Paradigm Parasite

Chapter 107: "Assault"

"How do you think the guys at Darzain are getting more people?"

As we were walking along, Vertex asked me that.

I've heard of people talking to potential prospects on the street."

"Correct, but not enough. They certainly call out to those who have potential, but those who don't seem to be dominated, they hook them with their scent."

A scent.......hey. It's called a honey trap.

"They drag them to the point of no return and then inadvertently bring them into their ranks?"

"Something like that. There is also the odd case where a child born to parents who are members of the organization is brought in as it is."

...hmmm. So? Is that really necessary?

To be honest, I'm not really interested...

He snorts like he knows what I'm thinking, or maybe he's just mocking me.

"You're not very perceptive. Here in Royal Capital, there are a lot of recruiters who use such women, and it is sometimes reported that some adventurers disappear unnaturally. And it is known that some of those who have disappeared have fallen in love with those women. You can guess what I'm talking about, can't you?"

I see.

So the idiots who fell for it were made to lose their balls, and then they changed their jobs into suspicious black robes.

Come to think of it, a woman came to me, too. Maybe they are like that, too?

"How did you find out so much?"

"If you have money, you can buy almost anything here. Information, a handy shield and bodyguard, and so on?"

He smiles thinly as he says it.

So, you used people to do your research.

Well, as long as you have enough money, you can handle most things. Especially if you have as much money as this guy.

...I don't care what you think, but you're assuming that I am a shield.

"So.... This is where the whores roost and store."

"Heh."

We arrived at a large whorehouse, and I didn't see anything strange, but was this the right place?

"Use this."

Vertex holds out something that looks like a pitch-black mask from somewhere.

I take it and look at it. It is just a mask. There are horizontal slits in the eyes.

What is it? I should just put it on?

"It has a disincentive effect on perception. Don't break it, because I don't have a replacement."

Vertex took out the same thing and put it on.

Then, Vertex became only a black silhouette.

Oh...great. I don't know who he is.

I'll put mine on. So we're ready to go.

Now, let's do a final check before we go in.

"How much do you want me to do?"

"You know what I'm talking about. Kill ...... them all. It's easy to understand, and there'll be no consequences, right?"

...It's certainly easy to understand.

Vertex kicks the door down with great force.

At the same time, I stepped inside and fired a [Explosion III] without setting my aim.

"...... yeah. Even Elisa and Lorena couldn't do it."

Upon hearing the report, Sis Helga exhaled dejectedly.

This is a room in the brothel where we ostensibly work, and it also serves as a private room for me, Lorena, and Sis Helga.

"I'm sorry, Sis. But I can't do that one. He looked completely uninterested in me before he warned me."

All I, Elisa, could say to my sister was something as excusatory as that.

I mean, if my sister can't get rid of him, there's no way we can.

Such thoughts came to mind, but she swallowed them down.

"I'm sorry too. It's just too much to ask..."

I and my sister both let out a sigh.

The next person, Lorena, is taking a bite of the fruit she bought.

"I mean, sister. You should use that ability of yours..."

She rarely uses it, but as I recall, if she did, most men would fall off in an instant.

"I used it, but it didn't work."

"What!? You used it!?"

"Yes... he was definitely in the area of effect, but his eyebrows just moved a little."

...Ehh... What's going on with that guy?

Did he repel it by himself? Or is it a magical tool to prevent that kind of thing?

Don't tell me he's really only interested in men....

If that's the case, we can't do anything about it.

"Maybe we should change our ways."

"I don't know...what should we do? What do you have in mind, Elisa?"

"Eww... don't shove it at me, sis."

As I said this, I thought about the man I had approached the other day, Roe.

Despite his shabby equipment, he has an unnaturally well-trained body.

And an expressionless face that makes it hard to tell what he is thinking.

Basically, we first close the distance between us and the target and touch it.

Then we decide on our next move based on what kind of reaction we expect from the target, and if the target is on board, we are in control.

Just drag them into bed with us and make them listen to what we say.

Once he is drowned in our body, we have a puppet that moves as we wish, just by pulling the strings.

But with Roe, it didn't work in the first place.

Whenever I tried to close the distance, he would move away to maintain a certain distance, perhaps unconsciously.

Even if I showed him my body, he would only look at me, but I could not stimulate his desire.

It looked like he was just standing normally, but his center of gravity was slightly tilted forward.

Perhaps, but if I had responded incorrectly, I could have been attacked.

Perhaps if I had persisted a little longer, I might have been attacked.

I still think I made the right decision at that time.

After all, what can we do?

"I guess it's going to be tough if we don't take our time and let his guard down."

"Well, to begin with, he's a means to get back what was stolen from Vertex, so taking too much time is the wrong end of the stick, isn't it?"

"That's right."

"So you're still going to have to use force?"

"Lorena... you do that all the time. I mean, what have you been eating all this time?"

Lorena peeled the orange fruit with a dagger and threw the pulp that came out into her mouth.

"Sinensis. I bought it at a store that opened recently and it's really delicious. Do you want some?"

"Oh, yeah? can I have one?"

"Un."

I ate one of the peeled pulp...oh!?

"Oh, it's delicious. I didn't know sinensis tasted like this."

"Yes, it does. It's sweet, but it has a light aftertaste, so you can eat as much as you want."

"I also found some mixed with squeezed juice and alcohol. It was delicious."

I eat another piece of sinensis pulp.

Ah... it's delicious.

I thought, lightly escaping from reality, but no good idea came to mind.

"Maybe we should stop with that Roe guy already, right? Maybe, but he won't fall. If we must try, we'll have to talk it over with Gerch and get a few people together and attack him with force."

She put her hand on her cheek and dropped her shoulders.

"I agree. I wonder if I was too easily turned away and I was too angry. I'm not sure if it was wise for me to make a move."

"Anyway, let's talk with Gerch about our future plans."

"Ehh..."

She was about to say something when there was a roar and a jolt.

The building shakes greatly.

"What!? What?"

Lorena was the first to move.

"Don't move."

With that, she quickly stood up, grabbed her sword that was propped up against the wall, and ran out of the room.

The sound of footsteps soon became distant. As if to replace them, a shock and a scream were heard.

It's a raid, no matter how you look at it. Why would a brothel like this be attacked by bandits?

Did they get into some kind of mess with a client? Or is it ......?

Sis also pulls out the cane she had hidden under the bed.

I took out my crossbow and loaded it with arrows.

Lorena returned just as I was finishing preparations.

"Raid. Two enemies. Both are equipped with tools to hide their identities, so we don't know who they are... but maybe..."

"Vertex."

Lorena nodded silently.

So the rest is Roe.

"The battle group is holding them off down there, but they probably won't last. They'll kill us all."

"Hey, there are some guests down there who don't belong here..."

"They don't care. They are going to kill everyone here."

Sister's face tightened.

"I understand. Let's go to Gerchie's. She'll tell us what to do. I'll ask for instructions. Lorena, gather the other girls and let's all go upstairs."

We nodded and left the room.

We were going to part ways in order to get to where each of us was headed....

"Stop!"

Lorena's voice stopped us in our tracks.

A pillar of fire shot up through the floor in front of us.

The pillar of fire does not stop there, but penetrates to the floor above.

I know. It's a narrow passage.

It's hard to support with magic or crossbow, if we are not careful, we will hit Lorena.

Lorena is the only one among us who is good at close combat.

It would be the most correct choice for her to stay behind, but it was doubtful that she would return safely.

There must have been others downstairs who were better than Lorena in terms of ability and specialized in combat, but he had come up, which meant that the others downstairs were already...

"Let's trust Lorena-chan."

Sister's words sounded hollow, but right now I had no choice but to believe Lorena.