Chapter 13: Preparation (2)

Chapter 13: Preparation (2)

There
are truly many types of troublesome customers.

“Hey.
Male there. Come over here for a second.”

“I
can’t believe you’re dressed like this in a bar. I’m always looking
for a man who’s willing to mate.”

The
first type. The mating type.

These
are people who have experienced a lot in their lives and the only
thing they can do is have sex with men.

Their
main attack patterns include blatant flirting, grabbing you by the
clothes and pulling you down, and staggering over you while
pretending to be drunk.

“Wow…
these abs are amazing…it’s crazy. Now, even if I die, I have no
regrets.”

The
squirrel beastman, who was stumbling around like she was drunk and
hugging me tightly and stroking my abs, said as she was dragged by
the collar by Diana.

“That’s
crazy. Harassing someone in a cozy inn on a winter night…”

“But
I understand a million times over. I’m torn right now.”

“Actually,
isn’t she the real winner⋯?”

Although
people were afraid of the sight, they looked at the squirrel beastman
being dragged away with envy that they could not hide.

No
matter how scary Diana is, it would be a shame to miss the
opportunity to make a fuss over the male in front of them.

No
matter how scared she was, she couldn’t pass up the chance to pet
him.

Diana
was often stuck in the kitchen cooking.

I
was an employee, so I couldn’t go around beating up customers like I
did with that maiden or the beggars.

“You
don’t have to treat them like guests! If they touch you, yell out
‘no, don’t do it’ or call my name.”

“So,
is it okay if I resist a little strongly?”

“⋯Yes?
Uhhh. Sure. But wouldn’t that be a little hard?”

I
could understand Diana’s concern. Most of the customers who came to
her tavern were explorers.

The
menu’s prices were higher than the surrounding area because the
portions were generous and the flavors were good, so explorers were
the ones who could afford it.

In
other words, most of the patrons were armed to the teeth.

“That’s
okay,” I say, “most of them can handle a little bit of a
beating.”

Now
that I’m armed and have permission, I can fight back.

The
second type of customer is the drunken type. This was the most common
type.

“Customer.
Customer. You shouldn’t be pumping milk here. The precious milk is
running out.”

“Oooh⋯
Mama Joe⋯
Milk Mama⋯”

I
even lifted up a cow that had completely broken down and was leaking
milk from her teats.

“Keuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!?”

“Kaaaaaa!
Someone please shut that harpy bastard’s mouth!”

Snorting
in a range that would have torn a decibel meter to shreds, I clamped
my hand over the outstretched mouth of the harpy male and threw him
outside the store.

Still,
I understood because he was a drunkard who could be found anywhere.

In
addition to that, there were various troublesome customers like
dine-and-dash types and those who complained about finding hair in
their food, but considering it was the medieval times with no CCTV,
their numbers were very low.

It
goes without saying why.

“I
heard hair came out of my cooking…Is this table by any chance?”

“Yep.
The guests over here were freaking out.”

Probably
because the level 70 final boss popped out of the kitchen.

“Oh,
no! Well, I never did that! I will eat it gratefully!”

“Okay.
Enjoy your meal~”

As
soon as they sensed Diana’s unusual aura, the customers, who seemed
to be new to the bar, turned pale, buried their faces in their
plates, and continued eating.

The
regulars, or those who seemed to know her, were well behaved and
didn’t cause too much trouble.

After
serving Diana’s hot dishes and catching up, the time flew by and it
was almost closing time.

But
my work was just beginning.

“She’s
totally lost it. This crazy brat…”

Even
with the door wide open and ventilated, the faint smell of milk
didn’t go away.

I
cleaned up, washed the dishes, and freshened up.

“⋯Balkan,
did you put away the bowl you left here⋯?”

“Yes.
It was lying around, so I just put it away.”

“⋯Oh,
I see⋯Yes⋯I
see⋯I
see⋯”

I
also looked at Diana, who seemed strangely weak, with strange eyes.

I
wipe the table and polish the floor.

Still,
it was a hundred times easier to clean in peace than to face the
customers.

“Ms.
Diana. I’m going to ditch you for a few minutes.”

“Thank
you. Do you remember where it is?”

“It’s
in the back alley, right? I’ll be right there.”

I
left Diana, who was preparing soup for breakfast, and headed down the
alley.

‘Come
to think of it, this is where Diana gave me soup.’

It
was only a few days ago, but those days were hell.

No
one to trust, no money, hungry⋯

Compared
to that, how are things now?

I’m
saving some money, and thanks to her kindness, I can afford to eat
three delicious meals a day.

It’s
no exaggeration to say that I’ve come a long way.

As
I breathed in the cool night air of the darkened Labyrinth City, I
reminisced about the past.

“What
the hell.”

In
the distance, I spotted something black and clumpy.

Perhaps
sensing my voice, the black figure scurried away.

-Tadadat!

The
black figures jumped to their feet and began to run towards me.

The
boundaries that had been loosening in the comfort and kindness of
Diana’s arms tightened.

“Stop,
you bastards!”

My
loud voice caught them off guard, and I calmly reached for my
waistband, where I had always sheathed my axe but there was no axe
now.

‘I’ve
let your guard down in such a short time. Damn.’

Even
as I thought, my eyes tracked my enemies, six in number.

I
tossed the trash forward, clenched my fists, and assumed a guard
stance.

Come
on. I don’t know who it is, but where-.

“Huh!”

“Food!
Food!”

“Get
it!”

“⋯?”

They
stopped running at me and reversed course, heading toward the food
waste.

“Roh,
roast beef⋯!
There’s a whole piece in there!”

“That’s
mine! Give it back!”

“Piss
off! This is the one I found first!”

The
six figures began to bicker among themselves as they rummaged through
the trash.

One
of them looked strangely familiar.

“Hey,
you assholes.”

So
much so that it’s okay to start swearing right away.

The
beggars, who’d been engrossed in the trash, finally looked away from
the trash and looked at me.

“You,
you’re the one!”

“Crazy
helmet man!”

They
finally recognized me. Well, they shouldn’t recognize the guy they
tried to rape.

“I
said if I see you again, I’ll come after you.”

I
clenched my fists and stumbled toward the beggars.

I
needed a mental break from dealing with the truth. The bitches would
be perfect punching bags.

“Now,
wait! Ha, I have something to tell you!”

“Wow,
Wang Cho!”

“Wait!”

The
one in the lead, Wang Cho, as the beggars called her, stood up with
her chest wide open and her posture regal.

Her
posture became more and more bent as she walked, until she was in
front of me, parallel to the ground.

It
was an almost artistic dodge.

“Help
me.”

“I
don’t think you realize you’re in a position to beg for your life.”

“⋯I
apologize, but we were out of our minds at the time. We haven’t eaten
in days, so we’ll just pack up the trash and leave.”

“Wow,
Wang Cho⋯”

Wang
Chao shuddered as she said that.

The
group of beggars behind her also looked at me with trepidation, then
followed Wang Chao and stuck their heads into me.

“⋯⋯”

I
stared at them. They still looked like the dirty, foul-smelling
beggars they were.

Behind
them, I could see a torn garbage bag that looked like it had been
torn open by a stray cat.

‘Just
kill them! The guards don’t care about them, they’re worthless! The
dogs don’t care about beggars’ corpses! You’re going to let them live
after they tried to forcibly trample on your dignity? You always have
to watch your back! You’re going to let them get away with it?’

The
demon inside me began to rant. He thoughtlessly told people to kill
people and hoped to completely eliminate any potential threat.

The
unpleasant truth is, my mind was starting to agree with it.

What’s
the point of letting them live? They’ll probably go out again at
night to kidnap and rape other innocent men and live out their
miserable lives.

The
most sensible answer is to kill them here.

“⋯⋯”

I
know it’s the answer. I know it all too well.

But⋯

‘Diana
gave them soup, too.’

Just
like she gave me soup, for no particular reason, purely out of the
goodness of her heart.

I
pondered for a moment, then relaxed my grip.

“Live
straight…Do not forget the kindness of the soup you received the
other day, and do not forget that it is because of that bowl of soup
that I am letting you go here.”

The
beggars looked up at me blankly.

“Don’t
think about raping anyone, don’t pickpocket, don’t do anything bad,
just live your life straight. Do you understand?”

“Yes,
yes!”

“Okay,
take that and get the fuck out of here.”

The
beggars, who were bobbing their heads up and down frantically,
quickly scattered with their food waste bags.

I’m
not great enough to extend goodwill or help others without pay like
Diana did.

Nor
am I good enough to throw my own blood money into the beggars’ tin
cans.

All
I could offer was a word of advice and a single act of mercy.

“You’re
a little late today.”

“I
met some stray cats on the way.”

“⋯huh.
Did you?”

“Yes.
They were going to scratch me, so I beat them well and sent them
back.”

“Yeah.
Good work, Balkan. You finished faster than usual. Go back inside and
get some rest. Oh, by the way, is there anything you’d like to eat
tomorrow morning?”

“Anything
Ms. Diana gives me will be delicious.”

“⋯⋯⋯Oh,
really, huh, huh, huh.”

This
was the least I could do to thank her for making breakfast. After
all, Diana’s cooking is really good.

Waving
goodbye with a pleasant smile, I went back to my room, cleaned up,
and got into bed.

The
bar work wasn’t physically demanding, but it was mentally exhausting.

That
was good news, because it meant I could do something physically
demanding during the day.

“One
month to go⋯”

In
a month, I’ll have 20 silver coins.

I’ll
prepare to enter the Labyrinth by then.

***

My
first goal was to get used to working at the inn.

On
my first day, I was inexperienced.

First
of all, working with a helmet naturally narrows my vision.

Because
of this, I often bumped into people, and sometimes I almost spilled
food because I lost my footing.

I
thought, “This might be surprisingly useful training.”

I
memorized the location of the table, quickly checked the positions
and movements of the many people I could see through my narrow field
of vision, and quickly made my way through the bustling crowd to
serve the food.

Suddenly,
I began to feel very fuzzy, not only about the people in front of me,
but also about the people outside my field of vision.

‘Fighting
goblins has always been a difficult task.’

I
can’t tell you how many times I’ve been in a situation where I
couldn’t even defend myself, and a goblin shot me in the back of the
head from outside my field of vision.

Honestly,
I would have died five more times without the helmet.

Developing
this sense would have prevented those situations.

After
a few weeks of working on my awareness of my surroundings, I
definitely bumped into fewer people and made less mistakes.

“Hmph!”

When
I drew an axe from my waist and aimed at her, the troublemaker who
had been sneaking up from behind recoiled in fear and backed away.

Most
of the troublemakers could be defeated this way. After all, an axe is
a great communicator.

“Have
you heard that the first floor of the Labyrinth will be undergoing
major construction starting next year?”

“Oh.
You mean the labyrinth pioneering? I think it’s going to be a bust,
it’s crazy.”

By
the time the vision problem was resolved, I was beginning to realize
the true joy of working in a bar.

‘I
can get information.’

Diana’s
Inn attracts a lot of people, and most of them are explorers.

As
a character who already felt like I lacked common sense and learning,
I was able to eavesdrop on their conversations, gaining a minimal
amount of knowledge about the Labyrinth and the minutiae of the
Labyrinth City.

“⋯This
is ridiculous. Are you sure it was real that Diana picked a male
staff member?”

“How
many times have I told you it’s real? I didn’t know what the hell was
going on when I first saw it.”

“She’s
never held a man’s hand in her life.”

And
after more than a month of making eye contact with people, I started
to get a few customers who recognized me.

[G■■■
■■
Lv.6■]

[■■■■■
■■■ne
Lv.7■]

Especially
those two in the corner, with their masks covering their faces.

They
sometimes came in late in the evening, but they were high level and
seemed to know Diana.

“I’ll
get those for them.”

“But
you have a lot of work to do, can I-“

“I’ll
do it. Okay?”

“Yeah.”

Diana
half-forcibly took the food away from me.

No
matter how busy the kitchen was, Diana isolated me from even talking
to them.

I
don’t know why, but it was like she didn’t want me to have any
contact with them.

I
just let it happen and focused on my work. It wasn’t my will, but the
truth forced me to focus.

“Oh,
you can’t shoot milk against the wall!”

That
damn cow it’s doing it again.

***

“You’ve
had a long day, Balkan.”

I
stretched out at the table after finishing the final cleanup, and
Diana handed me a glass of warm milk and sat down across from me.

“⋯Thank
you, I’ll drink it.”

Honestly,
just the thought of milk now makes me sick to my stomach, but I gulp
it down as best I can without showing it.

-Pow!

I
tilted my head as far back as I could, but when I turned my head back
to the table, I saw a money bag on the table.

“This
is this month’s paycheck. We’ve had more customers since Balkan
started working, so I put a little extra in.”

“Thank
you!”

I
hugged the jingling money bag tightly.

“⋯You
won’t check to make sure you have all the money?”

“Well.
Ms. Diana gave it to me.”

I
didn’t bother counting the money in front of her. She wasn’t the kind
of person to play around with money.

She
chatted for a while, looking impressed, then ran her hand through her
hair, showing signs of exhaustion.

“Oh,
I must have kept you too long, you must be tired, go upstairs and get
some rest.”

I
nodded, thanked her, and went up to my room.

-Boom!

As
soon as I entered the room, I counted the money.

A
whopping 15 silver coins. Combined with the money I won in the bet,
that’s 24 silver coins!

I
dived into bed with a huge grin on my face.

Tomorrow,
I will be one step closer to my elusive goal.