My Evil System

[BONUS]

I was woken up by the sound of someone knocking on the door. Was it morning already? Well, obviously.

Although it was still a bit dim outside, there were a few rays of light leaking through the rising sun that hid behind the scarlet clouds.

"What is it?" I asked groggily as I rubbed my eyes.

"Good morning, my Lord." A familiar voice greeted me from behind the door.

"Morning, Florin. What's up?"

"What would you like for breakfast today?"

Breakfast? I was still processing what she said as I stretched my muscles.

"Anything you make is good." I yawned and pushed myself up from bed.

When I opened the door, I saw Florin standing by the door, smiling with dark tired eyes.

"Are you okay?" I asked, seeing that she looked like she hadn't slept a wink.

Florin blinked and patted her cheeks. "Teeheehee. This is nothing, my Lord. There was a rat last night, and Florin had to stand guard so that it wouldn't eat our food."

My head tilted to the side. "Really? You should catch some rest after you finish your chores, then."

"Thank you, My Lord. By the way, what do we serve our unwanted guests??" she asked.

U-unwanted . . . ?

I thought for a moment. There was no rice and bread, so there was no other choice but to eat the usual. "We'll have mashed potatoes and smoke some fish."

We chatted as we walked downstairs and were surprised to find Megu already awake, carrying her child in her arms.

"Good morning," she beamed, and her sweet, seductive smile could brighten even the gloomiest mood.

"M-morning," I greeted while Florin only looked at Megu with suspicion.

"If you don't mind, I can help with cooking and cleaning around here," she said. "I'm good with household chores."

"Hmm . . . Is your cooking proficiency good? Even if you're a chef back on earth, here, if your cooking level is low, you'll only produce charcoal shit," said Florin.

"Florin . . . ," I warned her.

But Megu only giggled and said, "My cooking level went up after cooking for the group for a month, so you don't have to worry about that."

Florin's smile remained on her lips, but I heard her groan at the side.

"Uhm . . . I think it's fine," I said to the two. "Megu could help you with the cooking to get some work off your hands. You can get some extra rest, too."

Florin stared into my eyes before she looked to the side without saying anything.

That was weird. I thought that she would be happy to get some rest, but instead, she seemed to be mad about something.

"Then it's settled." Megu beamed and put her child down, and told her, "Mommy will be cooking breakfast, okay? Just play around here and don't break things."

Angelica nodded before she turned left and right, inspecting what she'd terrorized first.

Our eyes briefly met, and she smiled her brightest. I didn't know why, but I felt all my problems had disappeared. There was something about her smile that made me want to cuddle and play with her all day.

<Kids are evil creatures. They could manipulate any adult with just a smile.>

Not everything is corrupted like you.

"Hold it!"

We were surprised by the sudden voice from behind and found that Sheryl and Emi were already up.

"Stop right there, Megu," Sheryl said and went up to her.

"Don't think that you can slip one on us."

Megu was confused. "What are you talking about, dear?"

"Don't think that we don't know what you're trying to do." Emi folded her arms. "A cook? Really? You just don't want to do the work that involves going out. If that's the case, I will help with cooking, too."

Something told me that this day was going to be troublesome.

<Good thing Host invited them in here, huh?>

Shut up!

"But . . . Haven't I always been the cook in the group?" Megu said, and I could see that she was genuinely confused as to what Sheryl and Emi were talking about.

"Ain't no way I'm doing work that involves going outside," said Sheryl before she faced me with a sweet smile. "I can clean the house."

Emi frowned. "Have you ever held a broom your entire life?"

"No, but I had held someone's head before and used her face to mop the floor. How about I use yours?" Sheryl retorted.

Yep, this would definitely be a busy day.

"Uhm . . . ," I butted in on the fight between the two and suggested, "how about this . . . Megu will cook, Emi will wipe off the dust from the furniture, while Sheryl will swipe the floor. And Florin . . . you will tend to the farm outside like always."

The girls seemed okay with my suggestion, seeing that they no longer argued.

However, Florin wasn't happy in the least, and I could feel discontent oozing from her.

Florin wasn't the least bit bothered with the Blood Rain, so I assumed that she would be alright with it. I guess I was wrong.

"Hold it!"

What now?!

The voice we heard next was Edgar's.

The guys were already up as well, and they marched to our location.

"Just because you're girls, you got off easy? What happened to equal rights? When it's to your advantage, you speak of gender equality, but if it's otherwise, you always use your gender as an excuse."

Emi frowned. "I don't want to hear that from someone who's not acting like a man and is always the first to run away in a fight."

A vein popped on Edgar's neck. "Huh?!"

"We're fine going out, right Ford?" Brago said.

Ford looked to the side. "Y-yeah . . ."

His face told me otherwise, though.

"Well, I'm not!" Edgar shouted.

"And what makes you think that you have a choice here?" Florin chimed in, and everyone went silent. "You have to realize that whatever my Lord tells you, you have to obey. Or we'll kick you out or you can just leave if you don't want to work. The door is always open."

( . . . continuation on NOTES)