Paradigm Parasite
Chapter 202: “Aging”

I felt the morning sun shining through the window and I - the cathedral knight Herman Abecasis - came out of my slumber and awoke to consciousness.

"Oh ～～～～～. I need a second sleep."

These are the words of escape that come out of my mouth every morning when I wake up.

I can't stand reality anymore.

I'm sick of being conscious of my age these days.

My pillow smells funny, my back and joints ache regularly.

Thanks to this, I've become so used to using the magic of the [Heal] that I'm almost eating with it.

I don't have a wife, so I've got plenty of money, and I'd rather live cooped up in the countryside somewhere.

What do you call this? A bachelor aristocrat? Isn't that a good life? I think so too.

While I'm thinking about throwing myself away, a corner of my mind is automatically thinking about work.

Well... I took over yesterday, I've packed my bags.

Was there anything else to do? The thought is that I want to live an elegant country life, but my thoughts are planning an escape.

A large backpack in a corner of my room. That's all I have in my luggage.

A change of clothes and money. The rest is food for a few days and my favourite equipment. With that, I can manage most things.

I thought I could take a break after finishing my work here, but it's not my lucky day when I get transferred to Willead.

I'm not happy inside, but the trick is not to show it.

I'm long past the point of complaining and snapping at my bosses and colleagues.

I don't really have the energy to do that anymore, so I'm just going to let it slide as best I can.

Cathedral Knight Herman Abecassis.

I always wondered, what the hell is that?

Me? A knight of the cathedral? Are you an idiot?

I jumped at it because the pay was good, but when it comes down to it, it's just a lot of hard work that's not worth it.

If there's a problem, I'm made to run around here and there, the pressure of expectations from above and below increases day by day, and envy and jealousy fly in from other directions.

My peers say I'm doing well, but I want to tell them I'm ready to be replaced.

I say, you get married quickly and have kids without thinking about it, that's why you have money problems.

Look at me now. I'm easy-going and money-free. If I didn't have a title, I'd be easy.

To be honest, the salary of a Temple Knight is enough for me to eat, so why did I accept the burden of the title of Cathedral Knight?

I wish I could go back in time and beat myself up.

What you're trying to carry is a burden in the skin of glory.

Thanks to you, I had to do a lot of hard work with subordinates I didn't want.

As a result, my stomach is in knots and my hair is falling out bit by bit due to the stress of my work-related woes, and there is not a shred of good in it!

I can't even drink, because I can't get rid of it, whether it's because my body is weak or not, even if I try to escape by drinking.

I can't even get an erection when I try to vent it with a woman!

No, if I wanted to force myself to do it, I could, but I'm limited to one fight.

I mean, it's so hard that I'd rather sleep if I have time to fuck, so I haven't done it for a few years now.

What am I doing for fun?

I think about this and let out a big sigh.

The head is thinking about the unimportant, but the body is faithfully repeating the familiar daily routine.

Before you know it, I'm all dressed up, equipped and ready to go.

... bound for the Wyrd, huh?

With a small exhale, I said goodbye to the room I had been looking after for a while.

When I went to the assembly point, my men were waiting for me.

"Good morning!"

"Ah, good morning. Are you all here?"

"Yes! Only the Christella and Marslan Cathedral Knights are left!"

Yes, yes.

In short, we're all that's left.

I'm taking 30 men with me. I'll leave the others behind.

There's still a lot of work to be done.

The search for the Void, the records and documents, etc., are not urgent, which is why I've decided to leave like this.

If this is the case, I should have said I was busy or something and cheated...

With small regrets, I took a glance at my subordinates.

The subordinates are lined up in a row, waiting for my instructions.

...Well, there are neither too many nor too few of them as a unit.

"Thanks for your efforts. Then check the equipment and luggage. If you have done so, you are free to go."

When I say this, my men relax.

You can't afford to make a mistake in this area.

It is my policy not to be too strict with my subordinates and not to coddle them.

In addition, the distance should be moderate.

As long as you have to tell them to die in some cases, it's rather important to draw a line in the sand here.

It's hard to do if you get too emotional.

Now, I shift my thoughts from my subordinates to my colleagues.

Marslan Louis Ludovic.

He is a genius who has achieved success in his teens and has risen to the rank of a cathedral knight.

He can also use a sword, but his skills with magic are outstandingly high, and he can play both vanguard and rearguard, but in my opinion he's more of a rearguard. I've seen him fight a few times, and he tends to use magic a lot.

But people have strengths and weaknesses.

In Marslan's case, there are two.

One is that he gives the impression that his age-specific inexperience is holding him back.

When he sees something he hasn't learnt from a textbook or learned before, he tends to become rigid - in short, he lacks the ability to apply himself.

Another point - to be honest, this one is a rather fatal flaw.

It's also why I don't want to work with him.

It's a tendency to rush for success. He always ends up defeating the monsters by himself.

And afterwards, he acts as if saying has you seen how good I am?

When I first saw him, my impression was that he was 'good-looking', even to the extreme.

Trouble is, that impression still hasn't disappeared.

Because he does such things all the time, he is very unpopular with his subordinates.

It's a natural consequence, but there's even a laughable fallout: he doesn't even realise it.

I can't stand it.

...I don't want to babysit, to be frank, so I wanted to team up with you when you were a bit more reliable man, man.

Christella Albertine Marguerite.

A prodigy of the highest order, she graduated from the seminary in the shortest time possible and became Cathedral Knight.

Aside from magic, she has mastered the sword to a high standard, and if you consider her as a stand-alone force, she is probably one of the top knights in the whole of the Cathedral Knights.

In fact, she instantly defeated that bastard Void a few years ago in a preliminaries match.

I think about it, since then, he's been ...... no good to think about this.

In addition, there is a slight tendency in terms of judgement and decisiveness, similar to Marslan earlier, but it has more than reached the point where it is more than practical. She's also not bad at being bold and firmly divided.

At least she's much stronger than me, so I can rely on her as a force to be reckoned with, but she's not a very subtle partner to team up with.

Especially if it's a job where you don't know if you're going to be in combat.

I get tired of being with her because she's so uptight... We don't have a lot to talk about, and because she's the opposite sex, I can't get her excited about anything sexual.

I spent some time with her in recovery, but she's a hard woman to get involved with if you don't drink and don't know her hobbies.

The Marslan boy is equally hard to get involved with because I don't want to get involved with him personally.

Well, I don't want to put my personal feelings between us, so I'll just say it's a feeling.

I can't do it... I can't do it at all.

The two were seen coming towards me with their men in tow as I was thinking this.

I hope nothing will happen to us.

Thinking of this, I greeted them with a smile.

Within half a day of starting the move, my concerns were right on target.

Cristela on my left and Marslan on my right.

My men walk at regular intervals around me.

...There's no conversation...

To be honest, it has gone beyond such things as being hard and is now in the realm of pain.

The Marselan boy stubbornly walks looking ahead, but occasionally shows a gesture of moving his head to look this way, as if he is anxious.

In such cases, he only moves his eyes so as not to be noticed...

For a moment, I wondered if he had feelings for the Christella girl, but looking at the sweat pouring from his forehead, I can see that he is nervous and anxious about the future, but he doesn't want to show it.

I think you're getting over-eager, don't you? Boy.

When I think about it, I tilt my head and wonder if I was like this when I was a teenager, but... no.

Back then, I hadn't become a holy knight yet, and I was an adventurer.

It was a carefree, day-to-day life, but all I could think about was money.

It's ironic, though, that when the money gets better, we miss the days when we didn't have it.

Ha-ha-ha, I mock myself with a dry smile inwardly.

Next is Miss Cristela on the other side, who is absolutely terrific.

She is walking silently in a natural way. The assistant apprentice knight next to her is more nervous than she is.

The young girl is not that much older than the Marselan boy, but what is this difference?

Is this another difference in faith or something? I'm sorry, but I don't understand.

I have the title of Cathedral Knight, but I only see this position as a job title.

Believe in a 'great being' whose existence is doubtful? Are you joking?

I believe in money, the armour I wear and the experience I have gained in my life, now and in the future.

And if you take a look at the gnosis that sings of innocence--.

...Oops.

I felt a slight dampness in the air.

I take out my magic stone for communication and contact my men who have preceded me.

"Is there a problem?"

As soon as I finish contacting them, Mistress Cristela calls out to me with a bright look on her face.

I was just going to talk to her, and it was convenient.

"It's nothing serious, but there's a big rain cloud approaching. I've checked and it looks like we're going to get a shower in the evening."

"Okay. Let's call it a day early."

"I'd appreciate it if you did. Can I leave you in charge?"

"Yes. Yes, you can."

It's good that you're quick to talk, but it's tiring dealing with this young lady...

No, I can't wait for this job to be over.

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