Chapter 523 - Intense Interrogation

Berengar sighed heavily as he cleaned the blood off of his blade. The subject of his torture was sitting on his wooden chair bound to it with steel chains. There was no way for him to escape without help from a third party. 

The Austrian King had a cruel smile on his face as he gazed over at his bloody work. The would-be assassin's left thigh was completely stripped of its skin, and instead had been salted, and wrapped in a linen bandage which was treated with alcohol. 

The white dress shirt that covered Berengar's torso was stained with blood splatter as he gazed at the whimpering man. This assassin had been rather resilient and, because of this, Berengar had taken a break from his vicious actions. The Austrian King wiped his bloody hands onto a nearby rag before picking up his gilded skull chalice, which was filled with a viscous crimson wine. 

After taking a sip from the cup, Berengar dug into a piece of curry wurst which had been prepared for him by the kitchen staff. Under the supervision of the Royal Guard, they could cook for Berengar as he ruthlessly tortured his victim to glean some important information, particularly regarding how he came to possess and smuggle such a weapon into his palace.  After taking a single bite, a satisfied smile presented itself on the King's elegant, but twisted face as he lectured his victim. 

"Do you know why the Ancient Assyrian Empire collapsed? Judging from your attire, you should be a nobleman. Surely, you should be at least somewhat educated on history?

The assassin spit out his saliva onto the floor, which had traces of blood mixed into it. His face was heavily bruised from the beating Berengar had inflicted upon him, so much so that it was hard to make out his appearance. Despite his condition, the man smiled before egging his captor on.

"Why don't you enlighten me?"

Berengar sighed before grabbing ahold of a handsaw, and walking towards his victim with a cruel smile etched upon his lips. He used this tool to cut away at the man's left pinky finger, slowly slicing away at flesh and bone alike, causing the man to scream in agony. As the King dug away at his opponent's digits, he continued his historical lesson.

"The Assyrian Empire was renowned for its brutality and its mastery over psychological warfare. You could even say they were the inventors of many of the world's first recorded torture methods. Because of this, their subjects and neighbors alike despised them.

Ultimately, this vicious reputation was their downfall, as during their decline, all the people they had victimized for so long eventually rebelled against them, and made their mighty Empire a thing of the past. However, despite this unfortunate fate, they left behind some particularly brutal torture methods carved into their temples and palaces that I have come to admire.

You could say their vicious nature has inspired me. So allow me to explain what is going to happen to you. Before I flay you alive, I will remove each of your fingers, and toes, as well as your nose. Then I will blind you and castrate you.

So, rather than having to go through all of this messy business, how about we save ourselves some trouble, and you just tell me what it is I want to know? If you do, I promise I will show you mercy. How about it, now that you know my intentions, are you willing to talk?"

It was only after he finished saying these words did the pinky finger finally drop free from its roots. Falling to the floor in a pool of blood. Seeing the man panting in silence, Berengar frowned and raised his saw to the next finger on the man's left hand. A demonic smirk curved itself upon his lips as he asked one more question before proceeding to see away at the man's next finger.

"Still don't feel like talking? So be it!"

The man screamed at the top of his lungs once more while the finger was slowly removed. When the second digit collapsed to the floor in another puddle of blood, Berengar raised his saw with the same vicious smirk on his face before asking once more.

"Are you ready to talk now?"

The assassin had a horrified gaze in his swollen eyes. Was this madman was really going to do as he said? What kind of sick bastard was he? Before he could give up information, Berengar once more saw away at the man's middle finger. However, this time, the man was far more willing to be cooperative. Before Berengar could get halfway into the bone, the man cried out in agony.

"I'll talk! For God's sake I'll talk, just stop!"

When Berengar heard this, he sighed heavily before placing down the saw on his table next to his other torture instruments. It slightly disappointed him to see how quickly the man broke, thus he gazed at the assassin with disgust before condemning him.

"You're no fun... Fine, enlighten me. Where did you get the gun?"

The assassin quivered as he gazed at his two missing fingers, and his third one, which was sawed nearly in half. After collecting his thoughts, he swallowed his bloody saliva before giving Berengar an arrogant answer.

"Contrary to what you might believe, your Kingdom is far from free of corruption. Where there are people, there also exists greed, and avarice can be exploited. It would surprise you how much decommissioned ordinance goes missing from your storehouses every month.

Some of it ends up in the hands of the black market, others ends up in the hands of foreign kingdoms. My benefactor went through much difficulty to get that pocket pistol. It is a shame I wasted his efforts on your sister..."

Berengar's brow raised as he heard this remark. It would appear that there were plenty of heads that would need to roll. If the soldiers in charge of the warehouses were smuggling old weapons out of the Kingdom, he would need to make an example out of them.  However, Berengar had other questions, and quickly asked away now that he had pacified his victim.

"Tell me how you sneaked your weapon past my Royal Guard? Surely you were searched before you entered my Palace?"

The man had a proud smile on his face as he revealed how he had entered the Palace with a weapon without discovery.

"I am quite proud of this one. Your wife wanted a local restaurant to cater one of their more unique dishes for the event, so as they were unloading their goods from their carriage, I hid the pistol onto their cart. After entering the palace, I retrieved the weapon and hid it in my jacket, until I could get a shot at you. It is a pity I failed, so much effort wasted..."

Berengar nodded his head in understanding. His security may have been lax because of the peaceful era they found themselves in, and did not properly search the caterer's cart for anything that could be hazardous. He would have to discipline them thoroughly for their neglect. 

The young monarch could tell by the glint in the man's eyes that he was not leading him astray. This was indeed how he gained the weapon and snuck it past security. However, a wise man did not believe his torture victim's words entirely. He had to verify the information. Thus, he would have to ask Linde later to investigate the matter. 

With these two answers revealed, and already knowing who had hired the man to do the job, Berengar had gotten the information he needed to punish those responsible. Thus, he walked to the door and knocked on it, revealing two Royal Guards who entered the small chamber..

Berengar cleaned off the blood from his hands once more, then he gave the two men their orders.

"I want you to flay this man alive, then send his dismembered corpse to the Bastard of Luxembourg. However, before you do that, cut off his fingers, toes, nose, then blind him and castrate him. I want that little prick to know what happens to those who target me or my family."

When the assassin heard this, he panicked and immediately called out to his captor with a voice filled with dread.

"What? Why? You said you would show me mercy!"

Berengar smirked as he tossed the blood-stained rag he had used to clean his hands onto the floor. After doing so, he responded calmly before exiting the room.

"I said that I would show you mercy. I never said that my men would do such a thing." 

After saying these words, he exited from the torture chamber and left the man to his fate. With this attempt on his life, by his rival to the North; Berengar realized he would need to update his plans for unifying the German Empire. He could no longer sit idly by and wait until after the upcoming Crusades against his people were resolved. 

However, before he could march his armies on the German world, he had much work to do. A thorough and brutal purge of all corrupt officials was about to be undertaken that would see the public execution of anyone involved in the assassination attempt. 

Outside of the corrupt aspects of his military and government, Berengar would spend significant effort hunting down the black market and killing anyone associated with it.. Effectively, as of now, the Kingdom of Austria was under martial law, and would remain that way until he had eliminated everyone even remotely responsible for Henrietta's fate.