Using long weapons in a small space like this required a certain level of proficiency. That was one of my strategies here. When somebody felt like they had mastered something and were caught in an emergency, they would default to their muscle memory.
The only problem was that nobody factored things like sword fighting in a tiny house with a low ceiling into their training regimen. That was why I’d kept my dull rapier in its sheath and opted to use my fists instead.
“Too slow, dumbass!”
I slid into my opening while he was distracted and landed a punch in the man’s gut. He crumpled over, and just before his head hit the floor, my foot traced a half-moon in the air and landed on his face. His consciousness was now far away, on another plane.
Okay, down to my last guy… I shifted my gaze, and I saw Albert fighting him. Well, I say “fighting,” but it wasn’t exactly an epic showdown. More like, the prince was holding out his rapier and restraining him.
But a rapier was a liability in a small house like this. My fists were much faster, so that was my weapon of choice, but the attacks made by rapiers were easily influenced by one’s terrain. Besides, for all his faults, Albert was a prince who had received an excellent education. And since I’d whipped his balls into shape, he’d actually gotten pretty good at fighting by now.
If this guy was the same caliber as the other two, and you took the geographical advantage into account, then Albert would be sure to win if left to his own devices—
But there was no need to give the hooded man the privilege of a one-on-one fight.
I sneaked behind him, grabbed him by the arms, and pulled him to the ground.
“Oof?!”
I shoved his chest hard. The guy let out a guttural scream; I was now sitting on him.
“Well done, Albert. You made my job much easier.”
“I am honored, Lady Mylene.”
The fight would’ve ended mostly the same with or without Albert. But he’d enabled me to hold back a little. That was the reason these guys were still conscious—and it was going to save us some time.
“Ughhff… That hair… Y-you’re Mylene Petule?!”
“Correct. You really know your internationally famous kids, don’t ya, shithead?”
“Mmf…! What a foul mouth you have…! So you really are the divine child of that shithole country Eltania?!” The man smiled sadistically, catching his breath.
In Eltania, the chosen one with the Hair of Sulberia was worshipped as God’s Gift to the kingdom. However, most other nations thought of the Hair of Sulberia as nothing more than a signifier of special talents. And yet, this guy had known my name just from the color of my locks alone. I’d thought there were a lot of flies buzzing around… It looked like the pile of shit had been a lot closer than I thought.
“That doesn’t matter. I’ve got a lot of questions I wanna ask you.”
“Hah! I ain’t telling you shit.”
Unlike the underling punk, these guys had grit. As the man looked up at me, I could see from the look in his eyes that he was ready to die if it came to it.
He’s just daring me to beat the answers out of him. What a pain in the ass.
“Uh-huh. That’s nice.”
But that wasn’t a problem. With a nonchalant answer, I ripped out one of his fingernails.
“Eeep?!”
“Damn, you’re a trooper. That must really hurt.”
I tossed his fingernail aside, and it made a light scratching sound on the wooden floor. If he wasn’t gonna sing, he left me little recourse.
“It pains me to do this, but I guess I’ll have to pry the answers from your body.”
“Shit! You’re just God’s Bitch! Don’t underestimate my piety…!”
The man was screaming, likely in a vain attempt to boost his own morale. But in a matter of seconds, I was able to extract all sorts of information out of him. Piety and God’s Bitch stuck out in particular. The crime organization—no, the religion—this guy belonged to must have regarded the Hair of Sulberia as an evil thing.
Is that why they distributed the drugs at the academy? To target me? Well, I can always just ask.
“Okay, first things first. Since ya seem to recognize me, I’ll just ask directly: What did you do to Colette?”
“……”
The silent treatment. Well, this guy doesn’t seem to mind getting his fingernails ripped off. Must be that piety of his. Oh well… It’s not really my thing, but I guess I’ll just have to keep torturing him.
It was a shit experience that made me vomit just thinking about it, but when I was a mercenary, I’d witnessed how an enhanced interrogation was done. It had happened when I joined a group of many sent to take down a den of bandits. I was with one of the soldier platoons… And yeah, official state torturers were some sadistic motherfuckers.
I don’t wanna be like them, but time’s running out. So I’ll let a little monkeying slide for today.
“Okay, fingernail number two’s coming off.”
“Nng… Ah!”
I made good on my warning and ripped off a second nail. This time, he wasn’t able to hold back his scream. So how much longer until he sang for me?
“Colette. Where is she?”
“I… I’ll never tell you… Agh!”
I wasn’t going to bother repeating myself anymore. I just kept ripping away. But even after fingernail number five, the man still wasn’t talking.
“You’ve got balls, buddy. Though you don’t have fingernails anymore,” I joked.
The man glared at me, but there was a faint sense of peace in his eyes.
I don’t have time to fart around, but we might be here awhile.
I heaved a loud, suggestive sigh, and the corners of the man’s mouth slanted upward slightly, in an air of victory.
“Oh well. Guess we’ll move on to Phase Two.”
“Huh…? Mm?! Ga—AGGGH?!”
I wasn’t exactly finished with him yet. The part I’d dubbed Phase Two involved finger breaking. I twisted, yanked, and warped the shape of his fingers with a loud cracking noise.
The key point of torture was to let the victim know it will never end. Each section would drag on, like an eternity in Hell, but instead of ending in death, it would proceed to the next section.
“Gah…ack…!”
The man could do nothing but moan in pain. Well, no shit. If I were in his shoes, I wouldn’t be able to stay quiet, either. The matter at hand was getting him to talk. Personally, I didn’t like dragging it out this long.
“A little late to be telling ya now, but just so ya know, this is an enhanced interrogation,” I whispered matter-of-factly. “Unless ya talk, I’m gonna do the same thing to your left hand. And once that’s done, I’ll break your arms. After that, I’ll do your bottom half. I’ll start with your toes and finish with your eyes and ears. There won’t be a piece of you that makes it out unscathed. And if you won’t cooperate, then I’ll do the same to your two little friends over there.”
The faint traces of triumph had faded from the man’s eyes. All that remained was pure terror.
“You mentioned earlier that you were pious, correct? You have a stronghold in your soul that you would put your body on the line to protect—I think that is most commendable of you.” I took a breath and continued in a gentle tone of voice. “Since I’m nice, I’ll give you one little word of advice before we get started: Even if you hold out until the bitter end, can you guarantee the same from your two compatriots? Don’t ya think it might be prudent for everyone involved to squeal now, when you’re still at a place where a doctor can mend you?”