Witcher: Master Kiliman’s Grand Ambitions-Chapter 30: Interrogation and Another Witcher

Splash!
The ice-cold water thrown on him made the unconscious old priest shudder involuntarily.
When he opened his eyes and found himself stripped naked and hanging from an old tree in the wilderness, the biting night wind scraping against his body made the old man let out a miserable wail.
He panicked and looked around, calling for help in the wilderness under the moonlight, when he quickly noticed.
Not far from him on a rock sat a nearly two-meter-tall man dressed entirely in black, only a pair of amber cat-like vertical pupils visible, casually playing with a snake-curved dagger while watching him with mocking eyes.
Seeing this, the old priest's expression froze as his mind raced, seemingly trying to recall when during his years of scamming and deceiving he might have offended such a person.
The other party's arrogant posture, burly build, and the dazzling skill with which he handled the serpentine dagger clearly marked him as someone not to be trifled with - someone who should have left a deep impression.
But as he thought harder, when his attention focused on those distinctive amber cat-like vertical pupils.
The old priest couldn't help but blurt out:
"Witcher, you're a witcher!"
"You evil devils, why have you kidnapped me?"
Hearing the old priest's curses, Kiriman, who had been sitting there playing with his dagger, instead chuckled darkly, standing up like a true villain, speaking in a playful and mocking tone:
"Old man, you guessed right, I am indeed a witcher."
"Since you already say we're evil devils, isn't kidnapping you perfectly normal behavior?"
"So now, before my dagger pierces your body, before I slice off your flesh, before I drain your blood and offer you as sacrifice to evil gods."
"Take another guess - why I've come for you."
Kiriman's tone was quite playful, as if witchers truly were the demonic apostles and evil god spokesmen that Eternal Fire propaganda made them out to be.
But jokes aside, the killing intent in his voice was unmistakably real and should have been quite intimidating.
Yet whether this old priest was genuinely tough with firm faith, or because he'd grown accustomed to throwing his weight around and believed witchers were good people who wouldn't really harm him.
Hearing Kiriman's threat instead seemed to bolster his courage, as he prayed while cursing loudly:
"Flame protects the faithful."
"Those standing within the light shall not be harmed by evil."
"Flame cleanses impurity. Just as it burns festering wounds, souls tainted by evil must be purified through fire."
"You mutants born from filth and chaos, you and your masters, along with those sorcerers who wield dark powers, are all poisons upon this world, monsters that should be purified by flame."
"Eternal Fire, please purify this evil mutant before me."
Truly a veteran charlatan of decades, so immersed in his role that he might have deceived even himself into believing.
Though completely naked, hanging from a tree in utter wretchedness, the old priest still recited these Eternal Fire prayers with perfect cadence, sounding quite rhythmic and imbued with a sense of righteousness triumphing over evil.
No wonder those ignorant villagers were manipulated so easily by these Eternal Fire priests.
Not only coaxed into surrendering their meager savings, but even willing to endure hunger to offer their scarce food supplies, often used as cannon fodder against enemies they could never hope to defeat.
Kiriman listened with amusement, not interrupting the old priest's prayers and curses, calmly taking it all in while even memorizing the prayers for future study.
Only when the spring night's chill wind left the old man shivering uncontrollably, snot running down his face, his speech becoming broken and disjointed, no longer able to maintain his sanctimonious, devout follower facade.
Did Kiriman deliver a brutal kick to the old bastard's body.
"Ah!~ Ah!"
The old bastard's screams were sharp and filled with agony.
However, Kiriman felt no sympathy - in the original game, this character had committed numerous evils: assisting in human trafficking, seizing others' properties, covering up crimes, even driving his own daughter into prostitution in Vizima city through his persecution, leaving her in destitute poverty.
He brutally shoved the dagger into the old bastard's mouth, the sharp tip pressing against his palate, forcing him to stop screaming and preventing any movement.
Tears and terror filled his eyes as he looked at the witcher as if truly beholding a devil.
"I'm not joking, old bastard."
"Now tell me, where are those kidnapped little girls, especially the elven girl taken yesterday."
"If you don't talk, or if you dare lie to me."
"I'll throw you to the monsters and let you watch as they devour your flesh and blood."
This was indeed the truth.
Having kidnapped the old bastard tonight, he certainly couldn't let the priest return to ruin the witcher's reputation and cause greater troubles.
Regardless of whether tonight's answers were truthful, it only determined how much more suffering the old bastard would endure.
As it turned out, no matter how tough ordinary people might appear, they simply hadn't encountered truly ruthless characters.
Facing Kiriman's threats and killing intent, experiencing indescribable pain and torment, the old priest finally broke down, weeping and begging:
"I don't know where the kidnapped children are either!"
"I only know they were taken by gang members called the Salamander Gang, who have people among the guards too."
"Those children should still be in the outskirts, not sold off yet."
"Spare me, witcher, if you let me go, I'll help you find the kidnapped children."
"All the villagers are my informants, I can definitely help you."
Hearing this, Kiriman remained expressionless, thinking to himself that his guess had been correct.
"Tell me, where are the Salamander Gang's hideouts?"
"Any hideout will do, don't tell me you don't know, or you'll learn the consequences."
The old priest was clearly frightened into complete compliance, not daring to resist at all as he spilled everything like pouring beans:
"I know one of their hideouts, at the crossroads leading to town, next to an abandoned house with a secret passage to their hideout inside."
"That's where we conducted our goods exchanges."
"Please spare me, I can definitely help you."
Getting the information he wanted, Kiriman nodded, then drew his Viper Fang dagger and thrust it into the old priest's eye socket, instantly scrambling his brain.
After killing him, he turned and shouted toward a direction in the distant forest:
"Hey! Whoever's hiding over there."
"Didn't you notice? You're standing upwind."
"The wind's already carried your scent over here, come out."
"Otherwise, you'll become my enemy."
As Kiriman's voice faded, the forest fell silent for over ten seconds.
Seeing that evasion seemed impossible, finally a man emerged who also wore a witcher medallion and carried two swords on his back.
This, unexpectedly, was also a witcher.