Black Iron Magician

Chapter 215 Interrogation

「What a cruel interrogation…! I don’t have the confidence to keep watching anymore!」

「As a lord, sometimes you have to make cruel choices…. Let’s do our best, Therese-san….」

The interrogation by Haruna and Gobuo continued. It was a very cruel and merciless act. However, Gustus endured it. He was about to endure it without leaking any information about his army.

「G-Gobu….」

「Once again, I was surprised. To think that there’s a person, no, a monster who could resist the techniques of me and Gobuo-kun…!」

「Haa… haa…. Guh….」

Sole, armpit, neck―― it was a merciless tickling with feathers toward all sensitive parts of the body. Gustus’s torture time, where he kept laughing, lasted for several hours. Tears dripping from his eyes and drools dripping from his mouth. His expression is that of a man whose dignity has been trampled upon. Ahh, what a horrible act. The innocent Therese couldn’t bear it and turned away, and Chinatsu shook her head at Gustus’s endurance.

「After all, it seems that the Four Heavenly Kings of the Sea Demons couldn’t be dealt with by ordinary means. I didn’t expect him to be able to endure this much.」

「What a strong enemy…!」

「A-Are you fooling around…? W-Well, I did feel like I was going to die, though….」

Gustus questioned it, but the composure he had at the beginning can’t be seen anymore. He’s breathing heavily and having a hard time speaking.

「We are not fooling around. If it’s you, the general who has a strong resolution, we judged that a half-hearted pain will be meaningless. There are surprisingly many people who aren’t used to this kind of thing, you know?」

「In this interrogation… we found out that it’s effective against monsters as well….」

「Chinatsu-chan, our last resort is the super spicy mapo tofu challenge, I guess? It will seriously burn his throat, though….」

「Hmm, that’s too cruel, so I don’t want to do it if possible….」

「Ah, are we going to do that!? T-That’s the deed of a demon desuwa…!」

「That’s unbearable to watch… even for me…!」

Therese and Weerel are flustered. Looking at the people he acknowledged losing their composure like this, Gustus began to feel fear. He gulped and thought this:

(M-Mahpo tohfu, just what kind of inhuman torture is that…!?)

For him, who doesn’t know mapo tofu, those words are violent enough.

「Well, we’ve already figured out the location of the prisoners and their base, so this is just for confirmation.」

In the midst of the conflict, Chinatsu muttered so. Gustus’s mind went blank for a moment, and then he turned his face toward Chiantsu.

「W-Wait. What do you mean by that?」

「Even if you ask me, it means as it is.」

「The sea is also my territory…. I searched based on the range where you appeared…. As a result, bingo….」

「No way, our base is at the depths of the sea where humans can’t even dive, you know…!? Don’t tell me, did you also find out the facility where we keep the prisoners?」

「Of course desuwa!」

「You really found out the place that was cleverly hidden in the triplet rocks…!? T-Then, even our stronghold――」

Valuable information was revealed one after another. Gustus, who had stubbornly refused to talk about it, probably never thought that what he had been protecting had already been revealed. And then, there’s another sad fact for him.

(If we attack from this direction, it will collapse.)

The talk about figuring out the hideout and such is completely a lie. In fact, even with the power of Weerel, the water magic expert, it’s very difficult to search every corner of the vast ocean, and it’s not something that could be completed in a day or two.

Therefore, the plan Chinatsu used this time was to create a gap in the impregnable determination. The plan was to make him believe that the information he was protecting was already known and to shake his determination. Just as Chinatsu expected, Gustus and his subordinates began to tell them without resistance.

「Uh-huh, I see.」

「Kuh, I underestimated humans…. To think that they are this good…!」

「It’s roughly matched…. Thank you for your time….」

「「「Thank you for your time (desuwa)!」」」

After finishing the interrogation, they closed the door and left. Aside from Gustus, who hangs his head limply, the information they obtained would be of great use.

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「The Hero Alliance?」

When Haruna and the others had finished their interrogation and were having lunch, Udberg told them such things. Apparently, the activities of the Demon King’s army are becoming widespread in various places that the Hero Alliance will be formed earlier than planned. It is said that the armies of each country will solidify the protection of the country, and the heroes will defeat the enemy’s leader, the Demon King.

「It’s a bit sudden, huh. We haven’t hunted the survivors in Tazarnia….」

「Please don’t worry about it. Fortunately, with the information you got, I think Tazarnia alone can deal with them somehow. Still, we kept getting help from you, huh. We were just standing in yesterday’s battle.」

「That’s not true. It was because we had you behind us that we could stand on the front line with peace of mind. A hero is a threat just by standing there. You should be proud of yourself.」

「Oh well, I’m losing as a hero in every way…」

Udberg looks back at his own companions while reflecting upon Therese’s words. He thought that yesterday’s battle might have destroyed their confidence, but it was needless worry. His companions are now more conscious of being a hero than ever and are eager to join the alliance. As for Udberg, he accepted the high consciousness of his companions and decided to live as a hero in earnest.

「Well, that said, I won’t just leave the job of defeating the Demon King to you.」

「We are not going to lose either! Our masters also told us to defeat the Demon King ourselves!」

「Haruna, stop. It’s okay to be motivated, but we are in a position to represent the country. We have to properly confirm it Adelheit.」

「That’s right. There’s one magic item for remote conversation at this frontline base. It’s something that Adelheit gave us as proof of friendship, though. I will talk to those in charge, so you can use it after you ate your meal.」

「Waah, thank you very much! If we return now, it will take many days again.」

「That’s right. Then, we will borrow it after finishing this mapo tofu (a little spicy).」

「Delicious….」

「Desuwa~」

Today’s lunch is Haruna’s special mapo tofu. It was made in addition to the bright red mapo tofu that was prepared for the interrogation. Even so, the taste is something that even the chefs would appreciate. The moderate spiciness is addictive and makes you crave white rice. Not only Therese, but even Weerel, who doesn’t eat much, asked for seconds. By the way, half of the mapo for the interrogation was kept as a souvenir for Deris and the other half was given to Tazarnia for interrogation.