Paradigm Parasite

"...... what happened?"

I - Ehrman - unintentionally utters the question.

We are in front of the wall.

I left Cristela with my men and hurried back... I got here without passing anyone on the way, but I can't find Marslan and his men, who I'm looking for.

If they just wanted to report back, they would definitely have come across them on the way...

...Did we pass each other without noticing?

I inwardly deny that this is not the case.

I instruct the men I brought with me to check the surroundings for traces.

I check the perimeter. There's literally nothing.

While I was checking for footprints etc., one of my men seems to have found something.

It seems that the soil was slightly rolled up.

It was hard to tell without paying close attention, but it was probably the remains of a levelling.

I look up at the sky.

The moon is at its zenith and the visibility is not bad thanks to the moonlight falling from directly above.

I check my surroundings for any strange signs, but I don't sense anything suspicious.

It is such an open place to begin with. If anyone approaches, they will notice immediately.

Scoop up a scoop of soil that has been leveled and examine it by rubbing it with your hands and smelling it.

I repeat this several times and frown .......

There is a faint smell of blood.

...some... no, not some places.

The fact that I found blood-soaked soil in such a short time, despite it being levelled, means that a fair amount of blood has been spilled here. My bad premonition came true. Marslan definitely did something to piss these guys off.

And it looks like there was a battle... but seeing how cleanly they've disappeared, there's a good chance they've all been wiped out.

Fifty holy knights, led by Marselan, and the Knights of the Holy Temple were wiped out?

And in such a short time and without leaving hardly a trace?

A chill crawls up my spine.

This is not good.

I instructed my men to leave the area immediately while keeping a wary eye on the area, and I left the area in a short run.

I ran for a while, keeping a lookout behind me, then left to a place where I thought it was safe, and stopped to let my men look around.

"Fuu."

I exhale and relax.

Let's calm down and sort out the information.

By the looks of it, Marslan has definitely been killed or captured.

He's blue, but he's good enough to be elected a knight of the cathedral.

I don't want to think he died so easily, but that's how bad things are beyond the Wall.

Oh, damn it. I want to escape...

I take out a magic stone for communication from my pocket.

The other party is Stanislas, of course.

This kind of magic stone is valuable and expensive, so it's not easy to get one, but I'm keenly aware of the importance of information transmission, so I'm spending my own money to buy a lot of them.

It's part of the reason why Stanislas and his men have them.

It was quite an expense, but as long as it's not costing me my life, I'll spare no expense in putting money into these items.

--What's going on? At this hour?

Stanislas's voice is rather gruff in response to the call.

I guess he had just finished his work and gone to bed.

I'm sorry, but we need to talk first.

--There's a problem.

When I said that, there was a small gasp.

--Let's hear it.

The grumpiness in his voice was gone.

--Marslan?

--Oh, I don't know if he's dead or captured.

I take up a position in plain sight, letting my guard down.

After listening to the whole story, Stanislas's voice was laced with confusion.

--Are you sure?

--Yeah, every last one of the men he took with him is gone.

"How they did it, I have no idea," I add.

Stanislas growls low and falls silent.

--This is not good.

--And... and? What do we do?

-We can't just move in the dark as long as we don't know what's going on.

-...Well, if you go to the Oratorium head-on, you'll probably end up being fawned over, as there's no evidence.

But it's clear that the Oratorium is suspicious.

--At least it's confirmed that there's something going on there. It's tough to find out, now that Marslan has failed.

--If you're going to force your way in, you need an excuse.

You can try to use your power, but it's a complete gamble.

...Well, you could go as far as looking into it.

But if you find nothing, you're in big trouble.

I was going to sneak in to find an excuse for that, but I don't think I can do that anymore.

Considering Marslan's failure, they're definitely going to be on high alert.

...Even if I go, I'm sure they'll find me and that'll be the end of it.

If that happens, I will certainly be killed or captured, as I am inferior to Marslan in terms of combat power.

What awaits me afterwards will be interrogation or torture... I shudder at the thought.

Let's be clear. I can't do it.

I will not sneak in when I know I will fail.

Even if we survived, if it was discovered that we had snuck in, our heads would roll, metaphorically or otherwise.

We all let out a sigh.

Gnosis wouldn't be the first to cover for us.

That place is rational in a bad way. If things get messy, they'll choose without hesitation the option that will cause the least amount of damage.

To be more specific, they'll blame me and Stanislas, and they're not afraid to give us their decapitated heads, saying they're going to make up for it.

Well, they'll never stop being obsessed, so when the heat dies down, they'll send another one.

If they don't produce results, they will be punished. If they fail, they will be made to take responsibility.

I wonder what's going on with the Cathedral Knights, which is supposed to be a coveted position for knights of the Holy Order.

I can't do this.

I'm a knight of the cathedral for a living.

If I die on the job, I'm no good to you.

Sighs.

--...huh... Once there, I'll go back to the main group and meet up with Cristela. I'll tell her that Marslan won't be back for a reasonable amount of time, and I'll take it back, saying I'll see what's going on. After that... we'll try to find an opening so that we can somehow check beyond the wall.

--No, I'll only send my men, you go back. You should give up Marslan. I would have liked to recover the equipment alone, but it's no good if I have to force myself and lose you too.

I was about to say that I could make it if I hurried, but I shook my head and thought better of it.

Now that it's come to this, it's better to assume Marslan is dead.

--I'll just have to wait and see what happens. Then I'll have my men keep their hands off him and keep him under surveillance, is that alright?

--Do that.

For a start, I'm relieved to be away from the magical land of Oratorium or whatever it's called, but it doesn't mean that things have changed.

I feel like crying because I know that if I do badly, they will send me back in.

--If only they could somehow find something decisive, they could move their troops in a big way. Please do something.

I replied that I understood and terminated the communication.

"...... Oh... I shouldn't have become a cathedral knight..."

I really want to quit.

How can I quit?

I thought seriously for a while - I let out a sigh and hurried on.

I returned to the unit in a big hurry and met up with Cristela.

While I was gone, I misled my men into thinking there was a problem, so I asked them, "Was everything alright?" and nothing in particular was said about it.

I was so relieved that I was tempted to think that this young lady was not interested in the movements of her subordinates, but is that okay?

If it were me, I would have her report in more detail...

But that's okay. I'll take that as a positive sign that they're being understanding at the moment.

Now it's just a question of where to start talking about bringing the men back...

It's completely after the fact, but there's nothing we can do about that. And after my men have been left behind on surveillance.

I can picture the surrounding area in my mind.

If they come back late, the only time I can cut them off is ...... well, just before they leave the oratorium.

If possible, I'll pray that they don't realise that my men are dwindling until I cut them out.

I let out an inward sigh and look back.

The view of the oratorium is peaceful, but is it my imagination that I feel as if I am in the belly of a monster?

... ah... oh no, not at all.

I'll be out of the oratorium in less than half a day.

I'll send additional people to see what happens.

Maybe it's better to send a few.

We need someone to report if we mess up, and have them stand by at a distance...

When I think about it, my stomach starts to hurt.

I let out a sigh and apply [healing] to the affected area, telling myself to do my best to get my motivation up, and even more strongly telling myself that I must get the unpleasant things done quickly. It's now self-imposed.

Afterwards, just before leaving the oratorium as planned, I told Kristela that I was going to return my men, saying that Marslan seemed to be running late and that I would go and check on him for a while, and the young lady was about to say that she would return herself, so I pushed her away, forcing her to leave it to me.

Select five of my fastest men and send them back to the house.

Since there are so few of them, it won't take them long to return, but I don't know what to do.

I strongly instructed my men to take turns monitoring the house and to report any changes.

...Mainly to check the comings and goings.

It would be great if the deputy would go out... but it won't work out that way.

I think about it, but I'd like to help the boy if possible...

I let out a heavy sigh, feeling that it would be impossible.

"I have been waiting for you."

I - Fatima - greet the Lord's return with a smile.

The place is the garden of the mansion. The returning Lord Rothfeldt has landed here with the collaborators he has brought with him.

"Ah. I'm back."

"This place is amazing. I heard Oratorium was a desolate place, but it's nothing like I'd heard."

"Yeah, how on earth did you get here in such a short time?"

The two are the Dasain ringleaders and their companions that I heard about?

The one that looks like Ursidae the bear is Yonomori Azusa. Next to him is Aspizar?

Yonomori looks around curiously, and Aspizaru is probably equally taken by the beauty of the gardens.

I quickly observe them both.

Yonomori is fine. There is no sign that he is making eye contact with Mr Rothfeldt.

However, she does seem a little wary.

Rude. If you try anything strange, I will turn you into a bear pot.

The rest is aspizal, but... well, he seems to have a difficult temperament to understand.

There is a deep colour of curiosity in his eyes. Other than that, I don't know much. It's hard to deal with people like this who don't know what they're thinking.

But aren't you a little too close to Mr Rothfeld?

And there is one thing that bothers me. I heard he was a man, but is that really the case?

Certainly, the larynx seems to be firmly attached, and looking at the skeleton, he must be a man, but... what is it?

My woman's intuition is whispering to me. Be careful.

We may need to be a little wary.

Let's end the observation for now. They are our guests, albeit only for the time being, so we need to treat them accordingly.

"You must be Aspizaru-sama and Yonomori-sama. Welcome to our home. I am Fatima, acting Lord of Oratorium. Please make my acquaintance."

When I called out to them, they looked a little surprised.

"Yo, I'm Azusa Yonomori. Nice to meet you."

"Wow, she's really beautiful. I'm Aspizal. Nice to meet you."

After a brief introduction to each other, I would normally ask them to take a short rest, but...

"If the greetings are over, I'll get right down to business. Is that all right?"

I've already prepared for that.

I nodded with a smile and led everyone into the garden.