The Broken System Chose the Antagonist
Chapter 6: Scoundrel

Chapter 6: Scoundrel

Crash!

"O-ow..." Seraphine let out a groan, having crashed into a bushy canopy of a tree. She looked up and stared at her parachute, which was now entangled in the many branches above her—she was now hanging.

She let out another groan, a frustrated one, before trying to disconnect herself from the parachute. Afterwards, she wiggled herself free and managed to drop to the ground, where she would then survey her surroundings.

Seraphine had landed in an area with a lot of trees placed in lines, each wide enough for her to hide behind. There were also stone benches hidden under overgrown grass, paths taken over by tree roots, cracked statues overrun with vines, and a large lake choked with reeds and algae.

She had landed in what seemed to be a park.

"Oh, geez... where am I?" She hissed out loud.

Originally, she had tried her best to aim for the port, but obviously—with her lack of experience with sky-diving—she missed.

Once she checked her surroundings were clear and safe, she rummaged through the satchel she was given. Stored at the very top were three days’ worth of rations and a small stack of yellowish-green paper slips, which Seraphine recognised to be Talismans—a medium for a Vitalist, who grasped Spiritualism, to create Spells.

Seraphine sighed.

"I won’t be able to make use of it at all... Being able to grasp Spiritualism is a rare feat, and there are very few people in the exam that understand it. With Hilda being the only one advanced enough to use Talismans practically."

Rummaging deeper inside the sack, she found two more objects buried near the bottom. One was a combat knife, and the other was a rolled-up sheet of paper—a map of Calais.

Stretching out the map, Seraphine started to look at where she landed on the map, dragging her finger across its dry surface.

Before she transmigrated, Seraphine was something of a "nerd" in the past, being interested in every possible thing imaginable. Because of that, she eventually learned how to read a map, albeit just enough to figure out where she was currently.

"I landed in a park with a bunch of trees and water... Parc Richelieu? Is that where I’m at?" Seraphine scratched the side of her head.

In the visual novel, the story never really explored the park very well; it was mentioned, sure, but not shown through Nadia’s perspective.

’I think I recalled the story mentioning something happening here, but I can’t recall what...’

Seraphine quickly crawled over to the lake before carefully leaning over it. She could see a faint reflection of her face in the dark-greenish water, which she could only tell after squinting her eyes; it was just too murky and impure.

Recalling what the examiner had said about staying near the water, Seraphine sighed:

"It’s water, but it’s not the right water..."

After getting up to her feet and brushing herself off dirt—

"SOMEONE PLEASE HELP US!"

—She heard the cry of someone from far away.

The screams from afar seemed to be split amongst three people, which grew louder by the second.

They were nearing her location.

Seraphine immediately became frightened and chose to quickly hide herself behind the closest tree. And once she did that, she shakingly peered around the tree she was hiding behind.

"IT’S WATER! IT’S WATER, YOU GUYS!"

From behind the tree, she spotted three men running straight towards the water. Their faces were painted with sweat, and their breathing ragged as they looked to be running for their life.

Because of her viewing angle, Seraphine couldn’t tell what they were running from. But she could make an assumption about what it was.

SPLASH! x3

She watched as the three men jumped into the water, their eyes no longer having the desperate fear they had just moments ago.

All three of them then looked back at what chased them, which eventually made its way through the trees.

It was a fiend that stood over 4 metres. It had a thin layer of black fur that only covered its back, sides, and limbs—similar to that of a gorilla. It had a pair of long arms that ended with claws and a muscular lower body, suggesting that it was capable of jumping far distances. The fiend had a bat-like skull due to its large ears, but a snout similar to that of a wolf. It also had a pair of pure black pupilless eyes. And it walked with its knuckles pressed against the ground, like a gorilla.

This was a Predicament of the lowest rank, a Scoundrel.

The three men watched as the Predicament reached the edge of the lake before staring down at them with its soulless black eyes.

While it did unnerve the three men, they chose to suppress their fear by making fun of it.

"What now, huh? You can’t get us in the water!"

"Stupid Predicament, you think you’re better than us, because you’re bigger?!"

"Get out of here and leave us alone, you ugly bastard!"

The last of the three to mock the Predicament splashed a handful at the Predicament, which continued to remain still even after their provocation. Its passiveness even led the other two men to join in.

After a few more remarks about its appearance, the Predicament eventually made a move.

Raising its left arm, it reached towards the man who splashed at it first.

At first, the man was fearless at the approach of the clawed hand, but as it got closer, he began to grow even more fearful.

There was no way it could get him, right? He was in the water, after all!

...

Right?