I Reject Quests

As much as she wanted to get to the bottom of it, she knew that they were indeed not in the correct time and place.

Gill was reluctant but he eventually decided to let go of the matter and walked away from the spot Alfred was in. Kesha heaved a sigh of relief and followed him.

Alfred fixed his collar and his face was very confused. He didn't understand why Gill would get so mad over his step-sister. 

Meanwhile, Gill and the others went to Denny who was staring blankly at the grave.

"I know it's hard for you but we were close to Rewen and we deserve to know the cause of his death," Kesha repeated the same sentence she said to Zelic to Denny.

Instantly, everyone around her except for Denny felt a deja vu.

Denny raised her head and looked at her friends. For a moment, she was at a loss of words.

"I… don't know if it's right. The issue is way broader than you think it is."

"So what? We couldn't know how a friend of ours died. How can the matter be suppressed? It's already out in the open. Moreover, the authorities haven't even said anything. That's bullshit." Junar didn't buy that just like everyone else.

Denny had a difficult face but just as she was about to answer, Bianca stepped forward. "Don't force her. If she doesn't want to say anything, it's fine. I don't know what Rewen went through. I'm sure it's horrifying but right now, does she look like she is in a good condition? We don't know anything about the matter. Also, keep in mind that Denny was kidnapped. She was kidnapped. Cut her some slack." 

"We don't know anything about the matter - and that's precisely why we want to know." Gill countered.

Evans had his mouth shut. He wasn't even a close friend of Rewen. Even if he was curious about Rewen's death, it would be weird for him to take part in this discussion.

"Look, Denny. We want to understand the kind of suffering Rewen went through. Maybe curiosity plays some part in it but ultimately, we just want to know the cause of death of a friend." Salica stepped forward and tried to mediate.

Everyone's eyes gathered around Denny who sighed.

"Let's talk in private."

Everyone agreed.

Fifteen minutes later, Rewen's corpse was dug and the grave was closed.

As the sky was slowly turning dark, the people gathered walked away. 

***

Klofar Residence.

Denny's room was packed with people.

Kesha, Gill, and Junar sat on her bed. 

Evans, Bianca, Salica, and Zelic sat on the floor.

Denny sat on the chair.

"So…" Junar tried to start the conversation.

"Uh… where should I start…?" Denny felt that it was too tiresome to explain the entire thing.

"Start from the very beginning. If needed, we would pull off an all-nighter." Salica spoke up.

Gill nodded. "Yeah, just start from the beginning."

"We have all night. Take your time if you need to but we ain't leaving unless you tell us everything." Kesha said.

Denny sighed. 

"It happened about two weeks ago. I think it's less than two weeks but anyways, let's continue. It was the day when Rewen decided to take a leave of absence from the academy. Apparently, he went to the slums and pretended to be captured by the people in the slums who trade organs. As soon as he was captured, he called the cops on them. One of the many things I don't understand is the purpose of doing this.

"Did he get a sudden inspiration of justice? Of wanting to put the slave traders behind bars. That sounds highly unlikely. Regardless, I think the only person who might be aware of the reason was none other than himself. Moving on, after turning the slave traders on to the cops, he was confronted by Svety." 

Denny paused for a while to see everyone's reaction.

"Wasn't it last week? I remember Svety taking leave last week. In other words, she followed Rewen?" Kesha asked under everyone's curious eyes.

"She did follow him. When I asked about it, she replied that she just wanted to check what she was up to. Back then, I didn't focus particularly on this issue but now, I feel that she was way worse than I thought."

The others silently nodded. They were still very disgusted and repulsed by what she did.

"Continuing with it. Rewen and Svety went to Area 51. Again, don't ask me. I asked Svety and she said that it was the decision of Rewen. I can't say anything but after everything that happened till now, I can say with a fair degree of confidence that Rewen didn't have much idea of what he was getting into.

"So they both entered Area 51 and they stayed for some time in a tribe. Two hours later, Rewen returned to his place safe and sound. And then at night, the tragedy happens. I was resting in the living room when the doorbell rang. I walked up to the door and saw that Svety had come. I wanted to ask if something's the matter but she appeared very anxious. Svety and Rewen had a long conversation. Svety revealed to Rewen that she had an explosive inside her."

Denny instantly dropped a bomb in her narration. 

At first, everyone thought that they'd heard something wrong but when they looked at each other's confused faces, they realized that they hadn't heard wrong.

"What?" Bianca was the first one to raise her voice.

"Yeah, like what? What do you mean by explosive?" Junar asked the question everyone had in their minds.

"Let me explain." Denny realized that this was going to be a long night.

***

Mr. Klofar sat opposite his wife on the bed. Ron was asleep without a care for the world.

"I don't know the purpose of doing this. There is no discussion to be had. It's already decided." Mr. Klofar frankly said to his wife.

Viviana's eyes revealed sorrow. "Just listen…"

"Don't try to persuade me this time, Vivi." Mr. Klofar said with a grave expression. 

"You and I both know nothing would come out of this. It… it doesn't matter what you do. Everything's already been done! It's very likely that they are from the IHAC and this would be your fourth time getting involved with them. In the last three times, you had barely managed to escape with your life. Momentary satisfaction isn't worth the cost of your life…" 

By the end of her speech, she had gotten emotional and leaned her head towards her husband's chest with her eyes closed. "I've already lost one of the most important people in my life. I can't… I can't let you do as you please. Even if you don't care about me, think about Ron. He is growing up. Do you want him to suffer the same fate as Rewen?"

Mr. Klofar didn't answer for a long time. After about ten seconds, he opened his mouth. "I'll think about it. Now, sleep. You must be tired." Ruffling his hands through Viviana's hair, he said.

Viviana forced a smile, then lied beside her second, no, her only son.

"I'm going to take a breath of fresh air. I'll come back soon." Mr. Klofar said, then left the room.

When he got out of the room, he noticed that the light in Denny's room was still up. It seems like the discussion among friends was still going on. Not paying much attention to it, he went to the balcony where he saw his nephew Cal smoking.

"You'd be the last person I thought I'd see smoking." Mr. Klofar commented, then took a seat beside him.

"It's because I don't let people know that I smoke." Absent-mindedly staring at the sky, Cal said. 

For Klofars, smoking was a practice that was frowned upon. Not only was it related to the religion they practiced but also the surname and the lineage. That's not to say that it's forbidden. Most non-religious Klofars smoke but religious Klofars rarely smoke.

Cal was moderately religious. 

Thus, it was strange for him to smoke.

Mr. Klofar didn't actually think that his nephew was telling the truth but didn't press the matter.

"Say, I failed right?" Looking at the bright sky, he asked.

"Failure is an understatement." Cal nonchalantly replied. "You don't even have any idea what kind of person Rewen is."

As much as Mr. Klofar wanted to deny the claim, but he couldn't. Sighing, he asked. "You tell me. You were more of a parent to him than me. I'm worried that… that this idiotic brain of mine would end up affecting Ron as well."

"That's too much to ask." Cal shook his head. 

Mr. Klofar didn't say anything, seemingly waiting for an answer.

Cal sighed. "He… was honorable, smart, responsible, and… complicated. The best way to describe him would be - an eccentric but righteous person. Someone who has a fixed set of values and morals and would go to any means to achieve them."