"My name is Gimteth Jingrax, and I'm the leader of squad six," the dragonborn said. His pupils were dilated and his breathing was heavy.

"No shit. I already figured that out," Aleister said as he placed the tip of his foot on the chair, directly between the dragonborn's legs.

"Wait, wait, wait, please. I'll tell you anything you want to know. I know that you don't have all the information, and I'm a squad leader, so I know much more than most."

Aleister bent down and stared into his eyes. "If you don't give me something I don't know..."

"The Crystal Moth consists of twelve squads, similar to mine. We own and manage multiple warehouses along the docks and across the rest of Osetia. Our primary base is underground, connected to the sewer system. There's a hidden trap door which is connected to the rest of our warehouses and to our location underground. These only came to exist after we threatened the group of kobolds living in the space they had already dugout."

"I know. We already found it," Aleister said. Luo Yun said they didn't find anything, so this should be of some use at least. "Tell me why you killed those people at the warehouse."

"Because they were members of our gang who tried to threaten our leader for a larger cut of the victims they kidnapped, or else they would tell the authorities everything. That's why we killed them. Us group six and group twelve take care of the dissenters since we've been with the gang ever since it was first founded after the destruction of Ashes years ago."

"And what's your leader's name?"

"I don't know."

"Then what's the end goal of your organization?"

"Make enough money to leave Osetia and live out in the country."

Aleister grabbed the dragonborns head and squeezed his face, cracking some of its scales. "Was anything you told me just now a lie? If you tell me to know and I find out..."

"No, no, it wasn't I swear on my life."

If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

"Good." Aleister let go of his mouth and gave him a pat on his head before leaving. "See you soon."

"What in the Nine Hells was that?" Kyoko shouted at him.

Aleister closed the door behind him. "I got your information for you. What else did you want from me? I did exactly what you asked for."

"I thought you were going to play some mind games, not beat them up!"

"I did play mind games."

"With what, the baby screeching? I don't know why you can do that, and a little warning would have been great next time, but after that, it all fell apart."

"They deserved it," Myra said. "Also, your eyes, they're glowing."

"Hm?" Aleister looked at the reflection of himself against the one-way window. "You're right?"

"I think it might have to do with your bloodline," Kyoko said. "Each of the four noble clans of the Vallonian Empire was born with different eyes colors, uncommon to the rest. Your Belmont clan were born with red eyes, but I'm not sure what it means."

Aleister rubbed his eyes with one hand. A red static that he hadn't noticed earlier dissipated from his vision.

"What happened to the whole in order to study arcane magic, you must sever your bloodline?"

"...I don't know."

"Anyway, don't let that matter distract you from what I'm saying."

"The only reason I beat them up was that I don't know the effects in which my Instigate Fear spell works. Casting it takes up about thirty percent of my anima reserves and if he resisted enough, I would have had to try again and used up another thirty percent. By punishing the other two irrelevant henchmen, I made sure the fear he felt would last."

"You could have asked without beating them up first?"

"There's no fun in that."

Kyoko groaned with frustration and shook her head. "And Myra, how could you defend him by saying they deserved it?"

"Because they do. They aren't good people. Who knows how many people they've hurt over their lives. People like them deserve to die."

Kyoko stared at Aleister. "Look at what you did to her."

"For your information, I haven't done anything to her. If anything from the way she talks, Aunt Lavinia or Syn have gotten to her."

"How would I have gotten to her?" Syn asked.

Aleister shrugged. "Besides, I didn't kill them, just gave them a good beating."

"I'll let this go since you did what I asked you to do. However, you can't leave with blood across your clothes. What will people think when they see you? I'll go bring down a spare officer's uniform."

"Don't worry about it." Aleister cast Legerdemain and cleaned himself up. "Quick Myra, choose a pleasant scent."

"Uh," Myra waved her hands around, completely caught off guard. "Pineapple?"

"Pineapple? That's quite uncommon since it only grows along the coastal regions of the Southern Wilderness, but I must admit a superb choice." Aleister activated the spell again.

"You can clean your clothes and change your smell? What a weird ability," Kyoko said.

"Can you use it with other people?" Myra asked.

"Well, it's time to find out," Aleister said, as he activated the spell again, this time on Myra.

She took a faint sniff of herself and said, "It worked!"