Paradigm Parasite

Other Pov

Algrini clears his throat.

"Enough of this, let's move on. We'll decide what to do with Signoret when the boss returns. The question is what happened in there. Let's be frank. What do you think of ......?"

Gardio scratched his head and turned serious.

"Well, I'm sure the story goes as Signoret said, up to the point where he called up the senior... but what you're talking about is what happened after that, isn't it? I'm sure that bloodthirsty fool like Iger is dead or has been turned into a servant... but I'm wondering what happened to the senior. The fact that the cradle hasn't disappeared means he's still in there or dead."

"No, it's not like the senior is dead or anything, right? It's so dangerous that there's a rule that you can't touch it without the presence of an apostle, isn't it? If that's the case, he must be inside, right?"

Gerch dismissed Gardio's opinion with a subtle look on his face.

"What do you think, Flagra?"

Flagra closes his eyes thoughtfully as Algrini points at him.

"...... Normally, we should think that the demon is inside, but this time it seems to be different in many ways. The demon inside, I believe it may have already disappeared."

"If that's the case, who's going to finish the job?"

The place quieted down at Gardio's comment.

"I guess we'll have to go inside to find out what's going on."

Everyone in the room wondered if that would be the case in the end when Algrini muttered, but they did not say anything.

Signoret was behind him muttering, "My opinion..." but he was ignored by everyone.

"Mr. Algrini. Why don't you just say it clearly already? You're telling us to go look at it, aren't you?"

Algrini's mouth hung open slightly as Gardio said this.

"I've gone through the whole procedure in my own way."

He puts his feet down on the table and rests his elbows on it.

"I don't care. It's going to be fun either way. It'll be me and Signoret, and I'll take some of my men with me."

"What? Why would I...?"

"It's your territory, of course you're going to come. It's been a while, so you'd better hurry. We'll be out of here by the end of the day."

"Hey, that's too soon..."

"The Gnosis is probably on the move, and if we wait too long, the Cathedral knights will come."

Signoret was about to complain, but he clammed up when he heard the words Cathedral Knights.

Gardio gets up from his seat, grabs Signoret by the collar, and starts walking away.

"I'm going out for a minute."

"Please."

Algrini nodded and the two left the room.

Behind the door, Signoret was complaining about something, but it gradually became quieter and disappeared.

As the two left, Gerch opened her mouth.

"What's really going on?"

"What's what?"

"The senior level. Can it be beaten?"

Gerch looks at Argulini with a skeptical eye.

"Depending on who comes out, if it's right after the summoning, me and Gardio are enough to kill them. But if too much time passes, it will be difficult. If that's the case, we'll need an apostle to come out and finish them off. However, this time, the place is the place. If they are inside, at worst, we can push them to Gnosis."

"But if that's the case, then Gardio and the others... that's not good, is it?"

"Yes, that would be bad for Signoret. If that's the case, Signoret will probably die first, but it's inevitable. He deserves it."

"What about Guardio?"

"No problem. He has a good sense for that kind of thing. He'll get away on his own."

Gerch said, "Hmm," and closed her mouth.

"Now, as long as Guardio is on his way to Oldia, I'll leave it to Gerch to handle things in Royal Capital, no problem."

"It's a big deal. If Guardio leaves, I'll have to deal with that monster on my own, and I'm not kidding..."

"It's not that we have to kill him, we just have to get back what was taken from Tuke's people."

Gerch let out a sigh and got up from her seat.

"I'm going back to Royal Capital when you're done talking. And I'm going to borrow some guys who can fight."

"Suit yourself."

With a sniffle, Gerch left the room.

"It's a tough job. Comrade Algrini."

Flagler says this in a sympathetic tone, and Algrini lets out a light breath.

"I am very sorry. There are too many headaches with the loss of Oldia and the Royal Capital. The boss is absent only at times like this. The remaining apostles are nothing but scum with only fighting skills."

"Is that why you let Gardio go?"

"Yeah, whatever's in there, the guys at Tuke's will be interested, and if we do well, we'll at least have a souvenir. We'll have to make up some of the loss."

"That's a tough position to be in."

"If you feel that way, take my place."

Flagra only laughed and said nothing.

Algrini saw this and let out a sigh.

Gardio and Signoret were walking down a long hallway side by side.

"I have a question."

Gardio was the first to open his mouth.

Signoret responded in a tired voice.

"What is it?"

"I didn't say anything either, since no one else had asked, but how do you think this idiot Iger got around the 'restrictions'?"

Gardio tapped the back of his hand.

"I'm sure you know very well how this thing works, even at the end of the line. I'm just wondering how he managed to pull it off."

"The "restriction" is not precisely for "treachery," as you may have guessed. But the awareness of "betrayal". Iger was not aware of his betrayal, was he?"

"I see. I see. So he was hardcore. That was an unexpected hole."

Hearing this, Gardio's mouth hangs open.

Signoret is a man of self-defense. He had probably prepared some kind of protection or insurance policy in case something went wrong.

The fact that it didn't work was truly unexpected.

Gardio gently invoked his magic. He used "mute," which means that the sound disappears from the surroundings.

This would prevent the conversation from leaking out. After confirming the effect, he began to talk.

"Then next. What happened to your Cathedral knight in Gnosis?"

Signoret is understandably upset.

"Why...?"

"Hey, hey, hey, how lonely. I've known you for a long time. I know exactly what you're going to do."

Signoret, perhaps deciding that there was no point in playing coy, simply confessed.

"He told me he was going out of town on a mission, but apparently that was a lie. I checked, but I couldn't find him anywhere. Perhaps he is involved in the city's turmoil."

"But still, you've crossed a dangerous bridge to involve Cathedral Knight in this. You didn't put any restrictions on him, did you?"

"Yeah... he wasn't good enough to be a Cathedral knight. In exchange for support in his career, I got him to cooperate with me in various ways. The Gnosis would have noticed the restrictions if I had applied to him."

"You didn't think he'd betray you?"

"If he did, he would lose his position. Besides, he'd have to do a lot of work to maintain his position, wouldn't he?"

So someone easy to deal with is the head of the group.

"So he's probably dead, too."

"Oh, yes, indeed! He was a valuable pawn! If he's alive, I'll tear him to pieces! If he were dead, I'd bring him back to life and kill him again!"

Signoret can no longer hold back and spits out his anger from his mouth.

There is no hint of cunning or lying in his tone of voice, and he seems genuinely angry.

Gardio saw this and decided that there was nothing wrong with Signoret himself.

If there was something going on behind his back, he was going to get rid of Signoret.

In this case, Signore was the victim.

With that in mind, Gardio cut to the chase.

"Now, let's have a little heart-to-heart talk. Are you ready to listen?"

"Depends on what's on ......."

"That's a good answer. Before we start talking, let's check first. You're sure that the eye is the part of Eiger's body you want to talk about?"

"Yes, I'm sure."

"Is that the kind of thing you can tell the quality of "karma" from?"

"...Yes, that's why I placed him in that city."

Signoret is not able to grasp the intention of the question and looks doubtful.

"Of course, you know the rule when you call up a superior, right? The reason is that if something goes wrong, we can suppress it."

He nodded in agreement.

"This is common knowledge for us at Darzain. Iger knew it, too."

"What about it?"

"...... This is just a hunch I have. Iger's blood was on his hands because he found it, wasn't it?"

"What?"

"A stray apostle."

Signoret's expression hardened.

Gardio continues, regardless.

"That would explain it, wouldn't it? If the apostles are there, they can take care of the higher level, and if they are good at it, they can provide a good back-up. My thinking is that the senior level has already been taken care of, and it was an apostle we don't know who did it. But I don't know where he stands. I don't know if he's working with Iger or not, if not, Iger is probably dead by now, and if he is, he could be waiting for us where we're going."

"I'm sure that an apostle who just came to ...... would not be familiar with our information. It shouldn't be hard to convince them."

"So, let's go there. Let's secure the apostle ourselves."

Signoret's expression changes.

Gardio felt a response to that reaction.

"I see. No wonder you agreed to go to Oldia."

"If he is working with Iger, we can show him the advantages of joining us. In fact, we have more money, information, and contacts than he does."

"Iger, on the other hand, is a target for us to get rid of. The best way to do this is to get a good deal on a realistic basis. Besides, it's hard to believe that we would have any sympathy for someone who could pull off something this stupid."

"There are a lot of personality concerns, but as long as we keep him comfortable in life, he won't complain, and we'll have a strong hand."

"It's more than worth it to keep him around when you've got the upper echelon. And no one else knows about it."

Signoret's expression gradually changed to a smile.

"And the two of us have a monopoly on it."

Gardio smiles, as he should.

"The good news is that it makes up for the bad news. I'm in."

The two men shook hands firmly and quickened their pace.

In search of the yet unseen Apostle Treasure.