I Reject Quests

Rewen's eyes slowly opened. Yawning, he got up from his bed and spread the curtains of his windows.

While stretching, he organized the things he would do today.

It had been a week since he had come to the mansion. He had received a Return Ticket but he was in no hurry to return. Part of the reason is that he wanted to complete this volume, then go back. Another reason, which was only the primary one, is that his mental state wasn't the best. He had done everything in his power but the unease of the death crisis hadn't faded. 

The previous two times when he went to fight against the squads, he was confident that he could defeat or escape his way out if he was faced with an extremely dangerous situation. After all, he had trump cards which were enough to give him peace of mind. However, currently, those trump cards won't be enough. Therefore, he decided to take some time in adjusting his mental state.

Since he came to the mansion, he followed a specific schedule - wake up, jog, train, have breakfast, brainwash the slaves, have lunch, train till night, dinner, sleep, and again wake up. Nothing particularly eventful happened during this time except for…

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FP (Yukiko): 32

FP (Kaori): 21

FP (Chinatsu): 35

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He could surprisingly see the favorability points for the slaves after he asked the system. While he isn't planning on becoming a harem master by sneakily increasing the favorability points, it was undeniable that keeping FP in check is a great way to reassure himself that his 'therapy' was working and that the women were slowly becoming more accepting of him.

"Though I'm not sure if more FP makes one more gullible."

Rewen worded out his thoughts. Soon thereafter, he went outside and began running.

The place he was running on was the field where Hase trained the rookies.

As he was running, he felt a hand on his back. "Yo! You are early today!" It was Hase. Behind him were several rookies running along with him.

Without turning back, he replied. "Good morning."

"Yeah." Hase increased his speed and ran alongside him. "You have gotten thinner. I have rarely seen someone losing weight like this."

"You know how it is." 

Hase nodded. "Will you be sparring against them?" 

"No." Rewen declined. The "them" Hase was referring to were the rookies. Since he wanted to check his improvement and strength, he sparred with the rookies every day. But now, he had no need to spar because his strength was more than enough to deal with every single rookie even if they came at him together.

"How about sparring with me?" Hase felt that this guy was too pitiful. He didn't know about others but he knew that he can't think straight after knowing that there's a ridiculously high possibility that he would die after a few months. He would be panicked and obsessed with gaining strength in any possible way.

However, Rewen didn't show any of those signs and even appeared to be optimistic.

"You are too strong." Rewen shook his head. It's not that Hase can't hold back or limit his power but his strength was too high. Even a single strike with his normal power would be extremely deadly to Rewen. That's why he didn't want to take the risk. 'Maybe I should consider sparring him… after all, that's the only way I could improve my martial arts right now.' 

He decided to think about this again when he increased his strength significantly.

"Haha!" Hase laughed.

"By the way, why am I not seeing Reza?"

Hase had an awkward look on his face when he mentioned her name. "Ah, about her…"

***

Rewen casually walked along the hallway and walked into the direction of the stairs when he saw two people sitting on the bench - a man in his late teens and a girl in her early teens. With her eyes closed, the girl's head was leaning against the man's shoulder.

He squinted his eyes. He was familiar with both of them. The man was the one who had harassed Michi on the first day when he came here and the girl was Reza. When asked about her to Hase, the latter had said that she had started hanging around the eldest son of the City Lord.

'To think they are this close… whatever, none of my business.' Although Rewen was slightly concerned about Reza mainly because she was still underage, he didn't want to poke his nose into others' business. 

Going back to his room, he took a shower and went to his basement.

***

In the basement.

Three women sat in a chair. Opposite to them was Rewen who had a neutral face. Beside him stood an old man who was looking around the room.

"Weren't there four slaves?" The old man asked, looking at Rewen. He was the supervisor who is responsible for checking on the slaves and if the slavemaster is doing his job or not. He didn't look down on the young man who was supposed to be the slavemaster but at the same time, he wasn't too hopeful about him.

"Yes, Sir. There were indeed four slaves but one of them turned out to be a murderer. As someone newly introduced to the job, I didn't want to take the risk of having a murderer close to me. I hope I didn't do something that crossed my bounds as a slavemaster." Rewen appropriately replied.

The old supervisor nodded upon hearing him. "You made the right judgement. Can I ask you to leave the room? I'll ask them some private questions."

The women were a bit uneasy upon hearing it. It's not that Rewen was a great person with overflowing kindness in their hearts but he had turned into someone who wouldn't directly harm them. 

Rewen didn't notice their unease as his attention was on the old man. "Oh, sure." Rewen nodded, then proceeded to leave the basement.

***

Sitting under a cherry blossom tree, Rewen felt gentle winds tackling against his face. Coupled with the pleasant surroundings, he felt very peaceful. "How refreshing. I'm getting fake nostalgia."

But that peace was short-lived when Michi came running to him. "Rewen! There is a problem." 

Rewen raised his eyes. "What? Did you again give vegans chicken ribs?"

Michi pouted. "That was only one time!" 

"One time? What about the time you told the servants to serve the servants' meal to the City Lord's family?"

"I'm improving!"

"Backwards?" 

In the past days, Rewen had gotten very close to her. After getting along with her, he found out that she is possibly the most pure-hearted person he had met. There are so many good qualities that he could go on for days. However, "good" doesn't equate to "suitable". Although he got along with her, there is a gap between them. 

He is 3-D. She is 2-D.

The gap that could never be closed.

If Rewen had to explain how exactly does it make a difference? It would ultimately be thoughts. While he is capable of going through thoughts, thinking about several areas of the thought, analyzing them, and finally deciding what's the best for him, so is Michi. She isn't incapable of doing all those things. If she was incapable, she would be considered mentally challenged. 

So, where is the difference?

The difference is the frequency of doing those things.

To understand this better, we have to view it from a different perspective. Let's say a higher-dimensional being is watching both of them from a screen. If he/she were to make an observation, he/she would find one particular noticeable thing.

Rewen, like any other normal humans, spares too much of his thoughts about trivial things. For instance, while descending down the stairs, he had a tendency to take two steps at once. If he lands on the ground crossing over with only one riser, he will feel discontented. It's a very trivial thing but that's how people are. 

Michi, on the other hand, is very "stiff". 

'Frankly speaking, she doesn't show any signs of having thought of anything other than just thinking and doing what 'should' be done. It's like she is following something. Well, she is indeed following the author's storyline. I guess it's also understandable. Who would even bother including extremely trivial details to a character which doesn't affect the story at all?'

As he was having useless thoughts, Michi came near him and asked in a concerned voice. "What's wrong?" 

Rewen shook his head. "What's the matter? Why are you so riled up?"

Michi opened her mouth and raised her index finger. "..."

"What?"

Michi showed an embarrassed smile. "I forgot."

"..." Usually, Rewen would have joked about the situation but right now, he was just confused. 'This doesn't really align with the 2-D character template… Do I have to expand the range of how 2-D characters think and act? Wait, there's another possibility.' A shimmer of light glowed in his eyes.