[Slight torture scene: Maybe cringe, meh still warning lol==========]
Arc 2 Chapter 6: The Spies and the Prisoners
[Prisoner POV]
When I joined the war, I honestly expected myself to die first. But over the course of the years, I’ve managed to survive. Not only that, I became part of the Prince’s elite force. That’s quite an achievement considering my poor background. When we were given the mission to lead the expedition into the kingdom, I had told myself. Prepare to die. I honestly thought I was going to die. Actually, I think I almost did die. Not just me, but the whole legion. Our group was working with the nearby bandits. Of course, we ignored their misbehaviors. I think we should have done something. Why? It’s because, our base was attacked. It was three people that I saw. They were all girls, but I knew they had power. The middle one was especially furious. To our luck though, the prince was only capture and only the bandits were skewered like animals. After that, we were placed in some kind of compound I’ve never seen before. Here, I knew… that my rotting days would begin… or so I thought.
[A day after Artura came to the compound]
“This is a really good harvest!”
“I know right!”
I began going through the fields, picking up the potatoes. Normally, you would be very cautious of these things since they were poisonous. But, we’ve come to find out that they actually tasted good if the poison was taken out. Not only that, it was still ok to plant or harvest during the winter. Truly, the best type of crop to grow and eat.
“Whoo! With this, were having a feast tonight”
Everyone in the field yelled out in excitement.
“I see you guys are filled with spirit”
One of the guards came over to us with a smile.
“Yeah. Look, at the rate were going, we can fill up fifty baskets with these”
“Hahaha. True, keep up the good work then. I’ll tell master that they’re will be a harvesting celebration tonight”
“Thanks Max”
With a smile, the guard quickly left the premise. Four months have passed since we’ve been placed to work. You would think that prisoners aren’t given a lot of freedom. Actually, most are sold to slavery, but here. No. I mean, we still work, but were not treated as slaves. We get paid, have a lot of leeway and the guards are rather nice to us. Before, everyone would think about finding a way to escape. But after only two days of working here… it was an even better life than the one we had fighting for the empire.
“Hey Cris, catch”
Before I had a chance to react, a potato hit me in the head and plopped down into the basket I was carrying.
“What was that for?!”
“It’s for your wife. Isn’t she feeling sick?”
“Yeah, but she should be better. The medicine here is actually really good”
This was another thing we found out. First of all, the prison here isn’t separated by gender. Rather it was unique. First, we were given what they call rooms in this huge building. Normally, you can lock the doors from the inside so men can’t go into girl’s room or girls can’t go into men’s room. But, if a relationship forms, we’re actually given our own homes besides the farms. Not only that, the houses were a lot better than the empires… even the kingdoms. It’s really a strange thing to see as prisoners, rather, I’ve always been asking myself. How big is this place? And why do we have so much freedom? As the day progressed, night was finally approaching. Since we were dismissed, I quickly ran back to my home. There, I saw a pair of boots I’ve never seen before. I instantly became wary as I moved through the house. The door to my room was opened. There, I saw a man who was sitting beside my wife.
“Ahh, you’ve arrived. I hope I’m not intruding”
I blinked, seeing if my vision was tricking me.
“Noel? Is that you?”
One of the most famous spy of the Empire was standing in front of me. Like the rest, he was a beastmen who had excellent vision and skill for his line of work. Of course, I’ve met him before and interacted with him, but aside from our positions as a soldier and spy, there’s nothing special in our relationship.
“What are you doing here?”
“It’s simple. I’m here to help free you guys”
Huh, free us? Really? Then I guess the Empire hasn’t forgotten about us…
“Free us? From what?”
He gave me a strange look. Even I was surprised by my own words. But if I think about it, isn’t it natural. In the empire, I have nothing. Yet, here. I’m living a decent life, I actually have a beautiful wife and I don’t really need to worry about dying. I just need to worry about working and that’s it.
“What do you mean from what? From the kingdom? Don’t you want to return to your homeland, to fight for its glory?”
“No, rather, I enjoy my life now than before”
I could sense a bit of killing intent from him.
“Are you, by any chance, deserting… Captain Franz Crisburne”
With a strong determined look, I stared right into his eyes.
“And what if I am?”
He shook his head as if I made a grave mistake.
“Pity, and you had a future too. Maybe if I clear the obstacle, you’ll decide to JOIN US”
Suddenly pulling out a knife, he quickly lunged it towards my wife. My whole body moved towards her, but I knew I was going to be too late.
*Clang*
“What!?”
“Found you!”
With a smile, a guard appeared out of nowhere. The knife was stopped by the man’s spear and my wife quickly woke up. She saw the two people above her and realized what was happening. Even though she was sick, true to her training, she took the knives she kept beside her and threw them towards Noel. He deflected all of them and had a surprised but furious look on his face.
“YOU TRAI…”
Before he can finish, the guard quickly appeared behind him and used the so called Taser, immobilizing the man.
“Whew… and I thought he was going to disappear. With this, we managed to take one down”
“Ano…”
“Oh, you two. Sorry about that. The empire sent several spies and assassins in the compound. Seeing she’s sick and all, I hope we didn’t inconvenienced you two too much”
“No, it’s alright. Rather, thank you… for protecting me and my wife”
The guard gave a smile before vanishing back into the shadows. Hmm… Maybe I should just join the kingdom.
A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
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[Cringe alert scene: HIGURASHI STYLE]
(Bryan POV)
“So, what brings you here?”
Right now I was sitting, facing another beastmen in this very isolated cell. Of course, he was tied to the chair so he really couldn’t move.
“Hah, like I’ll tell you anything you pawn”
I could already feel a vein pop in my head. Though, I instantly managed to calm myself down. But, I really don’t like long waiting periods so I’m just going to be direct.
“Well, since I already know you have extreme loyalty for the empire, I have no choice but to torture. I mean, I could just pull out the information myself since I have magic that can do that, but… Artura is actually here. So, I’ll have you tell her yourself. Actually, I’ll be nice here…”
I pulled out the torture device. It was a simple one. You basically place a finger right on the device. Then, you simply slam on the lever and pop. Off comes the nail. By the looks of it, this guy has some long sharp nails. It’s perfect.
“… Now, since the empire is moving quite fast, I need some information. You see this”
I pointed at the device. Obviously, he’s never seen it before. But after this, he will never forget. I think I heard from the other beastmen, Mattias, that a beast man’s claw is their pride, no matter what group they belong to.
“This will forcibly rip out your claws if you don’t give me the answer I want alright. Now let’s begin”
I could already see sweat forming on his face.
“What kind of mons… AHHHHHHHHHHHHH”
I reflexively slammed the lever as his claw came popping off. The blood began to spurt all over the table and you could see his entire body shuddering.
“You don’t do the questioning, I do. Now, let’s begin. How many spies are here?”
As I asked him, I moved the machine to his next finger and secured it tightly. Sadly though, he wasn’t saying anything.
“AHHHHHHHHHH”
“You should answer, since silence equals claws coming off”
“FOUR”
He seethed it out with rage.
“There we go, now you’re learning. Next, what are the empire’s goal?”
Controlling his breathing, the man seemed to vanquish the pain.
“Unification, as well as subjugation”
“Please, explain”
“The empire plans on unifying the entire land under one banner. We then plan on subjugation the entire demon race after we conquer the human lands”
That actually makes sense. In other words, it’s pretty much unifying humanity against the demons. But, their methods really are pretty bad.
“What is the current status of all the conquered nations and cities of the Empire?”
“… Empire’s report or my opinion”
“You’re opinion”
“Bad. The populace is in shambles, taxation is also high”
“If you think it’s bad, then why are you fighting for them?”
“It’s a matter of pride. Now, if you’re done asking me…”
He instantly quieted down when my hand was going for the lever. He really knows.
“Alright, I have a few more questions. What’s the empires military strength?”
“Like I’ll tell you… AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH”
This time, his claw was hanging in place. It was like a hinged door. I took the claw and placed it up. Blood instantly came spewing out.
“Now, military strength. Tell me”
To put emphasis on my words, I twisted the claw.
“WE ONLY HAVE 50,000 MEN CURRENTLY IN OUR DISPOSAL. THEY’RE SPLIT INTO FOUR REGIMENTS, EACH HAVING THEIR OWN WAR GOLEMS”
I released the nail and his breathing became more controlled.
“Is the empire recruiting more men?”
He shook his head.
“No, currently supplies will not last if they recruit more”
If that’s the case, then our intelligence was slightly wrong. They must have somehow faked it, but then… how would they know that we were watching them. The general must be a cunning man with a good intuition.
“Last question, do you know about a girl named Miselle?”
His eyes became huge which told me he does. Yet, he refuses to talk.
“Even if my claws are removed, I will never tell you”
Interesting. I immediately plucked off the hanging nail. The man bit his lips as the pain coursed to his brain. Then, I moved on to his next set of fingers. Of course for each claw removed, blood came splashing unto the table. It’s as if the table wasn’t originally white, but was instead red. Finally moving on to his last claw, the man let out a relieved sigh. With a mischievous smile, I stretched my hands towards him.
[Heal]
To the man’s shock, circuits began appearing on his hands. Claws then began to regrow and once again occupied his previous wounds. Sweat began to form again accompanied by a horrified expression.
“Now then, once more at the beginning shall we”
With those words, I once again ripped a claw from his hands. The night was still young, so I’ll make sure to interrogate him as best as I can.
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Author notes:
SURPRISE, Here’s another chapter. And who knew, my editor is actually ready to edit just now XD. So give him a round of applause.
P.S. Almost done with this arc. You know, is it arc or volume. I really don’t know O:
Editor: In my view it would really hurt if you have your claws pulled out only to heal then have them pulled out again, but many people have their own views, if you do torture them long enough then they start to develop Stockholm syndrome which is really messed up but meh it’s a story so even if you feel that this torture is lackluster or not creative, there is a saying if it isn’t broken don’t fix it or something like that.
Collaborator: I don’t have much to say other than the editor is still my B*tch so that’s a plus but real talk, me and the editor have put a lot into this story and I think it’s the next arc maybe I don’t know or the one after but other than that this is a good story hope you reader continue reading.
P.s Please comment about what you think so far and give us your reviews how is it so far for the second arc is there something we are doing wrong. And grammar wise how is it, need some criticism not just thanks for chappy