Chapter 218: Ch 218: A Compromise
"Shit! None of this was supposed to happen. Mira told me that this would be a smooth mission. Which part of this looks smooth to her?"
Kyle complained as he held Rin’s unconscious body. It was burning up quite a bit, and while he was sure the system would not let Rin die, he was also certain that it would try to bring Rin under its control.
Rin, or rather, Subject #00, was born to become the core of the creature responsible for the apocalypse.
The best thing they could do at the moment was kill him and wait for the creature to select a new core. Then, they could manipulate that core into ending the creature.
But Kyle could not bring himself to harm Rin.
Not when he knew that Rin was as much a victim as any of them in this grand scheme of things.
Besides...
’Who knows what the next vessel would be like? What if they were unwilling to even listen to us? I don’t think that’s a risk worth taking.’
Kyle tried to make himself feel better, but it did not help. So he decided that he would take Rin to a safe place where he could rest for now.
He leaned down to pick up Rin and was about to start moving when he felt something slam into his cheek.
Kyle dropped Rin, and his back collided with a building, sending a sharp pain through his body.
’What the hell? Who could—’
"What do you think you are doing to Rin? I am not going to allow you to cause him any trouble."
Long, flowing pink hair framed burning purple eyes. His attacker looked at him with an expression that made him shiver and realize that he was in danger.
Every instinct inside him was telling him to take a step back and declare his innocence right now.
But he was here on a mission, and he refused to back down.
"Miss, I think there has been a misunderstanding. I am not here to hurt Rin. In fact, I want to help him as family. Can’t you tell from our faces that we are related?"
Kyle pointed toward Rin’s face and then his own.
Because of the experiment, he knew he looked a lot like Rin. But Shelly only looked at him with a frown on her face.
"You look like a toad. Don’t compare yourself to Rin again in my presence. Otherwise, the outcome won’t be pleasant."
Shelly threatened him, and Kyle had no reason to be scared of her. He ranked higher than her on the leaderboard, and Shelly had also been knocked out by Mira before, indicating that she was much weaker than him.
And yet, one look at her had him shivering. His instincts were telling him that he should not make an enemy of her.
"I already told you that I am not Rin’s enemy. I came here to offer him my assistance and allegiance. My companion has an ability to see the future, and she saw a dreadful one for Rin. All I want to do is prevent those things from happening."
Kyle already knew that Shelly had met Mira, but she likely did not have a good impression of either Mira or him.
That was why he was willing to put his pride aside and submit to her judgment.
"I see. So you are saying that you are here to help Rin. I don’t believe you. But I won’t get rid of you either, in case you are telling the truth."
Shelly looked a little conflicted about what she should do next. But she quickly made a decision regarding his presence.
"I won’t invite you into the settlement without Rin’s permission, but you are free to occupy the house just outside it. Don’t come in until someone tells you that it’s fine."
Shelly told him before quickly taking Rin back.
Kyle could have stopped her, but he decided there was no need. He wanted to leave a somewhat good impression on the pink-haired girl.
After all, she was important to Rin and had a chance of making him listen to Kyle’s request.
"So, what are we going to do now? We need to head back soon, or the others will start causing trouble."
Mira pointed out from where she had been hiding all this time.
Kyle was well aware of Mira’s tendencies, and he also knew that she had heard the entire conversation.
If she was asking this question, then it could only mean that something was bothering her.
"Did you see something, Mira? It’s not like you to question my decisions so openly."
Kyle pointed out, and Mira let out an annoyed huff.
"Tsk, I did get a vision of the future. But it is all wrong! I saw that pink-haired girl inviting you back and developing a crush on you. Obviously, none of that happened. It means that we cannot rely on my visions anymore. They have started to go astray."
Mira sounded frustrated but not surprised. After all, she had already known this would happen once she got involved with Rin.
Their powers originated from the creature behind the apocalypse, so they had a tendency to malfunction in its presence.
And Rin was starting to leak that raw power more and more.
"That did not take long. But then again, you are much more sensitive than I am when it comes to changes in the environment."
Kyle nodded as he looked at his partner.
"So, what are you going to do now? I doubt Rin has a good impression of us. Should we head back now and try again later?"
Mira asked, and Kyle shook his head.
"Rin already has a bad impression of us, and it will only get worse if we give him time to recover. We need to make sure he changes his opinion of us before it becomes set in stone."
Kyle pointed out, and Mira let out a sigh.
"Fine, I get it. But are you sure it will be okay? He... seemed reliant on the system. I have a feeling his relationship with the system is different from ours."
Mira pointed out, and even Kyle had to admit that he got a similar feeling.
Rin was... different in a fundamental way.
No wonder he had been called the ’only success’ within the labs.
