Sam Wiggins was a very successful Merchant.
He started as the leader of a caravan that traveled between the different cities of the Kingdom of Gweliven for trade and commerce.
In fact, he was so successful that many of the High-Ranking Nobles of the Kingdom of Gweliven patronized his services. With his strong portfolio, he even received an offer to become the Head of the Merchant Union in the Dungeon Town of Wisp Tree Town.
This position held considerable power, allowing him to decide which businesses were given permits and certifications to operate.
Simply put, he had complete control over the trades happening inside the city, which would make any Merchant wish that they were him.
This was also the reason why Twilight Rain spent many resources in order to win him over and become one of the Honorary Elders of their Guild.
With this newfound backer ready to crush any opposition who wished to stand in his way, Sam felt that he was the Underground Emperor of Wisp Tree Town.
With a single wave of his hand, those who annoyed him would disappear, never to be seen again. After tasting this power and authority, Sam thought that he was invincible.
To this day, he felt that way, but not until half an hour ago when he found himself hanging upside down inside his own office, looking eye to eye a monster without a face.
'Damn you, Amir!' Sam cursed the Blonde Assassin in his heart with a vengeance. 'You led their people to me!'
An hour ago, Amir had gone inside his office to complain that Sam had given him the wrong information about Colette. The Assassin even claimed that he almost died when he faced off against an Argonaut-Ranked Monster, whom he believed was Colette's Beast Companion.
Naturally, Sam thought of Amir's complaint as complete bullsh*t. He even mocked the Assassin for creating excuses for his own incompetence. As the Honorary Elder of Twilight Rain, he always made sure that the information he gave to their agents was accurate.
This was why he didn't believe Amir when the latter insisted that there was a strong Monster guarding Colette, which Sam didn't know of.
Originally, Lux's plan was to shift the blame on Sam so that Amir would not be punished by the organization. However, after getting everyone's suggestion, he decided to change his strategy and catch the Big Fish, which they would use to catch a Bigger Fish.
"What are you doing in my office?!" Sam shouted in the hope that his voice would reach the guards that were patrolling around his mansion. "Who sent you?! If you don't release me right now, I promise you that you will regret the day you were born! You have no idea who you are dealing with!"
"Wow. He can spout off the lines of a third-rate villain," Asmodeus commented. "I am almost impressed."
Lux chuckled in agreement with the Archlich's words. They weren't worried about Sam purposefully shouting in an attempt to attract attention. All the guards around the mansion had already been dealt with by Sid, Shax, and Amir, who had become one of Lux's double agents.
"Asking him questions right now is a waste of time, Master," Asmodeus said. "It will be best to make him understand what happens if he doesn't give us the answers we need."
"My thoughts exactly," Lux replied. "Shax, you know what to do."
The Nightgaunt then raised his clawed hands and tail to tickle the Dwarf to oblivion.
Since Sam was hanging upside down, his drool, and snot flowed over his eyes, making a pitiful scene.
However, no matter how embarrassed or disgusted he was, the only thing he could do was laugh, and laugh, and laugh some more.
Finally, after five minutes of tickling torture, Lux ordered Shax to stop so that Sam could regain his breath and give him the information he wanted.
"As you already experienced, my friend here is very good at tickling people," Lux stated. "I don't advocate hurting people, so instead of a painful torture, I make them laugh instead. Now, I will ask you several questions.
"If you don't answer them correctly or purposely try to make your answer vague, you will experience a ten-minute tickle session. The one you had only lasted five minutes. So if you want to laugh again, feel free to lie to me."
Sam had suffered many hardships in the past before he reached the position he currently had. He suffered pain and had his share of getting beaten up until his nose and ears bled.
Although he wasn't as resilient as the Assassins of Twilight Rain, he was still someone who had weathered several storms in his life.
But nothing could have prepared him for the different kind of torture he had just experienced under the clawed hands and tails of the faceless monster, whom he sensed to be silently laughing at him.
"W-What do you want to know?" Sam asked.
His face was very wet from a mixture of his drool, snot, and tears, making his vision a bit blurry. Even so, Lux didn't give him the opportunity to wipe it away.
After all, if he lied, the same thing would happen again, so wiping it away was unnecessary.
"You are an agent of Twilight Rain, correct?" Lux asked.
"Did that bastard Amir rat me out?!" Sam wasn't able to hold back the frustration inside his chest, so he shouted before he could even stop himself.
"I think you have forgotten something very important," Lux stated. "The only one that can ask questions here is me. The only thing you need to do is answer my question and nothing else."
"Master, he still has some fight left in him," Asmodeus commented. "Why don't you tenderize him a bit more? Maybe a good laugh will make him loosen his lips."
"You're right, Shax why don't you tick—"
"No! Forgive me! I will answer your question. Please, no more tickling!"
Sam begged and wailed as he continued to be dangled upside down by Shax's tail.
Lux pondered a bit before nodding his head.
"I'll give you one chance," Lux said. "If you don't give me the answer I want, you're going to get it."
"Yes! Thank you!" Sam replied with gratitude. "Indeed. I am an agent of Twilight Rain. But I am only an ordinary agent. I don't hold any high position in the guild… Hahahahaha!"
Before Lux could even confirm if Sam was lying or not, Shax took the initiative to tickle the Merchant until his drool, snot, and tears once again flowed over his face.
Lux didn't stop his Nightgaunt, who seemed to be enjoying what he was doing. Fortunately, Shax knew when to hold back before his victim lost his mind completely.
"What position do you have in Twilight Rain?"
"Hic… I'm… sob… an Honorary Elder."
Tears started to fall like rain from Sam's face because he truly regretted his decision to lie earlier. At first, he thought that Lux wouldn't have a way to know whether he was lying or not. But after being tickled once again, the worst-case scenario in his mind was proven to be true.
The Faceless Monster could tell if he was speaking a lie.
"Who are the other agents here in Wisp Tree Town that belong to Twilight Rain?" Lux asked.
This time, Sam answered truthfully, even giving more names than Amir did.
Since Shax didn't tickle the Merchant again, it meant that the latter had spoken the truth, which made Lux frown.
'Over a dozen individuals, but all of them are small fries,' Lux thought. 'Well, it doesn't really matter. What we are after are the Merchants anyway.'
"Do you know any other Merchants that are serving under Twilight Rain?" Lux inquired.
"I-I only know two other Merchants," Sam answered. "The only reason why I came into contact with them was due to a major incident that happened, which required us to temporarily collaborate with each other."
"Major incident?" Lux arched an eyebrow. "What major incident?"
"O-One of Twilight Rain's Honorary Elders died in Wolfpine Barony," Sam answered. "The entire town was wiped from the face of the world, and one of the casualties was someone who had close ties with the Guildmaster. He asked us to gather as much information as we could in order to understand what caused the tragedy."
"I see…" Lux nodded his head in understanding.
Unknown to Sam, the Half-Elf had also been there on that fateful day, which made him realize how easy it was for Power Houses, who held absolute power, to perform a one-sided genocide without fearing its consequences.
Because of what happened back then, he didn't do the same to the Haca Dynasty when Lux summoned Barca and the others to help save Garret's family from those who wished them ill.
He didn't mind killing soldiers or warriors on the battlefield because they were there to fight and kill others.
What he didn't want to do was involve the innocents, who didn't have the strength to protect themselves. Lux had his bottom line, and that was the one thing he didn't want to cross even if he were to become a Powerhouse who could influence the world with a single word from his lips.
"What are the names of these Merchants, and where are they located?" Lux continued his interrogation.
To his surprise, Sam mentioned the name of a Merchant who was stationed in one of the cities that he had been to in the past.
"Lucius Ballard," Lux muttered. "I guess my first stop will be Whitebridge City after all."
Whitebridge City was where the great battle between the Monster Outbreak and the defenders of the city happened. This was also the place where Lux had faked his death in order to fool the Higher-Ups of Twilight Rain, tricking them into thinking that he really was dead.
Since the enemy was inside the city where Aina's Guild Headquarters was located, it was only natural for the Half-Elf to pay him a visit.
Now that Scarlet had successfully become a Ranker and a Slayer candidate, it was time for him to reappear in the Kingdom of Gweliven and make those who thought that he was dead understand that it would take more than killing him to kill him completely.
