I Reject Quests

Rewen silently watched the guards carrying Saito Misaki out of the basement, then turned to the three women.

"Right, I haven't asked what your name is. Don't stutter and answer clearly." He said to the middle-aged beautiful woman.

The middle-aged woman was scared at first., then calmed herself down. "Asa Chinatsu." 

"Hm." Rewen walked to the mini-kitchen and drank a glass full of water. Then, he proceeded to wash his face. 'Alright, I should start.'

***

"Everyone, sit." 

Rewen said in a commanding tone to the three women in the room as he himself sat down on the chair. There were no more chairs in the room so the women could only sit on the cold floor.

He clapped two times. "Good. Now, tell me honestly. What could I do to wash away the self-hatred and rejection towards the identity of being a 'slave'? Believe it or not, I'm just a fifteen-year-old. There are only some things I know about people's minds and for the most part, I'm mostly clueless. So I ask you this, how can I help both you and myself?"

The three women looked at each other speechlessly.

It could be said that Rewen was a good orator and knows how to start breaking the mental barrier the other person has on their mind. In fact, he knows how to 'help', and asking the question is the first step for 'helping'. It reduced the gap between the two parties by a whole lot by appearing approachable and friendly while still being a strict authoritarian.

"Um, I don't know." Yukiko was the first one to answer. 

Asa Chinatsu shook her head.

Kaori put her hands on her chin and smiled bitterly. "It's not something that we can possibly know about. It's more of brainwashing than therapy. Even if we did know about the process, why should we willingly brainwash ourselves?"

"That makes sense." Rewen nodded. This was the kind of answer he was expecting. "That's why…" He put his hands on his pocket and took out a small pocket-sized book. "... I have this book - A Guide To Slavemastering. I have heard that the author is quite reputable and let's see what the book has to offer." 

He flipped the pages while the three women had a slightly nervous look on their faces.

"Rule No. 1. Get in your slave's personal space without letting them realize you are doing so." Rewen read the first rule out loud and chuckled. "Well, we are off to a rocky start. So… what are your personal spaces, if I may know? Oh wait, that wouldn't work since you had already realized that…"

"How about you do that without us realizing you are getting in our personal space?" Yukiko asked. Even though she said this, her mind was vigilant.

Asa Chinatsu had a face full of relief.

Kaori shrugged. "You could skip over the next rule."

"Yeah, I probably should…" Rewen appeared hesitant. 

Yukiko suddenly felt curious and asked. "What even is this rule for?" 

Rewen proceeded to read the contents and then summarized. "Uh, from what I am reading, by getting into a slave's personal space, the slave is more prone to develop empathy for the slavemaster. The latter could then find it easier to manipulate the slave for a time being. Although it's temporary, it has a significant impact on the slave's mental state."

"That sounds scary!" Yukiko said. In her mind, her vigilance increased while looking at Rewen who lightly laughed.

"You think it's that simple to get into someone's personal space when the other party knows that I'm trying to get into the person's personal space? I lost the moment I decided to read this rule out...  Sigh, I'm stupid. Should I go to the next rule?"

No one had any objections. Why would they? The more the rules are skipped, the better it is for them. No one wants to be brainwashed.

"Alright." Rewen flipped the pages. This time, he didn't read the rule out loud immediately. He went through the rule, then spoke out. "Hm, this rule could be spoken out loud. Rule No. 2. Ask personal questions. Well, what do you think about this?"

"I'm not against it." Yukiko knew that she couldn't dodge this rule.

Asa Chinatsu nodded nervously.

"You better not ask about my body proportions," Kaori said in a joking tone.

Rewen laughed lightly. "Alright. I couldn't think of personal questions so I'll follow the book religiously… first question, when were you born and where?"

The question was very basic and easy to answer so none of the three women had any strong reactions.

"Shall I go first?" Yukiko looked at the two women and asked.

"Sure. Go ahead." Chinatsu encouraged her.

"Okay." Yukiko took a deep breath. "Born in 1996, my nation is Olpio and I lived in the States before coming here. My father was a merchant from the States but my mother was a woman living in the Leftovers. Back then, my father came to the Leftovers and fell for my mother, and thus, I was born in the Leftovers despite being a citizen of Olpio."

"I was born in 1967… I was also born from Olpio…" Asa Chinatsu couldn't find anything more interesting than that.

Rewen nodded, then turned to Kaori.

"I was born in Windbane, born in 1990."

"Okay, I see." Rewen appeared to be satisfied with the answers. Taking another look at the book, he asked. "Next question, what are your thoughts about your own nation?"

Yukiko showed an interesting expression. Being the daughter of a travelling merchant, she had the drive and enthusiasm to talk about society. "Well, Olpio is a strong nation. Our advancement in science is superior to all other nations except for Central. We have the highest noble-to-population ratio. Its politics is stable as the King takes a moderate standpoint most of the time… Also, there are also different cuisines---"

"Oh, cool." Rewen interrupted. As much as he wanted to listen to the entire world history, he couldn't because his purpose wasn't listening to world history.  He needs to ask personal questions.

Yukiko came to her senses but she still had the look that she wanted to discuss her nation. 

"We can talk about it later." Rewen understood her enthusiasm and promised, then turned to Asa Chinatsu who had a troubled face.

"I…"

"I get it. Next." Rewen had the idea that she doesn't know about the nation in general. That's not to say that she knew nothing. As the oldest, she has most certainly experienced and seen how the nation changed. The reason she can't give a definitive answer was simply that she felt her anecdotal experience wasn't enough.

Kaori thought about how to answer the question, then opened her mouth. "Windbane is a very… basic nation. The nobles don't get involved too much with normal people. The untold policy of the nation is - 'You don't care? Neither do I.' Over the course of history, the nation has both suffered as well as benefit from the policy. If there's something interesting about the nation, it's the Crown Prince."

"Hm? The Crown Prince? What kind of hotshot is he?" Rewen felt interested in the mention since he had never heard anything about the Crown Prince of Wndbane.

Kaori sighed. "No one had seen him. No one had seen him publicly. His own brothers and sisters haven't. Furthermore, from last year, he had also been running campaigns for being the Crown Prince but he would still inherit the throne after a few years. There are many conspiracy theories surrounding him. He is too much of a mystery and one of the wonders of the nation."

"Is that so?" Rewen appeared skeptical.

Chinatsu was hesitant at the beginning, then she spoke out. "I… I have heard of the Crown Prince. One of my neighbours' family used to live in Windbane. She said that the current Crown Prince of Windbane is extremely strange. Despite not doing anything, he had huge support from both his family as well as the masses."

Rewen thought about the matter. 'This sounds like a mysterious villain who was introduced way earlier in the story before he actually appears..' Just because he had watched only a couple of anime doesn't mean he doesn't have an idea of how tropes work. Earth failed in recreating the pre-apocalyptic period anime but the tropes remained which were used in other mediums.

For the next twenty minutes, he continued asking questions.

Gradually, the conversation between them became better.

"Hah… enough talking. I'll bring lunch. I'm also kinda hungry." Rewen got up and left the basement.

Silence reigned in the room after he left.

By this time, the three women had already realized.

They had realized that while they were conversing with the fifteen-year-old boy, the latter had already invaded their personal spaces and forced them to reduce some amount of negative feelings towards him. It was too late when they realized it. Whether it was unintentional or not, it's something only he himself knew.