Chapter 238

Chapter Twenty-Five Harassment

Gradually, the noisy tavern became quiet.

The men no longer sang or boasted; I could feel countless pairs of hot eyes staring at me, which made me slightly annoyed, and I couldn’t help but lower my head even more.

Suddenly, someone whistled.

“Wow, look! Whose shy girl is this? She’s so pretty~”

“Sister, are you alone? Come over and have a drink with us! Whatever you want, brother will pay for it!”

“Look at the girl’s clothes, does she look like she’s short on a few coins… Eat your food, even venison can’t cover your mouth.”

“But this girl is too beautiful… Oh my God, I can’t think of any words to praise her looks… She’s like an angel…”

“Black hair… Is she a noble from out of town? What’s she doing here in this tavern…”

“Beautiful young lady, we’re waiting for you over here! Hurry up, hurry up!”

“Hahaha—”

The tavern became noisy again as the men began talking about me. Perhaps because they had all drunk, most of them didn’t bother to lower their voices, speaking loudly. Some seemed to be intentionally making sure I heard them as they stood up from their wooden tables and shouted.

I knew they were trying to get my attention. But this made me very angry, and I didn’t want to look at their faces. I walked straight through the chairs and tables and came to the bar counter.

“Oh!”

The plump woman saw me and raised her eyebrows in surprise.

“What kind of wind blew in tonight to have such a beautiful little sister visit my small tavern… Are you alone?”

Her voice sounded strange and mocking, like a duck, but her tone was still relatively kind.

I wasn’t in the mood to chat with her. Hunger and fatigue made me exhausted, and I didn’t want to waste time. I asked directly, “Do you have anything to eat?”

The woman paused, then laughed, revealing a face full of wrinkles and yellow teeth.

“Yes, we have everything! Don’t look at our place and think it’s small; the food here isn’t much worse than what nobles eat. Sister, what do you want to eat?”

I tilted my head and thought.

“Meat.”

At this moment, nothing beats meat.

“Venison, beef, mutton, pork, anything. Give me some.”

Hearing this, the woman smiled even more, leaning in to see her face, her numerous freckles forming deep laugh lines that made me frown.

“Oh, Sister loves meat so much…”

Just then, someone behind me interrupted, “Miss, there’s meat here! Just roasted a big leg of lamb, it smells so good!”

“Get lost! You bunch of uncouth fellows, don’t scare away my guest today!” The woman pointed at the person who spoke and scolded him before turning back to me, “I still have two hind legs of the deer I killed today. I’ll slice the tenderest part and roast half a pound for you, and add some malt beer. How about it? If you agree—”

“No beer.” I shook my head, interrupting her. “Two hind legs of deer, roasted, all for me.”

Seeing the smile on the plump woman’s face freeze, I quickly explained, “It’s not for me to eat; I’m taking it with me.”

With that, I took out two gold coins from the money bag at my waist and placed them on the bar counter.

Meat is cheap in the royal city; these should be enough…

“Please hurry.”

Seeing the golden coins on the counter, the plump woman’s eyes lit up.

“Oh, two hind legs of deer don’t need this many!”

She said this, but her hands quickly collected the coins. Turning to a servant passing by, she glared and yelled in a harsh voice, “Sand! Go tell the kitchen to roast the remaining deer legs and bring Miss a cup of warm sheep’s milk. Hurry up!”

“I’ll go right away!”

The servant hurriedly agreed and rushed to the kitchen. The plump woman turned back to me, her face once again smiling.

“This… Esteemed Miss, those two deer legs are quite fat! Two gold coins might be too much, but one and a bit more should be fine… I’m not sure exactly how much. We in the tavern…

The inn had never sold things this way; usually, people came in with whole platters. Miss, look, roasting such a large piece of leg would be quite laborious. Why don’t I find someone to weigh it for you?

She squinted her eyes and looked at me with a smile, but I couldn’t fathom what she was up to.

If we were to argue over these details, it might take a long time. The plump lady could see how anxious I was and noticed the remaining gold coins in my purse. This was the time to ask for a tip.

“No need.”

I really didn’t have the energy to haggle over such trivial matters. The intense drowsiness that prevented me from sleeping, mixed with the urgent desire to eat, was tormenting me constantly. All I wanted was to eat something quickly and then sleep for a long time.

“Quickly roast the meat, and it will be ready.”

The plump lady nodded happily upon hearing this.

“Alright, miss. Please find a place to sit for a moment. The deer leg will be delivered to you shortly… By the way, do you want it wrapped in paper?”

“Mm-hm.”

“No problem.”

Soon, a servant brought out a cup of goat’s milk from the kitchen. He seemed surprised to see me still standing by the bar, but he hesitantly approached me.

I didn’t hesitate; I practically snatched the cup from his hand, raised my head, and gulped down the milk in one go. I licked the foam off my lips and handed the empty cup back to the stunned servant.

“One more cup.”

The goat’s milk had a strong smell and wasn’t particularly good, but after drinking it, my stomach felt a bit warmer.

The servant took the cup blankly, looking somewhat lost, avoiding eye contact with me. Then, he heard a sharp rebuke from the plump lady nearby: “Go quickly!”

He jumped in shock and hurried away.

“Miss, why don’t you sit down? What are you doing standing here?”

“…”

“…Miss?”

!

“Hmm? I’m right here.”

It seemed like I had a momentary lapse of consciousness just now… No, I must hurry back.

“You go sit over there and wait. There are still empty seats!”

The plump lady said to me. I shook my head when I heard this.

“It’s fine.”

I felt that my current state was better if I stood.

If I sat down, I feared I would fall asleep on the table immediately. There were so many smelly men in the tavern, still discussing me and staring at me without any regard… I couldn’t fall asleep here; it was too dangerous.

Who knows what a drunk person might do.

I’ll just stand here and wait.

But just as I finished my third cup of goat’s milk, a sudden commotion erupted behind me, followed by footsteps heading in this direction.

Dazed, I immediately became alert, opened my eyes, and turned to look behind me.

“M-Miss, I am… Anderson’s second son… I am very pleased to meet you… May I ask…”

That was a drunk man. His beard was messy, and although his clothes were clean, his face was flushed, and he was swaying while walking. Alcohol had made him delirious, his eyes bloodshot, and his speech slurred.

“Beautiful lady, your… your name…”

He staggered to me, reaching out to put his hand on my shoulder.

I was startled and quickly stepped aside, dodging his hand.

“Don’t touch me.”

“John, sit back down!”

The plump lady frowned at the drunk man, then pointed at a group of customers and scolded them: “You good-for-nothings, hurry up and take him away. He’s drunk!”

“Hahaha—”

“How else would they have the guts to do this!”

“John, show them what you’ve got!”

Those people seemed equally drunk. Upon hearing the plump lady’s words, they burst into laughter, completely unmoved. The other guests clearly saw this as an entertaining act after drinking, sipping their drinks and chewing their food while watching the drunk man approach me with interest.

“Oh, beautiful lady. I have no… no ill intentions. I just… I like you a little…”