That night, half of White King and Sovereign members set up camp, while the other halves went out to explore the gate. Samuel didn't trust leaving Orchid at base, but Sirvana reassured him that although their abilities were sealed, they had strength in numbers. Chu Mal-Chin wasn't thinking about Samue though, it was about Andras.
The whole time, Andras didn't say a word except smiling creepily and agreeing to whatever Samuel said. Atleast Chu Mal-Chin knew Samuel was tolerating him, but Andras showed no signs of anything. Setting up a little shelter with the sparse trees, Chu Mal-Chin thought of the gate mentioned in Kalio.
It was a rare SS ranked gate that had many grass type monsters. It was shaped in a large dome like island, but most of it were filled with plains The food and water were edible thankfully, but there were many monsters lurking in the few forests the gate h Kalio wasn't too clear on how exactly Andras and Samuel cleared the gate, as it was mostly Samuel's POV, and Andras went ahead and cleared the dungeon himself with Sirvana.
Samuel was just busy fending off the waves of monsters who suddenly attacked the guild members, which was probably caused by Andras and Sirvana fighting the boss monster.
Each day, the seal on everyone's abilities would gradually weaken, thus Chu Mal-Chin had limited time to clear the dungeon before Samuel and Andras got their full strength back. As he was thinking, a woman came up to him.
"Hello Mr. Orchid, here are your share of rations." The black haired woman looked gentle and kind. "Ah, you're the healer who treated me earlier. Thank you." Malso responded stiffly as he hadn't really had much actual human interaction for quite some time… "No need to thank me, it's my job as the only current healer available."
She responded politely before walking away.Once she was a distance away, talking to other members, Chu Mal-Chin sighed. Just as he thought, he's probably seen as a weirdo right now..! He just couldn't miss all the constant glances at his weird attire, curse you Malso and your weird taste..! Situating himself in a small dark corner of the camp, Malso slightly tilted his mask up a bit just enough for his mouth to reach the protein bar.
T he scout team had a person with an identifier item and had managed to bring back some fruit resembling apples and oranges. Chomping away sadly, Chu Mal-Chin reminisced at the time when he had many friends…Wait, did your subordinates count as friends? Just as he thought this, Andras spotted him and began walking towards Malso. Chu Mal-Chin hurriedly tilted the mask back down before eyeing Andras with suspicion.
"You act like I'm going to kill you." Andras smiled politely, before sitting down next to him on the log. "I'm pretty sure there is reason to my assumption, no?" Malso responded lightly before moving away to a further end, it seems like his acting was beginning to kick in naturally with those two eccentrics.
"Ah, so cold. I wouldn't say you're wrong though, that would be a stretch, even for me." Andras amusedly observed Orchid, a mysterious glint in his eye. "Say, you're shorter then I thought, it was hard to get an accurate look when you're scurrying away like a rat." Andras shifted his gaze to the loose black strands of hair casually falling off of Orchid's shoulders.
"Are you here to fight, chat, or annoy me~?"Orchid's unamused eyes were seen looking at him through the creepy mask holes, but his voice was still replying in a sly tone. "Hm…maybe a bit of all? Why so cold haha~? I can definitely see a difference in treatment between me and Samuel, though it is relatively small..." Andras slyly hit him with another question. "Could it be you like him? But then again that wouldn't make sense, as I'm pretty sure I would win every beauty contest~"
Where did this ego inflated man come from? Chu Mal-Chin slightly frowned, raising an eyebrow.
"Just this afternoon, you were yelling desperately as you pleaded for your life…" Andras slowly trailed on, his eyes revealing a mischievous glint.
"I'm sure even you would beg for a moment to save your little life~ Ah, but aren't you the dog that bit his own father's hand~? I guess dogs like you are-" before Chu Mal-Chin could continue, a surge of killing intent swerved towards him.
Chu Mal-Chin hurriedly tilted his head to the left, as a black sword stuck into the ground next to him. His right ear was slightly grazed, as blood slightly trickled down.
"Ah, my apologies…My hand slipped." Andras stared dangerously at Malso, amusement no longer present in his eyes. "It seems I have overstayed my time..I shall take my leave."
He coldly stood up as he took the sword from the ground, then headed back towards the rest of the camp. Once Chu Mal-Chin was sure Andras was gone, he let out a breath of relief. He slid down from the log as he trembled at the close feeling of death.
"Shit…my acting almost got undone…" He laughed bitterly as he laid his hand onto his mask. If it weren't for the fact that Malso's instinct remained, and Andras's ability was still sealed, Chu Mal-Chin was sure that sword would have hit him. As expected, maybe that dig was a little too deep. Having read most of Kalio already, Chu Mal-Chin knew what he could say to push the main characters's buttons. Now he had to be even more careful of Andras now…great.