I Reject Quests

A sword made a beautiful arc in arc and struck down another sword.

*Clang*

The two two figures - a young woman and a relatively old man instantly got away from each other and stared.

"Your swordsmanship is still the same. It has strength but lacks dignity." Lunov, the butler in charge of taking care of her, said in a disappointed voice.

"Enough of your bullshit. There are no dignified sword fights in wars. It is a weapon to kill or spar. Nothing less, nothing more." The young woman sheathed her sword. She was very pissed at her sword instructor always saying the same thing over and over again.

Hearing her complain, Lunov didn't appear angry. "This is where you are misunderstanding, Young Miss. A dignified sword can be both ruthless and strong."

"Then what makes my sword not a dignified sword?" 

"It lacks dignity."

"..." The young woman said nothing. She unsheathed her sword again and went for a strike.

*Clang*

"Listen to the sounds of the blades. What do you think it is?"

The young woman grunted. "What else? Just the sound of metals." She said closing in on Lunov.

"There's more to it than the sound of metals. It harbours emotions just like humans." Lunov calmly dodged the sword aimed at his head and grabbed her wrist.

The sword in her hand fell down. "What's wrong? We could have continued." She was a bit perplexed because Lunov didn't end fights this quick.

Lunov sheathed his sword. "There's a time and place for everything and now is not the time. Unless of course, you want to keep a man waiting." He pointed to a young man sitting at a corner yawning.

"Hm?" She looked at the direction he pointed and showed a shocked expression. "Hey."

"Oh. Hi." Rewen got up and came to her.

"Who are you?" Suppressing her shock, she asked vigilantly.

"I, uh, I am supposed to be your fiancé." Rewen smiled awkwardly. 

"Fiancé? I have no knowledge of having one?"

Rewen was speechless. 

"Young Miss. Didn't you remember what the Old Master said yesterday?"

"What do you mean? He says so many things in a day."

"At night."

"Ah… he said he'll show me a good man. So that's the case… I thought he was talking about sparring partners."

"I'll excuse myself." Lunov walked away making the atmosphere more awkward than it already was.

The young woman was at a loss at what to do. She glanced at the man standing before her and thought he was pretty decent but as for marriage, she had never thought about it till now. She knew that she was at an age where most people get married but her heart was elsewhere. 'I don't want to settle down. I want to…' She stopped her thoughts. 

"I don't want to get married." Looking at Rewen, she made a bold statement. She didn't care if he got mad at her.

Contrary to her expectations, a smile lit up on his face. "Could you say this to your grandfather?"

The young woman thought for a bit before replying. "I couldn't."

Rewen sighed. "Rewen Klofar." He stretched out his arm.

"Vinia Wanigard." She shook his hands.

"So uh… I saw your sword style. It's really good."

"You know about swords?"

"I am a blacksmith. I know something of every weapon."

"Shall we take a walk outside? I want to hear more."

"Okay."

***

Rewen and Vinia took permission and went to the market. 

"When did you come to the city?" Vinia asked in curiosity.

"It's been about two days. I used to live in the Ricewater Village."

"You are from the village?" Vinia was surprised that her grandfather would make a man from the village her fiancé.

"Right. Also, I think it's about time to be more open about this."

"Open about what?"

"The marriage thing. If you have anything to say about it, don't hold back."

"I'm not really interested in marriage…"

"Do you have any goals?"

"..."

"If it's a secret, then-"

"It's not exactly a secret. Everyone knows this more or less. I wanted to get enlisted at the Order of the Knights."

"Which order?"

"The King's Order."

"Very ambitious."

"Um?"

"Hmm?"

"I'm saying this clearly. My grandfather won't let me go unmarried. If I tell my grandfather I don't want to get married, he will bring another man. So it's useless. My point is, I want to continue to do what I want. Practicing the sword, sparring with skilled fighters and becoming a knight. I don't want to be a housewife taking care of kids." Vinia felt a little uneasy when she said this. She wasn't great at conversations and had very little interest in love and family. At a young age, she was fascinated by the stories of the knights and wanted to become one.

"You should do what you want. If I can, I would support you."

"Thank you." Vinia's eyes showed relief. Showing a bright smile, she continued. "I worried if you were chauvinistic…"

Rewen chuckled. "Do I look that bad?"

Vinia lightly laughed. "No, you don't. By the way, what is your goal?"

"I'm not sure if you would understand but I want my family to feel real."

"I'm not sure I understand what that means."

"You sure you want to know? There's no going back."

"Now you've got me curious."

"I'm serious. You are better off not knowing. I wouldn't even have mentioned this if you weren't my fiancé." Rewen said with a grave expression.

"Fine." Vinia pouted. 'He has a strong character and seems reliable. He doesn't seem to be the overbearing or the henpecked type. Maybe he is right for me but what a dull way to get married.' After talking with him a bit more, she finally made a decision. 'If I have to get married, he is a good choice but he is a bit boring.' 

"Hey."

"What?" Rewen tilted his head.

"You are a bit boring."

"That's not the first time I heard someone call me boring. I know that my replies are too predictable and seem to be the most generic sort but believe me, I'm not masking my true self or anything. I'm just like this. Perhaps it's because I came from the village." 

Vinia somehow understood his explanation. "Do you think that the stereotype that the nobles are more interesting than a villager is true?"

"I don't know. It should be though. Nobles get more exposure to the outside world so maybe they think a bit differently. Take yourself for yourself. Do you not want to become a Knight? Would any other girls in this city aspire to become one?"

"But that's because they don't have the resources to even aspire to become one."

"That's only part of the reason. You can try this. Bring any girl and tell her that you would give her resources and the girl has two choices - to become a knight with the resources and to live her life the way she wants with the resources. What do you think she would choose? I'm not saying all but an overwhelming majority would choose the second option. Now, what would you do if you were the girl chosen?"

"I would choose to become a knight." Vinia answered without any hesitation.

"This is the difference. As a noble, you never knew the hardships of a commoner and don't be mistaken, I'm not blaming you for it. The commoners just want an easy life. They don't have the determination to choose a path that leads to even more hardship after struggling for some part of their life."

Vinia fell into deep contemplation. After a while, she looked at him with a smile hanging on her lips. "That was interesting. You know more things than you let on."

"You make it seem like I'm hiding my actual personality."

"Anyways, I have wanted to ask this for a while."

"Which is?"

"Why did my grandfather choose someone from the village?" Vinia carefully asked. She was hesitating in asking this because it could easily be misunderstood. Now that she got to know him, she figured that he was not the sort of person who would take things the wrong way.

"It's probably because my Master has connections with the Baron."

"Your Master?"

"Yeah, Master Kaf. Have you heard of his name?"

She shook her head. "I don't but then again, I don't know much of the city either. I rarely go out."

"I see. Should we head back?"

"Sure!"

***

The Baron of Darkhood's wild laughter rang across the hall seeing his future grandson-in-law and granddaughter chatting with each other. He rubbed his moustache indicating that he was very pleased.

Mrs. Klofar commented. "How can such a perfect match exist?"

Master Kaf nodded. "They have good affinity with each other. Your granddaughter still has the same grounded personality and that brat is also unrestrained and open."

"Who is talking about their personality, Old Man? Look how they look so good together. Their offspring will definitely take the good genes from them just like how Rewen got his face from me." Mrs. Klofar had stars on her eyes.

"What are you talking about? He looks nothing like you. If anything, he looks like a clone of his father."