Law of Space and Time

Chapter 64: The Curse of Human Emotions

There was a fugitive locked up in a secluded monastery in Newfando.

As Erwin made his way down into the dark and dank underground prison, many rats were roused from their slumber and began to rush away in all directions. This underground prison was once used by the Holy World Church as a form of punishment for low-ranking clergymen who went against the church's rules, and at this point, it had already been abandoned for many years. After all, virtually everyone in the Holy World Church was infringing upon the church's rules, so there was no point in this form of punishment continuing to exist.

Erwin took a glance at the man who was laying inside. His hair was knotted and disheveled, and he was looking very frail and vulnerable. Erwin knocked on the metal door of the cell with his horsewhip, snapping the man out of his reverie.

A dejected look appeared on Chahan's face at the sight of Erwin.

"I don't think you have the guts to rebel against me of your own volition," Erwin said with a calm expression, seemingly completely unfazed by Chahan's betrayal. "Did that baroness that you've always been romantically involved with put you up to this?"

"No, she didn't! I swear!" Chahan hurriedly denied as a panicked look appeared in his eyes. "This was all my idea, it has nothing to do with anyone else!"

Erwin shook his head with a faint sigh, then sat down onto a dilapidated chair. He cast his gaze toward Chahan, who was kneeling before him, and he said with a perplexed expression, "I still can't think of a reason why you would do this."

Even though he was looking at Chahan, his eyes were a little distracted, and his thoughts were also beginning to wander.

Erwin recalled that back when he conquered Zans, Onean had cautioned him to be wary of people like Chahan. It seemed that she was a far better judge of character than he was.

"I did this purely out of envy. Shiba and the others were all quickly rising up the ranks, while I was still stuck at the bottom, and that's why I decided to rebel," Chahan said in a resentful manner.

"Don't try to lie to me. You weren't envious, you were seduced into losing your mind!" Erwin countered in a cold voice. "It doesn't matter how you try to explain the situation, I'm going to take her life regardless. I'm sure she was also put up to this by that old slut, Sanfesa."

Chahan sat down onto the ground in a defeated manner upon hearing this.

Erwin seemed to have predicted what Chahan was going to say next, and he raised a hand to stop him. "There's no need to try and beg me. You should've considered the consequences when you decided to do something like this."

He knew that Chahan wasn't so shameless that he would beg for his own life, so he was presumably going to beg Erwin to spare that lover of his.

Erwin was in no mood to speak with Chahan any further, and thus, he stood up to depart. Right as he was about to leave the underground prison, he suddenly stopped, and without turning around, he said in a joking voice, "Considering you were the first friend I met after coming to the north, perhaps I should consider leaving you with a complete corpse." [1]

At the same time, Erwin couldn't help but lament just how unreliable human nature was.

Chahan looked on as Erwin faded into the distance, and countless emotions were surging through his heart, including resentment and remorse, but mostly a sense of admiration.

...

Before Erwin had a chance to have Baroness Klay killed, she paid a visit to him.

Erwin was quite surprised that she had the courage to voluntarily come to Fort Breeze to see him.

"Where is he? What have you done to him?" the baroness asked with a panicked expression as soon as she saw Erwin make his way into the guest hall.

"I killed him," Erwin replied in an expressionless manner.

The baroness let loose a hysterical scream, then rushed forward in a deranged manner to grab onto Erwin's collar.

Erwin threw her aside with a disdainful wave of his hand.

The baroness faltered slightly, clearly not expecting Erwin to be so rough with her, then collapsed to the ground and broke down into sobs.

Erwin was struck by a sense of absurdity upon seeing this. The baroness had to be over 30 years of age, yet she was acting like a little girl.

After sobbing for a while, the baroness seemed to have made up her mind, and she pulled a green magic potion vial out of her sleeve with the intention of downing its contents in one go.

However, Erwin's reflexes were extremely sharp, and he immediately unleashed a magic arrow to send the vial flying away.

"You didn't think I'd let you die so easily, did you?" Erwin asked as a mocking sneer appeared on his face.

"I know that my fate is already sealed. I came here today to beg you to spare his life, but I didn't you'd kill him so quickly," the baroness said as she gave Erwin a vicious glare.

"So you're saying I did the wrong thing?" Erwin asked with an expression of feigned befuddlement.

The baroness shook her head with a mocking sneer. "How could you possibly be wrong? The only people who're wrong are those standing against you."

"What right do you have to criticize me after what you've done?" Erwin asked with a cold smile. "Why don't you tell me how Sanfesa put you up to this? You must be very pleased that Chahan's completely lost his mind for you, right?"

The baroness stood up from the ground, paying no heed to her own disheveled hair as she gave Erwin a derisive look. "You think you know everything, don't you? You think you're so much smarter than everyone else."

"Oh?" Erwin was rather taken aback by her reaction. "Are there some hidden circumstances involved?"

"Why should I tell you? Hurry up and kill me!" the baroness said with a resolute and spiteful expression.

"Are you in a hurry to die so you can reunite with him on the other side?" Erwin asked as he raised an eyebrow.

The baroness didn't even bother to reply, and she closed her eyes, waiting for him to put an end to her life.

Erwin stared at the baroness for a moment, and was feeling rather perplexed as it seemed like she genuinely possessed a great deal of loyalty toward Chahan.

"He's actually not dead," Erwin said in an indifferent voice.

"What!?" the baroness exclaimed with a stunned expression, and she was unable to suppress the elation that appeared in her eyes.

"Is that true? Is he really still alive?" She shuffled toward Erwin on her knees, then grabbed onto his pant leg like a pathetic dog that was begging for food.

"Are you telling the truth? Please don't lie to me," she sobbed as tears and snot flowed down her face.

Erwin couldn't help but be moved by her genuine outpouring of emotion, and he nodded as he heaved a faint sigh.

An elated smile appeared on the baroness's face upon hearing confirmation that Chahan was still alive, but tears were still flowing incessantly down her face. She had completely lost the composure and dignity one would expect from a noblewoman like her.

Her attitude then took a sharp turn, and she desperately implored, "Please take my life instead of his. This is all my idea, it has nothing to do with him. I manipulated him into this, so I'm the one who deserves to die!"

She grabbed tightly onto Erwin's hand with both of hers while repeatedly imploring Erwin to kill her.

However, Erwin remained silent in the face of her pleas, and after a while, the baroness lowered her head and decided to come clean.

"Sanfesa didn't manipulate me. Instead, she's been extorting me all this time."

"Go on." Erwin knew that there had to have been some more complex circumstances involved.

"Ever since my husband, Baron Klay, lost his nobility status, he fell into alcohol and gambling addiction." The baroness took a careful glance at Erwin as she spoke, terrified that something she said would irk Erwin in any way.

Erwin merely gestured for her to continue.

"He accumulated a lot of debt, far too much for us to be able to afford to repay. I borrowed money a few times from my sister, Countess Onen, but the hole was too deep to fill. One day, he came back looking extremely concerned, and he told me that someone had repaid all of his gambling debt for him. At the time, I said that was a good thing, but little did I know it was Sanfesa who had paid off his debts. That accursed woman injected a type of poison by the name of otaro into his body. When the poison kicks in, his entire body is racked with excruciating pain, and if no antidote is administered, he'll die a terrible death in just a few days."

"So that's how she's extorting you?" Erwin asked with a smile.

The baroness was terrified that Erwin wouldn't believe her, and she nodded desperately to lend her story more conviction. In reality, Erwin was merely smiling because he knew that this had always been the way that Sanfesa liked to do things.

"She instructed us to move to Newfando and stir up some trouble here. However, we have no influence in Newfando, so what could we possibly have done? I then recalled that Chahan was serving under you, so I decided to use him to fulfill Sanfesa's instructions."

At the mention of Chahan, the baroness was overcome by emotions once again, and she sobbed as she begged Erwin to spare Chahan. "Please kill me, this is all my fault. I was the one who made him do this..."

"I don't understand," Erwin said as he wiped away the snot and tears on his leg. "If you're having an affair with Chahan and are willing to die with him, why do you care about your husband's life? In fact, wouldn't it be ideal for you and Chahan if he was out of the picture?"

The baroness lowered her head, feeling very embarrassed at the blatant mockery in Erwin's words, but in the end, she still gave a serious explanation. "Our relationship may have broken down, but he's still my husband. I can't just watch him die without trying to save him. My poor husband has also been telling me to abandon him, but we've been husband and wife for so many years. My heart may no longer belong to him, but I still want him to be safe and well."

"Well, well, well, I didn't expect you to be such a loving person," Erwin mused.

The baroness paid no heed to Erwin's mockery as she continued, "Please release Chahan, I beg of you. He had no intention of actually rebelling against you, all he did was stir up some trouble in the city with his lackeys. When I first approached him and asked him to do this, he refused vehemently, and he only agreed after I nagged him over and over again. It's my selfishness and shamelessness that placed him in this situation. Please spare him. If it makes you feel better, you can kill me and hang my head above the city gates. You can do whatever you want to me as long as you spare him."

The baroness was on her knees, clutching onto Erwin's leg with all her might.

Erwin was silent for a long while before declaring in an indifferent voice, "I can spare him."

The baroness raised her head with a stunned expression, seemingly unable to believe her own ears.

"Take off your clothes and let me take a look. I'm sure many men have seen you naked before anyway, right?" Erwin said with a mocking expression.

The baroness blushed deeply upon hearing this, and she had half a mind to pretend like she hadn't heard what Erwin had just said. Essentially, Erwin was degrading her into the lowliest of prostitutes, but looking into Erwin's indifferent eyes, she knew that this was not negotiable.

The thought that her actions could save Chahan's life immediately spurred her into action, and she didn't hesitate any longer as she began to undress. She wiped the tears from her eyes, not wanting to cry any longer.

She looked into Erwin's eyes with complete despair in her own, but she didn't dare to display any resentment for fear that Erwin that would change his mind. It wasn't that she cherished her own body. Instead, she knew that she wouldn't be able to leave this place alive, yet even before her death, she was going to be defiled, and she felt as if she were bringing shame to Chahan.

Erwin watched as the baroness stripped her way her clothes, gradually revealing her voluptuous body, and his vision began to go out of focus. This wasn't a punishment for her, it was one that he was imposing upon himself instead. Seeing the lengths that she was willing to go to for Chahan's sake, the thought of Theresa entered his mind, and he couldn't help but wonder whether he was worth everything she had sacrificed for him.

"That's enough!" Onean suddenly strode into the room at this moment.

At this point, the baroness had stripped down to her undergarments, and she took a glance at her, then cast a cold gaze toward Erwin. "What's there to see from this old hag? Aren't you afraid of getting an eye infection?"

Lana also made her way into the room, then sat down beside Erwin before squeezing his cheeks between her hand. "Exactly! Are you saying this silver-haired vixen and I aren't as good-looking as this old hag? Don't tell me you have some type of strange fetish!"

The baroness was greatly startled by the abrupt entry made by the two women, and her first instinct was to cover up her own body with her dress, but she didn't dare to do so without receiving permission from Erwin.

"Go to the eastern city gate. There will be a horse-drawn carriage waiting for you there in an hour," Erwin said with a cold expression and a dismissive wave of his hand. "Don't ever come back again. If you two dare to return to the City of Freedom, I will make sure neither of you manages to leave alive. As for Baron Klay, I'll organize someone to take care of him."

The baroness stood rooted to the spot, seemingly unable to comprehend what she had just heard.

"Alternatively, you can stay here if you want Chahan to die," Erwin said in a cold voice.

The baroness hurriedly put on her clothes before rushing out of her room upon hearing this, and in her haste, she didn't even realize that she had inserted several buttons on her dress into the wrong slots.

"This isn't like you. I didn't think you would be willing to spare them," Lana mused as she turned to Erwin with a curious expression.

Erwin offered no response. While it was true that neither the baroness nor Chahan had committed unforgivable crimes, he still couldn't help but wonder why he had decided to spare them.

He emerged from Fort Breeze, basking in the cool spring wind as he cast his gaze toward the tombstone on the mountain, and he couldn't help but think to himself that if only he could be as heartless and emotionless as some of the most brilliant rulers in history.

1. In China (more so in ancient times, but still applicable nowadays), it's considered to be very important for one's corpse to be complete and whole after death. Otherwise, the fate and fortune of the entire family line could be negatively impacted.