Chapter 60: Ch 60: Sorry, but do I know you?
’Shelly? When did she get to me? Wasn’t she practicing just a moment ago?’
Rin looked at the training grounds and then at Shelly with suspicion. He was sure that Shelly had used her abilities to get to him. But her innocent smile made it hard to question her intentions.
"Are you here to watch me train others? I promise I will show you a great performance. I will whip everyone into shape. Just wait and watch."
Shelly looked excited. She had far too much energy but no one else shared her enthusiasm. In fact, most people she had ’trained’ looked like they wanted to close their eyes and never wake up.
Their pleading eyes turned to Rin for help and he felt sorry enough to intervene.
"Shelly, I think you’ve trained enough people for now. How about we head back inside? It’s almost time for lunch."
Rin reminded her and she pouted.
"Do we have to go inside now? I’m sure I can train them a little more. Maybe another hour or two—"
"It’s fine, Shelly. These people have been training for a few hours now. I want them to improve, but I don’t want them to collapse before I can before they collapse."
Rin said this in a joking manner, but Shelly’s eyes flashed and she nodded.
"I got it. So, what are we doing now? Do you have another task for me? Maybe we can do something together-"
Rin looked past Shelly’s shoulder and fell on Albus. He still had his hand extended toward Shelly and his expression was pinched. Rin was not sure what to make of him, but what he could tell was Albus was not happy.
He didn’t want to lose Shelly’s favor And yet, he still hardened his heart and called out to her again.
"Shelly, are you alright? Since you left without saying anything, Amelia and I were worried about you. So we came here to find you as soon as possible"
"I am sorry, but do I know you? You don’t look familiar to me."
Shelly turned around and said bluntly. It instantly made Albus flinch and his face flushed red.
"W-What are you talking about? A-Ah, is this some kind of joke? It’s funny, hahaha..."
Albus forced himself to remain carefree, but sweat began to gather on his brow. He looked shocked and tired, unsure what to do.
Rin felt sorry for him, but at the same time, he could not bring himself to pity this man either. Just thinking of how he had used Shelly in the original novel made him angry.
[User, you are being unnecessarily biased against an innocent person. Please reflect on your behavior a little more.]
The system scolded Rin, trying to make him feel bad. It should not have worked, but it did. Albus had not done anything to cause Shelly trouble yet, so there was no reason to judge him harshly for something that could ’potentially’ happen in the future.
[User, your hypocrisy shocks me. You are also using people around you, so how can you accuse the others of trying to do the same? Please reflect on your choices.]
The system accused Rin immediately, giving Rin a slight headache. The atmosphere had also turned awkward after Shelly did not laugh at Albus’s joke or even acknowledge it.
In fact, she behaved as if Albus wasn’t there. She wrapped her arms around Rin and tugged him toward her side.
"Rin, so about our work-"
Albus finally decided that he did not like getting ignored by Shelly. So he decided to grab her arm and pull her, forcing her to acknowledge his presence.
"Do you want something from me?"
Shelly asked with a straight face. She was still pretending she had no idea who Albus was.
Albus took it as a joke and let out a strained laugh.
"Shelly, are you still angry at me? Can you tell me why you are angry at me? I have no idea what I did to offend you, but I promise I’ll do better in the future."
Albus was resolute and his voice was clear. He was making a promise to Shelly he intended to keep.
He sounded sincere. Even Rin felt like he was trustworthy and deserved a second chance. That was why Rin turned toward Shelly to see how she would react.
But Shelly kept her guard up and pretended as if she had no idea what was going on.
"I don’t know why I’d be angry at you. I don’t even know who you are. Did you come here using my name? Rin, we need to remove him right now. Should I-"
"Shelly, calm down. I already knew that you were with a party before you came here. The guards who went with me already reported that you were not alone. There’s no need to hide the truth from me."
Rin assured Shelly and her expression looked sour. Her eyes flashed, but she no longer bothered to hide the truth.
"Hmm, now that I look at you again, you seem familiar. But I don’t think we were close enough to each other for you to greet me so warmly."
Shelly was still maintaining her distance from Albus. She should have been won over by him but since the current Shelly was different, it was taking longer than expected.
As odd as it was, it benefited Rin. So he did not bother to call Shelly out or tell her to be polite to Albus.
Instead, he flashed a reassuring smile at Albus.
"Shelly is a sensitive and shy child, who isn’t used to others. That’s why she is acting like this. Please pardon her behavior. She is not usually like this."
Albus’s smile became even more strained at his words. He was not happy at the fact that his plans were interrupted. But he also did not want to worsen his impression on Rin.
That’s why he just smiled at Rin with a polite, practiced smile.
"Ah, so that is it. I did think that Shelly was unusually sensitive. So this was the reason behind it? I guess that does make sense-"
Albus’s words were cut off mid-sentence and he looked behind Rin with a startled expression. But when Rin looked to check, all he saw was Shelly’s usual smile looking back at him.