Chapter 49
[EP6. Bergen Belzen]
-Lost Girl, Monsters That Can't Cry-
Originally, it was content progressing from Regia's perspective.
A story flowing as the protagonist kidnapped in the previous "Abandoned Laboratory" was dragged to this Belzen.
The episode started with a pitch-black iron cage.
[Sniff... hic, ugh...]
A girl crying while leaning against a cold wall.
The pilot, discouraged by her situation, was helplessly shedding tears.
At that time when she was trembling in fear.
[Hey... Pink sister!]
[Over here! Over here!]
A voice was heard from somewhere.
As she turned around with a startled reaction, there was a girl waving her hand through a small gap.
When their eyes met, she smiled brightly.
[Nice to meet you! It's been so long since someone came into the next room!]
[My name is Anne! Please take care of me, fellow experimental subject.]
A brightly shining smile.
Anne's appearance was no different in the original work.
The spirited girl extended her hand to the protagonist and became her conversation partner so she wouldn't tremble in loneliness.
She was a typical supporting character.
[Sister, take this.]
[It's a blanket!]
A role giving courage.
She was a character who held up the gloomy episode's atmosphere well so it wouldn't sink.
Her appearance of not losing hope was also touching.
[Still... isn't it okay for such convenient things to happen sometimes?]
[We need to have courage especially in difficult times.]
[The more we worry, the more beautiful life becomes.]
But.
She couldn't avoid the predetermined tragedy.
Bergen Belzen, Anne, diary... Devices hinting at misfortune were hidden everywhere.
The girl eventually met a miserable end.
It was a somewhat shocking demise.
[I'll be back.]
Afterwards, Galimar's faculty dispatched for rescue.
Thanks to that, the protagonist succeeded in escaping, but as the price for surviving, she had to face a terrible scene.
[Kiruruk... kiruk]
Anne who had turned into a monster.
The episode ended with Regia despairing.
I thought while filming the walkthrough video.
Even if it was based on actual history, did they have to show such a cruel ending?
It was a story that remained as a painful memory.
But.
"Thank goodness... I'm so glad."
"Sister, are you crying? Wh-Why so suddenly......"
This time was different.
Because I was by the side of the girl who had become a monster.
It seemed to be a bit of rebellion.
'Predetermined ending... go eat shit.'
I hated tragedies.
If an unreasonable future blocked happiness, it could be shattered with a roughly swung fist.
I held a tight smile.
"I-I don't know what's going on. I was definitely in the laboratory......"
"Huhu."
Anne rolling her eyes as if confused.
Being careful not to startle the girl like that, I gently stroked her head.
Warm body heat dyed my palm.
It felt like it was conveying that she was alive.
"I-I... I thought I was going to die."
"Miss Anne."
"It hurt so much, I was so scared... I cr-cried and scr-screamed......"
"It seems you had a nightmare."
I calmly soothed the girl.
"It was just a dream. A dream you won't even remember after closing and opening your eyes a few times."
I covered her teary eyes with my palm.
So the tired girl could rest at ease, so she could escape from the terrible nightmare.
"You'll feel better after sleeping again."
Shadows rippling gently.
Anne's eyelids closed slowly.
As she swayed with her consciousness blurring, the fox beside her embraced the girl's body.
She whispered quietly.
"Sleep well."
I smiled faintly.
***
Breathe in, breathe out.
Breathing sounds echoing quietly.
"...She's asleep."
"Indeed."
Anne was lying down using the fox's lap as a pillow.
The girl sleeping with a peaceful expression.
Irene arranged her disheveled hair, then soon quietly turned her gaze towards me.
Complex emotions were contained beyond her black pupils.
"......"
"Why are you looking at me like that?"
"......"
"Miss Irene?"
The fox who had been in a daze for a while.
She who had been biting her lip tightly soon left one question.
"How on earth did you do it...?"
A short but by no means light question.
The scene the girl had witnessed just before was extremely surreal.
The realm of impossibility.
In other words, a miracle.
It must have been an incomprehensible point for the fox.
I smiled brightly.
I put my index finger to my lips.
"It's a secret."
"...I thought you'd say that."
It was a complicated power to explain.
"Let's say it was luck."
It wasn't particularly wrong.
It was a treatment possible because Anne had at least not died during the experiment and was alive, even if in chimera form.
In fact, it felt closer to restoration than healing.
Anyway.
Even with the liar's ability, dead people can't be brought back.
Whether limbs were torn off, they were butchered, or became monsters... they had to be alive first.
Lies given to the deceased are just empty words.
-Ding!
[Current remaining output: 31.7%]
In fact, even this was extremely strenuous.
Nearly 60% of the output was consumed just to return this frail girl to her original form.
It's unthinkable to do several at once.
'I guess I overdid it... I'm feeling dizzy.'
It's far more difficult than subduing professor-level forces.
Unlike battles that only require physical strikes.
Restoring a chimera required raising the level to the concept of creation.
As such, the recoil came back strongly.
"Isn't it more beautiful to leave miracles as miracles?"
"Yeah... I won't ask anymore."
"You're backing down surprisingly easily?"
"I have some shame too. Though I swore never to trust humans again, I don't want to bare my teeth even at someone I owe a debt to."
"That's admirable."
I nodded, feeling proud.
Though her distrust of humans was extreme, she wasn't a beast with a black nature.
"I'll repay this debt somehow."
"I did it because I wanted to. Thanks to that, I got to see Miss Irene crying for the first time."
"...Shut up."
The fox wiped her reddened eyes.
It seemed her tension had eased.
I wanted to just chat idly like this, but unfortunately there was still something to wrap up.
I got up and dusted myself off.
"Ahem."
The liar's output was dangerous... but well, this much should be enough.
To deal with the guy watching ominously.
After catching my breath for a moment, I soon turned my gaze to one side and spoke.
"Why don't you come out now? I think I've waited long enough."
"What? Who are you suddenly talking to......"
At the moment Irene tilted her head.
"Insolent brat."
Someone who had been hiding their body between the iron bars revealed themselves.
A middle-aged man exuding an alien atmosphere.
The man wearing a blood-red robe like skin smiled as if interested and walked out of the darkness.
It was a familiar face.
"...!"
Flinch.
Irene grabbed her sword with a startled reaction.
The fox seemed to recognize the man, but she didn't dare try to stand up.
It was because of the aura pressing down on the surroundings.
"This is interesting."
Research Director Josef Kramer.
The devil ruling over Belzen, and the one who turned Anne into a monster.
"I was completely hiding my presence... To think you would see through it."
The man approached with quiet steps.
His characteristic leisurely voice echoed chillingly under the dark basement.
I answered nonchalantly.
"I have somewhat good eyes."
"You say interesting things. I clearly saw you restoring a failure earlier."
"By failure... do you mean Miss Anne?"
"Anne? I don't know such a trash name."
"Didn't you experiment on her with your own hands?"
"What use is a name for something that failed? It's just trash."
"...Ha."
A hollow laugh burst out without me realizing.
He was this kind of character in the original work too, but seeing him in person was even more ridiculous.
Especially his eyes without a trace of guilt.
"So, how exactly did you do it?"
Only ugly greed was surging in the devil's pupils.
"Did you use a trick? Magic to restore an experimental subject that became a monster... I've never heard of such a thing."
"This is troublesome. It's a secret I don't want to tell others."
"Yeah, that's right. Of course. There's no way you'd want to share such precious knowledge."
The devil smiled unpleasantly.
Dark red haze starting to rise stealthily. A wicked stench brushed the nose.
He was gathering black magic.
"So I'll forcibly take it. I'll pull out your entire brain and analyze it piece by piece."
"That's quite a chilling thing to say."
"You'll make an excellent specimen! While we're at it, I'll recycle the trash beside you too. How about cutting off your limbs and connecting them to each other? It's a thrilling composition just imagining it."
"......"
Did this bastard know?
The fact that every word he spat was provoking me.
"It's been a really long time... since I've been this angry."
I calmly caught my breath.
Then I patted the fox's head, who had an obviously anxious look.
To mean don't worry.
"It will be over in a moment. Please cover Anne's ears so she doesn't wake up."
"...Alright."
Irene nodded though she seemed to hesitate.
I smiled slightly and stepped forward.
Whoosh-!
Before I knew it, the wide basement was full of blood-red aura.
Sharp fragments were aimed this way.
If he chanted an incantation like that, everything around would be torn apart at the atomic level.
The opponent was the head of Belzen.
He was a strong person with at least professor-level power.
With just one incantation, he could bury this entire basement.
So I had to be careful.
'...If I hit him with too much emotion, he might die pathetically.'
Originally, special caution is needed when handling weak creatures.
I loaded lies at my fingertips.
Cold anger flowed down my spine.
The man charged while moving his lips.
He was reciting a prayer to manifest black magic.
Death fluttered.
"O blood-stained master! Your eternal power here...!"
"Shatter."
Crash-!
I'm sorry.
I wasn't in the mood to play around.
I didn't want to see his posing.
Josef Kramer.
A psycho who had massacred, tortured, and turned tens of thousands into monsters.
I absolutely couldn't accept such a bastard receiving dramatic direction just because he was supposedly a villain.
Crunch-!
So I smashed the lighting.
I painted the script with only darkness so no spotlight could shine on the stage where he stood.
It was the nightmare most fitting for a devil.
"...?!"
The research director was shocked when his magic disappeared.
I moved my lips dryly.
"Blackout."
Right after.
Pitch black dyed the world.
***
When they opened their eyes again.
The two people were sitting in a courtroom.
A world elaborately realized with illusion magic. It was a new stage prepared for their play.
In the center, there was also a high gallows.
"Defendant."
The judge called the defendant.
Sitting at the highest bench was none other than the slit-eyed boy.
"Defendant Josef Kramer. Do you have any last words you want to leave?"
At the defendant's seat was the devil tied to a chair with rope.
Staring at the suddenly changed background, the defendant couldn't come to his senses.
The judge smiled ominously.
"Then from now on... I will begin the judgment of the sinner."
Bang bang bang-!
Along with the sound of the gavel ringing out, the rope hanging on the gallows was zoomed in on.
It was time for punishment.