The Case of Being Reincarnated as a Heretic Mob Character in an Eroge Where Everyone is Extremely Determined - Chapter 60

Chapter 60: The Bell of the Beginning Rings

Days passed, and Oakley did not wake up.

Alex and Joanne took turns watching over him while Stella regularly came to feed him.

Since eating parts with lots of bones was not good for digestion, a compromise was reached to feed him boneless, soft parts instead.

It was certainly better than being eaten, so it was allowed, but for Joanne, it was a concession that was barely acceptable.

“Alex, doesn’t Oakley look a little pale lately?”

“If you feed a patient human flesh, that’s what happens. Normally, you’d give them nutritious food.”

“If we were at another base, there would be better facilities. But we’ve already let go of the horses… looks like we have no choice but to continue living like this for a while.”

Oakley is forcibly keeping a part of Stella inside his stomach.

I’m genuinely curious, what does it take to feed someone a part of oneself?

I think exchanging body parts would allow for a much longer connection. Other people’s preferences are beyond my understanding.

Joanne stroked Oakley’s forehead and then regretted her decision that ultimately robbed him of his consciousness.

“What should I have done?”

“What are you talking about?”

“…It’s my fault that Oakley won’t wake up. I keep thinking if I could have foreseen the situation earlier.”

Oakley and Joanne are both lost in a dead-end alley with no way out.

Especially Oakley’s future is shrouded in uncertainty that cannot be dispelled.

His mind has been torn to shreds and even hypnotized to work in favor of the Aaros Temple Order.

The eradication of the brainwashing by Celestia, the takeover of the Holy Nation Geluid by a scheming cult, the prevention of the world’s destruction apocalypse by Joanne, and the control of Stella’s appetite—Oakley faced an innumerable amount of daunting tasks.

If Oakley continues to drag along his mental breakdown, the Aaros Temple Order, now in an advantageous position, will seize hegemony over this country.

For Joanne, Oakley’s existence is the meaning of her life.

The reason the girl wants to destroy the world is just one: to surpass Oakley’s short life and live peacefully.

To transform her beloved into a being far removed from the concept of lifespan, she is willing to sacrifice Kenneth Orthodox and all the Believers of the Aaros Temple Order, and even all the people in the world.

If there were no humans other than Oakley and Joanne, there would be no war.

Free from grudges, hatred, and all entanglements, they can build a small, happy world.

That is her plan.

However, she cannot carry out the plan until he awakens.

If those cloudy, tired eyes that seem to be chased by something never open again—there is no meaning for Joanne to live.

The girl gently wrapped her hands around his as she lay there, biting back the throbbing impulse.

“…There’s no point in regretting the past, right?”

She will not admit that the decision to offer up his mind was a mistake.

She will act so that she can look back and say it was the right decision.

Joanne stood up with determination in her heart and turned to face the shaved blonde man standing behind her.

“Alex, there’s something I need to ask of you.”

“Whoa, I’ll do anything! Just tell me what you need!”

“I want you to escort Oakley.”

“Escort? That’s fine, but wouldn’t it be better if Joanne-sama personally looked after him?”

“No, that’s not possible. Aaros-sama is likely to try to sneak Oakley into the Holy City Sasfect the moment he awakens. It looked like he was being hypnotized to do so.”

Having returned to the sacred land of Metashim, Aaros is steadily preparing and advancing his plan for a large-scale assault on the Holy City Sasfect, the core of Kenneth Orthodox.

The plan, discussed with Juanquiro, is bound to become more meticulous.

Since Oakley has been hypnotized and has lost his memory, Aaros intends to incorporate him into the holy city assault plan.

For Aaros, it seems he’s relying on Oakley’s luck and the experience etched into his body.

Whether the fact that he has completely forgotten everything about the cult will work in his favor or not is still unknown.

“I want Alex to actually infiltrate Holy City Sasfect. I need you to protect Oakley from the shadows.”

“Is that the case? It’s tough for Joanne-sama to make a move, huh?”

“Can I count on you?”

“Of course! Thanks to my training at the Northeast Branch, I don’t feel like I’ll lose to any regular soldier.”

Because of the exchanged ring fingers, I know where Oakley is.

If I wanted to, I could stay by Oakley’s side.

However, for Joanne, infamous in a bad way, taking the risk of diving into Holy City Sasfect alone is too high.

If the Orthodox Executives surround her, even she can’t escape death.

I don’t know how much Alex will be able to help, but at least he should be able to clear the path.

That’s why I decided to hire Alex. Of course, Joanne doesn’t fully trust Alex.

That’s why she continues to maintain the transfer source through the ring finger…

“I’m counting on you.”

Throwing simple words at him, Alex was smiling with shadows falling over his eyelids.

Perhaps because I had become convinced of it, the face of the blond buzz-cut, without a doubt, looked like that of a traitor.

After a while, Whip Fanitusk arrived in the room, bringing Stella with her.

Stella, a stark contrast from her babydoll look the other day, was now dressed in black gothic attire with her black hair styled into drills.

Even though the object of her affection was not awake, she had dressed up out of a sincere desire to be felt as charming.

Joanne, feeling an irritation that made her want to spit inside at the sight of such a goth-loli girl, welcomed Whip and Stella into the room.

At that moment, Joanne noticed that Stella’s left hand was missing.

Her left wrist was cut off because she wanted to keep a part of herself inside his stomach until digestion was complete.

Understanding this with a chill, Joanne could no longer contain her extreme discomfort at the grotesqueness of it all.

“Cut it out, Stella. That left hand you’re using to threaten me, those clingy looks you’re giving Oakley… it’s creepy. He’s mine, and I’m already making too much concessions. Don’t take advantage of that and do whatever you want… Push it too far, and I’ll kill you.”

Stella and Joanne at odds like cats and dogs.

Caught between the two, Alex frowned as if it were some kind of joke. ‘No, Joanne-sama, you’re creepy for not letting go of the senior’s ring finger too!’ ‘Both are pretty disgusting…’

The fact that he managed to suppress his reflexive retort might be one of the most praiseworthy acts of his life.

Thus, having narrowly escaped death, Alex took a breath and began to scold Joanne.

Since Whip was by Stella’s side, no particular conflict arose. Joanne’s off-kilter remarks went uncorrected, and Stella and the others took their seats beside the bed.

Like feeding a pet, Stella took out a piece of mysterious meat and shoved it into Oakley’s mouth.

“…Ahhn.”

The mystery meat skewered on the fork is pushed between the slightly parted lips.

Joanne’s well-arranged face wrinkles and distorts as she grimaces.

Oakley, who let out a stifled sound, swallowed the mysterious meat. He appeared to be in great distress, even though he was unconscious.

It’s unseasoned human flesh; it can’t possibly taste good.

“By the way, what kind of meat is that?”

Joanne asks lightly.

“…It’s part of a uterus.”

“I thought it might be.”

Alex swallowed the words that almost came out of his throat just in time.

What does she mean by ‘I thought it might be’?

Perhaps there’s some understanding between psychopaths. And what’s the purpose of feeding someone part of a uterus…

Alex congratulated himself for not letting slip another clumsy remark.

He decided to continue playing the role of a bystander for a while.

While Alex kept his mouth shut and fell silent, Whip leaned in to look at Oakley’s face.

In stark contrast to Stella’s seemingly smiling expression, she looked gaunt and emaciated.

“Originally, today was supposed to mark the start of special training with Milk-chan in her second form. The second form is the five-sword style, you know? I was looking forward to seeing how much resistance he would put up. And there was also that mission to infiltrate the neighboring villages… cough…”

Joanne directed an incredibly hostile glare at Whip’s joking remark.

Noticing her gaze, Whip mumbled something to gloss over it and deftly changed the subject to some casual small talk.

Meanwhile, in the holy land of Metashim, Aaros discussed the ‘Holy Relic’ heist plan with Juanquiro and Pork, and as a result, the date for the operation was set during the ‘Phantom Night Holy Festival,’ which is held once a year.

The Phantom Night Holy Festival is a celebration that has been held since the day when the seven Kenneth Orthodox Believers who saved the world were said to have seen God in their dreams.

These seven Believers, who could wield ‘magic’ beyond human comprehension, saved the world from the brink of collapse due to an unprecedented disaster and secondary damage caused by magical beasts.

To ensure that the achievements of the ‘Seven of Dawn,’ who received the divine authority of God, are not forgotten, a massive festival is held every year.

For the sake of an image-building strategy both domestically and internationally, it is possible to move freely within the holy city for tourism and pilgrimage during the festival period.

Due to the influx of many tourists and pilgrims, checkpoints and security inevitably have to be relaxed.

The plan is to exploit this opportunity to infiltrate Oakley into the heart of the holy city.

In the holy city, which becomes difficult to protect against external threats, skilled agents from the northeast branch, including Whip Fanitusk, are to be positioned regularly.

Using them, who have been implanted with the seeds of a moving fortress, Oakley will be teleported in, and Executives will be dispatched to various locations simultaneously.

Important facilities that are not open to the public, such as the Temple of Phoenix, are likely to have strict security measures, but that’s where Celestia comes in.

She will be the trump card, capable of causing enough disturbance in the security to pass through the barriers.

“It’s getting quite intense, isn’t it?”

“I feel like the burden on Oakley is getting heavier… but aside from that, I think it’s a good strategy.”

“…We just need to cut him off when he does something unnecessary. We’ll retrieve the piece of flesh we attached to him, pull up the other Believers, and everything will return to normal. It’s a strategy worth setting up once a year.”

Juanquiro finished writing the strategy plan while running her fingers through her white hair.

Pork let out a sigh as if she had finished a big task and collapsed onto the desk.

The man in the mask surveyed the two of them and then instructed that a written notice be sent to all Executives to explain the strategy.

“We’ll need to move Oakley-kun to Metashim soon…”

We will have to condition him with the ‘suggestion’ of ‘Phantom Night Holy Festival.’

Targeting the period of the Phantom Night Holy Festival, when a large crowd is drawn in and the city’s security is thin, will cause the most chaos.

Kenneth Orthodox withholds information about Celestia, and the public’s perception of the Aaros Temple Order is eerily naive.

The Phantom Night Holy Festival is expected to be as successful as it is every year.

After contemplating various matters, Aaros begins the final check.

“Finally, there’s something I want to check.”

“What would that be?”

“Is the girl named Marietta of any use?”

――Marietta.

That is the name of the only girl who survived the Metashim raid.

She is alive in place of Alfie, the protagonist of the original story, and has a slight connection with Oakley.

Presented with the name of the girl she had heard about from Celestia, Juanquiro responded, “She’s not unusable.”

“Marietta is an orphan raised by Celestia and her subordinates. In other words, she has deep connections with the upper echelons of the Kenneth Orthodox.”

“If Oakley-kun can make contact with her successfully, she could be used as a decoy to infiltrate the holy city without raising suspicion. Moreover, she could serve as a pretext to get closer to the temple…”

“Yes, hopefully,”

Aaros looked up at the ceiling.

“Marietta… The bonds between humans are a mysterious thing.”

He murmured with a voice that sounded genuinely amused.