Stepping into the dimly lit tavern, I was greeted by the subtle smell of ale and dark oak. The walls were lined with unique paintings and horns from various monsters. Trophies from visiting adventurers were placed on display randomly throughout the building. Slightly more noticeable was the full-scale brawl taking place in the center of the dining area, complete with screaming and throwing chairs. Ducking to avoid getting bashed in the face by a wayward mug, I found myself entranced by it for a moment before sighing in annoyance and finding my way over to the bar. The only feasible place to sit was next to the one non-staff member who wasn’t currently writhing on the ground.

As I dropped myself onto a stool and half-leaned against the bar, my gaze moved from the drink fueled skirmish to my newfound counter companion. He was a tall man, clad in leather armor and watching the fight with uncontained glee. Long brown hair was swept to the side to keep it out of his eyes- which seemed to hold more intelligence than his manic grin would suggest. The lower half of his face was hidden by a scraggly beard, and strapped to his side was a large tome alongside various knives. Simple leather boots and fingerless gloves completed his outfit, along with what looked like a hood hanging low on his back.

Playfully spinning a knife on his finger, he turned to look at me. “It’s beautiful, isn’t it?”

Blinking in surprise, I took a moment to lean closer and observe it. “I would say so. It seems to have perfect balance, a well forged blade, and a competent handle. Unique coloration, and if I’m not mistaken that’s stonewood on the handle. I’m sure it cost quite a-”

“No no, not the knife. Anyone can appreciate some random knife, I’m talking about this!” He gestured grandly at the other patrons, of whom only a few were still standing. “The confusion, the anger, the violence! I confess, it took a moment to get them going, but you have to admit they put on a spectacular show!”

I instinctively started to deny it...at least until I remembered my personified moral compasses were nowhere within earshot. Knowing there would finally be no repercussions for my more...impulsive thoughts brought a slight smirk to my face. “That they did. A bit inconvenient for my current needs, but entertaining nonetheless. How’d you start it?”

He slipped the knife back into its sheath and rubbed his hands together excitedly. “I am quite proud of this one. The best part is that it required almost no effort on my end! See those two over there: the ones heaped together on that table? They were bragging, rather loudly I might add, about some contract a client paid a large sum of money for. It truly was grating on everyone’s nerves, yet nobody seemed ready to do anything about it. So, to get that ball rolling, I asked the barmaid to send a mug of pork fat to that large fellow stuffed in the barrel over there and claim it was from those two. She wanted them gone as well, since they were downright annoying, so she readily agreed. Well he got offended by it, just as I hoped, and quite literally threw one of them across the bar. That’s why the table by the door is broken, and it caused that group to jump in as well. It all mostly rippled out from there, until every last one was throwing something at someone, be it furniture or their fists.”

At some point during his explanation, I allowed myself to get swept away by his infectious good mood. Laughing as I imagined it all, I told him, “That must have been absolutely beautiful to see, I regret missing it.”

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Leaning back on his stool and stretching his feet out, he nodded happily. “It most certainly was. Seems you can appreciate it, so why would you call it inconvenient?”

“I’m in the market for a mercenary. See, I’m a merchant, and I travel quite a bit. Been contracted to take supplies to the front line and such. This trip, though, I got a request that takes me a bit closer to demon territory than I’m used to. Considering the apparent importance of it, I figured it wouldn’t hurt to come in and trick some drunkards into charging significantly lower prices.”

The man thought for a moment, stroking his beard in thought. “What’s your name?”

“Daniel. Apologies for forgetting to mention it.”

“Nah, don’t worry about it. Call me Volk. And if you’d like, Daniel, I have a proposition that could benefit us both.”

I perked up slightly, finally noticing the tavern had been silent for a while. “You have my attention.”

“I like the way you think, coming in when everyone is mostly drunk. Normally, it probably would have worked if not for...well me. Plus, these idiots have finally finished knocking each other out, after so rudely interrupting our calm and pleasant atmosphere. Not to mention they broke a good number of furniture in this fine establishment. I feel we’re all entitled to a little...compensation.”

Smiling as I looked out over the mass of unconscious bodies, I leaned forward. “And now you have my full attention.”

Seeing my enthusiasm, another gleeful smile crossed Volk’s face. “I’ve been in town for a while, and it’s frankly gotten boring. Traveling sounds fun, and you seem rather interesting, so here’s my proposal: I’ll offer my services and travel with you, and my service fee will simply be acquiring your assistance in relieving these disruptive drunks of their funding. Leaving a portion for the tavern, of course, to help with the repairs.”

Taking a moment to ponder, I stood up and stretched my back out before offering my hand. “You, my new friend, have got yourself a deal.”

Smiling, Volk grabbed hold of my hand and shook it vigorously before we started searching through every bruised and bloody merc asleep across the floor. It only took a few minutes of fishing through knapsacks and pockets before we walked out having an animated conversation. After leaving an impressive stack of coins on the counter for the barkeep, of course. I lead him through the courtyard and back to the booth, where I noticed Friia had gathered an impressive amount of both food and coin.

“Well done, Friia! Plenty of sales, and it seems you got some food for cheap as well.”

Smiling, she turned to me before looking slightly confused at Volk’s presence. “I did. Plenty of others around here contributed for free, actually. Seems some of them wanted to give us some as extra payment thanks to our hard work.”

“Well that’s sweet of them. I’ll have to remember to find some specialty goods when we come back here. Ah, and before I forget: Friia, this is Volk. He’s going to be coming with us on this venture.”

Grinning madly, Volk bowed slightly while waving his hand around dramatically. “A pleasure to make your acquaintance.”

Friia tilted her head slightly at his introduction. “Right, a pleasure to meet you as well. Daniel, I thought you were going to hire a few mercenaries. What happened?”

Volk and I looked at each other for a moment mentally coming up with an answer. “The others had...prior obligations to attend to. They unfortunately had to decline my offer.”

I’m not sure how to feel about the stone-faced look of disbelief I recieved. “Yes, I’m sure they were. I just hope your new friend can pull his weight.”

Tossing his bag onto the wagon, Volk called over, “I’m sure I can. There’s always more to someone than meets the eye, you know!”

I started packing our merchandise while Friia sighed. “Look, things happened, and for once it wasn’t my fault. Just give it a chance, yeah? Now let’s go, we need to start on the road soon.”

“You’re right, I know. It shouldn’t take too long to...Daniel? Where did all this gold come from?”