Burnt off his own hairs

Under the new regime, when Larten said “don’t” or “can’t,” Seba
plucked hairs from his student’s nostrils, which was far more painful than
Larten would have imagined. After a year of that, he’d tried to outfox his
master by burning the hairs from his nose, but Seba set his sights on the
hairs in Larten’s ears instead, and that was even worse! The orange-haired
assistant had learned swiftly in the face of such punishing lessons. He
suffered an occasional lapse, but only rarely. It had been weeks since Seba
had felt obliged to pluck any hairs.

***

The Saga of Larten Crepsley: Ocean of Blood, Chapter 6