“Good, I wondered if fucking monsters had left your mind intact or not. This means we can have ourselves a nice chat."

“I have nothing to say to you," he tried to hide the fear in his voice.

He had to not give Jiro the satisfaction, he owed it to Taki to do that much at least.

He raised an eyebrow.

“Oh really now? But I have so much to say to you, especially after all the work it took to get you back. Or maybe I should say there is a lot I am going to do to you. But first I have one question to ask."

He leaned in closer, his glare penetrating.

“Why? Why would a brat who's never known any other Life run away from me? Did someone put you up to it?”

Carter's voice quivered but he steadied it. "Y-you're not in control of everything! Did you think I'd never find out how other people lived? I just wanted to have a real life!"

“And you thought you could get that running off into the forest? Was having your brains practically raped out by a monster in some shitty hovel in the woods really better than being my personal errand boy?"

Taki's face flashed in his mind, memories of the evenings they spent cuddled together, watching the stars come out and making love. And how she would listen to him so intently, even when it was obvious she had no interest in what he was talking about, she was always such a good listener...

"Yeah..." he said in practically a whisper, “it was..." He looked up wishfully, finding the light source above him came from a solar stone in the ceiling. It figured Jiro would use magical lighting for an enclosed room like this, it was just more proof of his extravagant nature that he would use such an item for a torture room.

Jiro ignored him, continuing to rant. "I rule this town, there are tons of brats out there that would kill to get close to me! Heck, if you'd ever shown any initiative I might have been inclined to give you more status. Yet you never changed, always a weak doormat. You say you wanted a real life? I say you'd be pushed around regardless, you'd always be worthless. Yet for some reason you still found it in you to run, just like your mother."

Carter gasped.

“Wh-what are you talking about?" His mother? She'd never run away, had she?

Jiro smirked. "It was my policy back then to not allow any of the whores in my employ to have children. If one got pregnant she was to abort it or kill it at birth. Your mother though, I guess she really thought you might be able to have a better life than hers. It was amazing really. She kicked the drugs I had her on after she found out she was pregnant, and ran away. She was pretty good at it, actually managed to avoid my mercenaries for her whole pregnancy, but they eventually dragged her back, with you in tow.”

Carter's throat was dry, too shocked to form words as Jiro continued his story.

“She was quite a sight, begging me to not kill ‘her baby.‘ Being a whore, she didn't have any idea who the father was, and far as I know hadn't even come up with a name for you and she still acted like she cared so much."

"So in a moment of mercy I decided to grant her wish. You would take her place, not as a whore but as my servant, my errand boy for life. I guess that wasn't what she had in mind as she really went off at that, so I slit her throat and had other whores look after you. The rest is history."

Carter was silent for a time, struggling to take in the horrifying revelations. "Why... why did you tell me she died of an overdose?"

“I figured if you knew the truth you might get some stupid idea to escape in her memory, or maybe even try to kill me. It's a moot point now though, as you followed in her footsteps anyway. You though I plan to make a long and public example of, once we're done with this personal session and you're too weak to even scream I'll finish the torture in the main hall in front of all my boys. A broken traitor begging to die makes an excellent motivator for loyalty."