Chapter 22

Elise’s merciless violence scene was utterly gruesome. The wolves, subjected to punishments akin to torture by Elise, had lost all their naturally sharp predatory weapons. They collapsed in a heap, streaming with tears and snot, while the glasses-wearing wolf even had his tongue cut off.

We left the horrific scene behind in the ruins and headed toward the place the glasses-wearing wolf had mentioned.

It was straight to Mama Pig’s house.

[What a shameless pig. Selling out her own mom and still walking into her house—total trash.]

“Kyarrrr, she really is the epitome of no conscience. Should we just catch her and make her a whole-pig barbecue already?”

Indeed. The unfilial pig who tried to sell her own mom ironically headed right for Mama Pig’s house. The reason was so repulsive it was almost comical. Apparently, after selling out her entire family, the pig figured Mama Pig’s house would naturally be empty—and she planned to live there indefinitely, according to what the glasses-wearing wolf revealed.

Even though her current plan changed and she sold us out instead, the glasses-wearing wolf was confident that she’d still head to Mama Pig’s house since she had nowhere else to go.

My brows furrowed involuntarily. How could someone wearing the guise of… Ah, wait. Hmm, how do I put this? Seriously, how can anyone with human-like intelligence betray their own family like this?

It’s the kind of horrifying case you rarely see on the news, and I couldn’t help but marvel at its sheer awfulness.

Mama Pig’s house wasn’t too far from here. The old man said it’d take about 30 minutes of walking to reach a quiet meadow where a little cottage stood.

I briefly imagined the scenario once we arrived at the cottage and spoke up.

“So, what do we do when we get to Mama Pig’s house?”

“Huh? What do we do? Well, obviously we break down the door, tie her up, and make her a whole-pig barbecue!”

[What the heck is wrong with you?! We need to ask about the black rabbit first!]

“Heheheh, oh yeah, I forgot for a second. Alright, let’s find out where the black rabbit went and then throw a barbecue party!”

I shook my head at their response.

“No, not quite. There aren’t just pigs in Mama Pig’s house—you know, Mama Pig will be there too. If we tell her that her child not only sold out her siblings but also tried to sell her, wouldn’t she be shocked?”

[Oh snap! That’s actually thoughtful! Didn’t think of that!]

Elise tilted her head at my words.

“What does that matter? Whether she gets shocked or not, we just do our job.”

[Our Prince, what’s with that attitude?! So cruel! No empathy!]

“Hmm~ Are you trying to survive in this world by sympathizing with everyone? If you hadn’t pitied the pig’s sad situation, we wouldn’t be in this mess now. If we followed my way, we’d already be heading towards the black rabbit~”

Elise’s words drew jeers from Ariel, but they hit hard. Yeah, in this world, showing pity and acting emotionally might make survival difficult. Fable characters are twisted and dangerous.

If we hadn’t tried to help the pig and instead forced information out of him, we could have been on our way home by now.

But still… It feels uncomfortable.

Rationally, I know we should hurry to wrap this up and head home, but the process makes me uneasy.

“I understand what you mean.”

“Right? So stop daydreaming about grabbing the pig’s collar or something…”

“Still, it bothers me.”

Elise looked at me with an intrigued gaze. I worried she might suddenly swing her staff, but I gathered my courage.

“If your intention from the start was to chase the black rabbit, you’d have run away when you were in danger of getting shot, instead of helping me. Haha, well, of course, you’re strong enough that you probably wouldn’t die!”

“Hmm~ So?”

“W-well, if I had blindly chased the black rabbit, I wouldn’t be traveling with you guys now. And maybe I wouldn’t even be standing here, but instead found as a cold corpse somewhere. Hahaha.”

I exaggeratedly laughed to avoid offending Elise. She tapped her cherry-red lips thoughtfully with her index finger.

“Hmm~ You’ve got a point. But I still disagree. Showing unnecessary compassion leads to trouble, like now.”

I nervously glanced at Elise’s staff, fearing she might chop off my limbs to use as tools for finding the white rabbit.

[Y’all better shut up! This party is led by our Prince! He does what he wants!]

Ughhh! Why are you provoking her?!

Ariel might be strong, but I doubt she could stop Elise if she went berserk due to her unhinged cruelty. I anxiously watched Elise, who stared at me intently before smiling faintly.

“Alright, since you’re leading us like some grim reaper, I’ll follow your decision this time.”

“Eh? Uh-huh.”

Phew, thank goodness. Just as I sighed in relief…

Suddenly, a strong gust of wind blew, hitting my face with something.

“Kyaa! Wh-what is it!?”

I fumbled around and peeled off the mysterious object stuck to my face. It was light and rectangular. Paper. A piece of paper. On it was a familiar-looking photo with the following message:

“Looking for my children: Honey One and Honey Two. If anyone has seen my precious kids, please contact me.”

[What? Is this a missing persons flyer? Isn’t this a picture of a pig? Could this flyer be from that pig kid selling his older brothers?]

“Hooh, seems like I know who spread these flyers~”

“…So Mama Pig didn’t know her children had been sold and kept searching for them.”

Now I was even more conflicted about how to approach Mama Pig. Ignoring her presence and just taking the pig seemed wrong since she’d likely keep searching unknowingly.

But telling her the truth meant risking despair over losing two sons and possibly herself to being sold—all because of one selfish youngest son.

Such a frustrating choice. I hate these kinds of dilemmas. Still, considering the effort this mother pig has gone through to find her missing children, I felt it was right to carefully reveal the truth.

“You seem deep in thought? Look over there.”

Elise pointed meaningfully in one direction. There were flyers scattered all over the road.

I stared blankly for a moment before realizing something was off.

Normally, flyers are posted on trees or distributed strategically to grab attention, right? These looked like they were dumped all at once, as if whoever had them just threw them all down.

As we cautiously approached the flyers, a chilling premonition washed over me. I noticed familiar red stains on the stack.

Above the pile of flyers loomed a steep hill. Anyone tumbling down could easily suffer serious injuries.

And there were already victims.

[Shock! Horror! What is THAT!?]

A pool of blood. Bloodstains on the flyers. Lifeless eyes. The motionless, plump body of a pig. It was obvious—she’d fallen from the hill, hit her head on a rock, and died instantly.

“Looks like the one who made those flyers met an unfortunate end?”

Elise giggled and walked over to the dead Mama Pig, poking her with her finger to confirm she was truly gone.

[Prince, are you okay?]

Ariel looked at me worriedly. The unexpected scene made me dizzy.

Could she have still been filled with the desire to see her children right until the moment she died? It hurt thinking about it.

Simultaneously, a boiling rage bubbled up from deep within me. In the end, the youngest pig had caused the deaths of every single member of his family.

By hiding the fact that he’d sold his brothers, he indirectly led Mama Pig to her tragic demise—crushing her skull against a rock.

How could this happen?

What kind of absurd tragedy is this? Even soap operas don’t go this far. All my previous deliberations feel meaningless now.

How dare a child not only fail to honor their parents but actively lead their family to ruin? I couldn’t forgive this cruel and senseless story.

[Prince, should you rest a bit?]

“I’m fine. Right now, we have something to do.”

Elise stood up and smiled faintly.

“Yeah, definitely dead. But this way, we don’t have to worry about her anymore. Now we can punish the pig without guilt.”

“Alright, let’s bring closure to this terrible tale.”

I resolved.

This story’s ending won’t allow the youngest pig to smile happily ever after.

I’ll make sure he takes full responsibility for everything he’s done.

I vowed firmly as I gazed at Mama Pig’s lifeless body.