Thanks for reading~
I finished my meal in the Camlaba's tavern, so it's time for work.
I head to the informant that the one in Ranalitta told me about.
Most of the time, informants like them gain accurate information faster than secret intelligence forces that work for countries, but they can also be double-edged swords.
After all, they're just people that sell information for money.
… Just like how they sold information about him to me, they might have sold information about me to him.
Since I'm making use of them, I can't let my guard down.
I enter the pawnshop in the back street and ask them to assess my silver knife.
That's the code to let me meet the informant.
They lead me into another room.
A normal-looking old man was inside.
However, on a second look, I could tell that he didn't have any gaps in his posture.
"So you're Kearugsan. I have heard about you." (Informant)
"I see, that makes it much easier… what was the information that the Ranalitta informant couldn't write in the letter?" (Kearuga)
I came here because the informant said he had information he wanted to tell me directly.
It was suspicious and I could have ignored it, but I purposely chose to come here.
"Hahaha, please don't rush me so much. Here, have some tea. You can only drink this tea in Camlaba, you know?" (Informant)
I hold the tea he served in my mouth.
… There's poison in it.
However, I won't blame him for it. I'll do that once I get the information out of him.
He put in an unnoticeable, strong paralysis poison.
If he was trying to kill me, he wouldn't have used paralysis poison, which means he's probably trying to make me powerless and then capture me.
… This doesn't work on me since I have poison resistance, but I still analyse it with magic.
It's a paralysis poison that kicks in five minutes after it's taken into the body.
I continue talking while estimating the effect it would give the ordinary person and the duration it would last for.
"This is some good tea." (Kearuga)
"Yes, we only serve this special tea to our important customers." (Informant)
Special tea, huh. That's a fitting name for this.
"This special tea is good and all, but I want the special information." (Kearuga)
Who would try to capture me, and why?
The hero of【Healing】is the champion that saved the Dioral Kingdom. Surely they didn't think they could do something to me and leave unpunished.
Also, the hero of the【Gun】, Bullet, isn't part of this, because he knows that poison doesn’t work on me, so wouldn't do something stupid like this.
"Well, the truth is, other than the hero of the【Gun】, Bullet, the Grantsbach Empire actually took in two other heroes." (Informant)
"That's amazing. They were able to win over two of the three remaining heroes, huh." (Kearuga)
The three heroes that challenged the Dioral king died.
The 【Healing】,【Magic】and【Sword】heroes belong to the Dioral Kingdom. With the exception of the hero of the【Gun】, that leaves behind three heroes.
Those three heroes shouldn't have been found yet.
Only ten heroes appear in the world at one time, and the hero of【Magic】is the only one that has the power to find the other heroes.
In other words, it's extremely unlikely for the heroes to all gather together.
Well, I can't deny the possibility of other heroes being born in place of the three dead ones, though.
"Yes, it seems so. That has probably built up the Grantsbach Empire's confidence." (Informant)
"Would that really give them confidence? The Dioral Kingdom has three heroes too, and the Dioral Kingdom's heroes are stronger." (Kearuga)
Although the numbers are the same, the heroes on our side have fought countless battles, reached levels unthinkable for normal people and gained experience.
I alone could annihilate any normal hero.
"Yes, that is why the Grantsbach Empire wants to take out the Dioral Kingdom's power as much as they can." (Informant)
So that's why they set up a trap to try to capture me, huh.
… It really wouldn't be any fun if the mastermind was a noble or an officer of the Grantsbach Empire.
Now, it's about time to act like the poison is working.
I collapse on the spot and make it look like I'm trying my best to move my body.
The second I do so, men that are black from head to toe, break through the door and push in.
"The hero of【Healing】's【Recovery Heal】is powerful, but it is useless in a situation where you can't use your voice. Hahaha, I didn't think I could capture a hero so easily. I guess you really are just a strong brat." (Informant)
The informant starts laughing loudly as the men put a mana restraining ring on me.
There's a magic ore inside it that makes you unable to use magic by disrupting your mana, and it's generally used on criminals that can use magic.
… I feel a little hurt, since these guys actually think they can make me powerless by putting a toy on me.
I can still use magic even without using my throat.
The ring has a mana jamming function, but any elite magician could still use magic with these on.
Of course, I can too.
They're underestimating me way too much.
They bind my body and take me away somewhere.
Now, let me see who ordered them to do this.
I'll deal with them immediately if they're boring.
After blindfolding me, then stowed me on a coach.
I knew that because I had activated my【Jade Eye】.
My【Jade Eye】has the power to see through things.
Let alone the blindfold, I can even see outside the coach. Using that eye, I make sure to remember the way home.
It seems like the coach is headed towards the direction of the Grantsbach Empire.
I think the coach was strengthened with magic, as it's travelling at an unimaginable speed for a coach.
… I don't want to go too far though since it'll be troublesome when I return.
I let them take me to their base in the Grantsbach Empire.
As I thought, it was just the army's choice to kidnap me.
They're either going to get rid of me because I'm a nuisance, torture me to get information or brainwash me to go under their control.
I think I'll just slip out of the coach and return now.
Actually, since I'm here anyway, I might as well stick along for the farce some more to get some information about the Grantsbach Empire.
The base in the Grantsbach Empire was made solid and gigantic to protect the nation.
Almost a thousand soldiers were stationed here.
I was brought into an iron-barred room in the basement of a building.
Instead of the paralysis poison from before, they shot nerve poison in my blood vessels this time.
The poison was probably changed so that my head could move.
Otherwise, they wouldn't be able to get any information out of me.
This new poison was so powerful that it made me feel a little sluggish, but it's supposed to make you unable to move anything other than your head.
My body ended up taking three minutes to neutralise the poison.
They put two more mana jamming rings on me.
Then, my clothes were taken off, and I was fastened to a chair with strong chains.
I was made to wait ten minutes in that state until an officer with four subordinates appeared.
"Hero of【Healing】Kearu. I'm Carl Ratel, an army major of the Grantsbach Empire. I’ll get right to the point. Why did you go to the demon territory? What is the Dioral Kingdom doing with the demon king?" (Carl)
He's asking about that, huh.
The Grantsbach Empire has more information about the Dioral Kingdom than I expected.
His personal feelings of disgust showed through when he mentioned the demon king.
… The hero of the【Gun】, Bullet, might have instigated the Grantsbach Empire by telling them about this.
Alright, then I'll set up a bluff about that.
"The current demon king is friendly to humans, so I decided to form an alliance with them. If humans invade the demon territory, the Dioral Kingdom will intercept them, and if the Dioral Kingdom gets invaded, the demon king army will come to help. Through that alliance, the war between humans and demons will end." (Kearuga)
It was amusing to see the army major turn pale.
Consider that he just heard his enemy country formed an alliance with the demon king, I guess it is understandable.
I'm sure he knows how scary demons and monsters are.
"… Is that true? Unforgivable! Humans and demons should not be joining forces!" (Carl)
"Yeah, it's true. But I don't want you to misunderstand, the Dioral Kingdom didn't sell out humanity. We formed this alliance so that no more demons or humans would make each other shed anymore blood. Neither side has anything to gain by fighting anymore. As a human representative, I'm going to sever the bloody chains of resentment." (Kearuga)
"Those are just pretty words! You're lying. There's no reason why the demon king would form an alliance with you." (Carl)
"There is a reason. The current demon king's condition for us to form an alliance was to have the three heroes of the Dioral Kingdom help her in defeating the previous demon king. That was our promise from the start." (Kearuga)
That was quite a good lie if I say so myself.
There were many truths in it, and our alliance is actually aiming to do that, although it was postponed for a while.
Regardless, if he believes what I said about the alliance, the Grantsbach Empire might hesitate to start a war against the Dioral Kingdom.
Although it’s not as strong as it was before, the Dioral Kingdom is still a powerful country, and if the demon king army appears as reinforcements too, they should understand that they have no chance of winning.
"… Major, if what he said is true, then we will certainly lose the war against them. So, I have a proposal. If the hero of【Healing】and his party are indeed special envoys, then the alliance will not be established unless they return to the Dioral Kingdom. Considering the situation, they probably have not signed anything official. Their existence is essential to advance the alliance any further." (Soldier)
"Exactly, Raven. After we get the information from the hero of【Healing】, we'll execute him and then massacre his comrades in Camlaba… so first, we'll have you tell us the location of your comrades!" (Carl)
He hits my face with an iron baton with all his power.
Over and over again.
"Now, confess! Shout to your heart's content! This is a special room, so no matter how much you shout or cry, your voice will never reach anyone!" (Carl)
It doesn't hurt that much because of the difference in our statuses, but doing unpleasant things to me and saying he'll get my woman involved… is unforgivable.
His revenge points went up by a lot right now.
"How's that, do you feel like telling us where your comrades are!? I won't have to hurt you if you say it now." (Carl)
"… What, was that supposed to be torture?" (Kearuga)
"I'll make that stupid mouth of yours stop working!" (Carl)
My attitude must have irritated him greatly.
He pulled my right hand with all his power, spread it out on the desk and took out a knife, aiming at the base of my pinky.
The knife struck it, but the blade broke instead.
It's because I hardened my finger for that moment. With my current status, I can catch as many blades as I want with my skin.
Major Carl is holding his wrist in his other hand. It seems to have hurt a lot.
"Bastaaaaard, how dare youuuuuuu! Bring me the drugs. I don't care if he turns into a cripple. Just bring me some strong drugs!" (Carl)
His subordinate brought him a bottle of purple liquid.
And then, the three of them hold my body down to forcefully wash it down my mouth.
… This one doesn't work on me either.
It's useless.
However, it's also extremely unpleasant.
This situation reminds me of bad things.
About my trauma of the past, about the hell where I was exploited as a miserable dog.
Major Carl's revenge points have already exceeded the required value.
The future of these men has been decided.
I’ll have them suffer, have their pride trampled on, and make them die gruesomely after I'm finished with them.
"How's that? That was the best drug we had. Now, where are your comr." (Carl)
Major Carl's voice stopped there.
The chain tying me up winded itself around the subordinates' necks like a snake and tightened.
Their throats were destroyed, their faces turned pale and they all fainted soon after.
The mana jamming rings on me start breaking one by one.
As I stand up from the chair, major Carl falls on his bottom and draws back.
I immediately gouged out his throat with my hand as he tried to scream, so only a whistling sound came out.
… Wait, I'm pretty sure he said this room was soundproof. I ended up doing something pointless, but whatever.
"I'm bored now. You're bad at torture and interrogation, so I'll have to teach you how to do it correctly since I'm so kind. Don't worry, I won't kill you." (Kearuga)
I definitely won't let him die easily.
I can get the information out of him immediately with【Recovery Heal】, but I purposely chose the primitive method.
This is revenge (a game).
I'll think up creative ideas to get information about the Grantsbach Empire out of him.
Afterwards, I’ll empty his brain and start preparing a bomb to destroy the Grantsbach Empire from within.
This is the best way to harass a devoted soldier like him.
The shriek of a pig comes out of his smashed throat as I send his pinky flying like he tried to do to me.
"That reminds me, you said, 'Now, confess! Shout to your heart's content! This is a special room, so no matter how much you shout or cry, your voice will never reach anyone!' Thanks to that, I can take my time to enjoy myself." (Kearuga)
As expected of a soldier, he's still glaring at me impertinently.
I wonder how long he'll be able to keep that up while I teach him what real torture and interrogation is.