Episode 7 Dogs of the Baskervilles (4)
Vikir knows Hugo’s personality well.
‘……Lizard man.’
A cold-blooded human with blood so cold that one might wonder if he was a reptile.
Basically, he was a being who was only interested in the future of his family and his own inaction.
A human being who thinks of everything except himself as a tool, especially as a weapon.
Weapons basically exist to harm others, and it is unimaginable that weapons independently show mercy or hesitate.
It is also natural that the more poison you have, the better your weapon becomes.
So it was quite possible that Hugo’s gaze at Vikir was gradually colored with satisfaction.
“Yes. Do you think you are innocent?”
“Yes. Rather, the older brothers were wrong.”
“What did you do wrong?”
“It’s a weak mistake.”
strong self-esteem. A world where weakness is sin.
Wouldn’t that be Baskerville?
Bikir’s words ran right through this core family motto of the Baskervilles.
It is not a sin for a lion to eat a deer.
The strong beating the weak is the providence of nature, but claiming that it should be divided into crime and punishment is just foolishness of the weak.
It was Hugo’s teaching that was behind the tutors who stuck in their ears like nails in childhood.
‘……So the hyungs bullied me first! Even if I try to whine, it’s useless.’
Before returning, Bikir explained his innocence and the sins of his brothers, as normal children usually do, but Hugo only expressed contempt with a more frowning expression.
…..And those eyes were the same until the last moment when I knelt on the guillotine at the execution site.
Meanwhile.
Hugo Les Baskerville.
He clasped his hands together and covered his mouth.
And spoke in a low voice.
“Your brothers came here before you.”
“…”
“They say they forgive you like an elder.”
Vikir didn’t bother to answer.
You can tell that he has the experience of keeping Hugo’s side for a long time.
Perhaps the triplets, instead of giving him an answer to their liking, only annoyed him.
‘I’m sure he was very intimidated. And I’m sure Forgiveness must have been grimacing and asking me to isolate him somehow, saying that he had suffered a minor injury.’
Bikir replied in an emotionless voice.
“It’s like eating for free.”
“…”
Hugo paused.
Finally, Hugo let out a faint laugh.
“Huh-huh. That’s true. This father, too, worked hard to become the eldest son when he became head of household.”
It was quite an unfamiliar sight for Hugo to call himself ‘father’.
‘By the way, you’re trying to become the eldest son? Can that be done with hard work?’
Bikir, who was worried for a while at the first sound he heard, soon understood the meaning.
Hugo killed all of his older brothers and rose to the position of head of the family through a hypocrisy.
‘Right. I’ve only heard that the eldest son carries on the family. Even the eldest son could be acquired.’
It was the moment when I realized the true nature of the Baskervilles again.
Hugo asked again.
“No matter what. The brothers reached out to forgive you first. But don’t you feel guilty?”
“…”
Vikir looked at Hugo in silence for a moment.
The warm eyes of his father, which he had never received in his previous life.
However, the already salty and cold frozen heart can never be melted with such feeble warmth.
……Sometime before the return.
The last daughter of a family destroyed by the Baskervilles once visited Hugo in person.
After a long time, she became a nun and gave a Mass saying ‘I forgive you’.
And Hugo, who heard the contents of the mass, said this.
“Wouldn’t forgiveness be just an excuse for the weak who have no power to take revenge?”
Excluding the honorifics, the lines are exactly the same as Hugo’s at the time.
In an instant, Hugo’s eyes widened.
“Hahahahahaha-”
Only then did the sound of laughter so loud that the windows trembled resonated throughout the room.
Hugo leaned back in his chair with a look of supreme satisfaction.
“This is how it’s like my son. It’s like watching the first guy.”
It was the first time Vikir had ever seen him express his emotions to this extent towards his son.
The conversation with Hugo ended here.
“Barrymore.”
Hugo, who had summoned the butler, had returned with an expressionless face before he knew it.
But the warmth of the embers still lingers in the voice that comes out of his mouth.
“Give Bikir the key to the food storage.”
Hearing this, Barrymore’s eyes widened.
Children in the Baskervilles always eat the same food until they are 15 years old.
water and haggis.
The meat of all kinds of animals, intestines, and a few vegetables are mashed together and minced. It boasts extreme heat and nutritional value, but it is extremely tasteless and salty.
The amount of food is provided in an unlimited amount and managed in a very hygienic manner, but there is no taste at all.
So, the children of the Baskerville family are crazy about sweets and candies that sometimes fall out when they get good grades in basic education.
It is a system that can inspire children’s learning motivation at a very low price, cultivate a sense of competition, and further develop them into great members of Baskerville.
Knowing that, Hugo asked Bikir.
“Do you have any snacks you want to eat?”
Then Bikir answered with an innocent smile typical of an 8-year-old child.
“Chocolate!”
Hugo saw that and nodded.
You must be thinking to the extent of ‘I even have a cuteness suitable for my age’.
Barrymore also smiles heartily as if a child is a child.
Hugo beckoned Barrymore.
“Go to the food storage and take out as much chocolate as you want. But don’t be greedy. Just enough to carry.”
“Yes, my lord.”
Barrymore took Vikir’s hand and headed for the door.
at that time.
said Hugo, turning around with his back to the door.
“Take a good look at this midterm evaluation.”
It is unusual to receive such encouragement.
But what followed was even more unusual.
“……Don’t lose to your immediate family.”
At those words, Bikir’s eyes began to emit red light.
like two suns.
* * *
“Here it is, young man.”
Barrymore took Bikir to the kitchen outside the infant castle.
A few chefs followed suit, politely presenting themselves.
The food storage deep underground is always cool.
The cold air blowing through the cracks in the stones met with the warm air that came in when the door opened, creating condensation.
Barrymore raised a lamp and illuminated the interior of the warehouse.
It’s just a matter of managing mana, but it’s not something that makes you feel embarrassed when the old butler does it this far.
Bikir went inside.
You can see that the ingredients eaten by the guardian knights in the family, family members over the age of 15, and other servants are neatly arranged.
“Candies and jellies are here. If there is a menu that you want to cook separately, I will ask the chefs to prepare it.”
Bikir shook his head at Barrymore’s kind invitation.
“It’s just chocolate.”
At that, Barrymore looked down at Bikir with a slightly sorrowful look.
How much chocolate do you want to eat?
“If you’re over 15, you’ll be able to eat as much as you want.”
It was a sincere consolation.
The chefs in the back took out the finest chocolates from the shelf while paying attention to the butler.
“This is the finest chocolate that the women of the House of Morgue, who are known for their gourmets, enjoy eating. This time, we also got a few cans. They say that the flavor gets stronger when you add nuts from the south and honey from the west.”
But Bikir shook his head.
“I don’t need anything processed.”
“……yes?”
Bikir opened his mouth to Barrymore and the chefs who looked puzzled.
“I need cacao beans. The kind with a very strong flavor.”
Hearing that, Barrymore tilted her head.
The raw material of chocolate is cacao beans.
However, unprocessed cacao beans are bitter and astringent rather than sweet.
It was clear that even a paper with a strong flavor would only taste bitter.
Barrymore, who heard the chefs’ report after a while, said.
“Hmmm. If it’s a species with a strong flavor… it is said that there is. In the past, the head of the family personally led the senators in the family to subjugate the barbarians on the western front of the territory and reclaimed the vast jungles of the area as farmland. It is said that one grain of ‘Bloody Bean’, a local specialty, can make 100 liters of chocolate.”
“Good. Bring it.”
“How much will you bring?”
“As it is.”
At Bikir’s command, the chefs moved.
Then one of the chefs came with a small leather pouch in his hand.
The pouch, barely big enough for two fists, was filled with bright red beans.
It looks like more than 100 grains.
This is Bloody Bean. One bean has a consistency comparable to 100 liters of chocolate.
Bikir tried chewing a bean.
…a lot!
Reaction comes right in the mouth.
It was astringent and bitter enough to tingle your entire tongue.
Bikir spat out the peas and nodded in satisfaction.
Barrymore nodded.
‘You really like chocolate.’
Anyway, Hugo told Bikir to give him as much food as he wanted, so it wouldn’t be a problem even if he took all these cocoa beans.
However, this single cacao bean is the amount that can produce 10,000 liters of chocolate.
Barrymore admired the 8-year-old’s greed and wisdom.
Maybe Bikir will be able to indulge his favorite chocolate for the rest of his life.
“Bocchan. Shall we process this and upload it to the room?”
……however.
Bikir gave an answer that made everyone wonder.
“No processing required. This is enough.”
Apparently, he didn’t ask for it to eat.
