Antagonist Protection Service-Chapter 107: I Am The Lord Thy God (6)

『1 - "Thou shalt have no other gods before me."』

The First Commandment condemned a sin known as idolatry.

Conceptually, it was simple enough. All it really was, was a divine law that you must not idolise or have faith in a god or some other object of worship other than "God".

As far as my understanding went, that was more or less it.

This―was the declared First Day.

And, as such...

"So, who's gonna come up and repent, then, hmmm~? Come on, come on, I'm sure your precious God won't wait all day now!"

Someone had a sin they needed to confess.

That was what everyone was brought here to realise.

'Is that it...?'

With doubt fresh in my mind, I glanced around at the others. Naturally, I wasn't here as someone who belonged, so it couldn't have been me. In the first place, I wasn't faithful to any religion, so was it even possible for me to commit idolatry? I wasn't sure how it worked, so such rules were unclear.

The very moment I considered that, someone stepped forth.

"I do not consider my beliefs to be such a sin, much less insofar as commensurate of idolatry, however, if nobody else shall, I suppose the reference ultimately pertains to me."

Christened "Philip", the old man spoke.

"Amitābha..."

Nearing the middle of a circle-like gathering we had naturally assumed, with the Detective at the head by the raised altar, "Philip" recited a mantra beginning with such a word I had never heard before.

'What's that? Buddhism or something? Sounds sort of related..."

[Certainly! I'm a tad clueless when it comes to that sort of thing too, however, I do believe I recall hearing that phrase in reference to the eastern beliefs of the Earth somewhere!]

'Oh, really? I was right.'

Before me, a trial commenced.

"As I did not commit a sin, I will not repent."

"Philip" declared as such, and following that statement, he brought his palms together and bowed, not just to the Detective, but to everyone else too.

"I apologise. If this is troubling, may I earn your forgiveness."

Nobody had the chance to respond.

"Oh? Ha. Haha. And, suppose that everyone else here is punished for your needless impenitence? Will you repay them? Would you crawl on your hands and knees out of hell to make amends? Because, you do know that a simple apology isn't going to cut it, right? You are aware of that, right? That merely saying 'sorry', though maybe enough to rectify those words in that dimwit teeny brain of yours, isn't actually going to recoup the losses that will occur directly as a result of your irredeemably selfish actions, is it...?!"

Following yet another outburst of the Detective, which was becoming scarily frequent, the old man, who I thought would have nothing to say to her, suddenly smiled.

"I do not believe that will happen."

"Ha?! And just where does that confidence--"

"But, if it does, then surely-- no, unquestionably, I will repay all of you in our next lives, for such a burden would be mine to bear. Although, I would not personally consider the task to be a burden."

For the first time, the Detective, her yellow eyes flaring with something fierce, had nothing to say, seemingly trumped by the old man's doggedness.

"...Teh!"

Airing a sort of high-pitched scoff that symbolised just how "done" she evidently must have felt, the Detective abruptly turned heel to walk off somewhere.

'Huh...? What, she's just leaving?'

Seeing that even she seemed to find argumentation futile, everyone else, including those who also appeared conflicted at the words of the old man, likely sensed no room to interject.

The rest of the day continued similarly, in a fashion that could confidently be described as the most tranquil things had been since the start of it all.

Returning to the same small groups we were in previously, everyone formed clusters like so, with the exception of the highschooler duo who decided to approach me and the teal-haired girl, "Thaddeus", providing the reasoning that we appeared closest in age out of everyone present. Though everyone here was suspicious, I thought it was acceptable, so I didn't think too much into it.

Leisurely chatting, eating, and playing simple games with the limited resources we had, time passed like so until evening, upon which it was agreed upon that everyone should retreat to the living quarters at the same time. That was to prevent any circumstances of someone being alone at any given time, where they were then vulnerable to the unknown 「Judas」.

We didn't even know if 「Judas」 existed to begin with, or if he had any bad intentions, but it was just a precaution.

At last, night fell.

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The North Transept containing the boys and men was locked and secured.

The South Transept containing the girls and women was also, I'm sure, locked and secured.

Everyone, at least within the North Transept I was in, was readying themselves for bed. Some were already fast asleep, even, including both the thuggish "James" and the little boy, "Andrew".

There was a brief scene where the mother, "Peter", was deathly frightened of leaving her son alone in this room, but the young man "John" they had spent a large portion of the day with assured her that he would take care of him. In return, he asked her to take care of his little sister "James", who would be staying in the other room.

Conceding with the knowledge that at least they could rely on one person to look after their family, they didn't have much choice―even if they wanted nothing more than to sleep by the side of their family to make sure they were safe, that was not allowed.

For one thing, having boys in the girls' area was a strict no-go, and the same went vice-versa just for consistency's sake.

It was for the safety and peace of mind of everyone, so it couldn't be helped.

"Uh... are you sure everything will be fine...?"

As I followed along and laid my head on the pillow, the highschooler boy called out to me. Glancing at him, I thought back, recalling his christened name to be "Matthew".

"You didn't commit any sins today, right? Then you should be fine."

"If that's how it works, then sure, but... is it?"

"That seems to be how this whole thing is structured, so yeah, I think it's okay to assume as much."

Just don't be a sinner.

Giving that sort of reasoning, I hoped he would calm down a bit. Earlier in the day he presented an act of being okay, perhaps due to the desire of wanting to show a good side to that girl―"Thomas".

I understood why he felt that way, and perhaps if I was in his shoes, I'd even be the same.

But, regardless, as things stood right now, I was not afraid. There was no need to be, because after all, this Contract was only 2-star Difficulty.

Although, yes, it's good to be cautious, there is also such a thing as being overly circumspect to the point of it becoming a detriment. Rather, if I were to have a concern, it would be a certain Tag.

A Tag I hadn't forgotten about since laying eyes on the Contract Details for the first time...

"...Alright. Sorry if I seem like a wimp. I just... don't want to regret anything."

"Don't worry about it. Being a wimp is better than being caught off-guard. Make sure you stay alert, pay attention, and follow the rules of this thing, and you'll make it out just fine, whatever happens."

'Probably.'

Passing those final words between us, I closed my eyes.

And, whilst feeling that scalding chill in the depths of my heart―

'Tomorrow... will I find the opportunity I'm looking for...?'

―I only hoped.

❖─────★★☆☆☆─────❖

Jingle bells chimed.

By the very instant my consciousness was roused, I knew something was off.

To put it simply, I could smell it in the air like a shark could blood in the water.

Like blood in the water... or perhaps, because we were on land, a bear?

Blood.

That stench, which I had unfortunately grown to recognise distinctly.

That stench, rich like pungent iron...

Right.

――Wasn't it blood?

"Gaaah...!?"

That profound malodour was not something I could stand for long, no matter how hard I shut my eyes and pretended to be unconscious, and when a matching shriek appeared to complement it, now that was very much impossible.

The entailing music did not help the case.

Following such a bloodcurdling yelp, a perhaps instinctual reaction that could only be understood as having stumbled across something truly awful.

The scene that first entered my eyes upon waking was one of utter disorder.

There were, in this North Transept, seven individuals.

The little boy, "Andrew".

―His eyes and ears were covered by another individual.

The man with the little sister, "John".

―He ensured the little boy was not taking in the sight before us, averting his own pale gaze simultaneously.

The highschooler boy, "Matthew".

―He had evidently been the one who yelped, and was retching on his knees.

The clergyman, "Simon".

―He was too averting his gaze with a much-too-sickened look.

Myself, "Bartholomew".

"..."

And―――two faceless corpses.