Negotiations on Information (1)

This was Ryuji's way to show the gods that he cannot accept quests with half the information. He suffered not knowing things when he first forcefully agreed with Vreta's quest. While this involves his brother, he cannot jump into conclusions, guess things, or react to things that will happen as they go. This is dealing with his brother's life. They were reborn in a new world and he plans to spend a very long time with him as a family. He remembered how devastated he was when his brother from their previous life. He will do all his power to prevent that loss again. His current plan is to get every detail that would help him.

"Yes master. I can only react based on the situation alone." Raiji replied. It has been less than a week since he is serving as a familiar with their Master Ryuji and he knows the difference of a planned movement versus movement that's purely based on reacting to certain events.

"If I recall right, it's the pack that turned on Fuji." Ryuji spoke towards Yubis.

Yubis flinched as Ryuji gazed upon him. He is a god but the pressure that this goblin was saying was on a different level. Ever since he mentioned Takehiko, he expected that Ryuji's reaction was strong, but he did not expect that this guy was domineering. Yubis felt that he is being warned that withholding information is not a good choice. He glanced at Horus as if signaling to call for Hades. 'He is a problematic demigod.' Yubi thought and felt aggrieved. They are on the same side, but why does this goblin make this more difficult. He should accept whatever is given.

"Yes master." Raiji respectfully agreed which made Yubis feel more burdened.

"While some details are different about the quest, if I was not within the area and the wolf pack turned on Fuji, what would you do?" Ryuji changed his tone. He had spent recaps for the past three days with the wolves. It was a good practice for them and also for him which allows situations to be reviewed especially dealing with what ifs. The wolves were very receptive on that part practicing some foresight capabilities at least.

"I would sacrifice myself for him to run away." Raiji sincerely answered. If overpowered because of numbers, it would be ideal to run away. He will definitely use himself to give time for his once sickly brother to survive.

"That's correct. It is logical to run away if you are confronted with a large number of enemies." Ryuji is echoing Raiji's sentiment. He felt he may blame the gods if his brother gets killed because they did not provide him specific details. He did blame the gods with his previous life, and he can do it again. "Now, Yubis-sama. I don't know what's keeping you from sharing the information, but this is a very crucial matter. I need all the details of this quest that you are referring to. If you keep withholding information, I will just take away my brother. I don't care about the other elves if they kill each other."

"But we need you to catch the culprit." Yubis meekly appealed. He is quite frustrated. He felt it is wise to withhold the information but at the same time he is threatened by this goblin. He wanted to borrow some thunder powers with some Asian gods just to strike a thunder, but it would be unwise because he is the closest individual right now.

Yubis felt his hands were tied on the matter. The problem is the non-intervention rule that they wanted to remove. As gods in charge of the administration of this world, they can't interfere with human affairs, as largely influenced by several events. The fall of Troy was one of those events where the gods have bias towards a particular faction. If this rule were broken, it would trigger a catastrophic event in Zariya. As much as possible they would like to avoid it from triggering. His hope right now if Hades allows it but he could feel a headache coming in already.

"Raiji, what's the reason when you defended your brother before?" Ryuji asked the older brother wolf again.

"He is my only kin who I share my blood with." Raiji sincerely replied. They may be in a pack of wolves but having to share a blood and call as family is a bit stronger implication than having a sense of identity in the sea of different individuals of the similar species.

"I am from the goblin race and I don't know Takehiko's race. But judging based on my memories, my only priority is the safety of my brother." Ryuji adamantly stated his conviction on the matter.

"How about I get my brother away from them?" Ryuji sighed. He was thinking that it should be easy taking away the target of an assassin. But of course, it's not attacking the root cause of the current problem. Because the one who will assassinate may come back for his brother. He is quite uncomfortable with the next thing, killing. He did kill wolves that can speak for self-defense and much more, it's Pyun-Pyun who killed them instead. If he thought of it, killing another person with a human like appearance is quite a dilemma for him.

Ryuji then remembered about the snake woman the other day. He left the woman immobile last time because he felt the woman had gone crazy. But he did not kill her, if she had escaped entombed once, she can do it again. He had grown accustomed to the laws of his previous life, but the thing is, he is now in a new world and he is not aware of its current rules. That's why he is abiding the rules that he knew because it was morally right to follow. He has magic and weapons provided by Hades, but he felt he would really be uncomfortable if another person died. This is somehow a moral dilemma that plagues Ryuji.

"So… you are agreeing to this quest?" Yubis looked at Ryuji who was contemplating about the situation.

"No. I will just get my brother to safety." Ryuji replied. It is the most logical thing to do. He felt that the most important to him was his brother in this scenario. The elven party does not matter and Yubis himself mentioned that the assassin. Based on the lack of information provided by Yubis, he can only put his trust in Takehiko based on the memories of his previous life. He may try to save the other people but leaving other details out is quite detrimental so he decided if Yubis will keep his mouth shut, he would not bother moving a finger. The identity of an assassin is problematic. It could literally be anyone. It can be a third party, but he is also considering individuals even the one surrounding his brother. For a moment, Ryuji desired power. Power to instill fear on these people who want to harm his brother. He would like to keep a promise to his former parents, to always be there to protect his brother. He failed once and he is not going to fail again. Having to start in the middle of wilderness has a big impact on his insight about this world. He logically spoke, "Why should I care for people surrounding my brother? I don't have any ties with them."

"Because it will have implications on a political scale…" Yubis frustratingly replied. How come it has suddenly become hard to deal with this goblin. He was not wrong that there are political implications. It will upset the balance of the whole valley which had become a home to the majority of demi-human races. But the political implications expand to the heavens. It has a profound effect on the devotion to them as gods in Zariya. Having the elves killed would put Tartarus into a precarious situation in terms of devotion. This may even lead to them being relegated back to Cosmos which is equivalent to demotion as gods. They have survived this long but the restrictions in place made them hard to move.

"I'm not interested in that." Ryuji politely rejected the notion. He lacks the details that he needs is the same thing as the big impact on a political scale. He could really feel his opinion towards the gods are really faltering right now. He might have a high opinion on them but having his race messed up plus riddles on quest, this habit is very annoying. If one thing he had learned at his last job, the client provides the expectations and him as a project manager must understand what the client wants. If there is a lack of communication between the two, it will lead to the project failing or subpar results. To optimize the resources, he must know all the details pertaining to the tasks and why he does it. It would give him a sense of direction on how to move with the tasks provided.

"All I care about is my brother. They don't matter to me. And besides, I believe Yubis-sama is a god but giving me riddles or vague information as objectives is not very helpful. Give me clear details and I might consider it." Ryuji seriously announced.