Chapter 577
Chapter 577
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 577
Chapter Title: Good Friends to Meet
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"Elise?"
I asked cautiously, just to be sure.
"You're the real deal, right?"
Just moments ago, Elise had been spewing foul curses and unleashing divine justice on the heretics.
Of course, Elise was a nun who knew her limits. We'd fought side by side countless times, so I knew that much about her.
But right now, she had completely lost it after witnessing the horrors of the slave trade. She wasn't quite at Captain Barkrell's level, but the odds of her suddenly unleashing her inner violence were high.
I'd actually snapped out of it thanks to that damn Captain Barkrell.
Not content with smashing through the building and bursting out, he'd dropped to all fours, leaped onto the carriage, and scurried across it like some kind of cockroach on wheels.
It was a nightmare-inducing sight.
Thank goodness he was a holy knight. If these had been the Radiant Cross Society's ascetic holy warriors, it would've been even more horrifying. Thinking about it that way made it a little better.
"...I've calmed down. I lost my reason for a moment. I'm truly sorry for the disgraceful display."
Elise's face flushed slightly as she hesitated, then nodded. She was trying to play it cool with a blank expression, clearly a bit embarrassed.
Looks like her anger had subsided.
"Heh heh heh, good to hear. More importantly, Elise, your verbal abuse toward heretics has really ramped up!"
"Th-that's... I got too worked up..."
Watching Elise's trash talk level up like that stirred some inexplicable urge in me that I couldn't quite suppress.
Anyway, the chaotic scene had returned to normal.
Now it was time to beat the crap out of these heretic bastards and raid their hideout. First, I checked on them.
—...
—...
—...
To put it nicely, the three heretics were utterly wrecked.
The aftermath of that minute-long beatdown had left their skin bruised black and blue, like the Na'vi kids from Avatar.
But they were sleeping soundly, looking more peaceful than anyone in the world. Getting knocked out during the thrashing must've felt like salvation. Their faces were serene as they breathed evenly.
—...
The black smoke leaking from their orifices had stopped.
I wondered if they'd croaked, but they seemed alive. Tough heretics... Were their bodies somehow reinforced?
"Check out the tattoos on their faces. Fucking gross, right?"
Winia prodded a heretic's cheek with the tip of her staff as she spoke. Sure enough, like all the heretics we'd seen before, their faces were covered in grotesque tattoos.
What the hell did they mean?
More importantly, could we even interrogate them?
If they didn't speak our language like those sewer dwellers... No, they'd been trading with the village, so they had to speak it. Getting them to talk shouldn't be too hard.
Though who knows what aces they might have up their sleeves.
"Elise, you said you had a way. Care to explain?"
"The priests have cast holy spells to seal the heretics' incantations. They won't be able to use any evil sorcery now."
"Holy Silence!" I recalled the priests shouting that and blasting white light down the heretics' throats. Whatever it was, it blocked spellcasting.
—Kaaak!
I thought back to the incident when I went hunting for that meteor. The heretic I'd met then had vomited black blood and attacked me.
Probably some kind of sorcery. Blocking that would make interrogation a breeze.
"Just tie them up and use a little force, and we'll have their hideout in no time."
"Got it. But where to do it? The village is iffy, and it's fucking freezing out here."
It was too cold outside for a long session. Blood would splatter, and I didn't want to ruin my Sasquatch fur coat. Interrogating without it in the cold would suck.
"I don't mind doing it outside."
"Still, for something prolonged, a warm spot's better. Let's wait for Claudy and decide then."
Claudy was currently transporting the unconscious holy knights and priests back to the village. We'd figure it out when she returned.
We chatted while waiting for her.
"Saint, if we play this right, we can crush their hideout. And rescue the captives too, I'd wager."
I agreed.
"I absolutely cannot forgive them... Not only did they traffic innocent lives, but they corrupted the innocent villagers of this quiet hamlet. Saint, I'm furious right now. To the point I can barely hold back."
Elise glared at the sleeping heretics, her fists trembling. As she said, they'd corrupted ordinary villagers.
Humans are weak to temptation and fear.
Turning peaceful villagers into brutal slavers didn't take much. Instill fear with violence, lure with money. That was all it took to corrupt a human.
Evil like this corrupts people so easily. Elise couldn't stand it, and neither could I.
"But for the greater goal, we must swallow our momentary rage."
"Elise..."
I spotted a heretic stirring and slammed another rear naked choke on him, knocking him out cold.
"You've grown."
"...Grown, you say?"
"That's growth. That judgment and self-control will make you an even stronger servant of God. I hate those bastards too."
Fusion Confucianism doesn't tolerate such evil.
Broaden the world and bring prosperity to all.
For me, my wives, my friends, and our future children in this otherworld, I'll kill every evil bastard I see. Imperialism belongs on Earth. As anti-war activist Kim Katt, I want to uproot it here.
"Just like you said, Elise. Hold back for now, raid the hideout, and we'll prevent future victims. Focus on that. We'll interrogate them soon enough."
"Saint... You're perfect for the Radiant Cross Society."
"I fit anywhere."
As we talked, Claudy returned.
"Claudy!"
"Katt."
"Hm?"
She approached and said,
"We can do the interrogation in the village."
"The village? What about the holy knights?"
"They're heading out to patrol the perimeter. Barkrell asked you to handle the interrogation."
"Ooh!"
Looks like Claudy had sorted that out while transporting the injured.
"Thanks, Claudy!!!"
"Hee hee, no biggie."
The holy knights patrolling meant they couldn't hold back and wanted to stay outside.
No worries then.
We dragged the heretics straight to the village.
The spot for interrogation? The barn where the victims had been held. The site of suffering caused by these heretic scum would now become their torture chamber.
Winia lit the lamp the moment we entered. We dumped the heretics on the barn floor and bound their limbs.
"Ugh... Uuugh...!"
Soon, they began waking one by one. The moment they opened their eyes, they tried to sit up, realizing they were restrained.
"Wh-what?! Th-this... What the hell!!"
"Daoc!!! Daoc!!! "
Some spoke our language, others screamed in tongues we couldn't understand. Claudy and Winia would spectate while Elise and I handled it.
Winia... might be better off sitting this out.
"Winia, head inside first. We'll wrap up quick."
"Don't wanna be alone. I'll stay."
"It might get brutal."
"Pfft, not my first rodeo. Just interrogating heretics. Same as eating meat."
"Huh?"
Winia equated heretic interrogations to carnivorous feasts. Otherworlders' values differed from modern Earth's common sense.
Perspectives shift with eras and backgrounds.
Otherworlders were more desensitized to violence than modern folk, especially treating evil cults like monsters.
Winia was no exception.
"Still, don't wanna show you anything unnecessary."
"Aww, the blackie cares about me?"
"Of course."
"Heh heh. But really, Katt, this is nothing."
"...Fair enough."
Winia was a mage who'd lived rough.
"Wh-what the hell is this...!"
Interrogation time. The rousing heretics coughed and writhed. They couldn't break the ropes or chant anything.
"Kkh...!"
Black smoke trickled from their mouths, but no spells manifested. The priests' Holy Silence was working perfectly.
I kicked the head of the one yapping loudest.
"You heretic fuck!!"
—Puk!
"Guhek!"
The heretic crumpled. The others glared at me with demonic faces. I greeted them while inspecting their mugs.
"Hey, folks! I'm a paladin of the Brass Celestial Society!!!!!"
"M-minions of Verde!"
They freaked at "paladin," clutching their heads—or trying to, bound as they were.
Elise introduced herself next.
"And this nun is a battle sister of the Radiant Cross Society!"
"Hunting dogs of Izmart!!!!!!"
"..."
Elise stared them down with a blank face, deep in thought on how to proceed.
I patted the head of the kneeling heretic in the middle.
"Heh heh heh, you know you're our prisoners now, right? Hey, why the slave trading? We wanna hear about that."
"You think... I'd talk!!! Filthy minions of Verde!!"
The heretic snarled, baring his fangs.
Why so cocky?
"No torture will open our mouths!!"
Bullshit.
I tapped his nose like a massage.
"Nose. Nose. Nose. Nose. Nose. Nose. Nose."
"Wh-what're you doing?"
"Nose. Nose. Nose. Nose. Nose. Nose. Nose."
"What the fuck are you doing!!!!"
The heretic exploded in rage.
"Eye."
I jammed my finger deep into his eyeball.
—Puk!
"Gyaahhhhh!!!"
"Heh heh heh, you piece of shit. Torture won't make us talk? That's your delusion. Heard of heretic puzzles? Wanna test if you can breathe after I cut you into 200 pieces?"
"Kkhuh...!"
The heretic shed bloody tears, groaning in agony. With enough time, he'd crack.
No one withstands cruel, inhumane torture.
"...Heretics. Where is your hideout, and why the slave trade?"
Elise knelt to eye level with the bloody-eyed heretic, voice low.
"We have many questions. Your god, doctrines, goals, hideout, funding fronts. We'll ask it all today."
—Tok. Tok. Tok. Tok. Tok. Tok.
She tapped his nose slowly with her finger.
"Don't expect to hide the truth. We won't stop until satisfied. And you won't die in the process. I'm skilled in healing too."
"...!"
"Saint, do I say 'eye' and poke here?"
That's why the nose taps—she was mimicking me.
"'Ear' works too."
"Oh? 'Ear,' you say."
"N-no!!"
The heretic, knowing pain, screamed desperately.
"To induce panic, I'll say 'thigh' here."
—Flash!
Elise raised her mace like dropping a meteor, smashing it into the kneeling heretic's thigh.
—Kwang!!
"Kr, kraaaaaah!!!!"
A scream of agony erupted as he toppled backward.
"U, uwaaak!!"
"Kyaahhh!!"
The heretics on either side wailed too. Maces were the perfect cure for cult scum.
"Kkhuk...! Kraaak!!! Khuk, hah! Hah hah! Hahaha! Fools!! You think mere pain will make us talk?! We will never yield or submit!!"
The thigh-smashed heretic bluffed.
That kicked off the real interrogation.