COTE x TBATE | A Masterpiece

Chapter 39 - A Mastermind

>> Flashback <<

Timeline: 8 Years Ago. After Sylvia's death when Arthur (Kiyo) was killing the bandits that kidnapped Tess.

Location: Elshire Forest.

"I will ask again, who ordered you to kidnap elves?" Arthur asked, the dagger looking like a short sword in his small infantile hands.

"Begone, you demon-"

"Wrong answer. There goes another nail." Arthur said and stabbed the tip of his knife into one of the slave trader's fingertips. The number of pain receptors inside a human's fingertip were enough to make a grown man cry, evident from the streams of tears from the man's eyes.

"Let me ask this again. Who ordered you to procure or supply slaves?" Arthur asked again, receding his dagger that came out of the bandit's skin with a squelch.

"I'd never..."

"Wrong."

Piercing the dagger into the Hyponychium which is thick skin under the nail. Moving his dagger upwards he uprooted his nail completely as it fell to the ground, followed by drops of blood that stained the lush green foliage with a deep shade of crimson.

"Who is your employer?" Arthur asked again, no sign of exhaustion or hurriedness on his face, whatsoever.

The slave trader remained silent as Arthur gripped him by the only patch of hair he had on his bald head, "You're not going to die, not while I'm still in control... So, you are not getting out unless you tell me who your employer is."

"Don't touch my hair!" The slave trader squirmed, his body lacking the energy or courage to stand up to Arthur.

"Hair...? oh... so this is what you're worried about?" Arthur said and tightened his grip over his hair, "Tell me or I will pluck it off."

"I...I-I won't."

"Fine," Arthur replied, his azure eyes shining in the ominous dark of the forest and pulling the whole patch of his hair up.

"Y-You demon. You will pay for everything."

"You still think you are in a position to say this, huh?" Arthur asked and the slave trader flinched underneath the gaze of a 4-year-old looking down at him, his eyes screaming that he wouldn't hesitate a second to take his life if he deemed it necessary.

"There are many ways to interrogate and extract information out of individuals." Arthur said and sat close to him, "Like this." Arthur said and stomped on his foot, breaking all bones in it, "Or this." Another loud crunch resounded in the forest as he broke the bones in his shoulder.

"Creativity plays a major role, such as this," Arthur said and gripped his face, making him pout. Gripping one of his molars, he pulled it out, a fountain of blood sprouting from his gums. The man winced in pain, cried, pleaded, but Arthur didn't ask the question again.

All he did was lecture him on different ways of torture with a practical demonstration.

"Please, make it stop... I will tell... it was the..."

"The Wykes, I know." Arthur replied as he looked him in the eyes.

The slave trader's eyes widened as he looked at Arthur, "W-Why did you want to ask if you already knew?"

"I didn't know before. However, the parchment that fell from your pocket a while ago was enough to tell me who your employer was." Arthur replied and backed away from him.

"S-So, can I go? I swear on my parent's grave, I will never tell anyone."

"Sure, you can go."

A smirk formed on the slave trader's face as he grinned inwardly, 'Foolish brat. I will come back and you will have to pay later.'