Antagonist Protection Service

On the Eighth Day, the Seventh Commandment was what must be confessed.

『7 - "Thou shalt not commit adultery."』

Of course, because the sinner in question was already dead, this meant there was no action to be made on this day.

The Protagonist declared that the sinner who committed adultery was "Peter", the mother, but there was no way of knowing that for sure, and I also wouldn't simply trust her judgement on it when she's been accusing everyone of all sorts of things since the very beginning.

Either way, I knew for sure that whoever the cheater was, was dead.

Because, by the definition of 'adultery', one of the two parties involved must have been married, and there was, undoubtedly, no one who fit that description that remained.

Everyone still alive was younger than me, after all.

Thus, the Eighth Day continued without much consequence, albeit with a constant tense atmosphere.

When the youngest children calmed down, the highschooler girl "Thomas" took it upon herself to look after them.

I didn't know why, and I didn't really care to ask, but despite her not having interacted much with the two since the start, they seemed to warm up to her rather quickly. She also looked like she was being fulfilled in some sort of way by taking care of them, so I guess that was a good thing.

Maybe that was because they had all lost whoever they were closest to, so clinging onto whomever remained was all they could do to maintain a semblance of stability.

As for myself, I had nothing to do but reflect.

Both on the looming outcome of this Trial and how it came to be this way.

Now, to be completely honest, I wasn't all that concerned with the deaths of everyone else... It was unfortunate, but I didn't really have the luxury to be worried about others, especially those who were already gone.

I could only worry about myself and my own future, particularly when the Protagonist seemed to be slipping right out of my grasp like this.

'Why...'

The cause, as far as I knew it, was simple.

'How is it over when there are still people yet to vote?'

Previously, the Protagonist claimed that she won, effectively meaning that she could no longer be voted or named as 「Judas」.

Ordinarily I would've thought of it as no more than a bluff, but the thing is, Cecilia also appeared heavily disgruntled at her words, making it seem as if we had already lost the battle.

The problem was, I didn't understand how that was possible.

Currently, there were still three votes that named the Protagonist. They were myself, "Thomas", and the recent "Matthew". Cecilia didn't vote, but I assumed that was because she was not actually an Apostle as it was stated in the inscription.

Then, the Protagonist's vote itself was of Cecilia, and "John's" vote, unfortunately, was a complete mystery.

Of course, even despite that, we would still have enough votes to cover the majority of the remaining number of people here.

If we managed to get the two kids to name the Protagonist as 「Judas」, it would mean a total of five votes, making it way more than half of us.

But, seeing as that, apparently, still wouldn't garner us the win, the votes must work in a different way...

'...Oh. Shit, don't tell me...'

At some point, it suddenly occurred to me. Yet another thing I should have probably realised a while ago.

"If it's a majority vote of not just the people alive, but also including those who are dead..."

In that case, it would make sense why the numbers didn't add up.

Honestly, that was an oversight on my part, and I should have seen it sooner.

I had already known the fact that the vote of the deceased "John" was still being accounted for, so I should have taken that and applied it to the vote as a whole.

That was probably how the Protagonist herself clued it in...

'Was I just thinking too optimistically? I only assumed the vote was between the alive population because that's how it works in those other games, and because it wouldn't be a fair vote if you still relied on the deceased to win...'

In the end, no matter the logic or reasoning used, I stood corrected.

If what we needed to name someone as 「Judas」 was a majority of the total population here, not just those who are alive, that would make it six votes necessary.

That was if we excluded Cecilia for not being part of the voting population.

Then, with the maximum five votes against the Protagonist we can gather here, it would, simply, never be enough...

That was why what had happened this morning, had happened the way it did.

With the death of "Peter", who had yet to give her vote, so too came the death of our possibility to win.

We had lost.

But, more importantly.

"...How can I even kill her at this point...?"

[F-fret not, Enki! I'm sure there will be a path to success! There has to be! Didn't you say it yourself? 'This is only a 2-star Contract, after all'! I believe!]

"I appreciate it, but believing in me isn't going to solve the issue..."

I would have liked to think the Librarian's words were correct, but in the first place, how could I even be sure they were accurate?

How would I know if the Contract's Difficulty hadn't scaled up from 2-star already?

If it's gone up to something like 5-star, and become impossible for my current self to handle, then--

'No. I can't think like that, or I really will lose... Like she said, there has to be a way...'

The Eighth Day ended soon after.

❖─────★★☆☆☆─────❖

With the dawn of the Ninth Day, I expected no new bodies to pop up as I exited the North Transept.

That expectation was true, and everyone had successfully survived the night.

Other than the little boy "Andrew", I was the only male remaining. But, he had been staying in the South Transept with his mother for a few days, and that had not changed even with her demise, now staying with the little girl "James" and the highschooler girl.

Because of that, I was now the only one sleeping in the North Transept.

It didn't really matter to me, and it was in fact preferable since I usually disliked sharing a room with anyone, but it really brought things into perspective when I saw the half-dozen empty beds, some still soaked through with dried blood.

Either way, whether with the help of Professionalism or otherwise, it was something I had no choice but to get used to, and perhaps thanks to my various prior experiences, it didn't take all that long.

I wasn't sure if it was something I should be grateful for, but I could at least appreciate my own resistance to such powerful stenches of sickly iron.

Anyway, because of that, there wasn't a whole lot of drama in the morning, at least not that I saw.

All there was to do was the usual; observe our daily confession.

『8 - "Thou shalt not steal."』

"―Have either of you ever stolen something?"

Turning my head at the surprisingly gentle voice which I felt didn't belong here, I watched as "Thomas" knelt down before the two kids and asked them that question with a small smile.

'Ah... it could only be one of those two, right?'

Glancing at the kids, who remained stiff and silent at her question, I observed as she continued.

"Don't worry, you're not in trouble. We need to know to make it safe for everyone, okay?"

Looking over to Cecilia, who also watched on rather intently, I couldn't help but think the whole thing was distasteful.

Regardless, eventually, the girl's gentle approach was effective, and the little boy "Andrew" admitted his guilt. Apparently he once stole a cookie he wasn't supposed to have? According to this place, that was sin enough to warrant death.

It was again occurring to me that Cecilia was an Antagonist after all, and positively unhinged, almost or perhaps just as much as the Protagonist, just more well-concealed.

Either way, with the boy's confession, his safety should have been guaranteed, and with no further disturbances in that manner, time went on.

The Ninth Day too came to a swift close.