---

※This episode contains descriptions of interrogation carried out within the Information Agency. We kindly advise minor readers to proceed with caution.

“Target has been extracted.”

“I will secure the entrance logs from all directions and check the magic power monitoring equipment.”

“The cultists have violently invaded the headquarters. Start the inquiries with the officials.”

Ibrahim narrowed his eyes as he issued orders to the Order of the Holy Knights, his expression resembling someone who just chewed something unpleasant.

It was no surprise considering the blood of the Saint had been seized. Any mischief the cultists tried to perpetrate with Lucia’s blood would undoubtedly lead to undesirable outcomes.

I concealed my pistol and hurried out of the disheveled headquarters building. Bill, who was on site commanding the operations team, approached casually.

“Did you find them?”

“I missed them.”

“…Damn it.”

The cultists had already grabbed the blood and escaped the scene. There was no way to know when they had infiltrated the headquarters’ medical room, but it was clear by now they had accomplished their objective and left the camp.

“What do you think they plan to do with the Saint’s blood?”

“That’s not really important.”

Matt, having appeared in response to Bill’s question, crossed the sandy terrain with military boots and let out a small sigh, hands resting on his hips.

“The important thing is the location of the cultists. It will probably take at least ten days by car from the camp to reach the necropolis. On foot, maybe a month. They are likely still lingering in this country.”

“…….”

“Do you intend to chase them down immediately?”

“No.”

I shook my head and looked at Matt and Bill.

“Let’s gather information first.”

Episode 17 – The Tree That Drinks Blood

The Royal Intelligence Department’s operations team set up a base in the territory of Hassan Warlord. The assessment was that no region could guarantee safety better than the domain of a friendly warlord, considering hostile forces surrounded them.

Nasir, the leader of Hassan, was a former operative. He had been recruited by Leoni during her days as an operative and had taken out numerous military executives and generals while under her command.

Perhaps because he was from the operative world, the safe house provided by Nasir was in a rather decent location.

It was a reasonable distance from public offices, with hardly any neighborly interference. The geography allowed them to evade external surveillance while the residents could come and go freely without arousing suspicion, all shielded by an impenetrable stronghold.

A secluded retreat isolated in the city center.

A mid-level official of the Sanya Warlord was right here.

“How’s Yunus doing?”

“Not well, Team Leader.”

The Royal Intelligence Department employee reported to Matt as he stepped out of the van.

“He was already in poor health, but under torture, his body just can’t withstand it.”

“I know Yunus has health issues. What’s his nutritional status?”

“We are supplying essential nutrients for now, but….”

The Royal Intelligence employee trailed off with an ambiguous tone.

Just then, a thud noise echoed from beyond the door.

“Ugh…!”

Some intelligence officers remaining in the safe house continued interrogating the recruiter for the Sanya Warlord.

Yunus, undergoing interrogation by the Royal Intelligence employees, looked worse off than anyone could imagine. His hair was matted together with blood and sweat, and a substance, whether refuse or grain, was smeared across his face.

A punch landed on his jaw, causing the chair to wobble. The sound of bare feet slapping against the floor echoed, and as the employee gripped his hair and yanked, a massive fist struck his abdomen.

“Oof…!”

Matt, watching the scene of Yunus on the monitor, shot a question at the employees.

“Did you conduct water torture?”

“Yes.”

The Royal Intelligence employee admitted in a flat tone that they had employed water torture.

The officer in charge of directing the interrogation posed another question.

“For how long?”

“According to procedure, 20 minutes.”

The manual from the Abas Information Agency stipulated that water torture should not exceed 20 minutes.

If mishandled, water torture coupled with hypothermia and respiratory distress could indeed lead to the victim’s death.

Even after 20 minutes of water torture and electric shocks, it seemed they hadn’t gained any valuable information. Shadows loomed on Matt’s face as he scrutinized the interrogation records.

As he flipped through the papers, Matt raised his gaze and sent me a look.

“Why don’t you take a moment to relax? I’ll notify you as soon as new information surfaces.”

“Can’t I go in?”

Matt, who had been reviewing the documents, began to give me a dubious look.

I scanned the interrogation room, aligning my gaze with his.

“The cultists have stolen the blood of the Saint, and all we know is that they are heading towards the necropolis. We’ve got Yunus with us.”

“…….”

“If the one who facilitated the smuggling knows anything at all, then he must have some insight. There’s no way the Sanya bastards didn’t get some sort of insurance in place, right? I’ll take care of Yunus. You, Matt, monitor the situation from above.”

“Are you sure? It won’t be an easy task.”

He didn’t seem intent on outright refusing.

I chuckled softly and loosened my tie.

“Don’t worry.”

“Fine. Go ahead and do as you wish.”

Matt knocked on the iron door and unlocked it. In the meantime, I gathered my belongings and headed down to the basement.

Just before the door opened, Matt warned me as I was about to enter the interrogation room.

“His condition is poor. Handle him as gently as possible.”

“Are you afraid Yunus will die?”

“What kind of joke is that….”

The Royal Intelligence Quasi-Military Operative let out a faint sigh.

“It’s that I’m scared of being called to a hearing if things don’t go well.”

*

The stench of burning flesh mingled with foul excrement, creating an awful odor.

Instruments that had not been cleaned lay scattered across the cold table.

Beside it, an intelligence officer with a mask was taking a break, and in the center sat Yunus, a pitiful sight with his clothes in tatters.

“Step outside.”

I addressed the Royal Intelligence Department personnel.

The intelligence officers who had taken a brief break after their arduous tasks looked at me with a mix of curiosity and annoyance.

The superior standing by the door gestured silently towards his subordinates. The officers, exhaling smoke, gathered their cigarettes and lighters before hastily exiting the interrogation room.

I slowly walked up to Yunus and grasped his chin, lifting it.

“Ugh….”

Blood-tinged froth dripped from his clenched teeth.

His front teeth, stained crimson, protruded from between his lips, revealing a gaping hole where a tooth had been knocked out.

It is known that during torture, it is sometimes necessary to forcibly feed the victim.

This is often done when the victim attempts to starve themselves to death or refuses food. However, the Intelligence Agency doesn’t serve food neatly on plates; typically, such forced feeding is done via intubation.

It seems his tooth got knocked out while chewing on that tube. The Royal Intelligence employee stated that they had supplied the essential nutrients, so they likely forced a tube down his esophagus. It’s not unusual for the front teeth to break, as the tubes used for intubation are hard materials.

“…….”

With a soft sigh, I tilted Yunus’s head back. The broken teeth were stuck in such a way that the roots were still embedded in his gums.

In the silence filled only by his labored breaths.

An old magic lamp flickered feebly.

“Yunus Abdulla Mohammed. A mid-level official of the Sanya Warlord.”

I gripped Yunus’s hair tightly as I continued.

“You recruited shamans from the Jutari refugee camp. When low-level agents lured in refugees, you vetted them and sent them to nearby cities.”

“…….”

“How many have you gathered so far? Sixteen? Seventeen?”

A moment passed as blood-flecked foam formed again, and Yunus flashed a wide grin.

“That’s quite a collection.”

I held his head firmly and began to circle him slowly.

I could feel the sensation of his blood-soaked hair tangling through my palm vividly.

“Was it amusing to toss petty cash at those in dire straits, driving them to the battlefield? Even the shamans ran for their lives. It seemed you were in quite a hurry to mobilize the refugees.”

“…….”

*Spit!*

Yunus spat at me.

His body was secured to the chair, so the spit landed on the floor, but it was plenty sufficient as an act of provocation.

“…Eat this.”

Turning his head, Yunus mumbled. He flashed his blood-stained teeth with a smirk.

“Just a middle manager who only takes orders from others….”

“…….”

“I’m a warrior. Death is preferable. I will not give you the answer you seek.”

“…Yeah, I know.”

Through the tangle of his blood-soaked hair, his fierce gaze still burned bright despite the torture.

I released my grip on his hair.

“At the same time, I also know you helped smuggle four cult members. You brought them into the refugee camp in exchange for funds from the cult organization.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Don’t play dumb. You knew they were cultists.”

The repository of data we secured from the Sanya Warlord contained information about the cult. Yunus and Sanya were clearly aware they had allowed cultists into the camp.

“I have no idea what you’re planning, but you will soon find out. You’ll be spilling everything soon enough.”

“…….”

“I know. Of course, I’m sure you won’t readily converse. But soon, you will talk. Curious as to why?”

“…Why?”

“Because I have a lot of experience.”

I knelt, bending low, and stared directly into Yunus’s eyes.

“And patience. With just these two, a person can do anything.”

A smirk appeared on the warlord’s official’s lips.

“What can you do?”

I returned his smirk, replying.

“You’ll find out soon enough.”

*

It is a universal truth that people are hard to rewrite.

Many resonate with the adage for a reason.

However, the expression of it being hard to realize something is, in fact, a direct homonym to its feasibility.

Although the process may be arduous, people can change.

In whatever form that may take.

“Graaaah!”

With a crisp snip, Yunus screamed with all his might.

The blade sliced smoothly through flesh and muscle, cleanly severing down to the bone, the sensation akin to slicing through lotus root.

If you climb up this handle, blood will spurt out like a fountain from the severed stump.

Having removed the severed finger with my greatsword, I kneeled down to meet Yunus at eye level.

“How’s that? Feeling wide awake?”

“Gahhhh!!”

“Just touching the little ones, and you’re already crying like a baby.”

I ruffled his hair with abandon.

The military greatsword of the Kien Empire had more than enough power to slice through a human finger. As I moved the severed appendage aside, it began to scratch at the stump. In response, Yunus’s screams grew louder.

It was only when he had three fingers chopped off that Yunus finally started to give proper answers amid his spit and curse-ridden resistance.

“Yeah, yeah! I knew it! They’re cultists!”

“Good. Seems like you’re finally in the mood to answer properly.”

Interrogation continued as Yunus squirmed so much that the chair shook. I wedged the greatsword between his fingers and fired off another question, while Yunus sprayed saliva in a rough breath.

“How many cultists entered the camp?”

“Four, four!”

“Where did they come from?”

“I don’t know! I first met them at the border! The border with the Tisphon Republic!”

“Who did you meet at the border?”

Yunus twisted his arm so brutally against the rope that blood began to flow.

“A preacher! The cult’s preacher came to contact us! He promised money just to let a few believers into the camp! He said he’d give us 70,000 shillings!”

Seventy thousand shillings is roughly comparable to two years’ salary for the Abas employees.

The questioning continued.

“Where did the funds come from?”

“How the hell should I know! They must have scraped it from the believers or sold drugs or something!”

I tilted the greatsword. The razor-sharp blade dug into his skin without resistance.

Even as I cut off the last finger, Yunus desperately shook his head and kept repeating that he didn’t know. He even swore to God that he was only telling the truth.

If he was willing to deny everything despite losing a finger, it seemed Yunus had no idea where the funds provided by the cultists came from.

Just as I stepped outside to grab a bandage and disinfectant, Matt, who had been standing near the door, quietly beckoned me over.

“Could you come here for a moment?”

“Did you find out something?”

“Not exactly. I’m just worried you might be pushing too hard.”

He must not have liked my way of handling things. He insisted that now wasn’t the time to pressure Yunus and requested that I show some restraint.

“We’re trying to figure out what the cult wants targeting the saint, but we’re not them. Yunus is just a middleman for the Sanya warlord. We need to get the information he has about Sanya, whether we take him down or bring him in. But what do we do if we cut off his fingers?”

“What do you want me to do? The bastard won’t open his mouth.”

“We need to keep some leverage for later.”

The implication was to treat Yunus gently so I could continue to get information for the operation Leonie had instructed us to undertake. To put it more bluntly, I was being advised to leave some fingers intact for later.

I responded that I understood.

“If that’s an order, I can’t help it.”

“Thanks for understanding. Do you need anything?”

“Could you lend me a few people?”

Matt sent three of his information officers into the interrogation room.

“Grab him.”

“Ugh, ugh…! Ack!”

“Careful with the jaw. If you close it, you might break your skull.”

-Wheeeeee!

The dental drill whirred noisily.

The Royal Intelligence Department Employee forced Yunus’s head back and pried his mouth open, while I maneuvered the drill to avoid the wobbly teeth and pierced his gums.

“Grrrrrr…!!”

The fast-spinning drill burrowed into the gums, painfully brushing against the nerves. As a broken front tooth grinded against the mouth, Yunus’s stationary torso jostled in the chair, and his twisted hands dug into the armrests in agony.

Every time Yunus thrashed about, the drill relentlessly burrowed deeper into his nerves. The expressions of the royal intelligence employees who were holding him down also contorted in sync.

I hurled insults at the information officers who turned away, scrunching my face in disgust.

“Grab him, you bunch of idiots!”

Only after making him squirm for a while did Yunus finally start spilling the information he knew, including what Ibrahim wanted and what Matt had asked for.

“How did they recruit the shaman?”

“…There’s a recruiter who can identify shamans. Someone who can see magic power.”

“Where do they take the recruited shamans?”

“Initially to the city…. They take them to a safe place and then move them to another location. They’re sent to a training facility. Those guided by the warlord arrive with the middle organization…”

“When the training is over, where are the shamans sent?”

“For the time being, to the front lines…. They’re sent wherever they’re needed. The most common place is with the elite guard, that’s what I know…. I only know that much. The detailed information is with their executive.”

“What’s the name of that executive?”

He revealed most of what he knew.

I kept firing off more questions. If there were any delays in his responses or if it looked like he wasn’t focusing on the interrogation, the torture would recommence.

Since I could no longer cut off his fingers, I had to resort to other means, but fortunately, I still had plenty of torture techniques at my disposal.

-Wheeeeee!

The torture that targets dental nerves.

-Cheek!

The burning skin torture using a lighter.

-Splash!

Waterboarding with a cloth wrapped around his face.

Through the Cold War and the war on terror, torture techniques in intelligence agencies had significantly improved, and the process to extract information became increasingly delicate and specialized.

I unleashed all the methods I knew on Yunus. I tormented him with the drill on the nerves, scorched his skin with a lighter, and when the water torture ended, I burned his mucous membranes with wires stripped from the light.

The torture didn’t just stop at the physical level. With a time limit pressing down, there was a need to extract the information as quickly as possible. Thus, the torture also crossed into psychological warfare.

I needed to push Yunus to the brink. I ordered the information officers to strip him naked to further humiliate him.

“Spill it. Or else you’ll be left high and dry.”

“Hoo, hoo…!”

As I stared into Yunus’s bloodshot eyes, I splashed water on his groin and brought the wires close.

The electricity coursing through his groin shot up through his abdomen to his solar plexus. The one hanging against the wall screamed as if his neck would tear.

It was about this time that the information officers who had been on guard had also had enough. The information officers participating in the interrogation under Matt’s command argued that this was sufficient and urged me to stop.

“Let’s call it a day. If you go any further, he really will die.”

“Just a little more.”

“I said stop.”

I turned my head toward the information officers and retorted.

“I decide when to stop.”

“…….”

“If you want, go ask your team leader if we should stop now.”

The information officers fell silent as they turned to look at Matt. By this time, a quasi-military operative of the Royal Intelligence Department had entered the interrogation room and was sitting at the table, chewing on beef jerky.

He cast a glance at his subordinates, and they sighed lightly. After placing the now-unconscious Yunus back in the chair, they stuck a syringe into his heart to revive him.

Huff, puffing as he caught his breath, Yunus began to cough violently.

“Ku, cough! Ugh, ack, ugh…!”

“…….”

Just as I was about to take a scalpel from the metal table, my eyes met Matt’s. He stared at me with an expressionless face, while I turned my gaze back to Yunus.

The scorched scalpel glided across his thigh.

As the copper-tinted skin tore, the red muscles and countless blood vessels unveiled themselves. After cutting through Yunus’s thigh, I carefully navigated around the blood vessels, making sure to hold the skin and muscles taut so they wouldn’t close.

“I’ll ask just one thing from now on. If you don’t want to live like a cripple for the rest of your life, you better think very carefully about your answer.”

“…….”

“What are their plans?”

Yunus, panting heavily, raised his head. His hazy pupils emulated me.

I pressed the scalpel against a nerve and opened my mouth again.

“What’s the cult’s plan? Why did they take the saint’s blood? You must have heard from that preacher you met at the border.”

No answer.

I pulled the scalpel away from the nerve and instead thrust my finger into the insides of his cut thigh.

Yunus, forcefully turning his head back, screamed out. Blood and saliva, tears and sweat splattered across his torn skin, where protruding blood vessels bulged.

I said.

“What’s the purpose? When was the last time you saw them?”

“Gahhhh…!”

“Where are they going?”

“I don’t know…. I swear, I don’t know, you bastard….”

I pulled my finger from the nerve.

I roughly scrubbed the wet fingertip across Yunus’s skin. He was panting, still unable to regain his wits.

I gripped his hair and forced him to look me in the eye.

“Did you say you’re a warrior? I’m a soldier. And this is real war.”

“…….”

“So just try to endure a bit longer. I’m just as curious about who wins.”

Kneeling and leaning down, I whispered into Yunus’s ear.

“I can keep this up all day.”

*

Two days later.

Two reports were laid before Leonie.

One was about the cultists who had stolen the saint’s blood, and the other was the news of Yunus’s death.

The first report was designated as classified and stored in the archive. The second report was placed in an envelope and sent into the incinerator.

As is the case with all information that has lost its value.

 

---