This whole basement cell and torture reminded me of the simulation of Iris, which only ensured that these people would not receive a swift end to their lives. To that end, I stopped slapping the baron before I accidentally broke his neck, grabbed his leg, and started pulling him back toward the cell while he was squealing like a pig who was heading for the slaughterhouse – which he most certainly was. I sent a mental note to Selene and Cedric that I wanted to see the other two Blackthorns as soon as possible and to get me their keys to the collars of their ‘harem’, also known as illegal sex slaves.
…
A few minutes prior, Selene and Cedric were strolling up the stairs to search the upper half of the mansion.
“You’re doing much better than I expected.” Cedric murmured as he watched the confident steps Selene took up the stairs.
“You thought I would become an emotional wreck?” She asked with a scoff.
“I mean, yeah? You got a horrible punishment.”
“That I most certainly did.”
Cedric understood that she was not going to open up about it, at least not to him, thus he could only move on.
“You made the right choice.” She spoke up abruptly.
“Huh?”
“When you stood and joined him willingly. It was the correct move. He doesn’t even call you Dumb Hound anymore, you earned his respect. Your future is incredibly bright for a defeated warrior turned slave.”
Cedric eyed her for a few moments before sighing. “According to Lucille’s prediction, you will not suffer the same punishment again.”
“Yeah. All I have to do is keep my head down and be his little obedient slave girl who throws fire at his enemies until my final miserable breath and then maybe I won’t be punished. Yay.” Her words were oozing with sarcasm, making Cedric chuckle wryly.
“Who are you?!” A guard shouted and soon received Cedric’s blade to his chest. They found themselves staring at an ornate double door. “I guess this is the study or something.”
“Very smart, Cedric. Maybe you should’ve been the brains of our duo all along.” Selene replied with much sarcasm once again before she conjured some mighty flames and burned the doors down in the span of a second. She knew that Quinlan would be looking at her with his scary swirling eyes once again if she burned the building down, so she did her best to avoid that from happening. The subjugator was one scary person- no, monster, she thought while a cold current traveled from the top of her head to her toes, forcing her whole body to tremble.
Her torture session with Quinlan left her with much more mental trauma than the punishment she received due to the bitch’s, Seraphiel’s, request.
Despite what her tormentor seemed to think of her, she was capable of fighting indoors, she just had to hold back to a great degree.
They stepped into the master room and came face to face with a pale man who was sitting at his desk and dumbfoundedly staring at the door which suddenly turned into nothing but ashes.
“Hello, is anyone there?” Selene asked the man while she knocked on his skull with her knuckles. He was writing on some parchment with a pen and his hand was shaking mightily. His brain was incapable of accepting reality so it was lagging a bit. Selene wasn’t in a patient mood so she lit his clothes on fire.
“Aaaaaah!! Heeelp!!!” Triston shouted at long last once he felt himself catching on flames.
“Dispel.” Selene muttered and the flames disappeared immediately. They were told to capture, but she was the kind of woman who liked to play with her food a bit before eating. Seeing him wriggle on the ground hopelessly like a worm gave her heart some much-needed joy.
“Tell us where you keep the goods.” She ordered.
“N-no, I don’t think I will.” He muttered while gulping and sweating profusely.
“Very good. That’s what I like to hear. A horrible monster had shown me the best use case of [Burning Hands], a spell I thought to be useless before that. Let’s see if you have a higher tolerance for pain than I did.” Before she could touch Triston’s skin he was already begging for mercy.
“W-w-w-wait! I’ll tell you but only if you can promise to let me and my family go!”
Selene smiled amusedly, “nice try, but sadly that’s a no-go.”
Triston was silent only as long as her red hand was an inch away from his cherished body and he could feel the extreme heat on his skin. “I-I’ll speak! It’s hidden in the fireplace, under the firewood.”
“Oh, that’s not a bad hiding place, you just gotta make sure you don’t accidentally start a fire to warm yourself up during winter.” She replied with an approving nod.
Cedric found it quickly and whistled, “30 gold? Not bad, not bad at all! For a baron family that owns only a few villages this is a great amount of money. I imagine the Mithril adventurers were meant to be paid using a part of this little coffer.”
“Y-y-you know them?!”
“Kai was humiliated by the monster and the slave harem is waiting to get enslaved by their new master.” Selene replied with a mocking tone that made it clear she reveled in his misery. “I’m afraid it’s game over. No one is coming to help you.”
She snickered at his pale face. “Is there anyone else on this floor?”
“… My son.”
“Where?”
“To the right. Ah!” He realized that he shouldn’t have said those words. “I mean I don’t know. There’s no one here! Tristan, run!!!”
Both of them looked at this vegetable with a look that told him all he needed to know of their opinion regarding his mental capabilities.
“Cedric, can I leave it to you to take this bright man down to where the monster is? I’ll check on the prodigious son.”
“You’re asking, not ordering? What lovely music to my ears. Sure, leave it to me.”
Just as so, Selene took a right turn and was greeted by a door that wasn’t even closed. From behind it, moans sounded, but it was the sound of two men.
“Ahh! Yes, just right there, Theo!”
“Yes, young lord!”
“A bit faster, no rougher! Spank me! Curse at me!”
“You filthy fucking cocksucker, clamp your ass around my cock harder and start barking!”
The man arched his back and did as told. “Woof! Woof! Woof!”
Selene watched the son getting manhandled by a guard with tired eyes. “My life sucks so fucking much.” She sighed dejectedly before burning the guard alive while he was balls deep in his lord.