Chapter 303 - Meeting New People at the Tavern (Patreon)

The banquet lasted longer than he thought.

After Viers infiltrated the Ebon Wall City, the battle went on until morning before the ‘Horde’ side retreated. On the ‘Alliance’ side, the people were scrambling to rebuild the defenses and save lives.

Viers put his hands together and said Gochisousama Deshita. While most of the souls he got were non-human and thus non-consumable for him, they still held immense value for a soul Pathseeker like himself. But it seemed he had said thanks too soon.

The attack started again at sunset.

Viers had an all-you-can-eat soul buffet for a second day in a row and it was grander than the last time.

It began with an earthquake that collapsed part of the wall. Several Level 3s on the other side combined their power and unleashed a Level 4 might.

Then the goblins raiding party emerged from behind the battlelines, directly under the city. Some came from the holes they dug, and there were some who waited for their chance after their first infiltration yesterday. This created chaos among the populace.

The bell of emergency rang repeatedly, war horns were sounded, and the crack of deadly Artes exploded seemingly everywhere.

A villain that he was, Viers welcomed the development with open arms. He continued his Subtle Soul Gravity Arte, being alert and ready to bail if there were someone with the means to detect him. Other than that, he also tried to gather data on what was happening on the battlefield as much as he could.

Data was good. On Earth, people have been gathering data about everything, especially in the last decades. It had universal uses, from advancing science and medicine, seeking planets in the far reaches of space, to asking ChatGPT to make rap songs. Viers took in the various strategies, developments, and fruits of training thousands of individuals into his database through his five senses. Much more data would come when the soul searches finished.

Meanwhile, the souls of the dead were automatically drawn to him like water flowed down the kitchen sink, like natural law.

The humans revealed their next hidden cards. There were hundreds of cannons on top of the walls. They were more like artilleries rather than cannons, functional thanks to magic rather than science. The projectiles of those machines of war made flowers of gore bloom across the battlefield.

The cannons were effective but not effective enough. It was like trying to block a river with a truck, water still slipped in.

At the crucial waypoint, the Warchief and the Knight Leader of the Grey Hawk knightly order faced off again. Thanks to some helpful souls, Viers knew their name now. The orc warchief was called Baras Bonecrusher and the knight leader was Charles Hall. The two leaders seemed to have some ancient rivalry going on but Viers didn't really care about it. Their strength was about even, so the battle was a Victa-burning stalemate.

Throughout the battle, Viers stayed relatively close to the frontline and he had his fair share of encounters with the orcs and goblins. He swiftly cut them down when possible but he was eventually forced to run away and change locations a few times. The east part of the city was a hot zone of contested ground. Viers moved like an expert soldier in urban warfare. Riding flying mounts and using burrowed tunnels, the attackers poured into the city.

Viers pounced at some opportunities that revealed themselves in the chaos. He saw an orc decked with wealth and magic items close by, busy killing helpless civilians, so he terminated, snatched, and grabbed him. Viers saw an abandoned human shop full of goods, so he kept them for safe keeping. With his stealth and some Soul Mind Trick here and there, nobody caught him.

Two full days of intense conflict later, after a mounting of casualties and multiple back and forths, the city was about to fall.

The attackers were simply too many. Monsterland provided a large selection of monsters in great quantities; these typically evil-aligned races in video games wrangled them as war beasts and hurled them at the Ebon Wall City. With the dwindling number of defenders and their Victa reserves, it became more and more difficult to hold the wall and eventually they were overrun.

Viers was preparing to retreat after seeing which way the wind blew but he halted when he heard the rumbling of hoofs approaching from the east. Knights of horseback were coming to the rescue. From the many colors of their banner, Viers believed they were a coalition force from the surrounding areas. Viers counted about five hundred of them but they were all Level 2s and 3s, which was a significant battle power. Not to mention, the man riding a flying regal griffin that led them was a Level 4 Pathseeker.

Like a wave of steel and lances, they crashed against the goblins and monsters, crushing them under their mount’s hoofs. Viers watched the comeback from the front-row seating. After the tribes of orcs and goblins lost most of their numbers, they retreated but not before leaving a gift. Their shamans created blackish-purple mists from the fallen, including the dead monsters.

The sheer number of dead on the battlefield made the mist propagate very rapidly. The unlucky ones that got caught by the spreading gas met their death almost immediately. Their flesh rotted and blood blackened, fueling the generation of new mists and increasing the potency of the mysterious Arte a little bit. Its deadly aura made Viers stay away from them as much as possible. He saw that Level 3s with their Unreality Field were able to resist but only so long as their ability held.

The knights tried many things but nothing was very effective. Even the Level 4 was only able to scatter a small part of it. The mists crept closer to the city like a shadow of death.

The city’s cathedral shined, creating a dome of light that grew larger by the second, stemming the advance of the blackish purple mist and purifying the fell affinities Arte with its holy attribute. Viers easily recognized the work of the Church anywhere. The light of purification cleansed the aggressor’s final hand.

And so the cavalry and the Church saved the Ebon Wall City… Happy End.

Viers thought while watching a field of dead in front of him. Of the retreating goblins and the jubilant city folks.

***

Viers walked the streets with the same feeling of slight emptiness after exiting a movie theater, slightly out of touch with reality. It didn't last long and he was already moving on to the next thing on his to-do checklist. He came to this city to find lodging, the grand battle pushed back his timetable somewhat. Since he couldn't rest in Monsterland, he would need a place to spend the night. The Ebon Wall City was the perfect place for that.

After thinking about it, I might have a way to circumvent the constantly attacked thing in Monsterland but it’s still nice to have a place here. So where’s the inn?

The state of the city was not good. It became very evident while he walked. The debris, corpses, and so on were everywhere. However, despite the city seeming to be in the aftermath of a major earthquake, the recovery speed was greater than Earth’s. Viers saw a group of men rescue a family trapped under a collapsed house by turning the rubble to sand.

As expected of a magical world.

And because of that, the inn and lodging that he visited were either not fit for use or full.

Alright. Let’s try this one, Viers was trying to stay positive after failing to get a room several times. The name of the inn is… Heaven Is Cruel? The owner must be quite the wise man then, to realize the truth of the world so clearly. Hope there’s an empty room here.

The building was big and nice, resembling European-style architecture. He guessed the reason this place was intact while the surroundings were not was because of the recently activated protection. Viers could see the enchantments on the wall and felt the residue. This meant this place was of a nicer quality compared to those cheap and low-quality inns. Just what was Viers looking for.

When he entered he was greeted by the usual spectacle of tables and chairs, of food and drinks. He expected that the inn came in one with a pub set. It was almost time for dinner so the place was quite full.

“Welcome to Heaven Is Cruel,” a woman behind the rustic wooden counter asked. “What would you like to be having today?”

The place was able to house twenty people and was almost filled to capacity. The quests, almost all of them were men, were having beers and being rowdy. It was unknown if they were trying to drink their sorrows away or being genuinely happy the city survived the very recent attack.

Meanwhile, Viers was like he’d just been hit by Petrificus Totalus.

Ti…Ti…

“...Uhm, dear guest?” the woman asked Viers again after there was no response.

“Dahahaha! Look at ‘im, lads. Another one falling for the madam at first sight!”

After one of the guests called the attention to Viers, the laughter spread to almost all of them.

“Sir Jake, please don't tease the young guest,” the hostess said. “Dear guest, is everything alright?”

The woman showed Viers a business smile while waiting for Viers’ reply.

Viers almost didn't hear the voices despite their loudness and possessing superhuman hearing. Because the woman had a pretty face, round black eyes, flawless healthy skin color, and long dark hair that reached her mid-back. She had an athletic build and nice muscles that only accentuated her bodily beauty. She had long legs and a height reaching almost 170 cm. She wore a white shirt with rolled-up sleeves under the apron with the logo of the tavern.

She looked just like Tifa Lockhart from FFVII.

Not a carbon copy of course, but the resemblance was extraordinary. This was far beyond what a simple cosplay could achieve and it amazed Viers.

Also, the woman had big boobs.

Get your shit together, Viers! What are you, an ecchi manga protagonist? Act normal and don't look like a creep! Master yourself, man!

“...Oh, oh! Apologies, you just look very familiar to someone I know.”

“That’s a lie. You glanced at her breasts, boy! Hahahaha!” And a round of laughter began again.

“Sir Dickens! Stop it!” The hostess berated the teasing middle-aged man and faced Viers with a face that didn't mind it one bit. She must have built a lot of tolerance for these kinds of things in her line of work. “Please forgive them, they mean no harm. How may I help you?”

Viers had a mind to slaughter these drunkards like insects for humiliating him but he refrained. It would make trouble for the hostess.

Although, it was true Viers glanced at her chest area. It was inevitable.

Viers cleared his throat and tried to reset his bearings. “Yes, I would like to rent a room. Can I speak with the owner or the one managing the inn?”

“Ah, you’re looking at her,” the Tifa look-alike said. “I’m the owner of this establishment.”

“I see,” Viers gave a nod. “Well, do you have one available?”

“I’m terribly sorry, dear guest, but we’re full,” the woman said apologetically. “With the state of the city as it is, I’m afraid all the inns that are still standing would be packed to the brim.”

“Yeah, I suspected as much,” Viers sighed. “All right, sorry for disturbing you.”

“We’re truly sorry.”

The woman felt really bad for turning Viers away. The city was having a hard time. After the attack, many lost their homes or worse, their loved ones. The mayor had begun organizing aid such as tents and food, but the weather was still quite cold. Most likely, the youth would sleep in the cold tonight. She wanted to help but there really was no empty room at the inn.

Contrary to her thought, Viers was just feeling a slight inconvenience. He had a Picture Room. With it, he could have made a sleeping place almost anywhere. He could just stick it on some random wall and he had a personal room, faster than making an instant noodle. It was many times more expensive though, something so convenient needed money to run.

As Viers was about to turn around, he saw a kid, about eight to ten years old, with a stupefied look on his face.

…Is that how I looked earlier? Geez Louise… What an embarrassment.

“What is it, kiddo-”

“It’s the cool brother!” The boy shouted. “Mommy, mommy! This is the person that saved me from the monster!”

“Eh?” The woman looked surprised.

“Huh?” Viers turned to the ‘mommy’ that the boy hugged.

Tifa is a Momma!? But she’s so young!

The owner of Heaven Is Cruel looked to be in her early twenties. She looked like a college student. Considering the boy’s age, at what age she gave birth?

“...Uh,” the woman smiled awkwardly after seeing the question written on Viers’ face. “I’m actually older than I look.”

“Swoosh!” The boy made a motion as if swinging a sword. “Sorry bud, you’re too ugly to live… So coooool!”

Viers resisted the urge to facepalm as the boy mimicked his pose a few days ago.

He failed.

Oh God… So lame…

“Tim, are you sure?” The mother asked.

“Yeah! I’m sure!”

Now that she thought about it, she indeed recalled that the youth before her was similar to the one that caught a glimpse before.

“Brother, brother, I've never seen you before. Are you a traveler? Where do you come from? Have you seen many monsters? What’s the biggest monster you’ve ever seen? Are you a master swordsman? Who’s stronger between you and Knight Leader Charles? Oh, oh! You want to find an inn, right? But mommy said every inn in the city is full so you won't get a place…”

The boy was talking like an engine on overdrive and only slowed down at the end for thinking.

“I know!” The boy had a ‘eureka’ expression. “You should stay with us! It’s just me and my mom so there are rooms we don't use. Guest room! Mommy keeps it tidy. It is here, in the same building. The center is the tavern, the left wing is for the inn, and the right wing is where we live. You can stay there and tell me stories, can he, mom?”

“Eh? There’s no way I can just intrude like that,” Viers tried to refuse. Kids usually didn't know the deeper complication of their words.

“No, dear guest,” Mommy Tifa said. “Please allow me to show my appreciation for saving my son’s life. I’m afraid there really is no empty room left in other lodgings even if you seek them. It would be my pleasure to host you in my humble abode.”

The pub was so quiet that the sound of a creaking wooden chair could be clearly heard. All eyes and ears were on Viers, waiting for his answer.

“…Then I‘ll be in your care.”

“Pfffffttt!”

Guests that were in the middle of drinking beer spurted out their drinks.