Author note: Content warning!
It didn't take very long for June to move Barga's body to a more secure location. Even though June was sure that the Pandavar member was alone within the old wooden motel, it still wasn't safe for him to stay there. Since Barga was planning to meet up with someone later, they would most likely come to find him.
He was currently in the middle of the forest, located at the borders of Bastion. Well, not exactly deep into it, as it would run the risk of gaining the attention of some powerful nightmare creatures.
His eyes narrowed in annoyance; the sounds of crickets could be heard from all over the place here. While a good chunk of humanity has started to relocate themselves into the dream realm, using the Dream Gates two years ago, they also brought over some annoying pests from the waking world. Unfortunately, one of them... Being the crickets that had made a home for themselves in the forest, near the Great Citadel of Valor.
'Ah, I hate crickets...'
He'd then glance over to the tree that he had tied Barga's to. The sadistic bastard is currently hanging down headfirst from one of the branches.
Leaning on a nearby tree, June let out a deep breath, staring at the sky as the cool breeze of Bastion rustled up his smouldering hair. The area where he moved Barga's to for the interrogation wasn't too far from the motel itself, only taking him 15 minutes to get there on foot. Of course, ideally, he would have wanted it to be further away from the wooden building, but he had no idea when Barga would suddenly wake up and cause a commotion, so it's better to be safe than sorry.
'There's a much higher chance that his friends would find me, though.'
June thought to himself, before taking a sip from the stainless-steel flask in his hand. Thankfully, he had already gotten enough equipment to quickly extract the information from Barga— That and a few techniques his grandfather had taught him.
After a moment, his gaze over back at the captured Awakened as he straightened his posture, upon seeing the man's muscles twitching from the corner of his eyes.
June walked over to the tied man slowly, carefully observing the Pandavar's scout from a safe distance. He's still wearied of any potential trick that the Awakened might have up his sleeve. That's too, something his grandfather had taught him, too: always be on guard when confronting an enemy.
The man came to slowly, he way people do when they know something is very wrong before they even open their eyes. June, now standing right in front of the awakened, who's still dangling from a tree, with a cold demeanour. A calm, icy expression could be seen on his face, if not for the demonic mask covering it. He waited until both eyelids were open before speaking:
"Good evening, you're finally awake."
The man in front of June stayed silent for a while, his eyes still twitching as they slowly adjusted to the environment. His throat worked, no sound coming at first, which did annoy June a bit, but there was no need to rush.
After a long moment, voice still raspy, the Awakened managed to let out:
"Whe- Where am I?"
Walking over to a nearby boulder, he sat down before answering.
"Where we are at isn't important, Barga."
Hearing his own name, the Pandavar's scout body flinched. His mind was now wide awake, eyes staring at the Corsair with a hint of confusion and fear within.
"Who? Who the hell are you—"
June quickly interrupted him with a cold and mechanical voice, devoid of any emotion.
"That is also not important, Barga."
The man pauses for a moment before slowly opening his mouth.
"You- You don't know what you're dealing with. My people will come to get me back and kill you."
"Oh, Barga, it seemed that you've mistaken me for someone else. I know exactly what I'm doing, and after I'm done with you... I'll come for the rest of your Clan as well."
June then went silent for a moment before resuming.
"I also know about the books."
Barga's face changed then — not fear yet, but the moment before fear becomes something heavier.
"I don't know what you're talking abo-."
"I read chapter seven. The one about the girl from the southern district."
With that, June stood up once again from the boulder and slowly walked toward the captured Awakened.
"Let me be clear to you, I know all about what your disgusting clan is doing. What I want to know is what you are doing here in Bastion?"
Barga gulped as his body trembled upon seeing the man with a demonic mask approaching him. It wasn't that he sensed a murderous intent coming from the Corsair, but rather nothing at all. Every action that the Corsair took was devoid of any emotion that he could read or feel, almost mechanical to a certain degree, adding to the eeriness of the situation.
"There's no way I'm telling you that."
It was then that Barga felt a heavy blow land on his abdomen, causing him to gasp as his body crunched over in pain.
"Listen, I have all night long to get information from you."
Barga slowly looked back at him, his eyes now weaker than before.
"I... Won't tell you."
Letting out a tiresome sigh, June unleashed a kick towards Barga's stomach, causing him to scream in pain.
"Screaming is useless, you know, no one would hear you."
Barga went silent for a moment; his eyes were still glaring at June's mask, although fainter than before.
"Still not talking? Well, how about this then?"
Activating his awakened ability, June held Bargas's hand, grasping it tightly with his right hand as his left clutched the Pandavar's scout index finger.
It was only when the 5th minute had passed that he started to feel his determination fading.
His breathing changed — short, sharp, like someone trying not to cry out. Tears started to form at the corners of his eyes.
June glared at the man before starting to question him even further.
"You were meant to meet up with someone else later. Who are they?"
"I… I don't know what you mea— AAGH!"
As June continued, the man's answer started to change.
"I was about to meet up with my girlfriend!"
"The meeting is supposed to be tomorrow, not today!"
After a while, Barga, now looking like a roughed up heavy bag, his tears had already crystallized on his cheeks a while ago.
Slowly, he lifted his head up, before speaking:
"Fi- Fine, I'll tell you what I'm doing here. I'll tell you everything!"
With a sigh of relief, June finally let go of the Awakened hand.
"Well then, speak."
"I…. I was assigned here around 2 months ago, under the order of Master Tulga. To watch over the supply chains of crates carrying Soul Dust, monitoring its movement from Bastion to the other regions of the Dream Realm."
'Soul Dust?'
Yes, he has heard of that specific substance before from his grandfather. Apparently, it was a pretty big drug back in the day, when the Nightmare Spell first descended, though it was banned for severe, unwanted side effects.
'But what is it doing here? And what does the Pandavar clan want from it?'
June pondered to himself before asking the man before him once again.
"What does the Pandavar clan want from it?"
Barga stared back at him with a blank expression.
"I'm not entirely sure, as you've already guessed, I've seen some of their experiments before, but there was nothing about Soul Dust."
"I see. Then here's the final question, who were you about to meet tonight?"
Letting out a few coughs, Barga answered.
"I was meeting with an enforcer of the clan, I believed he's an awakened by the name of 'Worf'. Though it would be my first time meeting him, so I don't know much about the guy."
June sighed.
"Alright, thank you for the information."
With that, June summoned [Sleeping Malice], a transcendent sword memory of the 2nd tier in his hand, piercing it into Barga's mouth.
He stood there, motionless for a moment as the sweet echoes of the spell whispered into his ears.
[You have slain an awakened Human, Barga.]