Treatise Of A Failed Knight-Chapter 240: Negotiations

"Uargghhh!!!"

Screams fill the dark room, but I remain quiet throughout.

In front of me are about a dozen people—six each from the two opposing sides I vanquished.

As you can imagine, they are being tortured.

By me.

’Some will surely die from this torture, but I already know the most important people among them, and I don’t plan to let them die.’

I silently watch the small crowd.

My gaze is cold.

My body moves methodically as I apply different Potions which can have all kinds of adverse effects.

From hallucinations to nervous breakdowns, to all kinds of phantom pain.

I am also an expert in physical torture, but I think it’s best to resort to the more mystical side when it comes to these important figures.

After all, I need them for later.

Rather than having them permanently lose body parts, it’s more preferable to give them the pure, undistilled sensation of agony to build up their fear of me.

Indeed.

That is what I am after.

... Fear.

"W-what do you want?"

"You aren’t saying anything."

"You aren’t asking any questions..."

"Just ask!"

"I’ll cooperate... so please make it stop!"

The blindfolded people cry and beg for some kind of reaction from me, but this is part of the process.

I need to prime them for a proper interrogation.

To do so, breaking them is essential.

I wish to take them to a place where they will be relieved—no, even happy—to cooperate with me.

They will fear letting down my expectations.

That’s why I am being patient.

Asking them questions now will only disrupt the process and make me appear desperate.

I want them to think:

’How can I please this person?’

’What can I say to him that will make this pain stop?’

’I have to satisfy his conditions, or else...’

These thoughts will slowly erode what is left of their pride and will allow me to take full control of their malleable minds.

It’s cruel, yes.

This isn’t a method I prefer to use.

But I need to produce results before Kalakuta comes, and I also need to find as many answers as possible to advance my progress in this Trial Scenario.

It had almost been two weeks since Kalakuta departed already; several days since I won the war and brought these people to the Sanctuary.

I come here every day, to this dark room where they dwell, to torture them every day.

Soon, they will start to speak of their own volition to escape the agony. They will spill all kinds of secrets—things I didn’t even ask for.

But that’s not enough.

Once one or two start spilling, the rest will also follow suit.

Such is the herd mindset of people.

Normally, humans try to distinguish themselves from others. The nature of a man’s pride will further drive him towards this ideal, and success is often measured by how ’independent’ one is from the herd, as well as how much they can control such a herd.

This is what most people strive for.

But, when in pain, fear, and uncertainty, humans revert to their basest selves.

They give in to their most primal instincts.

Most find comfort in the ideas that they spent their life rejecting.

Their safety lies in the herd.

’Once all of them start spilling and I have enough clues on the answers I desire, I will bind their mouths and resume the torture.’

They won’t be able to spill even if they want to. This will cause them to enter a moment of deep reflection.

They will ask themselves:

’What did I say wrong?’

’But I told him everything I know! Why is he still torturing me?!’

’It isn’t my fault! T-then... it must be someone else! Someone else lied!’

’H-how did he know I was dishonest? I only wanted to preserve my life.’

And so on...

People will say or do anything to escape an uncomfortable situation.

These prisoners do not trust me, and I don’t trust them. Hence, it is very possible that many of them are being dishonest with information just so I can let them off the hook.

They will tell me things I want to hear.

Answers that are tantalizing to the ears, and exaggerated stories that will make them appear more credible than they are.

I am quite experienced in these fields, so I know not to trust these people.

That’s why binding their lips is necessary.

In this moment of reflection, the dishonest ones among the bunch will realize that I must have flagged their statement.

As for the honest ones, they will begin to break under pressure.

This will cause them to follow their lowest instinct—self preservation.

Their initial compliance with the herd will devolve into distrust and selfishness. They will start to look at their fellows as enemies and will start policing one another so that everyone gets their story straight.

They will point out the lies or exaggerations for me and will give me even more information to prove their honesty.

They will help me verify what is being, which will help me in sorting through everything.

Naturally, I will punish the dishonest ones, further imprinting fear into their minds and encouraging them to remain honest.

In no time at all, I’ll have all of them comply with my wishes.

’If only the spy was still alive...’I sigh while shaking my head. ’I would have done the same to him and gathered all the information.’

I was too busy with other affairs, so I kept postponing my interrogation with him.

Since I had already joined Kalakuta’s group, it was no longer a priority for me. If I had known his days were numbered, I would have paid more attention to him early on.

Oh well...

’Alright, that’s enough torture today.’ I rise to my feet and walk towards the exit. ’Any further and their minds will break beyond repair.’

"Eeek! Don’t go! Don’t leave me here!"

"I’ll talk! I swear!"

"Ask me anything, please!"

I ignore their cries and leave the room without saying a word.

No need to rush or speak.

Tomorrow, the torture will resume.

******

After two more days, they told me everything they knew.

A day after, I stuffed their mouths and resumed torture.

Three days after that, I let them speak again, and they corrected their mistakes while ratting out their allies.

I used this as an opportunity to make an example of a few of them.

Now, three weeks after the Freedom Fighters left for the war, I have all the information I could ever require about the Western Alliance and the Eastern Sects.

Their economic situation, political maneuvers, military night, Special Resources, and so on.

It turns out my methods were very effective.

They did require some sacrifices, however, as only five prisoners survived the experience.

I had to heal them and treat them.properly after the experience, though it’s clear that they have been heavily traumatized.

Who can blame them?

I imagine they had never come close to experiencing what they just went through in their respective Great Nations, considering their high-ranked positions.

Of the five, three are from the Eastern Sects while two are natives of the Western Alliance.

The initial three are;

A Young Master from one of the top Sects, one of the prominent Sect Leader, and one of the top three beauties in the Eastern Sect, referred to as an untouched Jade Beauty by everyone.

As for the latter two, they are:

The Allied Army General, as well as one of the Alliance Vice Head himself.

All of them broke after a week of torture.

"Now then..."

For the first time since my interactions with them, I finally speak in their presence.

Instantly... they shudder.

Although they’ve been eating to their fill and their health has largely recovered, they still haven’t forgotten their place.

I smile at their reaction.

It’s a warm smile.

"I know you all despise me, but I want to assure you that I am not your enemy. All I did was necessary."

They surely doubt my words.

They are certainly suspicious of my intentions, although they are incapable of expressing that.

But so what?

I intend to change all of that anyway.

"Are you five perhaps interested in negotiations? I promise you, I have an offer you won’t be able to refuse."

*********

A day later, we finally received a message from the Western Alliance and Eastern Sects.

In the letters, they confirm the loss of the Southern Kingdom as well as their retreat. This means Kalakuta must have won for some time now.

But why hasn’t he returned?

It’s likely that the battle caused some residents to sustain heavy damage and he is helping them out.

Back to the letters...

The two messages also confirm the dissolution of their alliance and the desure to cooperate with the Freedom Fighters in exchange for the prisoners captured.

Many promises are made, and their willingness to compromise is also evident.

Even then, I can’t help but scoff.

"Pfft..."

Why couldn’t they have done this from the start, hmm? Now that they are afraid of their eventual destruction, they seek cooperation.

How obviously pathetic.

Still... this decision isn’t up to me.

’I’ll have to discuss this with Kalakuta, and we’ll figure out what to do from there. Until then, I’ll keep supervising the construction of the Great Bridgrworks."

With the battle already over, we have no reason to halt progress.

And so, for the next week, I coordinated my efforts with the non-combative members of the Freedom Fighters who serve as clnstruction officials while my Magivores do all the heavy lifting.

Our progress is smooth, especially with Tyrrion and Enryndral leadkng the charge.

As expected, Endrydral has a more hands-on approach, while Tyrrion usually idolatrs himself and simply presents schematics and corrections.

They are two sides of a coin.

It’s almost like I am witnessing history in the making.

At some point, I began to worry about Kalakuta and the Freedom Fighters due to their delayed arrival.

I even considered heading to the Central Continent myself.

However, my worries were in vain.

From the distance, I can now see Kalakuta and the Freedom Fighters walking towards the Sanctuary.

Although their numbrrs are drastically smaller than I remmeber, they came back.

They’re alive.

’Kalakuta is... huh??’

My eyes widen as I notice the dazed expression on Kalakuta’s face as he rides in front of the coming crowd.

Why does he look like that?

’Something is wrong!’