Vol 2 Chapter 4- The Torture of the Maid (【Just Trying to Be Kind】Arc)

A certain room.

The interior was dimly lit, with a small lamp hanging from the ceiling as the only source of light.

Illuminated by that faint glow, I opened my eyes.

An unfamiliar room———

(Where am I? What is this place?)

I searched my memories, trying to recall the last thing I remembered before waking up.

“…Ugh!”

A fierce headache struck me.

It was as if I had been bludgeoned with a heavy object.

However, the pain subsided as quickly as it had come, vanishing as though it had been a lie.

“…………”

As I attempted to sit up and look around, I noticed something strange.

I couldn’t move my body.

No—more accurately, my body wouldn’t respond at all.

(What’s going on?)

I moved my eyes, desperate to understand, and realized that my body was bound in chains. Those chains were secured to the legs of the bed I was lying on.

And at last, the reality of my situation dawned upon me.

I might have been kidnapped and imprisoned.

Though bewildered by my predicament, I scanned my surroundings to check if anyone else was present. However, it seemed I was alone in the room.

I decided to shout for help and opened my mouth.

That’s when it happened.

—Click.

The door to the room suddenly creaked open, and a shadowy figure emerged.

“…!?”

“Ah, you’re finally awake. Good morning.”

Standing before me was a girl dressed in a maid’s uniform.

In her hand was something resembling a toolbox.

I couldn’t fathom why a maid was entering a place like this.

But she didn’t seem to care about my confusion and continued speaking.

“I was starting to get worried since you wouldn’t wake up.”

“Huh? What…?”

The girl before me didn’t seem familiar at all.

Yet here she was, acting as if she’d been concerned about me.

Why———

In that instant, a sudden, excruciating pain shot through my abdomen.

The girl had struck my stomach with a hammer.

“…Gah! Wh-what are you doing!?”

The unexpected assault filled me with rage.

Yet she paid no attention to my anger and carried on speaking.

“Because you refused to wake up, you’ve stolen precious time that I could’ve spent with my master. Normally, I’d have killed you right away.”

With that, she raised the hammer again.

And then she brought it down.

The impact this time was even stronger, and my abdomen throbbed with searing pain.

The intensity of the agony nearly caused me to black out.

But I knew that losing consciousness here would undoubtedly result in my death.

Summoning all my willpower, I endured and cried out.

“S-stop… please…”

Hearing my plea, she remained expressionless and prepared to bring the hammer down on my head next.

I thought it was all over—until I noticed the hammer was no longer in her hand and had somehow ended up on the floor.

“———Relax. I was just kidding. Killing you here would ruin my master’s plans.”

“…What?”

I couldn’t make sense of what she was saying.

I couldn’t think of a single reason why I would be involved in her so-called master’s plans.

While I was still reeling in confusion, she continued.

“Daiki Ueshima-san. There are some things I’d like to ask you, as someone in the upper echelons of the police.”

Hearing those words made my blood run cold.

Because she had just spoken my name—and even mentioned my position in the police force.

“How… how do you know my name…!?”

“Oh, we know everything. What you’ve been doing in the police force, and much, much more.”

“…!”

Noticing the change in my expression, she remained as emotionless as ever.

“You don’t need to be so defensive. I’m not planning to harm you—at least not right away. I just have a few questions for you.”

She continued speaking in an indifferent tone.

“I want you to tell me everything you know about the Guardians.”

Her statement revealed her identity to me—the maid before me was no ordinary person.

“You… You’re connected to the Empress, aren’t you!?”

“Correct.”

When I shouted that, she readily admitted it.

I couldn’t believe that someone dressed like a maid, something you’d never expect to see in this era, was actually an associate of the Empress.

While I was lost in thought, trying to piece things together, she continued speaking without paying me any attention.

“Well, I suppose there’s no need for me to say much more. Now, quickly, spill everything you know about the Guardians.”

“Do you really think I’d just hand over information so easily?”

Hearing my defiant response, she picked up the hammer from the floor.

“If you won’t talk, I’ll make you talk.”

She brought the hammer down on my right leg without hesitation.

Again and again and again…

The pain was so unbearable that I couldn’t even scream or pass out. All I could do was silently endure her relentless assault.

When it became clear that I wouldn’t talk, she finally stopped, seemingly annoyed by my stubbornness.

My right leg had been struck so many times that the bones were shattered, swollen grotesquely, and covered in blood.

As I writhed in agony, her next words filled me with despair.

“Still not talking? Then next, I’ll pull out your nails. If that doesn’t work, I’ll start pulling your teeth. Although… pulling teeth might make it harder for you to speak. Hmm, that’s a problem.”

With that, she tossed the hammer aside and took a pair of pliers from her toolbox.

She then aimed the pliers at the thumbnail on my right hand.

—Nail extraction.

A form of torture notorious for its excruciating pain, often employed during interrogations. It’s said to have been used even during Japan’s wartime era. In modern times, specialized tools are rumored to exist for this very purpose.

The pliers clamped down on the nail of my right thumb.

Pressure was applied.

“Ahhhhhhh!!!??”

I screamed involuntarily, feeling pain unlike anything I had ever experienced.

My right thumbnail was gone.

But she didn’t stop. The pliers moved to the nail of my index finger.

“Stop! I’ll talk! I’ll talk!”

Terrified and overwhelmed by pain, I mustered every ounce of strength to shout.

Hearing my plea, she paused.

“Finally. Thank you. I’m not a monster, after all. As long as you’re willing to cooperate, I won’t need to do anything else.”

With that, she pulled out a voice recorder.

This woman… she’s insane.

But if I keep silent, she’ll kill me. For now, I have no choice but to comply.

“—But still, I can’t forgive you for wasting my precious time with my master.”

It happened in an instant.

I heard the sound of my nail being ripped off for the second time in my life.

“Ahhhhhhh!!!!”

The sheer agony made me scream uncontrollably.

My entire body screamed in protest.

“Oh my, is something wrong?”

She spoke nonchalantly, having just pulled off my second nail.

“Unghh…”

The pain was beyond words.

Tears blurred my vision.

“Now, tell me everything you know about the Guardians.”

Her expression didn’t change as she watched my pain-ridden face.

She didn’t laugh, didn’t cry—her face was devoid of emotion, utterly mechanical as she gazed down at me.

————————  

“This is everything I know…”

After revealing everything I knew about the Guardians, my body was already battered beyond recognition.

“…It seems everything you said is true,” she said, appearing to believe my words.

Feeling a momentary sense of relief, I continued speaking.

“Listen, I’ve told you everything. Could you release me now? I promise I won’t return to the police or interfere with your plans. I’ll live quietly in hiding…”

She tilted her head at my plea and said:

“What are you talking about? I never said I would let you go.”

“…Huh?”

Ignoring my stunned reaction, she continued.

“Your role ends here, and once it’s over, you’ll die.”

My vision went dark.

Die———?

No.

No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.

“Please! I’ll do anything you say!”

“We’ve already gotten what we need from you. That’s enough.”

“Then how about I join the Empress and act as a spy in the police?”

“There’s no need for that. Besides, someone like you doesn’t qualify to be part of our organization.”

My desperate pleas were in vain.

She pulled a syringe filled with liquid from the toolbox.

“What’s that…?”

“It’s something created by our organization’s brilliant chemists. A type of truth serum. This will confirm if you’ve been hiding anything from us.”

A truth serum—?

“This serum is highly effective, but its side effects are fatal to the recipient.”

With that, she pointed the syringe at my neck. I shouted in panic.

I don’t want to die———

“I’m not hiding anything! Please don’t use it!”

Despite my desperate resistance, the needle pierced my neck.

The liquid flowed into my body.

At first, nothing seemed to change.

“See? Nothing’s happening. It was all a lie, wasn’t it?”

“No, the effects will show soon enough…”

Suddenly, sweat poured from my body, and an intense heat spread through me.

It felt like the unbearable fever of a severe illness.

“What is this… it’s so hot… I can’t breathe…”

“Soon, you’ll involuntarily reveal anything you’ve been keeping secret.”

What was she saying?

My vision blurred, and I could barely make out her words.

I don’t want to die.

I don’t want to die———

———————

“It seems you’ve confessed everything with no further secrets,” she said.

Turning off the voice recorder, she pulled out her phone.

Her gaze fell on the lifeless man lying on the floor, who would never move again.

‘———Hello, Master?’

‘I’ve obtained the information on the Guardians. I’ll report everything upon returning to the base.’

‘Understood. I’ll proceed now.’

Ending the call with her “Master,” the maid said:

“Well then, I suppose I’ll wait for the body disposal team.”

She lit a cigarette, taken from the box she carried.

———————

The body disposal team, directly affiliated with the Empress, arrived at the scene.

“You’ve finally arrived. Thank you for your hard work.”

They were greeted by the girl in the maid uniform, with a cigarette lit between her lips.

On the back of her maid outfit was a red crown, unmistakably the emblem of the Empress.

“Lady Meido, thank you for your efforts. We’ll handle the rest from here.”

The first thing that hit the team as they entered the room was the overwhelming stench of iron.

The smell of blood.

The source was the mangled remains of what had once been a human.

The body bore the marks of dozens, if not hundreds, of blows from a blunt instrument.

The room was littered with scattered flesh and splattered blood.

“Was this your work, Lady Meido?”

Without hesitation, she answered:

“Yes. I used it to relieve stress.”

“I see. Understood.”

Though her expression remained emotionless, there was a faint sense of satisfaction emanating from her.

Her maid uniform was stained with what appeared to be splattered blood.

———————

The car she had summoned arrived at the scene.

The time displayed on her phone read 11:00 PM.

“Well, I’ll leave the rest to you while I go report to Master.”

She stubbed out her cigarette in a portable ashtray, handed over responsibility to the disposal team, and climbed into the car.

Her demeanor was that of a maid returning to her master’s side————.