The Case of Being Reincarnated as a Heretic Mob Character in an Eroge Where Everyone is Extremely Determined - Chapter 59

Chapter 59: Where Are the Sane People?

In Stella’s nightmare, grotesque human figures like mannequins appeared.

Emitting a scent sweeter and more fragrant than any gourmet dish, ‘he’ drifted away, leaving a trail of the aroma.

No matter what, she couldn’t reach him despite her longing to eat.

Waking up drenched in sweat like a waterfall, Stella found herself extremely hungry due to the late hour.

Disheveled hair. A drowsy consciousness.

Her prideful black hair drills had come undone, and her now semi-long hair stuck to the corners of her mouth.

Having woken up, she had no choice but to head to the kitchen, but the rich fragrance filling the room fully awakened her senses.

“…What’s this smell?”

Rubbing the bags under her eyes, Stella crawled out of bed in her babydoll nightie.

The girl who had been kept waiting let out a cute ‘kuu’ sound from her slender belly.

She recognized this scent. It was the smell of Oakley’s flesh and blood.

Without bothering to tidy her hair, Stella started walking barefoot inside the base.

“…?”

Holding a lamp aloft, I walked on, sensing the faint presence of people.

Multiple presences. One, two, three, four—overwhelming auras that could not be fully concealed were being scattered about.

Among them, one belonged to Oakley, but what could the other three be doing?

Could it be that they’ve dared to pick at the Stella fruit before me?

Clenching my teeth, sucking on my fingers, having waited for it to ripen, and they’ve gone ahead without me?

Who are these insolent ones?

I’ll refrain from turning them to cinders—but I will educate them.

The girl heads towards the kitchen, suppressing the boiling impulse within her.

From the depths of the dining hall, a heavy atmosphere flows from the kitchen.

What could have happened to Oakley?

Pitter-pattering with small footsteps, I enter the dining area.

Then, a far more intense smell than that in the hallway fills the space.

Overwhelmed by the potent aroma, I feel dizzy.

Though my body should not tire from any exercise, my breath quickens.

Leaning against the rock wall, each breath brings a dull pain in my lower abdomen.

What does this intense smell mean?

Such a thick odor shouldn’t be possible from a minor injury.

A serious wound… no, it would take an act of spreading one’s physical insides throughout the room to cause this.

I want to check. I want to taste.

Stella, with lighter steps, peeks into the kitchen, the source of the smell.

“――!?”

Seeing the kitchen smeared with Oakley and Joanne’s blood, Stella freezes.

A moment later, Oakley’s strong smell hit her face, and immediately after, the stimulation and pleasure from her sense of smell reached their peak.

Stella, with the intensity of someone who might have been exposed to poison gas, rolled her eyes back and crashed her small buttocks onto the ground.

As the girl regained her senses, she began to stare unblinkingly at the exquisite dish named Oakley lying before her.

“Wait… were you awake this whole time…”

Joanne was astonished by the sudden visitor. It was the worst-case scenario.

For Stella, it was an event more significant than a duck bringing its own green onions—it was like a dream moment where the duck willingly jumped into the pot with the onions.

Oakley’s body had regained its original organs and had resumed maturing.

Stella’s sky-blue eyes steadied, and the girl, who had fallen on her behind, began to tense her body like a cat about to pounce on its prey.

In contrast, Joanne stood protectively in front of the prone Oakley, creating a tense atmosphere.

Sparks flew between the gaze of the girl with the strongest brute strength and the girl with the shield of reflexes.

Amidst this, Guru Aaros stepped in between the two.

“Now-now, Oakley-kun is not food.”

The perfectly reasonable statement came from beneath the mask, spoken gently as if to admonish.

That single kind word stopped Stella’s rampage.

Humans are not food, and neither is Oakley.

Of course. They only consume human flesh as part of the disposal method for unnecessary flesh, and they should not consume humans unless they are utterly incompetent or enemies.

Perhaps recalling the doctrine of the cult, the girl in her nightclothes looked down, embarrassed.

She hid her eyes behind her bangs and awkwardly fiddled with her bundled black hair with her fingertips.

“…I’m sorry.”

“Discipline yourself, Stella. Actions led by desire will bring about ruin.”

Stella humbly apologizes, bowing her head to Joanne, Aaros, and even Oakley.

Joanne, who had been trying to resist while wearing nothing but a robe, was once again reminded of Guru Aaros’s charisma.

How could he stop Stella, who was at her limit, with just a word?

Indeed, Oakley is not food, but Stella’s hunger is not so simple that such an obvious statement can stop it.

More surprising, however, is that her loyalty to Aaros is stronger than her romantic feelings for Oakley.

This is in stark contrast to Joanne, who, consumed by the intense passion of love, lost her deep-rooted loyalty.

Unable to fully hate Stella, Joanne retracted her hostility.

Watching the two girls, Aaros readjusts his hat.

Celestia, as if to say now is a good opportunity, lightly raises her hand.

“Um… Why does Stella try to eat people?”

Statements were released, capturing Aaros and Stella in turn.

Mostly, perversions and twists in personality are due to past events.

The former Joanne developed deviant sexual preferences due to abuse from her parents, and the current Joanne was awakened to an even more exceptional perversion called “flesh substitution” by someone who claims to be an ordinary person.

So, what was the reason Stella had no choice but to fall into cannibalism?

Celestia, who does not have a tragic past, could not guess the reason, so she decided to confront Stella with the question she had been harboring for some time.

As the masked man looked down at Stella for confirmation, she nodded slightly and began to speak of her past.

“…Many years ago, Stella was born into a powerful family in the region… Thanks to that, we never had trouble with food…”

“So, you were normal back then.”

Celestia interjected with heavy sarcasm.

She was very curious about Stella’s past.

Joanne knew about it and thought it was a boring story meant to evoke sympathy, but it seemed to pique the curiosity of Celestia, who was unaware of the circumstances.

Stella continued without losing her composure.

She said that the town her relatives ruled was known for its harsh winters.

When Stella turned ten, the town she was born and raised in was hit by an unprecedented and early severe winter.

The long season of snow and ice brought death to the town.

The heavy snowfall cut off communication and passage to the outside, and the food stored in the granaries ran out before spring could arrive.

Anxiety about the unseen future and dissatisfaction with the current situation kept piling up.

Every animal that caught the eye became a target for food. Even mice and insects were precious sustenance.

After devouring a few animals, the focus turned to the fruits of plants.

As the fruits quickly disappeared, people ate anything that seemed edible, such as tree roots, bark, and sprouts.

The townspeople, having exhausted the animals and plants, directed their helpless hatred towards Stella’s family, who were the authorities.

“Why don’t you solve the food problem? Why are you lounging around the fireplace inside the castle? While we can’t even have a decent meal, you rich folks are gorging on meat. You, you all—”

At this point, it was impossible to prevent the mobbing of the populace and a deep chasm formed between the authorities and the people.

Eventually, the people, armed, rose up and massacred Stella’s relatives.

Of course, even if people die, winter doesn’t end.

The killing spread, even involving insiders, and Stella’s hometown was buried under the white snow.

The long winter ended, and over several weeks, the snow melted.

The only survivor was Stella.

“…Stella was told by her sister… to survive at any cost, even if it meant eating people… For three months after the food ran out, Stella continued to eat people to stave off hunger… Not leaving even a little bit of flesh, she consumed it all.”

Stella said it was fortunate that the temperature was low during winter. The cold slowed down the decay of flesh, extending its preservation period.

She ate people in various ways: smoked, roasted, or even raw. She said she had no hesitation, only a whirlwind of complex emotions.

No matter how much she thought about it, she couldn’t find a way to stop the fighting.

At some point, Stella began to find human flesh delicious.

Not only that, she felt as if she could grasp the essence of a person’s life and the way they lived by eating them.

For her, eating became a form of communication.

She came to understand the nature of those who were dying and begged to be killed by consuming them.

The understanding of people through cannibalism had become an unbearable pleasure.

“…Stella likes winter… because it reminds her of that time… She likes eating… because she likes understanding the essence of a person.”

Hearing this conclusion, Celestia thought that Stella must be insane.

However, she also felt pity for her.

It was probably an event that occurred outside of the Holy Nation Geluid; otherwise, someone from the executive branch would have gone out to rescue them.

“…That’s why Stella’s mood will never settle down unless she eats Oakley… Stella can foresee her nibbling away when Aaros-sama is not around.”

“Don’t say that yourself.”

Joanne spits out with a look of disgust.

Stella’s personality had become irreparable. She would likely never return to being a normal human again.

“But Stella, it’s problematic for the cult if a capable Believer gets eaten. Can’t you hold back a little? At this rate, we’ll have no choice but to re-educate you.”

“…”

“Well, I suppose you can understand that much.”

Having patted Stella’s head, Aaros melted away into the darkness.

Left in an awkward silence, the three remained, with Celestia scratching her cheek.

Amidst this, Joanne pointed a finger and pressed it against the girl’s chest.

“Stella has never considered the feelings of those who are eaten, has she?”

“…The feelings of those who are eaten?”

“Yeah, that’s right. It’s just that your past circumstances were too special. Normally, people don’t eat each other.”

“…”

After being implied by Aaros to need ‘re-education’ and being aggressively pursued by Joanne in conversation, Stella seemed to be quite distressed as she dejectedly closed her mouth.

Although her ideology was reflected in the formation of the cult’s cannibalistic environment, the current Stella was too out of control.

Glancing around restlessly and realizing that Celestia was unlikely to side with her, she seemed to become even more disheartened.

Suddenly reaching for the kitchen knife, Stella cut off her left wrist and cooked it.

“What are you doing?”

“…Trying to understand the feelings of someone who can be eaten.”

“Huh?”

While saying this, Stella thrusts the imprint of her left hand into the sleeping Oakley in Joanne’s arms.

A strong sense of disgust was swirling, but she couldn’t stop because of the shock.

Celestia was also astonished by this bizarre behavior. She couldn’t even scream.

Pushing up the pure white lips of Oakley, the charred human flesh settled in his mouth.

Reflexively, Stella felt a shiver of hideous ecstasy wash over her.

“…It feels good.”

“What are you talking about?”

“…Being eaten, it feels good… I feel like my mood has lightened a bit.”

“Um… Am I the only one who is sane here?”

“I’m also judged as a madman, huh?”

Celestia mutters.

However, the speaker, Celestia, is brainwashed by the Heretic.

Cannibalistic beauty, body-swapping mind-control beauty, and a brainwashed nun.

Unfortunately, there was not a single sane person in this space.

Thus, Stella’s sexual preferences worsened without Oakley’s knowledge.

Although her appetite for Oakley was slightly reduced, he ended up being fed Stella’s flesh without realizing it to fill that void of hunger.