Recently, there have been rumors floating around the Astra empire.

'Demons are kidnapping our people!'

Friends wake up to find their classmates missing, parents wake up to find their neighbors missing, and bosses come to work to find their employees missing.

At night, many reportedly hear very guttural cracks, followed by some sort of eerie crunching noises around the blocks. That is only in one area, particularly. In others, folks recall screech-like whipping sounds accompanying ones similar to those of water splashing.

Some territories don't report noises, but people are still missing.

''Scary, isn't it?''

''Mhm.''

Munching on my lunch, I absentmindedly nod at my academy colleague's words. She seems frightened by the recent cases.

Now, obviously, I am the culprit behind all of that.

No, I'm not kidnapping people; I just kill them. They're not innocent ones, of course.

These few days, my friends and I have been circumnavigating the entire empire and wiping the bases of Ravenous Moon. This has been one of our top priorities since day one. Erasing the presence of the cult within the empire before they can do anything drastic is absolutely desirable.

We haven't been able to do that, however, since no one can accurately map out every location of these guys... until now. With the arrival of the grandmasters, I can more or less be at ease about the security around the academy. On top of that, with Becky, the assistant of the second coming of Neveah, here, I can take advantage of her robot network to sniff out Ravenous Moon's bases.

''H-Huh? Why would I—why would my master want to exhaust all of her forces like that?!''

''Ravenous Moon...? Are you serious?''

''...Fine. I'll ask my master.''

In reality, I know Quantum merely doesn't want to damage her robots. She's a bit selfish like that. But in the end, she does agree to send out an unholy number of drones and other monitoring devices to help.

Thanks to that, I've been able to clear them out quite quickly.

The empire is vast, still, so it'll take a while more, and I think the cult is long alerted at this point, so it'll only get harder. Until then, I'll just have to keep doing my work.

There's something I've realized during this... massacre. Somehow, watching those repulsive fanatics being terrorized by horror is really relaxing. The cultists are all competent fighters, sure, but at the end of the day, they are humans, and humans are ruled by their primal fears. Fears of predators, fear of the unknown. I almost never have to intervene myself, which is probably why it is relaxing.

If I had to compare, it is roughly the equivalent of watching an episode of a show you like while resting in your bed.

If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

Not quite, but close enough.

''Whew... I hope the anomalies in our country just stop...''

''...''

Sorry, senior. That won't happen anytime soon.

That night.

On the relatively fresh asphalt road of a countryside town, Becky and I tread. Normally, I'd walk with one of her remotely controlled automata, be it a dog, a cat, or a drone, but for some reason, she is with me today.

''Ugh... it's tough to see without proper street lights... are all rural towns like this?'' The woman mutters, lifting her glasses while squinting her eyes.

''Typical city noble talk, I see. You'll become out of touch very soon if you keep holing up in your lab.'' I reply.

''W-What noble?! I'm just a plain commoner!''

This person... her acting isn't very good, huh.

Nevertheless, tonight, our plan is to raid one of Ravenous Moon's bigger bases. This one apparently acts as the headquarters of this region's branch, disguised as an established local grocery business.

Considering that they have the ability to interfere with people's everyday consumables, it is quite a dangerous situation. They're being careful, too. Almost all of the part-time workers and low-level employees don't have a clue of what is going on behind the scenes.

Oh, what's behind the scenes?

Actual kidnappings, rapes and murders, of course. They're doing this to their competitors in order to achieve an absolute monopoly of the area. This pattern is actually quite common in other places, too.

''Here we are. Wait a sec, let me see...''

''Take your time.''

While Becky is having her automata scour the building's exterior and interior, I open a portal and step into the Backrooms.

''Hello there.''

A peacefully praying angel statue.

I take a look at Ash from top to bottom and then lift it outside. As not to alert anyone, I carefully put it down behind a wall.

''Ash, can you help me clear out the building?''

Even though I get no response, Ash seems eager. I suppose it likes to snap people's heads.

''Whew... it's good to go in. They're on alert, but we can take care of them without causing a disturbance.''

''Thanks, Becky.''

''Heheh. I tell you, those idiots focus too much on magical security that they're letting my children walk in like nothing happened—eek?!''

With widened eyes, Becky scans Ash meticulously, turning apparent shock into curiosity.

''This... thing doesn't have a status screen? But I can feel it being alive...''

It does. You just don't see it.

''Perhaps... a mecha?''

No, it's not. I'm pretty sure there are tentacles or some grotesque stuff inside Ash, so.

Suppressing the urge to treat her like Luxia, I gently turn her head the other way so that Ash can actually move.

''Uewh?''

Becky appears dumbfounded, having her cheeks squished by my hands as she blinks at the lack of Ash just a moment ago. Soon, the cracking noises begin to sound from inside the building.

''Oh, what the hell...? It's... snapping people's necks??''

The clumsy assistant's face pales as she observes the scenes inside through multiple monitoring drones. The camera clearly captures images of unsuspecting humans having their necks snapped.

Hm... I suppose this is a thing.

The reason Ash can still move despite us technically 'watching' it is because of Becky's cameras. Unlike modern Earth's recording and outputting devices, which have a standard refresh rate of sixty frames per second, Becky's ones appear to only have a rate of around twenty-four.

Less frames, less captured.

I'm not sure what the limit is, though. With higher refresh rates, I'm sure Ash can be stopped.

''What in the hell are you, Silaerob?''

''I've been asked that a lot. All I can say is... I am whatever you say I am.''

''...''

''...''

Alright, sorry. I know that was nothing of an answer.

But... her question also reminds me of this problem. I'm not sure what I am anymore.

For one, when Skylar sees me, she seems frightened—frightened yet no hostility. If I assume she sees something within me, can I be sure that that 'something' is not... bad?

The answer is more conclusive on Amelia—now in the body of the Miko—'s side. When asked, she tells me that, indeed, there is something existing within my body.

Something 'insane,' as she says. It's unfortunate that she doesn't know beyond that.

But I feel nothing. Am I supposed to feel something?

Usually, when people have parasites, they feel sick, right?

...I'm not sure anymore.