"Shelly, don’t you feel hot? Should we head back inside?"

The summer sun was high in the sky and it was draining Rin’s energy. His skin was beginning to itch under the intense heat but Shelly looked perfectly composed.

"Is it too hot for you? I guess we can head back in..."

Shelly looked disappointed at having to go in. Rin felt bad for dampening her mood, but he did not want to spend his day baking under the summer sun.

[Man up a little, Rookie. A little sun is not going to kill you.]

The system seemed to be on Shelly’s side as well, trying to force Rin to stay out longer. But Rin had gotten incredibly good at ignoring the system’s teasing.

However, the one person he could not say no to was Shelly.

"Can we stay here for a bit longer? I just want to relive our school days."

"Fine. We can stay here for a little longer."

Rin agreed and poured cold water onto the table. It evaporated almost instantly, leaving a slightly cooler surface that was just enough to cool it for sitting. Shelly did the same before she opened the lunchbox she had brought.

Sitting on the rooftop, eating lunch like this brought back memories for Rin. It was something he used to do a lot with Shelly and Reina during his school days.

"It’s so quiet out here. It hardly feels like the world is ending."

Shelly looked at the clear blue sky above their heads. There was not a single hint to show that the world was ending. Even the food tasted nostalgic, bringing back memories of better times.

"Rin, have you ever wondered what you would have done if the apocalypse never happened?"

It was a question Rin had never bothered to ask himself.

Since he had been aware of the apocalypse ever since he was five, he had worked hard to survive it. There was not enough space in his mind to think of other possibilities.

"I think I would have followed my parents and taken over their business if the apocalypse never happened. What about you?"

Rin turned the question toward Shelly and she looked surprised by his answer.

"You would have worked with your parents? Aren’t you practically strangers? You only see them once a year, and that also through a phone call on your birthday. Even I saw my mother more often than you saw your parents."

Shelly pointed out without hesitation, but it wasn’t a sore point for Rin.

He had always been an independent person surrounded by competent staff. He never felt like he needed his parents’ support.

Besides, Shelly had her own circumstances.

"Didn’t you say you only saw your mother when she came to meet your father? Your situation is pretty much similar to mine."

Shelly pouted at his words, pretending to be offended. But the smile on her face was genuine.

It felt nice to have a comrade-in-arms. Maybe that’s what made Rin so attached to Shelly.

"Anyway, we should get going. Lunchtime is almost over and we have a lot left to do."

Rin told Shelly while pushing himself to his feet. He extended his hand toward Shelly, helping her back up.

Thinking about his past and parents was not something Rin liked to do, but he did wonder sometimes why they even brought him into the world when they had no interest in him.

’Well, it’s not like I will ever get the answer to this question. The apocalypse is in full swing and my parents are nowhere to be found. It’s better to think of them as dead.’

...

The emergency meeting before task 3 was called that afternoon. Rin had a plan to complete the next task early, but to make it possible, he needed allies willing to listen to him.

The ’humanity vs. demon lord’ scenario looked like a scenario tilted toward humanity’s favor based on the sheer number of humans, but things were actually tilted toward the demon king’s side.

And it was all because of the demon king’s army of undead.

Just like a typical RPG boss, the demon king had skills allowing him to use the fallen soldiers as his minions. So dragging the fight out was not a viable option.

’Luckily, we have Albus and Shelly. They are ridiculously overpowered even by the original novel’s standards. However, the main issue here is using their powers properly.’

Albus and Shelly needed to get close to the demon king in order to deal the killing blow, but that would only be possible if someone could help them get close to the demon king first.

That was where everyone else came in.

But not everyone liked this idea and the people from GBF reacted with particular aggression against this.

"Why are your people the ones delivering the final blow from your settlement? It could be our Alex or another person. Don’t our groups have similar rights in this operation?"

Reri complained, in an aggressive tone to the topic.

"Reri, I also agree-"

"Alex, please stay out of this. You have been brainwashed by these buffoons into thinking that you are lesser than them. You should be standing on the same stage as them."

Reri refused to listen to even Alex. There was no convincing her so Rin did not even try. But Alex tried his best to calm his party members down.

"I understand your frustration, but you have to admit that I am weak compared to Albus and Shelly. I have never won against them...or Rin either." 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

"But that’s only because Rin fights unfairly. He used weapons to paralyze you and attacked from behind. You would mog him in a fair fight."

Rin chose to not defend himself because he knew Reri had a point.

"That is also a skill, Reri. A fight is not always won by the person who’s a better fighter but by the one who is able to make better use of their abilities."

Alex reasoned. Reri had no choice but to back down after all that, but the look on her face was not a nice one.

Rin only needed to look at her face once to know that she would be trouble.

’I will need to keep an eye on this one. Somehow, I have a feeling she would be too much trouble.’

Hopefully, this was a red herring and nothing would happen.