The Case of Being Reincarnated as a Heretic Mob Character in an Eroge Where Everyone is Extremely Determined - Chapter 45

Chapter 45: My ass feels like it’s splitting in four from the jostling of the carriage ride.

The day has come for me to transfer to the Northeast branch.

“Ah, Oakley-kun is about to transfer. Do your best~ I’m rooting for you~”

I was lightly brushed off by Juanquiro—

“The thought of you getting even stronger gives me the chills.”

I ended up receiving some rather harsh parting words for Pork.

Remaining in the holy land of Metashim are Aaros, Pork, and Juanquiro.

Shadiq has already moved to another branch, and accompanying me to the Northeast branch are Joanne, Stella, and Celestia.

The days of a big gathering of Executives are gone, and it seems like it’s going to feel quite lonely.

While it’s understandable for Stella, who originally belonged to the Northeast branch, I have no idea why Celestia is coming with us.

However, it seems to have the advantage of being able to keep Celestia under surveillance.

With that, it turned out to be a major move for three executives, but there were also believers who wanted to go to the Northeast branch.

Apparently, there are a few Believers who were impressed by my achievements.

I wanted to say that’s ridiculous, but indeed, my achievements, albeit reluctantly, are quite significant.

It’s not surprising that they would want to hone their skills in the Northeast branch while trying to get in touch with future Executive candidates.

Considering what happened with Steve, who became Pork’s puppet, I’m determined not to let my guard down… And so, we were put on a carriage and began our move to the Northeast branch.

It’s more than a week’s journey through the old castle stronghold.

Celestia, who has a particularly fast means of transportation even among the Executives, flew off and disappeared to the northeast branch in no time.

Joanne, who can effectively move long distances by throwing her severed head, seems to have deliberately chosen to ride in the same carriage as me for the long journey.

She wraps herself around my arm without saying a word. She’s completely quiet, a stark contrast to how she was the other day.

“…Have both of you changed in some way?”

“Yes, well,”

“…If I had to say, it’s Joanne who has changed?”

“That might be the case.”

Stella, who was riding along, couldn’t bear to watch and started a conversation, but it didn’t really take off.

It’s said that when these three members get together, the conversation should bloom, but thinking about having to spend the remaining week of the journey in this awkward, confined space is disheartening.

Joanne has changed. Not metaphorically, but fundamentally. She doesn’t want to give even a hint about memory transfer, so she decides to end the conversation with Stella by being curt and unaffectionate.

Stella seems to have a sense of ‘reading the air’, as her gaze tends to wander in the strained atmosphere and the conversation that doesn’t flow.

It’s not me she’s looking at, but Joanne, who seems to captivate her gaze.

“…The Joanne that Stella knows wasn’t a girl who made such expressions.”

“?”

“…Until a little while ago, she was just a normal girl who thought only about the extermination of Kenneth Orthodox Believers and contributing to Lord Aaros, and occasionally about amputating limbs…”

“Well, that’s… normal huh.”

By heretic standards, it might be normal.

I had intended to wrap up our previous conversation, but Stella seemed very concerned about Joanne’s condition, casting a gaze filled with both envy and jealousy.

It seemed as if the cheeks of the iron mask expressions facing me were slightly tinged with crimson.

I was about to ask Joanne for help, but she was leaning on my shoulder, softly snoring away.

Not just me, but Stella too couldn’t hide her surprise at this sudden doze-off in such a place.

Stella murmured with deep emotion, ‘She has changed.’

“…Stella can only understand humans through eating… The words that come to her ears are superficial, and the only thing she can trust is her own sense of taste… The original Joanne was a girl who only can understand something by cutting and confining…”

Stella looked out the window. The previous Joanne had a fetish that required her to amputate limbs and confine people, but now she has learned about half of what normal love is.

I think Stella could change too if she wanted.

Of course, a great sacrifice was made to intentionally change Joanne’s heart.

I don’t know what will be necessary to change Stella’s heart.

Perhaps even more blood and flesh may need to be scattered than with Joanne.

“…Come to think of it, Joanne’s behavior drastically changed after she exchanged hearts with Oakley… Isn’t it true that long-term organ transplants can cause health problems or changes in personality?”

“At the moment, we haven’t confirmed anything. Between Joanne-sama and me, and even when swapping the contents with Celestia, we didn’t notice any particular changes.”

I lied on the spur of the moment.

Stella already knows about our complete internal organ exchange, so I have to deceive her into thinking this happened solely due to communication between the two of us, which would be bad otherwise.

If it becomes clear that the byproduct of memory transfer brings abnormalities to the human mentality, then it’s certain that Stella, Pork, and Juanquiro will come into play.

“…I see… I wanted to try changing like Joanne, but it’s a shame.”

Perhaps she has her own aspirations.

After saying just that, Stella turned away and began silently gazing at the scenery.

Stella holds the position of a heretical Executive, but in terms of age, she’s at the time of life for falling in love.

She must be envious of the changes in Joanne, who went mad with love.

(…Stella Belmont. I thought she had no interest in anything other than devouring people, but I guess she’s also a woman I can’t figure out.)

I took my eyes off the jet-black gothic lolita girl and began to gaze at the scenery in the opposite direction.

The far northern land that houses the Northeast Branch is a domain of death, awaiting with its extreme cold winters and harsh wilderness.

The snow never fully melts throughout the year, and it is not uncommon for nighttime temperatures to drop below freezing.

Therefore, the base of the Northeast Branch is constructed within an underground cave to withstand the cold, and its number of members is smaller compared to the old castle base or the holy land of Metashim.

However, the Believers enrolled in the Northeast Branch are all individuals fitting the description of a small but elite force.

Strong young people who can adapt to the harsh environment, mercenaries from other countries, soldiers who were once Orthodox Believers—it wouldn’t be wrong to say that the Northeast Branch is a place for Believers starving for flesh and blood to spend their days and nights in battle.

The Believers of the Northeast Branch possess combat abilities that are considered top-notch by the standards of ordinary people.

Even if they are not outstanding in combat ability, most of them have specialized skills or abilities as spies.

Ordinary humans do not exist in the Northeast Branch. It’s probably the best environment for my growth.

Given the nature of the land, it’s unlikely that the Orthodox army will invade, and aside from being too harsh, it’s quite good.

Beyond the rugged mountain peaks in my line of sight, the aforementioned Northeast Branch is said to be located.

I wonder if Celestia, who flew through the sky towards the destination, is not freezing.

She might be alright since she can wrap herself in wind to block out the cold… But come to think of it, does Celestia know the location of the Northeast Branch?

Well, since she’s already flown ahead to the Northeast Branch, it would be strange if she didn’t know— but I can’t help wondering if it’s really okay to have told Celestia not just the secret of the womb bag but also the location of the base.

I’m not particularly worried about the cult, but I do wonder if it’s alright in their opinion to go that far.

(…Once Celestia’s brainwashing is undone, all sorts of confidential information will end up in the hands of the Orthodox faction. The location of the human production facilities, the name and abilities of Juanquiro, the locations of each stronghold—)

It might be because cautious individuals like Aaros and Juanquiro are unaware of the existence of ‘brainwashing reversal’, that they are conveying such important information so freely.

Indeed, when surveying the Orthodox Executives, there is no one with the ability to specialize in tricky maneuvers like Juanquiro.

There are only those who excel in direct combat from the first to the seventh rank.

Since there are no Orthodox Executives who directly interfere with the opponent’s mind, it’s understandable that they would overlook ‘brainwashing reversal’.

In this world where magic has developed more than science, discoveries through empirical rules should be more common than those made by scientific analysis.

The knowledge that the human body reacts to electricity is not so—perhaps not at all widespread.

In other words, only Executive Cress, a lightning user, might have been able to arrive at the possibility of ‘brainwashing reversal’ through electric shock.

If Cress analyzed his own ability, discovered that biological tissues respond to electrical stimulation, and realized that it was even possible to control the brain with that electric shock—this is all hypothetical, of course.

Orthodox Executive Cress might look like a muscle-bound simpleton, but his rank three strength is no fluke.

In the original work, he was Alfie’s mentor, so I’m well aware that his ability isn’t limited to just ‘enveloping himself in the power of lightning’.

I don’t know how much this world’s Cress understands his own ability, but he’s probably close to ‘brainwashing reversal’.

He’s smart, so I’ve decided to trust Cress.

(Normally, if you get your hands on magic, you’d research its limits and scalability to death. Cress would probably do that for me… probably.)

As I let my thoughts wander, three hours had passed since our departure.

Stella was still gazing out the window with a serious expression.

I didn’t have the guts to snore in front of an Executive… well, I did, but there was no need to cause unnecessary discord, so I had no choice but to forgo sleep.

However, the silence was so painful that I finally broke it.

“Stella-sama was in charge of managing the Northeast Branch, right?”
“…? …Normally, yes, but what about it?”

“What kind of people are in the Northeast branch?”

Originally, Stella was the head of the Northeast branch, but she is often flying around the country and the branch is frequently left open.

Therefore, it is assumed that ‘someone’ is managing the Northeast branch in her stead.

However, no such heretics have appeared in the original work.

There are times when an unnamed mob character who is unusually strong appears, but it seems that the original work often judges characters based on whether they are an Executive or not.

After all, a mob is a mob.

No matter how strong they are or how much they operate in the shadows, if they are easily broken and incapacitated, they are just small fry.

That’s how it was often depicted.

“…The people in the Northeast branch are just ordinary people… Sometimes they get an undeserved reputation, but they’re all good kids.”

Stella’s definition of ‘ordinary’ is not to be trusted.

“…The person acting as the head of the Northeast branch is Whip Fanitusk… A human with considerable skill… Very friendly with Stella, and treats her like a friend.”

Whip Fanitusk (fanītasuku)… That’s a name I haven’t heard before.

It’s possible that she played an active role in the original work, but I can’t remember it now.

In response to my reaction, Stella exuded a somewhat gentle atmosphere.

Although her sullen expression hadn’t changed much—her sky-blue eyes definitely had a softness to them.

Perhaps she held her comrades in high regard in her own way.

“…In terms of combat ability, she’s in a realm that no ordinary human can reach… As for contributions to the temple order, she’s about on par with Oakley, I suppose.”

She’s contributed as much to the order as I have?

She must be a hardcore Heretic, no doubt.

I’ve been trying to recall the names of notable ordinary Heretics little by little, but the name ‘Whip’ didn’t ring any bells in my memory.

A pseudonym, perhaps?

If I saw her face, I might be able to tell.

It’s not like there aren’t any ordinary Heretics with a strong impact.

“As expected of the acting head of the Northeast branch, she’s quite amazing.”

“…That girl still has a long way to go… She’s weaker than Stella was before becoming an Executive.”

Stella flashed a slight smile on her lips.

She mentioned other promising candidates, but it seemed that the acting branch chief of the Northeast, Whip Fanitusk, was a capable enough person to be considered for the next Executive.

As a fellow candidate for Executive, she would be a rival, but without the teachings of Whip and the Heretic of the Northeast branch, it would be impossible for me to infiltrate the lands of the orthodox side.

The remaining week of travel is long. Too long.

If only the people sharing the carriage were ordinary humans, perhaps we would have a lively conversation.

……

TLN: Fani in fanītasuku doesn’t mean funny, right? I’ll use Fanitusk instead of Funnytusk.