…
"What's happened, Ferr?" asked Sir Giles to the one who he was called Ferr. He was the guy who holding the camera, also the one who brought the device to their side allowing them to hear the conversation that was happening below.
After checking his equipment, and the device itself to make sure there was nothing wrong with it, Ferr then explained, "I've no idea. There is supposed to be nothing wrong. So, it means the only possible problem was… the bug connecter on him is taken out. Uh, it was really expensive…" he said it with much heartache underlying his tone.
…
On the other side, after lifting Old Tigo's again by the hair, Mayor Lucca suddenly thrust his finger - digging through the flesh of the former's ear. To be precise, it was right behind his ear where there was a suspicious bump on it.
"Argh…" Old Tigo grimaced from the pain.
He then took something out of it. A really small metallic object with an outer appearance resembling that of a spider. Of course, he knew what it was. This was an outdated device used by people from the Central to listen covertly to the conversation of others. Some of the Vanguards still use it to this very day for reconnaissance, espionage, surveillance, or investigations on particular organizations that were suspected to become a threat later to the empire.
"Nice one. Seems you are in it too as well huh, Tigo. Not only did you mingle with people from the underside, but you also even worked with them!? Now tell me, where is it?"
Mayor Lucca said while crushing the device in his hand. As he relaxed his clenched fingers, the remnants slipped from his hand to the ground.
With great effort, Old Tigo slowly shifted his body, turning his shoulder, neck, and eyes to meet Mayor Lucca's gaze. After much struggle, he finally succeeded. Face to face with him, Mayor Lucca closed his eyes in response to Old Tigo's unexpected action – as he spat directly onto the mayor's face, a mixture of blood and his saliva.
Old Tigo scoffed at him. "Heh, you f*cking loser. Over my dead body if you wanted to even know a fraction of it."
One of the guards in panic – hastily brought a handkerchief to the side of Mayor Lucca. The mayor then apathetically took it from that guard's hand, who after doing so, quickly moved back with inaudible steps to his original position (1). As the mayor wiped his face ever so slowly, his indifferent eyes still directed at Old Tigo who promptly accumulated saliva and blood in his mouth, ready to give him another round of spits with glowering eyes plainly showing the mockery behind it.
"Crrraacccchhh…" just as Old Tigo was about to spit it out, Mayor Lucca swiftly moved in and pressed that handkerchief to his mouth. Not finished yet, he followed up with a punch to Old Tigo's face, causing his consciousness to teeter on the brink of slipping from his grasp.
Old Tigo then fell to the ground, regrettably landing headfirst, which created a wound that served as yet another source of blood flowing from his head. Grasping him by the collar, Mayor Lucca fixed his gaze upon him and asked once more, their eyes locking onto each other.
"C'mon Tigo. Tell me!!? Where is it?"
"If The Central (2) is so amazing. Why don't they come here on their own? Let me guess. They're afraid of germs, isn't it? F*cking pussy who can't even look at sh*t without throwing up. Such is how they live their lives. Loser!!! Cough, cough, cough…" his coughing intensified as blood seeping out once again from his mouth.
"If you don't tell me now, you know they'll going to torture you again, right? Once people from the Central arrive here, there will be no choice but for them to search your memories. You will lose everything. Even yourself by then. And your struggle now will be for nothing. Their dead too, will be for nothing…"
"Don't you dare mention their dead right on my f*cking face!!!" Old Tigo gritted his teeth while glaring at him. "You can stop all of this. But you didn't, you f*cking p*ssy. You monkey c*nt. It was all your fault. F*cking coward!!!"
While saying his piece, blood, tears, and saliva had spurted down Mayor Lucca's face, who had closed his eyes. Now, finding an opportunity, Old Tigo, with all the strength he had managed to gather, moved his head – trying to bite the mayor's nose, who, by instinct, had moved his head back. Then again, a punch had been delivered right onto Old Tigo's face, bringing him down.
"C'mon. You'll be tortured even worse than this if you don't tell me now," said Mayor Lucca, now with a frown on his face, and hand still on Old Tigo's collar.
"Try me then. Cough, cough, cough. Well, here's a hint. I lost all my magic not because of the injury, but because I used all of it until it broke; to lock my mind. Tried it then. TRY IT!!! Let's see how many I'll manage to kill once they dare to touch the 'rune' inside my head. Cough, cough, cough…" Old Tigo's eyes reflected unbridled fury and firm resolution that none could ever hope to topple down. Like a fire that was never fizzled out no matter how much water poured onto it – and no matter how much time had passed, it would stay the same.
"So, you let yourself become this old and sickly just to hide it?"
"Ha, at least I'm not like you who submitted willingly like the trash you are. Even if it means I'll be damned forever, I won't betray the others who died for this. Even Jess and Kris, those two scaredy cats died like a hero they are. What about you? You Loser!!!"
"What about me? What about me, Hah?" this time, the mayor's glared back at Old Tigo. His voice turned up to several notches higher. His face contorted in a mask of twisted rage. Violent, uncontrollable anger plastered right on his face, as he was no longer capable of controlling his emotions, with all of its inside spilled forth – bursting out of its bag.
"What is it you all idiot fighting for? For those bastards who stabbed you right in the back when they had the chance. We fight for them. We sacrificed all of our time to train ourselves so we can protect them. But once a platter of gold served onto their face, what then? They willingly betray us. Did you forget how the others died?" he screamed right onto Old Tigo's face.
"But they're innocent. Have you lost your mind to blame everyone your eyes can see?" Old Tigo's flaring back against him without fear.
"… they are innocent. Yes. Until they didn't anymore…" Mayor Lucca's neck twitched slightly to the side. His eyes then momentarily appeared vacant.
As it did so, Old Tigo widened his eyes in horror as he noticed something was crawling beneath the skin of the mayor's face, originating from his exposed neck. It even slithered under his eyes, momentarily drawing the former's eyes to the countless legs that appeared on the corner of the latter's right eye. The living thing itself was vaguely similar to a millipede in a disturbing way.
"Wha-what. What are you? … who are you?" Tigo's trembling lips then tightened as his gaze tried to pierce the mystery behind what happened to Lucca, his old friend of the past when he was still a knight under The Central Region (2).
…
(1)I knew it was kind of redundant to mention it right now, but I just wanted to explain, that there were types of boots [only for boots] here in this story, that could conceal someone's footsteps. Since this novel had a bit of sci-fi in the mix, so yeah. That was what it was.
(2) 'The Central' was, in fact, the capital and the very heart of the Ryxhaton Empire, situated precisely at the midpoint of the Four Vassal States. The current setting of the novel is in Ralrain, one of these four vassals, specifically in the city of Mirthwater.