"Give me another ale!”

“Hey! Is the food still not ready?”

The cozy, meager pub of the relatively small village was crowded with customers, even though the sun had yet to set.

“Yes, yes! I will be there soon!”

The owner of the compound busily poured drinks and prepared dishes, and the only employee of the pub, a boy, dashed from table to table while sweating buckets.

Ring!

Along with the sound of jingling bells, the door opened, and two guests walked in. Even though it was already March, the cold chilled one to the bones. Compared to the past, the Pendragon Kingdom had grown three times larger in size. As such, the northern village was still frosty, and the two newly arrived guests were adorning thick hoods.

The appearance of the two travelers was not out of the ordinary, and the guests in the pub only spared a glance before resuming what they had been doing. After passing through the noisy pub, the two figures settled in a dark, empty corner away from the people’s eyes.

“Welcome! What can I get for you?”

The boy spoke cheerfully, and one of the two, a man, slowly removed his hood and held out a silver coin.

“Food. Whatever can be prepared the quickest. And bring us a bottle of ale and a cup of water.”

“I want ale too. Not water, ale.”

The accompanying figure chimed in while removing their hood.

“…..”

Although the customers had spoken, the boy stood fixated on the spot with a dazed expression. He couldn’t even think to receive the silver coin from the man’s outstretched hand. His dazed gaze remained fastened on the figure beside the man. They were calmly taking their seat after slowly removing their hood.

The man holding the silver smirked and tapped the boy on the shoulder.

“Child, ale and water.”

“Ah! I, I’m so sorry. I will bring them as quickly as possible!”

The boy jumped back with surprise, then quickly received the silver coin while bowing. However, even as the boy rushed towards the bar, he could not help but steal glances back at the corner table.

After seeing the boy’s reaction, the man turned his head to his companion without removing his grin.

“This is problematic. We will be attracting attention wherever we go.”

The figure’s long silver-white hair poured down like a shimmering waterfall, and her clear eyes were deep and calm. Anyone would feel as if they were being drawn into her endless gaze. Her slim jawline curved perfectly into her straight nose, and her thick, red lips were a flawless addition to her face. Regardless of whether they were a man or a woman, anyone would become shocked speechless by her beauty.

It was completely understandable that the employee boy had been thrust into a daze.

“Attention? Why?”                                                                                                    

However, the one responsible for causing the incident tilted her head as if she was confused by his words. Her beauty was surely unparalleled in the world, and when she tilted her head innocently under the dim light, any man would feel their heart flutter unceasingly.

Nevertheless, the man simply smiled and placed her hood back on.

“For the time being, I think it would be better to stay like this in crowded places.”

“It’s stuffy.”

“It’s better to be stuffy for a while rather than for something annoying to happen. In the first place, you were the one who wanted to see the world for a bit. You agreed to follow my words unconditionally in exchange.”

“Yeah.”

The beauty immediately agreed with his words and nodded.

The man stroked her head.

“Anyways, you want to drink ale? I do not think I have ever seen you drink.”

“I was always curious. Drian, and Langaro as well. They could not hold themselves back in front of alcohol. They especially liked ale, so I want to know the reason why.”

“I think it might be a little dangerous to follow their example.”

The man smiled bitterly while recalling memories spoken by the beauty. Although he himself could hold his liquor, the two that she mentioned drank alcohol beyond human limits. They were truly whales when it came to liquor.

Well, it was probably only possible because they were not human.

“Anyways, the food here is quite good, so it should be to your taste as well. The owner is unchanged.”

The man looked around the pub with a nostalgic expression. The sweet aroma of the mouth-watering food all too naturally aroused one’s appetite. The atmosphere was quite nice as well. The constant sound of clinking glass mixed with the chatters of mercenaries and village residents.

How long had it been since he had seen and experienced such a thing?

‘Nothing has changed.’

Indeed, years had passed, but the world, and the lives of the regular men remained unchanged.

Thuck!

“Oh man, I’m sorry about this. I… Heuk!”

A man staggered from the inside of the pub, perhaps after taking a leak. His face dyed red from the influence of alcohol. The man slurred an apology after slightly bumping shoulders with the beauty sitting by the man.

However, he trailed off and gasped aloud. Her hood had been removed by the motion, and her perfect, beautiful face had been once again revealed under the dim light.

“G, g, goddess…”

The middle-aged man mumbled in a stupor. He appeared to be a village resident.

“Hmm? I am not a goddess.”

A normal woman would have reacted differently – they would either become angry or laugh after hearing such a compliment. Nevertheless, the beauty tilted her head with a genuinely puzzled look.

Her action was sufficient to blow away any remains of the middle-aged man’s reason.

“Goddess!”

He must have been quite drunk.

The middle-aged man jumped at her while shouting in a loud voice. However, his attempt was unsuccessful.

Thuck!

“Kuagh!”

The middle-aged man tripped over the other man’s foot and fell to the wooden floor.

“What’s going on?”

The customers turned their heads at the sudden commotion. Then, everyone became wide-eyed with shock.

“Huagh!”

“W, what in the world…”

Both men and women were unable to close their gaping jaws. Although the two were seated in a dark corner, the revealed face of the woman under the dim light was truly unworldly. The men gulped with trembling eyes, and the few women also could not remove their gazes from the beauty.

“Excuse me, what is going on?”

However, there was one other figure who seemed indifferent to the woman’s dazzling beauty. The pub owner came out of the bar and asked politely.

“I think this customer is a little drunk. He suddenly rushed towards my companion, so I had no choice.

“Ahh, I see. Oi, Maion. You’re drunk. Go home.”

“The goddess… Goddess…”

The middle-aged man was already drunk, but after falling to the floor, he was disoriented. He floundered on the floor and was eventually dragged out of the pub by other customers.

“I apologize. He is a resident of this village and a regular, but he’s especially drunk today. As an apology, the ale will be on the house.”

“Thank you.”

The man spoke with a grin.

The watching eyes of the customers sparkled strangely. They had been absorbed by the woman’s beauty, but the man was quite handsome and manly as well. The man’s long, untidied black hair was tied back. He met the eyes of the dazed customers with a smile before returning to his seat.

“Excuse me, the ale and the dishes are served.”

The boy brought steaming food and wooden mugs filled with beer.

“Thank you.”

“Thanks.”

“N, not at all. Please enjoy your meal.”

Although the boy heard such words countless times until now, his face was dyed red after receiving the beauty’s words. He quickly scurried away.

“Why is he acting like that? The others keep looking at me as well. Am I scary?”

“How could that be…”

The man smiled bitterly and grabbed his mug.

“Here, try some.”

Although he found the countless glances rather bothersome, the man tried his best to ignore them and lifted his mug towards the beauty.

“Yeah.”

She nodded, then bumped her mug with the man’s. Soon, the cold, fresh beer quenched their thirst.

“Hmm! That is nice.”

The man burst into admiration while setting his mug down on the table. It had been a truly long time since he tasted alcohol made by a ‘human’. Then, he scouted for the beauty’s reaction with curious eyes.

“What do you think?”

“Bitter.”

“Haha!”

The man burst into laughter after seeing her eyebrows scrunching into a frown. Even though she only looked to be around twenty years old, she was no different from a child just getting to know the world.

Of course, her real age was…

“Hey friend, why don’t you let us join in on the fun?”

“…..”

Of course, the unique smell and the noisy atmosphere of the pub wouldn’t be the only things that were unchanged. It wouldn’t be a pub without a couple of mischievous mercenaries.

The man sighed inwardly and raised his head. As if advertising themselves to be mercenaries, there stood three men with flushed faces, dressed in attire typical to mercenaries. They grinned after surrounding the table.

“Why? Do you not want…”

“Get lost.”

“Huak!”

The man cut off their words abruptly in a cold voice, and the three mercenaries became wide-eyed.

“Hey. You should learn to share things that are…”

“Get lost. I will not say it a third time.”

“What a pompous brat! Acting all cool just because you’re with a decent woman…”

Thuck!

“Kuagghh!”

One of the mercenaries collapsed along with a scream while grasping his groin. He had been leaning towards the woman. The pommel of a sword occupied the place where the mercenary had stood just a moment ago. It was from the man’s waist.

It had struck the mercenary’s precious area.

“Oh, my…”

The gaze of the customers was fixated on the table.

“Argghh! Ahh!”

Surely the pain would be great.

Perhaps something was broken.

“You, you…”

The two remaining mercenaries could only stutter with shock. The man muttered quietly.

“It’s definitely smaller than 

his

 from what I felt. Well, it’s broken all the same anyways.”

“You bastard!”

The mercenaries charged.

The man’s eyes flashed coldly, and his hands and feet moved in a dizzying manner as he remained sitting.

Pupupuk!

“Kuagh!”

Although several free knights and mercenaries were present in the pub, no one accurately grasped the man’s movements.

It was literally a flash.

The remaining two mercenaries collapsed to the floor in an unseemly manner.

“Uaaghh…”

“Kuagh! Hagh!”

One puked on the floor after receiving a blow to the abdomen, and the other stood up while coughing painfully after suffering a blow to the adam’s apple.

“Uaagh!”

They slowly backed away while supporting their colleague. He was still desperately grabbing the inside of his groin while shedding tears and snot.

Naturally, they remembered to recite their cliched lines.

“You bastard! What is your name!”

“If you are a knight or a mercenary, speak your name! We are from the Lancel Mercenaries! We will never forget today’s humiliation.”

The man slowly stood up from his seat, the name of the group coming in one ear and out the other.

“Ugh…”

It had been hidden when the man was seated, but he looked rather tall and fit after he stood up. In addition, the atmosphere exuded by his presence and eyes certainly belonged to someone extraordinary.

The man slowly opened his lips, slowly moving his gaze between the three mercenaries.

“Valt. My name is Raven Valt.”