Thanks for the invitation. I am a parasite in Terra.

"It shouldn't have been like this. Originally, everyone on the Iberian coastline shouldn't have ended up like this."

As she spoke, her hands unconsciously clenched her scabbard.

.......

...

"Intentional... No, testing?"

In the shadows, the masked man looked out and saw Laurentina, who was originally walking in front of Elini, suddenly slow down. Then, in his sight, the three of them always stayed in a straight line with Elini as the center.

Most of the opponent's body was blocked by Elini. If he wanted to attack her, whether from a long distance or close range, the petite Inquisitor would inevitably be affected first.

But what’s the point of doing this?

The man looked at the other person who kept part of his body hidden beside Elini. It was a really bad behavior.

Just as he was thinking this, an indescribable cold murderous intent came from somewhere.

It was like the god of death silently placed his scythe on his neck.

"Really?... It's not a shield, but just a cover-up to conceal the attack?"

He sighed, lifted the lantern beside him and left the shadows.

.....

[The test is over. The other party seems to have no ill intentions.]

Laurentina felt the hem of her skirt, which had been slightly floating, suddenly droop down.

Why do we have to hide behind Elini?

[To conceal the means of attack.]

[The hem of her skirt will be covered by her body, so the other party cannot observe this part, and therefore, there will be no chance to avoid it.]

[In fact, the little judge is safest in this position.]

[If you stand in front, then once attacked, the first thing we do must be to block the attack, which will mean losing the right to take the initiative.]

[However, we have now concealed our means of attack to prevent them from counterattacking, and at the same time caught up with the opponent's trajectory]

[If the guy in the corner becomes hostile—]

The left pupil was stained with a little scarlet.

The hem of the skirt, which is in a visual blind spot, has absolute first-mover power.

Three tentacles will directly block in front of Elini to form a shield, and the other three will quickly attack the brain, neck, and left chest of the humanoid creature in the corner.

Even if he cannot kill the opponent, as long as he can make a small wound, he will win.

Even if all this fails—

The retreating tentacles will turn into a huge barrier to block Laurentina and Elini.

At this moment, Zuo Jian believed that Laurentina could react to what was happening.

Then, the moment the barrier of flesh and blood disappears, the deep-sea hunter holding an exaggeratedly large saw will rush forward with her body that has been strengthened countless times.

........

For some reason, this feeling of having control over the situation made Zuo Jian a little obsessed.

Anyone who wants to hurt them is guarded against by themselves, and they can protect the people in their sight.

And those so-called enemies will be——

'Left room?'

"Left room!?"

[? ! ]

Laurentina's consciousness kept calling out, pulling Zuo Jian back from his previous thoughts.

'What’s wrong with you?'

[.....I....I'm fine, I was just stunned. Anyway, the man in the corner didn't seem to be hostile, and he seemed ready to walk out openly.]

The hint from Zuo Jian made Laurentina look up.

Then, she saw a man wearing clothes similar to Elini's style slowly walking out from the street not far away.

However, compared to Elini, he wrapped himself more tightly.

The mask under the hat makes it impossible to detect whether the other person's eyes are still scanning oneself.

"teacher!"

After seeing the other party, the young judge on the side seemed very excited and then quickly walked forward.

"Well, Elini, you arrived two days earlier than the expected rendezvous time. Did something happen?"

Grand Inquisitor Dario looked up as he said this, and it was obvious that the "thing" he was talking about seemed to be pointing to something.

"And who is this?"

"It was a bounty hunter passing by, Sensei. She saved me once."

Elini approached the other person and said, while at the same time, they started talking in a low voice.

[It's Kaiji's story. So this creature hasn't been made public yet?]

"It's not surprising. After all, the people on land have very little information about Hai Si."

"Hello, Ms. Laurentina."

Afterwards, after listening to Elini's story, Dario walked up and bowed slightly to Laurentina to express his gratitude.

"I never thought my student would encounter such a dangerous situation. If it weren't for your help, we would have lost an excellent student.

The judge of the law."

"No, no, haha...it's just a piece of cake."

[Laurentina, why do you feel guilty?]

"...Who do you think it was because of?!"

"In any case, without your help, the Tribunal would have suffered huge losses. This is a thank you gift."

Dario said, then took out a bag from his waist.

In fact, Laurentina didn't intend to accept it, but before she opened her mouth, her left hand moved on its own, took the bag, and then weighed it.

"In that case, I will accept your kindness. Thank you, generous Grand Inquisitor."

Dario watched the other party take the bag without hesitation and seemed to be stunned for a moment, but then he turned around and left in another direction with Elini.

"Teacher, why are we leaving in such a hurry?"

Elini looked at Laurentina who was getting farther away behind her. She didn't feel reluctant to leave. She was just simply worried about whether the promise she made to her that she would not say anything nonsense was true.

"Elini, that woman is very dangerous."

The hoarse voice came out of Dario's throat, even making the former a little overwhelmed.

She had never seen the teacher look so serious.

"Danger...danger?"

"It's best not to touch each other."

----------

"I can't believe you're so greedy for money?"

Laurentina looked at the bag in her hand and couldn't help but sigh.

[Greedy? Not really, but the other party was just testing us. If we don’t answer or hesitate, it will arouse unnecessary suspicion.]

"Testing?"

[Do you remember your self-name?]

"My self-proclaimed name..."

Laurentina was stunned

"Bounty Hunter."

Yes.

How could a bounty hunter hesitate over money? How could a group of people who would risk their lives for money hesitate over such a legitimate sum of money?

How can it be?

------------

"Ah che-"

The white-haired girl sneezed again.

.....It seems that I really have a cold.

"My benefactor, do you really not want anything?"

The merchant from Ursus was stunned for a moment when he saw the girl carrying a big sword in front of him.

The latter just shook his head, but after hesitating for a moment, he ignored the money handed over by the other party, and then took a map from the goods next to him.

"Can I take this?"

"Sure, sure. Take whatever you want. If it weren't for you, all these things would have been taken away by those damn bandits."

"Thank you."

The girl took the map, said thank you and left.

Only a confused businessman was left

"Bounty hunters...are there really bounty hunters who are not interested in money? How is that possible?"

.....

..

Skadi opened the map.

strangeness.

I should be walking along the coast, why is it snowing?

Also, why do I keep sneezing recently? Do I really have a cold?

Chapter 17, Derivatives

"Haisi appeared in the nearby area. This is not a good sign."

After listening to Elini's story, Dario frowned.

Originally, they came to this small border town because believers in the local church often disappeared without reason.

Saltwind City serves more as a foothold. Elini is still a newcomer, and this operation is more to help her get familiar with the Inquisitor's procedures.

If nothing goes wrong, after dealing with the nearby bandits and investigating the situation in Saltwind City, they will head straight to the coastline.

After all, according to the original plan, the coastline would be the first scene of contact with that group of guys.

But....isn't it unexpected?

Dario shook his head. When did he place his hopes on something like this?

The Inquisitor exists to deal with these "accidents".

only.

He turned around and looked at Elini who was walking with him.

Abnormalities in the church and inexplicable disappearances of people appeared in the sea far away from the coastline.

And——the weird "bounty hunter"

Years of experience have told him that the current situation is by no means a pure coincidence.

When wrong things happen all at once in a short period of time, it usually means that when they are linked together, something very...bad will happen.