There were too many people trying to crowd around Rin at the same time. The attention felt overwhelming, so Rin felt the need to put some distance between himself and the others.

"Alright, give me some space. Why do you all look like you’re attending a funeral?"

That was a terrible joke to make. The mood in the room went down instantly once the meaning of Rin’s words sank in.

[Rookie, this is a delayed notice informing you that there might have been a time discrepancy between the last task and your soul returning to your body.]

[Please rest assured. As a full-time employee of the system, your safety was guaranteed. However, the time discrepancy could unfortunately not be avoided.]

’How long was I unconscious for?’

[Not too long. Just enough to avoid suspicion]

’That’s not an answer. System, I need an answer.’

However, the system did not answer Rin. The one who filled him in on what happened was Reina.

"The last task ended yesterday. Shelly, Albus and Amelia woke up two days ago, and I returned a few hours after them. However, you remained unconscious until now. So, do you have any idea what happened?"

The system had already explained things to Rin so he had more than ’an idea’ about what happened.

"The system gave me an explanation for what happened. According to the system, my soul is apparently fragile so it needs careful handling. I have a feeling this won’t be the last time something like this will happen."

This made future tasks harder to plan for. The next story-within-story would be particularly annoying since...

’How...can I recall all that? Had I ever read that far into the story? No, maybe I did read it that far but just forgot about it.’

Rin shook his head and finally noticed the not-so-happy expressions of the people around him.

He knew that they were worried about him, but this was not a situation they could do anything about. As long as the apocalypse continues, these tasks would keep coming. And Rin won’t be able to keep himself out of them either.

"Wow! Did you all hear what my dear master had to say? To think there isn’t even a hint of remorse on his face after causing us so much torment. It must be because he’s still sick."

Teressa betrayed Rin by speaking. They had not met face-to-face for some time, but instead of helping Rin, she decided to make the situation worse for him?

"You are right. Rin must need a lot more rest to get back to normal. Reina, can we count on you for this?"

Shelly also betrayed him by turning towards Reina and giving her free rein to do what she wanted.

Rin immediately looked around for a way to escape, but the only way was in between Shelly and Reina. But it led to Albus...

"Albus, help Shelly hold Rin down. I will make sure he stays put."

Rin turned his attention toward the only remaining person who could help him- Amelia. But even she turned her head away immediately with a guilty expression. She was abandoning him as well.

[Rookie, sometimes, it’s better to give up. Just like this system cannot win against its higher-ups, you cannot win against your companions. sometimes surrender is the wiser option]

...

"Well, how was your sleep? Do you feel better now, young master? Miss Shelly told me that I was not allowed to wake you up until you’ve gotten enough rest."

Rin had a lot to say about Shelly’s decision and the things Shelly had said, but they all died in his throat. The only thing that left his mouth was a tired sigh.

Even though Rin had enhanced stats, his body still had human limits. He was still being affected by the ’healing potion’ Reina had given him.

Thankfully, the system had assured him that it was not something dangerous and he would be fine after taking it.

’I should not have trusted that blasted system’s talk of ’everything will be fine’ nonsense.’

Still, there were much more important things to focus on at the moment. And as the person in charge of handling domestic affairs, Collin was the best person for the job.

"Collin, did we receive any communication from GBF about their current situation?"

"GBF? Ah, Madam Yao did send a message to tell us that the last task went fine and they have started regrouping their forces. So there is no need to worry about them."

So there was at least one piece of good news. That eased Rin’s worries slightly. But something was still bothering him. Something felt off to him that something was missing...

"Young Master, there is another matter that I wanted to bring to your attention. While I am aware that Lady Shelly and others wouldn’t agree with me bringing this to your attention, I feel like I still need to inform you about our new residents."

Rin’s sense of unease sharpened.

[Your skill: Leadership is at a breakthrough. New features could be discovered at such a time. Please make sure to pay attention.]

Well, that was certainly convenient timing.

"As per Young Master’s guidance, we started to allow other groups into our settlement on a probationary basis. And while most of them are happy to be offered protection, some of them are getting a little too comfortable."

Well, Rin was not surprised. A single bad seed was enough to contaminate the whole pot and the same applied to humans.

"Don’t worry about it, young master. I will make sure to handle this matter myself. There is no need for you to get involved."

Collin assured Rin and Rin believed Collin when he said that he could take care of this matter.

However, there were times when Rin needed to let others take the lead and there were times where he needed to step forward himself. And this was one of those times.

"Collin, help me stand. I should go and pay our new guests a visit. And have you seen Myth around? I also want to check on him."

His butler took a deep breath and gave Rin a look that told him to rethink his decisions. But after taking one look at Rin, he knew that his young master had already made up his mind.

"I will inform others to be on standby just in case something happens. Not that I think you will need it. But you never know."