Today, Tatsuya spent the morning in Miyaki Island, and in the afternoon he went to First High.
He spent the school hours in the library, and after school he went not to the Student Council, but to the Public Morals Committee Headquarters.
“Mikihiko, are you here?”
“Tatsuya!? You came today?”
Good timing, Mikihiko was not patrolling, he was working at his desk.
“Since afternoon.”
Tatsuya replied to Mikihiko. Next to him, a small silhouette tried to pass him silently.
“Kasumi, is your body fine?”
Tatsuya called out to his junior.
Kasumi reluctantly stopped her feet.
“I’m fine. Sorry for making you worry.”
“I see. That’s good.”
Kasumi lowered her head to Tatsuya with a sour look. Then, she hurriedly left the headquarters.
“...What happened?”
It’s natural for Mikihiko to wonder what that scene was about.
“Kasumi’s attitude didn’t mean anything, but I’d like to ask you a favor related to that.”
“Ask me...?”
“Oh. The other day, we talked about Minoru?”
Mikihiko’s complexion changed. Tatsuya’s favor involves sensing parasites, so he became nervous.
“Yeah, I remember.”
“The day before yesterday, Minoru appeared near the hospital where Minami is.”
“Eh!? Then...”
Mikihiko shut his mouth and eyes in surprise.
He quickly closed the Public Morals Committee Headquarters’ doors and finally ‘closed’ the room with a barrier from a charm he took out.
“...Sorry to keep you waiting, Tatsuya. Let’s sit down and talk.”
“Yeah.”
Tatsuya and Mikihiko sat face to face with the long table between them.
“Umm...The day before yesterday, Saegusa-san fought Minoru-kun, didn’t she?”
“Exactly. There were no physical injuries, but she was put to sleep with genjutsu magic. Even before that, there was concern of after-effects from the damage she took from magic that caused oxygen deprivation. Still, it seems that there isn’t any problem, which gives me some peace of mind.”
“Is that so...”
While it was Tatsuya who said peace of mind, he looked indifferent, unlike Mikihiko who was listening to the story while holding his chest in relief.
“And what is your request? If you need help catching Minoru-kun, I will gladly lend you my assistance.”
Mikihiko leaned his body on the table. Like he said Monday, Mikihiko considers it his job as an Ancient Magician to deal with parasites.
“I may ask you to lend a hand with that too eventually. But right now, I wanted you to help with my training.”
“Training?”
With Mikihiko’s incitement, Tatsuya explained the details of his training.
“Since I only have time after school, you’ll have to take a short break from Public Morals Committee work, can I still ask you to do it?“
“What are you talking about?”
Mikihiko revealed a sarcastic laugh.
For Tatsuya, it can be said that a girl was the only important thing.
For society, the most important thing is suppressing the rampant spirits.
And yet Tatsuya has the honest sense of duty to care about the effect on what is only high school extracurricular activities, which Mikihiko found strange.
“I don’t know what you’re thinking, but Public Morals Committee work is less important than your training. Besides, it’s about time I started thinking of who will inherit the Public Morals Committee chairman position. In that sense, this is a good opportunity.”
Mikihiko expressed his agreement to Tatsuya’s request.
In general, it is believed that supernatural beings are active in dark nights. Particularly vampires have that strong image.
But parasites are not weak in the sun. Because of habits from when they were human, they sleep in the night and wake in the morning unless there’s something to do.
Since they are parasites, they became immune to jet lag. Regulus had great interest on what mechanism this is based on. But he is not a scholar, so even if he thinks about it he won’t know the truth. He kept his interests as they were and went into his bed.
It was exactly at that time that the door to his room was knocked on. While he was hearing the knocking sound, he knew who it was.
When Regulus opened the door, Raymond stood alone as he had inferred.
“Is it fine if I come in?”
“Feel free.”
Honestly speaking, it was a bad time to bother him, but it must be an important matter if he visited so late. Regulus thought so when he opened the door.
“So, what is it?”
“It’s about Minoru.”
“What about him? I don’t think there was anything he did that was particularly suspicious”
“You don’t think so?”
Seems that Raymond didn’t agree with Regulus’ words.
“Minoru is strange.”
“What’s strange about him?”
Raymond shut his mouth for a little while. It was not hesitation, it was time to rethink how he should say it.
“...Our telepathy, for some reason, can’t communicate across national borders.”
“And?”
“But if we use telepathy, we share the same purpose. Even if our original parasite is different, the rule should still apply.“
Raymond and Regulus became parasites in the micro-black hole experiment held this month.
On the other hand, Minoru changed the host of a parasite who lost its way into this world with the experiment done in November of 2095.
However, even if the details of how they became parasites differ, they are still the same kind of living thing. That is both Minoru’s and their intuition, no, they understand it with their true feelings.
Besides, the origin of the parasite that Minoru assimilated is also USNA, it has its roots in the same experiment facility in Dallas. Even if Raymond pointed out the difference in their origins, strictly speaking, it was not correct.
“Raymond, what do you want to say?”
“Why doesn’t Minoru agree with us?”
Raymond responded to Regulus’ question with a question of his own.
“...The Shiba Tatsuya thing?”
“That’s right. Our purpose should be uniform about eliminating Tatsuya. And yet, why did Minoru disagree with Tatsuya’s death?”
“He didn’t seem to oppose to Shiba Tatsuya’s elimination. But for Minoru there is something else that should be prioritized.”
“That is strange. We decided that burying Tatsuya was our current top priority.”
“Didn’t we have that discussion in the States? Our telepathy can’t cross borders, you said it just now, Raymond.”
Raymond kept silent when stabbed by his contradictory words.
“We are pure intention, strong desires, and we are drawn to unification with humans. Our strong will invites parasites.”
These words from Regulus denote the duality of parasites. The point of view of the parasite before unifying with a human, and the point of view of the human before being eroded by the parasite, coexisting within the original parasitized human.
“The strongest will inside Minoru was the desire to save the woman he loves. If that’s the case, it would be strange not to give it top priority.”
Regulus and Raymond discussed in the morning, and heard why Minoru wanted to make Minami a parasite. – While revealing that much, Minoru had yet to tell them Minami’s name.
“That’s unacceptable! Our top priority target must be Tatsuya!”
“You shouldn’t say that...”
Regulus, like Raymond, is being drawn to erase Tatsuya. However, that is because Regulus intends to ‘neutralize Strategic-Class Magic which has become a threat to his country’.
Raymond’s original feelings were also ‘to bring Tatsuya down’, not ‘to erase Tatsuya’. This was the effect of the intentions of Stars members who recognized that a threat like ‘Material Burst’ should be eliminated.
Like this, the intentions of the parasites were mixed together. It’s certain that the individuals who hold the strongest desires take the initiative of the parasite’s collective consciousness, but the intentions of one individual don’t dominate other individuals. For example, by associating with Minoru, even if he takes the initiative, Regulus’ and Raymond’s intentions won’t be ignored.
“Understood. Then, I will discuss it with Minoru tonight.”
“If you want to do it, then fine.”
They already made sure last night that Minoru communicates with the same ‘line’. Since Regulus, Raymond and Minoru are connected, if Raymond and Minoru ‘talk’, Regulus will be included.
Someone taking the initiative is characteristic of them. Regulus had no reason to stop Raymond.
Minoru suddenly woke up in the middle of the night. It was not caused by physiological desires. He was awakened by a noisy voice he heard in the depths of his heart.
(–Wake up, Minoru/us.)
To this call, Minoru had a wry smile.
(Raymond, huh? What is it at this hour?)
Minoru didn’t recognize ‘Raymond/us’.
(No surprise uh? I thought this is your first time talking within our collective consciousness.)
(First time talking, but it’s not the first time hearing voices.)
(That shouldn’t be the case.)
Sensing confusion from Raymond’s telepathy, Minoru couldn’t hold back a laugh.
(Didn’t telepathy not reach across national borders?)
Minoru didn’t intend to mock him. But unlike a conversation using their real voices, along with the fact he didn’t use polite language, Raymond mistakenly thought he was being looked down on. – Misunderstanding other’s intentions is something that can’t naturally happen with parasites that share intention.
(That thinking is wrong. Telepathy can reach across borders. As evidence, becoming one intention also interfered with me. But across borders, the consciousness just can’t understand the meaning the words from telepathy have. In human telepathy this phenomenon doesn’t happen though. There are many inexplicable restrictions to the abilities we have as parasites.)
(That is strange...)
(Maybe the process of transmitting from the parasite’s real form to the consciousness of the original human is failing in translation.)
Raymond was not the only one in silence. Regulus who was in the mixed consciousness was speechless as well.
(That doesn’t really matter right now. You’ve contacted me in the deep consciousness like this. Is there some intention you want to unite?)
(How do you know things like that...isn’t Minoru/us the only active comrade in this country!?)
(There is one more. He is completely sealed now, but he was screaming sometimes when used for experiments. I want to go help, but there is a strong barrier so I can’t interfere.)
Minoru is talking about the parasite sealed by the Yotsuba Family. The seal from Yotsuba Family’s Mental Interference Type Magic doesn’t break with the power of the parasitized Minoru. The very opposite, he can’t even understand where he’s being held captive.
The signs of others becoming speechless are once again transmitted.
It seems that he really despises him, Minoru thought.
(No, Minoru/we weren’t making fun of you. We don’t want you to misunderstand that.)
Because that thought wasn’t concealed, the explanation was transmitted in a hurry. They were Regulus’ words, but Raymond’s ‘voice’ was mixed within.
(Understood. And?)
Minoru once again asked what their business was. In fact, though Raymond’s thinking was transmitted to Minoru, he tried to make him say it from his own mouth to advance this messy conversation.
(We are a single body, all of us a single living being. Our intentions must be one.)
Minoru did not agree with nor deny it.
That Raymond and Regulus are such a living being, Minoru understood.
But Minoru denied that he became so.
If I don’t stay as I am, I can’t make her into a parasite. If I can’t use it to cure her, becoming a parasite has no meaning for me.
Minoru didn’t intend to deny how Raymond and Regulus are. But, when ‘we’ was said, he wasn’t planning on being included.
(We intend to destroy Shiba Tatsuya. Minoru’s/our intentions will also be the same!)
Those intentions and thoughts surged in.
Raymond and Regulus are not just the thoughts of two people. They don’t seem to be aware, but their minds are connected to their compatriots of the USNA even if they don’t communicate. At the Stars Headquarters, all parasitized members are in complete harmony with the thought, as it continues to grow even now and is now trying to swallow Minoru whole.
Minoru is fighting against it. By fighting, various thoughts that should be one barged into Minoru’s ‘ear’. Dozens, hundreds of whispers grazed his consciousness.
Among them, the most predominant was the intention to eliminate Tatsuya.
The members of the Stars are behind Raymond’s and Regulus’ backs, and they have just been informed of the threat of the Strategic-Class Magician Shiba Tatsuya. It may be natural that it will be so.
Minoru didn’t use magic techniques to confront the surge of thoughts swallowing him, instead he fought back by facing it and embracing his strongest ‘desire’.
He doesn’t want Minami. In Minoru there is no desire to make her his. He just abandoned his humanity for his desire to save that girl from the same situation he was in. Because it was for someone other than himself, he could win against the encroaching temptation.
Individuality acquires form. Impulses and desires in the core of the spirit, how to make use of the law, what to forbid and what to allow, the connections within society, each person’s associations, it takes its form with resistance.
As such, the frame confining the self is thrown away, and the self exists as a person with its own desires different from other living beings. – If greed was the core, he would certainly not be able to withstand the temptation. Because it was ‘for the sake of someone other than myself’, and not ‘for my own sake’, Minoru could preserve his ‘self’.
It was a long battle.
It was an instant battle.
In the spiritual world, time has no length. Time is not a continuous line, it is made of points. The only information is ‘long time’ and ‘instant time’.
At the end of that instantaneous eternal battle – the one standing was Minoru.
(Raymond, will you cooperate with me? First, we bring her along. After that, Tatsuya-san.)
(I/We follow Minoru’s intention.)
Until the end, Minoru was himself.
But whether he changed or not, something was different.
Even humans change when they are exposed to the same things dozens, hundreds of times. Even if denied at first, empathy will slowly grow.
Even Minoru was not indifferent to such human weaknesses. Even if he isn’t a human being, he is still concerned about himself, and has similar strong points and weak points as he originally did.
Continuously being exposed to whispers to eliminate Tatsuya dozens, hundreds of times,
(Let’s deal with Tatsuya-san later.)
Minoru’s consciousness was also led into changing without him realizing.
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