Arc 4: What families entail
Road to a Hero:
Three chances in another world
Chapter 7. Bar trouble
The group enters the outskirts of Athens, driving through the forest.
Soku: “We crossed the bridge!”
Rosemary: “We made it!”
Edward: “Alright we should look for an inn outside the central city.”
Julius: “Should we rest and go into the city in the morning?”
Soku: “If we wanna learn stuff we need to be out at night, asking around. Mainly in bars and such, I’m used to things like this; it's what I’m good at.”
Rosemary: “Alright then…so you and Edward will go out then?”
Edward: “Why me?”
Rosemary: “They wouldn’t take me seriously and I’m a bad liar, then there’s Julius….they won’t like his personality to put it likely.”
Edward: “Didn’t you do this kinda stuff when you lived with Soku?”
Rosemary: “I just cleaned around the house. I also helped Ophelia sell stuff but Soku helped us with that as well.”
Julius: “I agree with your thought process. We will act on your plan, but let us get to the inn first anyway.”
Rosemary: “Alright then.”
They drive for a bit longer until they spot an inn down the road. They pull the carriage and animals into a stable outside, then enter the inn.
Erin: “Hi! My name is Erin and I’m the owner of this inn! Would you like a couple of rooms?”
Julius: “Two rooms for two please.”
Erin: “Of course sir, how long do you plan on staying?”
Julius: “That is undetermined so we will pay by the week.”
Erin: “Alright then that’ll be… one hundred silver in all.”
Soku: “Ouch…the rooms n’ food better be good.”
Erin: “I assure you all of it is nice!”
They get their room keys and walk to the upper floor. They enter their rooms and get their things settled.
Rosemary: “Are you going to be okay out there?”
Soku: “I’ll be fine…”
Rosemary: “Can I ask you something?”
Soku: “Yeah I guess.”
Rosemary: “Are you sleeping well?”
Soku: “Yeah I’m sleeping fine…”
Rosemary: “Soku…please don’t lie to me.”
Soku: “Well…I have nightmares sometimes.”
Rosemary: “How often is it sometimes…?”
Soku: “Every…day.”
Rosemary: “WHAT! You need to calm down…do we need to talk?”
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Soku: “I told you I’m FINE!”
Soku leaves the room slamming the door behind her. She notices Edward standing in the hall waiting for her.
Edward: “Do you wanna talk about whatever that was?”
Soku: “NO!”
Edward: “Alright then let’s go into town.”
They walk back downstairs, getting a wave goodbye from Erin.
Edward: “Oh, by the way, Erin do you know any popular bars with the armies?”
Erin: “The Drunken Serpent is pretty popular with the Red Arrows.”
Edward: “Alright thanks again!”
Erin: “No problem, have a good day!
They exit the inn, stepping onto the short path into town.
Edward: “She’s nice.”
Soku: “Do you like her or somethin’?”
Edward: “What? I just met her. How would I get a crush that fast?”
Soku: “I dunno ask Gray and Rosemary, I’m just teasing.”
Edward: “Yeah….you’ve been teasing more and more lately.”
Soku: “Got a problem?”
Edward: “Nope, just saying.”
Soku: “Can we just not talk then…I’ve been talking all day, my throat is sore.”
Edward: “If you wish.”
With that said They walk into town without saying a single word to each other. The only audible thing was the rustling of leaves in the wind. They arrive in the main town and see groups of people walking around. The buildings look very different compared to Walgonias. The buildings are almost all made of dark stone bricks, with everything being dark, disheveled, and moist.
Soku: “Looks a little better than the slums I’m used to.”
Edward: “Is that so? Alright, we need to ask around, and see if they’ll tell us where that bar is.”
Edward walks up to a group of drunken men walking down the street.
Edward: “Sir do you know where the Drunken Serpent bar is by any chance.”
Drunken man: “Heh…Oh yeah, it’s over yon…der it’s the…first on the left…”
The drunken man throws up, barely missing Edward.
Edward: “Um…have a nice night sir.”
Drunken man: “Tanks…you too…”
Soku: “First try huh.”
Edward: “Seems so, a bit of good luck there.”
Soku: “Alright, when we get in there I’ll do the question-asking.”
Edward: “What? I’m bigger than you, I don’t think they’d give you a straight answer.”
Soku: “These types of people are good at finding their people. You’ll see, you just gotta trust me.”
Edward: “Alright then…I trust you.”
They walk over to the Drunken Serpent. They hear yelling, laughing, and talking on the inside.
Edward: “You ready?”
Soku: “As I’ll ever be…”
They enter the bar, the smell makes Edward nauseous. Puke, beer, blood, and piss.
Edward: “Never understood bars, now this just makes my view of them worse.”
Soku: “Yeah but scamming drunk guys is easy. Now let me talk to the barkeep.”
Edward: “Yeah sure, I’ll act as a bodyguard.”
Soku sits at the bar, trying to get the attention of the barkeeper.
Soku: “Hey. HEY!. HEY BARKEEPER!”
Barkeeper: “What!? Damn, kid gets out of here.”
Soku removes the hat covering her head, her ears and green hair catch the attention of the man drawing him into the conversation.
Soku: “Names Soku the wind thief! Heard of me?”
Barkeeper: “I have actually. And call me Horace instead of the barkeeper.
Horace refills his customer's drinks by conversing with Soku.
Soku: “I’m looking for a way to talk with the leader of the Red Arrows. Can you help me with that?”
Horace: “Possibly…for a price, my memories are a little shaky right now.”
Soku: “Do I need to make this guy here knock your head back into place then?”
Horace looks at Edward, his cocky attitude turns to fear as he notices Edward's battle aura. A feeling of power, confidence, and bloodlust all at once. Edward sits down beside Soku.
Edward: “Can I have a drink?”
Horace: “Um…what do you…I mean what would you like sir?”
Edward: “Your recommendation please…”
Horace pours Edward a glass of bourbon, trying his hardest to establish a sense of friendship.
Edward: “Look…just tell us what we want and we’ll get out of your hair…is that alright?”
Horace: “Yeah…HEY GUYS THESE NICE CUSTOMERS WANNA KNOW IF THEY CAN MEET THE RED ARROWS! “
Edward feels a hand touch his shoulder. Before he says anything he’s thrown to the ground, surrounded by drunken hostiles. A man walks through the crowd, a tall muscular man.
Big man: “YeAh…We’Re…*hiccup* ThE ReD ArRoWs.”
Edward: “Some how I don’t believe you.”
The big man fully walks out of the crowd, revealing himself to be a demi-human. He is what looks to be a simple wolf type, but with his big stature, it would be criminal to look past him as a weak foe. Another drunk man attempts to grab Soku's body, but he is stopped by her uncovering her blade. Soku pulls the blade out from the cover of her cloak and holds it in front of herself.
Edward {Shit…this isn’t good…I don’t have my sword or armor…and all these guys might try and kill us. I just need to win…like every other time…lose focus and….AND WIN!}
A man hears the action from outside the bar. Then suddenly a man is thrown through the wall of the bar. Crashing to the ground, he looks at the assailant. Edward stares him down before jumping out of the hole in the wall of the bar. The Demi-human man stands up, brushing the rubble off his body before attempting to punch Edward. Edward weaves the punch, grabbing the man's arm and breaking it. Everyone walks out of the bar, surrounding Edward and the wolf man watching in awe.
Crowd member: “Wooh…no way these humans gonna beat 'em.”
Crowd member: “I GOT TWO SILVER ON EM’!”
The crowd goes crazy, screaming in anticipation. The wolfman tries to ram into Edward, and to everyone's surprise, Edward grabs onto The wolf man's head and flips him onto his back, the force knocking him out.
Edward: “ANYONE ELSE!?”
A man goes to shank Edward in the back, but he’s stopped by a gust of wind pushing him to the ground. The crowd looks at Soku, in awe of the fact that they are seeing an elf, a wind magic user in their country. The crowd quickly turns hostile, an all-out battle is about to occur before a sound similar to thunder is heard. Before anyone can react, a spear is thrown into the ground, a little shocking everyone that isn't Edward and Soku. Then they all notice a man standing atop the spear, with bright yellow hair, and a headband with the Red Arrows flag on it.
Crowd member: “Holy shit…IT’S LEO!”
Leo: “I heard you were looking for the Red Arrows…well here I am, leader of the Red Arrows. AND EVERYONE HERE IS NOT A PART OF THE RED ARROWS, SO UNLESS YOU WANNA BE HARSHLY REPRIMANDED, I SUGGEST YOU GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE WOULD YAH?”
The crowd flees, leaving Edward and Soku alone with the leader of the Red Arrows.
Leo: “Sorry about those guys, they’re pirates parading as us. You guys are strong! What’re your names?”
Soku: “Soku, just Soku.”
Edward: “My name is Edward Van Helsing.”
Leo: “Wait…YOU’RE A VAN HELSING!”
Edward: “Yeah…and I would like your help to take back Walgonia.”
END OF: Chapter Seven.