The Case of Being Reincarnated as a Heretic Mob Character in an Eroge Where Everyone is Extremely Determined - Chapter 30

Chapter 30: I’m the one who wants to say ‘damn it, I’ll kill you’

After being scolded by Juanquiro and returning my arm to its place, I slowly opened and closed my hands to make sure all ten fingers were intact.

My fingers on other Executives’ bodies, such as index fingers and pinkies that had been used to fill in for missing pieces were apparently preserved before putting themselves through a blender.

When my fingers came rolling out of the burlap sack that was handed to me, I was delighted.

Glad my fingers weren’t gone, you know.

Joanne was feeling down because she couldn’t swap bodies and let off steam. Since I had mercifully left her ring finger intact, I hoped she would bear with it.

“Both of you, wear gloves.”

“Is it because if someone sees the transplant scars, they might deduce the ‘Mobile Fortress Plan’?”

“That’s right. Celestia is smart, after all.”

Joanne and I were made to wear black gloves.

Joanne, who had been grumbling, suddenly smiled brightly, saying, ‘We match!’

As for me, I’m not in the mood to be smiling, but really, what can I do?

(Before we face each other, let’s get things straight. First, I’ll summarize what Celestia knows.)

I’ve met Celestia face-to-face three times.

The first time was when I cornered Celestia in the forest as she was being pursued.

The second time was when Joanne and I were lured into a trap and almost ambushed.

The third time was when I was nearly killed in the back alleys of the city of Daskell.

There’s nothing in particular to mention about the first encounter.

At that time, we didn’t really have a conversation, and my relationship with Joanne was very general.

However, things change from the second time onwards. It was at this point that I started to get noticed because of the influence I had as Joanne’s marker.

In summary, Celestia knows my name and thinks I’m Joanne’s right-hand man. She also knows that I was obsessed with ‘Alfie.’

And because we met before the collapse of Daskell, she might have a faint suspicion that I’m the reason why the five Executives were summoned.

(Was it unnecessary to talk about Alfie? It’s too late for regrets now, but if she latches onto my statement that I’m an ally of the orthodox church, it’ll be even more troublesome…)

Previously, I managed to escape the pursuit of Juanquiro and Pork by bringing up Alfie.

The heretical Executives know his name as well.

Captured Celestia seems to know about Alfie too—probably heard it from Marietta—so I have no choice but to handle that well.

It would be convenient if Juanquiro and the others’ perception stopped at ‘Oakley is a madman’… but that’s something I’ll have to leave to fate.

Following Juanquiro and Joanne, I arrived at the heart of the city of Metashim.

Where the demolished Orthodox church once stood, a building adorned with the symbol of the Aaros Temple Order had been constructed, serving as a haven for the common Heretics.

Passing by it, we made our way underground to the newly-built torture facility.

“Juanquiro, Joanne, and Oakley have arrived.”

‘Ah, thank you for your hard work.’

As Juanquiro pushed open the iron door, inside were five Executives standing around Celestia, who was restrained in a chair.

Aaros, Shadiq, Stella, Pork, and now the newly arrived Juanquiro, Joanne, and myself.

There was one man who seemed out of place, but the sight of seven Executives crammed into a small torture room was indeed impressive.

“Oakley-kun, you did well to survive the last operation,”

“No, it’s thanks to Aaros-sama and Joanne-sama.”

“Haha, you say such pleasing things.”

The man in the mask smiles at me and with a jerk of his chin, directs my gaze towards Celestia, who is tied to a chair.

There sat Celestia, scattering a murderous glare all around her.

Her long silver hair stuck to her face here and there, and a single streak of blood dripped from the corner of her mouth.

The nun’s clothing that had covered her skin was now a pitiful rag, barely covering her chest and lower abdomen.

Around her neck was the ‘Cursed Chain’ of Juanquiro, and the rest of her body was covered by Aaros’s ‘shadows’, indicating just how fierce her resistance had been.

“After Joanne withdrew, we escaped from Daskell. Saren and Pomett did not follow us, but Celestia was different. She bravely pursued me alone, intent on taking me down.”

With Aaros’s explanation, I was able to make sense of this strange situation.

It would have been impossible to capture an Executive while Saren was nearby.

If Celestia were isolated, the probability of her magic being neutralized by Aaros’s ‘shadow’ would greatly increase.

This is because when one’s heart is weakened, being enveloped by Aaros’s ‘shadow’ results in a special effect that prevents any attacks against those belonging to the Aaros Temple Order.

Why Celestia’s heart was weakened is unknown, but considering pursuing Guru Aaros in a numerically disadvantaged situation is evidence of a lack of composure.

It’s rather surprising she wasn’t killed.

Against the anything-goes Aaros, the future-foresight Shadiq, the perfectly offensive and defensive Stella, and Pork who manipulates despicable thorns, she should take pride that she was left with even a piece of flesh.

(Why did Celestia commit such an uncharacteristic blunder? She would have been safe if she had stayed with Saren and Pomett…)

My gaze intersects with Celestia’s, her eyes swollen from crying.

I really wanted to hug her and then let her go, but I feigned indifference and looked down at her with a cold gaze.

At this rate, Celestia will be killed.

She will experience all the sufferings of this world, never to reunite with her family, and will vanish without even leaving a corpse behind.

Her close friends like Cress, Pomett, and Saren would be especially saddened.

I desperately want the Orthodox Executives to come to her rescue, but if they were to plan a rescue operation, it would play right into Aaros’s hands.

They would be pulled up one by one, leading to a route where all the Orthodox Executives are wiped out.

That’s why Saren is bound to give up on rescuing Celestia.

(No matter how I struggle, this is the worst situation. Damn, it’s precisely because Aaros and his team are so capable…)

As I was thinking about how to help her escape, Celestia, who had been coughing, widened her purple eyes.

“…Oakley Mercury… It was you, wasn’t it? You, who are Joanne’s marker, used the properties of healing magic to transfer the five Executives… If only… if only I had killed you, the city of Daskell would have―agh!?”

With a vile smile, Juanquiro delivered a full-force kick to the taut solar plexus of Celestia.

As her toe dug in, Celestia coughed up blood and convulsed with coughs.

“Since I’m a non-combatant, it was like a dream, you know. To be able to kick an orthodox Executive right in the gut.”

Juanquiro’s expression savored the earnest joy.

Celestia, being an Executive, wouldn’t die from a mere kick to the stomach.

Her wounds would probably heal completely in a matter of seconds.

What was more surprising was that Celestia had pieced together the full scope of the ‘mobile fortress plan.’

Given this development, Aaros and his team would be even less likely to let her return alive.

“―As you can see, she seems to be quite smitten with Oakley-kun. My power worked well because of her obsession and impatience towards you, I suppose.”

Aaros turned his head with a flourish to face me.

The fact that I had faced Celestia three times meant, conversely, that Celestia had let a small fry like me escape three times.

There’s a difference in gravity between letting a heretical Executive escape and a common Heretic.

As a result of failing to kill me, Daskell collapsed, and a large number of people died―I thought it was understandable that she would feel pressured and become mentally weakened.

“Oakley-kun, how about you? Opportunities to kick an Orthodox Executive are rare, you know.”

After watching the powerless Juanquiro unilaterally torment Celestia, Aaros offered such meddling advice.

He wasn’t testing my loyalty; it was a word of pure concern, suggesting that I probably would want to do it too.

Even if I refused here, Aaros probably wouldn’t mind, but the gaze of the other Executives was too frightening.

Terrified of being glared at by someone like Shadiq, I could only nod my head in agreement.

“Yes, I do owe her one—”

Instead of a half-hearted kick, I decided to go for a full-powered one. It’s the worst to hold back in situations like this.

As Juanquiro made space with a sparkling look of anticipation, I aimed my toes at the silent Celestia’s chin while she sat on the chair.

A high kick with an afterimage at its tip. A sound like the grinding of bone echoed, and Celestia’s teeth were sent flying.

“Ohh~~!”

The Executives all around burst into applause. It seemed quite rare for someone without a title to land a blow on an Executive class.

Aaros clapped his hands in delight.

Juanquiro wrapped an arm around my shoulder, saying, ‘Feels good, doesn’t it!?’

Stella hurriedly began to gather the scattered teeth.

Shadiq smiled, ‘It’s good for young people to be sharp’.

Pork nodded repeatedly, convinced of my loyalty.

Joanne, with her face turning red, placed her hand on her lower abdomen, breathing heavily.

“Stella-sama, what are you collecting the teeth for…”

“…to roll it on the tongue and savor the sweetness… just like a sugar candy.”

I think sweets and teeth are completely different, though.

When I hesitantly looked toward Celestia, her eyes were raging with a passion that seemed ready to devour me.

If Aaros’s special restraint ends, I’ll probably be the first one to be killed.

“Oh, how scary… what have you been doing to Celestia these past few days?”

“We’ve been torturing her.”

“Well, normal torture doesn’t make her spill anything, you know. She doesn’t even scream, isn’t that amazing?”

Juanquiro pulled over a desk on wheels, showing off the torture instruments spread out on top.

An assortment of blades and scissors. Iron masses that looked like branding irons and nail-pulling devices.

Just looking at them was enough to makes me feel like choking as if tortures were about to materialize behind my eyelids.

However, well, if I had healing magic, maybe I would have endured without spilling a word, just like Celestia.

If I could somehow withstand it, then surely those who are fully determined wouldn’t break under mere torture.

Well, even if they don’t break from torture, it’s certain that they would end up spilling information once brainwashed by Aaros’s magic.

When one is enveloped in Aaros’s shadow, a state of suppressed hostile actions continues for a certain period, and eventually, those invaded by the shadow become susceptible to brainwashing and memory manipulation.

In other words, that torture is merely a form of amusement.

Considering that several days have passed since Celestia was captured, it might be about time for the brainwashing and memory manipulation to begin.

“…Kill me quickly.”

It’s a plea for death that brings no joy.

As expected, even Celestia can’t fight back when surrounded by the six Executives, and while it’s a natural sentiment―

“Hehe, you think we’ll just easily kill you?”

From Juanquiro’s tone and the chains linked to Celestia’s neck from a different dimension, it’s likely that Celestia has already been affected by the ‘Curse of Chains’.

Celestia, not one to betray her comrades, would naturally spout lies, fulfilling the conditions to be affected by the instant death effect.

As if signaling readiness, the chain around her neck was pulsating intensely.

The reason Juanquiro doesn’t kill Celestia is, as mentioned earlier because Aaros possesses the ability to brainwash and alter memories.

It was clear as day that it was more beneficial to have Celestia fill a seat as a legitimate Orthodox Executive while also working as the eighth Executive of the Heretics rather than just killing her and ending it there.

Juanquiro’s ability is sometimes considered by original fans to be an inferior version of Aaros’s.

There are even voices saying that it would be easier to rely on Aaros’s brainwashing if they could extract the same information.

However, Aaros’s brainwashing takes a considerable amount of time.

Time is precious—knowing just the target’s face, name, and age, Juanquiro’s ability to instantly verify the truth of information is indeed more convenient than Aaros’s.

Right now, chances to capture a mentally weakened Executive might never come again, so it’s a matter of choosing the right tool for the job.

“By the way, Juanquiro-sama, what is this strange thing she was blurting out?”

“It’s nothing important. She was just blurting out that you’re an ally of the Orthodox Church and talking about ‘Alfie’.”

That is a significant matter. I brace myself, feeling a chill.

Celestia, who had been observing the subtle changes in my expression, looked puzzled.

“Well, Oakley-kun, why don’t you explain?”

“Indeed, I did say that I was an ally of the Orthodox Church, but that was a ruse to deceive Celestia. Thanks to this lie, I was able to escape from her and successfully carry out a surprise attack. Though I did get my left leg cut off.”

Despite being within a two-meter radius, Juanquiro’s chains do not fly at me.

If they were to come, it would be when the matter of Alfie is dug up.

“I see, so the reason you had your leg cut off was because you were attacked by Celestia.”

“Oh… to have escaped the Orthodox Executive three times. You’ve done well to accomplish this.”

I managed to deceive them with my statements in favor of the Orthodoxy. But…

(Please spare Alfie…! I never imagined Celestia would get caught. Don’t press this, Juanquiro…!)

Despite my wishes, Juanquiro lightly tapped Celestia on the shoulder with a casual tone.

“So, who is Alfie in the end? Does he even exist? Give me a straight answer, Celestia~”

“…Alfie was a civilian who died in the battle at Metashim…. now that you mention it, Oakley was quite fixated on him… Where did you learn about him?”

(Ugh… Don’t say anything unnecessary, Celestia! You’ll make me suspicious!)

I’m seized by a desperation that feels like my entire body is being torn apart.

Alfie is dead. There’s no problem there, but I’ve conveyed far too dangerous statements about him being the hope of humanity or the key to defeating Aaros to Celestia.

Despite steadily earning the Executive’s trust, it’s the end of the line if everything falls apart here.

My life would literally be over.

“Oh my? Delusions and reality seem to be mixing. Could you explain what she mean, Oakley-kun?”

Juanquiro speaks, and the gazes of the six heretic Executives pierce through me.

This is bad—very… very bad.

What should have been the ravings of a madman is now taking a dangerous turn due to the remarks of Celestia and Juanquiro.

“Didn’t I tell you that my obsession with Alfie is due to the memories of living as him that exist within me?”

I made a desperate excuse. Celestia frowned as if to say, ‘What is this guy talking about?’

I tried to come up with a clever excuse to save myself, but before I could, Juanquiro’s suspicious gaze pierced through me.

In an instant, I was entangled in the chains of a curse, and my freedom was taken away.

“I get that, but it means that not everything said about Alfie is nonsense anymore… We have to re-examine past statements, right?”

“Hey Juanquiro, what are you doing to my Oakley?”

“Just clearing up doubts. There’s a chance, however slim it might be. Just in case… you know…”

Chained with a looser restraint than before, I waited for Juanquiro’s words.

Celestia, seemingly clueless about what was happening, blinked her eyes in confusion and became a mere spectator to the situation.