Parasite (1)

Dante observed the various items arranged throughout the laboratory as he went about eradicating the dragon and its parasites. There were countless experimental tools—some worn and aged, others gleaming like new. The old ones had likely belonged to Dorkuns. The new ones would have been Nameraz’s.

Dante answered without much expectation.

“Yes. These are all new to me, but I can roughly guess what they’re for.”

“It looks like a growth accelerator. Probably used to cultivate Akchichi’s Bug.”

Pecaraxis spoke kindly.

“…Is that possible?”

As expected of a dragon, Dante thought with admiration. That was most likely spatial teleportation magic—a tremendous spell that only the highest-ranking human mages could use. Yet Pecaraxis the dragon could wield it freely.

“Then…”

Dante told the dragon the location of the Archduke’s castle. Since it was the largest and most ornate building, there was little chance of a mistake.

After helping Pecaraxis finish exterminating the remaining parasites, Dante left the ruins behind.

“That son of a bitch Lacravan… I need to find out where he is and what he’s doing,” Sirdan growled.

Sirdan had once been Lacravan’s ally. After getting stabbed in the back and trapped inside the ruins, he had miraculously survived thanks to Dante. Lacravan probably never imagined they would defeat a dragon and live to tell the tale.

“You want his head too, right? I’ll contact you as soon as I find him.”

“Good. I’ll be waiting.”

Tracking down Lacravan was a job perfectly suited for Sirdan. He would locate the traitor without much difficulty. Dante decided to use the time to rest and reorganize.

Sirdan stared across the snowfield and muttered, “Looks like the Archduke’s knights.”

The Archduke’s knights seemed to have come to investigate the ruins. The situation was already over, but Dante appreciated their effort in rushing over.

“Let’s go.”

Sirdan led his warriors and vanished beyond the snowfield. They had slipped away before the knights could arrive. Having lost his purpose, he no longer had any reason to fight the Archduke’s house. For some reason, Dante found Sirdan’s retreating back looked lonely.

“Lord Dante!”

The Archduke’s knights came running, kicking up a blizzard. They clearly hadn’t spent a day or two running across snowfields.

“You’re safe!”

“We were worried when we saw the entrance completely collapsed!”

The knights had been unable to enter the ruins. Lacravan’s people had destroyed the entrance. In the end, it had been for the best. If they had come inside to help Dante and gotten infected by Akchichi’s Bugs, he would have had even more baggage to worry about.

“I’m fine. I’m tired, so I’d like to return to the castle.”

“Yes! His Grace has been waiting for you as well!”

Escorted by the knights, Dante returned to the castle. When he gave them a brief account of what had happened in the ruins, the knights became completely absorbed in his story.

“A dragon?! You’re saying there was a dragon in there?!”

“Pecaraxis! I’ve heard the name! The Guardian Dragon of the North from the time of the old kingdom…!”

“And you saved that dragon, my lord?!”

The knights kept exclaiming in awe as they listened. Even without thinking deeply, it was obvious—Dante had accomplished an incredible feat. If he had been a northerner, the Archduke would have rewarded him handsomely.

“You’ve done something truly remarkable.”

“I was simply lucky.”

“Then it seems the gods were watching over you. Lady Aurora must have guided your path.”

The mood had been pleasant while they listened to Dante’s tale… but it sank the moment the knights began speaking.

“The situation is truly dire.”

“Because of the Monster Wave?”

“Yes. The wave has begun. But its scale… is far larger than we anticipated.”

Dante nodded. He had already seen countless refugees while traveling through the North. It was a monstrous tide so vast that even the battle-hardened northerners—who had experienced many Monster Waves—had been forced to pack up and abandon their homes.

“…And it appears the Liberation Army is controlling the monsters.”

“Controlling monsters?”

“Using the magic known as Beast Call, one can command monsters. There are many Beast Tamers in the North. It seems the Liberation Army spent a fortune hiring them.”

Now Dante understood the full picture.

‘It’s Lacravan.’

There had been two main factions within the Northern Liberation Army. One was the group led by Sirdan. The other was the chaotic force masquerading as the Liberation Army under Lacravan.

Lacravan had approached Sirdan with an offer of alliance, promising freedom for the North. Sirdan had accepted, and they had worked to crown Duchess Daina as the new Queen of the North and establish an independent northern kingdom.

…Of course, Sirdan had simply been used. He had fallen for Lacravan’s deception and thrown himself into the cause, only to nearly end up buried alive in the ruins alongside Dante. He would have become Nameraz’s test subject after being infected by the parasites.

Lacravan had stabbed Sirdan in the back.

Dante pondered for a moment.

…Why did Lacravan betray Sirdan?

If he thought simply, it was probably because Sirdan no longer held any value. Or perhaps Lacravan had already achieved most of his goals.

“It will be difficult for you to travel freely in the North any longer,” the knights told Dante. It was a polite way of telling him to leave.

Now that the Monster Wave had begun, they were essentially saying he should stop sightseeing and return to the Empire.

Dante answered courteously. “Thank you for letting me know. I’ll pay my respects to His Grace and prepare to depart soon.”

“Of course. You’ve worked hard, Lord Dante.”

Of course—Dante had no intention of simply returning to the Empire. Most of the puzzle pieces had already been gathered. Once he found Lacravan, he would obtain the answer Esillia wanted…!

Dante and the knights arrived at the Archduke’s castle.

“Lord Dante—!”

Libera greeted him with a bright smile. Surprisingly, an unexpected woman stood beside her.

“You’ve returned, Lord Dante!”

It was Duchess Daina Carmilton. She welcomed him with a radiant smile and eyes sparkling like jewels. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

While Dante had been away investigating the ruins, Duchess Daina had patrolled the Ice Wall with her knights, working to gauge the scale of the Monster Wave. As the knights had said, this year’s wave was enormous.

She had evacuated residents as far as her power allowed, cleared out small monster packs, and worked hard to maintain public order. Thanks to her efforts, nearly all civilians had been evacuated. All that remained were the fortresses, including the Ice Wall itself.

“I returned to the castle for one final inspection.”

Now that they understood the wave’s scale, the only task left was to hold the line at the wall and repel the monsters. The Archduke’s house had returned to the castle to prepare for the massive upcoming battle. After a few days of rest, they would lead the army to the wall once preparations were complete.

“You’ve worked hard.”

“Hehe. I’d like to say this is just everyday life for northerners~ but honestly, this wave is beyond imagination.”

Duchess Daina’s eyes sparkled as she asked, “So, Dante. Did you find out anything?”

Dante nodded. “There’s a lot I’d like to tell you.”

He recounted the events in the ruins. Throughout the story, the duchess listened with wide eyes.

“Oh my…! So the reason people were barred from approaching the ruins wasn’t because of a demon?!”

“There was a mage’s laboratory underground?!”

“You met a dragon?!”

Dante answered calmly. “Yes. It’s all true.”

“I can hardly believe it…”

“The one who sponsored the magical experiments was indeed Elder Lacravan.”

“…I want to arrest him immediately, but with the campaign right in front of us, that’s impossible.”

Dante spoke as if to comfort her. “I will continue investigating Lacravan. Please focus on the Monster Wave, Your Grace.”

The duchess looked at him with profound gratitude. “I see now why the Imperial Princess sent you. You truly are a great help, Dante.”

Seizing the moment as her praise poured forth, Dante said, “In that case, could you possibly spare me an empty room in the castle?”

“An empty room?”

“I found some interesting items in ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the ruins. I’d like to take some time to experiment with them.”

“Of course! I’ll give you as many as you need!”

The duchess answered readily. Even when the dragon’s delivered goods arrived ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠in front of the castle gates, she didn’t seem particularly surprised. She had already heard the story from Dante. She had the items sent straight to his room.

With no time to waste, Dante immediately began his work. The experiment involved commanding Akchichi’s Bugs.

Akchichi’s Bug was a parasite that had crossed over from hell. Its ability to infiltrate living bodies was extraordinary; it could swim through flesh as freely as through water. Its greatest feature was bodily control. By burrowing into the brain’s nerves, it could manipulate the host’s actions.

A host infected by Akchichi’s Bug would indiscriminately attack nearby creatures.

‘But is attacking all it can do?’

Dante focused on that question. The bug could move the host’s body regardless of the host’s will. Since these were parasites from hell, the command to destroy had simply been their innate instinct.

But Dante was a Bug Tamer. If he ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠could transmit a different will to Akchichi’s Bug, he might be able to issue new commands beyond simple destruction.

To test that theory, he had taken the magical experimental tools from the ruins. They had originally been designed to experiment on Akchichi’s Bugs. Dante quickly learned how to use them and began his tests.

The dormant Akchichi’s Bug opened its eyes.

“From now on, I will increase your numbers.”

The first priority was, of course, multiplying their numbers. A single parasite couldn’t accomplish much.

The bug immediately agreed.

“…Does that mean your consciousness is linked?”

Akchichi’s Bug was both individual and colony. All the bugs shared a single consciousness, and their life’s purpose was to parasitize the strongest individual. Previously, they had succeeded in parasitizing a dragon, so the rest had worked to support those who had settled inside it.

But now things were different. The bugs had recognized Dante as the [strongest individual] and believed that living inside his body would guarantee their safety. Therefore, they would spare no means or methods to protect him.

‘It’s convenient that adjusting their numbers is so easy.’

Except for the single bug he kept inside his own body, all the others were completely expendable. It didn’t matter if they lived or died. Dante placed the bug into the culture fluid and multiplied its numbers. Every one of them was a clone that obeyed Dante’s original commands.

Dante immediately went to see the Archduke.

“Would it be possible to borrow a few death row inmates?”

“Death row inmates?”

“Ah. I may not be able to return them.”

“Take as many as you need.”

Dante took several death row prisoners from the underground dungeon. They were all heinous criminals who had committed atrocious crimes. He injected Akchichi’s Bugs into their bodies.

“M-Mage! You really will reduce our sentences if we cooperate with the experiment, right?!”

“I never made any such promise.”

The Akchichi’s Bug crawled into the prisoner’s brain with unnatural smoothness. It took root in the nerve clusters—and began controlling the prisoner’s limbs.

“Don’t you feel like attacking someone else right now?”

“…Huh? What? Wait a second…!”

The prisoner suddenly lunged at another death row inmate and began strangling him.

“L-Let go…! You crazy bastard…!”

“No! This isn’t me doing it…! My body just suddenly…!”

Dante watched the scene while recording the experiment’s progress in his notebook. This much was the expected reaction. But what if he gave a different command?

“Stop.”

“!”

At that moment, the prisoner’s hands went slack. The strangled inmate coughed violently. Dante could feel it—the bug inside the prisoner’s brain desperately wanted to issue an attack command…!

But Dante did not permit it. Instead, he issued a new order.

“Spin in place.”

“…!”

The prisoner suddenly began spinning on the spot.

“Mage…! Is this really safe?!”

“Stop and kneel. Then say, ‘I am trash who stoned a lonely old woman to death and stole her money.’”

“…”

The prisoner’s face twisted, but what could he do? Dante had deliberately ordered the man to do something he would hate most. It was to test the capabilities of Akchichi’s Bug.

“…”

The prisoner knelt on the floor. But he kept his mouth tightly shut and refused to speak the words Dante had commanded. The reason soon became clear. The Akchichi’s Bug carrying out the order… had exhausted itself and died.

‘One command. And even that was a simple one.’

Dante wrote the result in his notebook.

Experiment result: Akchichi’s Bug can issue commands other than attack orders. However, unlike attack commands, other orders are difficult to execute. They can be given, but they consume enormous amounts of strength and mana. Furthermore… Akchichi’s Bug is a very small parasite. The moment the command becomes even slightly complex, it rapidly consumes mana, becomes exhausted, and dies.

‘I need to confirm exactly what kinds of commands it can carry out.’

“Stand up.”

Dante injected a new parasite into the prisoner. There were plenty of bugs anyway. If one died, he could simply insert another. He issued several more commands to the prisoner. The man carried out the fifth command properly, but on the sixth, he broke.

“E… E… E…”

The prisoner stood there blankly, drooling. The Akchichi’s Bugs had toyed with his brain too much and ruined it.

Dante once again recorded the results in his notebook.

‘It seems safe as long as the bug doesn’t exhaust itself and die.’

If the bug died, overload occurred. Commands that didn’t kill the bug didn’t harm the host.

“M-Mage…!”

“Please spare us…!”

The death row prisoners trembled as they watched Dante inject bugs into people and then calmly write in his notebook. But Dante didn’t even snort.

“You’re next, trash.”

“…”

The prisoners were terrified of that mage…