I Reject Quests

After a while, he stopped laughing and chuckled. "Sure, you lived a sad life but why are you telling me this? Are you hoping to get some sympathy? Sorry, but you have gone too far. No amount of redemption is enough. That's the harsh truth."

Banci's eyes were calm. He had a feeling that he would die soon. "This is the problem with normal people like you. They get defensive real quick when your values are threatened. You people live under the assumption that people should lead a good life and commit no crimes when you don't even know half of our circumstances. I'm not trying to gain any sympathy or any sort of emotions from you."

"Then why are you saying all this?" Rewen abruptly asked. 

"It's a necessary evil thing. I hate the way you look down on me for being a cannibal. Let me ask you, what would you have done if you were in my shoes? Don't bother giving answers if you half-assed."

"Assuming that what you have said is true…"

"It is the truth."

"If it is true, I would fight my way out of the organization and maybe die trying."

Banci wasn't surprised by hearing his reply as he already expected this. "Okay, answer me this. Take out a random person from the people you know and try to put him/her in my shoes. Do you think there's the slightest chance for him/her to not do what you did."

"Extremely likely." Rewen gave a nonchalant answer.

"Is the person you picked not a morally good person?"

"Good."

"Would the person you picked commit suicide because he couldn't kill humans like I did?"

"Not really."

"He would try to do everything to survive, right? Then where in the world am I someone who is a scum? Right now, I can eat whatever I want to but I have to be involved in cannibalism to save my own ass!"

Rewen shook his head. "I never said that you are a scum. I was looking down on you because you lacked the guts to fight against the organization and are a cannibal, no matter what you say or do. Someone who couldn't be redeemed by the society. Even if you survive today, you will be someone's dog and work for him your entire life. In my eyes, death is better than being someone's dog for life. I feel sorry for you for life but I can never feel sympathy if you die. I would even say it's deserving."

"I see. Thank you for your answer." His eyes closed as he lost his consciousness. The blood stick on his hand got mixed with the grass.

Rewen walked to him and pierced the dagger into Banci's left arm, then pierced again in his right leg. After that, he picked him up on his shoulder. 'Even if he regained his consciousness, he can't make a move.'

"Now then, where are the others?"

***

"Boss, I got the Pehmen Liquids." Muniba returned from the Qan Residence to the place his Boss was stationed at.

The Boss turned back. "How many bottles?" 

"Six."

"That's enough. Asen, go and check if they are fighting. Just check. Once you spot them, immediately come back! Don't involve yourself no matter how dire the situation is!" The Boss solemnly said, then turned to Muniba. "Give him a bottle."

Muniba tossed a bottle to Asen. The latter nodded, then disappeared in the woods.

"Is this alright, Boss?" Muniba nervously asked.

"It's fine. Asen has always been a better scout than Banci."

"Then why did you send Banci to scout first?" Muniba was confused at his Boss' decision.

"He was a bait." The Boss calmly answered.

***

Rewen was hiding behind one of the bushes surrounded by trees while activating [Stealth]. Beside him was the unconscious Banci, a giant sword and two daggers. After some thoughts, he understood why he got caught by Banci. 'I was too near and made too many unusual noises. But then again, I'm doubting the credibility of the [Stealth].'

He was quietly observing everything. 'How many would come? Best case, one. Worst case, three. Even if only a single one comes, it's probably to scout and report the situation. However, it's still better than three at once. Whether it's one, two or three… how can I still carry an advantage before eventually fighting them? Location!'

'If I was them, where would I come from and observe one of my squad mates fighting? I know where.' He flashed a smile. 

He carried the two daggers and came out from the bushes. 

Few seconds later, he came to the place he had previously fought and looked at his surroundings. 'The north is too empty and has only a few number of trees. Not a good place to hide and observe. The south is filled with trees. Even if it's a good place to hide, I couldn't make out what's happening. The west is opposite to the Qan Residence. So it's unlikely that I would go out of my way to hide there. The most likely place where I would hide is the east. It has a moderate number of trees and the ideal place for scouting.'

Rewen gripped his daggers and moved to hide in one of the trees in the East. Activating [Stealth] again, he quietly waited for his prey.

Meanwhile, Asen just arrived near the spot his squad mate and his target were fighting. 'Huh? Where are they? There are three possibilities. First, Banci won. But if that's the case why has he not returned yet? Second, they changed their location. The Area is big but this is one of the few places where it's most suitable to fight because of the few number of trees and an even ground. Besides, from what I have seen, they aren't in a condition to switch locations far from here. Third, the target won and fled.' 

His face turned grim thinking of the last possibility as it seemed to be the most likely event. 'I should report.' Just as he turned around, he saw a dagger flying towards him.

Out of reflex, he raised his left hand.

"Urghhh!" The dagger passed through his palm. 'I must go back quickly!' He jumped from the tree, took out the dagger while grinding his teeth and was about to leave when he heard a voice.

"Haha! You can go back. My harvest for the day is done." 

Asen saw a red-haired young man on a tree near to him. 'Why did I not notice him?' He saw the man get off the tree and rush to the way that leads to the exit and turned uneasy. 

'Should I follow him?' He gulped. His palm was still stinging with pain. 'No. I should report. Yes, I should first report. Even if he goes back, he is bound to come back tomorrow. Yes. He will come back tomorrow. I'm sure that's what he planned. But if I do chase after him, there's a high chance that he would fall. I can see that his movements are sluggish. Obviously, he has very little stamina to spare.'

Within a second, Asen made the decision. 'I will chase. If it gets difficult, I will flee.' He didn't chase after him immediately. He first took out a bottle and poured the liquid over his palm.

'This is enough. It's still stinging and I'm not sure if I can grab something but better than nothing.' Asen sighed, then chased after the target.

*** 

Meanwhile, Rewen grinned seeing his plan succeed. He obviously wasn't planning to go back without defeating the entire squad. He turned back to see a moderately short guy behind his back. The latter was about five meters away from him. From the looks of it, the moderately short guy would catch up to him in a matter of a few seconds.

Despite all this, he had very little emotions regarding this. 

Two meters.

Rewen was still running without slowing down.

One meters.

"Gotcha!" Asen caught his opponent's shoulder with an impatient expression. 'As expected, his stamina is almost empty.' He was less agile than Banci and since Rewen had the capacity to outrun the latter, he hoped to catch him relying on his better condition.

Rewen abruptly stopped. "We can talk this out." He said without turning back.

"Sure we can." Asen sarcastically said before forcefully turning his opponent around. However, as soon as he did that, he was momentarily stunned when he saw a dagger coming close to his eyes. Not getting the time to think something, he lowered his head making the dagger go through his forehead and making a cut.

Making use of the situation, Rewen made some distance between him and the other party. 

Asen was silent. He was insanely furious yet no such emotion could be seen on his face. Blood from the forehead trickled to the eyes, to his chin and then to the ground. 'When did I get so careless? First, my palm and now my forehead. If it wasn't for my instincts, I would have lost my eyes.'