Demon Hunters

The Inquisitor III

"It is clear that you're hiding something from a church official – a most severe and a punishable offence."

"What do you mean?! I told you I will show the body!"

"Locating a body should not be a problem – in fact, you should be able to tell from memory where it is, as we are talking about a recent incident. Your hesitance and the attempts at delaying me you have made are, therefore, indicative of something being amiss."

Magnus had now entered the house, bringing the man along with him. His face was pale, and his eyes were frantically bouncing between the inquisitors. The man was scared but did not attempt to resist being dragged along – though this was mostly attributable to his captor's massive size.

"What is this? Father, what is going on?" he yelled.

"The usual, I take it?" Magnus asked, ignoring the man, and rifling through a small pouch that was hanging from his belt.

"Indeed," Lucas replied.

"What is going on here? What are you doing?" the alderman yelled.

He had stood up, though he was having to lean on the table for support. His expression was now genuinely panicked, all semblance of calmness having vanished the moment Magnus had entered the house. Lucas grimaced as he could feel the oh-so-familiar pang of guilt in his chest. Even after all these years, he still couldn't get used to situations like this. Still, his faith was absolute, and he knew that, ultimately, everything he did was for the greater good. He grabbed the man and forced him to sit down on a small chair. Next, he tied one of his arms and both of his legs to the chair so that only his left arm was free to move. The man was far too terrified to resist in any way. Finally done with him, Lucas turned around and faced the old man.

"As I stated earlier, I have cause to suspect that you have lied to me. Not only is this a very serious offence, but it also suggests that the matter concerning the demon hunter requires careful examination."

Lucas gave Magnus the signal, who pulled out a thumbscrew and started fiddling with it. By this point, the bound man had been paralyzed by fear, and could only watch on in horror as the rusty and bloodied piece of equipment was attached to his hand.

"This is how it will work: I will ask you a question. If I'm not satisfied with your answer, my assistant here will tighten the screws. Did I make myself clear?"

The old man stared at the scene unfolding before him with abject horror. His mouth was opening but no sound was coming out. This was all unsurprising for Lucas – of course, he had already seen the same situation play out countless times before. He had learned that direct violence sometimes caused the target of the interrogation to become, paradoxically enough, more resilient – humans could often find their resolve at the weirdest of occasions. However, when the threat of violence was shifted toward a seemingly innocent target, the interrogations tended to proceed much more smoothly. This approach was vile, and using it made Lucas feel nauseous, but it was also the most efficient way of gathering reliable information.

"I suppose you didn't understand. I asked you a question. You did not answer. Magnus?"

"No, please, don't! I'll tell you everything, just don't do anything to my son!" the old man pleaded.

However, Magnus ignored the man and tightened the torture device wrapped around the man's hand. He, too, was now pleading for the inquisitor to stop, but soon this pleading gave way to a scream of pain. For now, the instrument was tight enough to cause the alderman's son supreme discomfort and a bit of pain, but it was yet to break any bones.

"My rules are absolute. You disobeyed, so he had to suffer. Can we continue now?" Lucas said in a calm tone.

For a moment, the old man seemed too upset to even respond. However, as Lucas started to twist his head toward Magnus, he once again regained his senses.