Jade
"Excuse me," said a man wearing white cat ears with black spots, a black suit, and a white mask; he entered the tavern cordially, holding his fedora against his chest. He took a long minute to survey the destruction in the main room before walking forward, followed by a horde of henchmen who looked as mean as they were poorly dressed. "I heard our guest was the rough sort, but I must admit this exceeds my expectations," he remarked, approaching the counter I was wiping down with a dishcloth.
I nodded silently and pointed to the girl chained to a chair, a sack over her head.
The masked man sat at a table facing the chained woman, and his henchmen surrounded the prisoner.
"I'll tell you what's going to happen now: you're going to answer my questions, one by one, with total honesty. Otherwise..."
"Thwack!" One of the henchmen punched the woman in the stomach at his boss's signal.
"Do we understand each other?"
The woman grunted in response; meanwhile, I saw a couple of the masked man's henchmen head down to the tavern cellar and soon return with a large wooden barrel.
And of course, they had to pick that barrel... I thought, feeling uncomfortable. Even so, I didn't hesitate to pour a glass of red wine from it.
"Thanks, sweetheart," the masked man said, sipping from the glass.
Sweetheart? So, am I his girlfriend now? Oh, boy...
"So, who sent you?" the masked man asked, but the chained woman remained silent. He nodded, and his henchmen resumed beating her. "Who sent you? Was it Fat João? Dona Saint?" He pressed her, but again, he got no answer. The masked man snorted in annoyance. "If you keep up this vow of silence, we won't just beat you, girl. We're going to drive nails all over your body, from head to toe. And you know what? When someone's [Level] is as high as yours, that isn't enough to kill them... but it hurts. It hurts like hell. Thanks to your natural regeneration, you could stay in a state of constant agony for days, you'd die of thirst before the damage killed you. So, why don't you just open your mouth?"
She didn't open her mouth. The bandit leader sighed and nodded to one of his henchmen, who immediately began the gruesome task, nailing the woman bit by bit. No words escaped her, but her grunts grew increasingly animalistic.
Meanwhile, I swept the debris out of the tavern, pushing aside shards of glass and bottles of alcohol that were rapidly emptying.
When I reached the exit, guarded by only one henchman, the masked man already seemed to be losing his patience:
"Damn it, woman! If you're not going to tell us anything, tell me, why shouldn't I just kill you?!" The chief bandit rose from his seat and approached the prisoner, pulling the linen sack from her head. "E-Eh? Sweetie? My... daughter?" He finally realized who had really been tied to the chair from the beginning, whom he had spent the last few minutes beating and into whom he had driven a dozen nails. "So, who...?" Slowly, he and all his suddenly pale henchmen turned to face me at the exit.
"Click!" I turned the key in the door, locking them inside.
"Aaaah!!" One of the henchmen yelled, having bumped into the wine barrel, knocking it over, and revealing the corpse of the former doorman.
[You inflicted: Terror! You inflicted: Terror! You...]
"RAAGH!" The bandit leader immediately leaped against the exit, but it had been built by the man's organization to withstand assault by rival groups, and his brass knuckles seemed incapable of breaking it open. "YOU BASTARD! I'M GOING TO KILL YOU! I'M GOING TO RIP YOUR SKIN OFF AND MAKE YOU EAT IT!!"
I turned my back on the man just as smoke began to leak through the cracks in the door. The fire I started just before locking the door must have finally burned through the entire trail of alcohol I spread while "cleaning" the hall, and reached the fuel I had prepared beforehand. Soon, everyone inside would die charred or suffocated.
Aah, this is fucked up. I'm not going to apologize because they're the torturing thugs here, but... That wasn't my intention, okay? I thought as I followed through the sewer.
"I always knew colonists were crazy, even cruel, but this..." The imp I carried in a pocket of my stolen vest commented. "This goes far beyond anything I could have expected. A black soul like yours... I NEED to make a contract with you! Please reconsider my offer! With the power I would receive from our contract, I could even conjure a pile of gold equivalent to the riches of a viscount, or create a weapon worthy of an army major!"
"Don't listen to him!" Interrupted a second voice, just as shrill and irritating. The other imp I carried, the one trapped inside a crystal ball. "Make a contract with me instead! My lord, God Mboi'Ruar is far more powerful than his little god! Your rewards will be far greater!"
"What?! No way that fat cow is more powerful than my glorious lord!"
I sighed, then placed the two containers inside a broken clay pot carried by the sewer current.
"Look, I don't care if one of your masters is the Lord of Poop and the other the King of Pee; I just want to know which of you can grant me a more powerful wish."
"S-Such heresy..." the crystal ball imp stammered. "But it's me! I'm the stronger of the two!"
"No way, it's me! That little turd can't even compare to me!" the bottle imp retorted.
"Hmm, looks like you two can't agree on that, huh? There's no other way..." I said, turning the crystal ball upside down and unscrewing its base while simultaneously pulling the cork from the bottle. "I don't have the patience to listen to both of you until I find a buyer, so kill each other, and I'll keep the survivor," I explained to the slack-jawed imps. "Oh, and don't even think about running away... or I'll devour you alive!" I threatened with a smile.
"S-She's telling the truth...!" the bottle imp whispered.
"I saw how fast she was at that tavern... we really can't escape!"
"Looks like you get it. Great! Now, fight!" I set them free, and the tiny lizard-man from the bottle found himself face-to-face with a feathered, bird-like fellow.
The fight would have been cute, were it not for the endless stream of profanities they screamed at each other, and the cheap shots.
Maybe I could turn this into a business venture? Like, imp fighting pits? I mused, distracted. But the duel soon came to an end when the feathered imp breathed his last at the hands of the little lizard-man.
"Congratulations!" I clapped for the panting, scratch-covered imp. "I always believed in you, buddy."
"R-Really?"
"Of course!" Of course not? "How could I not, after all the time we've spent together? You know what, partner? I'll give you the privilege of choosing what happens to the body of that disgusting rival of yours, the guy who dared to criticize your god and call you a liar."
"P-Partner...?" The little lizard-man repeated, tears welling in his eyes. "N-No one ever...! Hic!" The imp sobbed, trying to hide his tears.
Aw, don't look at me like that. You're making me feel bad!
"Right! Let's toss that bastard into the sewer! Guihihi! I can't think of a more humiliating grave! And... call me 'Armadeiro,' guihihi!"
That's better!
I kicked the feathered imp's corpse into the filthy water, and a notification immediately popped up: "You have gained a loyalty level with: Armadeiro. Armadeiro is now your 'Partner,' and he will not attempt to kill you even when not confined within a suitable container, provided your Reputation with your cult remains high enough and you do not attack him."
Much better!
Game Over ☠
Peridot
When I got home, I was greeted by a sink full of dirty dishes in a dark, silent kitchen.
"Tsk!" I clicked my tongue and flipped on the light. I headed straight for her bedroom door. "Locked... Hey! Jade! ...She must be gaming." I rubbed the bridge of my nose and went back to the kitchen. "Right. First I clean this up, then I make dinner, and then... I'm going to crush whatever fun she might be having in that damn game."
She might have had the advantage of having played for many more hours, but she didn't know she was being hunted by me, and I had the Empire on my side.
Just you wait, Jade. I'm going to give you such a thrashing that you'll start walking the straight and narrow!