Ch.491The Common Sense of Genesis Village

The residents of Arvil were going about their daily lives without paying any attention to us.

Merchants had set up stalls on the streets and were calling out to customers. A young couple holding a child’s hand was browsing jewelry at one of the stalls, choosing a gift for their daughter.

Women walked around the avenues laughing merrily, while men leaned against building walls, smoking Mana Herbs and chatting idly.

Everywhere I looked, it was the picture of a perfectly peaceful, ordinary city.

Except for one thing.

For a person to live a proper human life, they must first satisfy three essential requirements.

If even one of these elements is lacking, it can’t be called a human life.

So, one could say that the residents of Arvil had already ceased to be human.

Without exception, they had all discarded the first of the three elements of human life—clothing, food, and shelter.

Women’s bare white breasts bounced with every step, and between men’s legs dangled something too obscene to show Lena.

As if they had forgotten the concept of clothing, the residents walked around in their primordial state, completely naked.

Literally, a village of primitive madness had manifested here!

—-

…What the fuck is this?

People walking around nonchalantly with their lower halves completely exposed. It was truly a bizarre sight. Beyond shocking—it was dizzying.

These damn cultists, what kind of insanity have they created…?

To make a nude beach—no, a nude city—in the middle of a holy state, what were they thinking?

“What is this…?”

I quickly covered Lena’s eyes and looked around at my companions.

And was shocked once more.

“Huh…?!”

The cigarette butt fell from my gaping mouth and rolled on the floor.

It could have started a fire in the carriage, but that was the least of my concerns right now.

Why?

Because everyone in the carriage was stripping off their clothes!

With master-level speed, they were undressing at an alarming rate.

Millia and Leonore had already thrown off their tops, exposing their bare chests, and were now pulling down their pants and underwear in one go. Hush was already completely naked.

Nigel was removing his breastplate and starting to unbutton his shirt, while Lena, whose eyes I was covering, was lifting her nun’s habit to reveal her white legs and cute underwear.

At least Lacy and Agnes seemed hesitant… but they too were blushing as they placed their hands on their clothes.

“Hey, what are you doing?!”

I shouted urgently, trying to stop them, but they just tilted their heads as if what they were doing was perfectly normal.

“What do you mean? When you arrive in a city, taking off your clothes is ‘common sense,’ isn’t it? Haschal, why aren’t you undressing?”

“What nonsense…? There’s no way that’s common sense…”

As I tried to refute Millia’s absurd statement, I felt something like a strange mist creeping into my mind.

The sensation was somewhat similar to when under a translation spell, but… there was a subtle difference.

Unlike the sharp, needle-like sensation of a translation spell, this felt like a sticky liquid enveloping my brain—damp and slimy.

A magic that affects the mind… no, a divine power?

I never imagined they’d set such a trap…!

No, I can worry about that later. I need to deal with this first…!

…Deal with it?

“What are you talking about? It’s common sense, right? Isn’t that so, Haschal?”

Millia, with her lower half completely exposed, patted my shoulder and smiled.

“Uh… is that so…?”

…Was it?

Is it “common sense” to take off your clothes when entering a city…?

…No, this still seems wrong.

Yes, everyone must be under some kind of mental magic—

…What’s magic?

…

Um… what was I just thinking about…?

Ah, right. We were talking about common sense.

So… since clothes are worn for going outside, it makes sense to take them off when entering a city…?

“I guess… that’s common sense…?”

A confused, dazed feeling. My mind was foggy, as if filled with mist.

What’s wrong with me?

Did I somehow inhale cigarette smoke through the top of my head…?

“Sister, please move your hand! I need to undress quickly and it’s uncomfortable!”

“Ah, that’s right, you’re from the eastern region, aren’t you? You probably haven’t learned all the customs here. Let me help you.”

Lena whined as she pulled her nun’s habit up over her head, and Leonore, who had already half-removed her lower garments, reached out to me.

“Um… do I need to undress too…?”

“Of course you do.”

…Right. That makes sense.

I’m a westerner now, so when I arrive in a city, I should take off my clothes.

…Should I?

“I believe I taught you this before, but perhaps you’ve forgotten? When we arrive in a city, it’s proper etiquette to remove all clothing so that men can ‘use’ us more easily, Haschal.”

Nigel, who had already thrown off his upper garments, nodded as he unbuckled my belt.

Use…? Was that… right…?

Um… I think I did learn that…

Ah, yes! Nigel told me before! Since clothes make it difficult to “serve,” we should undress in advance and wait to be chosen by our “masters”!

“Oh, right. I forgot. Help me undress.”

What was I thinking? This is so obvious.

I should hurry and get undressed.

I lifted my hips slightly to make it easier to remove my pants, and raised both arms above my head.

Nigel pulled down my pants and tugged at the strings of my exposed underwear to remove it.

Leonore had already removed my top and was unwinding the bandages around my chest.

And so, with their assistance, I continued undressing, preparing myself to be used by the men…

No, fuck that, that’s impossible.

The stigmata on my chest burned like fire.

My Mana Resistance, now stronger than before, blew away all the fog in my mind.

The sense of danger and anger that surged up to fill the void became a hammer that pounded my consciousness awake.

These bastards.

A city-wide brainwashing power? Where did they get such a trick…!

“Lacy! Agnes! Cast mental protection! It’s a trap set by the cultists!”

I pushed away Nigel and Leonore, who had completely stripped off my underwear, and shouted toward the saint candidates who had begun to remove their clothes with trembling hands.

They were the only ones I could count on.

Though Agnes and Lacy hadn’t completely escaped the influence of the brainwashing, they were still somewhat resistant thanks to their stigmata.

“Cultists…?”

“Cultists…!!”

Like Pavlov’s dogs hearing a bell, the two reacted reflexively to the word “cultists” despite their half-dazed state, emitting holy light.

– Whoosh!

Brilliant holy light intermingled, illuminating the inside of the carriage.

Two types of miracles unfolded simultaneously. Elpinel’s light firmly protected our minds, while Menes’s holy light restored our clouded consciousness.

The brainwashing power that had infiltrated everyone’s minds shattered under the force of the two women.

“Huh…?”

Reason returned to their eyes.

Millia, who had become naked and was about to open the carriage door, froze in place, and Hush, who had been leaning out the window with her upper body exposed, stiffened.

Nigel, who was holding my lower garments, and Leonore, who had unwound my chest bandages, also seemed to regain their senses, looking with trembling eyes at my naked body and their own.

Then, everyone’s faces turned bright red.

It was only because everyone in the carriage was female that there were no girlish screams.

If Demian or Ceylon had been here, it would have been absolute chaos.

We might have ended up with two blind men in our group.

“Men, using us…? To utter such blasphemous words, what shame for a knight…!”

“W-what was I thinking…! A man other than Demian…!”

Having returned to their senses, my companions clutched their heads and collapsed with shocked expressions.

“See! I told you it was dangerous, Haschal! We almost became breeding slaves!”

Hush, who had quickly returned to the carriage and closed the window, protested with a trembling voice.

“Just put your clothes on…”

I sighed and shook my head.

I didn’t particularly want to discover that even Hush had pink parts in this manner.

The others also began quietly picking up and putting on their clothes, their faces flushed crimson.

Lacy and Agnes, who had remained somewhat clothed, finally thought of Ceylon and Demian and extended their mental protection miracle to the driver’s seat at the front of the carriage.

“What kind of trap is this? Are all Mains and witches like this?”

“I know, right…”

Leonore frowned in disgust as she pulled up her pants and fastened her top, grumbling in an irritated tone.

Her complexion had turned pale, perhaps shocked at how close she had come to unwittingly becoming a plaything.

I snatched back my underwear from Nigel’s hands and put it on, then began rewrapping the chest bandages that Leonore had undone, grinding my molars.

…I almost ended up giving birth to a hundred children for the city residents.

It was chilling just to imagine.

Thank goodness we had three saint candidates in our group; otherwise, we might have been completely wiped out here.

—-

After escaping from the shocking trap, we turned the carriage around and quickly left Arvil.

It was clear that once the miracle protecting our minds wore off, we would fall under the brainwashing again.

Well, Lacy and Agnes could recast the miracle if needed…

But rather than walking around the city setting off bursts of holy light, it seemed more reasonable to retreat and make a plan before moving forward.

“…That was dangerous. It seems Arvil has already fallen into the hands of the cultists.”

“City-wide brainwashing, and strong enough to affect even us… I never imagined even a Main could do such a thing…”

Lacy and Agnes sighed with a mixture of shock and relief as they clutched their chests.

“It’s not Valkers acting alone. Judging by the scale and power, it’s too strong to be the ability of a single Main. I believe it’s a ritual created by combining the powers of not just Valkers, but also the heretic Eljur and other cultists.”

“Yes, I think so too.”

I nodded in agreement with Ceylon’s opinion.

From my perspective as well, it didn’t seem like a trap created by Valkers alone.

His power, “Alpha Male,” did have some brainwashing-like effects, but it wasn’t anywhere near this level.

It was also a power with strict preconditions.

So as Ceylon said, it was likely Valkers’ power combined with others’.

“To bewitch innocent residents and create a den of depravity… it’s as cruel and obscene as one would expect from cultists. They should all be judged without exception.”

Ceylon muttered, glaring at Arvil as if he wanted to burn it to the ground.

We learned after leaving the city that Ceylon had actually been resisting the brainwashing.

He said that the moment his consciousness began to blur and strange thoughts appeared, he immediately cast a mental defense miracle.

Though he couldn’t block it completely, he was at least able to maintain his mind by gritting his teeth rather than following the voice in his head.

Apparently, he had been restraining Demian, who had fallen under the brainwashing.

“By the way, what kind of brainwashing affected you guys?”

I asked Ceylon while puffing heavily on my cigarette.

Since Ceylon and Demian were the only men in our group, they wouldn’t have been subjected to the same brainwashing as us. I wondered what it was.

“Ah…! T-that… I’m not sure how to explain it…”

Ceylon hesitated as if it was too blasphemous to answer, and in his place, Demian, who didn’t care about such blasphemy, told me the answer.

“Apparently, ‘common sense’ dictated that upon arriving in the city, we should undress, use our companions, and then hand them over to the city residents. …We almost did something terrible.”

It seems that even to Demian, who doesn’t understand human emotions, this city’s “common sense” was quite insane.