My Childhood Friend Turned Yandere in the Apocalypse

[Tsk, look at what you have done, user. Our dear Albus is trying so hard to get Shelly’s attention, but Shelly is not even responding. Don’t you feel sorry for our dear original MC? You should be a proper fan and help him out.]

Feel sorry for this fool? Rin could not bring himself to feel sorry for the current Albus.

The red-haired boy in front of Rin was looking at Shelly with a confused expression. He kept trying to bring up topics to get Shelly’s attention, but her disinterest was clear.

She had always been like this, as long as Rin had known her. But it was very different from how she was in the original book.. So for the MC who remembered a different Shelly from his time, this behaviour must be unfamiliar.

[User, it’s time to show off your skills. Do something to push the main leads together and further the plot—]

"The sun is starting to set. It will be dark soon, so you all should settle down before dinner. The next task will likely start tomorrow, so get some rest before that."

"Huh? How do you know that the next task will begin tomorrow? The second task just finished. Won’t the system give us time to relax? I bet the next task will take place in two days."

Rin hadn’t expected Albus to speak up so he was startled when he heard his voice. Albus looked serious and Rin knew that he was only speaking because he remembered the original timeline.

Unfortunately for Albus, the change in Task 3’s timing was one of the first changes he witnessed in the first timeline. It was an event that took the novel protagonist by surprise, but Rin already knew this.

"Alright. I will take this bet since you are offering. I’ll bet the third task starts tomorrow. If I win, then I want you to follow my lead whenever I ask you without asking any questions."

Rin proposed, already thinking of the help he could get from Albus.

There were a lot of scenarios in the original novel that could only be overcome because of Albus’s abilities. Rin would need to use him when the time comes and which is why he proposed this bet.

Knowing Albus’s nature, he won’t be able to turn down this bet. This was the best way to ensure his cooperation.

"I don’t usually make bets, but since I am confident, I will make one with you this time. But if I win, what can I get from you?"

Albus asked and Rin immediately knew what answer would make him agree the quickest

"Hmm, how about taking my place as the leader of this settlement for a day?"

"Rin, stop joking-"

Reina looked pale at his suggestion. She had been here the longest so she knew the influence he had over this place. Her anger was justified.

But Rin shot her a glance that told her to trust him. He knew what he was doing here.

Reina reined in her temper and forced herself to cool down. It looked difficult but she somehow managed.

A quick look around told Rin that other people were keeping an ear out for his conversation with Albus with Albus as well and they looked just as unhappy.

None of this went unnoticed by Albus. But he was ambitious enough to not let this opportunity slip by.

"Aren’t you trying to load all your responsibilities onto me for a single day while you get to relax? But don’t worry. I promise I will do my best if I am given a chance to be in the lead role for a day."

The looks Albus was getting were unfavorable. People were put off by his arrogance and were quick to form a bias against him. But if Albus noticed this, he did not show it on his face.

Rin made sure to keep his expression neutral and Collin finally arrived to show Albus and Amelia to their rooms.

The silence around Rin lasted a full minute after that before Reina exploded.

"What are you even thinking? Do you think this settlement is a joke? How can you even suggest handing it over to someone else to run?"

Reina would have grabbed his shoulder and shaken him, but Shelly moved to his side instead. Her soft hands covered Rin’s ears and she looked at Reina with an annoyed expression.

"Stop yelling at Rin. He must have started this bet for a reason. Can’t you even understand this much?"

Shelly took his side and her words made Reina take a step back.

"I...did not mean to accuse you. My temper got the best of me. I apologise for it."

Reina started to speak, realising that she had made a mistake. Everyone watched her curiously, wanting to see what she would do next.

Rin felt annoyed by her question, but he knew that Reina only spoke up because she was worried about him.

"I only suggested this bet because I am confident I will win. And I do understand your concerns well, Reina. But I have a feeling we won’t have a choice but to trust that man in the future. There is... just something about him that makes me want to use him."

This was Rin’s confession. He was telling his people to not worry about Albus because he needed to use him.

He was not worried about the rumor getting back to Albus either. He likely already knew Rin wanted to use him.

Sigh

"I should’ve guessed you’d do something like that."

[User, this is not fair. You are using your knowledge of the future events to make life difficult for the protagonist. Are you not worried about the world helping the Main Character against you?]

This concerned Rin. But he also knew that the system wanted to preserve the original timeline events.

So he was not as worried as he should be.

’Are you going to help Albus win against me by changing the timing for task 3? Would your higher-ups even allow that?’

Rin asked the system and it went quiet. Rin took it as a win against the system and he started to make plans for the next task.

Since Round two had ended, Rin had six sacred artefacts he needed to bury and then he needed to process the paperwork for this settlement. He also had a proposal he needed to write for this settlement and get it registered.