Paradigm Parasite

Chapter 51

Chapter 51 "Intimidation"

I - Heidi - left him and went to our room at the inn.

After finishing our meal, we returned to the inn, but he said he was going to check on Savage and went to the back of the inn.

　As I walk back to my room, I think back to what happened earlier.

　It was fun, wasn't it?

　The arena match was fun, but I was glad I had a chance to talk with him.

　He is not a man of many words, so the conversation doesn't last very long.

　I usually end up talking to him.

　But this time, we had a lot of fun talking about the matches and how he handled the fighting in the arena.

　I want to get to know him better.

　In order to do so, I will have to get over the wall in his mind.　

　He has many secrets.

　He doesn't tell me much about the times when he was alone.

　Before I knew it, he had even tamed the earth dragon.

　I feel the wall in his heavy mouth.

　I am hoping to somehow open that stubborn heart.

　I have a long way to go, but I am feeling a positive response. I will keep trying until he opens his heart to me.

　While I am thinking about this, I see the room.

　I'm going to check my equipment before he comes back....

　"Hey! Hey, girl!"

　"......?"

　A voice called out to me from behind. I turn around to see a man I don't recognize standing there.

　I wonder if he is an adventurer, judging from his clothes. I can see that he is carrying something around his neck, but I can't tell.

　I'm still not used to being treated like a woman. My reaction is delayed.

　"I'm not sure what to say. Can I help you?　"

　"Ah. You're with the guy who was with the dragon, right?"

　"Yes, but..."

My guard is raised. Because of the daytime incident, it is better to be careful.

　The adventurer-like man raised his hands in the air, as if he sensed it.

　"Hey! No, don't get me wrong! I just saw him out there getting attacked, and I wanted to tell you..."

　"What!?"

　The image of that Patrick guy flashed through my mind.

　I knew he was going to do something about Savage, but....

　"The place!?"

　"Oh, oh, he was surrounded by some people and they were heading out of town."

　"Direction!?"

　"To the north..."

　Without hearing the end of the story, I started running.

　Why did I leave him at a time like this?

No, did he aim for the moment when he was alone?

　I ran out of the inn and toward the exit on the north side of town.

　Not much time had passed. If I hurry, I can make it in time.

　I go out of the city. I looked around and saw a horse-drawn carriage running in the distance.

　...Is that it?

　I pull out my dagger and turn around.

　I have to admit, I was a little suspicious.

　"You must be one of them."

　The adventurer-looking man from earlier was standing there with a club in his hand.

　He must have been planning to attack me from behind.

　"Damn it. You noticed?"

　The adventurer-like man clicked his tongue and gave me a nasty smile.

　"You guessed it. We have your man. If you want him back...hee-hee, you know what I mean. Just be a good girl and lay down your..."

　I only listened to the man's words until I realized that my body had moved on its own and I had hit him with the hilt of my dagger.

"What the hell!? Don't you... care what will happened to the man...?"

　Ignoring the man's attempts to say something, I strike him in the jaw with the bottom of my palm.

　Shattered teeth fly in the air. The man moves his hand to protect the wound, but I twist it up, knock him to the ground, restrain him, and dislocate his joint as it were.

　The man tries to scream, but I shove the tip of my shoe into his mouth to silence him.

The man tries to struggle to move with his remaining arm, but I sever his arm from the shoulder with a and burn the wound with a .

I pull the shoe tip out of his mouth, grab him by the hair, lift his head, and bring the dagger in front of the man's eyes.

　"Where is he?"

　My voice comes out cold, surprising even to myself.

　My mind is blank with anger.

　"Tell me now, or I'll gouge out your eyeballs."

　"Ow...ouch...ouch!"

Without mercy, I gouged out his eyeballs. Again a scream.

　The eyeball still stuck in the dagger is attached to the eye on the other side.

　Normally, I would be a little more gentle, but not this time. His life is at stake.

　"Now the other one. I'm going to ask you one more time. Where is he?"

　"Okay, okay. He took the bastard to an abandoned fort in the northeast. I was only told to lead you there..."

　I stab him shallowly with my dagger to shut him up. I don't care what he says.

　"Lead the way. Now!"

　"Okay, okay."

　I stood the man up and walked him toward the abandoned fort.　

I had Savage running.

After that, I quickly roused Savage and headed out from the east side of the city toward the abandoned fort.

I thought I would be able to catch up with her, since not much time had passed, but I couldn't see Heidi or the people I thought had kidnapped her.

　Did they use horses or something?

Well, he said something about giving me something, so I guess he really doesn't have a problem with money.

...I can see it now.

　A silhouette of what looks like a building comes into view.

For an abandoned fort...it looks almost pristine.

　It looks almost like a pile of rubble. When I get close enough, I dismount from Savage.

"I'm here! Give me back my woman!"

　I shouted.

　Then, a group of large men come out from behind the debris.

"Oh. That was quicker than I thought."

　Out of the group came the old man from the daytime--Patrick, was it? Patrick, right?

　"Let's get this deal started. Now, hand over the dragon to me."

　"Let me see if the ...... woman is all right."

　Patrick snickered.

"Hand it over and I'll give her back to you."

　Oh, come on. It's a little too much of a lie to give the dragon without showing her.

　I'm going to activate the . Okay, I've counted Patrick himself in front of me and 10 of his muscle accessories.

　Three behind him, behind the rubble. The rest... are they horses? Is that horses?

...Oh, no. No sign of Heidi?

Is that Heidi's body after she was killed?

　Since this is a magic that looks at magic and bio-reactions, a corpse won't be caught.

I see...these guys killed her.... Most likely the result of resistance.

　A lonely wind blew in my chest.

　We were traveling together, partying together, and doing reasonably well, I thought...

　I closed my eyes lightly. I didn't feel particularly sad, just disappointed.

...We've traveled together, I'll at least avenge her.

"That's not a deal. Or is this deal you're talking about, where you're using something that doesn't even exist?"

　Patrick's face twitches for a moment.

Oh. I guess so. And that's why you brought your cronies here to get rid of me.

　"Hmph! If you won't give it to me, I'll forcefully take it from you. Hey!"

The cronies are closing in on me, each with a weapon drawn.

　The reason they don't attack suddenly is probably because they are wary of Savage.

　"No problem. The dragon is probably a variant that doesn't attack people. Otherwise, it would be impossible for a rough-tempered dragon to follow people."

　What is this guy talking about? Is he an idiot?

　No, I think I heard something about people only believing what is convenient for them.

　Is this guy one of them? Well, whatever.

　Let's get a little reality check.

　"Savage. You can have them. Oh, and don't kill that big guy over there. You can eat his legs if he tries to run away."

　Savage, as if he had been waiting for me, rushes in.

　He bites the man in the lead head first and eats off his upper body.

　The next moment, the man falls to the ground from the waist down, blood and guts splattered on the ground.

　"......... Oh, come on. You're kidding.

　"I didn't hear that."

　The rest of the group froze and mumbled something like a gibberish.

　Patrick, too, froze, opening and closing his mouth and shaking.

　Savage roared, and the rest of them ran for their lives.

"No way! I don't want to die!"

　"I don't wanna die! I'm out!"

　Savage, with a gleam in his eye, happily chases after the escapees.

　Now, who's left to get in the way?

　Patrick's forehead is sweating, but he's not losing his composure.

"Hmph, hmph! You've got him well in hand! I guess that means he'll do what you say if I keep you down! Hey!"

　Patrick clapped his hands as he said this in a shaky voice, and the men hiding behind the rubble emerged from the shadows.

　A large man with sharp eyes, a slender man, and...a woman.

　It was Peggy, too, whom I had seen in the arena just a moment ago.

　The two men are wearing collars. Slaves.

　Those collars are supposed to explode and blow off the heads of the slaves when their masters die or want to kill them.

　As long as they have these, the slaves will defend their masters to the death.

I thought you were just a rich man, but you have a very good hand.

　Oh? I thought. Peggy has no collar. I thought she was a slave.

　"Are you wondering why I don't have a collar on me?"

Peggy tapped her finger on her neck, as if she sensed it from my gaze.

　I wondered why, but I could tell by the way she was acting now.

I guess she's just a pervert who enjoys hurting people, right?

　"You have good eyes. I love to hurt people with eyes like that and make them cry!"

Peggy started talking happily, even though I wasn't asking her.

　And it was so predictable that I was surprised.

　"This uncle is a good customer who pays me and gives me a place like this."

That's why I didn't ask her.

　What an annoying woman. You want me to ask you that much?

　"I don't care what you say. I'll kill you, so come at me."

　I provoked her with a finger wiggle.

　Peggy saw this and smiled ferociously.

"I'll take him! You stay out of this!"

　"It's too much trouble, you all come with me."

　Peggy ignores my kindness and rushes in.

Peggy feints with her upper body just as she is about to enter my range.

　Heidi is right, it is a unique move. If I get hit just before I attack, I lose it for a moment.

When I realize it, the blow is like a thrust to my stomach.

By the time I realized that I had been hit, I was hit in the jaw area from both sides.

Despite her personality, she is a first-rate fighter.

Peggy, who was pleased to see me beaten up, was surprised to realize that she couldn't move.

　I had no right to take a beating in silence, so I froze her feet.

　I am a little reluctant to use this because it makes me think of Fatima's face, but that's a minor thing.

"Hey..."

　You move too much according to the theory.

After attacking the torso, you deliberately aimed at the head of the opponent who has a height difference because you were wary of the magic.

If the opponent was not me, the magic would have been blown out of their head and canceled.

　If it hadn't been me.

　That's good, isn't it? You got one smart move before you die.

　You like to hurt people, so I'll give you this.

　I grabbed her mouth and fed her a chunk of root.

　Peggy brushes my hand away and sticks her hand in her mouth, trying to spit it out.

　No use. It's already in your head. You can taste the horror of your slow disappearance.

　Peggy screams like crazy and rolls around on the ground, forcibly removing her leg restraints.

　Mm. That's the exact same reaction I got from Fatima.

　Roughly a few minutes? Have fun with that.

　"What did you...what did you...do to Peggy?"

　I ignore him and pull out my sword.

It's not the same sword, but it's nothing I can't handle.

　"Red Wings."

I swing the sword, and the top of the slender man's chest slips off.

　I frown. I aim for the neck, but my aim is a little off.

The large man backs away with a look of surprise on his face.

　Hey, hey. You can run away, but you don't mind the collar?

　I don't mind. I'd appreciate it if you'd step back a little more.

　"What the...?"

　"Oh, that's the position."

A large man detonated the far enough away from Patrick to kill him.

　There's a nice boom, and he explodes from the knees up. Various things were scattered around.

　Well, was he wiped out? It didn't take long to finish the job, did it?

　Savage....never comes back.

I wonder how long he's been chasing them around... I'm sure he'll be back when he's done, so I'm just going to leave him there.

　"Well, all your friends have been wiped out. What do we do now?"　

Patrick is shaking slightly, his eyes are not focused, and his mouth is repeatedly opening and closing, as if he is thinking about something.

　If there's nothing to be done, then let's do it. Let's kill him.

　"Wait, wait, wait. Listen to me. I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I'll get the girl! Look, right there, behind that rubble."

　Patrick points behind him.

　Oh. I see.

　"I see. So? Is she alive?"

　"Of course she is! I'll bring her to you right away, just wait ......."

Before he finishes, both legs are severed with .

　"Aggyah!"

　I slowly approach and burn both of Patrick's legs with to stop the blood.

"Are you fucking kidding me? I ask again. Is there a live girl in there?"

　"......... No. She's not there. She's in town."

　The city? That means she's alive.

　That's good. I'll go pick her up later.

I don't need this guy anymore. I just need to suck the memory out of him.

　"Wait a minute. I'm sorry I tried to trick you. Besides, this time it's your fault for not taking me up on my offer! Let's just settle this on mutual terms, shall we?"

　Ha-ha-ha. You're a fun guy. In a way, it's amazing that you can come up with a line like that at this point in time.

　I wonder what he's been looking at since a while ago.

　Patrick's gaze has been behind me since a while ago.

　There's a presence behind me. Just when I thought it was getting quiet, it's over.

　"Do it now! Do it! Peggy!"

　I turn around and Peggy is standing there.

　Patrick smiles at her, as if he is proud of his victory.

　He's a very energetic guy, even though he's lost both his legs.

　By the way, Peggy's not moving. Patrick looked at Peggy questioningly.

　"Peggy? Peggy? What's going on?"

　"Peggy, you can do whatever you want. But leave the head."

　"Okay."