Adjustments to the plan

"Hey, you. Crooked Fang tavern. Where exactly is it? That shithole isn't on any official map I know of."

"...wha…?"

As she walked, End stopped a random shady passerby and asked, causing him to flinch and stare at her in disbelief.

"You look like you need a drink. I'll buy you one in Crooked Fang tavern, so lead the way."

"...ummm… what…?"

The girl rolled her eyes and declared, but only got a slightly longer version of the original response.

"Tsk. You don't want the drink? Then a meal or whatever. Lead the way."

"I don't want to have anything to do with whatever you're about, lady!"

End clicked her tongue and changed her offer, but the shady man raised his hands and circled around her before hurriedly leaving her behind.

"Miss, you might find it hard to get the information out of people while you look like that. This neighborhood is shady, but not to that extent."

"Hmm?"

Unexpectedly, someone else struck up a conversation with the girl, pointing out the smudges of blood generously spread across her clothes.

"..."

End first checked her outfit and then raised her head to look at the speaker.

It appeared to be a young man with fluffy blond hair, a friendly apparition, and bright gray eyes wearing a simple outfit finished with a hooded cloak, but the hood was currently down.

"The place you're looking for is just around that…"

"That's some pretty fingernails you got there."

The young man smiled and turned to the side, pointing towards the opposite side from where End came from, but the girl spoke up something rather odd - especially considering that the man was wearing rather thick gloves.

"...apologies, sister. I didn't recognize that you were one of…"

The man's behavior changed completely. He lost his smile and straightened his back to bow his head towards the brown-haired girl…

…who was aiming her hand at him…

"Sis…?"

*SQUELCH*

The confused man raised his head to take a look at the silent girl, and as he did, she flicked her finger at him, turning him into a thin layer of blood at the front of the building he stood by.

Not even a scrap of meat or cloth remained of him, just the splatter of the crimson fluid…

"Demon cultist. Fucngh demon cultist out in the open! So they already are on the move in Emeraldios Empire? There goes the lore, those scum weren't supposed to start showing up until the next year! And I'm not even looking into you in the first place. The audacity!"

The girl shook her head with annoyance and continued walking - with panicked passersby running as far away from her as they could.

"...haa… screw that. I'm calling it a day…"

End shook her head in disappointment and trotted away behind some buildings.

There, she removed a ring from her right hand's middle finger, and immediately, her hair and eyes turned from brown back to gold.

Then, Melinda Fenrioette reached out behind her back, grabbing a small pouch strapped to her belt and pulling it to the front. After opening it, she took out a hooded cloak and put it on, making sure that the perception interruption worked. Then, she walked away, making her way back to the Jade Academy.

She even ended up earning herself a scolding from a maid.

But the next day, she was again on the job, this time changing her eyes and hair to black with the ring after deciding to give her End person an early retirement.

After all, she could use a far more convenient backstory with the demon followers around than anything she could come up for End.

The atmosphere in the area was a lot different than the day before. Everyone seemed scared and on edge.

…which was definitely End's - that is, Melinda's - fault, no doubt about it…

But, on the bright side, this time, the disguised girl just followed a group of hoodlum-looking men from whom she overheard speaking about going for a drink and ended up finding the Crooked Fang tavern.

"..."

Originally, Melinda thought that the Crooked Fang was just the on-the-nose naming sense of the owner who knew what kind of shady individuals gather at their establishment, but upon actually seeing the building, she realized that way of thinking was wrong.

The whole building looked out of place. It was run down like most of the constructions around it, but it appeared as if it was originally supposed to be a fancy castle-like mansion.

Or at least a building with three small one-room towers.

But… the scale was off too. It was literally never going to be anything more than an average house, so the towers looked… impractical as hell, almost like some awkward teeth.

And the one on the right was crooked and held up only by a shabby scaffolding that didn't give off any sense of security or stability at all.

"Ugh…"

The girl ended up entering the appropriately named tavern and couldn't stop herself from grimacing when the stench of sweat, old alcohol, urine, and something else that she couldn't quite identify on the spot hit her nose the moment she stepped over the threshold.

"...nope… ugh… yeah, no. No way."

She backed off, shaking her head, close to throwing up.

*CRACK*

Melinda grabbed the door and tore it down with just the slightest touch, immediately becoming the center of attention.

"You there, open the window. Actually, everyone, open all the windows. We're airing this reeking dumpster out! HURGH...! Is the alcohol here that good?! How in the world are you able to endure this awful stench?!"

She threw a tantrum while shaking her head while doing her best to block her nose, but the option to just breathe through her mouth was even more nauseating.

"Missy, if you don't like it here, no one is keeping you from…"

"Fffffffhhhuck! My eyes are watering because of this shit! Hur-hurgh…! Screw it!"

A rather large beastman with the definite majority of the bear blood in his veins stepped up and tried to assume the role of a bouncer, but the girl didn't even register his attempts while dry heaving.

The next thing she did was to raise one hand over her shoulder, and then bring down her open palm to the heigh of her waist…

*WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH*

"!!!"

The shockwave she created sent everything flying.

The patrons and the furniture within the tavern got slammed against the walls, and the windows broke and sprayed glass and dust all around the street. The dirty bottles behind the bar that were put there only for show shattered - which could be said about anything remotely brittle, too.

To make things even more devastating, the blast blew apart the scaffolding, and the already unstable construction of the crooked tower crumbled, bringing down one-third of the first floor with it.

…which meant that anyone unfortunate enough to be under that exact wall ended up buried under the rubble...