I Reject Quests

"Beast tide, huh. Can we defend it?" Imada asked himself standing out in the mild weather. 

A day had passed after the group had returned to the local village. The locals were kind enough to let them take shelter for free but Imada had no idea how long the kindness would last. 

'In case, we fail to control the beast tide, we have to find jobs… wait, aren't I forgetting something? How are we supposed to find jobs if the people who give jobs don't exist anymore?' All of a sudden, Imada felt that the matter was more serious than he previously thought.

Today, they were supposed to make a plan. So he was waiting at the meeting place, or rather, outside the residence the group was staying temporarily.

"Yo! You are up early." Koshikawa yawned, lazily approaching Imada. Followed by him were the rest of the group - Asuka, Aya, Sakai, Koyami, and the magician.

After the group had gathered, the magician clapped his hands. "Alright, guys. I'm sure the rest you have taken yesterday was enough… or do you need one more day? Tell me if you are lazy and unwilling because this is serious. Doing things half-heartedly isn't going to work anymore. So, is there anyone who is feeling like maybe today isn't the right day for starting?"

As soon as the magician said that, the look in the group sharpened. Whether they want it or not, they have to plan and be prepared, i.e., if they care about their own lives.

The magician smiled when he saw the determined look on their faces. 

"Since there are no objections, without any further ado, I'll start the introductions. I'm, as you all know, a thirty-three years old street magician. There is nothing particularly special about me. I came to this willingly and there are a lot of personal things about me that I'm not going to talk about. For now, just know me as a goofy street magician who happens to be a Bronze-ranked [Sealing] Gruer User. Oh, I'm also a teacher for now."

When he finished his introduction, Imada gave his own. "I'm a fifteen-year-old teen… uh, I'm not trying to brag but my talent is good and my affinity with G.C. is pretty good. Because I am the only son in my family, I was brought up by strict parents… That's it."

The magician nodded, then moved his eyes towards Koshikawa. "Mister Smartass, I certainly have a lot to hear from you."

Koshikawa chuckled. He was the one who got along with the magician the most. He figured that it's because both of them had similar temperaments. 

"I'm not sure what is so mysterious about me. Fine, I'll delve deep into my past. I'm an orphan. I grew up in an orphanage in Central. I'm sure everyone has heard about the "Selective Process" in orphanages. Children there literally get prematurely <<Awakened>> and if you don't have a good awakening, they won't care about you. At most, they'll keep you till you are thirteen and then throw you out. Anyways, I went through the "Selective Process" of orphanages and was declared 'talented'. Therefore, they decided to let me enroll into Sakura Garden at the age of eight."

Sakura Garden Academy has its own schooling system from kindergarten all the way to graduation. 

"You certainly have an interesting past." The magician commented. "What about you, Sakai? Is that your name?"

Sakai nodded. "I don't have an interesting past or strict parents. I'm just, you know, the usual kid. My talents are above-average so I constantly worry about my future."

The magician laughed out loud. "In the past, I was a much worse version of you." He then turned his eyes to the next person. "What about you, Princess Asuka?"

Everyone, including Asuka, revealed a shocked expression.

The magician's face was strange. "Did I say something weird…?"

The group fell silent.

Koshikawa finally couldn't hold back his laughter. "She is a princess."

Now it's the magician's turn to be shocked. "What? For real? Doesn't she live in Central?"

Koshikawa continued. "She is the 5th and also the youngest daughter of King Tsubasa Jr., the King of Olpio. She was brought up in Central because the King thought that the Central is the safest place for her daughter to live."

"This also works?" The magician weirdly looked at Asuka. "So you are a pampered princess. Okay, off to the next one---"

"I'm not!" Asuka stomped her feet angrily. This is also the reason she gets angry when someone calls her 'Asuka-hime'. 

"I get it, I get it. So... Aya? Are you a princess as well?"

Aya chuckled. "I'm not. I'm the third daughter of a small-time noble in Central. My parents were moderately strict but unlike Imada, I had the freedom to do what I want because I had two older brothers."

"Hm? Imada didn't have freedom? You okay, kid?" The magician turned to Imada who responded with a wry smile. "Hmm… anyways, off to the last person, Koyami! Tell me about yourself."

"I...I am an average student---"

"An average student who likes to bully."

Imada exposed him.

Koyami glared at him. "Name me two people whom I targeted."

Imada: "Your entire persona is about bullying one particular person."

Koyami: "Come on man, if you are accusing me of bullying him, why don't you accuse the entire class?"

Imada: "I never bullied him. Aside from you and your group, nobody directly bullied him. We all made fun of him but never outright bullied him."

Koyami: "Really? Did you forget what Asuka did to him just a day or two before the shit happened?"

"Why am I brought into this?" Asuka complained.

"Whoa, wait there. Why did an argument appear out of nowhere?" The magician hurriedly came between them and tried to get the two parties to calm down.

Koyami didn't stop. "What's with you suddenly acting like a hypocrite?"

"Yeah, Imada. If we are guilty of bullying him, you are equally guilty." Asuka joined his side,

Imada stared as if he couldn't believe them. Seeing this, why should he hold back?

"Now I'm a hypocrite, huh. Cut the act and grow some balls. You don't even have the courage to admit frankly that you were wrong to bully him. Of course, that's what people at the bottom do. Picking on the weak to feel yourself better. And you, Asuka. You are beyond cure. 

"You are nothing more than an unreasonable psychopath. You order people around and if something unpleasant appears in front of your eyes, you beat him up. Whether you admit it or not, you are the definition of a 'pampered princess'. Your father gave you everything except for a brain."

Koyami: "Imada, you have crossed the line…"

Asuka: "What did you say!?"

Both of them started their aggression towards Imada who stood at his place.

The magician had a hard time controlling their aggression. "Calm down, both of you. We can talk it out…"

Imada snorted.

"Imada, you have said too much." While the magician was calming down the two, Aya approached him.

Imada shook his head. "You wouldn't understand, Aya. They aren't sane people."