The Case of Being Reincarnated as a Heretic Mob Character in an Eroge Where Everyone is Extremely Determined - Chapter 69

Chapter 69: This Too Is a Hellish Scene

As soon as I arrived in the city of Satel, I was once again touched by the kindness of Kenneth Orthodox Believers.

A girl named Marietta approached me, and before I knew it, I found a church where I could stay for a while, complete with three meals a day.

The thought of not having to scavenge the dead flesh of Magical Beasts anymore filled me with such joy that I sighed with relief.

However, today was a day full of events.

I received clothes and money from a blond, bald traveler, and Marietta used her connections to help me out.

Being a soldier of Kenneth Orthodox, it was only natural that they would also tell me the best way to get to the Holy City Sasfect.

The most surprising thing, however, was that Marietta knew me from a year ago.

At first, she called me ‘Oakley,’ and I was sure it was a case of mistaken identity, so I ignored her… But no matter how many times I rejected the notion, she shook her head, so I decided to check, and it turned out to be true.

While it was a relief to finally grasp a clue about my past self, to be honest, it only deepened my confusion.

Let’s sort this out.

About a year ago, Marietta’s hometown in the Metashim region was destroyed by the hands of Heretics.

Shortly thereafter, the nearby city of Daskell was also attacked, resulting in many casualties.

During the battle of Daskell, Marietta was saved by me, Oakley.

After that, I told her I had “things to do” and parted ways with her, then went missing…

(I have no idea what happened…)

No further thoughts came to me.

Considering the situation, I wondered if I had been a soldier for Kenneth Orthodox in the past.

In any case, from the way she spoke, it seemed that she had gone back into the town to confront the Heretic.

It seemed like the battle had caused thousands, if not tens of thousands, of casualties, and it made sense that I could have lost my memory after being caught up in such a fight.

But then there’s the question of where this cannibalistic urge came from, but I’ll set that aside for now.

After spreading out the ointment and a few personal belongings that Makena-san had given me on the desk, I sat down on the bed in the room prepared by Father Doldon.

Just at that moment, Father Doldon knocked on the door, so I answered and welcomed him in.

White hair and a white beard. Wrinkles deeply etched as if marking the passage of years.

His sturdy body, which suggested he might have once been muscular, was not bent at all, hinting at his physical health.

This priest, brimming with the dignity of old age, was Father Doldon himself, who had agreed to let me stay for a while.

“Do you like the room?”

“It’s a fantastic room. I’m really grateful, especially since I’ve been sleeping outdoors a lot lately.”

“Hohoho, then I am relieved…”

Slurp.

The sound of a viscous liquid being sipped up echoed through the room.

The noise of saliva being slurped had been audible for a while now; perhaps he had a weak mouth.

However, his teeth were all fully grown, even to the back molars, and it didn’t seem like he had lost the ability to keep saliva from leaking out of his mouth.

In other words, it was probably an unconscious habit of Father Doldon.

The sound of the saliva was a bit distracting, but pointing it out would only create an awkward atmosphere, so I decided to do my best to ignore it.

Father Doldon said, “You must be from outside the town. Change whenever you like,” and brought me some clothes to change into.

When I held them up against myself, they were a perfect fit.

Considering the priest’s build, it wouldn’t have been strange if he had brought out something too large, but perhaps he had hosted someone like me before.

Between the blond, tonsured traveler and Father Doldon, they seemed to have quite the eye for sizing people up at a glance.

On a whim, I asked, “Are these new?”

He half-smiled and denied it.

“No, they’re hand-it-downs. Not too long ago, there was a young lad like yourself who stayed at the church… These were his.”

“Oh, really… What is he doing now, I wonder?”

Drool, like a thick kudzu starch soup, momentarily peeked from the corner of his mouth.

“I don’t know. One day, he just disappeared out of the blue.”

As if mourning, as if reminiscing, he spoke while gazing into the distance.

A difficult-to-articulate premonition pierced my spine.

Two of the three personalities within me—the man with the low voice and the girl with whom I shared something precious—were sounding a severe alarm.

“Hey Oakley, that guy’s bad news.”

Despite my long-standing hesitation to trust these inner voices, it was rare for us to agree.

The interaction between his slurping gesture and the unsettling topic of ‘a young male’ caused my assessment of Father Doldon to waver slightly.

I hoped it was all in my head.

I wanted to believe that I was the shameless, impudent one for suspecting my benefactor, who had taken me in so suddenly.

His overwhelming social status, the undeniable good deeds, the trustworthiness as a church administrator—by all accounts, he was a good man.

It was me with the strange misconceptions who was the fool; he had done nothing wrong.

Had all the recent events driven me mad?

That’s right, I remembered—I was the aberrant one with cannibalistic impulses.

So it’s clear who the dangerous one is.

“…So that happened,”

I said with a non-committal remark, and he suddenly cleared his throat as if snapping back to reality.

“It’s a sad incident indeed. Rumors say that the Heretic might have abducted them, but the truth remains unknown…”

Father Dordon shook his head.

Then, brightening his expression suddenly, he clapped his hands and changed the subject.

“Ahem! Let’s end the sad stories here! Oakley-kun, why don’t you go take a bath and cleanse yourself? Refresh yourself!”

I hadn’t taken a bath in several days.

Perhaps I even smelled bad.

Father Dordon, mentioning that “there’s a bathhouse on the north side of town,” handed me some clothes and quickly ushered me out of the church.

“I’m not letting you stay for free. From tomorrow, you’ll be working properly, so be prepared for that.”

Father Dordon said this as he retreated back into the church.

As the sole caretaker of the only church in town, he couldn’t be expected to look after me all the time.

It was only natural that I would have to work.

With the change of clothes and towel I had received earlier, I headed to the north side of town.

There seemed to be several bathhouses scattered throughout the town, but the one on the north side was almost exclusively for soldiers due to its proximity to the garrison.

Therefore, I was first surprised by the lack of people when I arrived at the facility.

What could the soldiers be doing at this hour? Night duty? Eating? Paperwork?

I didn’t know the details, but it was convenient for me that there were no people around, as my body was marred with gruesome scars.

It wasn’t just the scars.

I didn’t really want to remove the glove that concealed my left hand’s abnormal fingers.

Only Makena-san, who overlaid the image of her abducted son onto me, had seen my left hand and scars without saying anything.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t expect the same reaction from the people of this town if I showed them my wounds.

The circumstances were different between that remote village with little outside contact and the town of Satel, which was of moderate size but bustling with various people.

Besides, I intended to leave town before long.

I planned to sever ties with my benefactors, Marietta and Father Dordon before my cannibalistic urges took over.

In order not to be in trouble when I arrived at the Holy City Sasfect, I needed to earn some coins, so I would likely find some form of work before leaving the town of Satel.

Entering the deserted changing room, I stepped into the modestly sized bathhouse.

I was dressed in such a way that a large towel covered my entire front.

The bathhouse was sparsely populated, and the steam created poor visibility, but there was always the chance of someone being there.

After repeatedly ensuring that no one else was around, I finally took the opportunity to wash off the grime and enter the bath.

“Phew…”

A mysterious sense of relief. Soaking in the bathtub, I felt like I could fall asleep… It seemed more pleasant to just sleep here.

Since there was no one around, if I really did fall asleep, I’d be on a straight path to drowning.

As I dozed off, leaning against the edge of the tub, I heard the sound of a door opening through the mist.

A blurry silhouette emerged, and at the same time, the person on the other side seemed to notice my presence and paused for a moment.

“Ugh, someone’s here…”

“…That voice, is that you, Marietta?”

“Eh? Could it be Oakley-san!?”

“…Is this place mixed bathing?”

Of all things, to run into someone I know.

I grabbed the towel I had tossed aside and wrapped it around me, concealing the scars on my body.

My left hand submerged in the bath, I hid its unusual shape so it wouldn’t be seen.

The girl with light brown hair, simple in appearance, waded through the white steam until we could see each other’s faces, then, while washing herself, she smiled shyly with a hint of embarrassment.

“It’s been a while, hasn’t it… Ahaha…”

“Have you finished work?”

“I’ve just taken a break after finishing a bit of work. I usually come to bathe at times different from the boys, but I was surprised to find Oakley-san here today.”

While concealing the front of her body with a towel, Marietta tied up her semi-long hair.

Then, pointing her toes, she entered the bathtub and slowly sat down next to me.

I continued the conversation while trying to look away from her limbs reflected on the rippling water surface.

(This is bad. If she comes this close, my hunger—)

Despite her shyness, Marietta was closing the distance.

Her skin, which seemed to repel the water, was rapidly approaching, and I couldn’t help but feel a growing hunger.

No, it wasn’t just hunger; my consciousness was starting to blur.

A pleasant and painful feeling coexisted within me, and my intense passion whispered, ‘If you eat Marietta now, you’ll feel so good.’

It was an emotion similar to explosive sexual desire given to my exhausted body.

It was a temptation, like an irresistible instinct that seemed to smear over my reason.

“Ehehe, that’s right. So…—uh, Oakley-san, are you listening?”

“Ah, yeah. I’m listening…”

Is it that an extreme cannibalistic urge has replaced the majority of the sexual desire necessary for humans?

I can’t think clearly. I even started to think that it might be wiser to give in to this impulse.

(No, I can’t resist any longer…)

Aiming for the nape of her neck as she averted her eyes, I prepared to bite into the succulent flesh of the young girl.

We had become quite close since we first met. Her pale skin. Her defenseless back.

The twin hills peeking through the gap in her nearly slipping towel. Everything looked so delicious, I couldn’t stand it.

As I envisioned the bathtub stained deep red, I opened my jaws wide, ready to tear into Marietta’s tender skin.

Just then, a jolt of electricity shot through my mind.

“…Wait… Let her ripen and turn bright red before you ‘harvest’ her… That’s the most delicious way to eat something,”

The voice of the third girl.

Not the man who guided me to the Holy City Sasfect, nor the girl with whom I had melted hearts, but likely the voice of the girl who had instilled me with this desperate cannibalistic urge.

According to the voice, it was a bit too early to ‘harvest’ Marietta.

To neglect the preparations for the release of pleasure would make me unworthy of █████—

(…What is this? My mind is going crazy…)

I leaned back against the chair, feeling a strong sense of conviction mixed with discomfort while trying to suppress the nausea.

“Oakley-san, you look a bit sick. Are you okay?”

“I’m probably not okay…”

“Maybe you’re overheated? Let’s get out.”

“Yeah…”

I got out of the bathtub and finished dressing with my back turned to Marietta’s nakedness.

She kept glancing sideways at my nudity, but when she saw the scars that were densely marked all over my body, her eyes widened in shock.

Although she couldn’t see the scars on my left hand and the very front of my body, I managed to vaguely deceive her by saying, “Various things happened in the past…”

“Well then, Oakley-san, see you tomorrow! I’ll be coming to check on you every morning from now on, so please take care!”

However, Marietta did not flinch at all when she saw the wounds on my body. I wonder if she, like Makena-san, will accept my scars.

After parting with Marietta and returning to the church, Father Doldon, his face flushed, welcomed me back.

“Welcome home, Oakley-kun. Slurp. After dinner, you should rest well.”

***

TLN: Does anyone still read this and like it?

Sorry if this is spoiler but you probably can guess it. I read ahead and that Dordon is a weird priest who r*pe people. Honestly, I know the author is trying to show Oakley that the Orthodoxy is not inherently full of good people, but I think its just too much. I think I’m just going to pick another series and abandon this one.