The Loser Lord Who Kept Getting Sweet Revenge and Somehow Rose to the Top - Chapter 21: Farewell, Count.

Chapter 21: Farewell, Count.

…A few hours had passed since Comet sank the enemy flagship.

By now, the Imperial Navy had either gone under or raised the white flag. A handful of ships managed to escape, but overall, it was a crushing victory for Sphere.

Our own ship, the Bereshith, was still jammed nose-first into Shakara’s vessel and couldn’t move. But with allied ships heading over now that the battle was finished, we’d be fine.

Thinking that, I turned my gaze back to the bridge—where Shakara lay curled up like a ball of meat, bones twisted and broken in all the wrong directions, sobbing like a baby.

“…J-Just… kill me already…”

“―――Oh no, not yet! Time for a nice splash of healing potion, get you patched up, and then we go again~♪ Another round of torture play, let’s gooo!”

“AAAAAAAAGHHHHHHH!!”

Linna cheerfully dumped potion after potion over him, restoring his body right back to the original “one arm missing, face charred and melted” state he’d had at the start. And then, smiling ear to ear, she went right back to wrecking him all over again.

“You see, there’s a trick to this. If you don’t use magic and only break the body with pure physical force, recovery potions fix it cleanly—just restoring the original form. That way, you can keep on torturing—err, playing—as many times as you like.”

“Gughhh! Gyaahhh! Higiii! Vaaaghhh! GIIIIIIHhhhhh!!”

Shakara let out short, broken screams as Linna rhythmically snapped his fingers one by one, all while he glared at me through the pain. That glare reminded me—ah, right. There was one little detail I hadn’t mentioned yet. Might as well enlighten him.

“Oh yeah, Shakara. Forgot to tell you—your whole clan’s already been executed. Every single one of your family’s dead, their heads stuck up on display in the capital. All the nobles in your faction had their titles stripped, and every cousin, niece, nephew, every blood relative of House Shakara—even the infants and toddlers—were put to the sword. Your bloodline’s been wiped clean off the map.”

“…Eh? Ehh??”

At my words, Shakara’s eyes went wide, darting back and forth in sheer disbelief. The shock hit so hard he even forgot to scream. Honestly, what’s there to be surprised about?

“Of course it turned out that way. You sold out the kingdom and sided with the enemy—that’s straight-up treason. What else did you expect for the family that stayed behind? On top of that, you stole classified intel, sold it to a foreign power, and kicked off a war. After all that, even you should’ve realized—there was zero chance His Majesty would ever spare you. Thanks to Linna’s torture sessions, we dragged out every last detail—what you leaked, what you know about Van, all of it. But in the end, you’ll be patched up one last time and handed over to His Majesty. Because it’s the king himself who gets the final say. And you? You’ll face the guillotine in front of the people—exactly as you deserve!!”

“…N-No… no, I don’t want to die! Please, Sean—no, Lord Sean! I beg you! Put in a word with the king! If you, His Majesty’s favorite, plead for me, maybe—just maybe—he’ll spare me! I’ll be your slave! I’ll apologize for stealing Talia from you, I’ll give up my ass, I’ll eat shit if you tell me to—anything! Just please, forgive me, I’ll do anything!!”

“…Hm? Did you just say anything…? No, never mind.”

Linna almost chimed in but stopped herself halfway, grinning darkly.

This wasn’t like that half-assed dogeza he’d done back after the monster subjugation incident. No—this was real. A desperate plea for life, forehead smashing into the floor again and again as he wept and begged with all he had.

But still―

“…Look. We’re way past bargaining now. You’re a traitor to the crown—a flat-out sellout. And the only thing left for you is death. On the guillotine. In front of His Majesty and the people, your head’s coming off.”

At my words, Shakara froze in despair, slack-jawed and speechless.

“Well, well, looks like he broke. No more fight left in him. Guess we’ll heal him up one last time and drag him back, huh?”

“Yeah. I still owe the admiral my thanks, and Comet deserves some love too.”

―And so, the naval battle between the Empire and the Sphere–Bride Alliance ended in overwhelming victory.

Admiral Sonelun had been gravely wounded, practically on death’s door. After the battle, they stuffed him into a barrel full of healing potion to keep him alive until he could be taken home for proper treatment alongside the other injured. When I returned, I’d make sure to thank him again.

As for Comet, our MVP this time, I praised him thoroughly—lavished him with pats and scratches until his mood soared.

I gave Linna her share of thanks too, but she just said, “That was a great workout, I had fun, so I’m good!” Honestly, this girl never wavered. Best to just let her do her thing—if she’s satisfied, then so am I.

When I returned to the kingdom, I reported all the intel we’d wrung out of Shakara to His Majesty. After that, I handed Shakara over to the kingdom’s official executioner—a woman from the family line that had served in that role for generations. She was still young, a beauty, and as it happened, a junior of mine from knight school. We’d crossed paths a few times back then during events.

“I don’t care for drawn-out suffering, Count.”

The executioner cracked her riding whip as she took custody of the bound and gagged Shakara. From here, she would deliver him to His Majesty for judgment.

Shakara’s eyes brimmed with tears as he thrashed and moaned, silently begging for mercy. But with the gag in his mouth, no one could hear him—and either way, there was no saving him. The only path left to him was death, and repentance for his crimes on the scaffold.

―And just like that, I returned to my everyday life.