Chapter 228: Fearful Denny

Rewen stopped speaking.

[There is more.]

The voice responded.

Hearing the reply, Rewen thought for a while before answering. "I'm not fond of women. I prefer men over women. I don't know how much of it has to do with sexuality and relationships and stuff but yeah, I'm a lowkey sexist. I always convinced myself to adhere to progressive values that were believed by my predecessor. I thought, no, I still think that it's very ugly for me to think like that."

It took a lot of effort for him to confess his feelings compared to previous confessions. Mainly because it was very personal to him. He hadn't always known that he was like this but as he started to notice and interact with women from Earth, he started to feel an unknown rage. 

He didn't like the way his predecessor had been emasculated for the past years.

He didn't like the way his female friends talk to him. 

Sometimes, he was just bothered by women minding their own business.

All of this bottled rage came out in the form of abuse.

Despite having such thoughts, he didn't confront them and hide the feelings behind a "mask". Part of it also has to do with the fact that he never got the time to sort the thoughts. 

He, however, wasn't worried. 

Now that he had accepted his feelings, he only needed to let go of it. The source of this was most definitely the fact that he had come from society completely different from that of Earth. To not associate himself with negative feelings, he has to socialize and wait. Gradually, he would be much more comfortable regarding the matter.

[I suspect there's more.]

The unknown voice spoke out.

"That is enough." Rewen shook his head though there were some things he didn't want to let out. "Aside from my so-called hidden repressed thoughts, there is something that I want. There is only one thing I wish for but for that wish to be granted, I need to go through a list of prerequisites and again, to fulfill some of the prerequisites, I need to go through their prerequisites."

[That's usually how wishes are. If you wish to become a Rank 9 Mage, you need to first become a Rank 1 Mage and then, Rank 2 Mage, and so on. But to become a Rank 1 Mage, you need to have a mana storage capacity of 3000 and then, there are skills. Again, to reach the mana storage capacity of 3000, you need to practice on a Free Natural Energy field.]

"Fair enough but I'm talking about a wish that is not related to materialism but rather social relationships. Forget it. I don't think I have the luxury to waste time."

[Are you sure you don't have anything else to confess?]

"Nope. That's enough."

[As you wish. Here are your memories. From now on, you won't be the same ever again.]

Rewen squinted his eyes. Looking at the glass ball of light, he stretched his hand towards it.

"Wait." He paused just before he was about to get in contact with the glass ball. "Why do you mean by - I won't be the same again?"

***

"Please… don't… Please don't kill me…" Touching the floor with her head, Denny begged as she heard the sound of footsteps approaching her. At the end of the day, she was only a nineteen-year-old girl. Even though she didn't want to bow her head in any circumstances, the thought of her getting killed left her with a strong sense of fear.

The footsteps stopped.

Denny slightly raised her head and saw two legs standing close to her. Her instinctive response was to move away but she realized that couldn't escape from him. In fact, if she tried to move away, she might get attacked. 

Shivering, she opened her mouth. "P...lease…"

"Raise your head," X said in a commanding tone.

Denny fearfully raised her head. 

X gave her a single glance, then walked to his sofa and sat down cross-legged. "Your cousin is dead." In an unfeeling tone, he said.

"..." Denny's eyes moved towards her cousin but she immediately couldn't watch for more than a few seconds due to the horrific condition of his face, she immediately lowered her head. 

X leaned comfortably on the sofa, then took out a remote from his pocket. "Look here." Turning to Denny, he commanded.

Denny hesitated a little before turning to look at him. 

"Do you know what this is?" Swinging the remote with his fingers, X asked.

Denny was initially confused, then her eyes slowly widened. "Is this…?" 

"Yes, this is the remote. If I destroy this, you can be free." X said without beating around the bush. 

"..." Denny didn't know what to say. On one hand, she wants to beg for the remote but at the same time, she feels ashamed to beg the person who killed her family member to save her.

X got up from the sofa and approached her. Crouching to reach her eye level, he asked. "Do you want this or not?"

"...Yes…" Denny answered as if she was in a trance. As soon as she woke up from the trance, she instinctively moved away from him with wide eyes. "Y-you… can manipulate my mind?"

"Wrong. I'm not manipulating your mind. I'm just helping you vocalize your thoughts." 

"Vocalize… my thoughts?" Denny wasn't sure what he meant for a while. When she dug a little deeper, she realized that this wasn't the first time she 'vocalized her thoughts'. Prior to Rewen arriving at the scene, she had been very obedient at giving answers to X. While she had suspicions about the reasons as to why she was so obedient while answering the questions, it never went beyond suspicion.

Only now did she realize that her suspicion had come true.

'H-he… is using some sort of mind magic. I have neither seen it in practice nor have I ever heard about it.' 

Denny panted heavily, failing to judge what she can do in a situation like this.

"Do you want this? Answer with a yes or no. Within five seconds, if you fail to answer, say goodbye to yourself." X said, moving her thumb towards a button in the remote.

"Yes… Yes!" Denny immediately answered.

"Great. I will set you free." X smiled.

Denny blanked out. She had thought of many responses she would get but this wasn't one of them. "Y-you… will set me free? Will you g-give me the remote…?"

"Absolutely. Yes, I will." X nodded in a friendly manner.

"..." Denny was at a loss of words. Normally, she would be happy with the outcome but upon realizing that the cost of her survival came at the expense of her cousin, her mood plummeted.

Just then, X raised his index finger. "However, there is a condition."

"What is… the condition?" Denny half-expected something like this to happen and therefore, wasn't much surprised.

"It's simple. No need to get this tense. I will leave right now and as soon as I leave, everyone standing outside the colony will arrive. That is, the authorities. As much as I like to battle, I can't possibly go against a District Expert. Your first job is to let everyone know that you don't have an explosive inside of you. All you need to do is tell them that the explosive has been taken out. There is a mechanism that would hide it. Make sure to convince them that you aren't lying. Other than this part, you can tell them anything. Till this point, do you understand?"

"..." Denny quietly nodded her head.

X continued. "Then comes your second job. Find the [Distributor] connected to the emergency switch of the "Touchable Sense Water" which Rewen was wearing. I don't have time to explain to you what they are but a minute of internet browsing would give you everything. Search for it everywhere. 

"Within a week, I'll send you a courier containing random books. If anyone asks about it, tell them that it's from an internet friend. When you find the [Distributor], send it to the address I sent in the courier. Within a few days, I'll send you a message through your phone that you are free to contact the local authorities and have your explosive taken out. You have three months for the search. 

"That's the entire plan. Also, don't try to stretch the limits. I will have everything in your life controlled till the search. The moment you do something funny would quite possibly be your final moment. Do you understand?"

Denny took a couple of seconds to sketch out the entire plan drafted by X in her mind. "How can I convince others that… that I don't have the explosive inside me anymore?"

"Good question." X got up, put his hands behind his back and pulled the small rod and turned it into a dark spear again, then shoved it towards her.

Denny froze up and closed her eyes tightly.