Paradigm Parasite - Chapter 192: "Trust"

“It’s getting heated, isn’t it?”

As I watched the scene in front of me, which was more on the level of an argument than a sterile debate, Aspizal called out to me.

“Do you think they’ll be able to come to an agreement?”

“From the looks of it, it’s going to take a while.”

“Well, you’d have to be insane to go all the way out there to get eaten by that thing, so it’s bound to happen.”

“I don’t blame them for being reluctant, but considering the travel time, the sooner they move, the better, don’t you think?”

Yonomori says this in the face of those who are ranting and raving.

She is consciously trying to appear calm, but there is a faint hint of impatience in her voice.

It is plausible. It is unclear what they are trying to do, but if the more time we give them, the more disadvantageous it will be for us, it is only natural that the burden will ultimately be on us.

I thought the debate was going to heat up even more – but.

“It’s time for us to calm down.”

–Hie slams his arm down on the desk, and things quieten down.

“What we’re going to do is think about what we’re going to do to prevent further damage, and ultimately what we’re going to do for our country and our people.”

Hieda looks round and says: ‘Right?’ He adds.

“Roe there has already given us the answer. All that remains is to do it or not.”

“But there’s no guarantee that we’ll be safe once we’re inside them…”

“Of course you don’t. Then give me an alternative. I’m sorry to say this, but even an idiot can complain. We both know that we can’t just say we can’t do it because it’s too dangerous.”

The beastman, who tried to argue with Hieda, grunted softly and swallowed his words when he was told so.

“I hear it’s foolish to waste time, Mr Henrik. It’s a matter of urgency. Let’s ask for volunteers instead of forcing them. Would you mind if I asked the guys outside to talk to them?”

“Uh-huh. You’re right, Mr. Hieda. I’ll go and talk to them.”

Driven by momentum, Henrik left the tent with Dayne and a few others.

“Roe. That big thing – it’s hard to call it that if you don’t give it a good name. I’ll give it a tentative name, including the small fry with it. Anyone have any ideas?”

Naturally, there are no opinions.

Don’t be reckless.

It’s not like they’re just going to come out of the blue.

“Then, Roe, give it a good name.”

Hieda looked me straight in the eye and started saying irresponsible things.

Hey.

Don’t throw it this way. There’s a limit to how reckless you can be.

In the meantime, let’s think about it, shall we?

I fished around in my memory for a name – I hit on a reasonable one.

“Well, how about Deep One? The little fish are its dependents.”

And that’s why they were actually at the bottom of the sea. It’s a reasonable name.

The original story is Kut – well, okay.

Hearing this, Hieda nodded broadly.

“It’s good, isn’t it? I don’t… have any objections. All right, then I’d like to attack the Deep One – it’s almost more of a perfunctory thing, but I’d like to fill it up to the point where I can get inside the body.”

Hieda moves the discussion forward at a stretch, but this is Uzbekanimos, isn’t it?

Is that what the execs here are doing?

When I look at them, the big guys have a regretful look on their faces, but they don’t seem to be interrupting.

They seem to be satisfied with the situation.

No, are you sure about that? It’s your country, isn’t it?

“That’s the downside of having more than one head. Slow to make decisions… or rather, slow to sit down?”

I heard Aspizal whisper softly behind me.

Ah, come to think of it, this place makes a lot of decisions in meetings and so on, doesn’t it?

I remember the discussion we had earlier.

If they keep going like that, they’ll never get a decision.

Hieda must have known that, and that’s why he’s forcing his way in.

“The first thing to do is to check the troops. I thought it was bad, so I brought in as many as I could. All the 2,000 under my direct command are forced to participate. There are about 500 mercenaries, but we can’t force them, so we’ll have to ask for volunteers. Well, the expected number is around three to four hundred, so what we can prepare is about two thousand four hundred. Mr Topias. How many Uzbek animos can you prepare?”

“We can’t prepare that much because there have been quite a few casualties, but we can manage to prepare close to two or three thousand…”

A sea otter called Topias by Hieda? The beastman replied, sounding somewhat confused, but bristling.

No matter how you look at it, he has a tone of voice that is thinking about what happens when he loses it.

“I’ll get them all out. You have no complaints?”

Unable to spare themselves the trouble of deploying the entire force that Torklusarb had brought with him, the Uzbek Animos nodded grudgingly but unequivocally.

“Good. We’re going to have to go in through the mouth, but is that going to be a problem?”

“It will be fine to go in. With the proviso that we don’t get digested. The question is, how do we get in?”

You have to assume that they haven’t moved from that spot, but they were a good distance from land, so you’d need a boat to get to them.

“For your information, how did you guys cross the sea?”

“We have magical tools that allow us to fly.”

“Magic tools, eh? I don’t know anything about magic. I guess we can’t use that… where are the rest of the ships?”

“Most of them were sunk in the last raid, but we can manage a dozen or so medium-sized ships that can carry a dozen or so people…”

“There aren’t enough of them…”

Hieda crosses her arms thoughtfully and falls silent.

“What’s the story, what’s going on?”

Aspizal tugs at the hem of my clothes.

“Oh, they’re having trouble figuring out how to transport them.”

“There are no ships?”

“No. They say there are some, but not many.”

“I see… Just to confirm, beastmen are quite athletic, aren’t they?”

“Yes, but what about them?”

“Well, I’ve got a good idea. Talk to Hieda-san.”

What do you have in mind?

How are you going to transport thousands of people in so few ships?

“Have you ever heard of eight-ship jump?”

……… What’s that?

“I see, that’s an interesting move.”

When I told Hie about what I had heard from Aspizal, it was unexpectedly well received.

The idea is simple: instead of treating the boats as boats, they are to be used as bridges.

Even if there is some distance between the ships, the physical capabilities of the beastmen will allow them to jump over, so there should be no problem.

…Well, it’s necessary to assume that the boats in line won’t be attacked, but is that OK?

Even as an amateur, it smells impossible, but is that okay?

That’s something for Hieda and the others to think about. We’ll just fly on the carpet and it’ll be easy.

Hie seemed to have already planned to go that way, spreading out a map on the table and arranging stones that looked like ships to work out the layout.

The others also seemed to have understood that it was a realistic plan, and were seriously examining the layout and travel routes.

Even if we put aside the question of whether it can be done or not, I wonder if it’s okay to make a decision so easily.

I understand that they don’t have the luxury of time, but how can they simply take up the opinions of outsiders?

Is it a difference of opinion? Or is it that? Is it a difference in capacity?

I wondered if it was necessary to have such a degree to bear the title of king.

I felt a little sad when I thought about it, thinking that I am a small person.

I have no intention of trying to change that.

“Okay! We’ve got a rough but settled policy! In the meantime, I’ll make arrangements to move the ship…”

“Ho, I’ll report back! Outside…”

Just as Hieda, who had put the story together quickly, raised his voice to give instructions, a soldier jumped in with a panicked look on his face.

Outside?

If you listen carefully, you will notice that there is indeed a lot of noise outside.

I was curious, so I stepped out of the tent and immediately understood why.

It was because something too big to ignore was filling my view towards the sea.

The monster in question – the Deep One – was coming towards us.

The size of the thing was so large that the surface of the sea was shaking every time it moved, and the vibrations could be felt even from here, a short distance away from the sea.

“It’s still some distance away, but it’s such a big body. It won’t be long before they get to us.”

Apparently, they can’t take their time to get ready.

Behind me, I heard Hieda clucking his tongue loudly.

“I can’t afford to think about it anymore. We’re going with the plan we just came up with, so get the boats out! Everyone who can get out, head for the harbour!”

As if pulled along by Hieda, who started running after saying that, the others also headed towards the harbour.

I can’t ignore the quandary, so I make a small run for it, urging Yonomori and Aspizal to head towards the harbour with my eyes.

“You moved faster than I thought you would. I guess this was a bit of a mistake?”

Are you talking about pulling up?

There’s nothing wrong with that.

“I don’t know. Either way, we were going to have a fight with him. As long as it doesn’t change what we’re doing, it’s the difference between late and early, isn’t it?”

“Ha-ha-ha. But isn’t it also true that it’s going to be tough without their help?”

I snigger.

“I’m sorry for you, but I didn’t rely on you that much from the beginning. I brought it up because it would be better than not, but if i don’t have it, i’ll be able to do something about it.”

As I say this, Aspizal’s expression changes unexpectedly.

What can I say, it’s a hard face to describe. If I had to guess, pity?

“…… I’ve been thinking for a while now, but you’re really alone.”

Alone? What are you talking about?

“You don’t accept other people on a subconscious level rather than being stubborn ……. I can tell, even though I’ve only known you for a short time. From the outside it looks like you’re just a bit of a poor communicator, but to me it seems like you’re constantly putting up walls between yourself and the rest of the world.”

“So what?”

What is this guy talking about?

I couldn’t understand what Aspizal was saying at the moment.

Well, he’s got a point when he says i doesn’t accept other people.

What good is it to have someone you don’t trust by your side?

There’s only risk in keeping a potential danger by your side.

In my opinion, there’s nothing more shady than weak trust.

I always think that I don’t understand the guy who jokes with a straight face like “I believe in someone!” which I often see in fiction.

The criterion for trusting someone is always a weighing of merits and demerits.

If they are inclined towards the advantages, they believe in them and invest their efforts and assets in the name of trust.

Conversely, if you are inclined towards the disadvantages, you smile and ask them to leave.

It’s common sense, isn’t it?

In fact, I believe in Aspizal and Yonomori, but I don’t trust them.

The reason I believe in them is because they are useful to each other.

I need their strength to finish off the Deep One, and they need mine too.

…So I can believe in them to a certain extent.

This is just a form of trust for me. There must be other forms.

To give an example, it is common to talk about being attracted to a person’s attractiveness, saying that they are comfortable or calm, but from my current point of view, this is a different form of thinking. I don’t understand it.

“I don’t know if I can say this myself, but we are not what people call good people. But I believe in Azusa and I believe she believes in me. Does Roe have anyone to say that to?”

Aspizal looks straight at me, and Yonomori next to him looks a little embarrassed.

Can’t you do that kind of good friendship appeal somewhere else?

Well, you seem to be saying it seriously, so I’ll take it seriously too, shall I?

…a partner who is believed and believed in …… hey.

I’ve thought about it, but there’s no one at all. …What? I feel like I’m forgetting something, but …… well, that’s OK.

No, it is more correct to say that I don’t need them than to say that I don’t have them.

I don’t need them because I can trust them and I don’t need to rely on them, because they are more in control of my life and death than potential threats like Savage and others.

“Unfortunately, I don’t have anyone to say that to.”

“I see… But -”

“Sorry, we’ll talk later. I can see them now.”

As we speak, it seems we have arrived.

The view opens up, the sea stretches out in front of us and we can see the huge body of the Deep One approaching ahead of us.