The Wayward Young Lady and the Cynical Black Girl
Working a job directly ordered by a member of the Protec family multiplied the pay several times over.
On top of that, working as a staff member for a beauty pageant in a single location was as sweet a gig as one could get.
Since this was a section where one normally just mindlessly moved the directional keys to complete tasks and achieve missions, Rin should have been celebrating with Lucy if he were following the original main episode.
However, the purpose of this part-time job was to roam freely around the closed-off island to search for the Demon Sword, and due to Rin's terrible luck and Lucy's obsessive behavior, they had already lost one of their three days.
Furthermore, Rin needed to use Lucy to confirm the presence of the Demon Hero's party.
According to the episode's lore, they were definitely in the Zramun Archipelago.
The classes that would appear were also fixed values, so he didn't have to worry about dealing with unexpected variables.
However, the demon had infiltrated the island by disguising itself as one of the locals.
Having awakened from a long slumber, the weakened Demon Hero would attack people day by day to drain their energy and recover its strength.
Therefore, if left alone, it would fully recover its strength over the three-day festival, reveal its true identity on its own, and trigger a forced battle.
It was essentially a boss fight.
Conversely, if one identified the demon beforehand and subtly—or even blatantly—interfered with its attacks while pretending not to know, it would appear in an incomplete state.
The game hadn't fixed the classes for no reason.
It was merely a balancing measure because the difficulty was already high enough.
"I've moved everything."
"Next, take these steel frames and set up the structure. They will serve as the floor and stage for the beauty pageant."
Lucy glanced toward where Rin was, but Rin didn't even look back.
Although they had arrived holding hands, once they were separated by their respective tasks, Rin focused entirely on his work.
Lucy was terrified of Rin, who had shut his mouth in a way he never had before.
She felt suffocated, her heart sinking, but she couldn't bring herself to speak out of fear that she might do something foolish again. She could only let her anxiety fester inside.
"Chun-sik? Please move these boxes backstage. They contain accessories for the pageant, so please carry them carefully, even if it takes some time."
"My lady, those are your personal belongings..."
"Shh, shh!"
What frustrated Lucy even more was the behavior of Ibis Protec.
Upon realizing Lucy possessed considerable strength, Ibis had immediately sent her to the stage construction area to keep her away, while she herself stuck to Rin's side, constantly ordering him to move this and that.
Having received none of Rin's energy aside from their brief hand-holding, Lucy was forced to pour all her focus into the stage setup just to suppress her rising anxiety.
The weather was sweltering, and both Lucy and Rin sweated enough to soak their clothes.
The surrounding men licked their lips at Lucy's voluptuous figure, which was naturally revealed as her clothes clung to her skin, but Lucy herself was only salivating over Rin's sweat.
If only I could lick it just once, I could keep going all day.
"Alright! Lunchtime! Line up in order to get your lunchboxes. But since I'm the employer, I'm first!"
Using her authority as the sponsor to claim two lunchboxes, Ibis immediately approached Rin.
"You're hungry, right? Let's eat together."
No, Rin, don't do it. I'm right here.
But Rin ignored Lucy's desperate gaze.
In the first place, he couldn't refuse an invitation from a local noble.
"...Sure."
"Great! Oh, but how are you going to eat with that mask on? Should you slide it up a bit?"
Ibis chattered away without a pause.
She behaved more like a chatty village girl of marriageable age than a noble lady.
Combined with Rin, who remained quiet and only gave brief answers when necessary...
...the two of them looked like a perfectly matched married couple.
"Hey, miss, did you come alone? There's some shade over there. Why don't you join us?"
A well-built young man handed a lunchbox to Lucy.
"No, thank you."
"Ah... but at least take the lunchbox. You have to eat."
"..."
"Here, take it."
Forcing the lunchbox into the hands of Lucy, who was staring intently at the ground, the man wiped his nose and walked back to his companions under the shade.
"What did she say?"
"Said she wasn't interested."
"Playing hard to get, huh?"
"That's the charm. What's the fun in an easy girl? Besides, she still took the lunchbox I gave her."
"Ooh! Maybe she's just testing the waters because she's still on guard?"
While they indulged in their wishful thinking, Lucy shoved the lunchbox into a nearby trash can.
Then, grabbing a handful of sand from the ground, she rubbed it violently against the wrist the man had touched.
"Damn bastard..."
What if Rin saw?
What if Rin saw another man approaching me?
"Dirty, dirty, dirty, dirty, dirty, dirty."
Lucy continued to scrub with the dirt until her skin was raw and bleeding.
"Excuse me, if you're thirsty, maybe this... Whoa! Blood! You're bleeding!"
It was the same man from before.
Having returned with a drink to try his luck again, the man gasped in shock at her bloody wrist.
"Are you okay?! Someone get a first-aid kit..."
"Get lost!"
In the end, she couldn't contain her temper.
She had no choice.
The man's hand had touched Lucy's shoulder again.
"What a crazy bitch!"
Shuddering at her bizarre reaction, the man backed away.
Regardless, Lucy scooped up more dirt and began rubbing her shoulder roughly.
Please look at me, Rin.
I'm trying.
I'm trying to change.
I will never act like a whore again.
She deliberately turned away and frantically scrubbed her wrist and shoulder, but Rin's gaze never drifted toward her.
Lucy knew this, yet she couldn't stop, harboring only a twisted sense of anticipation until the foreman and a maid from the Protec family arrived to put her back to work.
The sweltering heat showed no signs of letting up.
Even though he was only carrying pageant supplies instead of setting up the stage thanks to Ibis's subtle consideration, Rin's back was completely drenched in sweat.
No matter how easy a job was, anything someone paid you to do was bound to be laborious.
Still, compared to Lucy, who was carrying sun-heated steel frames under the blazing sun, he was at least under the shade of a tent.
"Whew."
Even so, he was a man who worked as a porter.
After carrying two or three wooden boxes at a time over several trips, he was finally on the last box.
Just as he spread his legs, bent his waist, grabbed the box, and stood halfway up, someone shoved him from behind.
Crash!
"Ugh!"
With a loud crash, he tumbled forward unsightly.
"Ri—Chun-sik!"
Gesturing to stop Lucy, who was about to run over, Rin looked up.
Instantly, he saw stars.
"Oops, sorry! I didn't see where I was stepping. You alright?"
Before he could even gather his senses, he was grabbed by the collar and hauled up.
Barely managing to look ahead, he saw a muscular, greasy-looking man with dark blue hair holding him.
"I heard the Protec lady hired you herself, so I thought you'd be something special, but you're nothing, are you?"
"Excuse me, but I have work to do. Could you let go?"
"Huh?"
Grimacing, the greasy man whispered to Rin.
"You look like some commoner from the mainland. Don't get any funny ideas, just do your job and leave quietly."
"Yes, I plan to work hard since the pay is good."
"Ha, look at this guy."
Angered by how calmly Rin responded despite the insult, the man raised his fist.
"There's something off about you. As a member of the guard, I'll teach you a lesson beforehand."
"Gendry!"
Fortunately, before the fist could land, Ibis appeared.
"What do you think you're doing?"
"My lady! You look exceptionally beautiful today. I heard you'll be participating in the beauty pageant tonight. You will surely win first place. Once you win, please grant me the honor of being the partner to the festival's fairest beauty..."
"Gendry, I asked what you are doing."
"...Ah!"
Only then did Gendry set Rin down.
He then brushed off Rin's clothes with exaggerated gestures.
"This fellow tripped over my foot. Haha! Weaklings are always so clumsy. I was just helping him up."
"Gendry, why did you kick someone who was working?"
"My lady, I didn't kick him, it was..."
"Are you making excuses to me right now?"
"My lady."
"Do I look like a fool to you?"
Despite her small stature, the pressure Ibis exuded was something even the muscular Gendry couldn't easily brush off.
When Gendry cleared his throat uncomfortably, Ibis let out a sigh and bowed to Rin.
"I'm sorry, Chun-sik. I apologize on his behalf."
"My lady! There is no reason for you to apologize!"
"Quiet, Gendry. I am bowing my head to apologize because of you. Do you understand?"
Gendry tried to stop her in panic, but the young lady firmly brushed his hands away.
Instead, she rebuked him with a sharp voice.
"Out of respect for your position as the guard captain's son, let's go outside and talk. Just the two of us."
"Sigh, fine. Let's talk, just the two of us."
Rin didn't understand why Gendry glared at him while emphasizing "just the two of us."
As Ibis dragged him away by the arm, Gendry followed her, looking smug once again.
Rin signaled to Lucy once more that he was fine, then reached down to pick up the box again.
However, someone was already sitting on the box.
"Don't you have any pride?"
Wavy black hair.
It was a young girl wearing a black dress.
Her skin was so pale it seemed to reflect the sunlight rather than just be white.
She was a girl characterized by a fierce, spiteful gaze that was unusual for a child.
"How can you just stand there after being humiliated like that by that jerk?"
"Who are you?"
"Who I am doesn't matter right now!"
Frustrated, the girl stood up and poked Rin's chest with her index finger.
"Aren't you angry? Doesn't it feel awful? Don't you feel wronged for being treated like this?"
She didn't seem to realize that her own actions were just as rude.
Rin stared blankly at the girl.
It was because he didn't know how to react.
"Ugh..."
Surprisingly, the girl blushed and looked away first.
"Coward."
What is?
"I came to see what kind of person you were, but you're completely boring."
The girl criticized him, exuding a cold aura.
"I'm leaving. I don't talk to people who aren't honest, like dolls."
"It's not being a doll, it's called being an adult."
When Rin retorted, the girl paused and looked back at him.
Soon, she snorted.
"Hmph, an adult. Who told you to become an adult anyway?"
As if determined to gouge his heart, the girl left after throwing those harsh words.
"Even though no one will ever appreciate it."
And just like that,
the darkness lifted.
He hadn't noticed it at all.
He hadn't even realized when the darkness had enveloped his surroundings.
Once the girl vanished, the scorching sunlight beat down on him again.
Lucy, spotting him, rushed over in a panic.
"Rin! What happened? For a brief moment, your presence was completely erased."
It felt as if he had been bewitched by a will-o'-the-wisp.
Yet, Rin wore a faint smile.
"Lucy, I think I found the Demon Sword."
It seemed this godforsaken RNG game was finally starting to help him.