"Where is the woman that was with you!?"

Gil and Van stared at the man who suddenly emerged from the bushes. Although the man was not really showing any indication of attacking, the two still kept their guard up.

​​

Gil was about to unsheathe his sword, but before he could do so, Van stopped him.

"!!!"

As soon as the man saw Van, he quickly backed away. "M...Mr. Van? Why… why are you protecting my wife!?"

"Mister... Van?"

"...Your Wife?"

Gil and Van slowly looked at each other, their eyebrows almost synchronized as they realized what was happening.

"Yes, my wife! Cynthia! I saw her following the both of you! Where, where is she!?"

They just came to know Cynthia's story just earlier, of how she accidentally killed her husband's mistress in a blind rage… and now his husband was here?

Gil was about to ask the man if he was telling the truth, but before he could do so, a deafening shrill coming from behind ringed through his ears.

"It's him, it's my husband! Kill him! Kill him quick!"

Droplets of water fell to the ground as Cynthia ran towards Gil and Van, her hair still completely wet and her skin somewhat visible from the thin clothes that she was wearing. Gil could feel the coldness of the lake from her clothes but then followed by the warmth of Cynthia's bare skin as she hid and clung behind him.

Nisha also walked towards them, casually using her bandana to pat her hair dry.

"Now you're using Mr. Van!? Have you no shame!?"

"Sir Van, please… you have to kill him!"

"...What is going on here?" Gil's head almost blurred as he looked back and forth between Cynthia and her so-called husband.

"She's a snake, Mr. Van! You should get rid of her now!"

"Don't listen to him! Kill him or else he will kill me! He followed me in the Pit just to take revenge for his… for his whore of a mistress!"

"...What?" The confusion in Gil's mind grew bigger and bigger as his neck started to ache from all the turning.

"What!? No, she is lying!" Cynthia's husband waved his hand, "She killed my cousin because she thought I was cheating on her! We were both sent here at the same time because they thought I helped her! You… you should kill her instead!"

"..."

Van, who has been quiet throughout the whole exchange, let out a long and loud sigh, "Whatever, this doesn't really involve us. Let's go."

Van beckoned to Nisha and Gil to follow him as he walked away. Nisha nodded her head and quickly walked beside Van.

"W… wait, why would we leave her!?" The distress in Gil's voice stuttered in the air, "They might kill each other if we leave them be!"

"It's obviously a fight between husband and wife, mister Gil." Van shook his head as he looked at Gil, "You don't want to get involved in that."

"No! Please don't leave!"

Cynthia, however, ran towards Van and grabbed his hand, "Please! He will kill me for killing his lover! You… you should kill him first if you're going to leave!"

"...Let go of my hand, miss." Van let out a tiny scoff as he looked Cynthia straight in the eyes. He was a fool to think that this woman reminded him of Andrea.

No matter what happened to Andrea in the Relic Graveyard, no matter how hard it got, she never once harmed anyone. She was different from the rest of the people from the slums, amongst them all, she was… special.

"Van, we can't just leave the two alone! I really think they will kill each other!" Gil repeated his words as he pleaded to Van.

"They probably won't," Van replied casually.

"W… What?"

"As far as I can see, they are both crazy," Van once again scoffed as he swatted Cynthia's hand away. "Both of them are probably murderers that get off on killing people…

...They are probably serial killers."

"Eh? How would you know."

"Ever since the two saw each other, all that was coming out from their mouth was murder. Kill her, kill him." Van shrugged his shoulders.

"What, but--"

"Ahahaha!"

Before Gil could finish his words, a sharp cackle whistled in the air, piercing his ear like a knife with how high-pitched it was. Gil slowly turned his head towards the direction of the laugh, only to see Cynthia with a wide smile on her face as she laughed, almost all of her teeth showing themselves.

Gil could not help but gulp as he slowly backed away.

"As expected of someone Boss approved so highly of," Cynthia then abruptly stopped laughing as she started walking towards her husband, "For you to find out so quickly… how unexpected."

Cynthia then quickly grabbed her husband's precious jewels in between his legs, with his husband giving out a healthy moan.

"Wha… what the…" Gil blinked numerous times as he stared at the two. Was this woman… really the sweet-looking innocent lady that they were just with earlier?

"You're the first to ever find out about our little play." Cynthia then licked her husband's cheek, with him turning his head and opening his mouth, both their tongues intertwining and entangling with each other.

Nisha was also surprised as to how Van was able to tell so quickly. Even she, who prided himself in seeing people's lies, could not quickly discern the two's play.

"...Oh," Van slightly tilted his head to the side, "The two of you really were murderers? I was just lying."

"..."

"Bahahaha!"

This time, it was a robust laugh that echoed through the air as Cynthia's husband grabbed her tiny bosom. "You were right, dear… this boy is truly interesting."

"...What the fuck is going on?" Gil could not help it anymore as a curse escaped his breath. His confusion, however, was quickly stopped by what happened next.

Cynthia's husband suddenly grabbed the knife that was hanging on his waist, causing Gil to raise his hand, summoning a little fireball on top of it.

However, Gil was not able to fire it, as before any of them could even do anything… Cynthia's husband slowly carved his knife in between her breasts.

"!!!"

"What are you guys doing!?"

"You… you still don't get it, do you, guard?" Cynthia's stuttered and pained moans whispered coquettishly in the air, "This place… is a paradise. Boss could just fully heal us in exchange for… other services."

...Heal?

Van could not help but let out a tiny breath as he finally had an idea of what Boss was capable of. But… a healer?

Sure, being a healer, Boss was probably the most important person inside a place like this… but to rule above murderers and hardened criminals? What other secrets does she hold?

"Lower your hand, guard," Cynthia said as she slithered her fingers across her wound before proceeding to feed it to her husband. "We're not even here for you," she then said as she looked towards Van.

"...Let us join your side."

"Side? What side?" The bubble of confusion surrounding Gil's head was about to blow off.

"Mister Gil is right, I don't have a side," Van said, slightly scratching his chin as he looked at the freaky couple in front of him.

"Psh, don't play around," Cynthia said while licking her fingers, "You already have two people under you. My husband and I figured it would be more fun on your side. Grant is funny and all, but his fear of Boss keeps him from acting out…

...But you, on the other hand… You don't seem to be the type to care."

"..." Van slightly squinted his eyes as he looked at the couple in front of him. He really was just guessing about the circumstances, but seeing the two now... perhaps he could make use of them. After all, the more he had on his side in this place, the better off he will be.

And if they proved to be useless, he could just abandon them since he had no attachment to them in the first place.

"And it doesn't hurt that Boss has clearly taken a liking to you. With us under your side of the Encampment, I feel like we're going to have the most fun in this place."

"Look, lady," Gil slowly lowered his hand, "We are on nobody's side. We just want to live here peacefu--"

"Then get a house near the Portal."

"So get a house near a-- Wait, what!?"

Gil could not help but raise his voice as he heard Van's words. Van said that he did not really miss anything eventful as he slept the whole day, but it would seem that a lot did happen that he had no idea of.

"If you can get a house near the Portal, then I will think about bringing you to my side."

"Ho? That seems simple enough. We will just get the house beside you."

"No, that's reserved for the people beside me right now."

"...Tch, fine. Keep your word!"

Cynthia then waved her hand as she and her husband abruptly stopped doing whatever it is they were doing and walked away.

"..." Gil's mouth was slightly open as Cynthia's menacing laughter echoed through the forest path, slowly diminishing, but managing to remain creepy, "What… the heck just happened?"

"You seem to be good at attracting weirdos," Nisha, who has been quiet throughout the whole ordeal, let out a tiny chuckle.

"True. Did you know that I have a friend who has a monster for a brother?"

"Pft, you and your crazy lies," Nisha could only sigh while rolling her eyes, "Let's go, we don't want more flies to find us here."

"Hm…" Van nodded before leading the way back.

"Wait, Van!" However, before they could leave the lakeside, Gil grabbed Van's shoulder, "Aren't you forgetting your uniform?"

"...Oh," Van quickly checked himself, but other than that, he just shrugged his shoulders. "It's covered in blood anyway...

...it's useless now," Van said before walking away, not even glancing at his Academy uniform that was waving at him from the branch he left it hanging on.

"...Useless? What?" Gil looked at Van's uniform, and although it was still slightly dyed red from all the blood it accumulated, it should still be decent enough to wear. In fact, if Van truly did not want it anymore, then Gil will take it for himself. But alas, it was 3 sizes too small for him.

"...How is it useless?" Gil whispered as he looked at Nisha, who only shrugged her shoulders in response.

"I honestly do not know what that boy is thinking anymore."

Later that night, a horrid and loud scream echoed throughout the Encampment as an exchange of real estate was concluded.

Van's current number of people under him-- 3 plus Gil.

***

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT FROM THE AUTHOR:

If no one has told you yet... You deserve to be happy.

Also, I would like to take up this space to thank all of you for still reading Van's humble story. Seriously, thank you.

It may not seem like it, but I am putting on a lot of research towards my characters-- how they talk, how they act, how they respond. There's always this constant thought of "What would this/that character do in this situation?"

And so, the story might be slow sometimes and may drag on, so I apologize for that. As for not showing Van's System that much, it is actually just my way to express that this story may revolve in a world of Systems, it is still Van's story, and so he will always be the priority. Well, until I decide to focus on the Systems, that is. Which is actually not that far-off. Oho, is that a semi-spoiler?

Anyway, thank you again for reading! I hope you enjoy the rest of the story. There's a long road ahead of us! We can do this!

Also, wash your hands.