I Reject Quests

Chapter 17: Verbal Arguments

"Here, miss. Your two cans of Hagver." The man at the counter of 'Good Hagver' handed over a bag containing two cans of Hagver to a young lady. The young lady took out some notes and handed it over to the man before taking the bag from him.

The young lady was Zelic. Upon making a deal with her cousin, she came to the 'Good Hagver'. The brand 'Hagver' is famous for its drinks but other grocery products and packaged food are also of good quality.

Humming a tune, Zelic got out of the shop and headed towards the canteen.

***

Rewen took a big bite of the burger in his hands ignoring the stares from his surroundings. 'She sure is taking her time.' He wondered as he ate. 'Well, good for me if she went home.'

While eating in peace, he saw another guy approaching him.

"Ey, mate?"

"What?"

"Did you knock him out?" Pointing to the short-haired guy on the floor, he asked.

"No. He knocked himself out. I'm a first year and this mofo is a third year. I better be finding aliens in my garden than knock him out. This is a blatant scheme. Believe it or not." Lying was the best option for Rewen right now. He didn't know if this new guy would call some prefects and create trouble for him or not.

The new guy bent down and carefully observed the short-haired guy's face, then got up. "You seriously don't believe that. He's literally unconscious."

"Odd. I didn't know he was such an actor!" Rewen exclaimed, not wanting to back down.

"Stop your nonsense. You punched him right in the forehead. Everyone saw that."

"How do you know that? You entered the canteen just now."

"A friend told me."

"Who is he to you?"

"No one. I was going originally to the canteen when my friend informed me about this."

"Okay. How can I be sure you are not his alibi in framing me? Like, you seem deadly suspicious. Let's not talk about your friend who gave you accurate information that I punched this guy in the forehead, you don't even know who this man is and yet you came forward to argue with me risking offending me. Not to mention, you are just a First Year like me. How does this make any sense?"

Crowd slowly gathered in a circle around Rewen's table watching the show. Some clapped after Rewen's seemingly flawless argument. Some even took out their phone and started filming. Mobs are after all, mobs. Although they might not look like it, they couldn't care less about anything. They are just here to sate their curiosity and watch the fun. Rewen had no opinion on it. He himself becomes a mob sometimes and their behaviour is somewhat understandable.

The guy who was absorbed in arguing with Rewen let 0ut a long breath. "There's no need to beat around the bush. You knocked him unconscious and I'll take appropriate measures for it."

"Oh, now I'm beating around the bush. Who was the one who came straight into me and started interrogating me as if I'm only step away from getting arrested. I'll tell you one thing, mate. Come, let's talk to the prefects and see who's right or wrong." Rewen stood up.

"That's an idea. Let's go." He said this but aside from tilting his head towards the door, he was motionless.

At this moment, Zelic battled her way through the crowd and noticed her cousin Rewen is one of the main attractions of the gathering. "What's wrong, Rewen?"

"You better ask him. It seems I'm involved in a deep scheme." Rewen said in a plain voice.

"There is no scheme. Why would we make such a lame scheme just to frame you? I don't remember having any conflicts with you. Who do you think you are?"

"You don't know? I know perfectly why you are doing this. Aren't you close friends with the dude I won against in today's Joint Combat Program?" Rewen was basically shit-talking politely. He knew he can't be toxic in a public space like this so he had to keep talking shit as long as he could and at least make it seem he was winning the argument. From this guy's interaction, Rewen could easily tell that he is a pushover. Rewen didn't know why he was doing this but he knew that the guy in front of him was clearly afraid of getting beat up and could only rely on words and never show aggression. With his left eye, he winked at Zelic secretly.

"Yeah, I was there in the program and saw you with his opponent. Your name should be Faren?"

Faren was gobsmacked and for a long time, he didn't open his mouth. He didn't show any kind of anger or frustration at the turn of events. He just sighed, took the short-haired guy on his back and walked away. Perhaps he was hiding it. Maybe he really didn't feel anything. One thing for sure is that he knew he completely lost and making further arguments would not result in his favor. If he did continue arguing pointlessly, he would just be presenting himself as an aggressive idiot in front of the crowd. As he exited the canteen, "boos" were thrown.

Rewen found this sight extremely familiar and chuckled. Regarding this matter, Rewen himself knew he wasn't in the right. He could have solved things in a much more lowkey manner. He didn't believe everyone would be happy with whatever he did. People aren't alike and they don't necessarily have the same thoughts most do and he understands that very well. But if there's one thing he hates, it is when people use smarts against him. He prefers straightforward conflicts.

As the crowd dispersed, Rewen went back to eat the leftover burger while Zelic sat opposite to him. "What the f*ck happened? I was gone for a second and you started creating troubles? Do you not know the situation you are in?"

"People are genuinely scheming against me oh, give that bag to me." He was about to tell her the entire incident when his eyes fell on the bag in her hand. Not waiting for her reply, he took the bag from her, took out a can and started drinking it.

"I don't recall you becoming a figure people would scheme against."

"Well, times changed ever since I was respectfully dubbed as the 'Future Strongest Man on Earth'. A dude interviewed me in the morning. Social media is giving me useless fame. Instead of doing that, they might as well give me some credits for giving the internet a new topic to talk about."

Zelic quietly ate her food. She realized she wasn't capable of educating Rewen. "Right, Aunt ought to have come to your home by now."

Rewen froze and stopped chewing. "How do you know that?"

"She called me in the morning."

***

Uvin woke up in an unfamiliar place. His head hurt but he vividly remembered the scene before he was knocked out. Struggling to get up, he felt a hand on his back pushing him upwards. When he finally managed to sit cross-legged, his head spun and he lowered his head.

"It's good that you woke up." Faren said.

Clutching his head with his hands, he asked. "Where are the others?"

Faren shook his head. "They are not here."

"Where am I?"

"Nurse room."

"That b*stard hit me pretty hard. What happened after that?"

"I couldn't do anything. He was eloquent and aggressive."

"In other words, the plan failed. Did she say anything?"

"She didn't. She remained quiet when I narrated the events to her."

"I'm going to assume that's a safe."

"Can't be sure but I hope so."

"Heck. Why did she even want to do that? This isn't some kind of TV drama, this is real f*cking life! Playing childish games like these and making us get involved...." Uvin sighed.

"Don't know man. She's kinda annoying but we have to pull it through in order to not offend her."