The Broken System Chose the Antagonist
Chapter 18: A Meal After a Day of Work

Chapter 18: A Meal After a Day of Work

"I HATE PREDICAMENTS!" Seraphine shouted, leaning against the back of her chair.

After the three had introduced themselves to one another, they had swiftly decided to make camp in a nearby place called Lycée Sophie Berthelot—seeing as the sun had already set.

They had decided on a rundown location, whose identity was originally a school for girls before being occupied by the German Navy in World War 2.

Right now, all four of them were inside one of the many classrooms of the school. Well, a classroom that was in better condition compared to the others.

They sat around a table with their military rations, in the form of MREs, in their hands or on the table, still in the middle of heating up.

Seraphine grabbed a small packet and tore open a small hole. She then poured the contents of the packet, which seemed to be spreadable cheese, into a thin tortilla.

With the tortilla wrapped around the spreadable cheese, she began eating it. And in between bites, she muttered:

"The Scoundrels are all so ugly... and they absolutely reek!" Seraphine complained before shrinking, wanting to cry, "A-and... they’re so scary... I just want to go home already..."

"Haha, we all do, miss Seraphine." Callum chuckled, trying to ease Seraphine’s worry. "There’s nothing more I want to do than hop into a warm shower after all the running around we did today."

Seraphine stared at Callum with teary eyes.

If it weren’t for her using her transmigrator knowledge to locate Callum, she would’ve been running around until her Heart gave out! Either that or being torn apart by a Predicament.

’I’m so happy the male lead is strong like the heroine...’

Obviously not on the level Nadia could display, but definitely strong enough to deter a Scoundrel a bit to create an escape.

Seraphine stared up at Callum with admiration in her eyes, which made the man rather shy from the intensity of her gaze.

"I already told you that you didn’t have to call me miss!"

"Haha, I’m aware..." Callum rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, "But since we’re not that well acquainted yet, I think it would be more appropriate if I still called you miss for the time being... hehe."

He then turned to Hilda, who sat opposite him.

"Miss Hertel, we only have to endure two more days, right? And then we all pass?"

Seraphine turned to look at Hilda, as well.

When she and Callum met them a while ago, she was shocked. Not so stumbling upon Hilda, but the fact that the German was walking around with the main character!

It wasn’t something that happened in the Visual Novel, not in any of the routes! Of course, there were moments where you would find Hilda hunting around Calais, but that’s about it!

’There also seemed to be something wrong between them...’ Seraphine analysed before pondering, ’Did something happen between them?’

Afterwards, she shook her head.

’Whatever... It’s not like it’s gonna harm the overall plot. But I wonder if Nadia met that Ben guy yet... most likely, right? I wonder how he’s doing...’

In the Visual Novel, the guy was destined to always die as a way for Nadia to see how brutal the outside world was.

’And the outside world is definitely, absolutely brutal!’ Seraphine thought, still frightened by what she saw at that lake.

As Seraphine continued to ponder heavily with a constantly changing expression, Hilda eventually looked up from her MRE—with a grey plastic spoon sticking out of her mouth.

She scrutinised the young man’s handsome face for a moment before blinking. A split second later, she nodded to Callum’s inquiry, whilst pulling out the spoon.

"Mhm~ as long as you all endure for the next two days, you’ll pass. But I still recommend that you gather the eyes of Predicaments, just as a way to increase your value."

Hilda scooped a spoonful of chilli into her mouth. Her cheeks turned a rosy pink as the taste of the warm chilli met her tongue.

The taste of the slightly sweet tomato base... the savoury, rich flavour of the beef... the smooth and soft texture of the beans, along with the combination of spices...

’A meal after an entire day of work... how heavenly~...’

With the advancement of technology and life conditions, this was one of the few things Hilda was glad to be invented; it made working in the field just a bit more tolerable.

Although there wasn’t really anywhere else that Hilda would’ve preferred to be stationed.

Sensing an intense gaze on her, Hilda turned her head to the person sitting beside her, Nadia.

The blonde woman, just like her, was eating out of her own military ration. But she was doing it while staring at her; it was strange...

Hilda raised an eyebrow at her before tilting her head.

Then, she smiled sweetly and asked:

"Are you looking to try some of my chilli, meine Dame?"

"Wha—?" Nadia blinked in confusion before adamantly refusing with a shake of her head, "No, thanks..."

"No? And here I thought you’d want to share~" Hilda smirked, "Considering how adamant you were to sit next to me—"

"It’s not for that reason!" Nadia barked before turning away.

She then internally remarked:

’The only reason why I chose to sit here is to keep an eye on you better...’

Nadia glanced at Seraphine and Callum; her grip on her spoon subconsciously tightened.

If she assumed that, out of the two options Hilda had named before, to be the one she was thinking of...

She needed to be on guard against Hilda. Although she didn’t know how strong either Seraphine or Callum was, all she knew was that neither of them had a pair of eyes from a Predicament.

And she obviously didn’t trust the idea that Hilda hadn’t yet thought of the idea of killing the two of them to cull the total examinees.

’She most likely wouldn’t discard them unless they’re critically injured like Ben, but it won’t hurt to keep an eye on her...’

Tomorrow, she’ll think of a way to increase the value the two of them had in Hilda’s eyes, while also going about increasing hers as well!

Nadia scooped the slop inside her MRE into her mouth with a serious expression. She then shot Hilda a curious glance to find the woman still smiling at her.

She then heard the German say:

"Meine Dame~ has anyone told you that the way you eat is rather elegant?"

Nadia immediately widened her eyes as her ears turned slightly pinkish.

"W-wha—! What type of nonsense are you on about!?" She stammered in disbelief, slamming her fist against the table. Why was this woman so difficult to read?!

"Hahaha, so cute~!"

As the two bickered. bantered? Or... flirted with each other? Seraphine, who was sitting right in front of them, had a speechless and complex look on her face.

’What the hell is going on between them!?’