“Thank you, Lord. Amen.”

That’s what he said. After all of it.

Softly, barely perceivable. But everyone heard it, because nobody else dared say a word.

A select few officers were still seated, determined to go down with the ship. Sir Reiker, the representative of the founders, was one of these few. Sam was not. She had already been standing, but that didn’t mean she had escaped. As a matter of fact, she hadn’t even tried to run. The most simple reason as to why was because George was still sitting.

And although she could easily imagine dying for his sake, she could not bear living in a world without him. And so, she stayed. Hands gripping her sword harder than she had ever gripped it before, she stayed. Eyes trembling, hands shivering, she watched as his eyes slowly opened again. For once, it appeared that he could actually see them. In those white eyes of his, there was a presence that thought and considered and saw them.

Only five minutes ago, there had been no such presence in his eyes. He may have been answering questions and describing the horrid life he had led, but he had not been there. He had been somewhere else entirely, and they noticed it far too late.

Now, the lot of them could only watch in stunned silence as blood dripped from the roof. Some little sound came from up there, but no one knew what it was until it finally slid down from two floors up.

The lower half of a man dropped down to the ground beside Kreig with a splat, a burst of blood hitting Kreig’s right sabaton. It didn’t even make a mark.

Somehow, that acted as the starting gun.

Those who had been lingering about the doors, just on the cusp of running away now threw them open, abandoning honour and bravery alike. Sam envied them. She wanted to run. She really did. She wanted to throw herself towards the door and climb over all those officers and escape before anyone even knew what had happened. But her feet were glued to the floor. George wouldn’t move either.

A minute or so passed. In the end, barely seven people remained in the room. Even the judge had decided to evacuate. But just as before, Sir Reiker remained, his face neutral and frozen. Sam was unsure whether those few who were left had simply been petrified with fear, or if they were just stupid. She was a little bit of both.

With the attorney gone, nobody said a word. It felt strange to consider it, but where he sat chained to his chair, Kreig almost appeared a little awkward. It was almost as though he wanted to say something but couldn’t bring himself to break the silence.

The one who finally did was Sir Reiker, who sighed loudly and massaged his temples. Then, while everyone watched him, he stood up. “Winter, will you please ask your guard to go fetch someone to remove… it?” He jerked his thumb at the corpse beside Kreig.

Winter, a white-haired woman who was still trembling even now, said, “Y-, yes, sir! Randy, will you-,”

“It will not be necessary.” His baritone voice cut through, silencing Winter thoroughly. Everyone turned to him where he sat like a chained ruler. To Sam, it almost seemed like he had originally intended to say something else as well, but now that everyone was looking at him, he felt too self-conscious to do it. So, instead, he bent down and touched the body. Within seconds, a white fire consumed it, transforming it and the blood pooling out of it into snow. Kreig didn’t seem to see anything wrong with it.

…It was exactly something her brother would have done. It was stupid and it was hasty but it did solve a problem.

It was so alike him that she almost forgot that he didn’t appear to care at all about the sanctity of human life.

Sir Reiker, in stunned awe and fair, forgot to reply for a few seconds. Then, he said, “...I had originally intended to save this for later, but I suppose there will be no better time. Samantha, George? Would you like to introduce yourselves?”

Sam could feel her mouth flounder agape. Looking at how George jerked in his seat, he surely felt the same way.

They were going to do that here? Now? Right after he killed at least one person and disposed of their body? What the hell was Reiker thinking?!

And then she took a glance around the room. At the moment, only the most essential people remained. Since Sir Reiker had ordered for the evacuation of the entire facility and nearby areas, if she or George said something wrong and Kreig did something horrible again, only they would die. A similar situation could be manufactured at a later date, but it would take days or even weeks, not to mention the matter of evacuating several blocks again. As for Kreig himself, he’d be much more understanding of evacuating the facility like this than if it was just to meet them.

If he suspected that their meeting was somehow going to upset him, then he might react more harshly if they did upset him, or he might be vigilant for such things as lies.

Sam clutched her hand, trying to restrain a tremor.

Okay. Alright. He might have a point, but this was still-,

“...Yes, of course. We would be delighted to.” Before she had time to pull herself together, George rose from his seat, causing Sam - who stood right behind him - to stumble back in surprise. He turned to her. Although he had always been the paler of the two of them, she had never seen his face whiter. “Shall we?” There wasn’t a flicker of hope in his eyes. In there, she saw only endless stoicism.

“Of-, of course.”

Together, side by side, they stepped towards Kreig where he sat. His endlessly white eyes followed them with curiosity. And just like when he watched her before, meeting his eyes made her skin crawl with ants. Sweat beaded on her forehead but she resisted the urge to wipe it away. She couldn’t show her true feelings. Everything hinged on the two of them being amicable towards him.

But how could she pretend to love him when he didn’t seem to care at all about the pile of dead snow at his feet?

Standing before him, Sam felt like a peasant before the throne of a king.

“H-, hello,” George stammered, unable to fully take the gaze of their brother. “As you may have heard, my name is George W-, Wiedermann, and this is-,”

“I’m Sam,” Sam said, trying to show just a single ounce of bravery. “Sam Wiedermann.”

His eyes shone with recognition, though not at their faces or names, but rather at their last names. “You are…?”

Sam nodded deeply. “Yes. We’re… I’m your sister. He’s your brother.” She glanced away. “We… We thought you died.”

He didn’t answer, but the light in his eyes shifted somewhat.

In his stead, George spoke gravely. “With your supposed death, we… Well, as you might imagine, neither of us were exactly invited only because we’re your… Siblings. Rather, I’m… We’ve both joined IOCRO in our own ways, I suppose. In that way, we’re rather alike, both being men of the military.”

Kreig nodded deeply. “Yes, yes… I see…” The silence grew thick once more, but before Sam could muster the courage to break it, Kreig spoke once more. “Forgive my quiet, I am simply stunned. I had believed myself alone in this world, but with the two of you…” He closed his eyes, and with emotion that shocked her to the core, he shed a tear. Then another, and yet one more. When he opened his eyes again, they were muddy and she could no longer think straight. “How are mother and father? I hope that they will not despise me for the damage I’ve caused…”

“N-, no, of course not!” Sam hurriedly said. “They’re-, well, right now they’re resting at home, your return did give them quite a fright, but I’m sure you’ll get to meet them in due time, okay?” She lied with a fervour she had never lied with before. Not even when trying to hide her drug abuse from her brother had she spoken this fluently and confidently. She may never have been an incredible liar, but at this moment, she made up for it with guts. She had to do it. She had to make sure he believed her. Otherwise, she’d die. And George too. And maybe the rest of the city as well. If a prayer alone could do that, then…

She shook her head. George placed his hand on her shoulder. “Yes, that’s right. Compared to such persons as Sir Reiker I may not have much power, but I will use it all for your sake.”

Once more, Kreig hung his head down, his movement causing the chains holding him to klink. “Thank God, thank God…” Tears began to stream down his eyes once more, making Sam feel slimy and disgusting. “I am glad to have been given this opportunity…” His hands moved to clasp together, but Sam - in her endless stress - moved faster. She placed a hand on his, stopping him from praying once more. He opened his eyes.

The armour under her hand felt cold but, worse of all, it felt sticky. Like half-dried blood. She was absolutely assured that if she lifted her hand, it would be covered in the bloody residue of countless innocents.

A tremble gripped her once more and she bit her lip to restrain it, but now she was so close to him, to that angel of death. He was inches from her face, his bone-white eyes piercing into her, streaks of tears running down his cheeks, reminding her that somehow this monster - this man-slaying beast in human form - was actually supposed to be her brother. As close as she was to him now, he could slay her without even snapping the chains, though there was no doubt in her mind that he could have done so easily no matter where she was. He didn’t even need to use his hands, either. He had plenty of spells and skills that could kill people in the blink of an eye.

Her teeth began to chatter. She wondered in her endless terror whether or not that prayer would destroy her, should he use it.

She remained with her hand on his only because she could not bear to run.

Gently, he bowed his head, and tears fell onto his lap. “Yes, yes. Of course. It is as you ask, sister. For your sake…” He glanced up and his eyes quickly found George. “No, for the sake of you both, I shall restrain myself. So that one day, the two of you, and I and our dear parents, may all be together once more. I swear it to you, that I will do everything in my power to make this a reality.”

Sam couldn’t bear to shatter his dream and tell him that could never happen.

The only thing left of their parents were a pair of body-less graves. Maybe, in a few years, should he become as mentally stable as they needed him to be, they might visit the graves together. But Sam couldn’t dare to hope that. She could barely even dare to meet the eyes of her own brother.

Frozen where she stood, she barely noticed how Kreig removed his hand from under hears and moved it towards her face. Needles stabbed into her whole body as she recalled the angel of death reaching out and gripping the back of a boy’s skull, crushing it in his grip. Her chest felt tight and she couldn’t move. She couldn’t even breathe, but as she stared at the approaching hand of death before her, it suddenly stalled.

“...Forgive me, I realize it may have been sudden, but…” He glanced away, for once being the first to break eye contact. “May touch your hair?”

Her mouth felt too dry to answer. She wanted to refuse him, but instead, she nodded stiffly. She didn’t want to die. She didn’t want to die.

Gingerly, he reached towards her, until a thought hit him and he retreated it. She released a breath. Then, carefully, he removed his gauntlet. The hand below was stained with almost as much red as was on the glove. He mumbled something about how he hoped she wouldn’t mind the blood, but she couldn’t concentrate on it over the sound of her breath growing quick and her heart drumming in her ears.

A hand fell on her head. She squeezed her eyes shut, hoping this wouldn’t be the end.

Slowly, warily, he touched her hair, tugging lightly on the red locks. She felt like dying.

After only a few seconds, he returned his hand again and put his gauntlet back on. “...Forgive me, I sincerely hope I have not upset you.”

“No, it’s okay.” She spoke with all the emotion of an automaton. “It’s fine.”

In what appeared to be genuine care, he sighed. “Thank God, I would hate for you to dislike me. It is only that, well…” He glanced at his hand. “It has simply been so long since I felt anything soft. Thank you.”

Sam resisted the urge to ask him if the brain matter of a child didn’t feel soft.

Acting almost only with his permission, she stepped back, still unable to breathe easily. If he wanted to, he could just stand up and walk over to her, after all. Beside her, George stood with unnatural stillness, like a wax statue.

Before silence could permeate the room once more, Sir Reiker stepped into the group, speaking like the authority he was. “I’m glad you’re getting along so well. Sadly, on account of various events, we cannot allow you to rejoin society quite yet. However, I believe that the jury has reached a decision. The judge, unfortunately, ran away, so I will have to act as final say.”

Moving with large strides that hid his emotions effectively, Sir Reiker stepped over to his table and took hold of the gavel. “Our judgement rules as follows: defendant Kreig Wiedermann will, for the coming six months, prove his mental fortitude by assisting in the destruction of portals. He will act as an extra-portal guard rather than an internal one. He will be allowed to keep weapons and armour, and during his time as guard, he will be assisted by Samantha Widermann.

“Outside of these situations, Kreig Wiedermann is to receive accommodations from IOCRO alongside anything else he might need. In six months, an additional hearing will be conducted to give a final judgement on Kreig Wiedermann’s mental state.” He glanced out over the present jury, which consisted of three guards and three jury-members. “Are all present in agreement?” Nobody answered. “I’ll take that as a yes.”

With a smack of the gavel, the interrogation of Kreig Wiedermann was thus concluded.