time, the two finally came to a stop.

“Ugh. Ugh.”

“My goodness… What on earth happened to you?”

Contrary to his worried tone, the knight’s eyes were sharp and piercing.

Hans, whose hands and feet were trembling, slowly recounted what had happened to him.

With the help of a collaborator, he had infiltrated the inner castle to obtain information, but he had been caught and imprisoned in a dungeon.

Knight Rodern nodded at Hans’ words that he had been severely tortured.

Even to the eyes of a five-star knight, Hans’ injuries looked very serious. There was no doubt that he had been tortured with the intention of killing him.

“This is enough.”

Any hope would vanish in an instant. After being tortured so brutally, it was almost impossible that he would still follow the Grand Duke.

“Ethan… I will tear that bastard limb from limb!”

“Calm down. You are in critical condition. You need to be treated first…”

“No. Even though my body is in this state, I was able to obtain very important information. I must report it to the count as soon as possible. Do you happen to have a crystal ball?”

“Yes. The one you had with you…”

“It broke while I was being chased out of the inner castle.”

“I see. Here, take it.”

The knight handed him the crystal ball.

He used it to contact Count Cheyman. For a moment, he was startled by the sight of Hans in such a pitiful state.

“The plan to sow discord has succeeded.”

At those words, Cheyman began to focus on Hans’s words. As more details about the events in the underground dungeon came out of Hans’s mouth, the count’s eyes grew wider and wider.

When he finished speaking,

“Well done. You’ve worked hard! You’ve been through a lot!”

A smile appeared on Count Cheyman’s lips.

“…No, it was my fault for being incompetent. I’m sorry, Count.”

“No, it’s not. If you hadn’t been kind to the people in the viscount’s domain, how could you have escaped? It’s a relief that you’re alive. Now, about that…”

“Yes, sir.”

“Once you’ve recovered, can you gather more information about the viscount’s domain? I need your connections for this.”

The inner castle was heavily guarded. It would not be easy to send someone in to spy.

In that situation, Hans, who had connections inside the inner castle, was a godsend.

He could be used for the time being.

“…If it will help Lord Cheiman, I will do as you say.”

“Heh heh. Thank you, thank you. I’ll give you plenty of money for the treatment, so make sure to get a blessing from the priests.”

“I’m alive.”

Hans breathed a sigh of relief.

If he didn’t trust him, he wouldn’t have given him money for the priests’ blessings, which were extremely expensive.

He was definitely planning to use him more.

Hans shouted loudly.

“I will be loyal!”

He had saved his life, which was more precious than anything else, so for Hans, it was both the worst and the best day of his life.

* *

Ethan looked at Sylvia.

“Where is Hans?”

“The count seems to have dropped his suspicions to some extent. He’s been moving around freely.”

He nodded.

Hans was too valuable a card to lose so easily.

That was why he had entrusted this matter to Lawrence.

He would have been greatly alerted by this incident, so he would not let his guard down in the future.

This was a very cheap lesson to learn in life.

“I’m thinking of leaving the domain for about two months.”

“Do you have somewhere to go?”

“Yes.”

Ethan recalled what Fulton had told him last night.

“Your Highness. Are you planning to take action against the Baron of Romenton?”

“Probably.”

“One family is one thing, but two is a different story. Even though you are growing rapidly, it could be dangerous.”

“So?”

“The Marquis contacted me. He said that what you need is time. If you wait two months, he will be able to provide you with some very useful assistance.”

A way to save time.

There was only one way.

“Elixir.”

If the marquis was so confident, he wouldn’t have given him a cheap elixir.

“I’ll wait.”

He nodded readily.

“I had something to do anyway.”

Ethan looked at his great sword. It was made of steel of a decent quality.

Until now, it had been able to withstand the injection of fire mana because it was not very powerful.

“But once it enters the cycle.”

It was obvious that the blade would slowly melt away.

This would be even more so when using vision sword techniques.

He needed a decent sword to destroy the side branch.

To make a decent sword, he naturally needed decent metal.

Metal that was harder than steel, lighter, and didn’t melt easily at high temperatures.

He happened to know a place where he could find such metal.

“There was a famous dungeon in the past.”

A dungeon located not far from the Karagas South Manor.

There, he could obtain the metal he needed.

After obtaining the metal from the dungeon, he would craft the sword and return to consume the elixir.

His future plans were now set.