"Reina, this is Teressa. She's a support-type who can help us a lot in the future."
Rin selected his words carefully. He did not want to give Reina too much information, but he needed to give her enough to sway her decision.
Teressa's presence was unwelcome by Reina, but if he framed her as someone useful, then Reina would come around.
"So, since she's useful, you decided to bring her back? Then what's with the whole 'master' thing? Are you doing some kind of weird role-play?"
Reina's voice wasn't harsh, but her displeasure was still evident. And somehow, Rin being called 'master' by Teressa irritated her more than Teressa's presence.
Teressa wasn't making the explanation any easier either.
She walked over to Rin and pressed herself against him. Rin shot her a pleading look, asking her to let him explain, but Reina did not even notice him as she spoke.
"Well, I call Rin my master because he's the only one who can command me. He's someone I cannot live without."
Teressa's words were misleading. She was purposely making the situation worse and Reina's brows tightened further.
But instead of exploding, Reina showed incredible restraint and turned toward Rin for answers.
"The situation is not that complicated. As you can see, Teressa is not completely human. Her abilities require her to assign herself a 'Master' who can command her and I happen to be in that role right now."
Rin left out a lot of details. He did not want to overwhelm Reina with too much information, so he just gave her enough to ease her nerves.
Reina observed Teressa and her non-human appearance had stood out to her. Now knowing that it was the system's fault eased her tension. But she still looked far from comfortable in Teressa's presence.
Sigh
"I understand the situation somewhat now. In short, this is the system's fault and you did what you had to in order to save Teressa's life. That makes sense. But can you at least stop her from saying such misleading things? Someone else could easily misunderstand your relationship."
Reina tried to be the bigger person here and tell Rin this. But Teressa smiled back with an innocent smile and cut into their conversation.
"I don't think I said anything too scandalous or misleading. Since Rin is my Master, I feel more comfortable calling him that. I'm sure others will understand."
Reina's expression clearly told Rin that others will not understand. But he could also tell that Teressa would not listen to him.
He would command her not to call him 'Master' but that felt like such a waste of a command.
"We can come back to this topic later. Reina, can you check on me and Teressa first? Collin will be back any second after gathering everyone."
Reina nodded and she quickly checked on Rin and Teressa. She quickly healed any injuries the two had, but even she did not have a cure for exhaustion.
Her expression grew tense as she checked Rin's profile.
"Rin, I don't know what you are thinking, but you should stop and rest for a while. Other than that, you are both clear."
Rin nodded at her words to show that he understood her concerns. But he did not have time to sleep at the moment.
Collin knocked at the door a few seconds later and let them know that he had gathered everyone.
First, Rin needed to take care of his people and assure them that he was fine. Then, he needed to get them mentally for the next task.
Only then could he allow himself to collapse and sleep.
…
People gathered quickly once they knew Rin had called for them. The people from ENC were especially devoted and took the initiative to calm everyone down.
Rin didn't waste time trying to ease them either. As soon as he had everyone's attention, he spoke clearly to express his intentions.
"Everyone, I am back from my mission safe and sound. This won't be the last time I will have to undertake such a mission, but I will try to leave a message in advance if I head out next time."
People looked relieved after hearing that he was fine and that they would be informed next time.
No one asked what mission he was on or if he could send someone else next time. Rin gave them a few seconds to ask questions, but only silence greeted him back. So he continued on to the next topic.
"I will move on to the next main topic now. In a few hours, a new task will be given out by the system. When that happens, do not panic and calmly register yourself as a member of this settlement. If you wish to take a mission, come find the head butler Collin. But this time, it won't be necessary for all of you to participate."
Rin assured the people and they looked relieved and dissatisfied at the same time.
Coddling people wasn't something Rin liked, but he also did not want to send people to their deaths without proper training.
He had already seen the butler and ENC executives set up proper training fields and people were participating with enthusiasm. Most of the people in Rin's settlement were ready for a real fight.
Still, it was better to decrease casualties if he could.
No one questioned how he knew when the next task would be and Rin didn't bother clarifying it either.
He walked back inside and called for Collin to discuss the arrangements for the next task.
Since he already had 3 sacred artefacts + 1 from before, the safe zone had a decent range and protective properties. The next thing Rin needed to do was install defensive weapons at the border to ensure any danger was dealt with.
With Rin's Weapon Mastery skills and perfect craftsmanship, it shouldn't be difficult for him to get some defensive weapons up and running. But the low level of his skill could become an issue.
As Rin was thinking about these concerns, Collin arrived and told Rin that he had arranged all the available data for Rin to review.
Rin nodded and followed him back.
But as he was making all these decisions, the system did not look happy. It was beeping loudly and sending messages to show its displeasure.
[User, why are you doing things that are not needed? Don't you know that this could cause you trouble? Please stop before it's too late.]