A Curtain or Blindness?

Every eye was focused in one direction.

On one person.

Jinsu.

He stood in the middle of the hall, surrounded by countless gazes.

But strangely...

He wasn't looking at them.

He was staring straight ahead as though he wasn't even here.

As though this hall wasn't the place where he was being judged.

As though none of what was happening around him concerned him.

The Council Leader raised his gaze toward him and spoke formally.

"Then, everyone... the trial shall begin."

One of the Council members stood.

"My Lord, we are honored by your presence at today's hearing to judge this cold-blooded—"

A member of the Gaya interrupted him immediately.

"Watch your words, please. He isn't the killer. It was Kaizen who controlled his body."

The Council member turned toward him angrily.

"The one possessing his body? They're one and the same! It's a single body, and it doesn't matter who killed them... what matters is the body that committed the crimes!"

Anger burned in the Gaya member's eyes.

"You bastard!"

The Council Leader slammed his gavel.

"Defense! Watch your words!"

Tsukiro grabbed Kivi by the arm and pulled him back.

"Calm down, Kivi."

Kivi sat back down.

"My apologies, My Lord."

The Council member smiled mockingly before continuing.

"My Lord, this monster plunged the Empire into crisis. He slaughtered thousands of its soldiers and claimed countless lives... and we cannot forget the murder of our great Emperor."

He raised his voice.

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"We demand justice!"

Suddenly, the voices of the crowd rose.

"We demand justice!"

"We demand justice!"

"We demand justice!"

The Council Leader slammed his gavel again.

"Silence!"

But no one listened.

The voices grew louder and louder.

Until...

Jinsu began to laugh.

A quiet laugh.

Brief.

But it was enough.

The entire hall fell silent.

The shouting stopped.

The whispers stopped.

Everything stopped.

Everyone looked at Jinsu.

A man standing before a court that could decide his fate...

And he was laughing?

The Council member froze.

He looked at Jinsu uneasily.

His fate is in our hands...

Is he really laughing?

The Council Leader raised an eyebrow.

"Is something funny, Jinsu?"

The Council member shouted,

"You murderous monster! Do you find what you've done amusing?!"

Jinsu slowly raised his head.

And looked at him.

He simply looked at him.

The Council member's body trembled.

A strange sense of dread crept into his chest.

But he pulled himself together.

At that moment, Tsukiro's hesitant voice came from behind.

"J-Jinsu?"

Jinsu didn't answer.

The Council Leader asked again.

"Jinsu."

He paused.

"This is your final question."

Silence filled the hall.

"Why are you laughing?"

Jinsu looked at him.

Then smiled.

And said mockingly,

"I'm laughing at all of you."

The hall exploded.

Shouts erupted once again.

"What did he say?!"

"You bastard!"

"Shut up!"

Tsukiro shouted,

"Jinsu! What are you doing?!"

But Jinsu didn't care.

He stood in the middle of all the chaos...

calm.

As though he were the one in control of the trial.

Among the crowd, Ivo looked at him with an excited smile.

"This bastard..."

He chuckled.

"I thought he wasn't stupid... but he's the biggest idiot I've ever seen!"

Jinsu turned toward Tsukiro.

"What?"

His smile grew more mocking.

"Are you afraid?"

Tsukiro didn't answer.

Jinsu continued.

"I'm only telling the truth."

He looked at everyone in the hall.

"You're all afraid."

The hall fell slightly quieter.

Then Jinsu raised his eyes toward the platform.

"You place your power and authority before you... and hide behind them."

His gaze moved toward the elevated seats.

"Just look at how high your chairs are."

Silence.

"And you'll understand the truth."

Jinsu raised his head.

"You're all hypocrites."

Whispers began spreading throughout the hall.

But Jinsu didn't stop.

"You're afraid of Kaizen."

The expressions of several Council members changed.

"And you haven't been able to reach him."

The whispers stopped.

"And after I sealed him..."

Jinsu smiled.

"You want to stop me because you're afraid he'll appear again."

The expressions around the hall changed.

Then he said,

"But what if I remove the seal?"

Silence.

"Here..."

Jinsu raised his hand slightly.

"Right now."

He looked around the hall.

"How many of you would survive?"

No one answered.

"Could you stop him?"

The hall became completely still.

Then Jinsu laughed.

"Execute me?"

He shook his head.

"Hahaha..."

Then he looked directly at the Council Leader.

"Don't make me laugh."

The smile disappeared from his face.

"If I die..."

He paused.

"Then no one will be able to stop Kaizen anymore."

No one moved.

"That's why you won't do it."

He smiled confidently.

"You're smarter than that."

Jinsu looked at the Council members.

"You don't actually want to execute me."

Then he added,

"You simply want to show your authority over me..."

He paused.

"And over Kaizen."

He looked around the hall.

"You want to prove to yourselves, before anyone else, that you're not afraid."

The expressions of several people began to change.

Jinsu raised his eyes toward the highest part of the hall.

Toward a place no one should have been looking at.

Then he said,

"But deep down..."

He smiled.

"You know very well that I'm the shield."

Everyone held their breath.

"Not the weapon."

Then he spoke slowly.

"So..."

His smile widened.

"Stop hiding behind your fear."

He raised his voice.

"Just listen..."

Then he looked directly toward the top of the hall.

"And show yourselves."

Everyone froze.

The voices died away until nothing remained.

No one knew what to say.

Even Tsukiro was stunned.

What?

As for Ivo...

He said nothing.

He simply smiled.

His eyes gleamed with excitement.

Jinsu...

This is better than I expected.

Then he looked toward the exact place Jinsu had been staring at.

How did he notice them?

The Council Leaders... behind the curtain?

His smile widened.

Could this be because of Kaizen's power?

For the first time since the trial began...

The question was no longer:

What will the Council do to Jinsu?

It had become:

What will Jinsu do to the Council?