My Evil System

The next morning, we worked as usual.

I accompanied Edgar to the barn again, shielding the both of us from the rain with my umbrella. The moment we arrived, he was in a hurry to shoo me away.

"You can go now. I can take care of this. I know what to do."

"You sure?"

"Yeah. Yeah." Edgar waved his hand and even pushed me out of the door.

"Then . . ." the door slammed in my face as I uttered, ". . . see you later."

I scratched my head and was about to go to Ford and bring him to the river next, but I paused in my tracks when I suddenly realized something.

There seemed to be one chick missing.

Well, it must have been roaming somewhere, or I counted wrongly. I shrugged. I continued walking to get Ford to where he must be as soon as possible.

When we arrived at the river, I told him, "Well then, I'll leave you here. Remember to go home after two hours. If you feel itchy anywhere, then take the ointment."

"Where are you going?" Ford asked. His expression told me that he didn't want me to go.

I had to, though.

I hadn't foraged much previously because I had to show them the ropes, but now that I had the time, I needed to gather as much lumber and stones as I could because Daedalus wasn't stopping with the upgrades.

"I'm going into caves to gather materials for construction," I said.

"Are you going to be away the whole day?" he asked me. "I saw Megu pack you a box of food a while back."

"Ah." I rubbed the back of my head. I wonder why it was kind of embarrassing for others to know that Megu was packing my lunch. "Yeah. I'll come back later at night. The cave is safe. Blood Rain wouldn't reach me there."

Ford only nodded his head while he seemed to be thinking about something. "Is that usually your schedule?"

I nodded. "Yeah. Why?"

Ford only looked away and said, "Nothing."

". . ." I didn't know why he asked, but I didn't think much about it.

"Well then, I'll see you later."

Ford nodded, and I left him under the tree. We checked the fish on the net. There were already some fish caught inside, but it wouldn't hurt to wait some more.

I went to the cave and continued my work. Blood Rain or not, life must go on. Daedalus and the others didn't stop working, and the Material Storage was quickly depleting.

In the middle of working, I didn't notice the time until the dark scarlet clouds intensified, and it seemed like it was already nearing six in the evening.

I quickly made my way out of the cave and went back to my house, excited to chat with the others.

However, as I was nearing my house, I was welcomed by the sound of arguments.

What now?

I found Emi and Sheryl arguing with Ford while Brago tried to pacify the situation. Megu was still cooking in the kitchen while Edgar was by the fire, enjoying himself with a hot glass of milk.

Florin still wasn't back.

"What's going on?" I asked.

Emi crossed her hands and pointed at Ford. "Why don't you ask him?" she said and batted her eyelids.

Augh . . . why couldn't she just tell me?

I looked at Ford, and the latter only avoided my gaze.

Sheryl didn't have the patience to wait for Ford to talk and said, "That guy didn't bring any fish this afternoon, so we said that he should get it tonight before dinner."

"But he still didn't bring anything," finished Emi.

"Is that true?" I asked Ford. "But . . . There were fish in the net this morning."

Ford released a long breath. "It's because I hauled the net wrong, and all the fish jumped back into the river. And I must have put it back wrong because nothing was caught this afternoon."

Augh . . . so that's what it was.

"It's alright," I said.

"Alright?" Sheryl gaped. "We don't have anything to eat! Brago also didn't bring back anything!"

Brago seemed embarrassed as he said, "Sorry. Luck isn't with me today, and there is no meat from all the beasts I killed."

Emi scoffed. "Why are men so useless?"

"Huh?" Ford seemed like he had reached his limit, and he retaliated, "You girls have it easy, staying in this house and drinking tea. Why don't you go out there and find something to eat, then?"

Emi rolled her eyes. "It's your job."

"Well, it's unfair. Us men had to storm that rain and bring back food while you girls just laze here and eat."

"What did you say?" Sheryl barked back. "I was cleaning the whole day, okay? It's not our fault that you suck!"

"Enough," I said before this whole thing could escalate. "We can just eat the usual. There are dried fish, vegetables, and potatoes here. We can make potato salad and fry some fish."

Sheryl's lips pursed. "That's what we ate this morning and this afternoon."

"There are pigs in the barn, right?" Emi suggested. "Let's butcher one and store the remaining meat in case those guys can't bring something again."

"I can't believe I'm agreeing with you on this," Sheryl seconded.

However, I was not keen on the idea. I only brought two piglets with me, one male and one female, hoping that they would grow and reproduce.

I didn't know how to tell them, though. Their faces were bright and eager to taste pork, and I didn't have the heart to tell them no.

"No."

All eyes shifted to the one who spoke.

It was Florin who was soaked in the rain. The scarlet water dripping on her face added to her scary expression.

"We only have two pigs here, and we're waiting for them to mature so they can reproduce."

Emi rubbed her temple as if she was having a headache. "You can acquire another one, right?"

Florin smiled at Emi, and the latter took a step back.

"Alright. We can butcher one, but first, you have to find one that can replace it."

Emi's eyes bulged, and she looked at Florin in disbelief. "What? No way I'm going out there."

Florin's smile dropped. "Then the answer is no."