The Case of Being Reincarnated as a Heretic Mob Character in an Eroge Where Everyone is Extremely Determined - Chapter 14

Chapter 14: The Madman’s Escape Route

It had been a few days since the Metashim region fell and the manipulated corpses began to manage the ruined city.

While the Guru Aarlos and many Believers were modifying Metashim, I was brought back to the base and restrained.

Excluding the time spent on the return, I had been locked up in an interrogation room for a whole day.

During that time, Joanne had diligently fed me and kept me company as a conversation partner—

(Finally, it begins. The interrogation by Juanquiro that will decide my fate…)

As Joanne left, the ones who entered were the tanned woman with white hair, Juanquiro, and the beautiful woman in man’s clothing, Pork.

Surrounded by women who were a sight to the eyes, I continued to ruminate on the plan I had been thinking about for the past few days.

As their footsteps stopped close to me, Pork’s pale, slender hand forcibly lifted my face.

Both of them had fierce expressions, and for some reason, I could see a hint of disappointment in their eyes.

“Well-well, Oakley. It’s been a few days.”

“…It’s been a while.”

Unlike Joanne, who was doubtful as how she should interacted with me, Juanquiro and Pork—especially the latter—seemed to be already thinking about how they would execute me.

Pork, with a sadistic smile, toyed with me by gently stroking my Adam’s apple with the pad of her finger.

(I have to get through this situation. Otherwise, real death will come. Or, I’ll be forced to go through something even more painful than death. This is reality, and I’m the one who has to clean up any mess from my failure. There’s no such thing as a protagonist. In this world, the naive belief that ‘I alone will be okay’ doesn’t work…)

I swallowed my saliva and steeled my gaze with determination.

As Pork caressed my chin, she began to speak.

“OakleyMercury. I was truly disappointed when I experienced your act of betrayal in the Metashim city… I had heard you were a fervent Believer, yet you committed the treachery of attacking your brethren. And just when I thought you had resorted to self-harm, you went mad… Haha, what exactly did you want to do?”

A scornful laugh filled with contempt.

Really, what did I want to do?

Let’s organize the situation for once.

In the battle of Metashim, I attacked Steve, a puppet controlled by Pork.

Unable to kill Steve, unable to fully become a Heretic, and unable to seek the true intentions behind Pork’s words, I walked into a checkmate myself.

Having her witnessed everything through Steve, I despaired at the gravity of my situation and went mad.

By the time I had somehow regained my sanity, the invasion of the Metashim region had been completed.

The more I think back, the more my actions at that time lack consistency and coherence; it wouldn’t be strange to dismiss them as ‘the abnormal behavior of a madman.’

I’ve been making low-level blunders, and it’s truly the worst. Even if it had been difficult to realize Steve’s true identity from the beginning. If only I had allocated resources to consider and protect myself in light of Pork’s surveillance remarks, I wouldn’t have fallen into this situation.

Pork thrusts my jaw away as if tossing it aside.

Juanquiro, who must have heard everything from Pork, begins to explain her abilities again in preparation for the interrogation that is about to begin.

―A ‘curse’ that causes death to those who make false statements about themselves within a radius of two meters when the face, name, and age of the other party are known. The moment they are chained, the subject cannot unchain themselves until they answer the question.

“Oakley-kun, I don’t want to do this either, you know? Everyone understands your dedication. It’s hard to find someone in this base who can shout ‘Aaros-sama is the best’ every morning.”

So my regular stress relief was overheard…

How loud was I? This is just adding insult to injury…

“That’s why it must be a misunderstanding, right? I believe that you are a true Believer, Oakley-kun.”

Juanquiro speaks with an emotionless expression.

I vaguely think that she definitely doesn’t believe that either. She wants me dead.

Juanquiro extends her hand towards me.
Then chains stretch out from the darkness, beginning to tightly constrict my neck.

“—Answer the question, Oakley Mercury. Why did you attack an ally at that time? If you tell a lie, I’ll kill you. If you don’t answer within ten seconds, I’ll also kill you.”

In this place, the most heinous power bares its fangs.

The hands of the clock move mercilessly, seven seconds remaining.

I squeezed out the answer I had prepared in advance.

“There was a purpose. I wanted to search for a child.”

“…”

Juanquiro and Pork exchanged glances and tilted their heads.

They must have thought I was about to confess to a betrayal; they looked anticlimactic..

Ah, yes, I wanted to search save a child.

The ordinary boy who was supposed to become the protagonist.

The one with the determination and mental strength to destroy the evil cult.

Seeing the corpse of the childhood friend, it was certain that he too had been caught up in the battle with Metashim.

I wanted to save him, and in doing so, save myself. I wanted to be at ease. I wanted to push the role of eradicating all evil onto someone else.

That’s why I attacked Steve.

“The reason you took action at that time wasn’t just that. It was an act of betrayal against the cult, wasn’t it? Tell me everything about why you were fixated on that child.”

Juanquiro delved into my words.

I had been waiting for that question. I took a small breath and began to speak with momentum.

“…The child I was looking for is named ‘Alfie.’ In fact, I have memories of living in that town as ‘Alfie’… In a sense, you could say that another me was there. Anyway, I wanted to meet him.”

“…Huh?”

“Please listen, Juanquiro-sama. If I had met him, it ‘might’ have led to the weakening of the Orthodoxy. Certainly, attacking Steve was an act of betrayal. However, when viewed from a broader perspective, my actions should have been praised as a wise decision.”

“…what is this guy talking about?”

“But at the last moment, I hesitated. Steve is my friend. I struggled with the hesitation to kill. That’s how I somehow came back to my senses.”

To an onlooker, it might seem as if I suddenly started spouting nonsensical ravings. But that was the intention.

Pork, looking baffled by my repeated nonsense, and Juanquiro’s frozen reaction were the results.

“Have you lost your mind? In the first place, memories from childhood are due to the indoctrination by the cult… Juanquiro? What’s wrong?”

“…Wait, hold on. What does this mean? Why… isn’t the chain… reacting…!?”

Since all my words were true, Juanquiro began to scratch her white hair in confusion.

Pork was puzzled behind her, watching the scene unfold.

Exactly. Juanquiro is bound to be confused.

Because there is no falsehood in what I said.

The protagonist’s name in the original work is Alfie.

It’s not a particularly strange thing to say if I wanted to meet him.

But what if she was given that information and realize that all of it was true?

Juanquiro would surely be greatly confused.

That’s why I decided to add unnecessary words in anticipation.

‘I have his memories’. ‘He is like another self to me’.

‘If I had met him, it might have led to the weakening of the orthodox faith’. ‘My actions should have been praised as a wise decision’.

‘Steve is a friend, and I hesitated to kill him’. ‘I have come back to my senses’.

These extra pieces of information are what I believe to be true.

Take, for example, the third statement.

Imagine the protagonist, who became a hero because of the tragic experiences he faced, being saved by me, a Heretic.

The hero’s determination, who is determined to kill Heretics at all costs, might waver, and he might not awaken into a hero.

If the protagonist does not awaken, my actions could bring immense benefits to the cult.

In other words, it’s the truth. I haven’t lied about anything.

And what would Juanquiro think of me right?

I must look like nothing but a madman, spewing nonsensical settings. Yet it’s the truth.

Her ability to judge every word and phrase becomes her downfall.

If information that seems meaningless at first glance is proven to be true, then due to the nature of her ability, she can’t ignore the inferences that come to light.

Juankiro, who is intelligent, would probably label me like this when I blurt out meaningless truths such as having memories of living as a stranger.

―Oakley Mercury is an anomaly, a madman.

Therefore, her ability to discern truth from lies doesn’t work well on me―that’s what she would think.

Juanquiro’s ability has a clear weakness besides taking time to prepare. And this clever girl must be aware of it.

The weakness of her ability is that it doesn’t work on a madman.

It is impossible to determine that what the subject believes to be true is a ‘lie’—a weakness that exists due to a power that depends not on objective facts but on subjective responses…

That misconception… and my previous life.

These two elements were the key to my salvation.

Twisting those elements, I convincingly feigned madness.

Using Juanquiro’s magic, I shrouded the true intent of my actions in smoke.

That was my only chance of victory.

I possess knowledge that no one else has. I have memories of seeing numerous futures that no one knows about.

No matter how physically skilled or adept at supernatural magic they may be, they don’t know the other side of the world.

In this respect, I was distinctly different from them.

How many loops do you think I’ve been through?

I have relived everything that happened in that town.

It’s only natural that I have memories of the town of Metashim.

In a sense… it’s also true that there was another me in that town.

Also, it’s true that I thought of Steve as a friend.

My desire for the outcome of fainting was due to those feelings, and the fact that I came back to my senses thanks to him aligns with the truth.

“Juanquiro, he’s trying to cloud us in smoke. Don’t be misled.”

“No, it’s not that I’m being misled. All of his statements in his mind… they’re the truth…”

Upon hearing Juanquiro’s words, Pork quickly changed her expression.

“Have you realized? The weakness of my ability lies in the effort required to fulfill the conditions and—another thing. It can’t adapt to a madman… The chains don’t react to something the target believes to be true…”

“T-then―”

Juanquiro, with an awkward twist of her face, glares at me.

Just when I thought she averted her gaze, she retracted the chains back into the darkness.

“He was crazy from the start… That’s why he can’t understand anything beyond his own ‘truth’. It seems he’s beyond my control.”

Even if doubts can be followed, they cannot judge me. Juanquiro’s ability ends there.

Their interpretation has been settled.

This is what they think my true intentions are.

The reason for the attack on Steve was because I wanted to meet a certain child. And the reason for meeting that child was for the future of the cult.

However, I hesitated to kill a comrade at the last moment and went mad.

Saved by coincidence and necessity, I managed to deceive two Executives.

The truth vanished into the darkness, leaving only the objective fact that a madman had attacked Steve.

“All his statements up to now have become unreliable. My chains are also useless.”

“Don’t be ridiculous… Just because he’s a madman… you think I can accept that!?”

“Pork. There are plenty of crazy kids in this place. It’s just a coincidence that the Believer we were watching turned out to be a lunatic.”

From Juanquiro’s side, there should be no more questions to ask.

They witnessed my suspicious actions, but they don’t have the ‘original’ storyline or knowledge from a past life.

In other words, they don’t know the ‘second truth’ within me, and from an outsider’s perspective, I must seem like nothing but a madman no matter how you look at it.

The intent behind the attack on Steve is shifted from ‘an act of betrayal’ to ‘the good deed of a madman.’

Although this will undoubtedly result in harsher treatment, the fate of a mad Believer is a choice between re-education or transfer to another branch.

In other words, survival is still possible.

“…Damn it. So, what’s he going to do? He is a Believer that Aaros-sama is taking notice of, but… attacking an autonomous operation type during a mission is problematic, isn’t it?”

“We’ll need to deal with that, but he has survived two encounters with the orthodox Executive. Isn’t he too valuable to kill?”

“…Even though my corpse is fully automatically operational, we are short-handed. There might be a use for such a person after all…”

While having this conversation, the two of them left the room.

I waited until their presence had completely vanished before letting out a deep, deep sigh.

Ironically, I was saved by my past inconsistency and lack of coherence.

In addition, by the so-called ‘original work’ I was clinging to. And also, by pretending to be a Believer who had gone mad in the harsh environment as a cover.

…It’s really an ironic story. I was saved by the elements I hated the most.

I had thought I would never pretend to be a madman, that I would be the only sane one in this world, but look at me now.

(Normal or mad, it doesn’t matter. I’ll survive.)

Just being swayed around won’t do.

I need to have the determination to be the one doing the swaying.

Wrapped in the despair of the future to come, and maybe a tiny bit of hope, I slowly closed my eyelids.