Kana walked ahead of me and swayed from left to right as she read the names hanging over the tavern doors.

We walked into the northern streets where the strong aroma of alcohol hung over every building. Without having to look into any of them, I could easily tell what they sold.

Should I walk a bit closer to her? It feels a little awkward to be walking behind someone for so long. I’ll try speaking up.

“Uh…Miss Kana where are we-”

In a quick spin on her heel, she turned to me with a shy grin. “Could we drop the formalities, please? At least when we are outside of the ASH headquarters, tonight’s all about fun after all.”

Fun actually sounded pretty good after everything from the last two days. I was a little tired of having to keep my words so formal and wound up around her. It felt comforting that I could show her a little more of the real me.

“I will keep that in mind Miss– I mean…Kana.” I managed to say it but not without an awkward catch in my throat.

“Good! To answer your question before, I heard of a great tavern from one of my colleagues last night. It should be around here somewhere… oh, over there!”

She got so excited that she ran past me and straight to the door. She glanced over her shoulder repeatedly hoping I kept up.

We arrived at the door of a sleek wooden building with bright red lanterns that hung around it. Including the amazing modern details of the interior, the majority of the building gave off a vibrant atmosphere.

A loud buzz of people’s voices exploded from the front door as soon as we came closer, it quickly became impossible to focus on one sentence as they all meshed together in a cacophony of conversations.

My eyes glossed over the wildly painted sign that was boarded over the entrance.

“Lucky suns? This place sounds familiar…” I trailed off in deep thought.

“I hear they have a signature beer that is pretty good.”

“B-beer?!”

My sudden burst of emotion caught her by surprise.

I only turned 16 recently and naturally was never allowed inside any pubs or taverns, not that I tried. I had snuck a snip once when I was a kid but had never tried again after that. Bitter things were my overall greatest weakness.

Kana glanced back at me with a confused expression and then came to a realisation.

“Oh that’s right, you just turned 16 two weeks ago! Will this be your first time trying alcohol?” She pressed further with a coy smile.

I can’t let her think that I’m some kid, that’s the last thing I need from my consultant. I doubt she would treat my dungeon explorations any differently because I hate to drink but it’s a possibility if she thinks of me as a child.

The thought of her not being on the same page as me with climbing the Tower added a knot to my stomach. She needed to think of me as a man, as someone brave!

“N-no in fact I’m quite good at holding my liquor!” I averted my eyes while replying.

“Well that certainly would make for good company, why don’t we get a table.”

“Good idea.”

As we stepped through the front door a pair of bear-like men slammed against each other, locked by the fingers as they attempted to push one another back.

It was a masculine display of strength that would ordinarily overtake an entire street's attention but in that case, no more than a table or two looked over. It said something about the atmosphere of the place, everyone treated it as if it were a regular thing.

The one on the left was slightly taller with bulging muscles that were perfectly visible through his clothes.

Locked on the opposite end was a hulking figure but not as muscular and instead had a noticeable belly popping out from under his shirt. His burly arms seemed to be the only thing that kept things fair.

“Let up already, I can feel yer slippin'!”

“You kiddin'? I’m only getting started!”

Suddenly a bright orange figure rose behind the two men, her hair flowing out to the sides with the orange glow of a late-night horizon.

Two thin arms wrapped around the men’s shoulders and forced them into the ground. They crashed into the wooden floorboards hard enough to shake the entire tavern and street outside.

“Either order something– or get out!” The woman screamed over the two collapsed men.

Her amber eyes brushed over to us and settled. Her frustrated scowl had been replaced by a blank stare as she observed us curiously.

“Are you two in or out, we’re too busy to have loiterers?” She asked firmly.

So direct!

I stumbled for words, trying to think of a response but to be honest, I was still captivated by the collapsed giants she brought down with such a slender figure.

Stolen story; please report.

“Can we get a table for two, please?” Kana smiled.

“Coming right up. Silvy, you have customers!” The woman yelled across the room and a waitress came running in response.

A cute woman who looked to be my age guided us to our table in the centre of the room. Her hair was tied up in a messy bun, with a few strands that hung against her cheek and over her forehead. Its vibrant green colour was something I hadn’t seen before in Istoria, at least never that shiny.

At first glance, it would look untidy but it suited her well, she was an absolute looker in every sense of the phrase. I grew a little nervous as she walked ahead of us, trotting in her uniform themed to the gold and red colours of the tavern.

We sat down at our table when suddenly her shoes clacked together and the waitress came flying at me with her arms extended out.

I rushed in to catch her but her arms waved around too much and knocked me square in the jaw. I went down with her.

My fingers fell into an open hand as the soft texture of two large balloons filled my palms. My face grew warm as something soft and plush covered my face. Everything went dark for a brief moment but once we landed on the ground, I felt around for something to pull me up.

“This feels soft...what could feel this nice?” I muttered in a trance-like state.

Suddenly I snapped back to reality when I noticed the red material of her dress covering my face. I jumped away from her and got onto my feet with an embarrassed glint of red over my face. I looked over at her gingerly and saw that she was as embarrassed as me, if not more.

“I’m so sorry!! Sorry– sorry– sorry!”

“It’s fine…really, don’t worry about it.”

Others around the room erupted into laughter as they watched things unfold. I couldn’t understand how they missed the two men fighting but managed to see every bit of that.

The waitress, Silvy, patted herself down and kept her eyes glued down as she sighed deeply. I was glad she wasn’t broken up about it but it kind of looked like she was used to it. It was then that others chimed in.

“Good ol’ Silvy!”

“Careful not to trip when you’re dealing with our drinks, alright?”

Their laughter only added to the vibrant atmosphere.

“Are you okay Rei, you’re not hurt are you?” Kana leaned over.

“I’m fine– I’m fine! Don’t worry about me, I’m pretty sturdy.” I reassured her.

I looked around the room trying to see who was laughing when my eyes crossed over a large staircase that led upstairs. It was faint but I could hear the subtle sounds of people talking.

“Excuse me but…is there some sort of second bar above us?”

“I’m surprised you noticed, yes but that is the premium lounge. It’s used for booked events or guild meetings mostly.” Silvy replied.

She spoke normally but her eyes were still filled with embarrassment, she could barely lock eyes with me without turning red.

Even though this place was located on a street I frequented quite often I never thought it would have looked that expensive.

The chairs matched the décor perfectly, the subtle brown colour of the wood paired well with the bright red lamps and tablecloths. The place seemed to be popular as well, I didn’t think we would even be able to get a seat at a table from how packed it was.

“Can I start you guys off with something to drink? We have some great couple’s options if you’d like.”

“Pppffffffffftttttttttttt!” A spray of spit shot out from between my lips.

“We’re not a couple…” Kana trailed off with a red face.

Her eyes dropped down and a slight shift in her voice made her sound distant, even though she was right in front of me. I realised that even she could get embarrassed.

“Really? My bad~” The waitress laughed as she tapped her knuckle against the top of her head in a coy manner. “Then how about our famous Peanut Beer, it’s really popular!”

This must be the option that Kana spoke about earlier. Peanuts used to make beer? It sounds a little weird…

“I’ll have one of those thanks,” Kana replied.

Seeing Kana so excited to order one I opted for the same item. The goal was to have her think of me as an adult, I needed to keep up with her to do that.

“I’ll have the same please.”

“Two Peanut Beers, coming up!”

As we finished our order she quickly stepped away to the back room where the kitchen was. She carefully navigated through the crowds of people and rowdy customers without hassle, up until the kitchen entrance where she tripped again.

This atmosphere in the room was even livelier once we got seated, bards and musicians played in the corner as they set a jovial tone for the evening. The solid clanks of tankards pierced through laughter as adventurers and groups of people huddled around different tables, cheering for anything worth raising a glass to.

This place is nice, I can see why Kana wanted to try it out now. It’s just like the taverns I’ve heard about from stories about adventurers.

“Hey Rei, this might just be my work self talking but…are there a lot of adventurers here?” Kana leaned over the table and cupped her hand over her mouth so that only I could hear.

I noticed it when we walked in but she was right, aside from the occasional regular person at the bar it was hard to see a table that wasn’t filled with armoured-up, sword-wielding fighters.

It must have been some sort of adventurers hotspot from the looks of it.

“The waitress did mention a room upstairs for meetings, maybe adventurers like coming here.”

“You’re probably right, I just wish I could see why. It is my job to know them after all.” Kana rested her chin over her hand as she gazed out into the energetic table beside us.

That’s right, she’s only been a consultant for a little while now. I’m even her first client since she got the job, she must be pretty impatient to become knowledgeable.

“You mentioned before that you worked with ASH for 3 years right? What did you used to do before?”

Kana’s eyebrows raised, and I thought for a second that I went too far. I didn’t want to act too friendly with her after all, we weren’t that close.

“S-sorry, I shouldn’t ask things like that should I?!”

“Paperwork…” Kana muttered.

“What?”

“I did paperwork. It was kind of boring but more than anything, it was way too repetitive to handle.”

After a brief moment of silence, she pouted slightly and spoke.

“What, you said you wanted to know didn’t you? Shouldn’t we be on the same page if I’m going to be your consultant?”

What was I even thinking? Of course she wouldn’t be bothered by such a light question, I shouldn’t underestimate Kana like that.

“I guess we should,” I replied nervously. I gave a faint smile as I rubbed the back of my head.

I keep forgetting because we work together but Kana can be really cute sometimes. She’s usually pretty mature but when she gets embarrassed she quickly turns into a little kid again.

“I did other things too but it was mostly just the gritty work that nobody wanted to deal with at the end of the day. I’m glad to be out of that but things are a lot more challenging now, I never knew this job would have such gambles after all.”

I tilted my head slightly,

“What gambles?”