I’m Trapped in a Bloody Reverse Harem Game - Chapter 143

The moment I stepped outside, my eyes met Orias’s, who had been waiting for me. He watched me in silence, as if he had expected me to come out alone.

“I…”

After staring at me for a long time, Orias finally spoke. His golden eyes wavered more than usual.

He looked as if he were about to cry. I took a small step toward him, holding onto the hand that hung loosely at his side. Orias pressed his lips into a tight line.

“What I want to say is… That is…”

Just as he barely managed to open his mouth, he bit his lips so hard that they turned white.

Orias looked incredibly anxious, as if he were being chased by something, and finally confessed.

“I wanted to stay by your side. Because I love you. That’s why.”

For the first time, Orias spoke honestly about his feelings in a hesitant, stammering voice. If it had been under any other circumstances, I might have been happy to hear it.

He gripped my hands tightly, as if afraid I would let go.

Instead of pulling away, I asked Orias, “Orias, if you had to hide, where would you go?”

My question had nothing to do with what he had just said. Orias stared at me for a moment before hesitatingly replying.

“If it were me, of course, I would hide wherever you are, Haniel.”

Ah, I see.

I recalled a place where the Orias from the third playthrough might be. If it had to be somewhere I had been, there was only one possibility.

‘Haniel’s House.’ I had forgotten about it because it was never relevant outside the early stages of the game.

Why hadn’t I thought of it before?

Orias’s expression showed a flicker of hope, though I wasn’t sure what meaning he had attached to my sudden question.

Now that I knew where the Orias from the third playthrough would be, I had no more reason to stay here.

“Do you have anything else to say?”

Still, I pressed on.

We were so close—why wouldn’t he say the most important thing?

This Orias, that Orias, all of them were unbearably frustrating.

“…Just come back already.”

Yet another answer that missed the mark. I let out a short sigh.

***

I sent Orias away, ensuring that he wouldn’t run into Ardal. Ardal still had no idea that I had met Orias the previous night.

Without mentioning anything about what had happened, I began preparing to log into the game.

I had a feeling this would be my final login for the third playthrough.

The game had reached its final stage. If I found the missing Orias and confronted him, or if I brought this incident to an end, I would likely reach the ending.

Suppressing the uneasy pounding in my chest, I logged into the game.

The thought that this was my last chance to decide Orias’s fate made my stomach churn.

Everything will be fine. What is there to be worried about?

I reassured myself, forcing my mind to focus.

If I persuaded him properly, Orias would come to his senses.

As my vision darkened before brightening again upon logging in, I resolved to have a proper conversation with Orias.

<The Saint Is a Spy – Third Playthrough>

<The third playthrough has been completed.>

As I watched the familiar system windows appear in succession, my breath caught when I saw the next message.

The third playthrough was… complete? What was this supposed to mean?

<Character [Orias] has exhausted his holy power.>

<Character [Orias], having depleted all of his holy power, has died.>

<Due to the death of Character [Orias], the ongoing route ‘Master of the Name’ has been destroyed.>

<Character [Orias]’s bad ending, ‘The Pope’s Karma,’ has been recorded.>

My premonition had come true. But in the worst possible way—something I had never wished for.

“Ardal!”

After reading through the system messages, I let out something close to a scream. Hearing my frantic voice echo from Orias’s office, Ardal rushed in and scanned me for injuries.

“A-Ardal… Orias, where is Orias?”

“His Holiness has not yet made contact.”

Ardal answered as if it were the most natural thing in the world. Judging by his calm expression, neither he nor the priests had received the news yet.

Biting my trembling lips in shock, I grabbed Ardal’s arm. “I need to see Orias.”

“Lady Haniel, I understand your concern, but His Holiness’s whereabouts—”

“I know where he is!” I shook Ardal’s arm and shouted.

Orias would be at ‘Haniel’s House.’

He was alive. He had to be.

“Then I will send knights to confirm his presence. Lady Haniel, please remain calm and wait—”

“I have to go myself. I need to see Orias’s face, right now.”

My hands trembled as I clutched Ardal’s arm and pushed past him. There was no need to explain to Ardal—I just had to go there myself.

I headed straight for the stables, ignoring the stable master who bowed his head in surprise at my sudden arrival. Without hesitation, I roughly pulled out a horse.

“Saintess! Handling the horse like that is dangerous—!”

“Lady Haniel!”

The startled horse reared onto its hind legs, threatening to strike me. Ardal immediately pulled me back, while the stable master rushed to calm the animal.

My breath came in ragged gasps, my heart pounding wildly. But it wasn’t because of the horse.

Even before it had reared up, my heart had already been racing like mad.

Now, it was beating so violently that even to the naked eye, my chest visibly rose and fell with each rapid thud.

Ardal, who had wrapped his arm around my waist to stop me, tightened his grip as he noticed my trembling body.

He ordered the stable master, “Bring out a calm horse.”

“Ah, yes. Understood.”

I leaned my head against Ardal’s body and caught my breath.

I was getting too worked up even before confirming it with my own eyes. At this rate, I would collapse before even finding Orias.

I avoided looking at the system window that displayed Orias’s status and closed my eyes.

Whenever I opened them, the system message stating that Orias was dead tormented me.

Even when I dismissed the floating system window, the words [Bad Ending ‘The Pope’s Karma’ Collected] refused to disappear.

“Where should we go?”

“Home… Take me to the place I lived before I came to the temple,” I answered with my eyes tightly shut.

Throughout the ride, my body trembled helplessly as I clung to Ardal’s arm holding the reins. The nausea from tension and anxiety never subsided.

It wasn’t far, but it felt like we had been riding for an entire day.

When we finally arrived at Haniel’s House, there was no sign of life.

Standing before the door of the empty house, I hesitated with my hand on the doorknob. Orias might not be here. I wouldn’t know until I went inside. I had to go in.

Even as I told myself that, my grip on the door weakened, my fingers slipping away.

Had I gone too far? Was it because I had pushed Orias too hard that things ended up like this?

I let my hand drop and thought.

Maybe transferring all of his memories at once had been a mistake. Perhaps I shouldn’t have given him the memory of killing me.

Though it was true that Orias had killed me, it wasn’t something he had wanted, and in the end, I was still alive like this.

Regret came too late. I curled up, my body shrinking.

I had no courage to open the door. I knew I had to, but I was too afraid to confirm the outcome with my own hands.

Was this how Orias had felt? Knowing what had to be done, yet being too scared of how I would react?

As I trembled and sobbed, curled up, I suddenly felt the flow of holy power from inside the house.

A holy power I had sensed from Orias was now emanating from a place that had previously felt empty.

Before that sensation could fade, I flung the door open.

Haniel’s House looked exactly as I remembered it. A wardrobe, a storage cabinet, a single bed. Only one thing was different—there was someone sitting blankly on the bed.

“Orias…?”

“Ah.”

A person I had not expected to see blinked at me.

“…Orias oppa?”

“Haniel?”

Golden-blond hair and innocent golden eyes that gleamed brightly—eyes that were completely different from Orias’s.

<The holy power of character [Orias] has been returned to its original owner.>

For a moment, we both stared at each other in stunned silence.

<As a result of character [Orias]’s bad ending, ‘Incomplete Resurrection’ has been acquired.>

As I stared at the system window floating before my brother’s face, I finally understood what Orias had meant by “I’ll set everything right.”

Even at the very end, Orias remained someone who complicated my life.

Seeing me unable to cry or laugh, the real Orias—my brother—awkwardly smiled and spread his arms.

“At the very least, we should greet each other properly, Haniel. Have you been well?”

The sheer absurdity of his greeting made all my tension drain away.

As I collapsed to the floor in disbelief, my brother awkwardly stood up, testing out his own body before approaching me.

Just like I had grown, he had too. Yet the warmth in his eyes remained the same as when we were children.

Crouching down to meet my gaze, he smiled. “I missed you.”

“I… I did too, but… what’s going on?”

I stammered as he ruffled my hair with his rough touch.

Despite his much larger frame, my brother seemed completely unfazed as he calmly accepted the situation.

“Huh? I just followed the instructions in the guidebook, didn’t I?”

“Um, no, you didn’t…”

“Ah, so that’s why it’s incomplete?”

Muttering to himself, he continued running his fingers through my hair.

“I thought it was odd that El wasn’t around… So this time, it’s a ‘bad ending,’ huh? Then I guess we don’t have much time together.”

Speaking in a regretful tone, he cupped my cheeks with both hands before helping me to my feet.

“You don’t want El to die, do you? Haniel, start over.”

With unwavering certainty in my feelings, he pushed me away.

***

Information 2. Character [Orias] Related Endings

• The bad ending for Orias’s single route: ‘The Pope’s Karma.’
• The only ending in which character [Orias] dies.
• This ending is triggered if the player injects all past memories at once while progressing through the route ‘Master of the Name.’
• If memories are transferred gradually, the perfect ending ‘Master of the Name’ can be obtained.

Information 3. [Orias]

• Event ‘Incomplete Resurrection’: A scenario in which a character other than Haniel revives [Orias].
• After a set period of time, [Orias], revived through ‘Incomplete Resurrection,’ will die.