The Case of Being Reincarnated as a Heretic Mob Character in an Eroge Where Everyone is Extremely Determined - Chapter 61

Chapter 61: That Day

My consciousness continued to drift into a sea of darkness. Below me was a dark swirl that seemed to suck me in, and above was a world where a band of light, like sunlight piercing the deep sea, existed.

My self-awareness was in something similar to that sea. In the midst of intense hunger and discomfort, I spent what felt like an eternity doing nothing.

The contours of my body were unclear.

My mental state was also severely unstable, and like in a dream, I could not understand anything properly.

As if entrusting myself to the flow of the tide, my body repeated a slothful breathing.

My body wouldn’t move at all. It was as if all my mental strength had been drained, leaving my body immobile.

After a while, I naturally came to the realization, wondering why I could breathe underwater.

The world I had thought was a vague extension of reality seemed to be, after all, an unrealistic dream world.

After realizing that fact, my body was lifted into the light.

Something with the outline of a girl took my hand. Freed from the dark sea and enveloped in light, my vision was whitened by the intense brightness.

When I next opened my eyes, I was sitting in a rocking chair with a deep, wide hem.

The cradle-like chair swung at regular intervals.

Seemingly dozing off on the chair that ticked to the rhythm of my heartbeat, it appeared that nothing else existed in this world but the chair.

“I am here.”

Suddenly, a girl’s voice was heard. When I turned my head to the left front, the girl who had pulled me up was standing there.

No, to be precise, she wasn’t a girl. Perhaps it would be better to describe her as a being like a spirit of light.

Her body’s outline wavered when blown by the wind, and when I looked at her face, it was featureless without eyes, nose, or mouth.

I couldn’t tell her hairstyle, and her voice echoed, indistinguishable as male or female.

And yet, I found myself thinking of her as a girl… I don’t know why.

I wonder why.

Looking at the girl, the feeling of unease returned.

My thought processes felt dominated by darkness, and an inescapably gloomy and guilty feeling reignited.

Yet, unable to bring myself to push her away, I continued to send an ambiguous gaze toward the girl standing by the chair.

Looking at the girl, I somehow understood.

She must be someone who shares a fate with me… Could she be such a beautiful existence?

I don’t know, but that must be the case since she appears in this dream.

“…?”

Ever since I started thinking about her existence, I’ve had the feeling that I’m forgetting something important.

It seems like I’ve forgotten what I’ve forgotten.

Around the time I began to understand my mental state, some sort of abnormality started happening to my body.

First, there was a discomfort on my tongue. It felt like it was stuffed with bad meat.

A strange discomfort accumulates in my stomach, but my belly isn’t swelling at all.

Something resembling cartilage is caught in my throat; it’s irritating and uncomfortable.

Additionally, I’m concerned that I can’t seem to wake up from this dream no matter how much time passes.

Although I sometimes feel like an eternity while dreaming… I’ve never had a dream this long before.

It’s also strange that I can’t remember anything from before the dream.

What I was doing just a moment ago has been completely forgotten.

When I try to ask myself again, I can’t even remember my name.

I don’t know how old I am.

I can’t figure out why I’ve lost consciousness or why I feel so unwell.

Moreover, my body was as if it had been sewn to the chair, not moving even a twitch.

My feet were enveloped in a strange sensation of floating, and when I tried to speak, my tongue wouldn’t move as if my mouth had been stuffed with cotton.

It was abnormal in every way imaginable.

The reason I didn’t lose my sanity in such a situation was because she was there beside my consciousness.

She was with me around the clock, not moving a single step away.

The mysterious situation remained unchanged whether she was there or not, but somehow I felt at ease as if she were a guardian spirit.

When I tried to speak to the girl, who seemed like a ghost, she interrupted my words with an apology.

“Sorry, it’s my fault.”

She said.

I had no idea what was going on, but strangely, I didn’t feel bad about it.

When I tried to move my fingertips to learn more about her, the girl’s outline wavered.

Noise ran through the world of just the chair and the girl, and the dream world began to collapse.

“Don’t believe in anything but me.”

White debris began to fall around us.

The debris piled up high, stirring up particles like dust clouds.

I had no idea what was happening. Even amidst all this, the girl didn’t tell me anything specific, only issuing a warning.

A massive chunk of stone plummets down beside the chair.

Fragments scatter. Unable to move from atop the rocking chair, unable to even take evasive action, all I could do was watch up close as a sharp shard struck my left hand directly.

Without even being able to scream, I was forced to watch as the parts beyond the second joint of my left index and middle fingers were blown away.

Before I knew it, my left ring finger was gone, too.

Just when it seemed I might finally be able to squeeze out a voice, my left hand was somehow restored.

The fingers that should have been missing seemed off in color, and I felt like the sizes weren’t quite right.

Amidst the unstoppable collapse of the world, a sense of mission, akin to a purpose, began to well up inside my heart.

――On the final day of the Phantom Night Festival, head towards the center of Holy City Sasfect where the fireworks are launched――

――And then, near the Temple of Phoenix, cut off the index and middle fingers of your left hand with a knife――

The string of words that was violently thrust up from the depths of my body, like an electric shock, was seared into my brain in an instant.

It was truly a revelation. With a sense of reality as if facing the ultimate goal of life, my thought circuits were being remade.

I even harbored an arrogant certainty that if only I could accomplish this, I would lead a happy life.

As I rejoiced at recalling a specific proper thing for the first time, another presence was entwining my arm.

When I turned my gaze in that direction, the girl in question was shaking her head.

“Don’t be fooled. Don’t believe anyone but me.”

This child spoke no other words.

However, it seemed as though she harbored a special hostility towards this sudden emerged purpose.

Honestly, I didn’t understand the meaning.

Was this not an imprinting by the girl?

If not, then whose suggestion was it?

Before I could even begin my clumsy reasoning, the world of dreams dissolved into the mist.

There was no time to exchange farewells with the girl; my consciousness was sealed off.

Reset.

It’s time to wake up.

I will probably forget the conversation I had with the girl.

The only thing that remains upon awakening is a strong sense of purpose.

“…”

When I awoke from the world of dreams, I found myself in the middle of a forest.

“…Where is this… what is going on…”

I didn’t know east, west, south, or north, nor the place I was standing.

My name, my age, everything.

Even the precious memories spent with █████ were erased, leaving me with nothing.

But I knew what I had to do.

I must head for the Holy City Sasfect. And then, sever the unnaturally stitched together fingers.

I didn’t know what would happen after that, but it was the right thing to do.

Believing the sense of purpose writhing in my mind to be ‘noble’, I began to explore the unknown world.

…..

A year had passed since the city of Metashim collapsed.

Far from the place where Metashim once stood, in a certain town, a girl knelt in the quiet cemetery beside the church.

With her beautiful brown hair flowing, the girl adorned the grave with a bouquet and gently touched the silent, massive tombstone with her finger.

“…Good morning, everyone. It’s been a year since that day…”

The number of dead from both Metashim and Daskell exceeded ten thousand.

Therefore, the deceased from the attacks on the two towns were commemorated together in a collective grave.

On the long horizontal tombstone, the names of the dead, as many as could be confirmed, were densely listed.

However, very few remains actually lay beneath the tombstone.

Not a single body of the residents of Metashim, which had been completely overtaken, could be recovered.

Some success was had in retrieving a portion of the bodies from the ruins of Daskell… From those crushed to death in the shadow of Aaros to bodies so mutilated that personal identification was difficult to those burnt to fragments by Stella’s magic, the condition of the bodies varied greatly.

In any case, those left behind had not fully recovered from the wounds of the collapse of Metashim and Daskell.

The brown-haired girl traced the words ‘Alfie Judgment’ engraved on the back of the tombstone, and with a complex expression, she closed her mouth.

“I thought we’d grow old together… But now, Alfie and I, have we become a year apart…?”

The girl’s name was Marietta Valliere.

With deep crimson eyes and semi-long brown hair, her lively expression suited her sharp brows well.

However, the girl’s back bore an overwhelming sadness, and Pomett Yosta, who was watching over Marietta from behind, cast her eyes down.

Alfie Judgment’s end was said to be tragic.

Protecting his childhood friend from the approaching zombies and the sea of fire, Alfie was ultimately burned to death in the flames.

Perhaps the only consolation was that he did not come back as a zombie Pork.

(…Pork Tedrotus. To that woman, dying a normal death would be considered a mercy. That’s how dreadful Pork’s power is, for someone to be relieved that a colleague died a ‘normal’ death…)

Pomett furrowed her brow and clenched his fist. Marietta’s life had been too cruel.

She had been forced to watch her parents being eaten alive and lost her beloved childhood friend.

She was still a child with a future ahead of her. The treatment was too harsh.

The sense of injustice hit her in the chest, and at the same time, a dark, murderous intent seared Pomett’s heart.

To make matters worse, many of the civilians who had died were turned into puppet zombies by Pork’s poison.

Moreover, these zombies were still being made to work for the Aaros Temple Order even in death.

If one were to consider the feelings of the bereaved families, Pork should have been the first target to be killed, but she was not someone who could be easily defeated.

She had never felt such hatred for the malevolence of an enemy.

Furthermore, Pork’s depravity extended even to those who tried to recover the bodies.

There is a story that illustrates Pork’s character.

—In the aftermath of the battle at Daskell, a couple who had lost their child came to the ruined city of Daskell, hoping to at least recover the remains.

After days of searching, they finally found the unrecognizable body of their child.

Holding back tears and feeling relieved that they had found their child, the couple was then confronted with a shocking sight.

The son, who was supposed to have grown cold, opened his eyes and let out a voice, “Dad, Mom.”

The couple was momentarily confused, but after a while, they began to clap their hands and rejoice at their son’s survival.

They could not disguise the coldness of their child, but the parents, not wanting to believe in their child’s death, took their son back to the nearest town.

That night, a corner of the nearest town suffered catastrophic damage.

A large-scale fire and the spread of zombies due to the poison of Pork.

The source of the panic originated from the couple’s temporary home.

They were unaware of the abilities of Pork Tedrotus.

The fire and zombie damage was contained by the Orthodox Executive Pomett Yosta, who happened to be staying in the town, but the story shocked the upper echelons of the Orthodox.

Immediately, the passages to Daskell were closed off, and the body recovery operations were indefinitely suspended.

In addition, the town of Daskell, which had become a ruin, became a hotbed for outlaws and the security deteriorated, so the town was released from the control of the Orthodox.

It is rumored that it was Aaros and his group who lured the outlaws, but that is not certain.

In front of Marietta, who was giving an update on her recent situation, Pomett did not show her intense emotions, but the more she thought about it, the more she seemed to be on the verge of going into a frenzy of anger.

If only she had been able to defeat the Heretic Executive when Daskell was attacked.

If only she could have stopped Celestia, who was pushing too hard for results… If either of those had been achieved, Kenneth Orthodox would not have been in such a painful position.

“Marietta. It’s about time…”

“Oh, yes. Well then, Alfie, everyone, see you later…”

As the fourth in the Executive hierarchy, Pomett Yosta left the cemetery, her golden hair tied back and trailing behind her.

…..

TL/N: Sorry for no update these past few days, I have been busy 🙁