The tavern had a certain charm for Thiago, as he had never been in a fantasy building like this before, although it was not so different from the normal buildings he remembered.

The floor was nothing special and was in fact rather plain, being made of rough stone. Moving his gaze from the floor to the walls and the interior, Thiago first saw that the walls were sparsely decorated with some sinister looking beast remains, ranging from skulls and just parts of different beasts to whole skeletons, which made for a rather strange scene, but somehow these bones fit in very well with the tavern.

The whole tavern was rather dimly lit, with only small amounts of light spilling down from the ceiling through some shabby looking old lamps, creating a kind of hazy atmosphere that Thiago could not complain about, as he found it rather novel.

Glancing from left to right as he walked behind Li Wei, he noticed that most of the tables were empty at the moment, but of those that were occupied, one table in particular stood out, as many rough men who seemed to be hunters from the way they were dressed sat there, on the other hand, most of the tables were occupied by normal looking men and women, and only at one particular table, far away in a corner, were two demi-humans sitting there.

One of them seemed to be a mixture of human and bear, as the man had two bear's ears on the side of his head, and the hand he used to hold his cup was clearly a bear's paw, not a human one, which made Thiago guess his species immediately. The man sitting at the same table had fox ears and a fox tail, so his race was obvious.

Thiago was not too surprised to see demi-humans here, as he had seen a few before when he had walked through the city to get to this tavern, but he was pretty sure that these demi-humans were not treated very well in general, as most of the demi-humans he had seen on his way here had all walked with a rather low posture, and most people had looked at them with disdainful eyes.

It was the same here in this tavern, from time to time, some of the people sitting at the other tables would glance at the demi-humans and then turn back to their companions, chatting and ridiculing them without even keeping their voices down.

However, the two demi-humans did not seem to mind, as if they were used to it and wanted to avoid trouble.

Thiago would certainly not intervene or act now, as it was not something he really wanted to get involved in at the moment, besides Thiago himself was not really a particularly selfless person and did not care too much about the low status of the demi-humans.

Although technically Thiago was a beast in his true form and would have an even lower status than demi-humans now that he was in his human form, he did not care too much about that as he had other goals.

The people already in the tavern also noticed that there were some newcomers, and when they looked at Thiago and Li Wei, but when they saw Li Wei, they only cast a last glance at Thiago, but did not bother them, as they obviously knew Li Wei, and he seemed to have contacts everywhere in this town, at least Thiago thought so.

The tables and stools were all made of wood and did not have much decoration or anything that made the whole place look better, Thiago noticed and also felt that this tavern was really cheap and the only thing that gave it some charms were the bones hanging on the wall, that was all.

Taking back his focus from the surroundings Thiago looked back to the front and saw that they had already reached the table that Li Wei had headed for since the beginning.

Seating down on a stool around the table Thiago curiously looked at Li Wei and asked him: "How do you order here I don't seem to see any waiter here?"

"Don't worry, they'll be here soon, I've already used the hidden switch that is activated when you turn the saltshaker in a certain pattern that only regulars know. A waitress will be here soon." Li Wei explained quickly, leaving Thiago a little stunned, as he hadn't expected this cheap tavern to rely on something like that to call for a waitress instead of the regular way, and then something crossed his mind and he promptly asked Li Wei again, "Then how do people call for a waitress if they are here for the first time and don't know this switch? Do they just have to wait forever or what?"

"Haha, don't worry, I was just kidding, who would use such a system in a tavern like this, at least I don't know who would. Actually, a waitress will probably come in a few minutes, as they tend to the customers in intervals of maybe ten minutes or less." Li Wei laughed as he explained to Thiago that he had in fact completely fooled him with what he had said earlier about the hidden mechanism.

Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.

Thiago's face seemed to get several tones darker in just a few seconds after hearing what Li Wei had just said and he looked angrily at Li Wei, making him shudder a bit due to unknown reasons as he felt being targeted by some dangerous being.

At that moment, the feeling disappeared, leaving him unsure whether he had just imagined it or whether it was real. But seeing that Thiago looked as harmless as ever, he ignored the feeling and tried to soothe Thiago's mood:" Well, um, it was just a little joke, I really did not mean to make a fool of you, to make up for it I will pay for your expenses today". He said the last part about paying for Thiago's expenses so righteously, despite the fact that he had already promised to do so earlier, and that it was just being used as a placatory gesture.

Nevertheless, Thiago did not mind that as he in fact was not really angry just now, well maybe just a little bit.

Now that Li Wei had already promised to pay for his expenses, Thiago would not be unreasonable and would gladly give him this way out, since Thiago had other intentions with this as well, since Li Wei had left a loophole in what he had just said.

Li Wei had only said that he would pay for Thiago's expenses today, but had not specified that he would only pay for Thiago's expenses in this tavern, so Thiago planned to make him bleed a little later. Of course, he was not going to do too much, just to show him that he had to choose his words carefully, so it was really just a lesson, or so Thiago convinced himself.

"Well then I will not be polite, and gladly accept," Thiago replied after having Li Wei wait for a few seconds while he had been thinking.

"When the waitress comes, you can order for me since I have no idea about the food and drinks they have here anyway, as well as the food that exists here in the city in general," Thiago said to Li Wei who immediately agreed to his request and just as he was about to say something, Thiago saw a person approaching them out of the corner of his eye.

'Speaking of the devil, the devil is coming,' Thiago thought to himself as he suspected that this person could be the waitress he had just been talking about.

Just then, a moment later, Thiago saw the whole person appear next to their table.

It was a woman of about eighteen, with striking features but an air of insecurity that suggested she was new and unaccustomed to serving guests. Her dark hair was pulled back into a neat ponytail, and her sharp cheekbones and full lips gave her a striking appearance.

But it was her eyes that might catch anyone's attention. They were a vivid shade of blue, sparkling with energy and curiosity. They seemed to dart around the room, taking in every detail and storing it away for later.

She wore a simple yet elegant black dress that hugged her curves and prominent large breasts, accentuating her feminine figure with delicate features and soft curves that suggested youth and vitality. The skirt was short enough to reveal a pair of shapely legs that went on for miles.

Her posture was upright and poised, and she moved with a grace that spoke of both physical strength and mental agility.

Thiago was immediately overwhelmed by such beauty, for in his mind he was still a young man in his prime, and of course he had all the desires of a vigorous man of that age.

However, Thiago was quickly able to control himself, as he had extremely good mental fortitude and had only been a little overwhelmed by her beauty in the beginning, and then he had quickly been able to collect himself. This also prevented the waitress from seeing any unusual reaction from Thiago, as it happened so quickly that she could not notice anything.

Judging by Li Wei's expression on his face it seemed that he has also extremely captivated by her beauty, it was just that he could not collect himself as quick as Thiago.

"Li Wei!" Thiago whispered in his direction, causing Li Wei to quickly come out of his trance and smile embarrassedly at the waitress, who had clearly seen his reaction.

The waitress, who had only been working here for a day, did not seem to be used to this kind of look from other customers, but she did not scold Li Wei in the slightest, which might have something to do with the fact that she could not afford to lose this job, as it was of the utmost importance to her, and one of the few jobs that a person who had not even reached the first cultivation realm, the novice realm, could take.

This was one of her biggest regrets, and she was ashamed that at the age of twenty-five, she had not even reached the first level of cultivation because her talent was far too low.

What she did not know was that there might be an entirely different reason for this, but that was for later, much later.

"What do you wish to order, or do you need a menu?" The waitress asked with her delicate and charming voice, but this time Li Wei and Thiago had no unusual reaction.

Thiago looked at Li Wei who seemed to understand and then listed a few things to the waitress which he wanted to order.

"We would like to have a 'Golden Gourd Punch', a plate of 'Crispy Lotus Root Chips', a 'Sizzling Dragon Steak' and a 'Roasted Phoenix Tail', please?" Li Wei ordered, handing the menu back to the waitress.

"Excellent choices, sir. Your order will be out shortly," the waitress said with a smile, before turning around and making her way to the kitchen.

After the waitress had completely disappeared from their vision, Li Wei moved his head closer to Thiago and commented: "Wow, that waitress just now is such a great beauty, right?"

"Yes, she certainly is," Thiago replied concisely, without any hypocrisy, as it was just a fact, and he did not need to pretend that he did not find her beautiful.

Li Wei and Thiago then waited about ten minutes for their drinks and food before the same waitress returned to deliver their orders.

With thanks, they each took a plate and a drink, while Li Wei explained to Thiago all the different dishes and drinks he had ordered.

"Well, this 'Sizzling Dragon Steak' is my favourite, and it looks similar to a normal steak with a few differences in shape and colour, but it tastes at least ten times better, I don't know exactly what they put in it, but they really make me crave it whenever I don't eat it for a few days." Li Wei started to explain, and after seeing that Thiago was listening, he continued, "As for this Golden Gourd Punch, it tastes amazing, you will be surprised for sure."

"And this..."

"As for this... it tastes especially amazing in combination with..."

Just as they were happily eating, they heard a loud commotion coming from one of the tables, and when Thiago and Li Wei looked over, they actually saw a couple of men staring and seemingly arguing with the previous waitress, while one of the men even had an extremely lecherous look on his face, about something, and just as they thought it was nothing worth paying attention to, they saw one of the men grab the arm of the waitress and pull her towards him...