I Reject Quests

Sakura Garden Academy.

Weaponry Department.

A stern-looking middle-aged man was observing the students as they were shaping their Gruer weapons. 'Hm… Sachi, Shinji, Dai have excellent stability over their shaping skills. Imada is also not bad. That scythe's pointed edge is perfect… others are slowly honing their shaping skills. The only problem child being…" He moved his eyes to look at a small crowd.

"I have heard you got thrashed by Asuka-hime yesterday? You dare!" Koyami Koyashi roared to the fallen Rewen.

'It's not like I have made a move on her or anything. She just beat me up. Why are you acting like you are jealous? You want some of the thrashing too?'

"I-I shorry…" Rewen apologised with a runny nose and tears in his eyes.

"Urghh!! Stop crying or I'll beat you so hard…"

'Yes.'

Koyami cracked his knuckles but just as he was preparing for a hit, one of his lackeys came up to him. "Boss, I think we should stop here. We're inside a department, after all. It would be bad if teachers heard of us causing trouble."

Hearing this, Koyami's eyes showed hesitation.

'No!'

At this moment, another of his lackeys stepped forward and patted his chest. "No worries, Boss. We'll be guarding you."

'Yes, yes.'

Koyami was about to speak up when another voice reached his ears.

"If I may ask, what are the bunch of you doing?"

'Who is the c*ck-blocker?' Rewen got very annoyed when he saw Teacher Mitsuhara walking towards him.

"We were just playing around, aha!" Koyami laughed uneasily and ran off with his lackeys.

Rewen got up with a fearful look. "T-thank you, Teacher!"

Teacher Mitsuhara took a look at the ugly creature in front of him and sighed. "How's your progress in shaping?"

"I-I'll make some progress very soon!"

"That's what I have been hearing for the last two months. Are you even interested in shaping? If you have any problem, I could transfer you to some other department." Mitsuhara meant well. Having come from a humble family, he was often subjected to discrimination and had some grudge against the nobles but somehow, he couldn't bring himself to hate this wealthy aristocrat's offspring. If anything, he only had pity for him.

Rewen nodded vigorously, then asked uneasily. "Teacher, I have a question. Do you think I could shape a decent weapon?"

Mitsuhara felt the urge to laugh but himself held back. "W-well, I suppose you could shape a tiny arrow. That is, if your shaping skills are good." He demonstrated the length of the arrow using his hands. It was less than 20 centimeters.

"Aa-h, I see."

Mitsuhara, not knowing what to say, went back to his spot.

Rewen wiped off the dust from his shirt. 'A tiny arrow, huh? With my one Gruer's Code, that's my limit. Not really the most convenient weapon but at least there's something. As the old saying goes - there are no useless weapons, only useless people. A single arrow is what I need to escape death.'

He smiled inwardly, then walked towards a treadmill and started running.

'1.5 meters per seconds. Not a bad start.'

*Pat* *Pat*

Someone close to him clapped but Rewen's eyes were fixed to the treadmill. It's not that he didn't hear it, just that noticing the origin would possibly give him more problems. 'I'm just going to mind my own business.'

"Oh? Interesting. Your courage has grown. Did you not remember the slap from yesterday? Are you itching for one again?"

Rewen didn't particularly have any reaction when he heard the voice, neither on the surface nor inwardly. It was the infamous Asuka-hime. He had a few guesses in mind and she happened to be one of them. 'What did I even do to her? Forget it, it's useless to question the fate of a tragic protagonist.' He kept running, not minding her.

"So you want to feign ignorance?" Asuka sneered, then moved closer to the treadmill and saw the speed. 'What? This fatass can unexpectedly run in 1.5m/s? Hmph! Let's see how fast you can run when I do this?' She instantly increased speed to 4m/s.

Rewen who was engrossed in burning fat noticed this and didn't know what to say. 'Which drunkard invented this childish treadmill? Isn't it meant for the exact purpose for others to pull some mischief on you?'

*Baam*

He fell straight on his face. Bruises appeared on his already-ugly face. The sound also attracted the crowd's attention.

"Look. A giant collapsed."

"How can someone be this much of an idiot?"

Asuka snickered and watched him with an interested expression. She had already planned to insult him the moment he looked towards her. However, out of her expectations, Rewen got up and ran back only to run towards the treadmill again. 'Is he a retard?' She lightly smiled ready to watch his misfortune but the next second, her smile became stiff.

'Hoo… I'm surprised that this body can handle this.' Rewen thought while running on the treadmill. At the same time, he felt his body burning as if he would explode and his blood becoming vigorous. Despite all this, there was a small curve on his face. 'It's time. I just need a small push now.'

Coincidentally, Asuka who was dissatisfied with the current scenario stepped forward and again increased the speed of the treadmill to 5m/s.

"..." However, unlike last time, Rewen didn't fall. She noticed that he had increased his speed, shocking her again. Her dissatisfaction increased and similarly did the speed of the treadmill. It went from 5m/s to 7m/s.

*Baam*

Rewen fell again, greatly satisfying Asuka.

Few more bruises appeared on his face as he got up with a terrified face, then went to Teacher Mitsuhara. "C-can I leave early?"

Mitsuhara shot a look of pity at him and nodded.

***

Rewen stared at the mirror and applied medicine on the bruises, then smiled. "At least the bruises were worth it. I have finally learned how to channel G.C."

[What? You did? When?]

"I did. When I was running on the treadmill, I subconsciously grasped the G.C. string revolving around my legs. I couldn't really have stretched the string had the speed not been increased then. The next part is, well, I pushed my legs to the limits."

[Isn't that like super dangerous? To carelessly stretch the G.C. could potentially damage your legs. A single mishap and you would be lying in the infirmary for at least two months. What did you even think when you tried this? I didn't expect you to be one of those reckless sort.]

"It was indeed reckless but I had the capital to be reckless." Rewen shrugged. "If you really want an answer, let's just say that Luna would certainly not let me lie down in the infirmary for two months."

[How could you- urgh, you know what? Nevermind. Just answer me how the G.C. appear in the first place? It's not a coincidence right?]

"No. It's not. It had probably appeared due to my negative emotions."

[Makes sense. Makes sense. Emotions are the easiest triggers for any starting operations with G.C. but no! It doesn't make sense! Why would you have negative emotions when you were running on a treadmill?]

Rewen rolled his eyes. "Do you think I'm a block of wood? Or a person who sees his own bullying as an inferior sort and laughable in his eyes? I wish though."

[So, at the end of the day, it's a coincidence?]

"Yes, in a way."

[I don't believe it!]

Rewen no longer paid attention to the system and left his room.