The magic tide had passed long ago, and Mute Wind Town seemed to have regained its former prosperity—only many faces were no longer the same faces as before.
If you asked the adventurers wandering the streets what proof there was of the town’s revival, the answer wasn’t in the rebuilt Adventurers’ Guild hall, nor in the new branch chief who would arrive in two months. The answer was right here, right now!
Because today, on this night illuminated by the three moons, the Rotten Willow Tavern had reopened for business!
Adventurers linked arms and cheered loudly as they surged into the already crowded tavern, unable to wait to reach the front counter and order a cup of that remembered swill.
If anyone remained uninfected by this joyful atmosphere, it would probably only be the owner of the Golden Sun Wood Tavern. Today he was so idle he could cross his arms and lean against his own tavern’s entrance, coldly counting the heads streaming toward the opposite street.
Inside the Rotten Willow Tavern, even the windowsills were packed with people tonight.
Everything was just like before.
The wooden door that creaked when pulled open, the filthy floor stained with wine, and that sour smell of cheap liquor in the air.
If there was anything different, it was probably that the boss had changed from a filthy, fat middle-aged man into a beautiful woman with uniform appeal.
This brought an entirely different kind of interest to everyone.
Who knew what the guild was thinking, actually sending such a delicate beauty to manage this kind of low-class tavern filled with crude adventurers.
No wonder they had to assign a six-foot-tall tiger-man as the tavern’s server…
At the bar counter, the woman named Mary wore a pristine priest’s robe, its high collar fitting snugly against her snow-white neck.
She wore a sweet smile as she handed a wooden mug to a lecherous customer in front of her, then skillfully pulled her hand back in time to avoid being touched by him.
The customer seemed unwilling to give up, leaning forward with his drink to strike up conversation: “Boss lady, are you a priest of the Light God? That uniform really suits you!”
“It’s just a personal preference to dress this way,” Mary replied with a bright smile, seemingly oblivious to the frivolous undertones in his words.
The customer seemed unsatisfied with mere verbal flirtation and extended his hairy, perverted hand toward Mary.
But it was caught halfway by an even hairier, larger hand.
“You… what are you trying to do?”
The customer seemed about to sputter some excuse, but the tiger-man couldn’t be bothered with his nonsense. Grabbing his arm, he dragged him outside, ignoring his exaggerated screams along the way before quickly tossing him out—this was already the 13th one tonight.
In a corner of the tavern, Norris was energetically working on the grilled snake steak in front of him.
He’d arrived relatively early and managed to snag an empty wine barrel to use as a table.
He’d had some inexplicably good luck recently. That nobleman-dressed man he’d encountered in the underground city had actually kept his promise, finding him and giving him a gold coin.
Later he learned that the man was called Eding, a Diamond-rank adventurer.
The little scraps that fell from the fingertips of such powerful people were like windfalls from heaven for someone like him.
This gold coin, plus the 1 gold and 20 silver he’d saved from mining, would cover the third round of debt payments due this year, and he could even occasionally join in the excitement like this, rewarding himself with a good meal instead of drinking mushroom soup every day.
Just as Norris was immersed in his small happiness, an adventurer pushing through the crowd accidentally kicked over the wooden plate containing half a serving of honey-glazed grilled snake steak.
The snake meat rolled onto the wooden floor covered in black footprints, and Norris seemed to hear his stomach’s whimpering cry.
That had cost him a full 30 copper coins of deliciousness…
“Ugh—so filthy!”
The adventurer who’d kicked over the plate disgustedly brushed at his trouser legs, his boot heel grinding over the still-steaming snake steak.
“Even eating shit, you don’t know to find a good place for it.”
This adventurer wearing a Silver-rank badge cursed and grumbled as he left, as if not beating up Norris for dirtying his pants was already being magnanimous.
Without standing up to argue, without even muttering curses under his breath, Norris just timidly shrank back, not daring to meet the eyes of the people around him.
He was just a level 21 adventurer who’d barely crossed the Copper-rank threshold, the lowest level, and completely alone—he couldn’t afford to provoke anyone.
Being a coward was better than being dragged into an alley and beaten half to death.
He should have known better than to join in the excitement at the Rotten Willow Tavern…
Nearby people noticed this little drama but only burst into tobacco-scented laughter.
Adventurers believed in strength and courage—no one would stand up for a cowardly Copper-rank weakling.
Except…
“Stop right there!” Phyling stepped sideways to block the Silver-rank adventurer’s path, her slender finger almost poking his nose tip. “You knock over someone’s food and just want to walk away? No apology or compensation?”
Behind her were Phyin, who hadn’t been able to hold her back, and Vera with a helpless expression.
“Get lost!” The adventurer roughly knocked away Phyling’s hand. He looked down at the girl who was a head shorter than him and reached out to push her aside.
*Shiiing—*
Even in such a crowded environment, Vera’s curved blade precisely pressed against the adventurer’s palm. If he pushed forward even a little more, his hand would be pierced through—among Silver-ranks, strength varied as well.
“What… what are you doing? This is a tavern!”
Outmatched in strength and with a blade pointed at him, the adventurer panicked a bit.
Though this was in the city, taverns were never short of hotheads who’d risk their lives in a moment of passion—he didn’t want to gamble on it.
“I’ll pay, I’ll pay compensation! Just don’t point that blade at me!”
The adventurer stepped back two paces and turned around, planning to get a good look at whoever had made him lose such face.
He didn’t dare retaliate against Vera, who was stronger than him, but that weakling who didn’t even dare speak up when his plate was kicked over—that one could serve as a punching bag later.
But when he turned his head, he discovered that the person who’d been by the wine barrel had long since left, leaving only the half piece of trampled snake meat on the ground.
A tall figure pushed through the crowd and stood before the four troublemakers.
Phyin, with her more sensitive nose, even caught a whiff of the distinctive feline body odor.
The tiger-man crossed his arms and looked at the four, jerking his head toward the main door.
The meaning was clear: would they leave on their own, or did he need to help them leave?
“Damn bad luck!” The expelled adventurer cursed under his breath and quickly distanced himself from Vera’s trio.
“Spineless trash who bullies the weak and fears the strong!” Phyling glared at the adventurer’s retreating figure, looking like her anger hadn’t subsided.
Vera just sighed. The specialty dish of sauced puffshroom noodles he’d just ordered hadn’t even been touched, and now they were kicked out…
“Let’s find another place to eat. I’m still hungry.”
The three quickly found a restaurant that was still open, but only after sitting down did they notice that at the neighboring table sat someone hunched over a bowl of glowing mushroom soup.
“It’s you!”
Phyling immediately recognized this guy who she’d actively helped but who had fled first.
Norris, his mouth glowing faintly, instinctively shrank his neck, his eyes frantically darting around in panic, though he didn’t know what he was afraid of from her.
Perhaps it was because the aura of the girl in front of him was too intimidating…
