"Zi'eer… The name of our saviour."
'Good.'
The mental veil showed signs of weakness. Some information leaked through its mental block when cognitive functions are manipulated.
The veil can be broken.
The question was how far Valerie needed to go. She didn't know how much the subject could handle her interrogation methods before his brain was fried.
Processing the information she had just received, she increased the voltage once more.
***
Quies watched as Valerie interrogated the poor man. From afar, he could see short sparks of her thundercall branching from her arms. He heard the man let out an audible yelp, and inferred that Valerie really was trying to influence the brain signals of the man to break the veil.
And it seemingly worked.
From behind the man, the gray matter returned to its indecisive state once more. He didn't recognize the girl, but the face felt… familiar.
From his childhood, maybe?
A moment after the man's short yelp, the gray matter formed into a thought once more. Quicker than before, it formed the silhouette of a person of above average stature. As colors appeared on its textureless surface, Quies could finally see what the lord regent looked like.
Or at least, the facade he puts on.
Pale white hair flowed down a slightly slender body. A lusterless dark alloyed shell of an armor coated his pale skin, amber gold lining the edges of the armor pieces. A black blindfold shielded the world from his shattering gaze.
This was lord regent.
This was Zi'eer.
His looming figure lingered behind the poor man. For a moment long-
A deafening shriek broke his train of thought.
"Valerie…"
The gray mass of thought returned to its usual state once more, but this time, those sharp spikes returned. The man's head must be in a world of pain, a chaos of memories and thoughts swirling within.
"Valerie, what are you doing?"
Quies approached Valerie, who seemed to be deep in focus. As he got closer, he could hear words being exchanged between the two.
"That's not Zi'eer. Show me his true form. Show me how he rose to power. You were there for it, weren't you?"
"Stop, stop! I've told you so many times already, he's always been the leader of Etris ever since I was here. I swear!"
"Last time you told me he had been elected a few years ago."
Quies saw sparks surge through her arms and towards the poor man.
He screamed.
"Valerie…"
She didn't respond.
"Valerie, I think we got enough information…"
She didn't respond.
"Valerie."
Her eyes were glued to the helpless man. Quies knew she heard him, or at least his remarks intruded on her thoughts. She was quiet for longer than usual.
Eventually, she addressed him.
"Quies, do you understand the importance of the work I'm doing here?"
She turned away from the subject and looked Quies dead in the eye. He kept it for a few seconds, but looked slightly off to the side after. The surge of electricity seemed to drop, and the man's face relaxed for a moment.
"Is it so important to where you need to torture an innocent person? A father, even!"
"What's the difference?"
"Isn't there an easier way?"
Quies knew he sounded cliche, but it was a valid question.
Did Valerie have to, specifically, kidnap a random Etrean guard who happens to be a father just to achieve her goals of 'unveiling the truth of lord regent'?
There has to be a better way.
'Right?'
"Mercy has no value in this world, Quies."
Valerie's carefree personality was gone.
"This piece of shit was dead the moment the mental veil was placed on him. So, be a dear and mind your own damn business, okay?"
He had never heard Valerie talk like this before.
Scared to do anything further, Quies stepped back. Valerie stared at him for what seemed like an eternity before turning back towards the poor man.
"Alright, where was I… right, let me ask you once more. What did he do to get the throne of Etris?"
Quies turned his back towards the two. He knew what would happen.
The poor man really couldn't do anything about it. The secrets of the lord regent were locked behind a seemingly unbreakable seal that was the mental veil.
He clasped his ears, but the screams could still be heard.
Valerie would just keep increasing the voltage every time she got an unsatisfactory answer. She would only stop when the mental veil was broken…
Or when the subject dropped dead.
There was no good outcome for the Etrean soldier.
Quies clasped his ears harder as another scream sheared through the air.
And then another.
Another.
It was too overwhelming.
Quies wanted to do something. He had to. He couldn't let an innocent father die for no justifiable reason.
Wasn't that what happened to his own dad?
That was the tipping point for him.
Turning around, he drew his Zweihander.
Though, he only got it halfway out of its scabbard before he suddenly felt the air part near the side of his neck.
And the impact of somebody's hand.
Valerie's hand.
Sparks crackled in the still air as Quies toppled over.
Then, everything went black.