Anne's Diary (6)
Josef Kramer.
An overwhelmingly powerful dark mage and the director of the research facility leading Belsen.
Based on the results obtained from the Chimera experiments, he achieved a wide range of advancements in dark magic and was a prominent figure recognized even within Baob.
He was also one of the most notorious butchers.
"Let the trial begin."
Who would have known?
That the end of the man called the devil would be so pathetic.
"Defendant."
"······."
Following the call that rang in his ears, Josef raised his head.
A strange scene unfolded in his blurry vision.
It was a space reminiscent of a courtroom.
How did this happen?
The devil looked around, dumbfounded.
He had just been walking between the bars of his cell, but when he opened his eyes, he found himself in a completely different setting.
He couldn't help but be bewildered.
"What is this···?"
A short question escaped his lips.
He tried to move his body, but it wouldn't budge. The devil was tied tightly to a chair with ropes.
Then, a voice echoed.
"The defendant has no right to remain silent during the trial proceedings or to refuse to answer questions related to individuals, and on the other hand, may not state facts that are beneficial to himself."
"······?"
Sitting on the judge's bench was none other than the Snake.
The boy, dressed in judge's robes, was looking down at the devil from the highest point.
He recited the sentence clearly.
"The defendant cannot defend himself and can only comply with the unreasonable judgment of the court. Do you understand?"
A chilling atmosphere filled the air.
The playful demeanor he had shown earlier was nowhere to be seen, only a cold winter remained on the boy's face.
His eyes seemed to not regard the subject as human.
Josef felt an inexplicable chill run down his spine.
"What kind of trickery is this···?"
The devil muttered.
He wriggled to break free from his restraints, but the ropes only tightened.
Even the dark magic he had relied on wouldn't activate.
Perhaps it was only natural.
This place was a fantasy world built on the Snake's lies.
The laws set by others couldn't possibly apply here.
"I can't hear His whispers, what kind of nonsense is this······."
"Silence."
Snap-!
The man's mouth shut with a snap of the boy's fingers.
While Josef was flustered by his jaw muscles not moving as he wished.
"Mmm, mmmph···?!"
"The defendant is not allowed to speak. The only things that can come out of the defendant's mouth are screams, pleas, and cries."
The devil froze.
The previously arrogant Josef finally realized that something was amiss.
Something was wrong.
A chilling tension pierced his lungs.
His shoulders trembled.
The man quietly gulped.
He felt like his head would be chopped off if he let his guard down for even a moment.
"······."
"Let the trial resume."
Regardless.
The boy acting as the judge calmly continued his lines.
"Defendant, Josef Kramer."
"······."
"The defendant, as a senior member of the dark mage organization 'Baob' and the director of the research facility 'Bergen Belsen', threatened the peace of the continent. Do you admit to this?"
"······."
"Silence will be interpreted as an admission."
The trial was one-sided.
The judge questioned the crimes, and the defendant could not offer a defense.
"Furthermore, you committed all sorts of unethical acts based on forbidden magic, and in particular, showed an obsession with Chimera research using humans as subjects. In the process, you even drove tens of thousands of innocent people to their deaths. Do you admit to this?"
"······."
"A few days ago, you ordered an attack on Galimar Academy and even attempted to kidnap students. Do you admit to this?"
His voice was monotonous.
A chilling fear washed over Josef.
Cold sweat dripped from the man's forehead. It was a vile fear.
The judge despised it.
"I will now pronounce the sentence."
A solemn declaration echoed through the courtroom.
"The atrocities committed by the defendant as a member of the cult are unforgivable crimes. In particular, the fact that he oversaw the experiments and massacres that took place in Belsen makes his crimes grave."
The exact number of victims in Bergen Belsen was 15,924.
Among them, the number of young children who had not even reached adulthood was 3,642.
Perhaps it was to appease the souls of the victims.
He wanted the devil to experience the despair of the victims.
"Therefore, this court sentences the defendant to 15,924 deaths, the total number of victims who were unjustly sacrificed."
Bang, bang, bang-!
With the clear sound of the gavel echoing behind him, Josef wore a puzzled expression.
Not just a death sentence, but··· fifteen thousand deaths?
He was confused by the strange verdict.
Of course, it didn't take long for him to fully grasp the meaning of that sentence.
The judge snapped his fingers.
Snap-!
The next moment.
The devil stood on the execution grounds.
Before his eyes was a single gallows.
While Josef stared blankly at it, a thick rope flew from somewhere and wrapped around his neck.
Immediately, his body was lifted into the air.
"······Gah?!"
The devil let out a gasp.
He struggled while hanging in mid-air.
His throat constricted painfully.
As his breath was slowly being choked out, the platform he was standing on suddenly disappeared.
Immediately afterward, the rope began to fall as well.
Crack-!
The man's neck snapped in mid-air.
Instant death.
The devil died with his eyes wide open.
The Snake, who had been watching the scene, muttered to himself and snapped his fingers once more.
"That's one."
Snap-!
A clear cracking sound.
The world was reconstructed.
Josef, now completely healed without a single scratch, opened his eyes again in front of the gallows.
His eyes were filled with terror.
"Gasp, gasp···!"
The death he had just experienced.
The sensation of his neck breaking was vivid.
As the devil gasped for breath, a chilling voice whispered in his ear.
It was the golden Snake.
"15,923 more to go."
An ominous remark.
Before he could even grasp its meaning, the boy was snapping his fingers.
Snap-!
"Let's take it slow."
Crack-!
The devil's neck snapped limply.
"That's two."
Snap-!
He was revived.
The gallows didn't miss the moment Josef was dazed.
His neck snapped once more.
"That's three."
Snap-!
The devil finally realized the Snake's intention.
This was an endless prison.
Until the boy had reached the number he had declared, the man would be hanged on the gallows repeatedly.
His mind went blank, and a boundless fear washed over him.
However.
"15,921 more to go."
There was no mercy.
Snap-!
It was a time of punishment.
***
The devil's deaths were diverse.
Since it was a whopping 15,924 executions, he kept changing the methods to prevent the devil from getting bored.
Hanging, beheading, burning at the stake, dismemberment··· all sorts of methods were used.
The devil screamed as he was torn apart.
"Gah, gah···!"
"12,084 more to go."
Snap-!
"N-no···! No!! S-stop, stoooop!!!"
"10,834 more to go."
Snap-!
"P-please, please have mercy···! P-plea, please···!!"
"9,999 more to go."
Snap-!
The endlessly repeating deaths.
By the time the remaining count reached the 5,000s, Josef had already lost his mind.
He had lost his ability to speak and could only scream.
"Aaaaaaaaagh!!!"
Of course, I wasn't doing well either.
Even though it was an illusion, scenes of unimaginable cruelty were replaying before my eyes.
It felt like my mind was being strained.
"4,273 more to go."
But I didn't stop.
Because it was something I had to do.
I wanted to console the tens of thousands of wronged spirits, even if it was just like this.
I snapped my fingers.
'Why.'
Too many people had died.
Even though they didn't appear on the screen, their stories were no different from Anne's.
How much sorrow must there have been?
The victims who were ground down by the experiments.
These people, who must have lived with their own dreams, died in a place where not even a single flower could bloom.
Stars that should have shone brightly had fallen too soon.
I was standing here as the agent of countless tragedies.
"N-no, no, no, no, don't tear it apart!!"
The last 1,000 punishments were Chimera experiments.
I returned to Josef exactly what he had done to the test subjects, without missing a single detail.
The devil pleaded on the operating table.
"Something's growing out of my stomach!! Something's eating my insides!!"
I watched in silence.
My indifferent eyes reflected in the mirror were truly the image of a trashy villain.
'As if it's anything new.'
I had never thought of myself as noble.
If someone were to ask me if I was a good person or a bad person, I would always answer that I was closer to the latter.
It's just a matter of who I'm bad to.
I wanted to be a bad person to bad people.
'I wanted to protect them.'
Because there are plenty of good people in the world who are kind to bad people.
I thought it wouldn't be so bad to have a bad person who cares for the good people, even if it's just sometimes.
I slowly raised my head.
"······."
The punishment was nearing its end.
It was time to wake up from this nightmare.
Josef stood there, lost in his own world.
Perhaps his spirit had finally broken, as the devil was drooling and unresponsive.
I quietly approached him.
"This is the last one."
Thud-.
I grabbed the devil's neck with my hand.
His body followed without resistance. I scraped together the last remaining lies with my fingertips.
Shadows flickered.
'Please··· let me be a sufficient punishment for this man.'
A fleeting prayer.
Then, I chanted the incantation.
"Bright Turn."
Clang-!
At the same time, a large crack appeared in the air.
The world made of lies shook unsteadily and then shattered like shards of glass.
Amidst the collapsing scenery.
I put strength into my hand one last time.
Crack-!
The devil's neck snapped.
His body collapsed limply onto the ground, following the scattering remnants of lies.
This time, he didn't come back to life.
He had finally reached the death that seemed eternally unattainable.
"Ha···."
I let out a short breath.
The surrounding scenery had returned to normal.
I was in the lowest level of Belsen.
As I massaged my slightly stiff wrist, a stunned voice came from behind me.
It was none other than Irene.
"W-what··· is it really over just like that···?"
She was bewildered.
Since only a moment had passed in reality, it was natural for the fox to be surprised.
From her perspective, it must have looked like I simply walked over and snapped the neck of a dazed Josef.
I asked subtly,
"Were you hoping for something more?"
"Of course not, but it was so sudden that······."
"Hehe."
Irene stammered her reply.
I gently reached out and stroked the girl's head.
"It's alright."
Her body temperature was especially warm.
"It's really over now."
"If you say so··· I guess it is."
The fox muttered and nodded.
Her crimson tail drooped as if her tension had finally been released. She must have been exhausted.
I chuckled softly.
"You did well."
A simple compliment.
I gently embraced the girl. A soft warmth filled my arms.
I whispered into her ear,
"Irene."
"······."
"You've worked really hard."
"······."
The fox remained silent for a moment.
"Let's go back now. The warm dormitory is waiting for us."
"······Yeah."
Finally, a reply came.
Perhaps her suppressed emotions were resurfacing, as the girl's voice was laced with tears.
Irene buried her face in my chest.
As if she didn't want me to see her tears.
"It's all over now."
I patted her slender back.
We stood there for a while, savoring the fact that everything was finally over.
The intense fox retrieval operation.
[EP6. Bergen Belsen]
-The Lost Girl, the Monsters Who Cannot Cry-
At the same time, it was the moment the episode came to a close.
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Happy reading!
Bro just casually casted tsukuyomi on him
ReplyDelete"You've worked really hard."
ReplyDelete"······."
The fox remained silent for a moment.
"Let's go back now. The warm dormitory is waiting for us."
"······Yeah."
Finally, a reply came.
Caramba finalmente um julgamento junto 😇
ReplyDelete