Psychic Parasite: Final Serenity - Chapter 30

“What work made you stay up for four days straight?” Heima asked in concern the moment she saw Jyorta standing at the entrance of their house.

“I was helping Henrik Bone,” Jyorta said, making eye contact with Heima once when she motioned that her husband wasn’t at home. Sighing, he continued, “I was helping him to last at least a year longer so that he can successfully become a Sky Controller.”

“Be careful with the memory fragments. They can affect you too much. Gajara Rahi turned into an entirely different person every day when she was at Tier 6.” Heima expressed her worry, “It isn’t worth the risks. You’ll still be able to become a powerhouse in the future.”

“This is a part of the process,” Jyorta sighed, entering the house as he slumped on the sofa, “I need to do it for my growth. Though, I clearly understand the risks. I have a Relic to help me in this regard.”

“Fine then,” Heima didn’t pry in too much, “Even though it is somewhat late, have some lunch.”

“Give me five minutes,” Jyorta said, heading towards the bathroom to take a bath and refresh himself. With a towel wrapped around his hip, he walked out, wearing a casual set of clothes before heading towards the sound-proofed room, the one where their landline was.

He dialled a number in it, hearing the call go through as his heart thumped. Followed by four rings, the call was picked up as a man’s rough voice resounded, “Hello?”

“Hello, I’m Jyorta, Haesha’s classmate,” Jyorta replied politely.

“One sec,” The receiver seemed to have placed the handset somewhere as his distant voice echoed, “Haesha, you have a call! It’s someone named Jyorta.”

There was some flurry of sounds in the back before the headset was picked up. A tired voice resounded, “I thought you would call sooner.”

“I was involved in some work and returned just now. I haven’t even slept ever since I arrived home.” Jyorta laughed, feeling his mind be at peace upon hearing Haesha’s voice, thinking, ‘She’s my choice.’

“Seriously? You should take some rest then! Call me later once you wake up!” Haesha said in a hurry as her voice increased in pitch.

“It’s fine, I was relying on Regen all along. So, I’m actually a lot fresher than if I had slept normally.” Jyorta said, then noticing the tiredness in her voice, “What is happening on your side? Why are you tired?”

“It’s…nothing much. Don’t worry.” Haesha said, appearing calm.

Jyorta noticed the slight hesitation in her voice, recalling what she had told him at times in the military academy, “Is everything in your family alright?”

There was a longer pause before Haesha’s voice resounded, “Yeah, everything is alright.”

Upon seeing that Haesha was unwilling to talk much about it with him, Jyorta thought a bit before saying, “Oh yeah, do you know any good café nearby?”

“Hm, there’s the Distilled Café pretty close by. They have a variety of sweets and beverages.” Haesha replied, suddenly noticing what he had pulled as she clicked her tongue, “You said you’ll never act smart with me.”

“It was instinct!” Jyorta played it off casually, “Then, let’s meet at 4:00 PM there tomorrow.”

“Sure,” Haesha replied, ending the call promptly.

Jyorta exited the sound-proofed room, spinning in the corridor once as he enacted a couple of dance steps, coolly taking a seat on the dining table. Once he finished his lunch, he stared at his sister, continuing to stare while she was working in the kitchen, washing the dishes.

“What?” Heima asked, noticing that he had something to say.

“Sis, lend me some money.” Jyorta sported a fawning tone, putting on an innocent face.

“Why do you need money?” She gazed at him in return, “Are you planning to slack off somewhere?”

“I was thinking of buying a gift box,” Jyorta replied.

“A gift box? For Haesha?” Heima said, rolling her eyes in annoyance upon seeing him stare at her with widened expression, wondering how she knew about it.

“My credit card is in the second draw on the left, below the TV. Don’t forget to bring it back.” She said, saying after she saw Jyorta pick it up readily, “What gift are you planning to give her?”

“A gift box.” Jyorta flashed a smile.

“This retard…” She grumbled, shooing him away, “I’m busy, get lost. Don’t forget to take an umbrella with you.”

“I’ll return before dinner.” Humming a merry tune, Jyorta exited the house, soon arriving at the bottom of their apartment building as he glanced at the skyscraper on the other side of the road. It was the Bone Family’s mansion.

He didn’t have any purpose in heading there anyway so he simply began to walk through the road, hearing the pitter-patter sounds of the rain as they fell on his umbrella. As he casually walked on the road, he saw the figures of many children scuttling across, veering through the people walking alongside, trying to catch their peers before bursting into a fit of laughter.

As he saw their faces, he recalled the times when he did the same with Laila and George. ‘George is still here, but Laila…I don’t wish to see her ever again. She’s too scary.’

Even though they conversed plenty, there was still a distance between him and George. It was unlike the close-knit relationship they had during their childhood. Sighing, Jyorta walked into a gift store, looking at the array of gifts placed everywhere.

Upon seeing the heart symbols plastered all around, he felt a bit embarrassed to enter the place, ‘I’ve always been weak in this regard.’

“Sir, what do you wish to buy?” A clerk quickly arrived before him, asking while sporting a business smile.

“A gift box,” Jyorta replied.

“Sure, what do you plan for the gift to be?” The clerk asked in return.

“Just the gift box.” Jyorta said, noticing the clerk’s face twitch as he quickly corrected himself, “I already have the gift prepared. I just need a good gift box, something made from marble would be good.”

“We have the red, white, and blue varieties here. Though, red marble is brittle. So, we generally only advise them for gifts where the gift box would be thrown out immediately..” The clerk said in disappointment, realising that the customer before her wouldn’t purchase anything expensive.