I Reject Quests

West of Forest of Michaile.

It was night. 

Only two figures could be seen in the base. Everyone else was in the tent.

"Sir, a total of four-hundred-and-fifty-eight Gruer Orb scraps are there." The speaker was Ida Kunio. After the incident with Rewen, he quickly recovered.

On the other end stood a handsome blonde-haired man, Seiji. "That should be enough to beat my sister. I don't know what trick that Third Brother of mine would pull though." Thinking of his siblings, the corner of his lips curved up to form a smile.

"You can rest assured. Our number is high enough." Ida didn't believe that the River Alliance had a larger amount of Gruer Orbs scraps.

"Nothing is for certain." Seiji advised, then his mind drifted to a certain person. "You do remember our deal, right?"

Ida hurriedly nodded. "I swear I'll not say a word about the identity of that person to the outside world."

Seiji nodded seriously. That day, his men searched the spot 'that person' fell but not a single trace of him could be found. He understood that 'that person' isn't a normal person and immediately made the decision to make friends with him. Getting back to his base, he interrogated Ida in person and told him to keep quiet about the matter.

"But Sir, wouldn't Princess be aware of his identity?" Ida couldn't understand the logic behind Seiji's actions.

"That's the catch. I met up with my sister alone and talked about the matter for a long time. From the looks of it, she doesn't know the identity of that person." Seiji himself found it ridiculous.

"How is that possible? Didn't that person fight with two of Princess' subordinates?"

"Some people are just mysterious. For his personal benefit, he played with two of the big alliances in the palm of his hand." Seiji was a smart person. When he figured out Rewen's identity, it didn't take much time for him to find out why Rewen did what he did. 'That Gruer Orb was probably given by Grandfather.'

Ida Kunio didn't want to admit but Seiji was right. 'At the end, even though he was beaten up by dozens of people, he did get what he wanted.'

***

East of Forest of Michaile.

Arata fell on the ground on his back while panting.

Near to him stood Hase who was similarly out of breath. He walked up to him and stretched his hand. "It was a good fight."

Arata grabbed his hands and got up with a smile. "I can't deny that. However, I must say you are full of surprises."

"What surprise? I trained super hard to defeat you."

"Well, I'm glad I could be your goal."

Both of them started laughing at each other.

The other members of the alliance also started laughing. Although they lost, they felt that their defeat was deserved. Not to mention, they knew even before joining that the representative of the alliance was to be either Hase or Arata.

Rewen watched the entire fight with curious eyes. 'So that's the prowess of Bronze, huh. I can confidently say that I'm far from reaching that level. I can't even estimate their POW. That's how far I am from Bronze.'

"Anyways, everyone! Line up!" Arata shouted.

'I guess it's about time.' Rewen mused. This was the time when Gruer Orbs were given out freely. Only the scraps were left behind for the representative to take.

"Since I'm the representative, I should be first to choose." Hase was the first one to approach the treasury.

"Nope. You'll be the last to choose." Arata blocked his way. "Who agrees with me?"

"I do!"

"Me too."

Just like that, everyone raised their hands.

"..." Hase was speechless.

After that, everyone took turns and chose the Gruer Orb they liked.

Meanwhile, Rewen approached Arata who was smiling. "I have two requests."

"Hm? What are they?" Arata frankly asked.

"I want an invisibility-ability Gruer Orb."

"Interesting. But you do understand I can't really see which one of them has the ability, right?"

"No, you can." Rewen pointed to the ring Arata was wearing in his ring fingers.

Arata's smile became stiff. After a few seconds, he sighed. "Fine, but you'll owe me one. I'm not allowed to use these rings for purposes other than my own."

"Okay." Rewen readily agreed.

"I'll do that for you but what's your second request?" Arata curiously asked.

"This request of mine is not limited only to you." Rewen said, before turning to the group. "Can all of you please gather here?"

"Huh? What is it?"

"Say it. No need to hold back."

Rewen took a huge breath.

***

Exquisite Immemorial Palace.

"I thank you all for participating in this event. I hope everyone had their fair share of fun and enjoyment out of it. I'm sure you've made friends and memories. That's all that matters. Therefore, let's clap for all of us present." The Old King heartily laughed.

*Clap*

*Clap*

*Clap*

In front of him were less than a hundred young men and women who participated in the event. All of them had looks of anticipation. They were waiting for the winner to be declared.

Seiji, Ayame and Hase - the three representatives from the three alliances had looks of anticipation.

"Nice to meet you. You should be the brother of Reza, right?" Ayame's gaze landed on Hase as both of them were near.

"I am. Did she trouble you?" No matter who it was, Hase liked to talk informally. Somehow, he cringed when forced to say words like 'Your Highness'. 

"Oh no, she is... um, a very good friend of mine."

"I'm sure she is. She sees you as her idol."

Ayame smiled politely, then her expression turned serious. "If I may ask, did that distant relative of yours participate in the competition?"

"You mean Rewen? No, not really. He did in fact come here to participate. Unfortunately, his day was bad and he went home." Hase recalled the words requested by Rewen. To be honest why Rewen even bothered to hide the matter because it was only a matter of time before he was discovered.

"Oh… that was done by me. Can you tell me where he is? I want to compensate him for the matter." Even though Ayame didn't fully believe his words, she found it highly unlikely for 'that person' to be Rewen. 

"He, uh, went home." Hase smiled awkwardly.

"Home? Ah, it makes sense." Ayame seemed to have understood. Since he wasn't allowed to participate in the event, why would he even stay in the Capital?

"In that case, please tell him the gates of Exquisite Immemorial Palace are open to him." Ayame briefly said before returning to her seat.

Hase felt a massive urge to laugh but held himself back.

***

"Ladies and Gentlemen, thank you for waiting. We have decided on our winner for this year's event. I request everyone to stand up before I call the name." The one who said that was a young man in his mid-twenties wearing a suit. He was the Host for the little ceremony because it was considered rude for the Old King himself to Host.

Everyone stood up with anticipation in their eyes.

"And… the winner of this year's Hunting Event is Hase Shichiro!!"