The Broken System Chose the Antagonist

It had been roughly a couple of hours since the other group’s arrival. At this moment, everyone had just finished fortifying the warehouse and securing the area.

If you’d ignore the constant arguments over methods for fortification, the process had gone rather smoothly without any mishaps or attacks. It was also at this time that the sky had grown considerably darker, in comparison to the deep orange-gold it had been just a few hours ago.

Nadia glanced away from the sky and at the hammer in her hand, along with a pile of nails on the floor.

She was stuck on hammering duty.

Bam. Bam Bam.

As she hammered away, she took a subtle glance in Seraphine’s direction. The two of them were located on the northern side of the warehouse, the side which Seraphine was strangely adamant about fortifying.

Nadia didn’t know why, and it didn’t help that the girl didn’t explain why either. As for Callum, he had returned to help Ross better improve the Scoundrels’ armour.

She stared intently at Seraphine’s back before glancing at the girl, who was using a hammer just like her — a hammer with rust patches all over its head. It was like any regular old hammer, if not for the fact that it had a thin outline of Vitality enveloping it.

’She’s made some significant progress...’

She wasn’t sure if it was because of the girl’s talent or because she had "understood how it worked", like she was told, but Seraphine was now able to extend her Vitality into inanimate objects. Specifically, small ones.

Obviously, she still wasn’t on the level of either Callum or herself, but it should still help her, in case something bad happens.

Nadia still remembered how Seraphine reacted when she learnt that both she and Callum would be teaching her. She was overjoyed, but even that description would be considered an understatement.

’She’s definitely easy to please...’ Nadia mused amusedly, chalking it up to the girl’s personality.

She then glanced away from the girl and at the dark clouds that still hovered over the sea in the distance. They were still a great deal away, but it was clear they were steadily making their way over to them.

Without a doubt, they should be arriving soon. Maybe in an hour. Or even less, depending on the wind.

Bam. Bam. Bam.

When Nadia finished hammering in a nail, she looked to the ground to get more, but found that she had run out. She widened her eyes slightly before relaxing.

After putting down her hammer, she went to the person in charge of handing out the nails — a woman holding a bucket of them that was only a quarter full.

At the sight of Nadia, she immediately perked up.

"Oh! Would you like some more nails, Miss Nadia?"

"... Yes..." Nadia answered curtly.

By now, everyone knew who she was because of yesterday’s incident — for better or worse.

As she took out a handful of nails, careful not to prick herself, she couldn’t help but glance at the woman’s appearance. She was average in appearance, with long brown hair and eyes. But what really caught her attention were her light-blue painted nails. She found them rather cute.

"Your nails..."

"Y-yes?!" The woman perked up. "I-is there something wrong with them?"

Noticing how nervously she acted around her, Nadia sighed and shook her head. She had wanted to compliment them, but oh well...

"Never mind."

She then left to return to where she had been originally.

...

Roughly half an hour had passed.

Everyone had already returned to the warehouse, with slight soreness in their limbs from carrying heavy objects and fatigue in their eyes.

But those were all dispelled when they got the chance to lie down — one of the many perks of being a Vitalist, if you ignored the intense hunger that came with it.

While both Nadia and Seraphine were eating, they noticed Ross approaching them alongside Callum, who looked rather excited for some reason.

’Had they made something impressive?’ Nadia thought curiously before looking up at them. "Did you two need something."

Ross nodded. "Yeah. Could you two follow us into the back? We have something to give to the both of you."

Nadia exchanged an odd glance with Seraphine before nodding slightly.

"Okay..."

As they followed Ross into the back, someone from inside the warehouse got up to leave for the exit.

"I—ngh... I’m gonna need to go out fo a shit, you guy. My stomach is hella hurting..."

"I told you not to eat stuff from the floor, Damien." One of his friends snickered at his misery.

"Come on, dude! 5 second rule, everyone knows that. But yeah... maybe I should’ve listened..." Damien groaned in regret, tightly clutching his stomach.

"Alright, dude. But be careful. I’ve been seeing people leaving, but not coming back..." One of his friends warned before cackling, "So don’t be surprised if you find a random turd in a bush you crap in! Or even someone else doing the same thing!"

Damien, who had been unnerved by his friend’s ominous warning, immediately scowled when he realised it was a setup for a joke.

When he was about to berate them for the fright, he felt a painful contortion in his stomach, followed by a deep and unsettling grumble.

"Ugh—I-I gotta go!"

He quickly found a lantern and scrambled out of the warehouse. He picked a random direction and quickly ran in that direction, as far from anyone as possible so as not to embarrass himself. The said direction so happened to be in the northern part of the barricades.

After slipping through the gaps in the barricades, he quickly found a stray bush. Once he checked that no one was near him, he unzipped his pants and pulled them down before crouching.

As he prepared for a fierce battle with his bowels, he couldn’t help but comment on how unsettling it was to be outside.

’Even with the lantern... it’s really dark.’

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