Cave King – 273

Chapter 273 – It was gentle torture!?

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The Nostor mountain fortress had fallen.

As we had invaded it from the inside, the bandits surrendered without resisting.

Currently, they were all being disarmed. The soldiers bound their hands together and gathered them in the center square of the fortress.

I watched them with Rish from the top of the tower.

“You accomplished it so easily… And yet we could not have done it in several years.”

Rish could hardly believe her eyes.

They had tried many times and failed. And yet, we suddenly appeared one week ago and took the fortress. So it was no wonder that she was surprised.

To be honest, even I did not think it would go this smoothly.

In the end, the bandits… The mercenaries, had just wanted money. It wasn’t as if they had sworn to be loyal to their master.

On the other hand, their employer hadn’t trusted them either. In other words, they had been given the bare minimum in terms of information.

However… What about the leader, Berido?

He was the only man in the fortress who knew about the teleportation device. And in the end, he had tried to take his own life.

So it was clear that he knew the true purpose of this plan.

Rish likely felt the same way. However, I did not want to tell her about the teleportation device.

It wasn’t that I didn’t trust her. And I doubted she would want the device for herself. However, she would likely have opposed my use of it in our plan. The fact that I was trying to draw the attention of the person behind all of this.

She would be furious if I were to be targeted because of her.

“Rish… I have a request.”
“Huh?”

“Would you leave the interrogation of Berido and the mercenaries to me?”
“What? I-I don’t mind… But I should be there too.”
“I’m sorry, but I want it to just be us. Especially with Berido. It must be in a private room. I don’t want you to see.”

Rish looked conflicted.

“Heal… I’m not a child either. If it is for the people, I don’t mind if things get a little rough. Though, I hope you won’t be taking out any whips.”

“Don’t worry. I’m not going to hurt them. But…I have a method that I don’t want to show others…especially women.”

“A special method..”

Rish blushed as she started to imagine something.

Obviously, I had no intention of doing anything questionable. But it seemed like the best way to make Rish give up.

“So, that is how it is. Please leave it to me. Also, I want you to spread a rumor about Berido’s death. If there are collaborators in Lushika, they might run away if they think Berido will confess.”
“I-I see.”

Rish nodded, and then we looked down at the center square again. Under the clear sky, the Leodor banners flew in the wind.

Then the soldiers saw us and they raised their weapons and banners.

“Long live Lord Heal!”
“Long live Prince Heal!”

As if following their lead, voices rose from other areas of the fortress as well.

They were praising me for taking it… And while that was a good thing, it was also strange. Back in my country, I had never been praised for anything.

Rish looked at me and smiled.

“You did what we could not. And without anyone dying. You are now a hero of Leodor.”

Rish said as she unsheathed her sword and raised it into the air.

“…Long live Prince Heal! The saviour of Leodor!!”

While it was embarrassing, this had been my intention. I wanted to stick out. I needed to get the enemy’s attention.

And so I raised my own sword and answered them.

After that, we used the basement in order to question the bandits.

They…were incredibly cooperative. They told me that Berido had paid them a generous advance, and so they agreed to participate in bandit activity throughout Leodor. Not only was food, clothes and housing promised to them, but they were able to drink and send letters. They said that they were very satisfied with life here.

Still, there were a few who were less cooperative. And for them, Mappa created a torture device. When I rejected his idea, Mappa insisted that it would not inflict any pain… 

In the end, the mercenaries really did not know anything. They had not been told about the device, and they truly believed that the supplies were being transported through the tunnels.

However, there was still a need to make Berido talk. And so he was strapped to a chair and interrogated. But he continued to be silent.

Ultimately, we had no choice but to use Mappa’s device…

“Ahahahahaha!!”

Berido’s laughter echoed through the basement.

Mappa and Number 15 were using some kind of foxtail-like device on him.

Previously, when we had wanted to extract information from Rulat from Arancia, Mappa had been holding it. We had not used it back then, but Mappa seemed to have made an upgraded version.

To be honest, I did not think it would be effective at all…

“Ahhhh! Hyaah…! Stop!!”

But it was effective.

And so Mappa and Number 15 stopped the tickling.

Red-faced and teary-eyes, Berido turned to me pleadingly.

“I’ll talk… Just, don’t torture me anymore!”
“That depends on your answer. …Now, I will ask you again. You are neither a mercenary or bandit, are you?”

Berido nodded quickly.

“Don’t compare me to those brutes. I was taught swordsmanship and manners since I was a child. I worked hard and…”

“You were a merchant, weren’t you?”

I asked, and Berido looked thoughtful.

“Who are you? You knew about the teleportation device. And where it connected to…”

Berido closed his eyes tightly and opened his mouth.

“It was Lord Alva of the Arubal Company in Lushika. If we stayed in the Nostor mountains as bandits, they could sell weapons and supplies to Leodor… And so we were ordered to act as bandits here.”

He admitted it plainly.

He likely thought that if the existence of the device under the company building was known, then Alva was likely already arrested.

Also, he said that it was merely because of business…

Well, it made sense. Create demand for weapons and armor, and supply them yourself. It was something most evil merchants would think of.

However, the risk of exposure was too great. You might not escape the penalty of the rope.

Besides, there should be other ways to make a profit that did not involve the use of such a teleportation device.

Alva must also be receiving orders from someone else. He had been given that device.

Perhaps we should torture him as well… But I suspected that the mastermind would just cut off Alva immediately.

Alva would know that. And so it might be better to negotiate with him instead.

After that, we continued to torture Berido, but he had no more information to give us.

And so I took the device and returned to Lushika.

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