"They know I'm not real."
Sol said this with tired, serious features while rubbing his hands vigorously in the river water, letting the current wash away the dirt.
[What do you mean you're not real?..]
The system's voice asked innocently, full of energy.
Sol's tired expression didn't change. He didn't shift his gaze. His tone was slightly defeated:
"None of your business."
[Come on, tell me... Come on, come on, come on]
The system said in an annoying, insistent way.
"shut the fuck up. I said it's none of your business. And you'd better disappear."
Sol's tone was somewhat angry. He picked up the obsidian knife still soaked in azure blood, dipped it in the water, and began scrubbing.
The system's voice fell silent for a few seconds after his reply—before letting out a loud shriek that made Sol grit his teeth, flinch slightly, and cut himself with the knife in his hand.
[I won't disappear, and I won't shut up. We'll be together for a long time, so you'd better be nice to me.]
The system's voice was firm, carrying a hint of anger.
Sol pulled his wounded hand from the water and glanced at the cut—which took only seconds for the skin to move and close itself.
"Tsk..." Sol sighed, then said: "That'll never happen. There must be a way to shut you down, so shut up until I find it."
[Oh, fine... Good luck with that, hot head. But I won't shut up.]
The system's voice was sarcastic, intending to provoke Sol—who remained unaffected, continuing to wash the knife in the river.
[No reaction... You're so boring. How did I end up with someone as boring as you?]
Sol ignored this and continued what he was doing.
"Done. It's clean now."
Sol said this while looking at the washed knife in his hands. Moments ago it had been drenched in azure blood—now it was clean, every part of it.
He turned toward the girl, who looked surprised and bewildered. When he saw her expression, he said:
"That's definitely her reaction... Watching a grown man talk to himself..."
[You mean like crazy people?]
The system's voice was sarcastic, but Sol showed no reaction.
Sol handed the knife to the blue girl. When she saw it, her lips rose and she smiled brightly, radiating a cheerful aura.
[Ooooh, she's so so so cute! I wish I could hug her and kiss her and eat her up and hug her again!]
"Are you a pervert?"
[No!, I'm not... But look at her—doesn't she make you want to hug her tightly?..]
Sol looked at the happy blue girl, focusing more on her azure eyes. It took him a few seconds before answering in a slightly defeated tone, his eyes lowering a bit:
"No,she doesn't."
[..Well, everyone has different desires and different way to think... What's her name then?]
The system's voice was cheerful, making Sol firmly suspect this system might actually be a pervert.
"I don't know."
Sol's tone was empty.
[Isn't she someone close to you?]
Sol paused for a moment. Unusually, he was actually thinking about such a question—one he could have simply ignored. But for some reason, he didn't.
Were the past few weeks enough to qualify his relationship with the girl as someone close to him? His expression was dark as he considered this for a few seconds, his features shifting slightly before he said:
"No, we're not close..."
[Hmm...what about asking her now ?]
The system's voice was innocent and lively. Sol answered in his usual dark tone—which had somehow become even darker while talking to the system:
"..We don't speak the same language."
The blue girl had been listening to Sol and watching him with curiosity and confusion. To her, Sol seemed like a madman talking to himself. She might have thought he was speaking to her, but she knew that wasn't true—she'd been with him for a not-insignificant time, and she knew he didn't speak her language.
[So you don't understand her language, and she doesn't understand yours... That's kind of difficult.]
Sol remained silent toward the system's voice, then looked at the girl's face, stood up, and walked toward the cave. The girl also stood and followed him.
He noticed her and turned around, looking into her azure eyes, then waved his hand for her to go away.
"Go back to your family."
[Hey, wait!.. Are you going to let a little cute injured girl return home alone?..]
The system's voice was somewhat agitated. Sol replied immediately without thinking:
"yeah."
[You're not a kind philosopher—you're a stone heart philosopher. You can't do this. You have to take her to her family..]
"This doesn't concern me.. I got involved in something that wasn't my concern, and the result was an annoying voice appearing inside my head!]
[Listen, you... you..] The system's voice paused for a moment, as if searching for something, then said: [Listen, hot head, you can't ignore this girl. And don't be so whiny. Doing good wasn't about rewards.]
"Where did you get this words?"
[Honestly, I don't know—they just came out , like I'm used to this kind of talk or heard it before.]
The system's voice paused briefly before continuing:
[Also, her family might reward you for saving her.and..I will scream loudly if you refuse.]
Sol sighed, then said:
"You..."
He paused and looked at the girl, then walked ahead of her down the path she always took when leaving the cave.
The girl looked at him in surprise before smiling—but her lips fell again. It was obvious: she didn't want Sol to come with her, for some reason. But she led the way.
***
[I have an amazing idea... Why don't you give her a name?]
"Why would I give a name to a strange girl who already has one?"
Sol replied coldly while stepping over thickets, bushes, and strangely shaped plants, the girl beside him Her gaze fixed down in frustration.
[..Because you know her.]
"So you figured it out."
[It's very obvious from how you treat her, your knowing the way to her home, and the way she looks at you.]
"But that's not enough reason to give her a name."
[Because it's not right to call her "girl"... Come on, you won't lose anything by doing it.]
Sol sighed, then studied the blue girl carefully—so carefully that she felt uncomfortable and slightly embarrassed, obvious from her blue cheeks reddening.
"How about Azure?"
Sol said confidently after a few seconds of thought.
[Eww!.. You're racist too, that's terrible!]
The system's voice was deeply disappointed, its tone empty of emotion except disgust at Sol's choice of name based on the girl's skin color.
Truth be told, Sol didn't know how to choose names or titles. Most of his choices were bad—maybe all of them. That's why his brothers never let him name their children; otherwise, the kids would have to live with strange, silly names.
Even the creatures he'd been practicing his stone-throwing skills on at night—when he nicknamed them "Night Crawlers," he'd taken the name of a famous hero character from Earth.
And even the creature he'd fought minutes ago—he was thinking of naming it "Scale-Beast."
[I was going to ask you to give me a name, but I afraid that you will give me a racest name..maybe like black screen or the cute voice.] The system's voice held the same disgusted, disappointed tone,
The system's voice fell silent for a moment before speaking, its tone changing.[after thinking maybe i will accept this name "the cute voice"]
but Sol didn't reply. He remained silent while walking beside the blue girl, who looked sad, staring downward. Sol noticed.
[Why does she look so sad?]
The system's voice said. But Sol did not respond
***
After some time of silent walking, Sol and the girl finally reached her place. But the scene was far from promising.
There were tents—many tents, different sizes and shapes—but they shared one thing: they were covered with leaves from that twisted black tree by the river, the one with poisonous fruit.
On the black soil, traces of azure blood were scattered everywhere, along with torn clothes, broken bows and spears, and collapsed tents.
Sol's rigid, gloomy expression didn't change at all as he surveyed the entire village.
[Oh... this is really bad. Looks like a slaughter happened here.]
Sol remained silent, saying nothing. The two continued making their way through the tents. Then Sol's attention was caught by the leaves hanging on the tents—professionally arranged, covering almost every part of each tent. He stopped to examine them while the girl continued walking without noticing, her sad eyes fixed on the ground.
[Why'd you stop?.. Do you like tents?]
Sol ignored the fact that the system had only been activated recently and know about tents, then said:
"This is a protective layer."
[A protective layer made from tree leaves?.. Yeah, right. What creature can't get through tree leaves?]
"I didn't say creature... Maybe weather protection."
While Sol examined the leaves hanging on the tents, he heard shouting nearby. He headed toward it and found the blue girl with two men wearing clothes of the same design as hers, having the same blue skin and black eyes with sapphire-blue irises.
[Her family?]
"Maybe.."
Sol said this while observing one of the men's angry features, how he shouted at the blue girl before grabbing her hair—making her whimper and speak in a trembling, frightened tone.
[He's trying to hit her—aren't you going to stop him?..]
The system's voice was agitated.
Then Sol replied coldly, watching closely as the man held the girl by her hair:
"They're her family... They know what's best for her."
[What are you saying?.. Just because they're her family doesn't give them the right to abuse her like this!]
Sol didn't reply. He just watched. On the other side, the man holding the girl's hair screamed at her at the top of his lungs, while she tried to free herself, tears on her cheeks.
She could only move one arm—the other was injured, unable to lift. Her eyes held a desperate plea for help. Those sapphire eyes streaming tears. The girl desperately wanted to cry out for rescue, but she didn't—perhaps because she was used to it.
The man then shook her violently, anger clear on his face, before raising his hand and bringing it down hard toward her face. But before it could touch her, Sol intervened—with a kick aimed at the blue man's face, sending him flying through the air before he landed on the damp, dark soil.
The other blue man looked at his fallen companion, then shifted his gaze to Sol with angry features—which immediately changed to surprise upon seeing him.
The fallen blue man stood up with intense aggressive intent—which completely vanished when he turned toward Sol, his expression becoming shocked.
Then both blue men quickly stood before Sol and suddenly prostrated , their gazes directed downward.