Paradigm Parasite

Chapter 138: "Peace"

Dylan thrusts the tip of his sword at the fallen Radeeb.

He does not say the words, but implicitly asks, "Do you still want to continue?" he asks.

Radheeb stares at Dylan, bleeding, but his face is pale, probably from the blood loss from his severed arm.

The orcs behind him are extremely upset.

Of course, the general who was supposed to be the strongest was killed right in front of them.

Their morale must be shattered.

It would be better if they just surrendered, but we can't expect them to do that...

"Save the king!"

"Let's kill them!"

"We outnumber them!"

... well, this is what will happen.

Some of the orcs say bravado, and the others come rushing in, yelling and screaming.

I wondered if they would run away. I thought, but on second thoughts, there was nowhere to run.

This is where they live, and once they get this far in, it's a backwater for them.

He probably couldn't choose the option of running away.

Dylan was not upset, as if he had read that reaction as well.

He gave a small nod and the Shrigala and others who were waiting by my side immediately came up to him, collected Radeeve and brought him to me.

The Dylan's army, led by Riley astride Gevaudan, rushed in to replace them.

The expressions on their faces as they face the enemy's army are distorted with joy.

They must be having a lot of fun laying waste to them.

The men who recovered Dylan and Radeeb came to me after they had all finished their assault, leaving my escort behind.

Radeeb, lying in front of me, is dying.

He seems to have gone wild during the transport and was hurt by Shrigala to the extent that he was unable to move.

His face is deformed.

He is breathing, so there is probably no problem.

In the meantime, I'll just stick my fingers in his ears, stretch out my roots and take over as usual.

Well, he's the king, so it would be nice to have some usable information...

I look at Radib's body. His breath is getting thinner.

...This one will die if left alone. Let's hurry a little.

I take one look at the people who brought him here.

You've gone too far. Next time, cut back a bit.

After planting the roots, repair the damage.

"Arm."

Saying this, I hold out my hand and Shrigala offers me the arm of Radib, which he picked up.

Connecting the arm I received, I started repairing the inside of the body.

After a while, his colour returned.

I also pulled out the memory and was about to inspect the inside, when Trust, who had been waiting for me, stepped forward with his hand on his sword.

I noticed it belatedly too.

The Shrigaras also roar, each with their weapons at the ready.

There they are.

The number is somewhere around ......10.

"Why don't you come out?"

When I said that, about five goblins came out from behind the rocks.

They all had weapons, but when they threw them out at my feet, they raised their hands to show that they didn't want to fight.

I frown at their behaviour.

Trust also looked at me as if to ask me for a decision.

"What can I do for you?"

I said, and the goblins looked at me, Dylan and Trust in turn and fixed their gaze on me.

"We are the Goblin king's. We are here on Abdullah-sama's orders. We have no intention of fighting. Will you please at least listen to us?"

The representative goblin said this in human language.

It feels a little strange, but he is very fluent.

But still...

... you want to talk to me...

Well, let's see how serious you are.

"I see. By the way, is that all of you?"

The goblins gasp for a moment, and the goblin who spoke to me whistles.

Then the rest of the goblins came out of the shadows of the rocks.

They, too, put their weapons at their feet before moving closer to the rest of the group.

If they've exposed their ambush, does that mean they don't really want to fight with us?

Well, that's okay.

Radib seems to be all right now.

I pull my fingers out of his ears and sit on his stomach.

"That's all of us."

"Good. So, what now? Shall I ask what the requirements are?"

The head goblin steps forward a little.

"We have come to you with a peace offer."

Peace? Isn't that the wrong word for surrender?

I honestly think he's saying that since the odds are against us, let's call it a draw.

"What's in it for us if we accept it?"

"...Our king wishes to arrange a meeting with your representatives to discuss the matter."

Discussions.

"I want to check first. Is that the opinion of the goblins alone?"

"That's right. We are here as messengers of the goblins. If you accept our offer, the king says he will go wherever you want, as long as you specify the place."

That's a very underhanded move.

Wherever I wish to go?

What's going on?

I say I'll talk to them a bit and leave the place.

I pretended to talk to Trust and Dylan a little further away and contacted Fatima.

--Fatima.

--Mr. Rothfeldt! Is there a problem?

-There's been a bit of an unusual turn of events. I want your opinion.

When I told her about the Goblin King's offer, Fatima sounded distressed.

-I can't really say. I'm troubled by the fact that it was a messenger who came and not the man himself. I don't know what his intentions are. Normally, it would be a consultation for a deal...

- that's what I'm wondering about too. I thought about calling them up and trapping them, but they've said they'll leave the location to us.

-Certainly, they don't seem to be interested in trapping us. If we specify our orchard, there's no way to surprise them...

Fatima sighs as she says so.

-...but it's clearly a winnable battle. It's also possible to ignore it and push through with force, isn't it?

That's true, but I don't find this fight too appealing, so I'm willing to take it.

I don't want to prolong it, I just want to get it over with and head for the Elven Forest.

The rest is... curiosity. I'm curious to see what the goblin king or whatever he's going to do.

-As for me, it doesn't matter either way. I leave it to the decision of the field.

--All right. I'm inclined to accept. Is that all right with you?

--Understood. Then I will prepare a place for you.

After that, we had a couple of brief meetings and then cut communication.

I briefly told the guys around me about my talk with Fatima and went back to the goblins.

"Sorry to keep you waiting."

"Yee..."

"About what you said earlier, I think I'll take it. I'll let you know as soon as it's decided. How can I get in touch with you?"

"Here."

The goblin offers a magic stone for communication.

Take it and put it in my pocket.

"The date will be decided as soon as possible. Then you can go home."

When I say this, the goblins look relieved.

Do we have to nail it down, just in case?

"Oh, one last thing. Can you tell the king for me?"

"What is it, then?"

"Just tell him not to take any chances."

When I said this and showed them a smile, the goblins scrunched up their faces and nodded several times before saying, 'Now if you'll excuse me' and leaving.

Well.

When I saw the goblins off and returned my gaze to the battlefield, I could see those who had rushed in were running amok.

Every one of them is doing whatever they want.

I can hear the screams of the orcs even from here.

I thought it might take a while because there are so many of them, but it looks like I don't have to worry about that.

We look up at the sky.

Huge shadows pass over our heads.

They are planted dragons being carried by several Kongamatos.

Those from the sky slowly pass over the heads of the orc army and drop the planted dragons behind them.

The congamatoes were lent out for the task of carrying reinforcements, but I didn't expect them to be this big.

The number of planted dragons was five; four Kongamatoes seemed to be carrying one.

The falling plant dragons roar and spit out their breath, eating the orc army from behind.

There wasn't a single orc whose fighting spirit was falling all over the place after suddenly losing their general.

The formation is completely broken, and it will be difficult to rebuild it when it goes that far.

In the meantime, I told them to collect anyone useful, but will they come to me in decent condition?

It was a slow but stupefying battle when it was over.

Those who were relatively active were hurt and restrained until they were unable to fight.

Those who surrendered were hardened with the words 'if even one of you resists, we will kill you all'.

Now we are collecting the corpses and loot.

I watch the work in a daze, doing nothing in particular.

I see brainwashed Radheeb and Dylan leading the way and directing the work.

The survivors were immensely shocked to see Radib transformed, but they didn't seem to have the energy to rebel, thanks to the pain they had suffered so much.

The Orc army, which numbered five or six thousand, ended with the terrible result that more than 60% of them were killed, the rest were seriously wounded and almost no one was uninjured.

It wasn't an easy victory either, as we lost more than 40% of the zombies we had prepared, which was almost as many as the enemy.

Well, I just watched and did nothing!

For now, the orcs have been taken care of.

After the remaining three species are taken care of, we'll head for the forest.

I'm going to push the post-war clean-up and go on my own again.

...no.

I see Savage devouring a dead orc nearby.

Speaking of which, there was this guy, but ...... he's a damn thing I made, and he's practically alone.

And the performance test of the Shrigaras, they were better than I thought they'd be.

First of all, the Shrigala.

They're quick to spot prey because of their noses, and their senses are sharp, so they're intelligent in a crisis.

The demon's paw, which made it speed up, also worked well, and it was well-balanced.

It was also good that the parts were focused on the 'eyes' and 'feet'.

The use of these parts consumes a considerable amount of magical power, so the number of demon-derived parts was kept to a minimum.

The eyes are called 'blind demon eyes', which take away the opponent's vision.

Using it, you can destroy your opponent's vision just before an attack to gain the upper hand.

The goblins have taught me first-hand how powerful it is.

The downside is that the nose is too sensitive, but for now we don't need to worry about that.

Next was Jevordan.

Their mobility with the Shrigala on board is impressive, and in the fight just now, they were able to break the gap at once and pounce before the enemy could even prepare themselves.

Naturally, they also have implanted parts, thanks to which they can kick in the air a few times at a time.

Although they did not use it in this battle, they have a device in their throats that allows them to spit flammable liquid from their mouths, which can be ignited by rubbing their back teeth together. It can breathe fire.

They have refrained from using it because it would involve their allies, but I'd like to see them use it next time to see how they are doing.

I can't find any faults with this one, but if I had to pick one, I'd say that it's not very manoeuvrable due to its size.

Finally, the Kongamatou.

As an air force, they have excellent firepower and durability, and above all, they are great at controlling airspace.

The downside is that they do not fly by flapping their wings alone, but by using magic in combination with gravity, so they have less stamina than they appear to have.

After a certain amount of flying, it becomes necessary to rest them.

The air transport of the planted dragons was also done while resting, so it seems that their arrival was delayed.

We made it so that it would have more capacity, but it seems that this is the limit for that size.

After all, what is needed is balance rather than a collection of strong parts.

I muttered "balance, balance" in my mouth, and after that I was lost in contemplation.