Chapter 45 "Brainwashing"

　"Congratulations. Here are your new plates."

　The Adventurers' Guild.

　I received my new plate from the lady at the reception desk.

　I was now ranked up to the second yellow level.

　I looked at the plate I received.

　The color is darker than the old one. It looks a little better.

　It seems that I fulfilled the conditions for promotion when I finished defeating Scrofa two days ago.

　After I finished my report, the lady at the reception desk asked me, "Now that you have met the requirements, you can be promoted. What do you want to do?"

　Naturally, I had no reason to refuse, so I told her I accepted and submitted the plate.

　She told me it would take one day for the examination and one day for the issuance, so I was told to come back in two days.

Since I had to leave the plate with them, I had no work until it was issued.

　I told Heidi to accept the quest at random, and in the meantime, I killed some time by using the moron who got involved with me as an experimental material and going around the stalls.

I've got a general idea of the hard-to-see places in this city.

　As I wander around these areas, idiots come to me like moths to a light.

　These people are not instructed by anyone, so few people care if they disappear.

　Thanks to this, the experiments are going well.

I am doing two experiments. One of them is not going well because it's difficult to control it.

　The other one is going well. With a little adjustment, it should be usable in the field.

Leaving the Adventurer's Guild, I headed for the outskirts of town.

　Heidi will not be back until tomorrow on an escort quest to a nearby village.

　If I'm going to make any moves, now would be the time.

　I enter a nearby alley.

　After a short walk, I come to a small space. There were about three thug-like men sitting there.

　They looked at me and stood up.

　"How's it going?"

　"No problem. The guards are only two knights of the Holy Temple. I mean, if there are two knights of the Holy Temple, it is safe as long as there is no serious problem."

　One of the goons answers my question.

　This is Pok. This is the guy who tried to steal Heidi's wallet on her first day here.

After sucking out his memory, I implanted a "root" in him and made him my subordinate.

　The two guys in the back were given the same treatment. These guys are very handy, and I don't have to worry about them betraying me.

　"Are these the two you mentioned the guards?"

　"Yes, that's right. They are the two that the little bastard always carries around with him like an ornament. But until this evening, the usual two are on their way to report to the Order, so a different escort will be with him."

　"I see. Is there any plan to change the escort after that?"

　Pok shook his head.

　"I don't think so. I've been in town for a long time, and those two are the ones that have been guarding that little shit."

　I see. I see.

　"If so, please stay on schedule. Give me another shout when you're ready."

"Oh, okay. Understood. That communication? Of course!"

　"Yeah. I don't mean to be persistent, but don't get yourself noticed, okay?"

　The three of them replied with a "woos" and disappeared from the alley.

What I am trying in this town is brainwashing using "roots".

It's training to see if I can manipulate people efficiently with minimal consumption.

It took a lot of time and effort at the time of Fatima, so I was aiming to improve in that area.

　There are two processes necessary for brainwashing.

　Physical control of the body is taken away by taking over the brain.

　The destruction of the "soul" or preying on the "soul" to erase the person's own ego.

　Basically, these are the two processes.

Thanks to someone who tried to take over my body before, I am now able to recognize the existence of my soul.

　Now I can even locate it by extending its "roots" into my body.

　Most of the time, the soul resides in the back of the brain.

　I could not see it, so I did not know what it looked like, but it reminded me of a mass of heat, like a fire.

　It was the very "light of life."

　Fatima's outburst was probably a defensive reaction to the attack on her soul.

　It was a futile attempt.

　This may be the reason why Rothfeldt's ego did not disappear and he was revived as Heidi.

Because I took away his body, but did not touch his soul.

　Let us return to the story.

　At the time of Fatima, I had a lump of "root" do it, but from this time on, I decided to do it myself.

　First of all, I put the "root" into the target.

　Then I dive into the brain and feed on the soul. That's it.

　However, resistance is fierce and it takes time.

　At first, I thought about taking control of the brain and then the body, but that would only eat up more time.

　In the end, the result is that it is faster to suppress the soul on the first move.

I have a policy in place, but things are not going well.

I am training to increase the speed of takeover, but it still takes me almost a minute to reach it.

　It's not that serious if there are only a few opponents, but it's fatal if there are multiple opponents in a melee or multiple battles.

　One more thing.

　The "Root" controls the hijacked target, but it uses the target's brain for thinking and mimics its memories and experiences for personality, so it performs almost as well as the hijacker itself.

On the other hand, if the person's original ability is low, he or she will remain low while under my control.

　However, there is a possibility that they may interpret my commands in a strange way and take actions outside of my instructions, so I need to be careful in this area.

If I bring in a useless person and he inadvertently leaks information, I will be screwed.

　I will not be betrayed, but there is a possibility that they will act unknowingly to my detriment.

　If I use them and throw them away, there is no problem, but if I keep them alive like Pok and the others, I might want to be a little cautious. Use with caution.

　...So, what I'm letting them do is retaliate against that little brat.

He's guilty of ruining my tourist mood by sending his goons to ruin it.

　I told Heidi that, but, well, you know. I'm not the one who actually does it, so it won't be a problem.

　I've ordered the people I'm using to take their own lives if they get caught.

　It would be hard to get to me.

　I also wonder how organized the people I'm controlling can be.

　Even so, I have extraordinary abilities.

　If only I had more time, I could increase the number of people under my control almost inexhaustibly....

　It's like a creature from a movie.

　Come to think of it, I saw it a long time ago. A movie about a space creature that becomes a parasite when it enters the body, and then turns into its target.

　Even if the creature completely takes over the target and kills it, it can live on as long as there is even a small amount of blood or whatever left over.

　I remembered it because it left quite an impression on me. The title is...Yuu...oops, I'm getting off track again.

I am currently in the process of filling the outer moat with them.

　I can't wait to see what happens after the preparations are done. That preparation is almost over with the next move.

　I left the alley feeling a little happy.

　"......... huh."

　I - Eid - was walking along the road at dusk with heavy footsteps.

　The reason was because of a troublesome employer.

　Triplet Medream. The next lord of this place, a well-paying client.

　Apart from that, he's a little shit who only wants what's best for himself.

　I feel like telling the lord to at least educate his son well.

　To put it simply, my job is to dispatch people.

　If I receive a request, I send out personnel according to the request.

　Basically, my job is to do the kind of back-alley stuff that adventurers can't do.

　This time, the request was to obstruct business at an inn.

　I sent in my protégés, who were good at roughing things up, to threaten the inn's guests, but quite a few of them didn't come back.

　Almost half of the people I sent there had their arms and legs crushed and were turned over to the Order of the Knights, and the other half returned, some of them, but the rest are missing.

　I asked them about it, and they all said the same thing: "I passed out and woke up to find no one there."

We were paid a good amount of money, but we ultimately lost a lot of money on the release and treatment of those who were caught and on replenishing our human resources.

　It was a headache to think about the time and effort it would take to get the right people to do the job and keep their mouths shut.

　...Or buy some slaves?

　My pocketbook is pretty well off, but I don't have anyone, so I can't do business with them.

　It would be a little expensive, but I could buy a subhuman slave at the slave market in Tirani....

　While I was thinking about this and calculating the expenditure in my mind, my vision suddenly went completely dark.

　After a moment's delay, I realized that I was covered with something like a bag.

　"What...?"

　Before I could raise my voice, I felt an impact on the back of my head.

　I was able to realize that I was hit, but in the next moment my consciousness became distant.

　I come to my senses and open my eyes.

　The bag has been removed and I manage to get a grasp of my surroundings.

　I'm in a building somewhere, and I'm tied to a chair, unable to move.

　I try to move to get out, but the ropes are so tight I can't move.

　While I was trying to figure out how this happened, someone came into the room.

　I could tell by the sound of the door opening and closing and footsteps that there was more than one person in the room.

　"Looks like you're awake."

"Well, I'm going to go get the boss."

　"Please."

　The voice sounded familiar.

　The footsteps came closer and closer to me, and then came into my sight.

　They were...

　"Oh, you guys! What the hell do you think you're doing?"

　They were the ones who had come home from work after screwing up.

　"Hey! Say something!"

　They just stare at me without saying anything.

　I've raised my voice a few times, but they're smirking and waiting for something.

...he says something about calling someone over....

　The door opens behind me and someone comes in again.

　I hear footsteps approaching and the guy stands in front of me.

　I look at the man who is looking at me with a puzzled expression.

　He doesn't understand why he is in this situation.

Of course he doesn't.

　"Hey! What the hell is this! What are you doing to me?"

　Well, the ear or nose is the quickest way, so that's where I'd start.

　The ear is a little harder to aim at a moving opponent.

If I had to do it, I'd go for the nose.

　"Say something! Money? Is it money? I have some money. I'll pay you, but you have to let me go!"

I like to be in a position where the roots can't be seen.

That area is pretty much solidified by the practice so far.

　I grab his face so that my palms cover his mouth and nose.

　"～～～～～"

He is mumbling something but I ignore it and continue.

Diving in through the nose. Until recently, I had made a lot of mistakes, not going to the brain, but to strange places.

It was a terrible mistake on my part when the "root" inadvertently popped out of the eyes or mouth.

The man was convulsing.

　It invades the brain and feeds on the soul. Predatory as it is.

　The man stops moving. I look back.

　"How many seconds?"

　"About 57-58."

　Less than a minute. I guess it's working.

　"I'm going to start the takeover. Count again."

"Okay."

　Send the required amount of "root" as it is and parasitize the brain.

Once it's in, detach it and it's done.

"How's that?"

　"About 32."

　About a minute and a half. That's a lot of time in a melee.

I'd like to keep it down to 2 to 30 seconds if possible, but... that's a long way to go.

The guy - unties the rope.

　"Get up."

　"Yes."

　"I'm going to give you some instructions. Can you do it?"

　"Yes. Anything you want."

　Well, now the outer moat is mostly covered, isn't it?