Antagonist Protection Service-Chapter 115: Salem Agreement

Raising her head, Cecilia again connected the ends of our eyes, and with an ever-so-faint smile―one nothing at all like the malicious snarl of the demonic witch, but rather one of true innocence―said to me.

"That's why I'm glad you and the other two decided to stick with me, despite the shade of blame and guilt being cast. Sincerely. It might not seem like much to you, but it holds a lot of value to me."

Feeling awkward at the sudden, intense gratitude, I averted my gaze, turning it subconsciously towards the door leading to the South Transept area as I scratched my head.

"You're welcome... Anyway, she's infinitely more suspicious than you. She's not getting punished for sinning, so of course I'd be wary of what she says."

'She's also a right bitch...'

Not knowing what else to say, I just threw a pathetic attempt at deflection out there, followed by reasoning that I, of course, couldn't have believed to be true.

In the corner of my eye, I noticed her smile widen a bit, but only momentarily. Subsequently, she voiced a concern about something I had already been intrigued by for a while now.

"Indeed... It appears to be no secret that everyone here was brought to confess a sin. I do find it concerning, however, that the number of "Apostles" does not match the number of sins on the inscription over there. I would suspect Miss Lilliana, but I fear it may be too obvious of a ploy. Of course, that in itself might be her intention... And well, she did certainly commit the sin of blasphemy. What do you think?"

Glancing at her inquisitive expression from the side, I didn't really think too deeply into it.

The Detective, Lilliana Weiss, was the Protagonist.

I knew she wasn't the mastermind behind this Decalogue Trial, and she couldn't have been that mysterious 「Judas」, whether those two were the same person or not.

As for who 「Judas」 or the Antagonist really was... well, there were only a few options remaining. 「Judas」 was an irrevocable enigma in my mind, an eternal unknowable, but as for the identity of the Antagonist, well, I could only imagine one person who would fit.

If I had to guess, it was probably Cecilia right here.

Of course, it was hard to imagine her as a bad or villainous person from what I've seen, but I also knew that appearances could be deceiving. And, more than anything, with the clear recollection of Lucretia in my mind―an Antagonist who by no means could be called as such―perhaps I was subconsciously being led in that direction for this Contract, too.

Just because someone was an Antagonist didn't mean they were evil.

That much was evident, and the same logic applied with Protagonists not necessarily being good-natured, too, as has now become all-too-clear to me.

Although, I guess it wouldn't matter even if they were. I would still need to save them and kill the Protagonist trying to stop them either way... So, in that case, maybe it would indeed be best for me to pretend that the Detective was actually 「Judas」 all along.

That way, I could gain a partner in who I suspect to be the Antagonist, and at the same time, establish the Protagonist as the clear enemy.

Halfway facing Cecilia, I opened my mouth, my voice low just in case anyone happened entered the nave at the wrong time.

"I think that witch should face her righteous judgement. That's what."

A few seconds of silence ensued, this time starkly different from the sort of silence flowing previously in a bizarre, inexplicable way.

After a short while, in the periphery of my vision, I caught the ends of her lips curl up however slightly.

"Perhaps not everyone is a sinner after all..."

―As well as an almost imperceptible mutter.

Immediately following that, Cecilia rose from her seat. Turning to me, her innocuous smile widened further, becoming an expression I would never expect to see in this sort of dreadful, murderous place.

It still appeared as no more than a simple, genuine smile, and yet... something about it reminded me of the witch's demonic visage.

"Yes. I sincerely agree with you."

Brightly smiling in such an apparently unfeigned manner, she slightly tilted her head, her eyes shaping into near-crescents as her piercing gaze met my own from above.

"Then, let us bring the devilish witch to repentance, shall we?"

With the face, the voice of an angel, I was asked as she held out her hand towards me.

And yet.

"Let's."

When I replied, I couldn't help but feel like taking the hand of a devil.

❖─────★★☆☆☆─────❖

After partnering up with Cecilia, agreeing to target and take down the demonic, irreverent witch that was the Protagonist, we, surprisingly, did nothing.

I was naturally curious about what we could even do to take her out considering murder was forbidden and even the rules of the Trial seemed to bend themselves around the witch, but if Cecilia really was the one responsible for killing everyone who either sinned or refused to repent, then wouldn't it just be up to her?

There were no tools or weapons around, so I wasn't sure how she would have been able to commit such horrendous acts to those victims, but I didn't really want to think about it.

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If the ghostly executioner was not God Himself, then was Cecilia using a similar divine power bestowed to her as the Hero of the First Contract? I didn't really want to ask her directly, but at the same time, I felt that if killing the Protagonist was really so easy, then she must have already gone and done it by now.

Of course, she hadn't, so I should consider that the reason for that is that it simply isn't possible, for whatever reason.

All she told me when I took her hand was that everyone else was surely too tired, so we should wait until tomorrow, or at the very least, until dinnertime. And then she left to the South Transept herself for a "short rest".

In the meantime, as the only person left in the central nave, I decided to take another look at the inscription to find any clues.

The only way I could imagine dispatching the Protagonist at this point was to somehow use another rule of the Trial.

To do that, I would need to go over everything again to see if I could find any such tools.

『"I am the Lord thy God."』

『The Congregation of Apostles is welcomed to the Lord's, to the abode of His holy reverence.』

『Twelve Apostles, unified by sin and His overwhelming, ubiquitous love.』

『Obey the Holy Covenant; abide by the Commandments; hunt the sheepskin wolf.』

『Name the 「Judas」 amongst thou, repent, and bring upon His divine retribution - to consecrate thy quintessence.』

『Thou hast as many days as thou hast sins.』

Reading through it once again, I was just as confused as before. Looking at it for the nth time, examining it in a way that could hardly be called proper analysis, my brain noticed something that seemed to have gone forgotten all those previous times.

"'Holy Covenant'..."

Just now, it occurred to me that I had no idea what that term actually meant. But that wasn't all.

For some reason, my eyes lingered on the final line.

Could that be it?

The key to winning against the Protagonist... was it really to wait until all days were up?

Somehow, I didn't think so.

'Why is it so complicated? Damn #Mystery genre...'

Scratching my head and frowning at the inscription, my gaze subconsciously passed over the inscription once, twice, a dozen more times, as well as scanning through the list of the Ten Commandments again and again, then finally fell upon the altar situated beneath.

"...Huh?"

At that moment, my brows furrowed even more.

The altar's book―was no longer blank.