Helmut: The Forsaken Child - H.F.C Chapter 414 (Part 1):

In Helmut’s hand was a small pill.

Through the translucent shell, something wriggled inside. It was a repulsive, spine-chilling sight.

The moment Michael saw it, the blood drained from his face.

His already pale complexion, save for the bruised patches, turned so white it seemed impossible for it to grow any paler.

Helmut raised the pill toward Michael’s face, which was now etched with shock and terror.

“You know what this is, don’t you.”

It was the very same insect that Black Hawk had once intended to use on Helmut.

The creature would take root in the heart, living there, requiring a specially concocted medicine to be swallowed once a month to survive.

The formula for the medicine varied depending on what the larva had been fed since birth, making it unique to each insect.

If the host failed to provide sustenance, the insect would gnaw at the heart.

Sensitive to magic, the creature was difficult to remove even with spells.

If it sensed a threat, it would devour the heart, severing the host’s life.

“To think you’d use such a vile method, fit only for the lowliest assassins, on *me*…!”

Michael stumbled backward, assuming a defensive stance.

“No need for further explanation, then.”

Helmut lunged at Michael.

“No! Stop— Aaaagh!”

Suppressing Michael’s desperate screams, Helmut forced his mouth open.

Michael, whose body lacked even a trace of muscle, had pitiful strength.

Overpowering him was as simple as restraining a newborn.

Helmut promptly shoved the pill down his throat.

*Cough, cough!* Michael thrashed violently, trying to spit out the foreign object, but it was futile.

His Adam’s apple bobbed as the pill slid past his throat.

Only then did Helmut release him. *Thud!*

“Huuaaaagh!”

Collapsing to the floor, Michael sobbed, retching uncontrollably.

His face flushed red as he desperately shoved his fingers down his throat, trying to expel what he’d swallowed. It was a frantic, pitiful struggle.

*Kegh!* But what he coughed up wasn’t the pill—only fragments of the shell, soaked in gastric juices.

The insect inside had already burrowed into his body.

“You filthy insect! You *monster*!”

Helmut watched Michael’s flailing with cold, unyielding eyes.

Michael let out incoherent screams, soon clawing at his chest.

He must have heard—the pain would persist until the parasite settled into its new home.

‘Alea worked on it, so there shouldn’t be any issues.’

It wouldn’t be fatal. Helmut had procured the worm through Black Hawk.

It wasn’t an absolute poison by any means.

Someone of Michael’s status, a Grand Prince of Renosa, could likely hire a mage from the Mages Association or a healer to undergo a complex procedure to remove the insect.

But with Alea’s magic woven into it, the story changed.

Unless an archmage intervened, no one would be able to extract the insect from Michael.

Any reckless attempt would cost him his life.

‘Not that I’d care if he died that way.’

As Michael’s trembling subsided, signaling the insect had settled, Helmut regarded him with renewed interest.

Michael, always impeccable and poised with a hypocritical smile, was a pathetic sight now.

His face, smeared with saliva, tears, and snot, was both wretched and absurd.

In contrast, Helmut remained composed, unshaken.

To think that this haughty fool could be reduced to such a state so easily. A realization struck Helmut.

‘Come to think of it, this guy was coddled his whole life.’

Michael only seemed strong because he was cunning enough to manipulate others and always held the upper hand in his environment.

Having never faced humiliation, he lacked the resilience to endure being cornered.

He was merely a spoiled young lord who’d lived recklessly, using his frail body as a weapon.

For him, choosing death over a life of defeat was easier—not out of strong will, but because of his weakness.

Charlotte, so upright and just, could never retaliate against her frail brother, no matter how poorly he treated her, knowing he could die at any moment.

Michael’s demeanor had even worked on Helmut to some extent.

But to think it would still sway him now, after Michael had betrayed him, was a grave miscalculation.

In that one regard, he was strikingly like his mother, Margret Irene.

Michael, curled up like a frightened herbivore, wiped his mouth and muttered.

“…Disgusting. How dare you make me swallow a worm.”

His plaintive tone might have evoked pity, but Helmut responded coldly.

“They say people unknowingly ingest bugs throughout their lives. This isn’t your first time, so don’t fuss over it.”

“You call that—comfort?!”

“Who said anything about comforting you?”

Helmut retorted, incredulous.

To expect such a thing from one’s aggressor—Michael’s shamelessness was matched only by his childishness.

At that rebuke, Michael’s emotions erupted, and he lunged at Helmut.

“Why are you keeping me alive like this! *Why*!”

Helmut gazed impassively at the face screaming while clutching his arm.

“Did you think that by making an enemy of me, you’d still get to dictate the outcome?”

“You’re wrong. You can’t do this to me!”

Helmut could bear no more. Listening further would only fuel his urge to kill the fool, despite the trouble of procuring the costly insect.

His eyebrow twitched. He moved to shove Michael away.

But before he could, Michael shouted quickly.

“I spared your life!”

“…*You*, spared *me*?”

Otaku_Tensei

I'm currently Translating the following novel: Helmut: The Forsaken Child. If you want to support me and read more chapters please subscribe to my Patreon!

•