The man wasn't all that cooperative.
A few minutes had passed, and by now, his face was beaten and bruised.
Raelis had been relatively lenient with his attacks, but striking the same spots repeatedly naturally began to hurt.
"Fuck off!" the man shouted, kicking out and toppling his chair as he fell to the ground.
He groaned and lifted his head slightly, meeting Raelis's single visible eye.
"Do you know how much I've sacrificed? Do you realize what I had to do to become a Petal?" he muttered. "My mother had acquired a large debt, and the Black Lotus was sent to collect it, or her head. I was still young back then, so I had no way to fight back against them."
He scoffed bitterly. "But you know what's funny? That fucking Orange Masked bastard gave me a choice. Kill my mother, and I'd earn a chance to join the organization. I wanted to say no, but… my mother told me to do it. She begged me to."
His voice cracked as tears streamed down his bloodied cheeks.
"I-I miss her… I just wanted to rise up. Become a Black Mask. Then maybe catch the eye of a Primary, and become a Secondary Color. Just like him…"
Raelis sighed and walked over, crouching beside him.
His expression turned cold.
"I don't care about your life story. Just tell me the sensitive information. For starters, who gave it to you? You tell me that, and I'll make sure your death is painless. I promise."
The man raised a brow in amusement. "Really? You promise?"
He glanced past Raelis at Blue Mask. "You think they're going to give me a painless death? Hahaha... You're delusional."
"I'm merely a spectator," Blue Mask replied calmly. "What happens next is up to Black Mask. Your life is in their hands."
"Ugh..." The man's brows furrowed as he turned back to Raelis.
He was silent for a few moments, almost as if debating something.
And then, he spoke.
"Listen... the information's nothing major, just the location of a small Black Lotus branch. Even if it falls, the organization won't take a huge hit."
"A branch is still a branch," Raelis said matter of factly, then narrowed his eyes. "But a Petal like you shouldn't have had access to that kind of intel. Not unless someone told you directly."
The man clicked his tongue. "Here's the thing… I don't know who gave it to me. I just got a note with the address. I went to check it out, saw some Petals and Black Masks patrolling the place, and ran. They caught me and dragged me here."
Raelis waited for the rest of the story, but it never came.
"That's it?" Raelis asked. "You got a random note, showed up, got caught, and that's all?"
The man nodded quickly. "That's right. I swear I don't know anything else."
The sob story was probably real, but it's not hard to tell he's lying about this. Though... how am I supposed to get it out of him? Should I try one of my father's torture techniques?
Raelis carefully picked the man up and straightened his chair.
Then, he placed a single hand on the man's chest, right where his lungs were.
And in the very next moment, the man's expression darkened.
"W-What are you doing?" he asked, his breaths turning haggard. "Hey now... cut it out. It's getting a little hard to breathe in here."
But Raelis didn't stop. He continued.
This was a technique that focused on reversing the breathing, so the more the man in front of him tried to breathe, the further his lungs were being damaged.
Raelis kept it up for a few moments, then abruptly stopped, watching the man's eyes flicker in and out of consciousness.
And once he was back, the man sent a glare at him.
He opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out.
"Your voice should be back in a minute or two. Until then, I suggest you choose your next words very carefully," Raelis said coldly, and walked over to Blue Mask.
"I didn't get anything out of him yet," Raelis whispered.
Blue Mask shrugged. "Why not make an assumption? It might lead you in the right direction."
"Or the complete opposite one..." Raelis remarked. "I don't want to make baseless assumptions. That'll only complicate things."
He met Blue Mask's single pink eye. "I've got another technique I want to try if he doesn't tell me anything here. If I fail... then I suppose I'll just have to think of another way to get my request fulfilled."
Blue Mask remained silent, yet Raelis could tell the evaluation was still in progress.
With that, he approached the man again, who was finally able to speak.
"You… Those torture techniques don't belong in the Black Lotus…" the man muttered, narrowing his eyes. "Which organization are you from? Did the Syndicate form an assassin branch?"
"There's no rule saying I can't use my own techniques, is there?" Raelis tilted his head, then kicked the chair, toppling it again.
He crouched beside him, meeting the man's eyes head-on.
"Final chance. Tell me who gave you the location, or I'll make sure these are your most miserable last seconds on this planet."
The man's brow twitched. "Pfftt... even if I am a Petal... I'm not a snitch—"
His words cut off the moment Raelis placed a hand on his forehead.
It seemed innocent at first, however, Raelis was currently using his Heat Control to fry the man's nerves in the brain.
In just a few minutes, he'd come undone.
But until then, he would suffer.
"H-Huh... w-wait a sec!" the man gasped, his face beginning to convulse.
"AAAAAAAH!"
Raelis stood and watched him with a blank look.
After a minute, he crouched down again and used Heat Control to trick the brain into thinking it still had nerves left.
The man's screaming stopped as he stared at Raelis in horror.
"I-It was a Black Mask… I don't know their name!" he shouted. "They're on the chubbier side, and they always smelled like whiskey... mostly on their fingers. They gave me the info and said I'd find the Orange Masked bastard at that location."
Raelis nodded slowly. "Who else did you tell?"
The man flinched. "I-I told a shop owner. He runs a bakery in the city center. He had intel on the Black Lotus too... and he was helping me kill the Orange Mask."
"S-So please… just kill me already," the man begged. "I don't want to feel that pain again. I swear on my late mother's life, I told you everything I know."
"I see…" Raelis sighed, then glanced at Blue Mask.
"Is this enough?" he asked. "You've got an inside man. Or rather, someone who's infiltrated your organization."
After all, assassins were trained to leave no traces. They were fit, disciplined, and their presence removal skills surpassed even Raelis's.
So for someone to not only be chubby, but also leave behind a scent? That was the person they needed to go for.
"That will suffice," Blue Mask affirmed, glaring at the man. "Leave him be. A rat like him doesn't deserve a painless death."
The man's eyes widened in fear, however...
"No." Raelis shook his head. "You said his life was in my hands. So I'd prefer if you didn't interfere."
Blue Mask tilted their head in amusement, and didn't say a word, almost as if they were urging Raelis to kill the man.
And that was exactly what he did.
Raelis held the man's head between his palms, staring straight into his relieved eyes.
"Thank you..."
"I don't go back on my word," Raelis chuckled, then turned serious as his expression hardened.
"I truly wish you reunite with your mother, wherever she may be. Goodbye."
Then, with a single burst of concentrated Heat Control, the man's head exploded.
Brain matter splattered across Raelis's black petal mask, nearly making him vomit.
It was the first time he'd taken a life, and he hadn't expected it to happen like this.
But even so, he had an image to maintain. So he stood calmly, and met Blue Mask's gaze.
"What now?"