Antagonist Protection Service-Chapter 132: Burn the Witch (3)

The Protagonist.

Cecilia.

Myself.

And the other "James", the delinquent.

The number of votes that named the Protagonist as 「Judas」 were, even if we included both myself and the delinquent, insufficient.

Even if I managed to convince him to name her at this point, it would only total up to five votes.

Because we needed six agreeing votes to officially name someone as 「Judas」, there was now nothing I could do but wait for the Round to end.

As slow, and as painful as it was.

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

On the First Day, I asked to speak to the old man, "Philip", after he had stubbornly refused the Detective who hounded him to confess.

Like the Second Round, fortunately, he agreed, securing the first vote.

Thereafter, when dusk enshrouded the church, I did not sleep.

Staying up to ensure that nobody went off to do anything naughty in the middle of the night, I confirmed that everyone slept early and deep, like logs.

Naturally, no one repented on this day,

『2 - "Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image."』

Come dawn of the Second Day, "Philip" was found hanged.

It was a different method of execution from the sheer brutality of the First Round and the symbolistic retribution of the Second Round, but it was undeniably cleaner and far less messy, both in terms of blood and smell.

Regardless, this was to be expected, and I couldn't let such details get in the way.

For the Second Day, I knew I had to act fast, and act fast I did.

After wrapping the old man's body in his sheets and lining him up in the corner of the nave, before any talk about today's confessions even began, I approached the clergyman, "Simon", and asked to speak with him privately just as I had done the previous day.

Last time, he refused to follow my request because he was irritated by the Detective's accusation of him being the sinner.

I would remedy that this time by having him say it before said accusation could even occur.

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Luckily, it worked, and the second vote was secured.

Later on, as expected, he was evidently pissed off by the Detective's words and went off to pray by his lonesome. I used the remainder of the day to build relationships with the others as I had done during the First and Second Rounds.

Including my own vote, I was already half-way to victory.

An old man repented on this day.

『3 - "Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain."』

The Third Day was the witch's time to shine.

After enduring her seemingly endless tirades of spouting insults, denigration and gibes, those who split off in the First and Second Rounds instead came together to form one big group this time, perhaps in part due to my own influence.

This only included "John's" group of four and the highschooler duo, but it was a huge start.

During this time, Cecilia approached me as I predicted, and following a brief talk in private, we again agreed to take down the witch together, to burn her at the stake.

Forming a sort of righteous coalition, we began our talks with the others whenever the witch in question was not around.

In this manner, from both of the highschooler duo, we secured two more votes, for a total of four not including my own.

By the time dusk fell, I was pumped up and ecstatic with my rapid progress, but I tried not to let the good fortune lower my guard.

Again, I stayed up in the night to ensure no bad business was going on.

A man of faith repented on this day.

『4 - "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy."』

Come the Fourth Day, "John" confessed his sin without much of an issue, and perhaps thanks to the rest of the group convincing him well enough to save his own life, he ended up stating his "regret" at committing it in front of everyone.

At the same time, the Protagonist endeavoured to persuade everyone as she had done during the First Round that Cecilia was in fact 「Judas」, announcing her vote for her and that everyone else should do the same if they didn't want to repent.

Because we had acted first, it didn't seem like they were going to fall for it, and by the end of the day, we had rather secured a total of six votes through "John" and "Peter".

I badly wanted to celebrate at the thought of a confirmed victory, but even still, I couldn't allow myself to be caught with my pants down, thinking it might not yet be enough.

No one repented on this day.

『5 - "Honour thy father and thy mother."』

The delinquent confessed his sin with no trouble at all, keeping to himself as warding off all interaction as he did in the Second Round, only continuing to do so into the Third.

I tried to convince "John" and "Peter" to let their respective little sister and son name the Protagonist, and although they trusted me, they did not know what might happen as a result of voting, and so declined.

Despite that, however, the little sister "James" gave her vote of her own accord, ignoring the worries of her older brother.

Half-way through the Third Round, seven votes were secured, not including my own.

No one repented on this day.