Antagonist Protection Service

It happened when I woke up in the middle of the night.

Tired and confused, I instinctively tried to check the time by momentarily taking my smartphone from the Storage only to realise that it showed the time on Earth and not here.

Of course, because there was nothing like any lights or even candles throughout the entire church, the only form of illumination we received was the natural light of the Sun through the stained glass windows, or that which reflected off the moon.

Meaning, it was exceedingly dark.

'Doesn't smell like burning... Everyone's safe then?'

Peering around just in case, I confirmed that everyone here, at least in the North Transept, was still alive.

But then, I realised.

'Wait... Is everyone here?'

I was still in the process of waking up, so my brain might have gotten muddled during the count, but I could have sworn...

'One, two, three... Three? Weren't there four of us? Who's missing?'

Fortunately, it wasn't hard to tell who was who just by their silhouette under the covers.

The one who was missing was "John".

The other two, the little boy and the delinquent, were still fast asleep, meaning it was likely an action he was taking of his own accord.

'...Did he just go for a piss or something?'

At that moment, my ears flinched.

A noise―I heard a noise coming from the central nave.

"Tch... The hell is he doing...?"

Was it a voice? It was hard to tell through the muffled door, but regardless, it caused a not-so-delighted frown to form on my face.

Unless it was to get a midnight snack, there was absolutely no reason why someone should be exiting the Transept, leaving it unlocked while everyone sleeps.

Even if I knew I was safe from Cecilia, if somebody else were to find out this was happening, it would demolish the trust that had been established between us as a group, giving the possibility to let chaos rule, and most importantly, making it even harder for me to convince anyone to vote for the Protagonist.

'This guy... and just when my opinion of him had actually improved since the First Round.'

Just as I stood up to go see what was going on, I heard another noise, similar to before.

This time, it was slightly louder, and I could tell without a doubt that it was a voice.

'Is he talking with someone? Both areas were left unlocked...?!'

At that moment, as if taking the opportunity of my speechless mind to make its entrance, a mystifying melody I had grown all-too-familiar with, began its course.

'Shit...'

Grim thoughts naturally beginning to fill my mind, I approached the door and tentatively opened it.

Just as I did, the source of the "voices" became immediately apparent.

"Ahn~... Ahh~!"

'You're fucking kidding me...'

Instinctively, I covered my face with a hand, no choice but to listen to the true identity of what was going on.

'Doing it in the kitchen... Oh my g-- uh... fuck... Seriously?!'

Other than not knowing what reaction to have, I was, frankly, appalled.

Walking further into the nave with what I'm sure was an entertaining expression on my face, just to make sure that I really wasn't hearing things and that that definitely was the origin of the noise, I confirmed that I was not, in fact, delusional.

"They really are..."

"―Going at it like impassioned little piggies, aren't they?"

"...!"

Snapping my head at the sudden interruption, I found no one other than the Protagonist, standing there with her arms folded and a cheeky smirk on her face.

She, who gazed at the dark entrance to the kitchen with half-lidded eyes, simply laughed.

"Truly, how scandalous. To do it so brazenly in this holy temple, and no less, at the cost of their lives. How I would love to see the expression on that girl's face if she was hearing this... Perhaps I should wake her up this second?"

'At the cost of their lives'―Hearing that, I belatedly realised what she meant.

'Adultery... But, she's never worn a ring since coming here, has she? And even if it did, that shouldn't count him as committing the sin though, right...?'

At least, I never heard anything about "John" being married, nor did I see anything like a ring that would indicate as much.

As for "Peter"... To be honest, I forgot to check if she was wearing a ring this time around.

If she was, then this really would be...

"...Do you think--"

Before I could voice my concern, there was a blinding flash―

"Kyaaaa-- AAAAEEEHhhkk...!!"

―And immediately following that, a horrendous shriek.

Failing to comprehend what was going on, my body moved before my mind could think. Rushing towards the entrance of the kitchen, which was flooding even the neighbouring nave with white light, I barely clocked the presence of the Protagonist hurrying alongside me as we went to see what was going on.

It took no longer than a few seconds to run from the apse's end of the nave where we were previously standing, to the opposite end where the entrance to the church resided.

However, even that was too late.

By the time we rounded the corner to peer into the kitchen, the light had already almost completely dissipated, leaving just two human-shaped lumps of charcoal in its wake.

"..."

"..."

Even the music had ceased at some point, leaving only the two of us, speechless.

It all happened so fast that I was still taking time to process it, but subconsciously, I knew it in an instant.

"John" and "Peter" were dead. Punished for committing sin.

It was surprising to me that the Protagonist was so meek during this time, as some part of me fully expected her to start spewing verbal abuse and offensive riddles, but I suppose it was congruent with the way she had been acting ever since the start of this Second Round... a bit more 'normal' is the way I would put it.

"...It would seem the sow had gotten a little too into heat... wouldn't you say?"

"..."

Of course, even if she was better than in the First Round, there was no way she could remain that way for long.

In the end, by the time I moved both bodies to where the rest of them lay, everyone else had already been roused awake by the disruption.