Paradigm Parasite

"No movement ......?"

With a small sigh, I - Ehrman - had finished listening to the regular contact of my men who had been monitoring the wall.

Our location is a short distance past Oratorium and into Medrym.

The encampment has been prepared and everyone is taking a breather while keeping an eye on the surroundings.

Not much time has passed yet, but there is no movement in the Oratorium and it seems to be a quiet one.

It's eerily quiet.

...What's going on here?

Basically, I just have to keep waiting, but I can't stop feeling bad.

Is it really okay for me to stay here like this?

Should I have been monitoring them directly?

Thoughts akin to anxiety swirl in my mind.

If I were a normal person, I would have said, "I'll wait patiently" and started to take a nap, but for some reason I have no desire to do so.

Something akin to impatience is slowly burning me.

The overall speed of travel has been slowing down recently, probably due to the weather conditions.

It is likely that the return to Willead will be delayed by a few days.

I think about why I've been so unlucky.

What I'm thinking about is what happens when I get back.

Sooner or later, I'll have to report Marslan to my superiors.

Even though he got what he deserved, the man in charge, Cristela, may be punished in some way.

If we don't achieve a commensurate result before that happens, we'll be in trouble later on.

We need to find some excuse to step in and then check beyond the wall.

If we find nothing, so be it.

All you need is proof that there are talking monsters, if there are any, and if there aren't, that there aren't.

As long as you have that, your superiors will be convinced.

The Marselan case is not fatal, although he will be held responsible for not being able to control it because it was an outburst.

Worst-case scenario, I could just take the blame and call it even.

If he were alive, I would put all the blame on Marslan, but I don't think that's going to happen.

I don't have the slightest sympathy for him.

A fool who moves on his own and falls into a pit on his own has no right to be pitied.

I'd rather he be made to pay for the trouble he's caused.

...Oops.

A drop falls on your face in a plop.

It seems like it's starting to rain.

I don't like getting wet, so I quickly retreat to my tent.

I waste time again, lost in thoughts with no apparent exit while listening to the sound of the rain hitting the surroundings.

Fortunately, it seemed to be a passing shower and it stopped falling soon, but the sky remained overcast.

The moist air is coming in on the wind, so it's likely to keep coming and going for a while.

This is a prediction based on experience, so it should be right on the money.

The next morning it comes true and it starts raining again.

Each of us put on our rain gear to protect ourselves from the pouring rain.

We were prepared, so it wasn't a big problem, but it was inevitable that our legs would slow down.

Cristela was not willing to push us too hard and ordered us to move with plenty of leeway, so we arrived three days later than planned. In addition, the rain delayed the journey and it was late at night.

When we arrived, Cristela and I went to Stanislas's private room to report to him.

At this time of night, it seems that Stanislas was not in his office and was resting in his room.

We had contacted him in advance and he agreed to meet us immediately.

Stanislas looks at us and lets out a small breath.

"I still don't know if Marslan is back..."

"Yeah, I've got my men looking for him, but for some reason he hasn't joined up with us."

"...... What do you mean? What happened to the Knights of the Cathedral of Marslan?"

Cristela comes in with a quizzical look.

Well, it's the first time you've heard of it and that's a natural reaction.

...I mean, you take the fact that he's not coming back anytime soon a bit more seriously - no, you don't think he's just going to be gone on some kid's errand to report to you.

"I told you that I sent my men there because he didn't come back, didn't I?"

I say this and Cristela nods back.

"I got a call from one of my men at ....... The Marslan guy is nowhere to be found."

"What does that mean? Does that mean there's a problem?"

Nine times out of ten, I'm sure that's true, but I have no proof and I don't want to talk about the circumstances if I can help it, so I shrug my shoulders and answer.

"That's the thing. The person who was found disappeared from the place where he was supposed to be. No trace of him is known."

"Are you saying that he was attacked by someone?"

I think he went there to be attacked, if anything.

"I don't know that either. Maybe he was in a hurry and went to look for the monster."

I raise the possibility, thinking that I'm being a bit naïve.

Hearing this, Cristela frowned and turned her head slightly down to think a little.

"I don't know what the ...... Marslan Cathedral Knights were in a hurry about, but if they went to defeat the monsters for the sake of the people, that would be a sufficient possibility. No, perhaps his impatience at not finding the monster made him act that way?"

What about .........?

I had no idea what the woman in front of me was talking about.

It was the same with Stanislas, who had a look on his face that said, 'What is she talking about?'

For the people? Well, some people would say that. Of course, I'm not.

But Marslan is clearly not the kind of guy who thinks like that.

He is a man of aspiration and approval.

It's obvious to the casual observer, and you can see that after a few days, but couldn't this woman see that?

For all intents and purposes, he was competing with me and you, you know?

Frankly, even my own men saw it and kept their distance. ...... What the hell were you looking at?

I wanted to say that, but I shook my head inwardly and swallowed the words that were about to come out.

If anything, I felt I caught a glimpse of the distortion of the woman called Cristela.

She clearly has a different way of dealing with her position as a knight of the cathedral than I do.

Either she doesn't understand or she doesn't want to.

...Well, okay. Stay out of the mosquito net for a while.

"In the meantime, I'm having my men look for him, but if they can't find him, we might as well assume something's wrong."

"Either he was attacked by that monster or someone else attacked him..."

"I am worried, but he is one of the knights of the cathedral. He won't fall behind an ordinary opponent."

"I hope so."

I'm not saying that, but I'm convinced that he's gone because he's not ordinary, so I don't show it on my face, but I'm bitter inside.

"...I understand what you're saying. Hermann's men seem to be working on the ground there, so we'll have to wait and see what happens. It's no use moving in the dark, so it's not too late to find out what they're up to."

"I understand. Then I will be ready to go at any time."

...Oh come on, you're not going to convince me.

Stanislas is implicitly saying it's too late, don't you realise?

"Yes. I'll look after you in case of emergency."

"I'll leave you to it."

"I have no plans at the moment, so you can recover from your fatigue. You stay here, Ehrman. I want to hear the details of your men's report."

I knew you would say that.

I nodded silently.

When the footsteps had moved away, Stanislas used a magic tool to prevent the sound from leaking outside.

At the same time, the sounds from outside disappeared and all that could be heard was the sound of the rain beating on the window.

This tool muffles sounds that leak in and out of the space, but allows sounds that come into contact with it to pass through.

For example, the sound of rain banging on the window and the sound of a door banging on the window are allowed to pass through, so you will not be unaware of any unexpected visitors, making it a useful device.

...I'd love to have one, to be honest, but it's too expensive and I can't afford it at the moment.

"...... Well. Let's hear the details."

Stanislas starts to talk with a rather tired look on his face.

"I don't know any more details than I told you before. I've got my men looking for him, just in case, but it's all going to end in vain."

"You're sure it was Oratorium?"

"We don't have any concrete evidence, but we're almost certain."

Only circumstantial evidence, but I can only assume that.

I'd rather say it's anything but that.

"Do you think that the Oratorium is home to the monster?"

"I can't say. I'm sure there are secrets in that territory, but I don't know if it's that talking monster or not."

I myself am not sure about that.

Is it really possible to develop a territory to that level just by keeping a single monster around?

I think it's simply because that Fatima woman is so talented....

...No... We don't have enough information to make a decision.

"Let's get the information straight."

Stanislas seems to have guessed what I'm thinking and says so.

"To summarise what I've heard from you - first, Marslan went to the Acting Lord of Oratorium to report the results of the monster search. The reason he went where you should have gone is that he somehow overheard you and me and tried to take the credit."

I nodded.

That area is almost certain.

Otherwise, there's no reason for that little boy to get involved.

"Afterwards, when you went back to check on him, you found that Marslan and his party had disappeared."

"Yeah, I could smell blood on the ground and in the dirt where they had levelled the ground. They probably covered their tracks from the battle."

"...... Marslan and his men are behind the Wall. I know we have to give up, but just thinking about how to report it gives me a headache."

"I know."

We both know that.

What you can't do anymore.

The conversation itself is no different from an escape from reality, to put it bluntly.

We have to choose.

We can either force their hand for results, or we can report them to the higher ups with a view to penalties.

"My friend Ehrman. What do you think we should do?"

"We will have to report ...... things as they are. As long as Marslan has disappeared so easily, I can't just sneak in and get myself killed."

Stanislas breathes heavily and nods.

"...... Right. You're right. It's late today. I'll see you in the morning--"

Suddenly there is a knock on the door.

We frown and look at each other, then turn our gaze to the door.

Stanislas deactivates the effects of the magic tool. Otherwise, our reply would not reach him.

"What's up? You may enter."

As soon as we gave permission, the Holy Knight entered.

The knight's forehead was covered in sweat, indicating that he had come running in a hurry.

"Look, we're under attack! We're under attack!"

...What?

It took us a few moments to understand the words of the holy knight.