Thanks for the Invitation, I'm in Terra, and I'm a Parasite

Smack—

Laurentina grabbed a nearby tentacle outright, squeezing hard enough that she nearly crushed that part of it.

She gave it a kindly look and brought the tentacle up to her face.

"How could that be~? Look, aren't you feeling much better now? You can even trade barbs with me~"

[Ow, ow, ow! It hurts, it hurts! I was wrong, I was wrong, I was wrong! Ma'am, let go, let go!]

Listening to and watching Zuo Jian struggle in her hand, Laurentina let go with satisfaction.

"Alright, since you've mostly adjusted your mood on your own, let's get going."

[Out of curiosity, when you were feeling down before, did your captain comfort you with this kind of method too?]

"Huh? How did you know?"

[Sixty percent of a child's bad habits come from their parents.]

"Hmm... what? You don't approve?"

Laurentina frowned, apparently not expecting Zuo Jian to object.

[Huh? The way you put it, you actually think that's appropriate?]

"Why wouldn't I? I think my captain was already pretty good. At least when I had emotional problems, she really did try to comfort me."

"At least compared to the other teams, she was great—"

[? There are even worse ones?]

Zuo Jian froze, curiosity in his eyes.

That piqued Laurentina's interest as well. She raised her right fist to her mouth and gave a theatrical cough before speaking.

"Cough, cough. Skadi! What's with that expression? What's with those eyes? Do you think you can defeat the Seaborn looking like that?!"

"Look at yourself! You can't accomplish anything like this! Get up, pick up your weapon. Go collect some weighted blocks, put them all on, and march twenty kilometers!"

"I'll drive behind you and keep an eye on you until that weak look disappears from your face!"

"Something like that. By the way, Skadi is a Hunter from the neighboring team. She's a very cute girl~"

[...I suddenly think your captain was actually pretty nice.]

"Yeah. Swordfish doesn't talk much, but she always thinks up strange things. She looks hard to get along with—well, she really is a little hard to get along with, but she's definitely a good captain."

[Because she won't chase after you in a car?]

"Pfft, probably... probably..."

At that, Laurentina's eyes suddenly dimmed.

"Gladiia... actually... the last time we parted ways during an operation was the last time I saw her."

She seemed worried. Clearly, the relationship between her and the captain she spoke of couldn't be explained in just a few words.

"Zuo Jian, what are you planning to do next?"

[Do you want to find your companions, Laurentina?]

Instead of answering, he looked at her and asked.

"Of course I do. What? Don't tell me you..."

[I'm interested in your companions—so... are they all like you? White hair, red eyes, that sort of thing.]

Zuo Jian raised a tentacle and looked at Laurentina.

"Huh? The Abyssal Hunters do fit those traits, though. What, are you interested in Hunters?"

[...A little?]

[It's fine, Laurentina. If you want to find them, then go find them. I'll help you.]

[After all, they're important to you too, aren't they?]

As he spoke, two tentacles reached forward and patted her head again.

"Important people... huh."

Laurentina murmured quietly, then raised a hand and swatted Zuo Jian's tentacles away.

"I know! And don't put your hands on my head. You're not my dad."

After saying that, Laurentina yawned.

"Waaah—damn, I feel like I can never get enough sleep... Zuo Jian! Sorry, give me a lift... I'm a little sleepy, so I'm going to sleep first..."

With that, she simply closed her eyes.

After a brief haze, Zuo Jian opened his azure eyes.

"Isn't she still basically a child... no, judging by her physical age, she really isn't that old..."

After saying that, she watched as a tentacle handed over an envelope.

It was a letter sent from a nearby town. Judging from the lingering human scent on it, it had been delivered less than a day ago. The sender wasn't far from here.

Zuo Jian glanced at the return address on the envelope.

"Saltwind City... looks like that's the next destination."

"But before that."

She took out the nun's habit nearby and laid it on the table, examining it from side to side.

Then she made the clothes on her main body transform into the same style.

Laurentina's reasoning was that the church had a widespread presence in this region, so disguising themselves as nuns would most likely be the best option.

"I wonder if she'll dislike wearing a nun's habit... Also, do nun outfits in another world all have slits this high...? Should I make it longer? What if she accidentally exposes herself?"

"By the way, are you really alright?"

Laurentina lowered her head and looked at the black nun's habit she was wearing.

[Hah—I'm fine—]

Ever since earlier, ripples had occasionally spread across him, while his coloring sometimes warped slightly.

[I just absorbed too much at once. It's fine—um... probably.]

Half an hour ago, as they were preparing to leave the church that had been almost completely burned down, Laurentina had taken out the metal tube she had retrieved while sorting through the wreckage inside.

The metal tube, as thick as a forearm, contained the highly concentrated Originium solution that had originally been intended to be injected entirely into her body.

If she remembered correctly, this was an extremely dangerous substance on land. The slightest mishandling could result in heavy casualties.

So after thinking it over for a moment, Zuo Jian decided to dispose of the liquid on the spot.

And then... this happened.

Zuo Jian's consciousness had been feeling hazy the whole time, like someone drunk.

If he weren't still speaking somewhat clearly, Laurentina would have forced his consciousness back to rest already.

[Um, now that I think about it, I absorbed so much Originium solution at once... I feel like something has changed...]

Zuo Jian's voice rang out. It was somewhat intermittent, but his words were still fairly clear.

[Laurentina—look.]

Her left hand rose on its own, and a small red blood sphere began to gather.

[Now, some parts of the body can continue existing for a while after leaving the main body. But if they get too far away, they might lose control.]

"No, how about you rest first? You can observe the changes in your body later. Right now, you sound like a drunk who doesn't know what he's saying."

"And I bet your next sentence is going to be: I'm perfectly sober."

[I'm perfectly sober! I just absorbed a little too much at once!]

"Could you at least look at me when you say that?"

Laurentina sighed. The limb that had turned into strips of cloth along the edge of her clothes had grown eyes and, after extending outward, was staring straight at a dead tree beside the road.

She grabbed the tentacle with her backhand and pulled him back.

[No... unfamiliar changes need to be understood... This is your body. If we don't figure out what changed, it might lead to... bad consequences...]

Laurentina froze. Looking at the strip of cloth in her hand, she was about to say something when her left hand suddenly moved by itself.

The muscles swelled explosively in an instant, then compressed into a strange crimson mass. An eye opened in her palm, while her fingers tightly gripped the red blood clot that had just formed.

It had also changed from liquid into a hard solid.

"Huh?"

Before she could even react, her body assumed a standard throwing stance.

The next instant, as she stepped forward, the force gathered in her left hand was released all at once!

[Look! A home run!]

[Ah... it's over two hundred meters away. I can't control it freely anymore... but I can still feel its presence.]

[It's over five hundred meters away, Laurentina, and I can still feel it... Wow, I'm pretty amazing.]

Zuo Jian cheered childishly. Laurentina blinked, looking at the red lump that had been thrown several hundred meters away, then instantly realized something was wrong.

"Wait, you said that thing can keep existing after leaving us, but you can't control it? Isn't it dangerous to throw it out like that?"

[Relax, relax... I... I only gave it about ten minutes of life force to survive independently. Just ten minutes. That part is so weak, how could it possibly—um...]

Zuo Jian stopped halfway through his sentence.

For some reason, Laurentina had a bad feeling.

[I think... I hit someone... huh...]

At that moment, beside the dry road, a white-haired Liberi girl slowly opened her eyes.

Damn it, what the hell had knocked her over?

Irene felt her head ringing. While walking along the roadside just now, she had suddenly felt a chill.

Then, when she instinctively turned her head, she saw a red afterimage rushing toward her.

Almost instantly, the Inquisition's training made her draw her sword and slash at the unknown object.

But the anticipated collision never came.

She vaguely remembered that the red object had seemed like a puddle of mud, letting the sharp blade pass right through it.

Yet the remaining part still struck her face with tremendous momentum.

"Ugh... my head's spinning... what was that...?"

She struggled to prop up half her body and looked toward her feet.

But in the next moment, her eyes widened. A red mass wriggled and changed beneath her feet like living flesh.

At the same time, countless tentacles extended outward from it.

"Damn it, what kind of monster is this?!"

Without hesitation, Irene quickly reached for the hand cannon at her waist. But in the next moment, the tentacles extended at a speed beyond anything she could have imagined.

Her wrist was immediately wrapped up, while more tentacles coiled around her left leg and crept upward toward her thigh!

"Ugh!!!"

Still dazed, Irene had no time to resist and could only let that disgusting mass of tentacles restrain her limbs.

"What does this thing... want to do..."