Paradigm Parasite

Other Pov

There is a dimly lit room.

The only lighting is from torches placed at equal intervals on the walls.

In the center of the room are two horizontal tables that divide the space.

The most eye-catching features of the room are the two thrones at the far end of the room and the several chairs with magnificent decorations on either side of the thrones.

There are five figures in the room. Three of them are seated at the table on the right.

The remaining two stood before the thrones, one upright with his arms crossed, the other hunched over, his gaze wandering.

"...so? Why were we the only ones called? Mr. Algrini?"

The man called Algrini sat down briskly in a nearby ornate chair.

"You don't mind if I sit there?"

"I don't mind. The master of this seat is not coming."

The man who spoke first said, "I see," and closed his mouth.

Algrini's age was around 30. The muscles of his body are so heaped up that they can be seen even through his clothes, and the scars on his skin tell the story of the many ordeals he has been through.

"Guardio, Gerch, Flagra. I called you because I needed you. I called the others......, but they didn't show up."

"Huh? So I could have ignored it? For all that, and it was so forceful..."

The girl called Gerch said in a grumpy tone.

She is in her late teens. She had been painting something on her nails while ignoring the others earlier, but now she was looking up. She looked at Algrini with irritation mixed in with her still young face.

"Well, well, well, isn't it good, Comrade Gerch. Comrade Algrini has gone to the trouble of summoning us. Something must be wrong."

Flagra quieted Gerch. He looked like an old man with gray hair and a beard on his face.

He turned his mild-mannered gaze on Gerch and spoke in a tone as if he were dealing with his grandchild.

Hearing this, Gerch clicked her tongue and fell silent.

"...Well, I understand what you're saying. The others probably don't have much free time either, so I'll give them the benefit of the doubt. But what's the reason why none of the "Tuke" guys are here?"

The man called Guardio puts his legs up on the table and leans back in his chair and points to the table on the other side.

He is in his late twenties, his hair unkempt and shaggy, and he has an expression of annoyance on his face as he speaks.

"Comrade Gardio, the fact that it's just us Darzain means that it's probably something the people of Tuke don't want to hear. I can see from the way Comrade Signoret has been shrinking since a few moments ago that this is not a very pleasant conversation."

"......Flagla is right. We've got a bit of a problem."

Gardio let out a "Ho" and turned his face to Algrini.

"And? What did that idiot in Signoret do anyway?"

"You know 'Oldia'. There was a problem there."

"Where was it? Flagler, you know?"

"It's our base of operations, where the Gnostic Academy is located, I believe. I remember that there was a hall of all demons and a warehouse for storing ritual-related tools in the basement."

"Ah. There was one. The big altar specialized in summoning. What about it?"

Algrini pauses for a moment....

."It has outlived its usefulness."

...said only the result.

"What?"

"About ten days ago now. I confirmed the summoning of a senior demon. I've only heard reports that the city is covered in a black cloud of some sort. It's a cradle."

"Who would do something like that? Oh, I didn't have to ask, did I?"

Gerch looks at Signoret.

Guardio sees this and laughs, clapping his hands.

"Hahaha. You've done it! Signore! If the "cradle" is ready, it's confirmed. I remember that Oldia had a large amount of the ceremonial "catalytic spear" Berselius in storage. All gone? Aaaaaaaaah, that's expensive. It's a big loss."

"It's no laughing matter, Comrade Guardio. But you can explain to me what's going on, can't you?"

"I'll tell you what it is. Signore. Explain."

Prompted by Algrini, a small, fat man called Signoret began to speak, sweating profusely.

"This time, the cause is probably the outburst of a man under my command, a man named Iger."

"Iger? I don't know him. Who is he?"

"What's his name? I've never heard of him."

"I don't know him either. What is his rank?"

Signoret took a cloth from his pocket and wiped the sweat from his face as he continued.

"The first rank, and the first part of the body is the eye."

"First? How could such a lowly man do such a thing?"

"Iger was the only rank holder in Oldia at the time, and from the looks of things, he must have lost his mind..."

"Hmmm. I'm not sure what to make of that. What happened to that idiot Iger?"

"He must be in there, since he performed the ritual, but I don't know if he's alive or dead."

"Well... What about the second and higher rank holders? You have more than three ranks, don't you?"

Signoret's body trembled.

"Hey. I'm asking you..."

"Shut up! It's your fault! Don't tell me you've forgotten! My men were out cleaning up after what you and your men did in Royal Capital!"

... he exploded.

'Ah...is that right? Sorry, sorry. But that was a request from Tuke."

"Oh, by the way, was it Signoret who did the cleanup? I'm sorry."

"Oh, you guys..."

Signore shakes his fist.

"Comrade Signoret, you're right to be angry. But can we continue our conversation?

"I agree. Speak."

"Speak, speak!"

Signoret continues, his forehead flushed with veins.

"I'll tell you the sequence of events. For the moment, I don't know the details of the situation inside, but I can guess what happened from the situation. The mission of Oldia was to select candidates who could be used as "catalysts" and to be ready to perform the ritual at any time. However, with the top management gone, Iger went berserk. He moved his subordinates around on his own, using the candidates and the catalyst spear to summon intermediate demons on his own..."

"You emphasize "on his own," but it's your responsibility to supervise him."

"You're responsible for others..."

"Shut up! Shut up and listen! After that, it seems that he tried to summon a higher demon using the core of the intermediate demon he summoned as a catalyst."

"I understand that you weren't able to hold the reins of your men, but I'll put that aside for the moment. But the strange thing is that even though some time has passed, the cradle is still there."

Arglini, who had remained silent until now, opened his heavy mouth.

"Ahh. As I recall, it usually takes about a whole day to solve it? Huh? What's up, Gerch?"

Gerch pulls on Gardio's clothes next to her.

"I've never been present at a high-level summons, is that a thing?"

"Oh, ......, you've only recently come up here. I'm not surprised that you don't know about it, since you rarely do higher level summonses because of the expense."

"I'm sure that's true. Comrade Guardio seems to be a bit suspicious."

"Maybe so. If you're the one who started it, you're the one who's going to do it."

Gardio cowered his shoulders.

"Of course. Of course, I, Flagra, will be responsible for it."

With that, Flagra looked at Algrini.

Algrini nodded and said, "As you wish."

"Then, what is the difference between the higher and lower levels? Power, of course. Above all, intelligence. The lower level has less ego. They are not so different from monsters. In a previous experiment, a demon I called in without "binding" just ran amok."

"Binding is that, isn't it? Is it ...... to use the demon you called in?"

Flagler laughs at Gerch's words.

"It is a procedure that is performed on the summoned demon. It is part of the invocation chant, and if you cut corners and skip this step, the connection will fade and the command will not be interpreted correctly, and it could attack the master, which would be a dumb thing to happen."

"Ah. Oh, did that happen in the past? You're too dumb to get killed by someone you called yourself."

"Let's continue. Now, let's move on to the advanced level. I told you that they have an ego, didn't I? The ego of the higher demons is much stronger than that of us humans, so if you try to use them badly and interfere with them, they will take over."

"And worst of all, what about the ones who were hijacked?"

Gerch stuck out her tongue and made a disgusted face.

"To be more specific, after the devil takes over your ego and transforms your body ......, your master/subordinate relationship is reversed and you end up being used as a servant. If this Iger tried to use the demon, there's a good chance that's what happened to him."

"I suppose. ...And? What the bloody hell did that idiot do that for?"

Gardio looks at Signoret.

Signoret wiped the sweat from his brow and kept his eyes down.

"He had a strong upward mobility and an obsession with power, so we gave him an implant to test him out... but it seems to have worked in the wrong direction. He was good with his eyes, so I put him on missions that took advantage of that, but he wasn't satisfied."

"In search of power, I guess. But why did you leave him with such a problem?"

"I didn't think he was that bad and I didn't want to keep him for that long. Besides, the location of the place would not have caused any problems unless there had been something wrong."

"Well, he was the one who willingly caused the problem."

Signoret was puzzled.

"After all, Signoret was the one who ruined Oldia, wasn't he?"

Signore tries to lash out at Gerch, but Algrini interrupts him.

"Now that that's all explained, let's get back to the story. And if I may add one more thing, the higher level demons need to be remolded when they come out here, so they cover their surroundings with a special kind of cloud. They have a different order of magnitude of magic power to maintain their bodies. They cannot come out in a perfect state with the amount of magical power obtained through our rituals. But that is only until they create their own heart, their core. Once that is complete, it will be self-sufficient."

"That's why the cradle is the place where they make preparations to be able to move here. Do you understand?"

Gerch nodded lightly, as if she understood.

"Now that the long preface is over, let's get back to the story."

Algreni continued.

"The cradle is supposed to disappear when it finishes its job. But in this case, for some reason, it hasn't disappeared yet."

"How long does it take for the cradle to disappear?"

"At the earliest, half a day. At the latest, it should be gone within the next day or two, but ten days without a change is certainly odd."

"Is that why you brought us all together? I mean. If we're going to have a senior-level involvement, shouldn't we call in the apostles?"

Gerch was blatantly disgusted by Gardio's words, and Algrini covered his face with his hands and let out a sigh.

"...I called out to them, but no one came."

"Eh. I'll put up with the rest, but if he's coming, I'm leaving."

"It's Apostle O'Hrada, isn't it? He is very attached to Comrade Gerch."

Now Gerch holds her head up.

"I've had enough of this. I hate the way he looks at me."

Ah, he's a jerk, isn't he? He's strong, but the way he looks at women...and at someone as old as a kid...it's just not normal. And he regularly drags new girls into his room to play with them. What's creepy is the way he looks at them."

"And he pretends to have a harem in a women's garden, which makes me laugh. And it's hard to understand why he hates non-virgins as if they are the enemy of his parents."

Signore agrees with them.

"I mean, who is decent among the apostles? The only decent apostles are the boss and Yonomori, right? Couldn't you call just one of them?"

"The boss is not in the country now. The apostle Yonomori followed him."

"So that's why you picked this guy. Well, we don't have enough leisure on our side, so I think it's a fair call to call in someone who can move."