When Zich heard Tim’s words, he burst out in laughter. “Those bandits are going to ambush the city?”

“According to my sources, they are.”

“Those guys are getting full of themselves now.” How could bandits dare to attack the inside of a city, especially the point of commerce, Campbell, where regular armies were stationed? However, Zich soon thought of another possibility.

‘No, are their heads actually working?’

In other situations, Zich would have laughed at them for their stupidity and waited to watch for the events they had planned to fall apart before them; but it was different from usual. Since many of the troops were dispatched to eradicate the pirates, the number of soldiers stationed in Bambis was less than usual.

‘A small number of troops went off to wander around outside to look for the bandits’ home base.’

In short, the number of troops stationed at Bambis had dwindled incredibly. If the bandits had a sizable force and a well-prepared plan, they might’ve really been able to wreck serious havoc inside the city.

‘It will probably be easier for them since they have a spy inside the city.’ The more Zich thought about it, the higher the possibility of success the bandits seemed to have.

‘If they succeed, they will be able to achieve a huge win right away.’

Zich asked, “What’s their goal? Could it be the city hall? It’d be funny if small groups of bandits took control of the city and started a rebellion. Would they form a new kingdom?”

“That’s not it,” Tim said and insulted his own collaborators inside his mind. ‘They don’t even have the ability to do that. Then, he continued, “It seems like they are going to ambush areas that might get them easy money, but I don’t know which specific places. I have to obtain more information.”

“To gain that information, you will need more money, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Hm.” Zich looked like he was thinking, making Tim feel a bit anxious.

However, Tim repressed his feelings and faked a sense of indifference. “If you don’t believe me, it can’t be helped. I also won’t take any more actions if you don’t give me any more payments in advance. My life is too precious for me to risk it in dangerous situations with no money in line.”

“…Fine.” Zich threw the two pouches of money on the table to Tim. “One pouch for the information you gave me and another for you to continue investigating. Are you satisfied?”

“O-Of course!” Tim answered sloppily and loosened the pouch’s strings to check the money inside. The sparkling lights made him smile.

“Your information that the bandits are aiming for the city’s insides was quite good. If the information you give me next time is just as good, I promise you you won’t be disappointed.” Zich pointed at the leftover money and the precious metal on the table. Tim nodded eagerly.

“Don’t worry! I will even risk my life to gain information.”

“I like your attitude!” Zich clapped his palms and got up from his seat. “It’s on me! I will buy you a drink! Let’s get completely wasted tonight!”

Tim responded to the word ‘drink.’ All gangsters loved drinking, and Tim was no exception. Tim didn’t just like alcohol—he loved it. Furthermore, this was a free drink. Although Tim dined and dashed habitually, that was that and this was another matter.

“Sounds goo….!” Tim was about to agree when he suddenly stopped.

“What is it? Do you not drink?”

“No, that’s not…” Tim was abstaining from drinking these days. Although the word abstaining sounded distant from Tim as someone absolutely mad for alcohol, he was trying to maintain sobriety for his plans. He also felt hesitant to drink with Zich, since he had already chosen him as his future prey. Furthermore, Tim knew that alcohol hindered one’s judgment.

‘Look at him. Is he refusing a drink?’ Zich thought. Before the regression, Tim had been crazy about drinking. There were many times when he went to battle with a hangover; of course, with Tim’s sheer prowess, he managed to clear the battlefield even while intoxicated. On the other hand, since Tim fought his battles according to his instincts without using much technique or skills, alcohol didn’t seem to deter him that much.

‘Does he not like drinking in this time period?’ However, when Zich considered the reaction Tim had shown him when he first suggested drinking, that didn’t seem to be the case. ‘Then, is he restraining himself even though he likes drinking?’

Even Tim from before the regression didn’t drink constantly; he did abstain from time to time whenever he had very important work or a project to complete. Thus, the work had to be so important that a man like Tim, who lived according to his own agenda, would have repressed the urge to drink.

‘In other words, he is about to do something very important.’ Zich thought it was connected to the bandits causing trouble in Bambis.

“What? You acted so tough, but you are a weakling who can’t even handle a drink?” Zich’s eyes narrowed, and he looked at Tim from head to toe. Zich’s words and attitude irked Tim.

“Did you just call me a weakling! I have never seen a person who can drink more than me!”

“Is that so? But why do you look like some scared gangster who wants to run away because he is afraid of a drink?”

“Why don’t we go then! You will use up all your fortune while paying for my drinks!” Tim yelled.

‘So simple.’ Zich thought. Then, he looked pathetically at Tim, as he huffed to the door first.

* * *

When they first took their spots at the bar, the atmosphere between them wasn’t amiable to say the least. Both of them were trying to take advantage and keep secrets from each other. Furthermore, Zich had made a joke against Tim right before they came to the bar. Thus, their conversation was still unpleasant around the time they got a full set of snacks and clinked their glasses. Yet, that didn’t last long.

“Hahahahah! That happened?”

“Of course!”

Zich burst out in laughter, and Tim raised his voice. Waste and empty glasses were already rolling beneath the table. They had drunk an astounding amount, but it wasn’t enough to knock out regular drinkers like Zich and Tim. Yet, that didn’t mean they were immune to the drinks’ effects; they both were drunk to the point where it just placed them in a better mood.

For a drinking party to be enjoyable, there were three things that had to be good: the alcohol, snacks, and drinking partner. Surprisingly, after Zich and Tim drank, they clicked like old friends.

“You should have seen that guy piss his pants! It was so funny seeing him clinging onto the edge of my pants and trembling like mad while begging for his life!”

As someone who grew up as a gangster and was still a gangster, Tim’s stories were all pretty similar. They were all stories about hitting or threatening someone. Normal people would have awkwardly smiled while controlling their expressions or blatantly frown and distance themselves from Tim. However, Tim’s listener was Zich. Even though Zich was living a kind life and doing all types of kind acts, his heart was still pitch-black.

Naturally, Zich sincerely laughed while listening to Tim’s evil deeds. “Hahaha! That would have been a sight to see!”

“Of course! If I can, I want a picture of it and hang it in a corner of my room.”

“That would probably make a good interior decoration.”

“You think so too?”

“Fine, since I heard a story like that, I should share something too.” Zich began telling his story; the story he chose was when he crushed the Bellid’s cardinal, Trislowa, with the Karuwimans. Of course, he took some details out of the story, since it would be advantageous for him to give the least amount of information possible to Tim. Therefore, Zich told his story as if he merely fucked over a random fanatic. Moreover, the only part that Zich needed to share were the parts where he fucked over Trislowa.

“So I said to him, ‘What are you doing? Go! You have to quickly go and make me regret my decision!’”

“You didn’t just send him off like that, right? If you let guys like that go, they always come back and stab you in the back.”

“You think I’d do that? Of course, I already set up traps in front of the entrance. And then I said to him, ‘Let’s play a game.’ I told him that if he managed to pass through the traps within a set timeframe, I’d really let him go.”

“Hahaha! Your brain works really well! And then what? What happened to that guy?”

“He was able to barely scrape a win at the last moment. Do you know what that guy said?”

“What did he say?”

“I wonnn!”

“Hahahhahahaha!” Tim laughed so hard that he looked like he was about to choke; the glass he was holding wildly shook. “What a funny guy!”

“That’s how desperate he was!”

“So? How did you reply?”

“I told him that I’m a righteous man, and I acknowledged his win! He won!”

“And then?”

“What do you mean and then?” Zich squinted one of his eyes. “Of course, I stabbed his chest.”

“Hahahah! HAAHHA! Keeaahahhaah!” Tim laughed and stamped his feet on the ground. His glass loudly hit the table with a thud.

Even though people would have normally glared at them to be quieter, they were in a private room. Thus, they could laugh and talk loudly as much as they wanted.

“So regretful! I have to see a face like that in person!”

“Yeah! Of course! If you saw his face, you wouldn’t go hungry for at least a week even if you starve.”

“Was it to that extent? Damn it! Why wasn’t I there!” Tim sincerely felt regretful, and he was surprised by his own feelings.

‘When was the last time I had so much fun?’ Tim thought. Since he liked drinking, he sometimes had drinks like this and drank with a lot of different people. There were times when he drank with his gangster friend who prowled the streets with him or random drunk strangers, or when he had a steamy time with a woman. However, it was his first time having so much fun on a drinking night like this. 

It was the same for Zich; however, this was not his first time. Before he regressed, they went out to drink several times like this.

‘As expected, I get along with this guy really well.’

The night deepened as much as the alcohol bottles piling up on Zich and Tim’s table. After a long time, the noisy atmosphere disappeared, and a few more serious stories passed between them.

“How did you become a gangster?” Zich poured alcohol in Tim’s glass and asked. “Wait, no. I’m going to try to guess. Your personality has been like that since you were born, right? As soon as you got out of your mom’s stomach, I’m sure you swore instead of crying. You definitely said fuck to the midwife as soon as you were born!”

“What kind of trash does that as soon as they’re born?” Even though Zich’s words were extremely insulting, Tim just laughed and didn’t get angry. “Even I don’t have such a supernatural ability. It’s actually the opposite of what you think. There was no one as soft as me when I was young.”

“Ah, yep. I’m sure that’s right. So, what is the name of that fantastic world where elves fry up dragons to eat and orcs sing songs of peace and gold drops out of the sky instead of rain?”

“I’m not lying, you fucking bastard!” Tim chuckled and raised his glass; his glass was empty. He was about to pour more alcohol into his glass but decided to drink straight from the bottle instead. “Ahh! This tastes great! Anyways, when I was young, I was a real loser. You wouldn’t believe it. But I was scared of fighting! I was a pathetic kid who cried when my parents even raised their voice even a little bit!”

“Really?” Tim was probably not lying. Even though gangsters usually exaggerated their stories, they didn’t make up stories about how pathetic they used to be.

“Then how did such an innocent kid become trash like this?”

“A lot of things happened. A great many things…” After saying this, Tim did not say anything more.