The atmosphere in Jess’s tavern today was different from usual.
Normally, though it was lively, the people at each table would chat among themselves without anyone deliberately raising a ruckus.
But now, even from outside the tavern, one could hear particularly loud shouts coming from within, as if it were hosting a concert or a dance party.
Carter and his two companions were just finishing their meal when a group of young people walked in from outside. In Molly’s words, they were the kind that gave you a headache just by looking at them.
They brought a young girl into the tavern. Her face was flushed, and she seemed dazed, letting herself be half-carried to a seat by the group.
Without even checking if the owner had noticed, one of them casually shouted, “Bring the wine and food,” before they began making a noisy commotion.
Seeing their lawless and arrogant behavior—and how they were groping the visibly distressed girl—some of the surrounding patrons looked at them with disgust and quietly moved away, while others watched with curiosity.
“What bad luck to run into such a bunch,” Carter said to his companions, rubbing his temples.
“It’s a pity. Let’s finish eating quickly and head home,” Molly said softly, serving Aino some food.
Aino discreetly observed the group at the nearby table and immediately realized the girl had been drugged.
Interestingly, one of the men looked familiar to Aino. Wasn’t he the first man she saw when she encountered that particularly “delicious” young man?
Due to his unremarkable appearance and slightly sleazy demeanor, it wasn’t easy to recognize him at first. However, the people around him were different this time—at least the muscular man and the “most delicious” one weren’t present.
It seemed she had stumbled upon another chance to do a good deed.
“Wuwu, I really don’t have any money left…”
The girl pleaded pitifully, not only forced to come for their amusement but also extorted for money.
“No money? Don’t you care about that old thing’s life?” As he spoke, the man—his neck red from drinking—smashed a wine bottle on the table.
His voice was so loud, and the sound of the breaking bottle so jarring, it was as if he wanted to ensure everyone heard.
Seeing the situation turning sour, the owner, Jess, stepped forward to mediate, smiling as he cleaned up the broken glass.
“Hey, look how scared the girl is. I won’t charge for this meal. Please don’t make things hard for her, okay?”
But the group didn’t care for his words, kicking the freshly cleaned debris away again.
“Fuck, you dare meddle in our business?”
As if to spite Jess’s interference, a few of them began molesting the girl more aggressively, while others stood up and shoved Jess.
Some of the surrounding patrons couldn’t take it anymore and started murmuring: “What kind of people are these… How can they act like this?”
“These young people nowadays really have no sense of decency…”
Hearing the whispers, the group grew even more irritated and hurled a wine bottle in one direction.
“Keep talking! Let me hear you babble again!”
Their menacing demeanor silenced the discontented patrons, who could only sigh quietly as they left.
Jess, pushed aside, stood helplessly at the back, watching them while quickly instructing the staff to calm the other guests and maintain some order.
Carter watched the familiar tavern descend into chaos and his old friend look powerless, feeling deeply unsettled.
“Molly, Aino, you two head home first. I have to help Jess; I can’t stand this anymore.”
“Carter…” Molly held Aino’s hand, looking at her husband with worry.
Of course, she too couldn’t tolerate such vile behavior and wanted to help Jess, but she was also deeply concerned for her husband. Dealing with a group like this—leaving aside whether they had powerful backers—just those devilish, heartless young thugs alone would be like getting tangled with mad dogs.
As the two hesitated, Aino, who had been quietly eating, spoke up.
“Don’t worry about it. Let’s finish our meal normally first. After that, Uncle and Molly can go home, and I’ll handle it.”
“I have my own way of understanding and handling things. Don’t worry about me; nothing will happen,” Aino said, waving her fist at them with a serious expression.
Molly and Carter didn’t argue further. After agreeing, they lowered their heads and continued eating, even chatting and laughing as if nothing was wrong.
After spending these past few days together, the couple had reached a shared understanding: Aino was very reliable.
Though this magical creature girl sometimes seemed a bit clumsy, the abilities she displayed always left them in awe. Moreover, Aino had her own way of doing things—just as she said, she had her own understanding and style.
They just needed to trust her.
So, after finishing their meal at a normal pace, the three left the tavern together. Before going, Carter didn’t forget to offer Jess a few words of comfort.
—
Parker and his gang played until late at night, when the streets were nearly empty, and the tavern was about to close.
After they finished, everyone went their separate ways. The girl was taken away by Curly to continue “training.”
Parker walked temporarily with a man named Keston.
Keston was blackout drunk, staggering along while loudly rambling about what had just happened.
“Haha, back then, with so many people around… burp…”
“The way they looked at us, you know, when we were disciplining that thing… hehe…”
“They didn’t like it, but what could they do? I just started hitting her! Ah, hahaha…”
Parker, keeping the drunkard at a distance to avoid being vomited on, responded casually.
“Indeed, they couldn’t do anything to us.”
Maybe not now, but what about later? Would they face the retribution they deserved?
Even though he was one of them, he vaguely hoped that day would come. How odd.
Perhaps such retribution didn’t exist. In this city of Danting, who could do anything to mad dogs like them?
As they walked down increasingly deserted streets, with no one around for some time, a vaguely familiar girl suddenly appeared ahead.
She stood in the middle of the street, all the lights seeming to avoid her, leaving her alone in the darkness.
Parker stopped in his tracks instantly, while Keston, too drunk to react, stumbled forward a few more steps.
With a “bang,” Keston exploded into a mist of blood, which then gathered in the air and, as if drawn, flowed into the girl’s slightly open mouth.
Keston was dead? Eaten by the “girl” before them?
All this happened in mere moments, as if nothing had occurred, leaving no trace of Keston’s existence.
“I…” Parker opened his mouth to speak but couldn’t find words that might save him. Who was she? Why did she kill Keston? There wasn’t the slightest hint.
They say to speak human language to humans and ghost language to ghosts, but what do you do when you don’t even know if the other party is human or ghost?
As the girl slowly approached, Parker felt a terrifying pressure that made him tremble uncontrollably.
He was definitely going to die. It felt as if the Grim Reaper’s scythe was already at his throat. In despair, Parker closed his eyes.
—
