I Reject Quests

When the group arrived at the scene, they were horrified.

Blood was all over the village.

Corpses lying everywhere.

Imada felt nauseated and puked. Even the genocide in Sakura Garden Academy were not this horrifying.

Asuka's eyes went wide and she instantly fainted.

Koyami fell on his knees, his expression was deadly pale.

"What… happened in the village…?" Sakai asked in a terrified tone. 

Koshikawa didn't answer and looked at the magician standing at a distance from them, his hand still on the neck of the beast. 

"How could this happen?" Aya gasped, not being able to hold her tears back.

Not a single local was alive.

***

Two hours later.

Everyone sat at a round table, their gazes on the magician who sighed.

"It's my fault. I failed to take one particular scenario into consideration." He clenched his fist tight when he thought about the people he had lived with for years were slaughtered because of one miscalculation. The more he thought about it, the more his body shuddered.

"One particular scenario? What is that scenario?" Koyami asked.

"The beast tide was large, consisting of more than thirty beasts. While I was dealing with the beasts in the north, another group of beasts entered the village from the other areas. By the time I dealt with the beasts in the north, the beasts already destroyed the village." The magician answered with a calm expression but his hands were shaking.

The group fell silent.

A few seconds later, Imada bitterly smiled. "It's not your fault… we have tried everything we could---"

The magician interrupted him with a low voice. "We didn't. I was too invested in making a perfect plan. I was too cautious… It would have been difficult but still possible to not see this day had I thought about this scenario earlier. I… could have divided the group into pairs. That would have solved the problem… but I didn't…"

*Baam*

In a rage, the magician struck down the table with his hand breaking the table.

The sudden action startled the group but no one spoke out. They figured out the mood of the magician and refrained from making the situation worse.

The magician got up from his chair. "I'll talk about this tomorrow." Then, he walked towards his room. 

"That strength is frightening," Koyami commented when he saw the small pieces of wood that originated from the wooden table.

The next day, the group cleaned the entire village. 

It took about six hours. After that, they dug graves and gave the deceased local villagers a proper burial.

"Why did the witch not step up?" Asuka asked with an irritated expression.

"Yes. If she had stepped in, this wouldn't have happened. A role model? For the devil, sure." Sakai grumbled.

The magician sighed while looking at the sky. "She doesn't interfere in earthly matters."

Koyami also spoke up. "She 'doesn't' when she could. I don't know what even goes in her head. People are dying and that excuse isn't going to cut out. Are all powerful people like this?" 

Standing by the side, Koshikawa quietly listened to the conversation. "Doesn't interfere in earthly matters, huh. I wonder to what extent?"

"Huh? That's a weird question." Imada heard him.

***

The next day, in the early morning, they left for the witch's castle. They knew that they failed to keep up with the deal and were only visiting her for the slim chance where the witch would be generous and give them a way out of the island.

The Witch's Castle.

Sitting on the sofa, the mysterious witch in blue looked at the several people in front of her. "In other words, you people failed." Behind her was her beautiful attendant, Alanine El Hamadore.

Imada and the others remained silent. "..."

The magician looked straight at her. "That is the case."

"Why are you wasting my time then?" The witch spoke in a chilling voice which petrified the teenagers.

The magician felt some kind of pressure upon his body. "For… mercy. Please understand… that we have to send an… important message…"

"That doesn't concern me." The witch coldly said.

The magician looked at Imada and the others and sighed internally. "We'll… leave." As soon as he said that, the pressure on his body lightened. He turned around. 'Of course, did I expect the witch to be some sort of benevolent figure?'

He started walking away along with others who had dejected looks on their faces.

"Please wait!"

Just then, Alanine shouted to them.

The group turned around in confusion.

Alanine came near the witch and whispered a few words in her ears. After a while, the witch nodded. "Very well. You can take them on your visit to Avim." Then, she turned to the group. "My attendant is visiting Avim in two months. Since she requested this, I'll allow you, people, to go with her."

Hearing that, the group's eyes brightened. Two months is still better than six months.

Koyami started laughing and chattering erupted within seconds.

"Thank you." The magician merely had a smile on his face. "Also, thank you." He didn't forget Alanine who gave a slight nod.

***

It was midnight.

Because it was very late, the group decided to stay for the night.

"Fuck. I have a huge load coming." Koshikawa suddenly woke up.

"What?" Imada rubbed his eyes.

"I have to go to the bathroom. Do you know where it is?"

"It should be on the left corner…" Imada answered, half-awake.

Koshikawa quickly got up from his bed and headed outside the room. But his destination wasn't towards the bathroom. He calmly went to the dark living room and sat on the sofa the witch was previously sitting on. The moment he sat, he felt a cool feeling on his neck.

"Do you know what you have done?"

Koshikawa smiled, then lightly caressed the sharp blade that was against his neck. "Do you know the worst enemy of humankind? Mythical beasts, sub-humans, wars, etc.? Who hurts humankind the most? Do you know?"

"..." The neck dug deeper into his neck.

"It's pride. It's baseless, useless, and garbage. It takes away the rationality to properly think and also the humanity that the person took years to cultivate. Just like you want to kill a person just for simply sitting on your sofa. If this was the product of living for centuries, then I couldn't be sadder for you. 

"People would think that it is understandable because… for a person who has lived for centuries, they ought to have unique thought processes, right? They think it demonstrates power and pride. What they fail to notice is behind the words they label that person lies a sad and lonely person who themselves have very little idea about themselves… and while they try to figure themselves out, they start to accept what the general masses believe them to be and act accordingly." Koshikawa sighed.

The blade stopped but it still remained on the neck.

"State your purpose." A cold voice entered his ears.

"Being this aggressive is not good for your health, Miss Alanine El Hamadore. Please don't be disgusted but I must say, your… your clone's hand had a rather special fragrance." Koshikawa replied with a carefree expression.

"..." The blade was separated from the neck. "What do you want?"

Koshikawa got up and took a good look at the witch. "The blade looks nice… oh, don't look at me like that. I want this for only a couple of minutes. Also, I have some unfinished business. I'm not asking to be permanently transferred. Just temporarily."

"Where?" The witch asked almost immediately.

Koshikawa blinked. "Avim of Extreme North. Zcan State. Rover City. Terio Villa."