Chapter 143: Ch 143: You’re making it too obvious

Shelly followed closely behind Rin as soon as he left the settlement.

It had not been a coincidence that she followed him out. Ever since the last task, where Rin had disappeared on his own, Shelly had been keeping an eye on him to make sure nothing like that ever happened again.

So the second she saw him heading out, she slipped away after him as well.

’Why didn’t Rin tell me he was going out? Where is he going? Who does he want to meet?’

Questions like that kept filling Shelly’s mind. She knew Rin would not go out to play around...or worse, go on a date in the middle of times like these. But it was hard to convince herself of that.

So she quietly followed (stalked) him to find out where he was going.

At first, he wandered around so aimlessly that Shelly considered revealing herself. But then he reached a settlement, and that immediately made her hide again.

She watched Rin head inside and talk to the people there. Their expressions looked tense, and for a second, she was sure Rin was about to get hit.

Rin was not weak-hearted, but he was physically weak compared to her. So Shelly prepared herself to protect him and unconsciously released some bloodlust.

But nothing happened. Rin did not get hit.

However, the people there sensed Shelly’s presence because they immediately looked in her direction.

There was no reason for Shelly to keep hiding, but she did anyway out of instinct.

’I’m only hiding so I can protect Rin better. This way, I can keep a closer eye on both him and his surroundings.’

Shelly reassured herself as she slowly followed after Rin from one settlement to another.

For the most part, he did not need her help, but things occasionally became tricky. Especially when other people started targeting Rin from the shadows as well.

Shelly decided it was time to start taking people out one by one. So the second she noticed someone targeting Rin, she dealt with them. Their intentions did not matter.

As long as Shelly sensed that someone was keeping an eye on Rin, they were not safe.

It was exhausting but rewarding work as Rin traveled from one settlement to another, and Shelly made sure everything went smoothly all the way to the final settlement.

Unlike the smaller settlements, this one was fairly large, with around fifty people. That made their leader especially arrogant, and he stood his ground against Rin.

"Why should we come listen to you? We’re getting by just fine. Or do you see us as some kind of charity case?"

The man asked in an annoyed voice, but Rin showed incredible patience.

"I’m not trying to undervalue what you’ve accomplished so far. However, do you really think this counts as ’doing fine’? Aren’t you about to run out of food?"

Rin provoked the other leader intentionally, and the reaction was immediate. The man tried to throw a punch at him.

With all of Rin’s training, he probably could have handled this untrained leader himself, but Shelly still panicked. She grabbed the man’s arm and flung him aside.

And just like that, she had blown her cover.

"I...Surprise?" 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

She tried to play it off jokingly, and Rin let her. He simply blinked at Shelly before smiling softly and shaking his head.

"How about telling me next time if you want to follow me? There’s no need to hide in the shadows while trailing after me."

Rin sounded amused rather than offended, and that only made Shelly’s confidence waver.

’So Rin doesn’t mind if I follow him around? That’s good to know. But next time, I’ll need to hide even more carefully so he won’t notice me.’

There was only one reason Shelly wanted to follow Rin from afar instead of staying by his side—to see his real feelings.

Rin often became more reserved whenever she was around and held himself back from doing what he truly wanted. But Shelly did not want that. She wanted to accept every side of Rin, including the unrefined parts of him.

"How long have you known I was following you?"

__________

’How could I not know when you made it so obvious?’

Rin wanted to ask Shelly that question, but he held his tongue. She looked genuinely curious about how long he had known he was being followed (stalked).

"I noticed during my second settlement negotiation. There was a loud noise, and someone got knocked out of a tree. I’m pretty sure I caught glimpses of your pink hair out of the corner of my eye a few times after that."

Shelly’s face turned the same shade as her hair, and she suddenly seemed unable to respond after Rin’s explanation.

It was a cute moment that got ruined when the angry settlement leader stood back up after Shelly had thrown him aside.

"How dare you-! Do you think I won’t retaliate just because you brought one extra person with you? Everyone, get ready to attack!"

The settlement suddenly became confident because it was fifty against two. But they had no idea what kind of monster Shelly truly was.

"Let’s try not to kill these people, Shelly. We still need them in working condition if they’re going to join us later."

Rin pointed out, trying to ease Shelly’s tension.

He already knew a few injuries were unavoidable, which was why he carried potions with him. In the worst-case scenario, Reina could patch everyone up...but that would be the last resort.

...

The fight ended before it even properly began. Rin barely needed Shelly’s help at all.

This settlement was used to fighting ruthless monsters to survive, but they had never dealt with cunning humans before. More importantly, they had absolutely no defense against status ailments.

A single paralyzing bomb was enough for Rin to immobilize all of them. They kept complaining about their numb legs and inability to stand up.

It was almost pitiful to see such proud people reduced to this state.

"Y-You think you’ll get away with this-?"

The leader barked, and Rin sighed before finally deciding to give up on convincing this settlement.

"I did what I could and gave you a chance to join us. This is neither a trick nor an attempt to undermine your authority. You’re free to think whatever you want."

Rin said before leaving the settlement behind with its troubled leader.