episode_0198

I headed east with the soldiers.

It took a long time for the water to disappear from above my head.

The sea of Victoria was so vast that it reached the south when she was in the east. It was quite a walk to the mountains quite far away even after leaving the city until she escaped from that range.

Perhaps because the military passed through the entrance to the mountain, the trees were all broken and lying on the ground, and there were countless footprints on the ground.

It’s a sign of the military’s passing.

Following that trail, I climbed up the mountainside, held in the hand of a wind-up machine.

As soon as I reached the halfway point, I saw old buildings with half of their paint peeling off, and newly constructed tents tangled together. Between them, I saw soldiers drenched like drowned rats here and there.

The most striking thing is that there are clockwork machines that are slightly larger than a person, like the one I just brought in, as well as large clockwork machines that are about three times the height of a person.

It doesn’t look like an exoskeleton, but rather a type that you ride and move like a robot.

There are hundreds of these, which shows why Marquis Gaston was confident that he could quickly quell any minor disturbances that arose in Bern City.

If there were no areas where magic could not be used, this would have already been resolved.

There is a unique building standing in a place where there are a lot of such clockwork machines. There is also a place that looks like a supply base for clockwork machines, and there is a company name called Gun & Lepu written on it.

I remember that it was a program-related company, but seeing as they provide the equipment like that, I wonder if they also touch the equipment.

Or is it the equipment needed to modify the internal program of the wind-up machine in this location?

You’ll find out soon enough.

The man called the captain enters what appears to be a command post, and only the soldiers and the man riding the wind-up machine remain. And since I look not much different from a harvester, sharp gazes often fly at me from afar.

When you meet the highest person, you will be shaken to pieces by the fact that Marquis Gaston is already dead and that he attacked the royal family.

Either way, it’s fatal to the military.

That was when.

Inside, a man came out wearing clothes made of very high-quality materials, not a military uniform, along with a person who was called the captain.

And as soon as I got out, I kicked my chest hard.

Phew!

Oops. My ribs are broken.

“Listen up, soldiers! Bern City is in shambles. Why! It’s all because of this witch! This bitch organized a protest and plotted a rebellion against the crown! In other words, she’s a ruthless traitor!”

As he says that, he kicks my chest and stomach several times. Ugh, it seems like he doesn’t want me to talk because he does that.

It seems like they’re treating me and everyone else as traitors, and trying to use what happened in Bern City as a way to deal with the traitors.

You’re smart.

Then he came forward and hit me in the cheek.

These are hands that are so spicy that they would make an ordinary person dizzy. Judging by the calluses, this person is also quite strong.

“Look! Look at this dirty color and face! The face of the witch who slaughtered your fellow countrymen! And threw Bern City into hell!”

After he said that, he hit me in the jaw and gave me a concussion.

Of course, that doesn’t stop me from working like that.

But when I pretend to lose consciousness and lie down, he comes towards me, grabs my hair, and pulls me up. Then he hits my stomach again.

Huh? Are you trying to wake me up?

So I pretended to come to my senses as intended, and the man brought my head close to his and asked me.

“Apologize, witch. Admit your sins of turning Bern City into hell, and slaughtering countless people, and ask for forgiveness! If you have sinned, you must ask for forgiveness! Speak! Now, soldiers! This witch still doesn’t know the sins she has committed! Then you must tell her yourself! All troops! Gather in front!”

People gather one by one at the man’s command.

There are many people who look at me with a happy face.

As the audience gathered, the man who had caught me said this to the soldier.

“Each of you, tell this witch what crimes she has committed!”

In other words, it’s a story about letting go of grudges.

Then a soldier cursed me, saying that his lover who lived in Bern City was killed in a demonstration and that his family also died in the fighting.

Then, one by one, comrades lost while fighting the protesters, relatives who disappeared from Bern City, they poured out their grievances to me.

Your skills are good.

Are you gaslighting because it’s a gaslamp fantasy?

To put it simply, it’s about creating an easily recognizable object of resentment, then destroying it to unite the group.

First, they pressure me into thinking I’m a sinner. If I give in to the pressure and say yes, the man who’s holding me will complete his plan.

Facts don’t matter here and now.

People who criticize me think so themselves, and those around me who hear me also think I’m bad.

As this happens in a chain reaction, I become a witch. The madness of the group easily destroys the ego of the individual. The judgment becomes dull and we follow what others do. This is a witch hunt in the proper sense.

It means that they enjoy designating victims and tormenting them. If you look at faded memories, this happens regardless of the era. For example, there is an inquisitor called Cyberrekka.

We differentiate between you and us, you are evil and we are justice. So we deal with evil and establish justice. And we consume the process as entertainment.

In short, the scene where the interest rate is beating me now is a cider scene called true education. Beating the sinner who made the city a mess.

Who wouldn’t be happy? If you’re not happy, you might experience what’s happening to you right now. Everyone is enthusiastically and loudly criticizing me.

And even if it turns out not to be the case, it can be easily avoided.

Or else forget it.

You guys also agreed, so aren’t you guilty of the same crime?

The fact that this is better is the funniest part. It means that at least the minimum social standard of feeling happy when doing justice and feeling bad when doing evil is working.

If even that breaks down and you end up saying you’re stupid for not doing bad things, then you’ll really go to hell.

anyway.

Sympathetic pressure is great.

It’s a cruel trick that’s hard for people to resist.

Yes, that’s true for people.

Right now, my body is a mess of bruises. My eyeballs are crushed, my teeth are all gone, and not a single part of my internal organs is intact.

The soldiers around me all blame me, and this man persistently harasses me to get an answer out of my mouth.

Just a little girl.

They probably think that if they trample on them, turn them into criminals, and execute them, they can just pretend not to know anything after that.

Hehehe.

Already connected.

Of course, if you take away my warmth, I will become a monster. If you do that, you never know what I will do. I could reveal a really fatal weakness to me.

You can see how horrible it is to take away warmth.

Yes. So, I don’t use that method.

Instead, let’s do this.

“Contact the royal family.”

I pronounce it like “ang-il-eong-ak-hae” because most of my teeth have fallen out, but you know what it means, don’t you?

Actually, the man got so angry that he slapped me in the face with all his might.

My face caved in as my jawbone shattered with a crunching sound.

But as if I had poured cold water, the surroundings were quiet.

No, this is a ruptured eardrum.

Of all the sense organs in my body, the only one that’s still alive right now is my sense of touch. I can faintly feel the air vibrating with it.

There will probably be a lot of screaming and shouting.

My words won’t cause a big stir. The madness of the crowd will easily bury it. But the question has been dug in.

I sowed the seeds.

I was dragged somewhere. All I could see was a dirt floor. The cold wind-up machine’s hand dropped, and I felt like I was floating, and then I touched the cold floor.

It feels like fabric to the touch.

It’s dark around here, so maybe I’m inside a tent?

Belle’s body isn’t in such danger of dying. In other words, she can return to normal at any time.

I can recover at any time, but I deliberately keep this state still.

Even if I play it now, I’ll just fall into madness again. I need a little more time.

During that time, I watched Polaris and Victoria meet.

It’s very interesting.

Polaris, who heard the address from me, checked the address and stood at the barrier made by destroying all the obstacles.

And after going back and forth around it a few times, I realized that Victoria’s house was originally located in the middle of that barrier.

Victoria approached Polaris, who was sitting down with a blank expression.

She also came to check the numbers, so she knew why Polaris was sitting there.

The sea, which had been falling drop by drop, has stopped completely.

Polaris looks at Victoria with a creepy face.

Victoria approached Polaris without saying anything. Polaris continued to look at Victoria’s face, then quickly got up and told her that I had been taken away.

Victoria looks at Polaris with a very strange expression.

He asks me how I, who only has my hands left, am alive.

Huh? No, didn’t Victoria see me play several times?

No, yeah.

It would not be strange to think that it would be difficult to regenerate if only the extremities remained, even if the head and body remained.

But why does the story end up with Polaris hallucinating? No, why are Polaris’s eyes shaking like that?

It’s strange that you were able to run away on your own if I hadn’t been there earlier!

Polaris gropes around with a pale expression, saying that we should first search around here and if there’s no one inside, they must have run away to another place, so let’s check and go back if there’s no one there.

Excuse me? Me?

No, it’s okay if you don’t come, but I’m not dead, right?

Victoria, full of murderous intent, seemed like she would ignore Polaris’ words, but surprisingly, Victoria cleared away the debris at the bottom.

There was an unspoken agreement to check and return if it wasn’t there.

Even if Maurice and Beatrice had died inside, their bodies would have already been removed.

Because we are not in a state to think that logically. Both of us.

The two searched through the rubble to make sure there were no bodies or anything underneath, and both stopped in their tracks with lost looks on their faces.