Silence.
Finn and Sophie both didn't know what to say.
What they heard from Rex was that his father was the kindest person in the world, but with a single visit to some noble party, he completely changed into a hungry beast.
'Something doesn't add up…'
Finn immediately realized that they were missing a huge part of the story.
Sure, what Rex's father did was disgusting, and he deserved to die for it, but it just didn't make sense.
How can someone who loves his family and cherishes them more than anything suddenly decide to kill them? But no matter how much Finn thought about it, there was no way for him to know the full story.
"Are you sure that your father knew what he was doing?"
Finn asked Rex, who had already eased his eyebrows, which had been scrunched up while he was telling the story.
"What do you mean?"
Looking up, Rex stared into Finn's eyes.
"What I am saying is that if your father was a kind man like you said he was, then I don't see what reason he would have to do the things he did to you and the rest of your family."
Finn paused, and then he opened his mouth again, trying to explain his thought process.
"The way you described him acting like a wild beast could also mean that he might have been under the influence of some type of mind-controlling magic or a drug."
"…"
Rex remained silent, waiting for Finn to finish his theory.
"Also, from what I know, your father was imprisoned, but for what he had done, he should have been publicly executed. What if there was someone manipulating him from behind the scenes, and that someone was sadistic enough to let him live with the guilt that he had murdered his own family?"
Finn was only guessing from what he had heard, but what he had said made sense to him. Rex also remained silent as he thought about it.
Sophie didn't join the conversation because she was shaken up by what Finn was hinting at.
If she was forced to eat the people she loved alive, then she knew that she would choose to kill herself as soon as she realized what she had done.
The image of her doing something like that to Nina, Mia, or even Finn made her clench her fists, which were shaking with anger towards the people who would be evil enough to manipulate someone to do something like that.
Anger was an emotion that she hadn't felt in a long time, but the image of her being forced to hurt those who cared about her made this emotion resurface.
"Then who was it!?"
Rex's previously carefree voice was nowhere to be heard, and it was replaced by a voice filled with bloodlust.
During the five years he spent in this mansion, he also thought that someone might have manipulated his father, but he was so blinded by revenge that he decided to continue hating his father instead of trying to uncover the truth.
"I don't know."
Finn shook his head, and Rex narrowed his bloodshot eyes, but this didn't make Finn change his expression of helplessness.
"Even if you look at me like that, I still don't know. What I said was only a theory, but the only part of the story I had heard was yours, so I have no way of knowing the whole truth."
Slowly explaining, Finn tried to calm Rex down because he didn't want to fight a rampaging B-ranked ghost.
"…Then bring my father here and I will ask him myself. If I wasn't tied to this mansion, I would have already left and tore everyone who was responsible for my death into pieces!"
Rex shouted, and Finn had to block his ears with his hands because it almost made his eardrums burst.
He then let go of his ears, which were still ringing, and nodded his head towards Rex.
"I will. I swear on it."
[You have accepted the quest Father's kindness]
[This quest is part of the questline Nobles' jealousy]
Name: Father's kindness
Rank: D (B+)
Description: Rex wants you to bring his father, Levy, into the mansion's basement. Find where Levy is being held and deliver him to Rex.
Reward: ???
[Warning: This quest's difficulty is way too high for your current level. Do you still wish to accept?]
[Yes] [No]
[Warning: If you reject this quest now, you will anger Rex's spirit and you will die.]
'…Then why are you telling me that I can still decline the quest...'
Finn complained in his head, but he still accepted the quest.
Sophie also got the notification and pressed "yes".
"Go. I will wait here."
With that, Rex disappeared, and the basement became quiet again.
Once they saw that Rex was gone, Finn and Sophie left the mansion because they both wanted to complete the quest as soon as possible.
After a few minutes of walking to the public stop, Sophie suddenly turned to look at Finn.
"How will we find his father?"
"We will buy the information from Blue Whale."
Smiling, Finn answered her, but that only made her furrow her eyebrows a bit.
"Her again…"
Sophie mumbled, but she said it really quietly because she didn't want Finn to hear, or he might start teasing her again.
They then boarded the public carriage and rode towards the slums. The ride was silent because they both kept thinking about Rex's story.
Soon they arrived at the stop near the slums, and they entered them, heading straight for the tavern, which they had previously left.
Walking through the slums in the night made it look a lot creepier, but most of the people were asleep, and the few that weren't were too scared of Finn's weapons to approach him.
After a few minutes of walking, they arrived in front of the tavern.
Finn opened the door of the Broken Pride, and when the drunkards, who were shouting and laughing, saw him, they all turned quiet.
He was in a hurry, so he ignored them and went straight to the bar, where the barman was wiping a mug again.
"I want to meet Blue Whale."
But before the barman could start saying the secret code, a voice sounded from behind him.
"Let him through."
The barman quickly bowed towards the door and gestured for Finn and Sophie to enter.
So they entered the backroom and sat down on the chairs they were previously sitting on.
"No refunds."
Blue Whale said with a flat tone because she had already expected Finn to return during the night to give the mansion back to her.
But Finn shook his head.
"I'm not here to refund the mansion."
"Then?"
She tilted her head in intrigue.
"I want to know where the noble that used to live in that mansion and ate his family is currently being held."
"…Why?"
Curiosity took over, and Blue Whale asked, wanting to know the reason behind Finn's request, but that only made Finn raise his eyebrow.
"I don't remember the great Blue Whale asking customers the reason they wanted to know something."
Finn looked at her with a smirk, which made Blue Whale softly cough and then answer in an embarrassed tone.
"You are right, and I'm sorry for that. My curiosity got the better of me. As an apology, I will tell you the information you want to know, free of charge."
"So which prison is he in?"
Accepting the offer with a nod, Finn asked again.
"None."
"Huh?"
But when he saw Blue Whale shake her head, he got a little scared that Levy might have already died.
"He isn't in prison. He is here."
Finn started looking around when he heard Blue Whale's words.
"…Not in this room."
She shook her head.
"I mean here in the slums. After the incident where his family died. He became bedridden, and he can't survive without an assistant."
"An assistant? Who is paying the assistant?"
Finn suddenly felt his detective senses tingling.
"That's the weird part. No one knows, but from what I found out, it must be a powerful noble. His house was also always guarded by two knights, but two years ago they stopped guarding the house, and now only the assistant comes to take care of him."
'The noble must have felt that after three years of being bedridden, Levy wouldn't be a risk anymore, so he called his knights back.'
Finn thought, and Blue Whale pulled out a map of the city showing where Levy resided.
"If you go there now, you will find him alone because the assistant comes in the morning and leaves in the evening."
Pointing at a certain spot on the map, Blue Whale looked up.
'He probably leaves to report to the noble.'
Finn added his theory in his head.
"Thank you."
He then thanked her and, together with Sophie, went to Levy's house, which was in the slums.
It wasn't very far, and they soon found it.
The building they saw was a dilapidated wooden shack that looked like it was barely standing, and the size of it did not allow it to house more than one person.
First, Finn knocked on the door, but nobody answered, so he tried to open it, and it was surprisingly unlocked.
But before entering the house, Finn took his mask off so he wouldn't scare Levy.
Entering it, he noticed that it only had a single bed, a chair, and a small table.
Next to the bed was a lantern that had a small glowing stone inside, and it illuminated the tiny room.
Walking to the bedside, Finn noticed that someone was sleeping there, and he guessed that it was probably Levy.
He had long, messy brown hair, an unkempt beard, and so many wrinkles on his face that Finn was wondering if Rex remembered his father incorrectly or if he had aged so much in just five years.
"Baron Levy?"
Finn called out with a soft voice as he shook Levy's shoulder.
This made Levy slowly open his tired eyes and look at Finn.
"Baron… How long has it been since someone called me that...?"
Levy's voice was weak, and his dry lips kept quivering as he was speaking.
"…Did he send you to finally kill me? It's about damn time."
His body was anorexic, and he looked like he didn't even have the strength to lift his finger.
Finn thought that it was a miracle that he could still speak. He also noticed that Levy had green veins everywhere on his body, so Finn guessed that Levy was poisoned.
"Who do you mean, Baron Levy? Who wants you dead?"
"…Hmm? Of course, the person who had kept me locked up here for so long… Marquess Harry."
Levy spat the name out as if he felt disgusted by just saying it.
"Marquess Harry? Is that the person who made you kill your family?"
Finn asked with a voice filled with curiosity, and it made Levy look at him again.
"Did he really not send you? Then who are you? ...All my life I have made no enemies, and if it wasn't for those bastards, my family could still be alive to this day."
He softly sniffled, but his body was so weak that only a single tear came out. The once-healthy man had been reduced to skin and bones and could barely speak.
"No, he didn't. The one who sent us to find you wasn't the Marquess."
Finn shook his head.
"Then who?"
Looking at Finn, Levy's eyes regained their clarity, as if he had acquired something that he had once lost, hope.
"Your son did, sir. Your son, Rex, sent us to find you, sir."
When Levy heard that, his tired eyes opened wide, and his mouth hung open.
He used all the strength he had left to lift his right hand up. With it, he touched Finn's cheek, and with a shaky voice, he asked again for confirmation.
"I didn't mishear you, right? My son… My biggest pride… Is he really the one who sent you to find me?"
Finn grabbed his hand with a light grip, fearing that it might break if he gripped it too hard, and with a nod and a smile, he answered.
"Yes, Baron Levy. Your son, Rex, is waiting for you to finally come back home."