The Case of Being Reincarnated as a Heretic Mob Character in an Eroge Where Everyone is Extremely Determined - Chapter 67

Chapter 67: The Blond Monk Is a Good Monk

After getting sufficiently far from Makena-san’s village, I slumped down and clawed at my head in frustration.

My vision was violently twisted, and no matter how much I wiped, an embarrassingly intense sweat poured out like a torrent.

“Who am I…!? Am I a monster!?”

I pondered absentmindedly in the midst of battle.

Was I able to put up such a great fight against a Magical Beast because the past me was a swordsman or soldier with abundant combat experience?

No, that’s not it.

That belief is just a diversion from reality, perhaps I am something entirely different.

I had a vague awareness of it.

This cannibalistic urge, the three fingers sewn onto my left hand. And the sense of mission that I must head towards the Holy City Sasfect.

The more I understand about Kenneth Orthodox, the Heretics, and the world, the more the worst-case scenario coils in my mind.

――Could it be that I was born as an evil being destined to oppose Kenneth Orthodox?

The more I try to push away that premonition, the more a chill-like ice water clings to and won’t leave my heart.

What should I do?

I feel like I shouldn’t listen to ‘his’ voice telling me to head to Holy City Sasfect.

However, ‘his’ voice is endlessly kind, and it doesn’t seem like he’s deceiving me.

But as I’m nearly swallowed by that voice, contradictions prod at my back.

What could be the reason ‘to make me cut off fingers’ in ‘Kenneth Orthodox’s Holy City’?

It’s bizarre to specifically choose a place to make one self-harm.

The act of cutting off fingers that have fused from another person must hold meaning beyond self-injury.

And then, the voice of the girl asserting her existence hidden behind ‘his’ voice—a plaintive voice pleading to trust nothing but her—only added to the confusion. I was certain of one thing: I had heard that voice somewhere before.

For now, the only voices I could trust were those two.

It was difficult because they were saying contradictory things.

“Haa, haaah… damn it…”

I struggled to maintain my sanity, teetering on the brink of madness, and somehow managed to calm down, tormented yet again by the umpteenth wave of “What should I do now?”…

In the end, I had no choice but to head for Holy City Sasfect.

As Makena-san had instructed me, I made my way towards Holy City Sasfect.

My wounds had been given first aid with Makena-san’s ointment and were practically healed, and I was already at full throttle.

Along the way, I encountered several Magical Beasts, but they were merely food to me, so I gladly hunted them down.

While walking, I regretted not having taken meat from the pile of Magical Beast corpses, but after several days, I finally arrived at the town of Satel on the way to Holy City Sasfect.

As I muttered to myself that I had finally arrived and was about to step over a puddle, I saw my own reflection in the water.

Glancing down at it, a dry laugh escaped me at the sight of my suspicious appearance.

Clad in tattered, blood- and mud-stained clothes, wandering with a vacant gaze and a sword in hand, I looked like some kind of monster.

…No, actually, it’s like I’m a monster.

The more I get to know someone, the more I feel the urge of cannibalism to consume them in my stomach.

If I had stayed in that village, I would have surely attacked and eaten all the villagers, starting with Makena-san. I had such an impulse, so I left the village.

I can’t adapt to society. If I stay too long in one community, I bring about inevitable destruction.

I have no intention of staying long in this city I’ve just arrived at.

However, unlike Makena-san, who kindly offered me a place to stay and meals out of goodwill, there are probably no such people in the city.

Securing a place to sleep and food are tasks that are difficult to accomplish without interacting with others.

I am penniless now. I don’t even know how to make money.

Maybe if I go to a church, someone will give me alms. In any case, it seems my only option left is to head to the church.

As I tried to pass through the outer gate in my dirty attire, I was naturally stopped by the guards.

They called me smelly and dirty, and it seemed that the worst part was that I had an unsheathed sword.

Surrounded without a chance to argue, I was disarmed and thrown out of the city.

“This is still a merciful decision, you should be grateful.”

I was mocked and flung out, boiling with irritation, but I think it was indeed a merciful decision.

Kenneth Orthodox is currently engaged in a religious war with the Aaros Temple Order, so they wouldn’t want someone as suspicious as me entering the city. I should be thankful I wasn’t thrown into a cell.

It seems I have no choice but to aim for the Holy City Sasfect while living off the land in the forest.

However, when I try to enter the holy city, I’ll probably be turned away by the gatekeepers just the same, so as long as my clothes are tattered, I’ll face the same problem wherever I go.

Since I couldn’t possibly return to Makena-san’s village at this point, I was at a loss when a blond, bald traveler approached from behind.

Judging by the direction he was walking, he seemed to want to enter the town of Makena.

His attire was moderately neat, giving the impression of an ordinary townsman.

With his appearance, he could probably get through by just making small talk with the guards at the outer gate.

Conversely, it would be problematic if they had to turn away someone as unremarkably normal as him.

In stark contrast to him, I, who had been turned away at the gate, felt a shrinking embarrassment at my own shabby appearance and stepped aside to clear the way.

The blond, bald man, with his eyes slightly bloodshot, rolled them around wildly and, in a more suspicious manner than me, the suspicious one, called out to me.

“Yo.”

“Ah? …Oh, hello.”

Bobbing his head up and down in greeting several times as he approached, he repeated “Yo” a few times in a light tone and asked, “Nice weather, isn’t it?”

I was frozen stiff and could only mutter words similar to those of the blond, bald man.

This guy, no matter how you look at it, is bad news.

Wearing dirty clothes and cheerfully talking to me while I’m wrapped up in bandages around my upper body…

His restless demeanor is creepy, or rather, it made me wonder if he’s in a state of mental confusion due to some dangerous drug.

“Ah, well, the weather and all that doesn’t really matter. Looking at you, I can tell you’re in a bit of a bind, Senpa—*cough*, traveler-san. You’ve been wandering around this place because you can’t get into the city of Satel, right?”

“Yes, that’s right…”

“I’ve got something good on me… Ta-da! Clothes that I just happened to not need anymore!”

“!”

The blond monk took out men’s clothing from the backpack he was carrying.

He pinched it with his fingertips and spread it out for me to see, and it looked like it would fit my body size perfectly.

“I’ll give this to you, traveler-san. You know… I’m a devout Believer, so I want to help people in trouble and accumulate virtue.”

Rubbing his nose and smiling, the blond monk.

From the way he speaks, he seems to be a Kenneth Orthodox Believer, including Makena-san, I’m impressed by how many Kenneth Orthodox Believers are filled with good intentions and kindness.

I deeply regretted having internally scorned him as creepy or suspicious.

One must not judge people by their appearances.

As I repented in my heart, I accepted the alms from the blond monk.

“Ah, by the way, I’ve also included a little bit of travel money. Please make use of it~”

“I-is that really okay!?”

“Haha, it’s nothing really! When in trouble, we help each other out, that’s what being human is all about, isn’t it!”

Since waking up from amnesia, I wonder how many times I’ve met a saint.

The saintly blond monk. I knelt on the ground, filled with gratitude for his noble spirit, and repeated words of thanks over and over until they felt insubstantial.

He laughed heartily, waving his hand and distorting his mouth saying, “Nah! No need for thanks! No need for thanks at all!”

“Um, at least let me know your name…!”

“No, no, I’m not someone worth mentioning, seriously… Well then, I’ll be taking my leave, take care! I hope your journey to the Holy City Sasfect will be a good one~”

Despite feeling a strange sense of discomfort at his last words, I continued to bow my head until the blond monk was out of sight.

“If I improve my appearance, the guards should let me through… Maybe I should try a different entrance.”

After changing my clothes, I attempted to infiltrate the city of Satel through a different entrance, as the soldiers from before might still remember my face.

The guard, who treated me quite normally compared to earlier, looked back and forth between a piece of paper in his hand and my face several times before letting me through without any issues.

I see, first, they filter out people with suspicious appearances, and then they screen for antisocial individuals like wanted criminals based on their features.

As I passed by, I managed to sneak a peek at the contents of the paper, and the descriptions and strings of text about people’s appearances smoothly entered my mind.

It seems to contain information about the Aaros Temple Order that brings chaos to this Holy Nation Geluid—namely, the Heretic Executive and their subordinates.

‘Joanne Sagamix’

‘Pork Tedrotus’

‘Stella Belmont’

‘Shadiq Lane’

‘Aaros Hawkeye’

‘Mary Henderland, Rod Louis Baerhagen, Insilon Plantia,…

‘…Notes: Currently seeking information on a Heretic known as Oakley Mercury. When information about him is obtained, report promptly to the Orthodox upper echelons and the Executive.’

The soldiers of Kenneth Orthodox are fighting Heretics day and night.

I couldn’t help but feel a deep respect for those soldiers.

…

Marietta, who was staying in the city of Satel, spent her days accompanying Pomett Yosta on temporary duties.

The temporary duties that befell the female knight Pomett were to compile reports of Magical Beast and Heretic damages occurring in various places and to take command or for Pomett herself to go to the site and carry out the mission.

In the past few weeks, damages had been occurring frequently in the southwestern part of the Holy Nation Geluid, so Pomett had decided to use the southwestern town of Satel as a temporary base.

She instructed her subordinates to handle simple requests while she planned to tackle the difficult or distant missions personally.

Having obtained permission from the Supreme Leader Saren Deputy, Pomett had visited the southwestern town of Satel, bringing along the promising Marietta Valliere.

“Lady Pomett, perhaps it’s time for you to take a rest…”

“I am one of the seven righteous wizards in the world. As long as there are those who seek salvation, I cannot afford to rest…”

For a whole week, Pomett had been hunting Heretics and subjugating Magical Beasts without taking even a moment to sleep or rest.

The travel that involved flying across the country, the combat while protecting villages, towns, caravans, and travelers—or conducting post-incident investigations—was extremely taxing.

Since fighting with full force could increase the damage, including to the terrain itself, she had to fight while conserving her strength, which meant that the mental stress was not negligible.

On the morning of the eighth day of her stay in the town of Satel, Marietta, upon seeing Pomett who had returned temporarily for reporting, could not keep silent at her emaciated appearance.

She had become gaunt, with heavy bags under her eyes—it was as if she bore the visage of death.

Her usual dignified beauty had vanished somewhere as if a grim reaper had possessed her from behind. It was clear at a glance.

If not for her body’s abnormal regenerative capabilities, she would have surely died from overwork by now.

Mental exhaustion lies outside the Executive’s recovery function, so the extent of her mental fatigue was immeasurable.

Marietta did not hesitate to stop her from deploying.

Marietta forcefully held back Pomett, and after a heated argument, she managed to push her into the barracks’ restroom at the last moment.

After being pushed down onto the bed by Marietta, Pomett quietly allowed her ponytail ribbon to be untied.

“…Marietta. You’ve become quite strong, haven’t you?”

“It’s not that I’ve grown stronger, it’s because Pomett-sama is weakened from overwork that I was able to overpower you. If the usual Pomett-sama went all out… I’d be blown away.”

“Is that so…”

“Please just go to sleep. Your judgment must be impaired.”

“…I’ll sleep for just three hours. I can’t afford to rest easy when there are people out there needing help…”

With those words as her last, Pomett fell asleep as if she had fainted.

Marietta let out a sigh of relief and gently stroked Pomett’s hair, which was sleeping like a log.

“…She finally fell asleep. Really, if you die, it’s all for nothing.”

――If you die, it’s all for nothing.

After saying that to herself, Marietta found herself picturing the face of her dear childhood friend.

She involuntarily made a face as if she had bitten into a bitter bug.

She still loved him dearly. But he would never return.

Haunted by painful memories, Marietta looked up at the window to escape the discomfort she suddenly felt.

“I might be tired too… Maybe I’ll go for a walk to refresh myself.”

After covering Pomett’s body with a blanket, Marietta slipped out of the garrison and started walking in the pleasant, clear weather.

――At the same time, Oakley Mercury arrived in the town of Satel.

Coincidentally, the direction in which both of their feet were headed was the same――

The gears of fate were converging in the heart of the town of Satel――towards Kenneth Orthodox’s church.