Antagonist Protection Service

After having her fill of unnerving laughter, the Detective returned to wearing a simple, yet still condescending smirk.

"「Judas」 is oh-so-keen on pinpointing me as the murderer, now isn't heee~? Ah, what a cute little scheme we have ourselves..."

As if barely stifling a laugh, her demonic grin grew, allowing those two sharp fangs to peek through. Again, nobody aside from myself seemed to notice how abnormally honed they were, or at the very least, nobody mentioned it.

Instead, "John" clenched a fist as he raised his voice.

"Tch, what, are you also the culprit!? Screw that guy, you're the most suspicious one here by far! And you're fucking crazy too, just like whatever bastard put us here to begin with!"

I don't know what I did to deserve that kind of slight, but regardless, I felt an undeniable sense of relief to not be the one in the hot seat.

Conversely, smiling casually at the other's outburst, the Detective's eyebrows curled into crescents of cruel joy. At the same time, she sneered, her high-pitched voice creeping into our brains like a song from hell.

"Oh, no. Maybe the cute scheme is enough to fool some pig-brained imbeciles after all~ Well, don't you think you should stop accusing and start thinking, doggy~? Ah, but wait, you don't thinking, so how could you do that? My mistake~! I suppose, you really are a dog that wags its tail to anything that feeds you! Whoops~! Then, would you like to hear the reasoning? Can the rusted, cobweb-infested braincells of yours handle such a task as processing reasoning and logic? Woof if you can, or woof if you can't, kihahaha...!"

Despite having the gall to stand up to the devilish Detective, "John" gave no response, simply clenching his fists even tighter and grinding his teeth.

Maybe he was just taken aback by her continued attitude, or maybe he was actually just as spineless as she suggested.

Either way, the Detective did not wait for him to whimper or bark.

"You really are cunning, 「Judas」, truly, certainly sly. Intentionally sparing my life to make me appear particularly dubious for surviving the night. Well, naturally, I predicted you would have done so. You require a scapegoat, after all, and in that regard haven't I served myself up on a delectable silver platter to meet your needs? Yes, yes, it's so brilliant, so smart, so ingenious, isn't it? Aren't you...? Or rather, am I? Because now, everyone might think I am indeed the culprit, the mindless dogs they are, when it assuredly isn't so, and you, my dear, will get away scot free! Except, I'm just kidding! Because now, if you kill me, wouldn't that make me innocent? So you can't. Everyone will begin to suspect each other, and that includes you, doesn't it? So, keep me alive. Keep your precious, youthful, cute, talented and utterly utterly utterly clever scapegoat alive, surely you won't regret it, surely not, riiiiiiiiight...?!"

She addressed everyone in the church, everyone before her right now. Was the secret 「Judas」, that wolf in sheep's clothing, really here among us?

I didn't know the answer to that.

But, I could at least understand what she was thinking.

If she was suspected as the culprit to all these deaths, the mastermind behind this Decalogue Trial, or 「Judas」, then 「Judas」 would, in turn, not target her.

No matter how she debased God, no matter how she spewed insults and crude defamatory remarks, she would go unpunished, all because she was serving herself up as a willing scapegoat for 「Judas」. Or rather, she was taking advantage of 「Judas'」 desire to maintain anonymity to make herself untouchable by him, by hogging the hot seat and placing herself under that spotlight of suspicion and the eye of doubt, was that it?

To, rather than have 「Judas」 frame her as the culprit by killing the clergyman in lieu of her, instead frame herself by inducing 「Judas」 to spare her intentionally with her crazy actions that would cover for him, and thus preserving her own life...

Even after laying out the logic like so, it still sounded insane, and not something anyone should be aiming to do in this sort of bizarre, life-threatening situation.

'I guess that's the kind of quality that makes her a Protagonist...'

"―What horseshit!"

Evidently, I was not the only one who thought she was crazy.

"You're just saying that 'cause you're the one who's behind all this, aren't you?! How do we know you're not really 「Judas」 or whatever, huh?! How do we know you're not just saying this 'cause it's convenient to you, huh...?!"

As if taking on fully his self-bestowed role as the designated spearhead of the group, "John" again raised his voice. Right behind him, "James", the little sister, held tightly onto the hem of his clothes, patently scared; beside the two, I noticed "Peter", the mother, likewise tightening her thin, already pale hands into compact, even paler fists.

Swivelling my gaze back to whom the initial aggressor lashed out towards, I watched the Detective's face―the face which, following "John's" newest outburst, abruptly turned blank.

Slowly, she licked her lips, which then curled up faintly.

The voice that followed started unnervingly calm.

"I must say, it is truly admirable how you stand up in the stead of others. Is it because they are family? Is it because they are weak, feeble, unable to fend for themselves? Is it because they are women? That woman? Is that it? You predator. Philanderer, lecher, player, libertine, seducer, ladykiller, revolting, disgusting, sickening, loathsome skirt-chasing manwhore!"

As she went on, her tone only ramping in volume and rigour, her "smile" did the same, transforming from a straight line to a sardonic smirk, from a sardonic smirk to a distorted smile, and from a distorted smile to a devilish grin.

Bearing two fang-like canines, she displayed such a visage of cruelty demonstrated not just with by that expression, but her tongue, too.

Her unhinged, purely bewildering tongue.

"Does the piggy want to mate?! Does the piggy want to breed?! I sincerely hope you can, you mud-loving porker you! And with that old sow, I bet she wants it too! In front of that family, that sister, that son, piglet one, piglet two, well why don't you go ahead and bear half-a-dozen more?! A coupling pair of piggies like you would only be dying for it, isn't that right, to roll in the mud and breed as you like, you sickening, stomach-churning swine!"

The ruthless Detective, no holds barred, unleashed perverse accusations that were way out of line even for me. Worse, seeing her bring a single finger to her cheek and tilt her head cutely, I knew it wasn't over even still.

I could only watch in relief, knowing this show of sheer hostility was not directed towards me.

"Ah. Just, please, make sure you don't do it in our girls' room, okay...? Yes, yes, sincerely, I do hope your wish can be fulfilled―I'm sure the miserable old sow will let your corkscrew into her loose and smelly underwear, so feel free to go at it as much as you like, yes? After all..."

However, ultimately, the perpetually taunted could not withhold forever.

And, when the Detective's small smile of utmost condescension returned, her...

"―Pigs really do deserve to breed wherever they please in the filthy mud, isn't that riiiight~?"

"You bitch...!"

Finally, "John" snapped.

Unable to endure any more of the endless deluge of denigration and slander, he suddenly attempted a jump at the Detective. The little sister and the mother both held him back, but neither could match the power of an adult male with even a combined effort.

The taunting Detective only watched the approach with visible glee.

"A-ah...! Please stop! Someone! Help! Stop him, please!"

She must have recognised that, as the mother hurriedly called out. Meanwhile, "John", marching towards the silent, overlooking Detective with almost visible steam pumping from his nostrils, lugged the two resistors with him, letting their feet drag against the stone floor of the church with every step.

In my mind, I wondered what would happen if "John" reached the Detective.

Would he interrogate her?

Would he beat her?

Would he kill her?

As it stood, he was too infuriated, too out of his mind to be sane, like a bull seeing red, and I wasn't sure if letting him do as his instincts desired, or if stopping him in his tracks, was the right decision.

On one hand, if he killed her, it might be the solution to clearing the Contract.

On the other, if I stopped it and didn't let him reach her... well, that was just the morally correct thing to do. Although, it wouldn't solve anything, and I'd still be stuck.

'...If it has to be one or the other, there's no question about it, right?'

In the end, even if I had to admit that doing so was nothing less than abominable...

"Stop it, the heck's wrong with you...?!"

...For better or for worse, I never had to choose.

"Gh...!"

"Ngh, please! Why are you doing this...?"

Not just the highschooler boy "Matthew", but also the highschooler girl "Thomas" as well as the girl with teal hair "Thaddeus" joined in to stop "John's" advance.

Eventually, even without my help, with such an aggregate of strength he was successfully halted somewhat.

"Aw, is the little piggy tired~? Come on come on, you need to keep all that energy for tonight's bout of debauchery! That stinky breeding session with that sow in the dirt, in the sludge and the filth and the muddy mud mud, don't you!"

And without giving so much as a second to breathe, the witch continued.