Interrogation

After listening to Soren's words...

A middle-aged man beside him frowned as he examined the corpse. Serpent Whip Drow were rarely seen in the Land of Ice and Snow, and there were no passages connecting to the Underdark here. If one hadn't spent a considerable amount of time in the Underdark, they probably wouldn't have recognized the Serpent-Headed Whip, as the Spider Queen's priests rarely engaged in combat. It could induce a strange pleasure in pain; in Soren's memory, besides the followers who Maiden of Pain, only the Succubus of the Abyss could do this.

The Maiden of Pain is one of the Deity most skilled in using whip-like weapons, only slightly inferior to the Succubus Queen.

The Spider Queen used the Serpent Whip purely to torture her enemies.

The others were still holding the funeral. The middle-aged woman invited Soren to the location of the Temple of Agriculture. Ahead, they could see a sizable town, but it was completely enclosed and guarded by many Guard. A burly man dressed as a sheriff approached, glanced at Soren, and then bowed slightly to the priest of the Goddess of Agriculture, saying, "Priest Tinaer. Who is he?"

The middle-aged woman glanced at him and slowly said, "A Travel Adventurer; perhaps he can help us. Those Evil Fallen have become increasingly rampant lately, and the number of victims is approaching ten. The townspeople are panicking, and we must stop this madness."

The sheriff clearly opened his mouth as if to say something, but then swallowed it back.

Since the incident more than half a month ago, the Security Squad has had no leads whatsoever. The number of victims has been increasing. At first, it was just one person. They could cover it up and blame it on ruthless bandits. But then the number of victims increased to two, and recently, three people have been killed simultaneously. Now, even an idiot would know that this is definitely not a simple murder case. Looking at the injuries on their bodies, it doesn't seem like some kind of crazed, deranged killer; it's more like victims of some Evil ritual.

Soren's gaze swept over him, then lingered on a young man not far behind him. The young man noticed his gaze and Dodge, seemingly a little guilty, though the reason was unclear. He was a thin young man with brown hair and brown eyes, and his legs appeared to be somewhat weak, as if he had a disability.

Soren stopped and looked at the young man, asking, "Who is he?"

Upon hearing Soren's question, the young man visibly took a half-step back, his eyes showing a hint of panic.

The middle-aged woman seemed to sense something as well, and frowned, saying, "He was the blacksmith's apprentice, and one of the victims outside was the blacksmith."

Soren suddenly grabbed the young man's arm, twisted it, and slammed him to the ground.

This unexpected situation caught everyone off guard. Before they could even ask, Soren said in a deep voice, "Have someone strip him naked."

Everyone was stunned for a moment, but then the middle-aged woman solemnly ordered her men to take action.

"What are you doing!... He's just a stranger!... How dare you let him attack me!... " The young man was clearly panicked. He struggled desperately, shouting, "I didn't kill anyone!... Everyone knows I have a leg injury!... How could I possibly kill Master Kana!... Let alone anyone else!... I'm not the murderer!...

The sheriff frowned visibly and said in a deep voice, "Release him. Colro is just a poor kid. He's never had any combat training and can't even beat a wolf. Among the victims were trained guards. He can't be the murderer!"

Soren glanced at him indifferently, then dislocated his subordinate's arm and said slowly, "I didn't say he was the murderer."

"Strip him naked!"

The two guards exchanged a glance and ripped off the young man's clothes, revealing numerous scars on his back. The others who saw this couldn't help but feel pity, for the young man's body was covered in scars, suggesting he had been frequently beaten. Apprentices in this era had a very low social status. Soren glanced at the scars on his shoulders; they seemed to be from past beatings. The sheriff had called him a pitiful child, probably knowing his past experiences.

But that's not what Soren is looking for!

He ripped off the young man's clothes, revealing a gruesome scar. The other scars were from long ago, but this one was fresh, likely formed within the last month.

Soren pinned the young man to the ground, pressed his foot against his neck, and said in a deep voice, "Has he been whipped recently?"

flogging.

A very common form of punishment used to punish criminals.

"No," the middle-aged woman replied to Soren. She glanced at the wound and frowned. "No one has been flogged recently. The laws here rarely involve flogging."

Soren withdrew his foot, glanced down at the silent young man on the ground, and slowly said, "Don't tell me you whipped yourself for no reason, and with a barbed whip at that!"

"He is a believer in Maiden of Pain."

"It must have been a ceremony held within the last month. The followers of the Maiden of Pain have a flogging ritual where people are whipped once with a barbed metal whip to make them feel the power of pain and torment. You should know what to do next, right? Find a way to get him to talk and tell you who the other followers are. The Maiden of Pain must have developed her faith here!"

Soren's expression was icy, completely ignoring the sheriff's ashen face. He had just arrived and discovered the clues, but they had been busy for half a month without any results. This was a blatant slap in the face!

"Take him away."

The middle-aged woman's face was grim. When it came to matters of faith, the priest could become Cruelty. She said in a deep voice, "Interrogate him! Make him reveal who else has fallen into the Alignment of the Evil God!"

The young man was lifted up by two Guard. He glared maliciously at Soren and the others nearby, finally fixing his gaze on the middle-aged woman with a ferocious expression, and said, "You will all die! The Goddess of Pain will torment you severely when she descends! She will ultimately slaughter you all! You hypocrites! You treacherous Demon! You hypocritical bitch! You watched my mother die without lifting a finger to save her! You watched me being beaten by the blacksmith without doing anything! You hypocrites! I curse you! I curse you all to Hell!!!"

They degenerated into worshippers who Goddess of Torment.

This young man must have gone through something bad, but unfortunately, Soren had no interest in knowing.

He didn't have much sympathy either, and simply said in a deep voice, "The followers of the Goddess of Torment have a high Endurance for pain, so I think you'd better use some sophisticated methods when you interrogate him."

The middle-aged woman, her face ashen, glanced at someone beside her, then nodded slightly to Soren and said, "Thank you, Adventurer."

"If it weren't for you, we probably wouldn't have discovered so quickly that someone had fallen to such a low level."

She led Soren toward the temple, while the Guard dragged the young man away. The sheriff's expression shifted between anger and uncertainty for a moment before he followed, even kicking the young man hard. Since someone had already fallen to the Alignment of the Evil God, there couldn't be just one. The fact that there were followers of the Evil God developing their faith here, yet he, as the sheriff, was completely unaware, would absolutely cause his prestige to plummet!

The Temple of Agriculture.

In front of the temple is a fountain, surrounded by pools and planted with vegetation. The walls are carved with many scenes, and in the center is Plane, wearing a gentle smile, her arms outstretched as if to embrace something. Inside the temple, there is a faint light, indicating that it is a place shrouded in Divine Power, and it seems that people often hold offering ceremonies here. As Greater Divinity Deity, the Goddess of Agriculture's temple is enveloped in a power more intense than that of many other Deity.

The middle-aged woman had a glass of water brought to her and gestured with her hand in invitation.

Soren glanced around and saw statues of the River Goddess and the Lake Goddess in the side hall. Farmland needs water for irrigation, and these two Lesser Deity are the most important Subordinate Deity of the Goddess of Agriculture.

The middle-aged woman glanced at him and smiled, "A message should arrive soon."

"I am very grateful for your help. If you need, I can arrange accommodation for you. You look like you have been traveling for a long time and may need to rest here for a while."

Soren nodded slightly, picked up his water glass, and took a sip.

The clear water has a slightly sweet taste; it's the raw material for making the Holy Water of the temple, which is Purify by Divine Power as it passes through the temple.

The essence of a temple is the accumulation of hundreds of years.

The sheriff didn't keep them waiting long, but the news he brought wasn't good. He walked in with a grim expression, bowing slightly as he said, "Pastor Tinaer... no matter how we interrogate him, he won't speak, only curses us incessantly."

"I think his mind has been controlled by Evil God!"

The middle-aged pastor's face instantly darkened. She glanced coldly at the sheriff before her and said slowly, "I only care about results, not your incompetent excuses!"

The sheriff's face immediately turned ashen; he seemed to want to retort but dared not utter a word.

Officials are not nobles; they are merely elected administrators. Their status is no higher than that of a knight, let alone a priest who is the abbot of a temple.

Soren frowned and stood up, saying slowly, "Let me do it."

"Maiden of Pain is also Goddess of Torment. Her followers gain special abilities after the ritual, and many forms of torture cannot destroy their spirits. Without special methods, normal interrogation will not be able to make them talk."

The middle-aged woman nodded and immediately said, "Thank you for your help."

"Once these Fallen are dealt with, the temple will surely reward you with the prize you deserve."

...(To be continued~^~)