"Euph."
The tendril gagging Madame Jingfei slipped away. Her hands and legs were still pinned to the table.
"Do you allow yourself to speak in your presence of 'boys'?" Eren's tone was cold; devoid of any warmth.
"Or do I have to start ripping pieces off you?" Clutching one of her boney fingers with a tendril.
Jingfei truly did misunderstand the darkness in Eren's heart. A mistake that would only reinforce her understanding of business ethos and world view.
"What... do you want?" Jingfei queried finally. Although her guard and main sentinel were killed in the blink of an eye, her resolve remained steady. Even now she was concocting a plan to come out ahead.
"Someone wants to speak with you..." Eren stepped aside. A Kitsune fox approached, climbing onto one of the stools, looking with curiosity at the madame.
"Ah, I see you've finally relented and allowed a man to control you and your sisters." A smirk crossed the woman's face.
*Vwooooo*
A shimmering light enveloped the fox. Morphing into her humanoid form, katana drawn.
"Enough with your sticky words... You will speak only when spoken too." The blade pointed at the older woman's neck.
"You have some nerve..." Jingfei still maintained an arrogant composure. Even as a Kitsune blade pressed up against her neck.
"Koharu, please let me do this." Eren spoke up. The fox lowered her weapon, but was still cautious of Jingfei's tongue.
Eren was to handle this one; although he has never liked hurting those that can't fight back. Madame Jingfei was the exception to the rule.
"Saku. Hana and Tsuki. Where are they?" Eren whispered below him.
"As we speak, they are currently on their way to this establishment, they seem... Unsettled." Saku whispered back from the shadows. Vice now watching over the chaotic twins.
"Thank you." At least their save for the moment.
'First let's see what her lying face looks like.'
"Hana and Tsuki. You have them? Where are they?" The first step to getting answers out of a liar, was to know how and when they lie. Second step; punish their lies with pain.
"Those two feral things... Under the palace, there is a secret chamber- *Snap* ARGHHHHHH!" The middle finger of her right hand, broken and twisted backwards. Brown and blue at its base, where the bones had shattered.
"I thought you were some intelligent refined lady... But I guess your like everyone else trying to survive." Eren taunted. Hand moved to her ring finger.
"You have 192 bones in your body, I'll break them all one by one. Even If you die by your injuries. I'll just bring you back to life and start again."
The pain was visible on her face. It hurt. But she still looked at Eren with disgust and hatred in her eyes. But she understood to live she needed to talk.
"Firstly, Dae-Jung. Do you know where he is?" Eren asked again.
"I don't know. He's slipped through my fingers, so I assumed he ran back to whatever hole he came from." Madame Jingfei replied. Although, he was ready to break her finger. His instincts told, 'the truth'. At least for the moment she wasn't lying.
"Alright then... Your workers that seem to go missing mysteriously. Where do you take them?"
"Sold off. Clients with high power who take an interest in certain workers. Offer me a lot of money to have them for themselves." The woman spoke with such indifference to her workers. Like selling people was no worse than selling a cow or sheep for meat.
"I see... But I'm curious, all your talk about dealing with 'men'. But here you are. Selling your 'product' to the very things you despise, why?
"It's to buy security for my workers. If these clients don't get what they want through commerce; through negotiation. They would simply take what they desire by force."
"So, to keep your business open... You sacrifice a few for the many?" Kohaku chimed in. Disgusted by the Madame's reasoning.
"I do not apologies for my choices. I have made my choices out of necessity." The woman spoke like it was all unavoidable. That she was forced to be this way.
"Where do you take them... When you sell them off?" Eren continued, still looking at each body movement, facial twitch, eye movement. Each sign to indicate when she was truthful or lying.
"A dock; by the river. It's on the southern side of this gate. The workers are put into a boat and sailed off to whatever civilization they came from."
"How many?"
"I do not care to count."
"Give me a rough figure." The question was more like an order. Pressure a bit tighter on her right ring finger.
"Every gate cycle... four or five. Those, for the thousands under my employ are a pittance."
Even now with death's agent holding her down, and a vengeful fox in front of her. She still managed to keep a calm demeanour. Like she still had cards left to play. It would almost be endearing to Eren if she wasn't such a cold-hearted bitch.
"My sisters... Nozomi, Mizumi... Where are they?" Koharu demanded. Her own agenda in speaking to the Madame coming to fruition.
Madame Jingfei chuckled. A sinister, dark laugh. She knew she had gained back some territory in this situation; especially now she was talking with the fox.
"Kitsunes... You all act so high and mighty. But at the end of the day, you're still just whores that need to be put in your place." A wicked smile crossed her lips.
*Snap*
"URHHHHH!" Another finger broken.
"Answer her questions." Eren ordered. Another snap; now her entire hand was next on the chopping block.
"At the bottom of the river... They screamed and screamed as my orcs drowned them in that murky shit covered cesspit." A cruel, sadistic smile. She had no remorse for what she did.
*Shing*
A swift slice from Koharu's Katana. Cutting off the woman's right hand.
"Ahhhhh... Ahhh... Ah, he hahahaha. The wrath of a Kitsune. So predictable." A little surprised by the fox's restraint in not outright killing her. Although that though did come to her mind.
"Your death... would create a power vacuum... And you've already prepared for it haven't you?" He was now holding up the right hand of Madame Jingfei. Tossing it to a recently summoned shadow wolf. Eating it in one go.
"I was wrong... your smarter than the average male. A function brain behind those balls of yours." Jingfei spoke through gritted teeth.
"What do you want to do with her?" Eren asked Koharu; still staring down the woman pinned to the table.
The fox looked unsure. A swing of the sword and the woman would be dead. But her rage remained untempered, she knew a power vacuum in this place would change things for the worst.
"Senior sister. She will deal with her. Those other orcs are probably looking for her right now."
'How are we going to transport her?' A knight slinging her over her shoulders?
Terramancer encasing her in rock?
Good ol fashioned pulling along with rope?
Looking at the fallen orcs. A better idea came to him.
'There it goes again. I think I need to teach this thing math.' Internally, Eren cursed the ring on his finger. How can 6 orcs only result in two equivalent shadows? How did the math work out?
"Take her with us." Eren summoned the pair; shadowed skin emerged from Eren's feet, shirtless creatures that resembled body builders rather than his traditional knights. Near as big as Guren, but just as frightening. Twin axes strapped onto each hip. A mane of shadowed hair on top of each head.
One picked up Madame Jingfei by her neck, while the other gripped her ankles. The tendril keeping the woman pinned to the table slipped away.
She almost looked... Sad. That her orcs were now under Eren's control. They were all that remained of her personal security. Now they were gone.
"Do you know where these docks are?" Eren asked Kohaku; the fox nodded.
"Lead the way."
In truth Kohaku too was surprised at how quickly and effortlessly Eren turned the tide against Jingfei. She was the most powerful figure in the pleasure palace.
But now she was at the mercy of a human male? Without so much as a swear on his forehead.
The man before him was certainly not ordinary.
***
*Thud*
The orc placed down Madame Jingfei onto her knees. Gagged and tired by more traditional means; blood seeped from her wound where her hand had been severed.
The docks were well away from the palace. A long wooden mooring that stretched out into the greenish black water. Faint lights walked through the night; Goblins patrolled up and down the walkway.
"Ah shit... I forgot a question. The dominus. Why are they here?" The cloth taken away briefly.
"They are clients of mine... Cheap, easily replaceable, and good for moving large objects with no questions asked. Sometimes even they ask for workers." Madame Jingfei spoke. A smile on her face; perhaps things were still going her way.
*Clasp*
The shadow orcs put a hand over her mouth. Following Eren's silent order to keep her quiet.
"Koharu... Leave them to me."
She remained silent; golden eyes fixed on the white-haired man.
*Giiii~*
An intense stare that had become all too common with the woman he had recently meet. It was like someone didn't know how to write women and made them default to intense staring.
"Yeah..." The gaze made Eren feel uncomfortable. It was like the girl was trying to see through the shadows themselves; and into the very depths of the reaper's being.
"You're different..." She finally spoke.
"Good different? Bad different?" He asked.
"Just... Different... You have the eyes of a monster but you don't have the heart of one."
"Well, I'm glad..." A weird sort of compliment from the girl; still she stared.
"Why?"
"Why what?" Eren kept his eyes on the docks.
"Why are you helping us? We tried to kill you, and even attacked you while you were... naked." A little red in the face; still she never lost eye contact.
"Because it's the right thing to do." The answer was simple, and yet it made the fox confused. In her mind she expected a more complicated answer.
"Even when you get nothing in return?" The concept seemed foreign to her.
"Yeah... I'm not a saint or some good Samaritan. I hurt a lot of people. But, I only do it to save more lives. That's it... Or that's what I tell myself." Eren continued.
A life for a life is often frowned upon, but if that one life taken saves thousands. He made his choice a long time ago.
"Who are you?"
"Eren Heart."
"That's not what I meant. The way you talk, your attitude towards things... I was always told that men were all the same. They want power, sex and to control others. But you... You're different." Koharu spoke with such honesty, she didn't think all men were like this.
"Have you ever actually spoken to a man before?" Eren gave a slight upward tilt oh his lips. Not a smile.
"No... I've only heard of stories. My sisters warned me what men were like." Red hue growing brighter on her face; now her gaze shifted away, looking at the water below her.
'Just like Emi. A girl trying to make her way in the world.'
"Alright I suppose we should head down there." Eren got up. Orcs to. Descending the stairs.
"Wait! what about all... The-" As Koharu got up she noticed that all the goblins who were on patrol were now gone.
"Your shadows?" Koharu questioned.
"Yeah... They're a big help when I need them."
"You control them?"
"Yes, but it's not mind control. There're like loyal dogs."
*Nod* *Nod*
The two orcs gave vigorous nods. Agreeing whole heartedly with the analogy.
Koharu looked even more disordered. These creatures seemed intelligent, sentient. But still served without fault.
An interesting man indeed.