What the Hell?!
“…To this, we sentence the defendant to death.”
“What the hell?!”
The judge in the red robe delivered the death sentence in a flat yet solemn tone.
A man began to shout hysterically.
“Don’t make me laugh! You rotten bastards of Londinium!”
The man’s voice tore through the courtroom like a blade. Staring at the defendant’s flushed face, he thought unconsciously.
This is so dull, so dull, I’m going insane.
It’s already the forty-second one, isn’t it?
“Final statement is permitted.”
The man knew that the final statement allowed by mere formality would change nothing. Hurry up and move to the next act, you stupid judge. I didn’t come here to watch this cheap play.
“You will pay the price!”
The condemned man lifted his chin defiantly.
“The execution will be carried out immediately in seven hours. Take him away.”
“We won’t stop. Remember, remember!”
Any interesting lines?
It’s too boring. I can’t even watch anymore.
“…But there are more people today than usual.”
These figures in grayish, strange uniforms.
Was this the uniform of the newly established Aegis Federation Army?
“Defendant No. 81, enter!”
The judge called the next number briefly. Two guards carrying rifles supported a woman’s arms and dragged her in. The woman stumbled even while being supported, as if her legs were severely injured, and soon collapsed to the ground. The guards tried to lift her, but even the short distance from the judge’s entrance to the defendant’s seat seemed like an ordeal to her.
“…Ah, ugh…”
The woman let out a faint groan from the harsh grip of the guards trying to lift her properly. That sound was like the cry of a word that had given up on life after her legs were broken. But this groan… it was so attractive it could make you drunk.
“Case number… No. 81.”
The woman, exhausted, clung to the guards without moving.
“Look up.”
“…”
The judge ordered the woman to raise her head for identification, but there was no response. However, even that silence felt sweet to the man. The sweet scent of despair. She was my goddess, the Madonna of the soul!
“Excuse me, Your Honor.”
“…Ah, ugh, ugh…”
The guard, after getting permission, grabbed the woman’s hair and pulled her back forcefully without hesitation, turning her face toward the judge.
Finally, this turn.
The ecstasy of the finale.
Stunningly beautiful!
Her hair was tangled as if she hadn’t combed it for a long time in prison, and one eye was wrapped in a bandage. But to the man, her disheveled appearance looked more beautiful than anyone else here. This was all a planned appearance for my stage, and the most beautiful form I created myself!
“1301. Courtroom! State your identity to the judge!”
“…Here, judge…?”
A hoarse voice. It was clearly not normal. It seemed like she couldn’t even tell where she was, rambling. A thrilling shiver ran through her body. It was beautiful. No, it had to be beautiful. Her existence was pure inspiration itself. When the exhausted one showed no sign of answering, the judge instead recited her affiliation.
“Belonging to the Londinium Special Operations Command.-”
Ah, truly the best.
My artistic work, the protagonist of an opera!
She is entirely mine!
“-Sector 09, Pretto Monach (Praying Skeleton Nun), Anti-Rebel Suppression Unit-”
This place is the audience seats of the stage.
She is the protagonist of tragedy.
The woman who suits death more than anyone else.
“-Unregistered, Squad Leader of the 13th Platoon.-”
But love is still lacking.
More love is needed.
Just a little more, just a little more to break her,
I can direct the most beautiful death.
A masterpiece of the century might be born.
“-Lieutenant Elia.”
“Sector 09…?”
“A survivor?! Impossible!”
The audience’s gazes were hot.
Look more, look more at my woman.
The greatest actress of this era,
Born from the hands of Kirup: Yafga!
“Wait, judge! Is the rumor true?!”
The Senate was also in chaos and started murmuring.
A 'survivor' who doesn't exist in the records.
This was the fun of an unpredictable play.
“Quiet! Silence!”
As the hall grew noisy, the judge slammed the gavel to get attention.
“I asked if you are the one, Lieutenant Elia!”
“…Ugh, deeply… I am,”
“Listen! Your crimes are enough to die a thousand times! How will you take responsibility for the traitor who came out from within the squad! Over 2 million people have died!”
“…Me, sentence, sentence…”
She struggled to spit out a few words as if reaching her limit. Then the guards, with expressions like seeing a disgusting cockroach, twisted her jaw. And they forced two fingers into her mouth to stuff something in.
“Swallow it, 1301, it’s a painkiller.”
The man, Kirup, shivered once at the sight of her trying desperately to swallow the medicine. The way her mouth and neck muscles shook convulsively. That appearance was lovable, but there was still a bit of will left. More education was needed. Education full of love.
“Swallow!”
The guard shouted.
The sight of her sticking out her tongue and spitting out the broken pill she couldn’t swallow. In that pose, she should have smiled brightly instead. Next time, I’ll teach her how to smile lazily. The guards, seeing her lose consciousness from exhaustion, raised their hands high as if to slap her awake. At that moment, someone suddenly stood up from the jury box.
“Judge! Hold off on No. 81 for now.”
A burly figure in gray uniform suddenly interrupted the trial. His face was stiff, and discomfort was readable.
“Sixth seat of the Senate, Luden Edelvine.”
He glared sharply at the guards and continued.
“You must have heard from Her Highness Iris. I have been granted the authority to immediately suspend any trial. This is the sacred authority exercised under the Magnus Regime.”
Magnus Regime.
The judge was again shaken by the bomb announcement. In the High Elf noble society, only the 10 seats of the Londinium Senate, which was the merit of founding Londinium, could exercise absolute immunity. The old authority that remained only in legend was used right here today. And for the lowly unregistered person, the mysterious 'Lieutenant Elia', a survivor of Sector 09. But what was even more surprising was the precondition of the 'Magnus Regime'. It was that he 'voluntarily relinquished the seat of the Sixth seat of the Senate' and retired.
“And furthermore, send Lieutenant Elia to the recovery room immediately.”
The judge nodded once at the guards, and after pressing the gavel deeper, they dragged her out like when entering the courtroom. And the trial resumed.
“Next! Defendant No. 82, enter!”
Kirup’s momentum was broken as the trial that was to decorate the finale ended with just one word, and he headed to the backyard to smoke a cigarette.
“Magnus Regime?” There was no worse nuisance than this nuisance. Intruding into the stage as an audience, making my planned contrast play into a cheap farce? Luden Edelvine. Sixth seat of the Senate. One of the highest powers in the coalition. Why would he, as the highest power, bother to touch my artistic work by discarding everything?
...Damn it, I didn’t bring the lighter.
“Is fire needed?”
Turning to the voice, Luden Edelvine was there, smoking a cigarette. Despite sitting on the bench, his height was similar to the adjutant standing next to him.
“Lieutenant Rin, lend him a lighter.”
As Luden gestured, his adjutant 'Rin Esmeralda' took out a lighter from her pocket and handed it over. Confirming the cigarette was lit, Kirup unconsciously spat.
“The Senate guy came all the way to this shabby courtroom, and even the Magnus Regime? Hahaha. It seems you have a lot of interest in that 'thing'.”
“You alone?”
He answered with a chuckle, but it was far from a normal laugh.
“Yeah, Captain Kirup. No, now Colonel? So, was torturing her fun?”
Luden continued leisurely, but Kirup, who knew about his secret mission to carry out the Senate’s Third seat’s orders, warned him and lowered the cigarette in his hand.
“You should be careful with what you say next. Old man.”
There was tense atmosphere, but it was limited to Kirup’s senses. Actually, Luden smiled relaxedly as if finding out his identity was nothing.
“You seem to be mistaken. From the moment I lent you the lighter, I was carefully choosing my words.”
The subtle hint of Luden’s words now became explicit.
“Beating until all bones in your body are shattered into pieces, continuing to bite when unconscious until you wake up, beating again when you regain consciousness, hanging upside down to burn the flesh, inflicting ugly wounds with rusty nails, injecting all kinds of poisons into her veins, forcibly pulling out the left eyeball... Only recovering just enough to keep her alive. Isn’t that right?”
He took a deep breath from the last drag of the cigarette and continued.
“And you thought this: 'Since it’s a 'monster', it can endure this much. Since it’s a 'monster', I need to torture harder.'”
The burly man stood up from the bench. As he stood, the sunlight was blocked, casting a shadow over where Kirup was standing. Kirup had to look up at him.
“I ask again, Captain Kirup: Yafga.”
Luden Edelvine.
Sixth seat of the Londinium Senate.
And the highest commander of the Aegis.
“Was torturing her fun?”
A being like a diamond core that had experienced thousands, no, tens of thousands of battles and honed—
Changing the 'density' of the space itself,
Spitting out quiet anger.
“When I found out that those who knew the truth of the Sector 09 catastrophe were doing such disgusting things in the back, I should have stomped them to death long ago.”
Luden threw the shortened cigarette to the ground and stomped it. The crushed cigarette was shattered beyond recognition.
“Your insane antics end here. Do you hear me? If even one report of her screams or cries from the prison reaches my ears before I safely bring her to the Edelvine family—
He looked straight into Kirup’s eyes.
His eyes filled with grave warning.
“-That cigarette will be the last one you smoke in this lifetime.”
Luden made a small gesture, and Rin, holding the gray uniform, draped it over his shoulders.
“A promotion received as compensation for torturing the savior hero. Congratulations, Colonel Kirup. Londinium is truly rotting horribly. I have realized this more clearly through this incident.”
What did he realize? Kirup couldn’t say a word and was overwhelmed by him. The air around was heavy as lead. Every time he tried to speak, the oppressive feeling crushed him.
“Did you get the answer you wanted after the torture? Ah, I asked a stupid question. Of course, you couldn’t have found out.”
Without any answer, Luden was confident that he hadn’t gotten what he wanted. And the confidence was accurate. Even after three months of non-stop torture before the trial, Elia didn’t utter the information Kirup needed.
“Even if I go to the bottom of hell and dance with demons, it seems she had something to protect. That’s what 'resolve' is. You trash should see and learn.”
With these words, Luden turned his back.
As he turned his back, Kirup’s stiff tongue magically loosened.
“Lieutenant Rin, throw that lighter away immediately.”
“Yes, Luden-nim.”
Rin threw the lighter she received from Kirup onto the ground and followed behind him.
Night.
Deep in the Londinium prison.
“After living the life of a hermit until the time of death—
With fear filling my chest,
Asking for a new life for another existence—
I will not become a praying one.
Singing the dirge for my comrades,
I will meet death where my comrades fell.”
Profoundly mournful tone.
The elf who lost an eye to torture,
Letting tears flow from the empty eye socket—
Singing a sad song.
The bats were crying along.