Paradigm Parasite - Chapter 191: "Countermeasures"

When I quizzed him, Aspizal continued.

–I’m not talking about just running away. I’m talking about rebuilding, because even if we kill them, it’s going to be tough with the forces we have now.

I don’t think there’s anything we can’t do, but it’s true that it’s going to be tough.

“What would you do?”

–Let’s get the Beastmen involved. The Uzbek animos can see him, and he’ll at least make some kind of move, so let’s take advantage of that.

Even if we attack inside its body, it’s that big, it’s going to be hard to do it alone.

In short, Aspizal wants to take the beastmen on a trip inside his body.

Well, if it’s easy, I have no objection.

“All right. We’ve agreed to go back, but how do we get them out? I don’t think these guys are going to let us off easy…”

-Will you stick around a bit longer? I’ll tell you when to do it, and when I give you the signal, jump off.

“Roger that.”

From the position of the aspizal flying around, it seems that they intend to pick up Yonomori first.

It’s good that he’s running away, but will this guy really let us go?

It’s not as bad as before, but this guy’s thoughts have been echoing in my head since a while ago.

Aspizal says he’s ‘hungry’, but I hope that’s enough.

I wait for Aspizal while using a hatchet to beat away the squid that keeps coming at me.

–Wait for me. You can jump down.

As I do so, the signal comes and I leap and launch myself into the air.

A momentary feeling of levitation and a fall at the same time.

The next moment when I thought I felt wind all over my body, I landed on the carpet.

“Then we’ll go back to land once.”

The carpet made a big turn and headed for land.

The squid, not wanting to let us get away, gave chase, but it was blocked by me and Yonomori and was shot down one after the other.

In the end, the main body did not show any movement until the end.

“That big fucker didn’t move until the end, did he?”

“That’s right. If it didn’t move, why did it bother coming out at all?”

“It’s like its mind is still on us, so I don’t think it’s given up, but it’s a bit creepy that it hasn’t moved. Or does it have an agenda?”

It’s true that from the side they seem indifferent to us, but they still have that clinging presence.

That fish bastard clearly hasn’t given up on eating us.

Aspizal is right that they are after something.

But even so, what is it after?

Time? Or the weather?

The sun is setting, but it’s still bright. Are they waiting for night?

As for the weather, looking at the clear sky, it seems unlikely that the weather will suddenly break.

Then what?

I thought about it, but I couldn’t come up with an answer.

In the end, all I could do was stare at the monster that was moving away from me, pulling my hair back.

After that, the school of squid persistently chased after us, but after some distance, they turned back and we seemed to be able to catch our breath for the time being.

Aspizal also exhaled a small breath of relief after confirming that there was no pursuit.

“We’ll go back to the Uzbek animos for the time being. The reinforcements sent by Hieda-san are probably on their way, and I’d like to ask them about their policy.”

I nodded my head in agreement, as I had no particular complaints.

The carpet was heading straight back the way it came, but just as the Uzbek animos came into view, a group of several hundred people marching towards it came into view.

“Is it an intercept force?”

“Something like that. I want to talk to them. Come down.”

The number is smaller than expected, perhaps because the town has been damaged and they couldn’t get their numbers together.

Or are they also doing reconnaissance…?

Well, you’ll know more about that when you hear what they have to say.

We get down a little further away and approach the front of the group.

A rhino beastman comes forward from the group.

“I’ve heard about you. I’m glad you’re safe.”

The Rhino beastman looks at us with a little surprise in his eyes.

“We haven’t done much, though.”

“And yet. It’s a great thing to be able to stand in front of that monster and be safe! I respect a brave man.”

What do you mean by brave?

“If you’re here, then you’ve heard from the returned, haven’t you?”

“Yeah, they told me about that monster. I’ve been in a hurry to get the numbers together…”

Hey, hey, hey.

Did you come here without a plan?

You can’t just take a chance.

“I took a guess just now, but from the looks of it, the big one won’t be moving for a while. It’s better to plan and be in perfect condition than to attack hastily.”

“But…”

“Let’s face it, with this number of people, we’re going to die in vain. If we’re going to die anyway, we should use our lives effectively.”

The rhino beastman closes his eyes to think a little after hearing my words.

“Alright. Let’s go back to the city. Um, ……?”

“Roe. I’d like to help you exterminate the monsters. In the meantime, may I accompany you to the city to exchange views?”

“Oh, yeah, that would be great. My name is Dyne. It’s encouraging to have brave men like you helping us!”

Well, the praise is only subtle because that monster’s aim seems to be us.

Fortunately or unfortunately, we are not far from Uzbeanimos.

It’s a good position to turn back.

I nodded to the two behind me and got behind Dine, who was instructing the others to turn back and head towards the city.

We were let through into the Uzbek Animos, and were taken straight to a big tent where the big people seemed to have gathered.

There, the country’s most important people were gathered around a large table, and among them we could see Hie.

I saw Hie raise a small hand when he noticed us.

I returned the gesture with a curtsey and sat down on a prepared chair as I was urged to take a seat nearby.

“You’re back pretty early for a return visit, aren’t you?”

The first person to open his mouth when he saw us was at the far end of the tent – a seal? The beastman crossed his arms.

“Mr Henrik. These are the ones who stayed behind and helped stall the monster that was reported.”

The seal called Henrik opens his little eyes as Dyne says this.

“Oh, so these are the ones that Hieda-dono was talking about! They played a part in the extermination of the monsters that threaten our land, and fought hard against those huge monsters in order to help our people escape.”

No, I think you’re talking a bit too much.

That’s all I hear, that’s why we – oh, no wonder Dyne says something about a brave man.

“Mr Henryk. Let’s talk about it later. Roe, you’re the only one who understands our language. Can you report back to me?”

I’m sure I will.

What do you want me to say?

“I’d like to say, ‘I understand…’, but I’m sorry. I’m not used to this sort of thing, so can I just answer your questions?”

It seems that some knowledge of the subject can be found if I search my memory, but it is obvious that it will not go well even if I do it with my newfound knowledge, so I will be honest here and say that I am uneducated, so ask me.

“All right. First of all, the means of attack and the forces of that big thing. After that, the objective.”

“I can’t say anything about the means of attack. I took a guess earlier, but he himself didn’t move until the end, so I don’t know the details. But it looked like he was aiming for something, so we need to be vigilant. As for the troops, we have confirmed that the monsters that attacked the city, which everyone here knows about, were squid-like creatures that flew through the air and charged at us.”

“Squid?”

“I’m talking about Tsheuchida.”

Someone raises a question mark, but Hie immediately adds.

Ah, squid is called tseuchida over here.

“I don’t think that’s all there is to it, but those are the only two species we’ve been able to confirm at the moment.”

“I saw something flying in the distance on the way over here, you mean that one?”

I nodded in the affirmative.

They were scattering it so loudly. Even at a distance it would have been noticeable.

“As I said before, we don’t know what he wants. But since he went to the trouble of appearing so close to land, there is a strong possibility that he intends to invade. So it’s best to assume that there won’t be much time left.”

I answer in a blur.

If we go out of our way to be stupidly honest and say they’re after us, they could wrap us up in a fishtank and throw us into the sea.

Hie would have had an inkling as far as that voice is concerned, but the fact that he does not interject seems to indicate that it is an unwanted worry.

After that, I talked about the characteristics of the squid – not the squid – but the Tsheuchida, the size and detailed shape of the monster, etc., as I was asked.

Seeing a break in the conversation, Hieda looks me straight in the eye and says the main issue. get a good look at her and she looked straight at me and said what she wanted to talk about.

“Well, we’ve identified the monster. I think it’s time to move on to specifics, but I’d like to ask those who fought him directly. How do you think we can kill him?”

Finally, you’re here.

To be honest, I wanted to get to this quickly, so thank God.

I put my thoughts together in my head.

“I don’t think it’s possible to kill him with an attack from the …… outside. His hull is not only tough but thick. I’m not saying it’s impossible to destroy it by normal means, but it’s not realistic.”

Hieda urges me to continue.

“If you want to kill him, you need to attack him from the inside, where the defence of his outer skin is meaningless.”

When I say this, the people around me look complicated, and some of them show some difficulty.

Well, that’s a natural reaction.

“No, this is not a joke. You want us to go all the way and get eaten!?”

“But what else is there to do?”

“I know what you’re talking about, but can you get inside and operate safely? It’s one thing to jump in, but it’s no good if you’re just digested!?”

“Then how do you expect us to finish off this creature!?”

“If we leave him unchecked, the fishing industry will suffer! You’ve seen how much we’ve caught recently!”

“Even the very survival of our city is at stake!”

“Then how about evacuating? I’m sure King Hieda would accept us…”

“Don’t be ridiculous! You want us to abandon our homes!”

Once all the information was available, what happened next was a disorderly dispute.

Each person was spitting their favourite opinion here and there.

I thought I told you that we don’t have much time…

As for me, I’d like to get started on the preparations by quickly recruiting volunteers for the trip inside the body of hell.

I let out a small sigh as I watched the stormy meeting as if it were someone else’s business.