Antagonist Protection Service-Chapter 104: I Am The Lord Thy God (3)

Right after the suspected Protagonist made that declaration seemingly on behalf of everyone here, the thuggish guy spat.

"Peh, fuck, missy, ya really gotta chill ya ass down a tad, ey? Thought I already told ya's, but even'f I play nice wit'cha, I ain't listenin' to anyone'a ya's, ah?"

"Do you think it matters what your opinion is, ruffian? I did not ask, in fact. Nobody shall be isolated, and that is that."

"...Huh. Yeah, ya too flat ta be throwin' ya weight aroun' like that, ey? Maybe if ya had some bigger jugs, but'cha think I'd be listenin' to a washboard like ya's? Teh. Nah."

Saying that, he snorted a laugh and turned his head dismissively―at which moment, something seemed to catch his attention, as he instead approached a person who had yet to squeak a word in our "group".

It was a girl of seemingly similar age to the highschooler boy from earlier.

"Op. Ey, ta."

"Eek-!"

Before she could react, he snatched a plastic PET water bottle from her hands, and perhaps she didn't expect such a rapid exchange with that intimidating a man, as she instinctively shrieked in recoil.

"H-hey! What do you think you're-- Gh!"

"Ah?"

The same-age highschooler boy tried to step up on the girl's behalf, but in the end, what could someone like that do? With a single cast glance from the thug, he flinched and apparently bit his tongue.

"Hah."

Letting out that kind of transient exhale that could barely be called a laugh or a snort, the thug then unscrewed the bottle's cap and downed its contents in three gulps, following it up by crushing the bottle in a single grip of his hand, tossing the litter aside.

Watching that scene, I noticed the highschooler boy proceed to comfort the same-age girl, who appeared to be shivering slightly as they moved far away from the thug to take their seats on one of the many wooden pews.

Meanwhile, the thug-- rather, maybe a more accurate word would be delinquent, as despite the uncivility he continuously demonstrated, he had yet to do anything too outrageous like it first appeared he might.

Anyway, the delinquent also moved to the back of the nave, taking his own seat on a wooden pew and lying his full body down as if ready to take a nap.

'Doesn't look like he'll be causing much trouble if we leave him alone...'

Turning my head away from those three, I observed the rest of the people I had arrived alongside in this church.

On one side, there was the spectacled and evidently overweight clergyman, engrossed in conversation with a bald elderly man.

On another side, the previous mother with her young son, and a young man with a little girl who seemed to be his little sister were all likewise chatting.

――These nine individuals, combined with myself and the two young girls of bizarre features, made up the twelve of us gathered here.

As for those two girls in question, the pink-haired one seemed to be re-examining the inscription, and the other...

"Excuse me..."

"...? Yes?"

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She, strangely enough, approached me.

"It's all so confusing, isn't it?"

Bearing an awkward sort of smile that appeared as if it could falter at a moment's notice, she brought up our current circumstances.

For a while I was concerned if she was alright after that earlier, extraordinarily vicious exchange with the pink-haired girl which was just plain unnecessary, but seeing her now, she seemed to be more or less alright. Meeting her friendly gaze, I gave her a nod.

"I'm having a bit of trouble keeping up with what's going on, to be honest."

In turn, her smile grew into something much more naturally amiable.

"Yes, isn't it so? It is also troubling not understanding why I, or rather, we, are here. I do believe asking it in this situation is quite inconsiderate, so my apologies, but I have to ask―Do you remember what happened before you woke up here?"

Asking me such a question, I met her gaze firmly, and without an ounce of hesitation―

"I don't."

―Returned such an answer.

Then, her smile turning a little bitter as if it couldn't be helped, she nodded.

"Is that so...? I thought as much. It really does make things difficult, doesn't it? I also am struggling to piece together these fragmented memories..."

"Even if you can't remember, do you have any idea what might be going on at all?"

When I asked that, she hummed, turning her head to the inscription on the apse wall. Following her gaze, which briefly met the small back of the pink-haired girl standing over there, I watched her eyes scan over the inscription again before doing the same thing myself.

"...I suppose it must be related to the 'Decalogue' there."

"'Decalogue'?"

I know I had heard that word before, but I couldn't quite recall its meaning. She nodded.

"It is a word for the Ten Commandments. Seeing as the Decalogue is listed beside that bizarre inscription, written almost like a sacred passage, it would follow that it is a vital piece to solving the puzzle we find ourselves in. At least, I think so."

"Ah, that makes sense. The tricky part is figuring out what that main part means, right?"

"That is certainly so..."

'Uh, Librarian, I'm asking just in case, but you can't think of anything either, right? And we don't have access to the source material still?'

[Certainly! Erm, my apologies, Enki...! I'm not the finest when it comes to solving puzzles or mysteries that don't make sense to me! And no, we don't! Ah, but fret not! For you shall undoubtedly succeed! I do believe so, I do!]

Crying with such paramount faith in me, her voice resounded unrestrainedly in my mind. Although not helpful in regards to solving the #Mystery or clearing the Contract, it nevertheless worked to boost my self-confidence a little, so I guess it was a plus in that way.

It was also a positive reassurance in the fact that, despite being in this church, our connection had not been severed, meaning the presence of divinity here was likely low, if present at all.

However, that brings me right to the next dilemma――When would be a good time to kill the Protagonist?

First of all, I had to assume that the Protagonist was the pink-haired girl, but really, it could also be the teal-haired one if I just go by distinct appearances.

Of course, thanks to the #FemaleProtagonist tag, I could cut down the number of potentials by about half, and if I thought about who here was most likely to be the Protagonist out of all the girls and women, it only left those two.

So, in reality, it could only be one of them.

Judging by the individual personalities I've witnessed so far and comparing them to the tags, I would have to go with the pink-haired one for sure.

As for the Antagonist, I knew even less about them, but I was sure they'd be fine even without my concern.

In the first place, I didn't even know if the Antagonist was someone who was part of our group of twelve or not, so there's no use thinking about it. If I considered whether it was odd for the mastermind of this 'Decalogue Trial' to insert themself as one of the participants, I would indeed have to say so, but since there was no way to confirm it either way, I didn't have a choice but to leave it at that for now.

Anyway, since I didn't know who the Protagonist was, couldn't I just kill both of these girls to guarantee success?

...No, that also was something I couldn't allow myself to do.

There was the obvious reason that, as I just mentioned, either one of them could be the Protagonist, but that applied the same in that either one of them could also be the Antagonist.

Shooting one of them at random was an awful gamble, and shooting both of them was an even worse gamble.

But, that wasn't even the biggest reason for why I couldn't do it.

No.

『6 - "Thou shalt not kill."』

"..."

There was something far more insidious I needed to consider.