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[Translator - Prøks]
[Proofreader - Prøks]
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Chapter 132: The Tavern Famous for Bad Taste
The Eastern Lake of Lake Kris boasts a splendid nightscape.
On moonlit nights, sightseers would gather in groups of three or five by the lakeside to admire the scenery.
The sight of the turquoise lake, shimmering softly in the moonlight, was enough to stir the hearts of many onlookers.
However, there were those who had no interest in the beauty of the lake.
A man and a woman, sitting close together on a dark bench, paid no attention to the lake, focusing only on each other.
Only the sound of smacking lips echoed around them.
"Excuse me."
A man in extravagant clothes turned around abruptly and responded with an irritated expression.
"What is it?"
"Do you know where the tavern with the worst food is?"
"What?"
"I asked if you know where the tavern with the worst food is."
"It's different every time."
"Today?"
The man's irritated expression instantly softened, and his tone changed.
"The unmarked inn northwest, the third tavern on the right."
"Not the second?"
"The third."
"Alright. Tell him I'll be there soon."
"Is the job done?"
"Just answer."
"Alright."
The questioner left first.
The man in extravagant clothes looked around and stroked his lover's hair.
Pop— A sound like a balloon bursting rang out, and the woman vanished without a trace.
As if nothing had happened, the man disappeared into the darkness.
No, he was about to disappear.
"Gah!"
Suddenly, an arm shot out from the darkness and grabbed the man by the hair.
It happened without a sound.
With a suppressed groan, the man's head was yanked back.
Thud—
A figure appeared in front of the man, who was sprawled on the ground in pain.
"I'd also like to know the tavern famous for its bad taste."
* * *
The burly owner bustled between the customers.
Even though beads of sweat formed on his forehead and trickled down his rough skin, he barely had time to wipe them away.
It would be accurate to say he was as busy as a bee.
"One more drink here."
"Give me another order of braised carp, owner."
The burly owner let out a hearty laugh.
"See, what did I tell you? Braised carp is our specialty."
"Hey, stop laughing and hire some help. It's ridiculous that you're working alone with so many customers. You have a big build, but your heart is the size of a pea. So greedy for money."
"Greedy for money? Oh, that's hurtful. Did I know I'd end up like this?"
The owner shook his hand with a wronged expression.
It was true.
Until recently, the tavern was far from full, with few customers even during peak dinner hours.
But then, suddenly, word of mouth spread among the sightseers, and within a few days, the tavern was packed with out-of-towners, leaving no room to set foot.
"I really need to hire some staff, this is no good. I'm going to throw out my back at this rate."
Contrary to his words, a proud smile hung on the owner's lips.
It was then that a slender man with a deeply pulled-down hat entered the tavern.
Spotting the man looking around inside, the owner said,
"Sorry, customer, but we're full. You can either wait outside or come back early tomorrow."
"That's strange. How can you be full?"
Perhaps annoyed by the remark, the owner asked,
"Have you been to our tavern before?"
"This is my first time."
"Then?"
"I was told about it. It's famous for bad food."
The owner clicked his tongue disapprovingly.
"Where did you hear such a thing? If you try our braised carp, you wouldn't say that. Even Urgon's chef can't match my braised carp. Isn't that right?"
Voices of agreement erupted from all over.
"The owner's attitude towards customers might be a bit harsh, but his skills are undeniable."
"That's right. Hahaha."
The man with the deeply pulled-down cloak approached the owner and whispered,
"Isn't this the place? The third tavern on the right from the unmarked inn. Seems right."
The owner's eyes twitched subtly.
His eyelids drooped, and his lips pursed oddly.
It was a seemingly insignificant change in expression, but the truly surprising thing was something else entirely.
That slight change in expression had transformed the owner's entire impression.
How could this change be explained?
"Hahahaha."
If one had to put it into words, it was as if he had changed from a jovial owner to a nervous new chef.
The owner laughed heartily, but there was something awkward about his laughter.
Between his laughter, the owner spoke as if he were ventriloquizing.
"...I haven't heard anything about that."
"That's strange. Haven't you been resting for too long?"
After a moment of contemplation, the owner said,
"Anyway, you've come to the wrong place. If you open the back door, you'll see stairs."
The cloaked man passed through the kitchen and headed for the unused back door.
Only then did the owner sigh and let out another hearty laugh as he bustled between the customers.
He had transformed back into the jovial owner in an instant.
As if nothing had happened, the owner had perfectly regained his original self.
He hummed a tune as he carried the liquor and cooked the braised carp.
"What is this place?"
A voice came from outside while he was busy chopping in the kitchen.
"Strange. It's full."
The owner, who had stopped chopping for a moment, subtly changed his expression.
For some reason, those words pierced through the noisy chatter outside and reached the owner's ears with pinpoint accuracy.
"This place is full? This place? Huh? How?"
The owner increased his chopping speed.
Unlike before, he tried to ignore the voice, but his attempt failed.
This was because the owner of the voice was gradually approaching the kitchen.
The owner, who had peered out of the kitchen with a tense face, suddenly brightened.
"Oh, it's my friend from the other day."
"Why the long face, owner?"
The owner let out a hearty laugh and replied,
"It's nothing. I was mistaken for a moment. By the way, you came alone today. Have some liquor while you wait. I'll bring out the braised carp soon."
"Sounds good. Make it taste bad."
"Taste bad, you say... you devoured it last time..."
The owner's expression changed subtly as he spoke.
"What did you just say?"
The customer met the owner's eyes.
"I said I came for the bad-tasting braised carp."
The owner's expression changed drastically as he met the customer's eyes.
His eyebrows rose subtly.
The one difference from before was perhaps the several times more nervous look on his face.
"Why the long face? Is there a different bad-tasting braised carp?"
"...There's already a customer."
"That's good."
"Wait here."
"No need for that."
The customer slowly approached the owner.
The owner backed away and grabbed a kitchen knife.
"Why are you doing this? It's one person a day. What's with this sudden..."
"Hey, owner."
The customer grinned.
The owner, somehow finding the sight terrifying, involuntarily took a step back.
"You know the rules, why are you doing this?"
"There's a lot I don't know. That's why I came. If you don't talk, I'll start by breaking down the back door. I don't have much time."
* * *
A single table and two chairs.
A small makeshift bed and a stove, a room bathed in the warm glow of yellow lighting.
At first glance, it felt as cozy as a commoner's bedroom, but in reality, it was not.
With acrid and foul air seeping through the cracks in the iron door, this was a long-abandoned house near the Eastern Lake of Shan Kris, a secret room five floors underground.
The room was quiet, but the atmosphere was tense.
The presence of a man in a black mask occupying one of the chairs added to the tense atmosphere.
The man, wearing a black mask that fit snugly over his face without a single gap, had his head lowered, focused on the steamed fish on the table.
Every time the man moved his gloved hand, fish bones were picked clean.
Then came the sound of knocking on the door.
Knock— Knock— Knock, knock—
As soon as the rhythm of the knocking changed on the third knock, the man in the black mask raised his head.
The man who had been standing in front of the door without making a sound unlocked the iron door.
Creak—
Along with the foul air, a man with a deeply pulled-down cloak entered.
"You're a little late this time, Walter."
"There were some unexpected events."
"That sounds promising. Have a seat."
The cloaked man sat down on the chair and quietly removed his cloak.
A friendly-looking young man was revealed.
The young man took out a report, a few sheets of paper bound together, from his pocket and handed it over.
"I summarized only the most important points."
The man in the black mask, who had pushed the report aside, casually continued deboning the fish as he spoke.
"If it's something unexpected, it would be fun to guess. Could it be that Ardehain intervened?"
"...That's correct."
The black-masked man's hand movements slightly slowed as he deboned the fish.
"That's interesting. But not entirely unexpected."
The young man asked back,
"You mean you anticipated it?"
"I have some information about that person. It's best to keep the possibilities open."
"It seems you hold him in high regard."
"I am curious how he managed to involve Ardehain."
"I haven't been able to find out that far."
The black-masked man nodded.
"That's a difficult task."
The black-masked man, who had been moving his hands non-stop, finally stopped.
The shape of the carp was perfectly reconstructed with only the fish bones.
It was like a fossil, preserving the carp's form while only the flesh had been removed.
The black-masked man offered it to the young man.
"Try it."
"I'll eat it slowly. I'm a bit flustered."
The black-masked man took a big bite of the deboned braised carp.
He nodded in satisfaction.
As he slowly savored the braised carp, the black-masked man suddenly asked,
"What happened to Balkan?"
"Ah!"
The young man let out an exclamation of admiration at the question that went straight to the core and answered,
"He's dead."
"It seems Ardehain intervened properly."
The black-masked man let out a chuckle for the first time.
"Parin must be quite frustrated. That old paper died in vain. Has Parin returned to the Blue Magic Tower?"
"Well, about that..."
"He still hasn't returned?"
"Parin is also dead."
At that moment, the black-masked man looked up from the braised carp.
Only then did he look directly at the young man for the first time.
"Parin is dead?"
"He's dead."
"...Cause of death?"
"I haven't been able to determine it."
"Could this also be Ardehain's intervention?"
"That's what we're assuming."
"This is truly unexpected."
The man in the black mask fell into deep thought.
"Well, this is... ambiguous. Parin is different from Balkan. There's no way Parin would have provoked Ardehain to that extent. What was he trying to do?"
The black-masked man unfolded the report the young man had brought and began reading it through.
Having quickly finished reading it, the black-masked man said,
"Now that I see it, Balkan wasn't killed by Ardehain."
"Huh? Then?"
"It's more likely that Parin killed Balkan."
"Why do you think so?"
"Parin was being chased. He wasn't being chased by Ardehain. Considering the circumstances, there's only one person who could do that..."
The black-masked man suddenly stopped speaking and looked at the iron door.
There was a noise coming from outside.
A thud— thud— sound echoed through the iron door, and a foul smell wafted in.
When the gatekeeper, who was standing in front of the iron door, operated a device, a tiny hole appeared in the gap of the iron door.
The gatekeeper's eyes narrowed as he peered through the hole.
The black-masked man said to the young man,
"It seems we've been found."
The noise was getting louder and louder.
Thud—thud— footsteps and the sound of bones colliding could be heard.
Grasping the situation, the young man bowed his head.
"I apologize. I was as careful as I could be."
"It's alright."
The black-masked man smiled and said to the gatekeeper,
"Open the door."
"Please evacuate first. I'll handle things outside."
The black-masked man pointed to the iron door, which was gradually turning red hot.
"Open it now."
"Pardon?"
"It's alright, so open it."
"Understood."
It was the moment the gatekeeper was about to unlock the iron door.
Kwaaaaaang—
The iron door shattered before he could open it.
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HELHEIM SCANS
[Translator - Prøks]
[Proofreader - Prøks]
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