"Please! Please no more! I beg you!" Alphonse screamed as he coughed up another lungful of water
15 seconds.
15 seconds was all it took to have Alphonse singing like a canary.
In his defense, the average time somebody normally lasted being waterboarded was 14 seconds, so Al performed slightly above average.
The record was only about 54 seconds, so to be even slightly above average was a commendable feat.
The process was as simple as it was gruesome.
Step 1. Put some kind of fabric on or in somebody's mouth and nose.
Step 2. Apply water
Step 3. Wait until they're forced to breathe, inhaling water
Step 4. Give them a respite to cough up the water, leaving them alive
Step 5. Repeat as necessary
It has been described as slowly drowning, and invokes panic in even the toughest of minds.
After all, being prepared to die, and actually experiencing the feeling of dying are two different things. Jason knew this firsthand.
Now, unfortunately for Alphonse, so did he.
The practice was never banned by name back on Earth, however it definitely fit the bill for the Geneva Convention's ban on "Torture that simulates the experience of death". Meaning this was one of the most common war crimes committed by governments.
For somebody who didn't even know of it's existence, Alphonse stood no chance.
After about 10 minutes of non-stop questioning, he had told Jason everything he wanted to know.
For starters, their little group of "Vigilantes" consisted of a total of 12 members of varying ranks, not including Alphonse.
There were mostly privates, however there was one other corporal, and even a sergeant.
Luckily for Jason and Saivas, the privates generally just happily followed orders. If they were caught committing such acts without direction, they would be immediately dishonorably discharged.
Only a corporal or higher had the leniency to make judgement calls after all.
This was a relief since it meant that for their purposes, all they'd have to do is take out the other corporal, and the sergeant. Leaving the rest without agency to act.
Sure they could be promoted in the future, but they'd need to earn tenure before they were allotted too much leniency, and by then, Saivas would be old enough to hunt on his own.
A couple other things he learned had to do with what the king actually accused his father of. It was troubling to say the least.
According to the king, Stuart had not only given the item to a foreign nation, he had even held his own team off when they tried to recover it. In every sense, he was branded a true blue traitor.
As for the item in question, it was a confiscated slave ring.
The mention of slave rings struck fear into the hearts of anyone who heard it. As the name implied, once imprinted to an owner, anyone wearing the slave ring would find themselves unable to resist the owner's commands.
To make matters worse, the ring worked by binding to somebody's mana flow. Without being the owner, there was no way to remove it without forcibly ripping somebody's mana out of their body.
This of course meant death.
A tinge of clarity shone across Jason's face. As this had answered a long standing question he had about his father's story.
After all, Stuart was strong. If what Scarlett said about him being weaker now was true, he very well could have been among the strongest men to ever live. How could he have failed a simple retrieval mission? Why would they even send more than one man for what was clearly a stealth operation?
Knowing the item in question, the answer was simple.
'Stuart really is a good man...' Jason thought to himself
Deciding to talk to his father when he was older, Jason continued his interrogation.
One of the most interesting things he learned from Alphonse was the existence of courvant. A body refining technique. Hearing it explained, Jason almost choked in surprise.
Not because it was hard to believe, but because he hadn't thought of it earlier!
According to Alphonse, courvant was the magic behind controlling one's own mana, and was typically practiced by those with little to no magical talent. Or, in Al's case, no desire to study spells.
After all, the mana within one's body was used to strengthen and control the body already. It didn't need to be altered by any means, making it perfect to practice for those who just wanted raw power. Since it irrelevated the need for knowledge or direction spells required.
Since this country didn't know anatomy, all their courvant techniques were based on feeling. The soldiers couldn't have told you what they were doing, but they knew it could alter, improve, or heal the body. And that's all they needed to know.
Of course Jason had a general idea how it worked after hearing the explanation, so he decided he would try it later.
More importantly, it finally answered another question that had been bugging him a while.
'So that's why my father is so strong despite never using magic!' He realized
Thinking back, it made sense. Of course the body wasn't capable of moving as fast as Stuart did, at least not alone. There was only one thing in this world let somebody defy common sense.
That of course was magic.
It still didn't answer why his father was so much weaker now than back when he served the king, but it was nice to have one mystery solved.
Of course Jason had asked about his father's condition, but unsurprisingly, Al didn't know.
Why would he? He was just a corporal after all.
Still, with that, he had learned everything else he had hoped for.
Staring at the once proud Alphonse, Jason almost couldn't recognize him.
His face was covered in tears and blood. His body was hopelessly dismembered, and that signature look of pride was nowhere to be found.
He looked like he was already dead, if it weren't for the subtle rise and fall of his chest, Jason might have even made the mistake of thinking him so.
Jason couldn't relate, but he could certainly empathize. This man had just sold out his friends, his brothers in arms.
Many of the secrets he had sworn to protect had just been laid bare to a child of the man he despised more than anyone else.
And his team of vigilantes was more than likely about to either be killed, or suffer the same fate.
And there was nothing he could do about it.
Even now, beaten and downtrodden, he could not move a muscle. Heck, he couldn't even kill himself.
Jason couldn't forgive this man. Despite the empathy he felt towards Alphonse, he couldn't forget the suffering his family had, and would have CONTINUED to endure thanks to him and his crew.
Even still, unlike Saivas, he didn't think him a monster.
Sure he had done monstrous things, but if tonight was any indication, Saivas was capable of doing monstrous things too.
Both were just good-natured men doing what they thought was right. Alphonse had just been mislead. And because of that, he had made a good man suffer without knowing the whole situation.
Deciding to give him one last moment of comfort before he departed, Jason spoke.
"If it's any consolation, only two more of your vigilantes need to die. I will not end the others."
At those words, Alphonse let out a small sigh of relief. He still grieved for those who were to be lost, but at least the youths of his group would survive.
"I'm sending you off to god now. He's a complete asshole, but he may show pity towards a man led astray. I hope he grants you a new life. And I hope in your next life, you can live freely full of virtue, unhindered by blind faith."
With that, Jason commanded the stone wrapping his captive's chest to harden, sharpen, and pierce Alphonse's heart.
Under his control, it obliged, and Alphonse fell limp.
Stifling regrets, Jason had Saivas lift the spell of silence, and return the stones compromising the bindings to return to the bed frame.
He tried to console his companion the best he could, but Saivas wasn't in a talking mood.
Leaving out the window, he returned to the archives room, and found the other two targets' files. Seeing that they were boarding together. He went up to the 4th floor window which lead to their lodging.
The interior was fairly simple, much like the rooms below, however there were a few key differences.
The room itself was quarter circle shaped, and two small desks adorned the flat sections of the wall.
This bedroom was slightly larger than the bedroom below, however it only contained two beds. They laid across the curved portion of the room. Saivas could also recognize several household magical trinkets. The same kind his family sometimes used for personal hygiene.
The added luxuries made sense, these men had earned many accolades. In fact, the corporal was next in line to be promoted to sergeant. It was only natural that their living conditions would be a bit more comfortable.
The sergeant was a middle aged man. He had an imposing build with a dull green flow of mana. Noting that this was the strongest man he had ever seen other than Stuart, Jason was quite impressed.
The man's black hair was slicked back, though it was currently messed up from having been slept on. He had streaks of grey, and a peaceful expression. He looked how you might imagine a brand new grandfather to look.
Jason had purposefully skipped the parts of these guards' files involving their families. This was not a happy occasion for him already, the last thing he wanted to do was further humanize the men he needed to kill.
The corporal was a bit easier to stomach. He was fairly scrawny young man with a very angular face. He almost resembled a rodent in fact. He had a small tuft of brown hair atop his head, and a dull yellow flow of mana. Even still, he was barely in his early 20's. Causing Jason think back to his own death.
Despite a knot in his stomach, Jason had Saivas sound-proof the room. Like he had done before, he commanded earth spikes to fall down from the ceiling, impaling the hearts of these two men. For the man with the green core, he decided to be extra careful and send two spikes instead of one.
One from the front, and one from the side.
Much like before, the two men died before they ever woke up.
After lifting the sound barrier, Saivas and Jason climbed back down the tower and found their way into the middle of a cornfield nearby. After finding a clearing an acceptable distance away from any of the village homes, Jason finally gave control back to Saivas.
What followed was unstoppable retching, and uncontrollable sobbing.
The rage had almost completely subsided, and with that, the part of his mind that prevented him from processing his own actions cleared.
It had been about 4 hours since they had left their home. In that time, they had killed 4 men. They had even tortured one of them to the point of breaking. To somebody like Saivas who had never so much as been in a fight before today, this was not something he could bear.
Even a well adjusted person would have broken under this kind of pressure.
In fact, if it weren't for the fact that Jason could hardly be considered human after dying and becoming a voice in his own head, he might have broken down too.
Emotionally exhausted, and heavily drained of mana, Saivas couldn't even think of practicing magic.
For the remainder of the night before he had to head back home, Saivas simply wept.