"Reri, stop making that face. If you have something to tell me, then just say it."

Alex finally asked Reri after noticing her fidgeting in place. Reri tried to relax her expression, but it became tense again. The look in her eyes spelled trouble, which Alex wanted to avoid.

"Hey, are you sure about trusting these people? They might be cooperating with us right now because we have the same goal, but how long will that last? what if they betray us?"

Reri was not the only one with such concerns. The others behind Alex shared similar concerns. But unlike Reri, they were not willing to voice their fears.

Such uncertainties could cause trouble in the future, so Alex decided to address them before they could become a problem.

"We have to take a chance to trust other people. I know that it’s tough, but our settlement cannot survive without external help."

Most people fell silent after Alex said that, but not Reri. Her eyes hardened and she bit her lip in agitation.

But since she did not say anything, went to his mother to report what had happened

Thankfully, they reached their settlement and Alex went back to his mother to report what happened.

He did not notice the darkening look in Reri’s eyes, nor did he see her looking at her system suspiciously

__________

[A suspicious person has entered your settlement and taken over another person’s body. Please find the impostor and expose them.]

[Reward: Information about the location of the ’human’ kidnapped by the impostor]

[Note: This is a special mission given to the user. Please do not share information regarding this mission with anyone else or the chances of completing the mission will decrease..]

Reri looked at her system with a bitter expression. The system had just confirmed what she already felt in her heart.

’Alex has changed. She used to be cold and heartless. But now she’s gone soft and is even advocating for outsiders. Is she...really an impostor? Then where is the real Alex?’

Reri bit her lip as she considered what to do next. One option was to tell Madam Yao, but would a fortune-teller like her believe Reri’s words?

’Madam Yao must have known there was an outsider in this settlement by now. But since she did not say anything yet, then could she be lacking evidence? Then, I need to find some and present it to her.’

Reri was determined to see things through. So she set her plan in motion and began stalking Alex. The first place she needed to check was Alex’s room.

No one was allowed in there except Alex and Madam Yao, and anyone caught sneaking around would be expelled from the settlement. But Reri was willing to take the risk if it meant getting evidence.

The room looked standard on the inside, but Reri was not willing to give up. She immediately headed toward the closet and threw it open.

Dresses filled the closet but Reri was not willing to give up. She continued searching until there was nothing left to check..

She had to give up for now, but she was sure she would return to search for more evidence.

Reri was about to head out when she noticed a box in the corner of the closet. She opened it and let out a gasp. Finally, her patience paid off and she had the evidence needed.

"These are...detailed notes of this settlement’s maps and schedules. Was Alex trying to find the right time to smuggle these out? Could it be! Those people from Kalos settlement must be in on this as well. Or maybe they are the ones Alex is smuggling this information to? I knew there was a reason I didn’t like them."

Reri was spinning her own narrative. She did not even bother asking Alex what these notes were for, and decided to take them to Madam Yao.

...

"So, what are these notes? Where did you get them from?"

Madam Yao asked Reri while looking up from her papers. Reri felt excited and quickly showed Madam Yao the box she had confiscated from Alex’s room.

"This is evidence. There is an impostor in our settlement and I am confident that it has taken over Alex’s body. Not only has her behavior become softer, but she also showed a favorable reaction to the outsiders. And now I present to you this box as evidence."

Reri was proud of what she had done, but Madam Yao rubbed her forehead in frustration and took the box. She opened it and let out a sigh.

"Reri, did you break into Alex’s room and grab this box? You do know that this is a crime, right?"

Madam Yao asked and Reri nodded with a proud look on her face.

"I know that it’s a crime, but I still did this for the settlement. We need to get rid of the impostor and-"

"Reri, I am afraid that you have violated the rules. As such, we cannot keep you here anymore. But since you have been such a loyal member of our settlement, I will allow you to leave alive."

Madam Yao gave the verdict but Reri felt lost. She could not understand what she had done wrong to be treated like this.

"T-This cannot be right? You are asking me to leave? After I presented the evidence and protected our settlement? But why-"

"I asked Alex to collect these papers, but it was supposed to be a secret. You decided to enter Alex’s room on your own and broke our trust. So you will have to leave."

Madam Yao’s words were clear but Reri refused to give up.

"But there is an impostor here. See, I even have the system’s message—"

[You have breached the system’s guidelines. Details about the mission will be deleted. Reward will be terminated.]

[You can no longer save the person the impostor has kidnapped.]

Reri’s whole world came crashing down.

"No! Don’t do this to me. Anything but this-!"

"Unfortunately Reri, you brought this upon yourself. Please leave by the end of the day or I will have to send someone to escort you out."

Reri saw red, and in her mind there was only one culprit behind this.

’This happened because of those Kalos settlement bastards. That’s when Madam Yao and Alex started to change. Now that I think about it, Madam Yao was not able to see their leader’s fate, right? Then, he must be a monster.’

__________

Rin was busy in his office sorting through his work when he suddenly felt his nose itch slightly. He sneezed, only to have an a strange sense of unease

"Huh? Why am I having a bad feeling? Is something about to happen?"

The only one to answer him was the system’s cheerful but annoying voice.

[Rookie, are you feeling bored? Would you like more work to do?]

"No, thank you... But I have a bad feeling... Ugh, is it because I am leaving Alex to his fate?"