13: The Leader

"What?! Who are you? What do you want?!" Shinichi cowered against the wall. Flustered, he shouted as his eyes darted around, desperately searching for help.

His mind was flooded with questions. How did these people know about Migi? Why were they after him? Were they working for the government?

He glanced at his right hand and saw Migi emerge. His palm split open into a mouth, revealing a row of teeth, while two eyes appeared on the back of his hand.

"How did you find me?" Migi asked. His voice was emotionless and flat, completely devoid of any feeling.

"She has the ability to sense your kind," Chelsea replied calmly, pointing at Kana.

With a flick of her wrist, three needles appeared between her fingers. She aimed them at Migi and said, "Please don't make any sudden moves. I don't want to kill you."

"We just want to talk."

This morning, Chelsea went out to take care of the paperwork for the three of them. Through a combination of sneaking around, making threats, and digging up dirt on a few people working there, she managed to get everything done within a couple of hours.

Not long after, Natsuo and Kana contacted her and told her what had happened. By the time she returned, Hilda had already healed Natsuo's bruised cheek with her healing magic. The four of them then headed to Shinichi's school to meet him.

Although Natsuo was against approaching Shinichi with all four of them together and from such a close distance, Chelsea reassured everyone. She was confident she could kill both Shinichi and Migi before either of them had the chance to make a move.

"I figured as much. If you really wanted to kill us, you could have done it before either of us even noticed," Migi said calmly, rationally analyzing the situation. "It seems I was wrong. There are actually humans like you in this world."

Almost all the information Migi had gathered about this world so far had come from the internet. Because of that, Chelsea's existence genuinely surprised him. Based on what he had just witnessed, he assumed the other three standing beside her were just as dangerous as she was.

"It's easy to talk to intelligent people... I mean, creatures like you," Chelsea corrected herself with a warmer smile, though she did not relax her stance in the slightest.

"Let's keep this short. We want you to work with us and hunt down the other parasites."

"You want me to help you hunt my own kind?" Migi asked.

"Indeed. You may call them your kind, but you should be well aware that they do not see you the same way. I believe most of them consider you a failure because you failed to take over the head," Chelsea said as she glanced at Shinichi's head.

The boy bit his lips and remained silent, listening to their conversation.

"They also see you as a threat." To someone like Chelsea, it was extremely easy to talk to a person whose personality, motivations, and way of thinking she already understood. That knowledge made convincing them far easier. "Working with us can ensure your safety."

"How can I believe you? You still haven't told us who you are," Migi fell silent for a moment before replying.

Their proposal was to work together to hunt down the other parasites. That meant they needed his ability to detect them, as well as his help in fighting them. But what if they decided to get rid of him once he was no longer useful?

"Hmm, your concerns are valid," Chelsea nodded before pointing at Kana. "This girl can sense your kind. Although her range is smaller than yours, she is already very useful, so we are not desperate for your help."

"We've been observing you for a while now, and we know that you don't feed on humans. In other words, you are harmless to us. We have no reason to make you our enemy."

When dealing with someone who viewed everything through pure logic, weighing nothing but benefits and drawbacks, the most effective approach was to clearly show them exactly what they stood to gain and what they stood to lose.

"I see. It seems I have little choice in the matter. Very well, we shall work with you," Migi replied. He did not spend long considering the offer before reaching his decision.

"Migi!" Shinichi shouted in panic.

"Shinichi, this is the best choice for you. Haven't you been worrying about the other parasites this whole time? Isn't this exactly the solution you were looking for?" Migi said, trying to persuade him in the same calm, emotionless tone.

"But..." Shinichi glanced at the four of them. Although they were all good looking, he was genuinely afraid of them, especially the brown haired woman. Despite the smile on her face, the look in her eyes was frightening, as if she had killed countless people before.

Still, Migi was right. Their proposal was incredibly tempting. Ever since he had encountered that male parasite and Migi killed him, he had been constantly worried about other parasites coming after him. Ryouko Tamiya was living proof of that. She had even come to his school!

"Alright... Can you at least tell us who you are? Do you work for the government?" Shinichi lowered his head and asked.

"I am Chelsea. Our parasite radar is Kana, that redheaded beauty is Hilda, and this cute boy is our leader, Natsuo," Chelsea introduced everyone with a wink before adding, "We don't work for the government or any organization. You can think of us as vigilantes who hunt parasites to keep this city safe."

Kana's face twitched. She wanted to smack Chelsea hard on the head for introducing her as a 'parasite radar', but she held herself back. They had spent the whole morning building up this mysterious vigilante image. She was not about to ruin it now.

Natsuo would definitely get angry at her if she did.

Wait... Since when did she start caring about his opinion?!

...

After reaching an agreement with Migi and Shinichi, Natsuo and the three women followed them to the coffee shop where Shinichi was supposed to meet the female parasite, Ryouko Tamiya.

Natsuo, Hilda, and Kana stayed on a nearby rooftop, observing the area through binoculars. Chelsea split off from the group and disappeared into the crowd. She had already changed her appearance, and even the three of them no longer knew what she looked like.

Since Chelsea was the only one capable of fighting Ryouko head on, the others chose to remain at a distance and provide support instead.

Well, Hilda was the only one who could actually provide support by casting magic if the opportunity arose. The other two were just useless spectators.

As for Shinichi, he entered the café and waited for Ryouko Tamiya.

Holding a pair of binoculars, Natsuo watched as A, Ryouko Tamiya, and Shinichi sat together inside the café. Shinichi looked extremely tense, his body stiff and his expression strained, as if he expected either of them to attack him at any moment.

According to their plan, once the meeting ended, they would follow Ryouko Tamiya and A before eliminating them. If Migi could obtain any information from them about the other parasites, that would be ideal. If not, they would kill them anyway.

"You need to learn from Chelsea," Hilda suddenly ruffled Natsuo's hair and said in a gentle voice. "In the future, this sort of thing will be your responsibility. After all, you are our leader, Admin."

"Leader? Me?" Natsuo lowered the binoculars and asked in surprise.

"Of course you are. Technically, you own this chat group, which makes you our leader. So you should start learning how to lead us in the future, right?" Hilda smiled at him dotingly, like a mother speaking to her beloved child. She gently caressed his cheek and added, "Don't worry. I'll be supporting you every step of the way, so do your best, okay?"

"Hilda... Mm! I'll do my best!" Natsuo was so moved that his eyes became watery. He nodded firmly, and when he looked at Hilda, it was as if a divine light was shining behind her.

"What's with that face? Gross!" Kana's disgusted voice suddenly came from behind them, instantly shattering the mood. She stood there with her arms crossed and an openly disdainful look on her face.

"How the hell did someone like you become our leader? Grow some balls, for God's sake!"

"Kana, you know what?" Natsuo turned around and said.

"What?" Kana replied.

"Fuck... you!" he uttered slowly.

"..." Kana.

The two of them were about to start fighting again, but Hilda quickly stepped between them and told them to focus on the operation.

They continued observing their two targets. The conversation inside the café did not last long. Before long, A and Ryouko Tamiya left the coffee shop, leaving Shinichi sitting alone at the table. As they walked away, A kept glancing back at him with a scowl on his face.

"It's time," Natsuo said as he got to his feet and began moving across the rooftops, following the two parasites.

...

"Why do you want to keep him alive? He's a threat to us," A said as the two walked away.

"I'm curious about him. There's no harm in observing him for the time being," Ryouko replied as she adjusted her handbag. She glanced at A, silently wondering whether allowing the two of them to meet had been a mistake.

A fell silent, but he had already decided to kill Shinichi. His conclusion was different from Ryouko's. In his eyes, they could never afford to leave loose ends behind, and that boy was too dangerous.

Even if parasites were individually superior to humans, they were still incredibly fragile when faced with the overwhelming might of the human race as a whole.

The two of them walked down a relatively deserted street with only a handful of people around. A casually observed the pedestrians as his hunger grew. He had not eaten since yesterday.

His gaze swept over an elderly woman before moving on without interest. Then it settled on a young girl.

He had decided that she would be tonight's dinner.

"Hungry?" Ryouko asked with a slight frown before advising him, "Choose your hunting grounds carefully. It's one thing if you fucked up, but don't implicate me as well."

"I know," A grunted.

Without another word, he turned around and walked toward the young girl following behind them.

"W... What do you want, mister?" Startled, the girl quickly took a step back, clutching her school bag tightly against her chest. She stared at A with a nervous, panicked expression, which he was too familiar with.

A did not answer. Instead, he quickened his pace, rapidly closing the distance between them.

Thin lines spread across his face as it began to split open, revealing the parasite's bladed tentacles beneath.

However, the moment that happened, the fear vanished from the young girl's face. Her expression turned cold.

Three needles suddenly slipped from the hand hidden behind her school bag, and with a flick of her wrist, she fired them straight at his head!

Swoosh!

"Egh?!"

The needles were faster than bullets. At a distance of less than a meter, it was impossible for the completely unprepared A to dodge them.

All three needles struck true. One pierced each eye while the third drove through the center of his forehead. They bored through his skull with terrifying force until their tips burst out from the back of his head.

"I... impossible... What... is this?" His body twitched violently as his head squirmed, desperately trying to split open. Bladed tentacles writhed beneath the skin, only to quickly wither away.

His body swayed once.

Then he collapsed to the ground.

Dead.