Thanks for the Invitation, I'm in Terra, and I'm a Parasite Chapter 42

Saltwind City didn't have many people, but it certainly wasn't sparsely populated either. Yet unexpectedly, everyone here was clearly organized, making things astonishingly efficient.

Very soon, only the last resident remained.

"Good morning, Anita."

Smiling, Zuo Jian handed the bag in his hand to her.

"Sister!? No, I don't need it. I already ate last night, so I don't need to take any."

Little Anita looked rather surprised.

So this was where the food Bench had mentioned came from.

Now, she suddenly felt that the sister was much, much, much more amazing than Painter.

Because not only could the sister leap onto rooftops in a single jump, she could also conjure so much food that nobody had to go hungry anymore.

Painter... Painter was amazing too, but the sister seemed even more amazing!

But just as little Anita was thinking that, she suddenly felt a powerful gust of wind rush past her ear.

"Zuo Jian—"

Thud!

In what was practically the blink of an eye, Anita saw Painter dart out from somewhere. She hadn't noticed her at all!

And the sister seemed to have been tackled to the ground?

"Laurentina?"

Zuo Jian struggled to raise his head and look at Laurentina, who was sprawled over him, his voice full of surprise.

"You liar! You said you wouldn't leave casually, but when I woke up, I searched all of Saltwind City and couldn't find you!!"

Laurentina's voice carried a slight sob.

"I thought you didn't want... didn't want..."

"...Sorry, Laurentina. I neglected how you felt... I really should've told you beforehand—"

"Come back!"

"Huh?"

"Right now. Immediately. This instant, come back to my side! This time, no matter what you say, I won't let you go out again!"

"But this is really a little too—"

Zuo Jian tried to struggle a little, but the next moment, Laurentina pinned his arm to the ground.

She pressed her entire body against his, their foreheads tightly pressed together. One-sidedly, at least.

"I don't care! I want you back! Right now!"

"But Anita and the others are watching over there—"

"So what! You have to come back! And you're not allowed to leave casually again! Whether you turn into a man or a woman, neither is allowed!"

"Okay, okay, I understand—"

Unable to win against her, Zuo Jian could only surrender.

"Wood Frame, what are they doing?"

The young Bench tugged at Anita's sleeve and pointed at Laurentina, who had tackled Zuo Jian to the ground nearby.

"I told you, it's Painter! And... um, I don't know either. They're talking so fast that I can't really understand them."

Anita tilted her little head, then suddenly clapped her hands and cried out.

"I understand!"

"Painter must be unwilling to admit that the sister is stronger than her, so she's trying to prove that she's stronger than the sister."

"I see—then it looks like Painter really is stronger after all!"

After a brief moment of thought, Anita arrived at her answer.

Shamelessly asking for some votes.

It's finals week lately. Once the New Year holiday comes, updates will probably become more frequent! Really! If I'm lying, may Zuo Jian get pinned to the bed and raped by Laurentina!

Chapter Five: I Want You to Stay Inside Me Forever

"...Why are you the one who came??"

Irene looked unhappily at Laurentina, who sat quietly at the table.

"Didn't they say that sister would be coming—"

"Irene, show our guest some basic respect."

Dario placed a cup of brewed tea in front of Laurentina.

"Resources are limited. We can only offer the invigorating drink included in an Inquisitor's standard rations. I hope our hunter from the sea won't mind."

"Not at all. Rather, I'm impressed that Inquisitors can carry brewing cups and drinks around even in an environment like this. Your standard rations truly are generous."

Laurentina picked up the teacup, took a small sip, then narrowed her eyes as she jabbed at him.

However, Dario clearly didn't care about Laurentina's words, while Irene seemingly failed to catch the hidden barb at all and merely took it as praise for the professionalism of Inquisitors' rations.

"It really is refreshing and invigorating—"

[But I'm still so sleepy...]

[The ingredients in this don't seem to do anything for me.]

[Laurentina?]

Zuo Jian regretfully sensed the drink Laurentina had consumed and found that it didn't seem to improve his consciousness at all.

When he tried to complain a little, he discovered that his shark didn't seem interested in paying attention to him either...

Ah—was she sulking?

"So why couldn't it have been sister..."

Irene turned her head away. She still seemed unaccustomed to looking directly at this Hunter who had saved her before, yet also gave her a strange feeling.

In short, she just felt very uncomfortable.

But clearly, her muttering couldn't escape Laurentina's enhanced hearing.

"Oh my, it seems my dear little bird would rather see that good old person of mine than me—"

"Does she really occupy your thoughts that much, my dear little bird?"

Laurentina deliberately stressed the words "mine" as she questioned Irene, almost as if interrogating her.

Yet although she appeared to be questioning Irene, the one who truly felt the pressure was Zuo Jian inside Laurentina.

Hey, my dear Mr. Zuo Jian, could you explain why you only went out for a little stroll, yet somehow made everyone—from the residents to the Inquisitors—think about you?

[Huh? I don't know. I just went out and handed out some food.]

Yes, you only handed out food, offered a little relief to the poor residents, and now everyone, from Inquisitors down to children like Anita, has started praising sister—

Of course I know everything you said is true. But precisely because it's true, you only went out to hand out food, and now they think about you so much...

[...What are you trying to say, Laurentina...?]

Do you remember how you transferred the authority to suppress your consciousness into my hands before?

Laurentina's smile was incomparably sweet at that moment.

[?]

Do you know how terrified I was when I woke up this morning and discovered you weren't there? I was so afraid that you'd abandoned me.

Clearly, I know you wouldn't do such a thing, but I just couldn't stop myself from imagining things—especially when I fell into that lonely state once again...

Abyssal Hunters are connected by blood. We have always traveled together as companions and teammates.

So when the final mission ended, when the Hunters could no longer feel the bonds of one another's blood, I felt... utterly lost.

Zuo Jian, but when my mental state was at its worst, when both my mind and body were suffering torment...

You were the one who saved me. You led me to wipe out those Church of the Deep members, led me all the way here, and you even promised to help me find my separated companions.

At that moment, Zuo Jian realized that he seemed to have sunk into Laurentina's consciousness again.

And he was still in the form of that skeletal frame.

Before him stood Laurentina, whose expression was clearly off.

Zuo Jian, I don't want to experience that lost, solitary feeling ever again.

So, I want to—

Lock you inside my body forever.

!!!!!

In an instant, both Zuo Jian and Irene felt their hair stand on end.

The former was shaken by fear after hearing Laurentina's almost pathological, terrifying words.

The latter was because...

Laurentina, sitting before her, was currently wearing a smile that made her feel uncomfortable all over.

Along with that smile, Irene could sense an incredibly dense, trembling aura radiating from her.

The little bird felt as though every feather on her body was about to stand upright.

What was this feeling? So terrifying!

Teacher... Teacher—

Huh?? Why wasn't Teacher reacting at all?

Couldn't he feel it?!

Dario looked somewhat strangely at his student, who kept signaling at him with her eyes, then looked at Laurentina, who was also smiling as she sat to the side holding her teacup.

He sensed neither killing intent nor hostility.

What was his student nervous about?

Still...

"Ahem. Hunter, I think we can skip the pleasantries and proceed directly to exchange the information we have."

"No problem. After all, that's the main reason I came here. The sooner we're done, the sooner I can return to take care of my own dear one."

Laurentina set down her teacup. At the same time, the aura that frightened the little bird intensified by a few more degrees.

So terrifying!

Hey, Zuo Jian, let's negotiate with the Inquisitors first.

[...Impossible. Absolutely impossible.]

[My host, Laurentina, is an adorable child who may be a little too single-minded, but is kind at heart and possesses a heartwarming sense of empathy.]

[As for using the ability I gave her to suppress me, which was meant to prevent emergencies, to imprison me or something—ah, it's a hallucination—]

[That's possible too, I suppose. I've really been tired since yesterday, after all. That's how it is. It can't be helped.]

[To think I'd even have hallucinations. Zuo Jian, Zuo Jian, how embarrassing.]

[After all, Laurentina is such a sensible, good child. How could she possibly do something like that? There's absolutely no way, right?]

After spending a brief five seconds hypnotizing himself, Zuo Jian successfully categorized everything he had just heard as "hallucinations."

So even becoming this kind of lifeform could cause hallucinations. Reasonable. Very reasonable.

Zuo Jian?

[I'm here. Sorry, I think I had a minor hallucination just now. Are the Inquisitors about to start exchanging information?]

Mhm—please, my dear Mr. Zuo Jian.