Paradigm Parasite

Chapter 178: "Cooperation"

Yonomori's story continues.

The reborn Aspizal was thus educated to be the next head of Darzain.

He himself does not seem to have the slightest interest in such a position, and although he is currently in that position, he is not doing anything voluntarily...

He is not interested in such a position himself.

Is that okay?

Given that it is marked 'voluntarily', is he being made to do something?

"Of course, I'll listen to the reports, okay? But they don't want to do anything about it."

"That's not a problem, is it?"

Aspizal shakes his head with a wry smile at my question.

"We have a complete organisation, you know. It turns on its own even if I don't say anything. Don't you think I wouldn't be here in the first place if I was serious about my work?"

... I don't know if I should be saying this myself, but it's a fair point.

"And? I understand your situation, but why are you telling me about it?

Well, it's not like I believed you.

"Well, let's see. It's--"

"I don't know about Azusa, but at the moment I'm not recruiting you."

"What?"

Aspizal interrupts Yonomori, who was about to say something, and says something like that.

The interrupted Yonomori is kind of surprised, you know.

"Then what do you want?"

You mean you've been dropping information on me for no reason?

I don't trust you more and more.

Aspizal smiles a wickedly innocent smile, perhaps sensing my thoughts.

Laughing won't fool me, will it?

"It's simple. It means we're going to have a heart-to-heart talk. If we keep things from each other, we won't know what we know. Like about the monsters over there. At least they are our common enemy, right? Then, I'm thinking of recruiting them again after I've cleared up this problem. Is that okay with you too, Azusa?"

"Yes. If you are fine with that."

Yonomori nodded in an indescribable manner.

It seems that this one was ready to be nostalgic.

I have no intention of being taken advantage of.

"So what about Roe? I don't know what you're going to do later, but I'd appreciate it if you'd get your hands off that monster?"

I inwardly click my tongue and let go of the monster.

It's still not long enough to fully repair it. I can barely move it.

Savage is ...... going to take a bit longer.

You never know how things are going to turn out, so you definitely need to be prepared.

I'm going to keep talking a little bit more aggressively to buy some time.

"...I'm going to make sure that I'm on top of this. What if this case is over and I refuse to recruit you guys?"

"I'm not going to say anything, okay? Because you already seem to know a lot, and by the looks of it, a fair amount of time has passed since you found out what happened. It's too late to stop you from talking. That's why I didn't stop Azusa from talking."

The answer I got back was surprising, but you can say whatever you want with your mouth, and I don't trust you.

"For someone who claims to be a representative, your response is very different from downstairs, isn't it?"

"Azusa said that, didn't she? The policy was originally established by my grandfather's generation, so they're doing radical things like that, not that I'm making them do it. Well, it's not for my benefit, so I won't actively stop them."

He then shrugs his shoulders.

I frowned slightly at Aspizal's reaction.

If what he says is true, he didn't give any substantive instructions?

He said that he had been replaced, but maybe it is still his father who is running the organisation?

Various thoughts float in and out of my brain, but I shake my head inwardly and expel the extraneous thoughts.

Until now, I've been getting information by pulling directly from memories, so it's hard to determine the authenticity of this kind of unsupported conversation.

...Is this the price for resorting to forceful means until now?

There is room for improvement in that area.

I'll put it in a corner of my mind as an issue for the future.

"Since you're still skeptical, let's talk some more, shall we? We're not the only ones who have been reincarnated in Durzain. Basically, they only listen to what suits them, so it's difficult to get them to work, but they're excellent as an asset."

Whether or not he knows our inner feelings, Aspizal continues his story.

It is difficult to read the truth or falsity of the story from his smile.

I stopped thinking about the difficult and superfluous and decided to focus on examining the content of the story.

...However, it's obvious that Darzain has more than one reincarnated person, so I'm not particularly surprised.

The point that they don't listen to us is also clear from the spider monster one day and the rubbish we beat to death in the frontier prison.

I don't want to think that's the default for reincarnated people, but I guess there are a certain number of people like that.

...Well, if you think of it as an escape from reality for someone thrown into such an incomprehensible situation, is that a healthy reaction in a way?

There are endless questions, but let's get back to the story.

"So... so? What do you want with all that good workforce you've got here? You came to this country to recruit, which means you're here looking for converts, right?"

"That's right."

Aspizal scratches his cheek with a slightly troubled expression.

"I have my own reasons. I'm personally gathering my forces without any connection to Darzain. As you can see, Azusa is strong enough, but it's only a single force. If possible, I'd like to have a few people I can talk to. And also to not hand over the reincarnated to the Gnosis."

What do you know about Gnosis, but do you collect them personally?

Not as Darzain, but as Aspizal personally?

The only thing that comes to mind is that they want a private army for some reason, but... well, that's okay for now. Let's keep that in mind.

"I don't know what they're up to, but they're relentless in their search for converts. I don't know what they're up to, but they seem to want to attract them anyway, regardless of their humanity, and it's at a level that makes those of us who are doing similar things shake our heads a little."

If that story is true, it's a bit odd.

We all know how useful they are as a force, but I feel that it would only be detrimental to have people we can't control.

In fact, the Gnosis is a major force that few people in Urs Laguna know about.

If they cause problems with that title, it must be quite a blow to the organisation, but even with that risk, why do you want them?

I don't know why, but let's keep a close watch on Gnosis.

Well, the best thing to do is to stay out of it, but there are a lot of strangely intuitive people out there, so as long as we continue to travel, we'll continue to deal with that kind of risk.

It's a hassle.

"Do you know anything about that?"

Aspizal asks me the opposite question, and I break off my train of thought and shake my head.

"Sorry, I don't know. At least they seem to be happy to work there, don't they?"

Hearing this, Aspizal snorts somewhat foolishly.

He's got a bitter reaction to Gnostic and reincarnated people, doesn't he?

"Why can't they understand that they're just being exploited?"

"The drowning man is grasping at straws, isn't he?"

To me it doesn't look much different, but I said yes.

"I'm not sure if I like it that much. But still, do you really hate this world so much?"

"Well, isn't it because he looks like that? Because if it was someone I knew, I'd be saying lickety-split about not being able to build a harem."

Whenever I talk about reincarnated people, I always think of that thing, even if I don't want to.

I try my best to forget about it, but it's troubling to have it pass through my mind at every turn.

"...... Oh, you've met someone who says that sort of thing?"

Aspizal's expression was somewhat sympathetic.

Maybe this guy had been given a hard time by something similar?

As I'm thinking about this, Yonomori clears her throat.

The point is not to derail the conversation.

Aspizal, who also sensed this, laughed bitterly.

"Sorry, sorry. I'll get back to the story. In other words, we are collecting reincarnated people in order not to hand them over to the Gnosis and to strengthen our own forces."

Aspizal took one look at Yonomori.

"Don't think anything strange Azusa. I'm not shelving Roe's recruitment just because I know what's going on, okay?"

I cross my arms without interrupting.

I realise that Savage is close by.

Good, I think I can at least manage to get away now.

"He's strong. Maybe, but if we really fought, even Azusa would be tough."

Saying that, Yonomori shook slightly.

It was only for a moment, but did she get upset? Hey, hey, were you planning to come in force when the time came, you bear?

This is why you can't let your guard down.

"Um, I didn't say anything..."

Yonomori says this as if in protest, but Aspizal just smiles and says nothing.

You've nailed it, but how can you have that conversation in front of him?

"So, you know, I'm thinking I might want to be as friendly as possible with you."

I stare at Aspizal, but I can't read any emotion of upset or fear in his eyes.

I have no idea what you're thinking, but if you take it at its word, you're saying we should co-operate.

As long as the monsters can't be ignored, it's not a good idea to stubbornly prod them, even if you don't want to take them on. Exhale a small breath and relax.

"...I understand. I'll lend you a hand until this matter is settled, regardless of what you said earlier."

"Thank you. I'm very lucky to have you on my side."

"That's great."

Aspizal smiles.

"Well, now that we've got a good rapport, let's get right down to it. Roe. You've noticed something about that monster, haven't you?"

...Now, how do I talk about it?

Even if only in passing, as long as we have joined forces, it is better to give out some information.

"The first thing about this monster is that it has an ego and a consciousness, but it's quite thin. Perhaps it is being controlled by something... or rather, it is a creature like that to begin with."

I was unsure, but I decided not to hide what I found out.

"Like a ...... messenger?"

"I think that's the correct perception."

A ...... messenger?

Good analogy. It certainly hits the mark.

"So you think we can solve the problem by doing something about the body that is controlling it?"

"I can't speak to that, but at least they won't be relentless in their pursuit."

There'll be no one to tell it what to do.

In fact, the elves who lacked Grigori fled early.

When there's no one to control them, it's thought that they won't be able to act in an organised manner down there.

Especially if it is a monster with low intelligence.

"I see. Do you have any idea where the main body is?"

"I don't know that much. Well, if it can be followed without being noticed, it might be found..."

This is true.

The instructions only come one way, and we don't know anything about the main body.

That's troublesome.

"Hmm. That seems a bit difficult. I don't know how it did it, but it seems to have sensed us with a fair amount of accuracy, and if we get any closer, it will definitely attack us."

"...I suppose."

I agree with you on that point.

The ability to sniff out their prey is incredible.

The trick is their tentacles.

Not the big ones on the outside, but the thin ones around the head.

They can put them out of their holes and grasp the situation around them.

Air, sound, temperature and magic.

In particular, its ability to search for magic is considerable, and it seems to be able to sniff out qualities as well, helping it to find good food for the main body.

In fact, in addition to finding us in that large city, it has a tremendous nose for sniffing out this place.

It seems that the individual who appeared in the arena passed the information on to the main body, and their sights were completely narrowed down to us and the king.

Apparently, those marine products seemed to like us very much, and the instructions from the main body were to 'capture and offer them up'.

I glanced at the aspizals.

I don't want to sound like I'm turning the tables, but should we just give them the right information and force them on them?

Hmm, I think. Not a bad move.

It will be difficult to look around here, but as long as you've got the information about that monster, it's a plus for the balance of payments.

I am confident that as long as I join up with Savage, I can get away with it without any problems.

The only thing that concerns me is the unknown aspizal, but at least I will be able to escape from Yonomori without any problems....

...but having said I'll lend a hand, I'm not so subtle about abandoning them.

Conclusions are circling around in my brain about whether to use or cooperate.

I don't know how much of what they say is true, but it's useful to be in a good mood...?

If I don't get in trouble with Dursain after returning to Urs Laguna, then yes, it's possible.

I also want information.

Since we didn't get much information in Oldia, we still don't know the whole story of these people.

Should we consider that as part of our plan? Should we leave aside the option of using them as bait to escape and cooperate with them for now?

"Okay, now it's my turn. I'll show you a few moves."

Aspizal says this and bends down to touch the sand.

Then the sand swirls as if with a will.

"As you can see, I can control the sand to a certain extent. If I apply it, I can somehow tell what's buried around here."

That sounds useful.

It's similar to the [land survey] I'm using.

"In the meantime, we know the direction from which they came, so how about we check that direction?"

...Well, that's a reasonable decision.

I nodded my head in agreement.