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

"For the sake of my own selfish desires, I want to keep a great person like you by my side forever. Yes, I'm that selfish kind of person. Just like becoming a hunter, I don't have any lofty ideals or goals."

"I just thought hunting Seaborn suited me, and I came to enjoy that feeling. That's all."

Laurentina spoke to the Sapphire brooch resting against her slightly sweaty chest.

Only this time, she seemed far more serious.

"At worst, I'll keep walking with you. I'll follow you and carry out the things you want to do."

[I refuse, Laurentina. Once you find your own companions, you should have a life of your own. There's no need to tie yourself to me. How old are you, anyway?]

[Honestly, as time passes, I've realized that the range in which my consciousness can leave you is growing larger and larger. One day, we really should part ways. You can live the life you want, and I'll help more people who need help.]

[Laurentina, you should have a life of your own.]

"...But I want to be with you!"

[...I've already told you, you have your own companions to accompany. I'm merely a fellow passenger who happened to be on the same train during this journey of yours.]

[Every journey has an end, and every end is different.]

"Why? Can't you just indulge my selfishness?"

[

...I'm sorry. Besides, you're not the kind of girl who'd be so willful, are you?]

"Enough! Since you're always thinking about helping those suffering refugees, then I'll find a way to change this damned land! That way, you won't have any reason to leave me, will you?!"

She shouted, staring fixedly at Zuo Jian.

[Change... this land... Laurentina, honestly, I don't think you can do it.]

"Yes, maybe I can't. But Captain—once I find Captain, I'll persuade her. She's more capable than I am."

"If Captain can't do it, then I'll find someone else!"

"There'll always be someone—someone who can change the state of this land. I'll find a way to help her! Then you'll throw away that damned ideal of yours and stay obediently by my side!"

She shouted, saying things that even Zuo Jian found unrealistic...

[Laurentina... if you truly find someone like that, then of course I'll help her change the state of this world.]

[With you.]

"Ah-choo..."

"Oh no... I think I really caught a cold..."

Inside Chernobog, the Doctor, who had turned her hair into a short black cut, wrapped her clothes tighter around herself and said with a slight shiver...

"And... I ran off too urgently... I should've taken some money with me. I don't even have the currency here..."

Perhaps, at some point in the future.

When later generations asked her:

Before she, Rhodes Island, and a certain special existence sought to change all of Terra.

What had she been thinking about all along?

"So cold... Should I rummage through some dumpsters again? Maybe I'll find something useful."

Walking down the street and looking at the round metal trash cans gleaming beneath the sunlight, the Doctor thought exactly that.

A Foolproof Terra Speedrun Guide!

Late at night.

Within this city that had once more been swallowed by the night, a few unusual beings still refused to fall silent.

A charred stick was like chalk in the girl's hand. Holding the broken black piece, she wrote crooked words onto a not-so-clean wall.

They were Iberian characters.

[Great Silence.]

Zuo Jian controlled Laurentina's sleeping body and looked at the words he had written on the wall.

Although Laurentina often boasted about having mastered the languages of land-dwellers, in truth, that was limited to being able to communicate simply.

As for writing, culture, customs, and such, it couldn't be said that she had mastered none of it. It could only be said that she knew absolutely nothing.

[Still... I never expected to find something like this while digging through a trash heap. It's rather unbelievable.]

Beside Zuo Jian lay an exceedingly old book. Judging by the yellowed pages, he estimated that this thing was probably older than he and Laurentina combined.

He had discovered the book by accident while inspecting the structural flaws of the house. The home's former owner seemed to have been a priest who enjoyed collecting books, though he appeared to have believed in an organization called the Laterano Church.

In any case, he ought to be grateful that the book had been preserved so well.

Brushing away the dust, the conspicuous cover displayed the book's title.

Terra Travel Guide

The authors were listed as Doctor Kal'tsit and... Ms. Dr.

From introductions to all kinds of creatures to crash courses on the languages and writing systems of various countries, this book covered nearly everything. It was as though it had been written specifically for people like Zuo Jian to quickly blend into this land.

Originally, he had planned to write down the information he already had so he could organize it more easily.

If nothing unexpected happened, he would probably write it in the square characters he was used to.

But... Laurentina... did she really know so little? Other than the common language and Iberian, she only knew how to speak the latter, not write it.

Who taught her foreign-language classes? Could grades like that even pass??

"Ulpian, do you know what I regret most right now?"

In a dim underwater cavern, a tall white-haired woman carrying a rudimentary lighting device turned to the masked man behind her.

"If you've got something to complain about, just say it, Gladiia."

Ulpian followed behind Gladiia and replied with equal displeasure.

"Why did I think it was reasonable to classify land-dweller linguistics under wilderness survival?"

"Otherwise, Shark's language lessons wouldn't have ended up in your hands."

"Ha, what's the use of complaining now? Besides, I don't think there was anything wrong with what I taught them. Compared with your absurdly time-consuming and exhausting method of carefully drilling land languages into the hunters from beginning to end—"

"Wouldn't it be better to directly teach them some simple phrases they could immediately use, then spend the rest of the time on more training?"

"Then what about now? Ulpian, do you think hunters raised on your crude teaching and assessments alone can endure the mixed and complicated environment of land-dwellers?"

"At least I haven't played favorites with the other hunters. Skadi learned the same things, yet I'm very confident in her."

"On the other hand, you're so worried about your own team member. Do you think your teaching was inferior?"

"...No matter what, I deeply sympathize with your team member, and I sincerely hope she can find a captain truly worthy of trust."

"What do you mean?"

"Exactly what it means, both literally and verbally, Ulpian. Have you forgotten how to understand Aegirian too?"

Veins even bulged on the man's forehead.

"Ha, is that so? Whatever. I believe my team member will definitely be fine."

"Then why did you follow me up to the surface, Ulpian?"

..

"Hey, little girl, is there something you want to say?"

Skadi looked blankly at the farmer dressed in what seemed like Flame Kingdom style, momentarily stunned.

"Um, I want... water."

She spoke, asking in the common language.

"Ah, this old man can't understand what you're saying, little girl. Can you speak Flame Kingdom?"

The old man scratched his head in confusion, then spread his hands and shook his head.

Oh no... There seems to be a language problem...

Flame Kingdom... Flame Kingdom... how did Captain teach it again?

Skadi recalled the scene of her captain teaching her.

"Huh? Flame Kingdom? We can skip that language entirely. Flame Kingdom speech is one of the hardest languages to learn in all Terra. There are a huge number of basic characters, and different regions have completely different pronunciation variants."

"Besides, hunters generally won't go deep into an inland country like Flame Kingdom on missions, so just skip it."

"What? Does that mean we can rest during this class? Skadi! When did you become so negative and lazy?!"

"Spend the rest of class doing five hundred push-ups, then put on your gear and go on a four-kilometer armed cross-country run to the neighboring city!"

"I want to see you at the checkpoint of the neighboring city before class ends!"

Stop! Don't keep remembering, Skadi!

Her captain's voice seemed to ring in her mind again, and Skadi sadly hugged her head.

"Hey, little girl, are you all right? Come inside first, come inside. You look like you've walked quite a long way, haven't you? I'll have my old wife bring you some water."

"Old woman! There's a little girl at our door who doesn't seem to be feeling well! Bring her a bowl of water!"

The old man shouted anxiously into the house.

Late at night...

On the bridge of Rhodes Island, Kal'tsit gazed out the window with concern.

"Doctor..."

Her expression was complicated, filled with sorrow and self-reproach.

Then, for a brief moment, she seemed to remember something. She froze, quickly entered the Doctor's room, and saw a book sitting alone beside the thin bed.

Kal'tsit stepped forward and picked up the book.

"The bestselling travel guide in all Terra! A travel bible practically made for clueless fools!"

"An unsurpassable classic! Unmatched for decades! How many years had the author lived through, how far had they traveled, to write such a monumental work?!"

Kal'tsit had never found the exaggerated endorsements printed on this book—one that had been reprinted who knew how many times—to be so glaring.

At once, memories from the past came crashing into her mind.

'Kal'tsit, how long have you walked upon this land...?'

'Is that so... It's been a very long time, hasn't it? You've worked hard.'

'But if you have the chance, would you like to try recording these things? And while you're at it, record the many different languages created by the people of Terra.'

'Me? Sorry, I may need to sleep again for a while soon. Babel will be in your hands.'

'Have you finished it, Kal'tsit? Very nice. This way, you'll become a famous great writer too.'

'Did I already expect this book to spread across the entire land? No, there was no deeper meaning...'

"There was no deeper meaning..."