Chapter 44: Hesitation
When Marissa woke up, it was already noon. The butlers and maids didn’t wake her up, fearing they would intrude on the symbiote’s bonding. On one hand, Marissa was glad that they valued her privacy. However, she dreaded what Leafa would say to her. She had knocked on Leafa’s bedroom in the middle of the night, wanting to talk to Hiro. However, in the morning, Marissa never called for her and merely slept as if Hiro was not important to Leafa.
When Marissa visited her office past noon, Leafa was there, tapping her high heel in annoyance as she sat menacingly.
"So, what is it that you wanted to talk about? I’m sure you must have been so busy last night that you even woke up late today," Leafa said.
"I will need your word that you can keep this a secret. No one may know."
"Hm? Is it about Hiro’s skill? Were there any other skills besides augmenting others and turning dirt into iron? Well, I was surprised by how easily I got his information that I thought there were no secrets at all. Of course, I will keep it a secret. Even though he can’t talk, that doesn’t mean he is not sentient."
After Marissa cleared the room, Hiro slithered out from her all the way to the door and put his tentacle through the crevice, making sure that no one else was watching.
"Hm? He has long tentacles for a symbiote..." Leafa said. "I also heard from eyewitnesses that Hiro can fight directly. Is that true? What a reckless bunch. You should not overwork your symbiotes. They have to pick up the slack because your knights are under-leveled."
"Well, Hiro doesn’t seem to mind. Anyway, I want to talk about Hiro. Since you will become his host, you need to know the truth. The truth is, he is not a symbiote. We don’t know what he is, but Malus said he was not a true symbiote."
The news sent Leafa reeling. She immediately reached for the sword at her waist before reason took over.
Leafa thought it didn’t make sense. If Hiro was not a symbiote, how could Marissa be safe? There was no monster on Earth that was friendly to humans except a symbiote. Moreover, Hiro was not hostile to her.
Leafa concluded that Hiro was merely weaker or had some kind of defect compared to normal symbiotes. That’s what she assumed was the reason Marissa said he was not a true symbiote. However, Marissa also said that it was Malus who confirmed it. Malus was King Angus’s symbiote, akin to his most trusted man. Leafa was sent further into confusion at Marissa’s words.