I Reject Quests

Darkhood City.

Rewen's room.

"-n! Rewen!" 

Hearing his mother's repeated shouts, Rewen was annoyed. He walked up to the door and opened it. "Why the f*ck are you still… here…?" He was dumbstruck by the sight of his mother.

Her eyes were red, hair disheveled and her clothes were in a mess.

"Are you, like, seeing someone?" In an instant, he voiced out the first thing that came to his mind. 'No. Mother is too devoted. She can't do this.'

"I'm sorry, Rewen." Grabbing his broad shoulders, she apologised with an anxious expression.

Rewen smiled broadly and grabbed her hands. "What's there to be sorry about? It's only natural that you expect me to be an heir maker. Nothing's wrong with that." 

"It's not like that! Rewen, you have to trust me. Do you truly believe your mother that raised you up painstakingly would say what she said yesterday?"

"I don't think I understand what you mean. Yesterday, I talked to you. Not some other person." Rewen asked in a doubtful tone.

"Like I said, it wasn't me!"

"Who was it then?"

"I can't tell you that but that wasn't me."

"Does it have anything to do with you looking like you went on an adventure and came back?"

"Yes. Since I had some work to do, I let her take my place. Don't hold a grudge against her. She is a good person and yesterday, she was merely playing with you."

Rewen was a bit skeptical at the beginning but thinking again, he thought that what she said makes sense. 'I don't know what she was doing but she is a Noble, after all.'

"Well, I'm not sure if I'll like her. I guess it's better for both me and her to not appear in front of each other again."

Mrs. Klofar nodded with a smile, then turned around. However, before she could leave, Rewen grabbed her hands. "I have to discuss with you."

Mrs. Klofar tilted her head. "Discuss what?"

Rewen looked straight into her eyes. "Tell me what you are hiding."

"Listen, Rewen. You are not ready for that." 

"I don't care. I want to know. I don't want to be kept in the dark." Rewen insisted.

"No." Mrs. Klofar's face was stern. "I'm doing this for your own good."

"Do you think I'm weak?"

"You are not strong enough. Besides, it's not just a matter of strength. With strength alone, you can't help me. You have to have a good social status with strong people behind your back."

Rewen sighed, before smiling. "Very well. I understand. While the person from yesterday may not be you, that doesn't mean her words held no truth. You are planning to usurp the House of Lenvin using my successor, aren't you?"

Mrs. Klofar didn't speak for a while. "It is not false but it's also not the way you are putting it to be..."

"Oh? Then, I don't see any difference between you and her. No matter how you put it, it's not acceptable. Your apology served no purpose."

"..." Tears streaked down from her face onto the ground. "I… I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry."

"Would you take back your scheme? Look. Your apology doesn't matter as long as you continue carrying out your schemes." Rewen felt he was a bit harsh on her. No matter what, she was still his mother that had raised him. 

"I can't do that." Sobbing, she said.

"Rewen!"

Rewen was about to say something when he heard Sam's voice from the main entrance of their house.

He gave his mother one last look before heading towards the entrance.

"What's the matter?" He asked Sam, who was standing before the door.

"Your friends are here."

"Where?"

"They are standing outside."

Hearing that, he wanted to comment about Sam's manners but then realized it would be futile and went outside.

"Huh? How come both of you are here?"

The "friends" that arrived were his cousin Denny and Svety.

"Why can't we come?" Denny grumbled, then with a teasing smile, she said. "Could it be that we interrupted your special time with your fiance?"

"Fiance?" Svety looked as if her eyes lost color.

"Don't be silly. Do you want to come inside?" Rewen neither denied nor confirmed the existence of his fiance. He knew that Denny didn't know much and was just teasing. 'Please, Vinia. Don't appear in front of them.' He unknowingly set a flag.

"Yeah, sure. We want to see the insides of your new house. It looks great from the outside."

Svety didn't say anything.

***

"Mm… this is very good." Denny commented on the Kiuran Balls she was eating, then her eyes went to Sam. "Is he your brother?"

"Not blood-related." Rewen briefly answered.

"Not blood-related? Is he an orphan?"

"I am an orphan." Sam himself responded.

"Sorry, sad to hear." Denny realized that her question was sort of inappropriate.

"It's fine."

Denny nodded. "So what are your plans?"

"Plans here?"

"No. With X."

Rewen's eyes widened. 'This… how can I be so stupid? The microphone in their bodies cannot reach here because this is a virtual body. No one can hear what we say in this place.'

"Are there any anti-terrorist agencies for the real world in this game?"

Denny and Svety looked at each other and shook their heads. "Why would there be? Also, we believe it's a huge risk to contact other people about this matter."

"That's stupid. If we contact people here, the matter would be resolved quickly."

"But before that, we would lose our lives. Can you guarantee it won't happen?"

Rewen fell silent. Indeed, he can't guarantee that their lives won't be in danger.

"Alright. What do you plan to do?"

"What do you plan to do?" Denny asked back. "We don't do anything. The one who would do something is you. First, tell us about your strength."

"For now, I'm a tiny bit physically stronger than a Rank 1 Mage. Rather than a mage, I'm more of a Martial Artist."

Denny's eyes squinted. "Then, how did you defeat Rank 2?" She was naturally talking about Ruby.

"Just know that I can't defeat a Rank 2 physically until the 12th of this month. I can't tell you anything other than this."

"12th? Between this, you have to possibly fight two times and the enemies will be stronger. What are you going to do?"

"I honestly don't know. If it's Rank 1, I have confidence that I could come out as the victor but everything changes if it's Rank 2." Rewen wasn't lying. The gap between ranks isn't there just for show. It is real. If it's a Martial Artist, even a little difference in stats makes a huge difference in fights. In the case of Mages, people often misunderstand that mages equals ranged battles but in a life-and-death battle where both of them are at each other's throats, physical combat is unavoidable.

"Do you have any skills?" This time, Svety was the one to ask since Denny fell silent.

"I learned a skill from [Custom]. I have a few tricks in my arsenal. I can be considered strong enough to completely destroy a Rank 1 within seconds."

"But you still can't defeat a Rank 2." Denny blurted out.