Chapter 22: The Tavern

Late at night, heavy snow fell. The wild wind howling from the Odin Ice Plain swept everything fiercely. Snowflakes, almost as big as frozen snowballs the size of fists, plummeted from the high sky, beating the thick accumulated snow into a chaotic noise.

The edges of the thick dark clouds high in the sky showed a dim red glow. Every time this eerie light appeared, the people of the Western Continent knew that the real depths of winter were about to arrive, and the hardest three months of the year were coming. It was said that this red glow in the sky was the blood and fire stirred up by the evil god worshipped on the Odin Ice Plain battling the Gods believed in by the people of the Continent, dyeing the sky this color.

In the northwest corner of the Commercial District in the southern part of Borelly City, less than two miles from Berelli University Town, a small tavern was brightly lit and bustling with noise, the nightlife at its peak.

The tavern’s door was small, only wide enough for two or three people to walk through side by side. A sign hung in front, showing a gaudily dressed beautiful woman leaning against a huge, rusted war sword. The sign, made of black ironwood, swung wildly in the cold wind, occasionally hitting the wall with a dull thud.

This was the Sword and Beauty Tavern, the favorite place for students of the Borelly Army Academy to hang out and have fun.

Going through the tavern’s door and down a narrow alley, one reached a small square that could fit about a dozen double-horse carriages. A row of two-story buildings stood to the north; the second floor served as an inn, while the first floor was where the tavern operated.

The tavern owner, Big Sword Joe, a middle-aged man whose left cheek muscle had been sliced away by a sword, making half his face almost like a skull, was a veteran who had survived the grisly Continent-Island War thirty years ago. This tavern was his family business. After taking it over from his father, he used his military connections to turn the small tavern into a base for Army Academy students, and business got better day by day.

Behind the small bar, Big Sword Joe’s large hands, which once gripped a heavy sword to fiercely chop down Beastfolk, now held a rag, diligently wiping a huge mug. Several waitresses, whose looks were at best average but whose figures were extremely hot, stood behind the bar, laughing wildly and flirting with more than a dozen disheveled Army Academy students crowded in front of the bar.

Although it was late at night, these students completely ignored the Army Academy’s military rules and regulations, drunkenly seeking pleasure here. Many of them were members of the Round Table Knight Society. With their society leader Black Horse Haus currently presiding over the tavern, they didn’t care about military discipline or such matters.

One corner of the tavern was very quiet. The tall and powerfully built Black Horse Haus sat sprawled at a round table, with several core members of the Round Table Knight Society around him. Rabbit Charlie, known for being timid and afraid of death, also sat at the table, but clearly his status was low, and no one paid him any extra attention.

Black Horse Haus gulped down the spicy strong liquor in large swallows. The alcohol made his blood surge wildly through his veins, and his eyes were turning a bit red.

Coming from a Viscount family with outstanding military achievements and having a father who was a famous general in the Military Department, Black Horse Haus was filled with great ambition tonight. Tonight, right here, he was determined to completely crush the Iron Fist Brotherhood, which had opposed him for three years.

Three years ago, the Round Table Knight Society was the largest student group in Berelli University Town, and all students were overshadowed by it. Back then, just by extorting money from the timid, weak students from country landlord families, Black Horse Haus had a net income of nearly one hundred Gold Coins every month.

At that time, Black Horse Haus had just entered the Army Academy and had taken over the leadership of the Round Table Knight Society from his older brother who had graduated.

A monthly net income of one hundred Gold Coins, entirely his own, allowed Haus to live several months of extravagant, joyful days. Even now, Black Horse Haus still remembered the glory and freedom of that time. One hundred Gold Coins was a huge sum of money. For a young man like him, earning one hundred Gold Coins a month meant he could eat and drink whatever he wanted, and he was never short of accompanying daughters from those affected country landlord families.

But the good days came to an abrupt end when a student gang called the Iron Fist Brotherhood suddenly rose to power.

Led by Lin Qi, the Iron Fist Brotherhood was sinister, cunning, and full of endless schemes. The arrogant and overbearing Round Table Knight Society was completely deflated within just three months. Coupled with other student gangs seizing the opportunity to emerge, Berelli University Town no longer had the former dominance of the Round Table Knight Society.

Unsurprisingly, Black Horse Haus’s monthly income dropped from a net one hundred Gold Coins to not even covering expenses.

Deep hatred, great shame! Black Horse Haus had countless times fantasized about personally beating Lin Qi until he knelt and begged for mercy, thus reunifying Berelli University Town under his rule. But Lin Qi was so treacherous, so sly; his cunning strategies were something Black Horse Haus simply couldn’t counter. Three years passed, and Black Horse Haus suffered losses and fell for tricks repeatedly, while Lin Qi’s Iron Fist Brotherhood grew stronger.

Fortunately, today they had captured Vic!

As one of the core members of the Iron Fist Brotherhood, Lin Qi couldn’t ignore Vic’s fate!

He slammed his mug heavily on the table, and Black Horse Haus proclaimed loudly, “Today, right here, I will make Lin Qi kneel and beg for mercy!”

Nearly a hundred members of the Round Table Knight Society in the tavern raised their mugs simultaneously and laughed heartily. They all clamored to completely crush the Iron Fist Brotherhood, restore Berelli University Town to the glorious rule of the Round Table Knight Society, and let the students’ Gold Coins, Silver Coins, and Copper Coins flow into their pockets like water.

Black Horse Haus comfortably let out a drunken burp. He patted Rabbit Charlie’s shoulder firmly and praised him with satisfaction, “Charlie, you did very well this time, you didn’t disgrace our Army Academy! Remember, we are the regular army, they are just a bunch of thugs. We will defeat them, we definitely will!”

This was the pride of the Round Table Knight Society—all its members were Army Academy students, considering themselves the regular army.

And what about Lin Qi’s Iron Fist Brotherhood? Dozens of core members were students from various colleges, but the hundreds of enforcers and errand boys on the periphery were indeed thugs and ruffians that Lin Qi had hooked up with. In this sense, Black Horse Haus wasn’t wrong about Lin Qi.

Just as Black Horse Haus was boldly declaring his intent to utterly defeat Lin Qi and the others, shadows flickered outside the tavern, and a group of unidentified individuals had approached the tavern.

A few low, muffled grunts were heard as several attendants outside taking care of the horses were knocked unconscious from behind.