Moving forward I opened the doors, it was similar to the swinging doors you would see at saloons in those cowboy movies. Of course, as you would expect, the people inside instantly directed their sharp gazes at us. The room had a dangerous vibe around it.

The people sitting down on their seats by their tables were all dangerous looking as well. They had weapons, swords big and small. All rough looking, some with scars on their faces. Dammit, it couldn’t have been a normal bar. This place was definitely a place where warriors hang around. I blame both Taneva and Hartwin for this. I saw them already sitting down at the counter.

Hartwin seemed to have noticed the subtle tension and was a bit on guard from the numerous stare. Taneva, on the other hand, was obviously disregarding everything, like he didn’t care at all. Shit, that could explain his casual vibe, being immortal makes any threat puny.

Velar subtly groaned beside me, it would seem he disliked the danger this place posed. The struggles of a bodyguard. I continued on as smoke blew past me. There was one guy holding a lit pipe, and the smoke didn’t smell like any tobacco I knew. Was it even tobacco? Huh, likely it was not. But it was annoying, it was obstructing my air.

I let out a breath and subtly controlled the air to clean what was in front of me. I noticed one warrior staring at me and was the closest flinch.

What? He noticed it?

I didn’t expect that someone would notice I used magic. My casting should have been excellent. Hmmm… I had been curious about the standard strength in this place. Perhaps Taneva was right that a lot of people here were as strong as my elite knights back home. How troublesome.

“Beer, please. For the two of us,” Taneva casually said to the barkeeper.

Hartwin patted his pockets. “Oh yeah, what currency do you accept here?”

The barkeeper, a well-built man, beardy, and with a sharp glare, grabbed a pair of dark brown wooden mugs. “As long as it's a copper coin, we take it.”

“I see,” Hartwin nodded. “Looks like the material of the coin is what matters here.”

On the continent, each major nation had their own currency, but everyone would just accept it, nonetheless. Besides, all the coins should have more or less the same amount of copper, silver, or gold. Made things simpler. And they were on the same continent, so it was quite expected we would accept each other’s currency. From what I heard, though, Tornridge does not accept any other currency but their own, but they’re pieces of shit. How bothersome it would be to convert it first.

Anyway, as this was separate from the continent of where we were from, we expected a bit that they would prefer to use their own currency. But adding to it the demand of the harbormaster, it would seem as long as it was made of genuine material, it was fine.

I sat down on the chair next to the two. “It feels like we’re not welcome here,” I whispered to Taneva beside me. “Don’t take too long.”

Taneva smirked. “Now, now, let’s take it slow and savor what we consume. Especially in a new place.”

I let out a sigh.

Taneva turned towards Velar, who was standing behind me. “Want a drink, big guy?”

Velar shook his head. “No.”

“I see. Have a job to do, I understand.”

I smiled proudly. “Don’t tempt my guard, Taneva. It won’t work.”

“Hehe, oh well.”

The barkeeper put down beer filled mugs in front of Taneva and Hartwin. The latter grabbed the mug and sniffed.

“That’s a weird smell. Almost herbal.” He looked caught off guard, it was not what he was expecting.

Taneva took a sip. “... Hm. It’s the same liquor as last time.” He sounded a bit disappointed.

Hartwin drank a little from this mug. “Wow, it’s not that bad, aside from the strange smell. But it’s just not what I’m used to.”

Taneva drank a little as well. “It’s not that bad, but I was expecting something else.”

“So you have a preference,” I casually said to Taneva.

He shrugged with a smile. “Not really. When I travel around, I like to taste what liquors they can offer. Local liquors. Where you’re from, I love the variety of wine you make up. Nice job on that.”

I blinked my eyes. “... Thanks…” I didn’t really have a role in that. It had been part of the Wisterian ways to make a lot of wines. But still, I was the princess, so why not take the praise?

“Where does this come from anyway?” Hartwin asked the barkeeper.

“... From the local cactus.”

“Cactus?”

“Smash and squeeze it, you get the alcohol.”

“Huh.” Hartwin nodded. “I guess that explains the herbal smell.”

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Taneva turned to the barkeeper. “Hey barkeep, don’t you have anything else aside from this? I already tasted this one.”

That seemed to irritate the barkeeper. “You guys are not from these parts, are you?” He gave us a stern gaze.

“Why?” Taneva asked. “Does it matter? I was just wondering if you have anything else other than this.”

“Any other kind of alcohol is hard to come by. That is not easily provided to a bunch of strangers.”

Huh. It would seem their other special kinds of liquors were only for their usual and familiar customers. Or for the locals. It was already uncommon for them to have one, it wouldn’t be pleasant to give it to a bunch of strangers or travelers. They valued themselves more.

“Now that is just disappointing,” Taneva said. “And here I thought as long as we pay, you provide.”

“Our locals will pay in the end, not just you.”

Taneva sipped from his mug. “... You must have liquor from other continents. Is that right?”

The barkeeper didn’t answer, but that silence made it obvious. Considering that traders come and go here, there must be ones that came from a continent aside from ours.

“Can’t share even just a little?” Taneva added.

“Oi, can’t you bastards stop pestering already?!” One guy from behind us suddenly stood up and began stomping towards us. Judging from the way he dressed and the weapon on his back, he was a warrior. “Even we want the taste of different kinds of drink. So shut the fuck up!”

Goddammit Taneva, we’re already starting a fight?

This was the one thing I wanted to avoid! And somehow, I wasn’t that too surprised.

Taneva lowered his mug. “No need to be so rude, little man.” Uh oh, that man was not little at all. “Stop shouting, it’s unnecessary. It grates my ears.”

“You foreign bastard…”

The barkeeper audibly cleared his throat. “That’s enough. We don’t serve our special alcohol to tourists.”

Taneva heaved out a sigh. “Again, that’s disappointing. I imagine they might be expensive. Can these guys even afford it?”

“You mocking us, you shit?!”

A couple more warriors stood up to approach us, they must be that guy’s friends. They glared at Taneva.

“Not at all. Just asking. It’s just not always I get here, you know.”

“Where are you bunch of pig shits from, anyway?”

I turned a glance at the guy. Motherfucker just called me pig shit? Me?

“That is none of your business, shit-eating rat.”

“What did you just say?!”

The barkeeper slammed a wooden mug, stopping the tension and hostility from growing any further. The warrior guy clenched his fists, glaring at Taneva. The latter merely smirked mockingly. What a fucking troublemaker.

“Taneva…” I whispered. “Hold yourself. I would prefer things not to get violent.”

Taneva shrugged and drank from his mug.

“What’s this?” The warrior guy directed his eyes towards me. “You’re listening to this woman here? Obeying like a little puppy?”

Taneva merely chuckled and ignored him, but that only served to rile the man up further. The man moved over to the side and scrutinized me with narrow and suspicious eyes.

“Quite slender, pretty hair, and nice skin. Like a true lady. You don’t belong to a place like this…”

I sighed internally, pulling my hood further and looking away. I ain’t gonna be the cause of any trouble here.

Taneva lowered his mug. “Oh, I wouldn’t want to mess with her.”

“Haha! Oh yeah? I’ll mess her up alright. Wassup, little lady?”

I’m not little, you fuck.

He held out his hand, about to try to grab me. But before he could reach me, Velar grasped his wrist in an instant. The warrior’s allies swiftly pointed their blades at Velar from behind. Velar paused, looking at the blades from the corner of his eyes, but kept a firm grasp on the warrior.

“Oi! Let go of me!” The man’s vein bulged on his neck and forehead as he angrily glared at Velar.

Velar glared at the warrior. “Do not touch the mistress with your filthy hands.”

He forcefully shoved the man away, and he was sent tumbling to the floor.

The man quickly straightened himself. “You bastard!” With visible anger, the man was about to charge at Velar.

However, Hartwin suddenly got in the way.

“Woah, woah!” He waved his arms between them. “What about let’s all calm down? You’re giving trouble to the owner, you know.” Hartwin formed a wide and nervous smile. “So let’s take a deep breath and let’s be more friendly.”

The warrior directed a frown at Hartwin, but at least it interrupted the fight that was about to unfold.

“Causing conflict would ruin the flavor of our beers and food. So let’s be peaceful and enjoy the nourishments on our tables.”

As expected of our poet! He knew how to calm the crowd down.

“Let’s lower our weapons, shall we?” He turned towards the men who were pointing their weapons at Velar. “There’s no need to escalate. Let’s just forget what happened and start over. Or best, just ignore each other.”

The annoying warrior snorted and scoffed before nodding his head at his allies. They lowered their weapons.

“I won’t forget this. And I won’t forget you, little lady,” the warrior said before returning to his table, along with his friends.

Hartwin sighed before returning to his seat. “We almost got in trouble on our first day.”

“Sometimes it’s amusing how unnecessarily aggressive people are,” Taneva quietly said to us with an amused chuckle. “And sometimes I just want to aggravate them.”

“Just drink up your beer,” I said to him before turning to the barkeeper. “I apologize for the trouble.”

The barkeeper nodded. “Good thing things didn’t end up in a fight.”

I faintly nodded. “Indeed, I feared the damage that it might have caused to your bar.”

“You’re a soft-spoken lady. This place is not fit for a girl like you.”

I smiled ever so slightly. “We all sometimes end up in the most unexpected places in our lives.”

“Wise words.”

I looked around, and my gaze ended up on a board with a sheet of paper pinned on it. A face was drawn on it, the writing however, I couldn’t understand. But there were numbers. They used the same writing for numbers as on the continent, huh?

But the paper overall almost looked familiar.

“What’s that?” I asked the barkeeper, pointing at the paper on the board.

“That? A bounty.”

As I thought, a bounty.

I stood up and approached the board. I took a closer look at the sketch.

“What does it say? Is it to kill or capture?”

“To kill the target.”

Kill the target… Assassinate?

“Who is the target?”

“A bandit leader that’s been giving a lot of trouble lately. A dangerous fellow.”

Interesting.

“You manage this bounty?”

“What? Interested? It’s only here to notify any interested party. But to turn the bounty in, you have to get to the Bureau.”

“How to prove you killed the target? Turn in the head?”

“That’s the surest way, I guess.”

“And what Bureau?”

“The National Security Bureau.”

A government given bounty. They couldn’t even bother using their own guys for that?

“Can you tell me more about this bounty?”

“You need to go to the Bureau for that.”

“I see.”

I wonder…

I turned towards Taneva and Hartwin, and they appeared to be finished.

“Let’s go?” I said.

“Yeah, I’m done here,” Taneva pulled out some money from his pocket and paid the barkeeper for both of them before standing up.

Hartwin also followed. “Yeah. I might come back, or find other bars. Ones with women.”

What the hell, Hartwin?

Velar approached me. “You’re interested in the bounty?”

“Can’t say. Let’s move on and walk around some more.”

On second thought, I might be a bit interested. However, I was still hesitant. There were still some things that needed to be done before other personal stuff.