Ch.874Happy Torture Time

A Sudden Reunion with a Stepmother.

While I was unable to hide my bewilderment, Ophelia explained why Meiharin had shrunk, in a strangely boastful tone.

“So, she tried to reincarnate into Imara’s body but got caught by you and ended up like Isabella?”

“That’s exactly it.”

Hearing it now, it was indeed something to boast about.

She had perfectly blocked Meiharin’s final card that no one had anticipated, simply based on a mere suspicion.

Moreover, she had even managed to capture Meiharin alive in the process.

…Though I’m not sure if being trapped in a soul stone could be called a “capture,” but either way, this was enough to consider her the hidden MVP.

“We should really give you an award for this.”

“Under what pretext? Don’t tell me you’re planning to spread rumors everywhere saying ‘Our necromancer captured an enemy’s soul!’?”

That’s true. As much as I’d like to give her a title, territory, and reward, I couldn’t.

To officially bestow a reward, I would need to announce the reason, which would be like sending Ophelia to the church’s stake.

In that case…

“Should I designate you as the Tower Master? We’ll need to build a magic tower someday, and at that time, the position of Tower Master…”

“I’ll pass. That’s not a reward; it’s a punishment. Did you know that woman Floheta has been losing some hair lately?”

Is that true?

After Leopold and Lord Wien, now even Tower Master Floheta is falling into inescapable suffering.

What a terrifying rumor and a tragic fate.

“That’s unfortunate…”

I offered my condolences to Floheta, who must be shedding tears every time she washes her hair.

A curse was roaming the Empire.

A curse named baldness.

—-

Afterward, I chatted with Ophelia for a while.

Small talk like asking if Claire’s mental illness—her infantile regression—had been treated somewhat, or if her skills had improved lately.

Is this the time to be chatting? Why aren’t we torturing Meiharin instead?

Don’t worry.

Hersella is taking care of that quite well.

“Hioooook-!”

Meiharin, with her eyes rolled back, swims through the air while emitting strange screams.

Drip, drip, green fluid falls down.

Hersella’s Karma of Murder thorns had skewered the small Meiharin like a kebab from between her legs up to near her head.

[Ahahahaha! Hiook? Did you say Hioook? What a fitting moan for your worm-like appearance! It seems you were the whore after all!]

She was almost as excited as a child on a ride. To the point of bursting into inaudible laughter and constantly throwing out mockery.

Was that the fifth homunculus?

The first through fourth were sprawled beside her. In a terribly torn-up state.

After recovering from her shock, Hersella, who had been licking her lips while targeting the small Meiharin, requested permission from me to torture it.

Like a child begging for a birthday present.

I gladly accepted and conveyed Hersella’s request to Ophelia.

That’s how the torture began.

“You… you demonic woman! To think you were hiding a necromancer, can you still call yourself a saint?!”

“The goddess seems fine with her, you know. Even poison can become medicine if used well. Stop talking nonsense and just offer your body. Stop squirming so much.”

The first homunculus had its pain sensitivity increased about tenfold and was slowly sliced. Like cutting sashimi, from tail to head, piece by piece.

“Kieuk… kuk… kueueu…!”

Perhaps not wanting to show that she was screaming in pain, Meiharin tried to endure by gritting her teeth, but…

“Kiaaaaaaak!!”

Such stubbornness meant nothing in the face of a tenfold pain slice.

Meiharin died with a miserable scream, spewing green fluid from every orifice of her body.

“Oh, she died? Should have been more careful.”

After sending off the first homunculus, Ophelia promptly created a second one, as if she had been waiting for it.

“Haak… haak…! Am I… alive…?”

Perhaps due to the shock of being sliced into pieces, Meiharin, who had awakened again, was slightly losing her mind.

“That’s good. You’re alive.”

– Pook!

I helped restore her consciousness with a metal needle I had prepared in advance.

Like the legendary acupuncturist from the Sacheon Tang sect, Heo Jun, who was said to have healed a thousand people at once with secret acupuncture techniques.

“Keeek!”

Meiharin let out a strange cry as the needle pierced her abdomen.

Honestly, it was an extremely funny scream. So much so that even I, not to mention Hersella, found it hard to hold back laughter.

Anyway, Meiharin, now conscious, convulsed her short limbs and foamed at the mouth.

“How many times is the pain sensitivity set for this one?”

“Um… thirty times? But I’ve raised the threshold for what the brain and nerves can endure, so she won’t die from shock.”

Ophelia answered with a smile.

…In my opinion, she would be perfect as an inquisitor. Why did she choose a profession that would get her caught by inquisitors?

I wondered if this was what they meant by extremes meeting.

—-

Anyway, what was important now wasn’t Ophelia’s career choice.

“Oh my dear mother, are you in pain? It seems acupuncture isn’t working well for you.”

“You… how dare youuuu…!”

I looked down at the convulsing Meiharin and administered the next treatment method.

“Then I should try moxibustion, shouldn’t I?”

“…Moxibustion?”

Yes. Isn’t it natural to do moxibustion after acupuncture? This is even written in the ancient assassination manual, Dongui Bogam.

I created a very small flame and brought it to the tip of the needle embedded in Meiharin’s abdomen.

– Chiiik…!

The metal needle gradually heated up, spreading its heat throughout the small Meiharin’s internal organs.

The screams of Meiharin being slowly roasted from the inside were truly delightful.

The third homunculus underwent a rather standard torture, nothing special.

With sensitivity raised to the maximum possible, her skin was peeled off and various substances were sprinkled on top.

Meiharin must have been disappointed. Thinking the stimulation was weaker than the previous interrogations.

“Aaaaaaak! Stooop! Please stooop! You crazy, crazy demonic womannnnn—!”

…Or not?

A hundredfold sensitivity was enough to turn an ordinary interrogation into hellish torture.

If a hundredfold is this bad, what kind of monsters are those who endure three thousandfold? I felt a wave of respect for their infinite endurance.

—-

From the fourth homunculus onward, she seemed to change her approach, shifting from pain to humiliation.

The sensitivity increase also focused on senses other than pain. Because of this, the preparation took a bit longer.

“Our dear mother Sahakal, you must have been very lonely without a husband. Though we’re not related by blood, as your daughter, it would be unfilial of me to ignore this situation, wouldn’t it?”

I recited appropriate mockery to match the situation Hersella had requested.

It was a role division proposed by Hersella.

Did she say there was no one who could surpass me in mocking and insulting others?

That was quite a slander, but I decided to let it slide.

I could afford that much consideration. After all, this was the moment her long-held desire for revenge was finally bearing fruit.

“So, I’ve specially prepared a remarriage partner for you. How about it? Aren’t you just thrilled?”

…Though the method she chose for revenge seemed somewhat petty and creepy.

I looked down at Meiharin, who now resembled a lizard with small limbs attached to her snake body, and introduced her new husband.

“Shiii—shiiit—.”

Meiharin’s second husband seemed pleased with his wife, shaking his head with a joyful hiss, constantly flicking his forked tongue.

“…A snake?”

Meiharin looked up at me with a face full of shock, as if asking if what she was thinking was correct.

“Why are you so surprised? Don’t tell me you thought I prepared this snake as your husband?”

I mocked her, waving the snake I was holding.

“How should I put it… your imagination is a bit too vivid. Isn’t that too lewd?”

As if to say, thinking such thoughts just from seeing a snake, isn’t that excessively lewd?

“It wasn’t…? Then what…?”

“Actually, you’re right. Good guess.”

Of course, that thought was correct.

I grinned and dropped the highly excited male viper into the cage where Meiharin was contained.

“Hiiiiik!”

Meiharin screamed in genuine terror and tried to escape from the snake, but…

“Shaaaaat!”

The male viper was several times faster at coiling around and constricting her than she was at scurrying with her unfamiliar limbs.

“Let go, let go! Hiiik-! Haschal! Haschaaal! What kind of madness is this! Quickly remove this snake…!”

“You said it yourself. That you’re not just an ordinary sorcerer, but the leader of sorcerers, the ‘Snake of the White Valley’.”

I smiled, enjoying Meiharin’s panicked disgrace.

“If it’s the husband of a snake, shouldn’t it naturally be a snake?”

“That’s not what I meant…! Hyaak! No! Please! Don’t come closer! Don’t come closer-!”

Meiharin looked at me with a face as if she had encountered a monster crawling out from the abyss, but in my opinion, she should actually be grateful that her partner was a snake.

If Meiharin had been in her original form rather than the ‘small Meiharin’ state, her new husband would have been not a snake but the life companion that Ka’har loves the most.

Well, a snake is better than a horse, isn’t it?

“Aaaaaaaaaaaaak!”

Apparently not.

I learned something new this time, that snakes, well, they…

…are a species that uses dual swords. And those with thorns at that.

It’s fortunate that we reduced the pain sensitivity and only increased other sensitivities; otherwise, we might not have achieved the intended scene.

“Haaaak…!”

To be taken by a mere snake, not even a beast.

—-

After the fourth interrogation ended, Meiharin, who had been revived with a fifth body, had a face that seemed like she would drown in shame mixed with grief.

Hersella lamented the absence of alcohol.

Saying it didn’t make sense to have such a perfect drinking snack in front of her but not be able to have a drink. A very typical complaint from her.