episode_0049

[EP6. Bergen-Belsen]

-The Lost Girl, The Monsters Who Cannot Cry-

Originally, the story unfolded from Regia’s perspective.

The protagonist, kidnapped in the previous ‘Abandoned Laboratory,’ was dragged to Belsen, and the story flowed from there.

The episode began with a dark iron cage.

[Sniffle… Sob, ugh…]

A girl was crying, leaning against the cold wall.

The pilot despaired at their situation, helplessly shedding tears.

Just then, trembling with fear.

[Hey… Pink Unnie!]

[Over here! Over here!]

A voice was heard from somewhere.

Startled, the pilot turned around to see a girl waving her hand through a small gap.

Their eyes met, and the girl smiled brightly.

[Nice to meet you! It feels like ages since someone came into the room next door!]

[My name is Anne! Let’s get along well as fellow test subjects.]

A bright, sparkling smile.

Anne’s appearance was no different in the original work.

The brave girl reached out to the protagonist, becoming a conversation partner so she wouldn’t tremble in loneliness.

You could say she was a typical supporting character.

[Unnie, take this.]

[It’s a blanket!]

A role that provided courage.

She was a character who kept the gloomy atmosphere of the episode from sinking too low.

Her unwavering hope was also heartwarming.

[Still, sometimes… isn’t it okay for such fortunate things to happen?]

[The more difficult the times, the more courage you must have.]

[Because life becomes more beautiful the more you contemplate.]

However.

She couldn’t escape the destined tragedy.

Bergen-Belsen, Anne, diary… devices foreshadowing misfortune were hidden everywhere.

The girl ultimately met a horrific end.

It was a rather shocking demise.

[I’ll be back.]

Afterward, the faculty of Gallimard were deployed for the rescue.

Thanks to them, the protagonist succeeded in escaping, but had to face a terrible sight as a price for survival.

[Screech… Caw]

Anne, who had turned into a monster.

The episode ended with Regia in despair.

While filming the strategy guide, I thought.

Even if it was inspired by real history, did it have to show such a cruel ending?

It was a story that remained a painful memory.

However.

“Thank goodness… What a relief.”

“Unnie, are you crying? Wh-why are you suddenly acting like that…?”

This time, it was different.

Because I was by the side of the girl who had become a monster.

It felt a bit like an act of rebellion.

‘The predetermined ending… can go to hell.’

I hated tragedies.

If an irrational future blocked happiness, I would simply smash it with a wildly swung fist.

I gently smiled.

“W-what happened, I don’t know. I was definitely in the lab…”

“Huhu.”

Anne’s eyes darted around, looking confused.

Carefully, so as not to startle the girl, I gently stroked her head.

Warm body heat spread into my palm.

It was as if it conveyed life itself.

“I… I thought I was going to die.”

“Anne-yang.”

“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 that you won’t even remember after you close and open your eyes a few times.”

I covered her teary eyes with my palm.

So the tired girl could rest peacefully, so she could escape from the terrible nightmare.

“You’ll be fine after another nap.”

Faintly flickering shadows.

Anne’s eyelids slowly closed.

As her consciousness blurred and she swayed, the fox next to her embraced the girl’s body.

I whispered softly.

“Sleep well.”

I smiled faintly.

***

Soft breathing sounds.

Quiet breathing sounds echoed.

“…She’s asleep.”

“Indeed.”

Anne was lying with her head on the fox’s lap.

The girl was fast asleep, her expression peaceful.

Irene tidied her disheveled hair, then subtly turned her gaze towards me.

Beyond her dark pupils, complex emotions were contained.

“…”

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“…”

“Irene-yang?”

The fox was lost in thought for a while.

Chewing on her lip, she soon posed a question.

“How on earth… did you do that?”

It was a short but by no means light question.

Because the scene the girl had witnessed just before was extremely surreal.

The realm of the impossible.

In other words, a miracle.

For the fox, it must have been an incomprehensible point.

I smiled brightly.

I put my index finger to my lips.

“It’s a secret.”

“…I thought as much.”

Because it was a power too complex to explain.

“Let’s just say I was lucky.”

It wasn’t exactly a lie.

It was a treatment only possible because Anne, at the very least, hadn’t died during the experiment, and was still alive even in the form of a chimera.

Though it felt more like restoration than healing, in truth.

Anyway.

Even with a liar’s ability, one cannot bring the dead back to life.

Whether limbs were torn off, or she was butchered, or became a monster… she had to be alive, first and foremost.

Because a lie spoken to the deceased is nothing more than a lament.

-Ding!

[Current Output Remaining: 31.7%]

In fact, even this was a great strain.

Restoring this frail girl to her original form alone consumed nearly 60% of my output.

Meaning, doing it for multiple people at once is an impossible dream.

‘I guess I overexerted myself… I’m feeling nauseous.’

It is far more difficult than subduing an average professor-level combatant.

Unlike battles that only require physical strikes.

The restoration of a chimera had to elevate to the concept of creation itself.

As such, the backlash was also strong.

“Isn’t it more beautiful for a miracle to remain a miracle?”

“Yes… I won’t ask any more questions.”

“You’re surprisingly compliant.”

“I have some decency. Although I swore never to trust humans again, I don’t want to bare my fangs at someone I owe a debt to.”

“Excellent.”

I nodded, feeling pleased.

Even though her distrust of humans was extreme, her nature wasn’t that of a dark beast.

“I’ll repay this debt somehow.”

“I did it because I wanted to. Thanks to it, I also got to see Irene-yang cry for the first time.”

“…Be quiet.”

The fox wiped her reddened eyes.

It seemed her tension had eased.

As much as I wanted to just chat idly like this, unfortunately, there was still something I needed to finish.

I brushed myself off and stood up.

“Ahem.”

My lie’s output was dangerously low… but well, this much should be enough.

To deal with the one watching from the shadows, that is.

I had been catching my breath for a moment, then I directed my gaze to one side and spoke.

“How about you come out now? I believe I’ve waited long enough.”

“What? Who are you suddenly talking to…?”

The moment Irene tilted her head in confusion.

“What an impudent child.”

Someone who had been hiding between the iron bars revealed themselves.

A middle-aged man exuding an alien atmosphere.

The man, draped in a blood-colored robe like a second skin, walked out of the darkness with an amused smile.

It was a familiar face.

“…”

Startled.

Irene, startled, gripped her sword.

The fox seemed to recognize the man, but she didn’t dare to stand up hastily.

It was because of the oppressive aura around him.

“This is truly interesting.”

Laboratory Director, Josef Kramer.

The demon reigning over Belsen, and the very one who turned Anne into a monster.

“I had completely concealed my presence… I can’t believe you saw through it.”

The man approached with quiet steps.

His uniquely leisurely voice echoed chillingly through the dark basement.

I replied calmly.

“I just have rather good eyesight.”

“You say amusing things. I clearly saw you restore that failed product just a moment ago.”

“By ‘failed product,’ are you referring to Anne-yang?”

“Anne? I don’t know such a trashy name.”

“Didn’t you experiment on her with your own hands?”

“What good is a name to a failure? It’s nothing but trash.”

“…Ha.”

A bitter laugh escaped me without my knowing.

He was this kind of character in the original work too, but seeing him in person was even more of a spectacle.

Especially his eyes, which held not a shred of guilt.

“So, how exactly did you do it?”

In the demon’s pupils, only vile greed surged.

“Was it a trick? Magic that restores a test subject who’s become a monster… I’ve never heard of such a thing.”

“That’s troublesome. It’s a secret I don’t wish to share with others.”

“Yes, that’s right. Of course. You wouldn’t want to share such valuable knowledge.”

The demon chuckled unpleasantly.

Dark crimson mist began to waft up. A foul stench pricked at my nostrils. He was preparing dark magic.

“Then I’ll just take it by force. I’ll pull out your brain whole and analyze it piece by piece.”

“Those are truly chilling words.”

“You’ll make an excellent specimen! While I’m at it, I’ll recycle the trash next to you too. How about cutting off their limbs and attaching them to each other? Just imagining it is an exhilarating composition.”

“…”

Does that bastard know?

That every single word he utters is provoking me.

“It’s truly been a long time… since I’ve been this angry.”

I calmly took a breath.

Then I patted the fox’s head, whose anxiety was clearly evident.

As if to say, don’t worry.

“It’ll be over in a moment. Please cover your ears so Anne-yang doesn’t wake up.”

“…Understood.”

Irene hesitated, then nodded.

I chuckled softly and stepped forward.

Whoosh!

Before I knew it, the vast basement was filled with a blood-red aura.

Sharp fragments pointed towards me.

If he recited the incantation like that, everything around would be torn apart at an atomic level.

The opponent was the head of Belsen.

He was a strong individual with at least professor-level power or higher.

Enough to bury the entire basement with a single incantation.

So I had to be careful.

‘If I hit him with too much emotion, he might just die meaninglessly.’

It is customary to exercise special caution when dealing with weak creatures.

I loaded my lies into my fingertips.

Cold anger flowed down my spine.

The man’s lips twitched as he lunged forward.

He was chanting a prayer to manifest dark magic.

Death fluttered.

“Oh, blood-stained master! Your eternal power, unleash it here…!”

“Shatter.”

Smash!

But I’m sorry.

I wasn’t in the mood for games.

I didn’t want to see him posturing.

Josef Kramer.

A psycho who had massacred, tortured, and turned tens of thousands into monsters.

It was absolutely unacceptable for such a bastard, just because he was a villain, to receive dramatic staging.

Crumble!

That’s why I shattered the lights.

So no spotlight could shine upon the stage where he stood, painting the script with only darkness.

It was the nightmare most fitting for a demon.

“…?!”

The research director, aghast as his magic vanished.

I parted my lips dryly.

“Blackout.”

Immediately after.

Pitch blackness dyed the world.

***

When they opened their eyes again.

The two of them were sitting in a courtroom.

A world meticulously realized through illusion magic. It was a new stage prepared for their play.

In the center, a tall execution platform also stood.

“Defendant.”

The judge called the defendant.

Sitting on the highest judge’s bench was none other than the boy with narrow eyes.

“Defendant, Josef Kramer. Do you have any final words?”

In the defendant’s seat was the demon, bound to a chair with ropes.

Gazing at the suddenly shifted scenery, the defendant was unable to collect himself.

The judge smiled ominously.

“In that case, from now on… the judgment of the sinner shall begin.”

Bang bang bang!

With the echoing sound of the gavel, the rope on the execution platform was zoomed in on.

It was the time for punishment.