"Shelly, I did not think you were serious about this. Can you reconsider this? It’s not that I don’t believe in you or anything....but I’m still pretty heavy-"

"You’re not exactly heavy either. Besides, I don’t think you can move much. Didn’t you use all your energy making those potions?"

Rin had nothing to say against Shelly’s accusations. She had kept a close eye on him and his limits. So she had seen him craft potions (and purchase them) without question.

As soon as the boss was close enough, Shelly grabbed him and took him to the top of the temporary warehouse. The surrounding area had been cleared out and all they needed to do was wait for the boss to charge in.

The boss thrashed and Rin noticed its movements on his system’s map.

"The boss is here. Teressa, get ready with your squad."

Rin has found a few people with skills similar to Teressa’s (without the same restrictions thankfully) and formed a squad.

They used their powers to form a web around the warehouse and as soon as the boss crashed into the surface, it slowed down.

The vibrations from the crash caused the stored bottles to start falling down on the boss’s head, causing them to let out a loud cry. But due to the mixture of potions and abilities, the monster was finally taken down.

"It’s finally down. But how long can we keep it down for?"

Reina questioned as she watched from a safe distance.

Teressa’s squad would work in shifts, allowing them enough time to rest between rotations. So the only problem was how long the potions were going to last.

Only 1 out of 3 days had passed, so there was no telling what could happen the next 2 days. From here on, the ones who’ll cause trouble are not monsters but other humans.

...

"Shelly, can you take me near the boss? I would like to check on it."

"I don’t want to. Since you never listen to me anyway, I don’t want to listen to you this time."

Shelly’s response came in an uninterested voice and instead of heading toward the temporary warehouse, she started to head towards the main settlement.

The boss reacted the moment its egg was moved away and immediately tried to respond. But due to the effects of the potions and combined skills, the monster was not able to escape.

"Shelly, can you at least take me outside the settlement? If the boss breaks through, then our entire settlement would be in danger."

"And so what? You made this settlement, so sacrificing it for your sake is fine too. I’m sure everyone would agree with me."

Sure people would agree with you about this, but only if you held them at gunpoint and asked them this question. But they would certainly have another answer prepared in their heart.

[Rookie, I understand your heart completely. I also approve of this dangerous plan. Go Rookie, do what you need to.]

The system already knew what Rin was about to do and it encouraged him to go through with it.

So Rin took a deep breath and the next time Shelly’s feet touched the ground, Rin lightly scratched her side with a small nail. The scratch was so light that Shelly hardly noticed it, but the result was immediate.

"Huh-? Why do I suddenly feel tired? Rin, did you do something?"

Shelly immediately caught the reason she was feeling drowsy and turned to look at him.

Unfortunately, she was not able to keep her eyes open for much longer. Rin waited anxiously", waiting to see if Shelly would open her eyes again or not. But she did not wake up.

"Huh-? Did something happen here? Why is Shelly on the ground? Rin-"

"Albus, You came at the right time. Here, take Shelly back for me and make sure she rests."

Rin felt a sense of relief as soon as he left Shelly in Albus’s care. However, the expression on Albus’s face grew more horrified by the second

"Rin, did I wrong you in some way? Why are you handing me my death? Is this because of what happened during the last meeting? You do realize it was not my intention to go against you. I just had no other choice-"

"Albus, so you do realize that you made a mistake. Good, then that makes things easier. Now, please take Shelly back."

"I...this...Bro, you’ll have my back when it’s time, right? I can still be useful to you. So just make sure to talk to Shelly as soon as she wakes up."

Rin nodded and Albus finally left with her.

The dose Rin had given Shelly was not lethal, but it would keep her out for a day at least. So Rin had that much time on his hands to communicate with the restrained boss.

__________

"The boss has started to struggle again. We won’t be able to hold it much longer. Should we pour more potions?"

"No, we need to wait. These potions were rationed properly, so if we use any more, then we would be short on supplies later."

This was a difficult situation for anyone to find themselves in. Reina was running out of options.

She was on the verge of stepping in herself and using her skill on the monster to try and keep it down. It would put a heavy strain on her, but if this was what it took-

"Reina, we have more potions. Rin is also here-"

"Why is he here? Did Shelly give him permission? I assume not since I don’t hear her yelling. Tsk, since Rin is already here, just bring him in." 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

Did Reina want to yell how unfair this all was? Of course she wanted to. She had a speech prepared and everything. But would yelling help her in any way? Of course not.

The door opened and closed instantly and Reina turned towards Rin, getting ready to scold him. But Rin threw the potion bottles in his hand behind her and towards the monster that had started moving again.

It settled down immediately, but kept trying to reach for Rin until the end.

"I believe it started to move as soon as it sensed that I was close by. The presence of its egg must be making it even more eager to attack me. Just make sure to keep your defenses up against this monster. It won’t be able to move much, but when it does, its attacks will be brutal."