’Darn it! I knew I should not have trusted Reri. She is trying to get me killed.’

Rin looked at the map and then at Reri’s footsteps. It was impressive how close she stepped to these landmines without triggering them. Even an inch off would blow them up.

But Reri had incredible luck (or too much practice) because she made it to the other side and looked back at him with an expectant expression.

"What are you waiting for? Hurry up and cross."

Rin nodded and took small steps on the safe spots. The more he walked away from the path she showed him, the uglier Reri’s expression became.

It was surprisingly easy for Rin to make it across, but the look he got from Reri was one he doubted he would ever forget.

"You deviated from the path I showed you, so how did you make it across? This area is filled with landmines. One wrong move and you would have been blown apart. You sure have some incredible luck, almost as if you could see where those landmines were."

Reri sounded serious and the look in her eyes sharpened. She was making Rin nervous so he instinctively stepped back.

The girl ignored Rin’s discomfort and continued to speak. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

"But surely that is not the case. After all, where would you even get the mine map from? Even people in our settlement don’t know the locations of those mines."

Reri pulled back with a knowing smile. She had come to a conclusion in her mind but chose not to tell Rin what she was thinking about.

Whatever she was thinking about, she did not dwell on it any longer and decided to headed toward the door and pushed it open.

It was not even locked, so it was easy to enter. The security cameras should have picked up on his presence by now, so it was only a matter of time before someone came to fetch him up. (What kind of security was this? Rin needed to have a talk with these people.)

Rin only hoped that it was not a violent person who would attack him without hearing him out.

"Excuse me, but can I ask you a question?"

Reri suddenly asked politely, which made alarm bells rise up in Rin’s mind.

"Sure..."

Her politeness felt like a weapon she was using to hide her true nature and Rin readied himself to answer her carefully.

"You...what are you and Alex to each other? Miss Alex grew up without many friends and freedom. That’s why no one knew about her existence before this settlement was established. I cannot see her becoming close to anyone anymore, much less an outsider like you."

’Well, that’s because he cannot trust you all with his secret. I would feel burdened and crushed as well if I had to keep my identity hidden from the world.’

Rin answered in his mind, but his mouth refused to move. Giving out Alex’s secret felt wrong in his mind.

But he still needed to reply because Reri was looking at him with an intense gaze. She was waiting for an answer from him.

"Alex and I...share a secret. That’s all you need to know about our relationship."

What else was there between the two of them anyway? They could hardly be called friends, but Rin did feel like he could understand Alex a lot better compared to the people in his settlement...

[See, even you agree that people in your settlement are weird, Rookie. It’s time to admit this fact.]

The system reminded Rin, causing Rin to tune those words out.

It took them a few minutes of walking before they reached a second gate. And this gate was locked shut, keeping unwanted people out.

"Allow me to open this gate."

Reri took out her key-card and used it to unlock the back gate.

’How is this gate opening if she has already been exiled?’

[Tsk, do you think it takes minutes to wipe someone’s access to records? You have much to learn, Rookie. Swift action is only possible if the employees are not lazy. So please be a model employee for the system and do your job with much enthusiasm.]

The system tried to push its own agenda but all Rin understood from those words was that someone had gotten lazy and forgot to wipe Reri’s access card.

Honestly, he was more inclined to believe this was part of the system’s conspiracy to make the Calamity of Rose take place, but Rin had no evidence to prove this.

They entered the inner corridor and it was finally time for them to part ways.

"We should go our separate ways now. I doubt there is a reason for us to hang around each other anymore."

Rin pointed out but Reri had a weird look on her face. It was a mixture of curiosity and mischief, making the alarm bells in Rin’s mind ring.

"Actually, I have another thing you can do for me. Since you followed me all the way here, it is only fair that you pay for it."

Reri immediately slammed her fist into the wall hard enough to break it apart.. Not only did it make a hole, connecting the corridor to the main lobby filled with people, but it also attracted more attention.

People looked at Reri with a confused and panicked expression, but she ignored their reactions and walked forward with confidence.

"Everyone, I was exiled by Madam Yao because of a conspiracy. The system told me that there was an imposter among us, so I decided to bring this topic up to her. But not only did she ignore me, but she also expelled me. However, it’s not her fault. It’s because she is being manipulated by the imposter. And that imposter is none other than Alex."

Silence accompanied Reri’s claim before the crowd scoffed at her claim

Most people did not seem to believe her words and even Alex came down himself to see what was happening.

"Reri? Mother told me that you got expelled because you were snooping in my room. You knew the rules of our settlement, so how could you do that? You brought this upon yourself."

Alex’s words made people sided with him and Reri could see she was losing the argument

But she was not out of options and she decided to drag Rin into this.

"Oh! If you are an imposter, then can you explain why you changed so much in these past few days? Not only has your distrust of the outsiders vanished, but you have also begun to share secrets with the leader of the Kalos settlement. Do you have anything to defend yourself with?"