My Evil System

Florin came, carrying a dead chicken in her hand. Blood was still dripping from its corpse and littered on the floor while she smiled at the others.

"This would only take thirty minutes," she said. "Do carry on with your conversation, and don't mind me."

Way to go in making things awkward. I didn't know if I was just assuming things, but I think she didn't like our guests.

<Who would? They seek shelter and want to take everything but offer no compensation in return. They demand food but do not even offer any help. They were guests in another's home, but they acted like the lords and ladies of the house. They're truly evil! That's what you should aspire to be, Host!>

I'm not listening to you.

We tried to chat like normal, but the sound of the knife against the chopping board was so loud that it didn't really fit as a background sound for a casual conversation.

I didn't know what Florin was doing in the kitchen, but it sounded like she was butchering someone — well, it wouldn't be me for sure. Any idea about harming me would cause her head to explode. Thanks to the Evil Accessory.

Was she imagining chopping the guests?

<Seems like it.>

I probably needed to have a one-on-one conversation with her later.

"Uhm . . . I think I'm going to help Florin for a minute." I excused myself and went to the kitchen.

Florin was stuffing herbs and spices inside the chicken and placing it on the grills.

There was at least a three meter distance between the table and the kitchen area, so the others probably wouldn't be able to hear our conversation.

I pulled the two remaining fish from the salt cave and went to Florin.

"Easy on the chopping board, Florin. You're scaring our guests," I told her as I cleaned the fish.

Florin peeked at me under her lashes with a smile still plastered on her face. "The chickens here are rather big, and their bones are harder than our regular chicken back home. So I need to use a little force, My Lord."

"Is that right?"

Florin nodded and beamed. "Yes!"

"By the way, you've been cooking since a while ago. Preparing dishes for eight people is not an easy feat. Why don't you sit with the others, and I'll take over from here? You should get to know them. They're fun to chat with."

"I don't need needless chatter to remind me of my life back on earth," she told me, and I saw anger crossing her eyes.

"I like this world better."

"I-is that so? But don't you miss other humans? Don't you want to make friends with Sheryl? I think she's close to your age."

Florin's smile became even wider, eyes turning crescent as she faced me. It kind of scared me, and I almost cut my hand with the knife when I shuddered because of it.

"My Lord is all the human I need."

Augh . . . Why was she so clingy to me again?

<Because the two of you are Evil.>

I was pretty sure that was not the reason.

I wanted her to get closer to our guests to reduce the tense atmosphere between them. At this rate, I think that would take a while.

<The System thinks that would never happen. Wanna bet on it~?>

NO!

"By the way, My Lord," Florin started, holding a big knife in her hand and I backed away a little.

"How long are they gonna stay here?" she asked.

". . . I . . . I haven't thought of that, actually. I didn't get the chance to ask them."

Florin's smile lessened.

"So what do we do?" she asked. "We can't let them stay here forever."

I opened my mouth but closed it again.

"Don't tell Florin that . . . My Lord is planning on letting them stay here forever?" her squinted eyes peered right through me, and I looked away.

"I-I'll ask them later about their plans."

"Florin thinks that they will insist on staying to leech here. If that's the case, then they should work for their rent, like what Florin is doing."

Could it be . . . she was angry that I treated the others like guests while she worked her ass off to stay here?

Well, now that I think of it, it was kind of unfair to her.

Something tugged at my heart, and I patted her head. "No worries. I'll talk to them, and if by any chance they're planning to stay here, then they would also work."

Florin's expression didn't change one bit. "You should let them catch fish in the river and some beast in the forest to eat."

"Augh . . ." With Blood Rain, I had doubts about them agreeing to go out. Brago might agree, but I couldn't say the same about the others. "I'll . . . I'll ask them."

"You better, my Lord. Florin doesn't want more mouths to feed here." She snatched the fish in my hand and chopped its head off with

a loud thump, making me jump on my toes.

Who was the Lord again in this house?

----

"So, what do you guys think?" Sheryl whispered.

"Cross is such a dear," Megu answered and tickled her baby, who filled the area with her giggles.

"I don't know about Florin, though." Emi crossed her hand and took a peek at the girl and Cross's back. "Her smile and unblinking eyes give me the creeps."

"She's cute, though," Ford countered but shut his lips tight when Emi threw him a pointed glare.

"And we can't stay here forever," Brago said.

They gaped at him.

"Why not? This place is heaven! There's free food and shelter," Edgar complained and stubbornly said, "If you want to go, GO. I'll stay here."

Brago frowned. "And be what? A leech?"

Edgar growled, "What did you say?"

"We don't know Cross that well," said Brago. "What if he is not what we think he is? And Florin was transported here much longer than we did. She's stronger than us."

"There's six of us and only two of them," Sheryl told him.

Brago faced her before replying, "And what makes you think that there's only two of them here? For all we know, there might be a lot of them here."

". . ."

( . . . continuation on NOTES)