Antagonist Protection Service-Chapter 106: I Am The Lord Thy God (5)

The heavy, steady-tempo music ramping up in only my own ears preceded her continuation as the pink-haired girl nodded. In the following seconds, she stepped down from the raised apse and moved her feet.

Approaching the mother and her son with brisk steps, she looked her straight in the eyes.

"―Are you 「Judas」?"

And with a low voice, asked such a question.

Perhaps it was hesitation, or perhaps she really didn't understand what was going on, as the mother faltered in her reply.

"No..."

Still, without too much of a delay, and despite her shaky voice, she responded more or less firmly, albeit with some hesitation.

"I see. You are 'Peter'."

Suddenly christening her like so, the girl faintly nodded. Then, she moved her gaze down―to the little boy by his mother's side.

She repeated herself.

"―Are you 「Judas」?"

The mother flared.

"W-what are you saying?! My son is--"

"Do not interrupt me. All it is, merely, is asking a question. Do you understand? If the boy is innocent, he will reply as such, yes? Then, please, if you may, keep your mouth shut nice and firmly, and let me inquire, yes? Yes?"

Receiving a cursory basilisk's glance from the girl, the mother didn't―or perhaps couldn't―respond.

"Good. Then, I shall ask again."

Sighing lightly, she returned to the little boy.

"―Are you 「Judas」?"

"No...?"

With a tone as if not understanding why he would be asked such a seemingly random question, he shook his head innocently.

She, in turn, nodded her head as well.

"I see. You are 'Andrew'."

She christened the boy, too, before then approaching the thuggish man still lying on the backend pew.

"―Are you 「Judas」?"

"Ah...?"

He wasn't asleep, but seeing as the girl was disrupting him and whatever peace he was savouring, I couldn't imagine anything good coming from it.

"Shall I take that as a 'no'?"

"Fuck off."

I was concerned something would happen following the curt reply, but the pink-haired girl seemed completely indifferent to it.

"Then, I shall. I see. You are 'James'."

"Ey, didn' I tell ya--"

She walked away before he could start anything.

Thereafter, she approached the evidently puzzled young man who was the older brother.

"―Are you 「Judas」?"

"...I am not."

"I see. You are 'John'."

He responded firmly, though with a hint of reluctance and perhaps hostility. Beside him was the little sister, who she thereupon turned to.

"―Are you 「Judas」?"

"N-no..."

"I see. You are also 'James'."

She replied with a tremor in her voice, but nobody seemed to mind it, if they even noticed. Leaving behind those two quizzical, wary gazes, the pink-haired girl moved on to the bald old man.

"―Are you 「Judas」?"

"That is not my name, young miss, I'm afraid."

"I see. You are 'Philip'."

"Oh...?"

He raised his eyebrow as if about to ask something, but she already left, now standing before the highschooler boy.

"―Are you 「Judas」?"

"No, what...?"

"I see. You are 'Matthew'."

He answered, confused. Immediately after, she faced the adjacent highschooler girl's distinctly anxious gaze.

"―Are you 「Judas」?"

"No, I'm not..."

"I see. You are 'Thomas'."

She voiced her innocence with a slight bit more confidence than her contemporary. Next, the girl stood before the glasses-wearing clergyman.

"―Are you 「Judas」?"

"Most definitely not, young lady."

"I see. You are 'Simon'."

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Perhaps the most confident reply out of anyone, though evoking no further emotion from the girl's expression or tone. Subsequently, the teal-haired girl followed, meeting the other's accusatory eyes head-on.

"―Are you 「Judas」?"

"...No. I am not. Listen, please, must you really--"

"I see. You are 'Thaddeus'."

She barely managed to squeeze out those words before too being christened.

Thus, Ten Apostles had been named.

That, naturally, left just one person.

"―Are you 「Judas」?"

"..."

I locked eyes with her for a number of moments. Those citrine, yellow eyes like gleaming jewels, unfathomable and that seemed to penetrate right to the depths of my soul, emanating silent pressure and an ever-so-faint sense of something unnatural, something hidden deep within.

Of course, being asked such a useless question, there was only one thing I could say.

"No. I'm not 「Judas」."

Listening only to my words, clear as crystal, she gave a subtle nod.

"I see. Then, according to the process of elimination, you are 'Bartholomew'."

Eleven Apostles had thus been named.

Excluding the betrayer, 「Judas」, that meant everyone here had been assigned a name as one of Jesus' Twelve Apostles, and it didn't take long to recognise that at all.

Everyone except the pink-haired girl herself, that is.

But, only one name remained to assign her, and that was, of course, 「Judas」.

I didn't know if it was intentional or not, but that wasn't something I needed to wonder for long. Even the music playing in the background shifted tones to something more extremely dramatic than anything else.

"Ah ah, now then that we are finished with the 'christening', as I suppose you could call it."

Standing by the apse's altar, raised enough above the ground to look down on us all, the Detective showered her judgemental gaze upon all Eleven Apostles, and as she did so, she began an unforgettable announcement.

"Everyone here has been officially named as one of the Twelve Apostles. Or rather, eleven. You all remember what you are, and don't bother lying."

"From now on, you will be referred to by those names, and there will be no argument."

"And, in regards to what you may call me..."

At that moment, the ends of her lips curled up, the music moments prior to hitting its crescendo...

The pink-haired, human girl, was no more.

Her mouth, widening into something I could hardly describe as merely a smile or a smirk, was distorted into an expression so wry, so sadistic, so intensely and primally off-putting that I didn't even know what to think, revealing a pair of sharp, beastly fangs in that grinning mouth that likewise couldn't be human.

And, as if becoming a completely different existence...

"―Well, I am absolutely not a disgusting little filth named 「Judas」, and I am certainly, definitely, assuredly, positively, undeniably, absoluuuuutely, NOT! Anything that could be called an Apostle, hear...?!"

That pink hair, which seemed like something that could only belong to an innocent, chaste, princess-like girl.

Which, once upon a time, had indeed held a similar sort of meaning in my head.

"My name is not something so inane and dull, yes? Yes?! Not something abhorrent like you lot, and you will not refer to me as such, not ever, never in your sad, pitiful, lonely, shameful, lamentable and only deplorable lives...!"

Those vibrant eyes, like gems unearthed right from underground―slowly, they appeared to bear more of an origin from the underworld instead, bearing fire.

"I am the only one who is innocent here, I am the one who is not a stupid Apostle, a stupid sinner, a stupid believer, stupid follower, stupid, stupid, stupid fool...!"

Yelling without care at the taken-aback audience that I was most certainly a part of, her inhuman fangs seemed to stick out even more as she continued, utterly unrestrained.

"You were brought here to repent, yes? Yes?! That stupid fool 「Judas」, one of you right here, you are looking at me right now, yes?! Thinking you have escaped my grasp, but just wait, oh just you wait, for this witless little game of yours is something you will sorely regret dragging me into, and indeed, it has yet begun!"

All of a sudden, I could've sworn I saw a vivid spark ignite in her eyes.

"I―am Lilliana Weiss! And on this 'First Day', I do declare!"

Seeing a candlelight fire so infernal and demonic like that, my own eyes widened, and in the subsequent moment...

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

The witch-like Detective made her declaration.