Paradigm Parasite

Chapter 179: "Gorge"

"The direction we came from is further east. There wasn't much information on this side, but do you know what Roe has?"

Aspizal points to the east.

"I've heard there's a ridiculously big canyon. If you're right, and I think about the story that this was the seabed, then it was probably the undersea valley."

Indeed, if you ask me, the topography of this area makes sense if you think of it as the seabed.

The distribution of flora and fauna in the mountains and at the foot of the mountains is also very strange.

"Heh. That sounds interesting. Do you know how far it is?"

"At this pace, about half a day."

It's a distance that can be covered in a day if you use Savage, but there's no need to tell these guys.

"Hmmm. That's a bit of a problem. Okay, here's what we're going to do. Come closer to me, both of you."

After we look at each other, we approach the aspizal.

Then the sand around our feet rose up and became a small mountain.

"Alright. It went well. Thank God there's so much sand."

The pile of sand under our feet starts to move silently with us on it.

"Mmm-hmm? This is a bit tricky."

I heard Aspizal muttering as we adjusted our speed.

After repeating acceleration, deceleration and change of direction for a while, the movement becomes smoother, as if he had become accustomed to it.

"Okay. I'm going to fly for a bit, so can I ask for a windshield?"

"Okay."

I magically deploy a wind barrier in front of me.

"Is that enough?"

"Good enough."

The rest of the trip was smooth.

The Aspizal's magic? The ride is not as fast as Savage's, but it's not too bad, and it's hardly bumpy.

It's comfortable.

Yonomori has been staring at me since a while ago and hasn't said a word.

They're being very wary of me.

Or is it rather that they just don't hide it any more?

I could ignore it, but it's not comfortable.

It's tedious, but let's talk a little.

Aspizal is silent, perhaps concentrating on the operation.

The timing couldn't be worse.

"...... don't stare at me so much, as long as you don't do anything I won't try to touch you."

"I know, I know. 'For now', right?"

Her voice is hard.

For what it's worth, this guy didn't seem to be into me from the start.

I'm the same way in that respect, so I guess it's mutual.

"You're right. But 'for now' we are not the enemy. I'd appreciate it if you'd take that into account."

Despite these words, Yonomori's vigilance showed no sign of letting up.

"What in the world are you? From the looks of it, you may be in a similar situation to Asu-kun, but the signs are completely different."

Asu-kun? Ah, you mean Aspizal.

That's what you call him.

The actual aspizal also calls this guy by his first name, and it's clear that they are that close...

...are these guys well?

I'm not familiar with the subtleties of that, so I don't know, but what do you think?

Look at the two of them in turn. I'm well aware of their intimacy, but to what extent?

If you were to take one of them hostage, how effective would that be?

If we have to fight Aspizal, we can make this guy into a daruma and use him as a shield -.

No, that's not something to think about now.

I return my attention to Yonomori. She is as stubborn as ever.

...And that's a sign, isn't it?

Sigh. Again.

The smell, the presence, the magic, and then Eidos, right?

Every single one of them is trying to make me feel uncomfortable, and then they're trying to make me feel guilty, and then they're trying to make me feel bad about it.

Why is it that a good percentage of the people I've met with a nose like that are wary of me - or rather, disgusted by me? I have no idea why. I'm not sure why. I don't remember doing anything in particular.

The only exceptions are Vertex and the aspizal in front of me.

Well, that's all right. Let's change hands.

I don't want to be liked, but I also don't want them to attack me in a fit of bloodlust.

I'd like to put them in a good mood, or at least soften their attitude...

"I don't know what you don't like about me, but it's hurtful to have you look at me like that one way when I haven't done anything in particular?"

"That's ......."

Saying this, Yonomori awkwardly looks away.

Hmm? Does it work?

Is it better to be sympathetic to these kinds of people? Let's use this as a reference in the future.

...Well, I don't feel anything if there's no real harm, no matter what people actually think.

Yonomori was silent, as if a little conflicted - she exhaled heavily and relaxed.

"...Well... I'm sorry. Maybe I was a little too tense."

"I hope you understand."

I shrug my shoulders.

What a easy woman.

This has kept them from answering questions and reduced their wariness, albeit somewhat?

It's a good thing she's softened her attitude.

I'm glad we got one of our problems sorted out before we arrived.

As I looked ahead, I could see my destination dimly in the distance.

Kirghifor Great Gorge.

It is a huge fissure running into the ground, located to the east of Torkulu Sarb.

It is said to have been investigated several times, but it was not possible to find out how deep it is to the bottom.

In fact, it seems that quite a few people fell into it in an accident and did not come back, and since there is little merit in investigating it, they seem to be keeping a regular check on it. I don't know of any stories that say there is at least something there.

Considering the fact that it was originally on the seabed, it must be difficult to see the bottom unless you go down quite a bit.

Even if you could get to the bottom, what you would find would probably be deep-sea fish fossils or something... I thought at first...

... maybe there are a lot of those monsters' friends.

It's a horrifying story.

"This is amazing. It's like the Grand Canyon."

"Yes, it is. You can't even see the bottom."

Beside the two of them, who were talking about their impressions, I looked into the fissure in front of me.

A vast, deep canyon with no bottom in sight was opening wide.

...It sure is amazing.

It's a wonderful sight.

If it weren't for the monster, I would have felt good about the trip, but unfortunately, because of the unnecessary people and monsters, I'm a little depressed.

I can't just stand there gazing at the scenery, so I search for signs of the surroundings as I did earlier.

So far, nothing in particular has caught my attention.

"How about you? I don't feel anything in particular."

"Yes, that's right. No particular reaction on my part either?"

"What do you want to do? If you want to enjoy the view a little more, I won't stop you, but as long as there's no reaction, should we assume that there's nothing around here?"

Aspizal gives a small snort of annoyance.

"Hmmm. It's a nice view, but we can't just stare at it forever. Let's check out the surroundings for a bit and then pull up to town. Azusa, Roe. That's not a problem, is it?"

"Yes. That's fine with me."

"Roger that."

Aspizal nodded in satisfaction at our reply.

"Well... an hour or two...' Roe didn't have a watch. I'll lend you mine and we'll meet here in a couple of hours or so, OK?"

He then offers me his pocket watch.

I take it and look at it. The watch is plain and simple, and ticks away the time while making a small sound.

"This is..."

"It's one of the magical tools that Tcke made. It's not anything special, it's just a watch. I like the design, so don't lose it."

"...OK. Two hours from now on this clock."

"Okay. Well, we're breaking up for now."

We each dispersed.

"Oh, come on. You've got to get yourself in a better mood."

I - Azusa Yonomori - frown at the words of Asu-kun who says so next to me.

"What are you trying to do? 'I can't believe you're taking him with you."

I was soon joined by Asu-kun, who pretended to have broken up with me.

The aim is about the other companion, Roe.

"That's terrible. At least he's not acting against us, right? Besides, our purpose is to collect reincarnations, so it wouldn't be weird to keep him in powder, would it?"

I know that.

But I don't like that man somehow.

At first I didn't understand the language, so I was going to ask for a normal interpreter, but early on the suspicion of a reincarnated person was raised and I was just wary...

For some reason, I feel strangely wispy when I'm with that man.

I kept thinking about it, but I couldn't come up with a reason that made sense to me, and the feeling that it didn't add up irritated me even more.

I really don't know why. I can't stop feeling bad when I'm around that man.

I wanted to know what it was, so we worked together, but time passed without me being able to grasp the true nature of the discomfort at all.

If I think about it calmly, I understand that what I am doing is unreasonable.

Roe may not have been a good person, but he had a certain amount of common sense.

He would only move after confirming with me the line between employer and employee, and he would not ask for extra compensation or tips.

By the standards of this world, they give the impression that they are rather serious about their work.

I would have liked to discuss that with Asu if I could have joined him, but his reaction was the complete opposite of mine.

For some reason, he likes Roe and wants to keep him by his side.

"Let me ask you frankly. What do you think of him?"

"I like him. I don't know what you don't like about him, but I like him a lot."

"What do you like about him?"

I couldn't understand his reaction, so I asked him.

"The first thing I like about him is that he's somewhat decent, despite being a reincarnated person. Azusa knows that many reincarnated people are unbalanced, whether due to the shock of the fall or not, I don't know."

I myself know that very well.

In fact, there were many fallen reincarnations who could not live properly, such as those who became desperate and drowned themselves in alcohol because they could not accept that they had died, and those who went mad and were treated as monsters because they could not accept the fact that they were eaten when they were transformed.

On the other hand, there are many people who enjoy this world, saying things like "I love being reincarnated in another world", but in terms of accepting their current situation, they may be better than the former.

However, the majority of them are problem children who don't listen to others.

Many of them are personality-defying people who treat others with an unnecessarily superior attitude, extremely dislike being told what to do and lash out if they don't get their way. Because they are blessed with fighting ability, they tend to try to solve problems by force.

They seem to live their lives as if they were playing a game, and the idea that they are allowed to do whatever they want is transparent.

There were quite a few of them in Darzain, but the ones who were too bad were punished after a meeting.

There are a number of people with this tendency in the current organisation, but they are relatively quiet now, perhaps because we got rid of some of them.

...However, they do not change their arrogant attitude, so they are recognised for their fighting ability within the organisation, but in terms of personality they are hated like snakes and scorpions.

In this area, it is of great concern how Gnosis, which has a large number of incarnations in its possession, does it.

In light of the above, Roe would certainly be a good recruiting target, as he is not broken like the former and not as self-drunk as the latter.

"After that, I guess it's ability? As I mentioned briefly earlier, he's like me, but probably in a different situation."

"What do you mean?"

Someone who is fully humanoid is valuable.

If they are not made intentionally, they will not hit a human being unless they are very lucky.

In fact, Asu is a very special case, artificially created. Most of the time they take the form of insects or animals.

When I found out who he was, my thought was that I expected him to be a reincarnated person created separately from Darzain, but from the way Asu-kun talks, I wonder if he is different?

"Hmmm. Well, I'm sure he's a reincarnation, but there's something about him that's different from us at the core."

"Maybe it's because he's human-based like Asu-kun?"

"I wonder if he's really human? Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if he has mimetic abilities or something and is really a great monster. ...Well, he's rational, so I don't think he'll attack you unless you step on a land mine. ...... That was a close call earlier."

"You mean when I pointed out what it was?"

I know the atmosphere changed when they found out we were Darzain that time, but is it something to be that alarmed about?

"I think we could win if we fought, but I think we'd suffer a lot of damage over here too. Worst case scenario, either me or Azusa might die."

"So it's going to come down to the two of us?"

"Yeah."

In other words, if it's one-on-one, there's a good chance we'll lose.

If Asu-kun says it, it must be true, but I don't believe it one bit now.

I don't think I'm the best in the world, but I have a fair amount of confidence in my skills.

I don't think I'll lose so easily if I have Asu's support.

...nevertheless, fighting and having to put your life on the line?

I felt something bad about Roe himself, but he didn't look strong, so it didn't really hit me at the moment.

"Yes. He seemed to be reacting to Darzain's name quite a bit, have you heard anything about a report?"

I shake my head in silence.

In the meantime, there is a way of communicating with the other side, so I might as well check.

"I know, right? If they were in contact with something as prominent as Roe, I should have heard about it, but the fact that they didn't means that he bumped into us after he started heading our way, which would be interesting, don't you think?"

What?

"He entered the forest after us, but he got here before us."

I think it's true, when you say it like that.

If he's causing trouble after we left, it's strange that he's here, given the time of year.

"I don't know if he has some form of transport or if it's his own ability, but if he can join us, don't you think it would be very convenient for us to go back?"

I replied, 'Yes,' as I took the magic stone out of my luggage to contact the men I had left over there.