5 Chapter 5

It was safe to say that if Akagi had been paying attention to the boy for this day alone, she would've gone home sufficiently satisfied.

Because as they stood right in front of a small unassuming tavern, Akagi was looking solemnly at her wallet, while Curtis took unsteady steps towards the door.

Tasha on the other hand was just a pace behind the two, desperately holding in his excitement.

In this moment, one could almost liken his expression to that of a normal child his age.

..

"Quiet as ever..." A gruff voice echoed softly through a darkened room from behind a bar.

Only small murmurs were exchanged in this deceptively crowded establishment.

"That's cause you said that you'd wring the necks of whoever made a ruckus..." A voice at the end of the table responded.

"And I meant it!" His voice shattered the calm.

"Then stop commenting on it as if you're in an antsy, black and white, French movie!" A dauntless response came to him, but from the front door this time.

Instantly the whole place went quiet, not even a breath was exchanged in several seconds.

Every eye looked to the source of that callous remark, as there were few who were brave or stupid enough to speak in such manner towards the man standing behind the bar.

And even less.. were those who did not become part of some violent, not so rare, midnight entertainment for the patrons who had little more sense in them.

Immediately the thump of either a very heavy footstep or possibly the drop of a jackhammer echoed through the whole place.

Plates danced on top of their tables and the liquid inside everyone's glass to ripple.

There was at least 10 meters from the bar to the door and countless tables in between.

But somehow from all the way over there Tasha could feel the powerful inhale and exhale of whatever creature was lurking in the shadows.

From the dark, the hulking visage of a man filtered itself into view.

His size was such that it was a wonder how any shadow, regardless of how vast could even begin to be able to swallow him and allow him to lurk within.

Pillar like arms stretched out and supported themselves on top of the bar counter.

Almost immediately, everyone who sat directly opposite of this behemoth decided to pick up their drinks and move as they felt the counter top deform under the immense pressure being applied by that simple gesture.

In contrast, their trio moved towards said figure with Curtis in the lead, Tasha following closely in second

Finally, trailing far behind was Akagi, looking a little queasy as she stepped forward.

"Table for three, all jumbo portion of steaks!" Curtis immediately spoke as she struck a power pose with her hands on her hips.

The mass of muscles began to shift at those words. At this range they could only look up at its rippling chest.

Shortly a face came into view, revealing a middle aged man with short brown hair which connected into the beard running down his chin.

For Tasha who'd only seen such a person for the first time, this person's face actually threw him for a loop.

For someone that gave off such pressure, and had a frightening body, he expected a more dangerous looking face.

Or least an eyepatch of some sort, would help with the image. The slightly charming and soft facial features were most unsuited to the gruff voice he came with.

While he was thinking of such rude things, the man had bent down so that he was looking eye to eye with Curtis.

"Didn't I tell you last time that I would never let you eat here again unless you paid your tab?" His breath as he spoke blew all of their hairs up at such a distance.

"That's right!" Curtis replied without pause, to the questioning gaze of the man.

"Akagi here said she'd take us anywhere we wanted to eat!" Curtis continued, "so, since we want to eat here she will of course cover the tabs as well."

Without further ado, Curtis skipped away leaving just the three of them there.

His annoyed gaze lingered less Han a second on the drunkards back before turning into an amicable smile directed at the flustered Ritsuko. "Hello Ms. Ritsuko Akagi."

"Hi there Art." She waved at him weakly with an tortured grin on her face.

"It truly feels unfortunate seeing such an upstanding loyal customer about to have an unpleasant evening here in the Three Barrels." He said.

"Well I wouldn't really use unpleasant to describe it, just less than optimal." Akagi replied.

Looking at the drunk Curtis once more, Arthur gave a low growl before saying, "Trust me, any moment with a drunk and violent half-step arch mage is bound to be unpleasant, not to mention I have to ask you how you plan to finance tonight's festivities?, words I honestly thought I'd never have to ask you of all people." As he said that, he slipped a piece of paper from between his fingers into her hands.

"You're being too pessimistic Art, the night's still quite young and this is our first and only stop, I doubt even the Earth Fiend can find a way to ruin evening in such a short time," She rallied as she began to talk to Arthur, "Can I use my credit card?"

At this point Arthur reaches out his hand towards her and unfolded the piece of paper in her hands.

Akagi looked down at the paper, and up at Arthur, down at the paper and up at Arthur, down at the paper and up at Arthur, down at....

Needless to say, her actions were repeated for quite sometime before she could formulate the words to speak.

"Can I use my credit cards?" There was only a slight difference from her previous sentence, but the burden in her voice was quite so palpable that pitied stares now showered her from the whole establishment.

...

"How the heck do you owe so much!?" Akagi shouted at Curtis. "Did you eat diamonds? I bet you ate diamonds, didn't you!"

"Let me look at that!" Curtis ripped the paper away from Akagi's hands, "Oh see! He added the cost of furnitures, broken dishes and floor repairs and ceiling repairs and door repairs..."

This went on for quite sometime.

"You know, I thought this was a tavern, people come here for the food and drinks! Why're you ripping people off by making them pay for so many repairs!? It's not like ate the floor or the door or... everything else!" Curtis shouted to Arthur in the back of the bar who couldn't even be bothered to face her direction and look at her, as he was wiping down the countertop.

"I should've picked the place instead of giving you the choice..." Akagi sulked.

"You could've, but I doubt it'd make a difference unless you left the city limits, every restaurant, diner, tavern, bar and club within it is already part of VEFA" Arthur shouted over.

"VEFA?" Ritsuko asked.

"Victims of the Earth Fiend Anonymous, basically a support group for those who have a bill like the one I just gave you, some with less, some with more, mostly more... We even have mileage coins." Arthur said with a proud smile as he held up a bronze coin with the imprints 'Curtis free: 3 months' "though... I guess I have to return this tomorrow" he sighed placing the the coin down.

"Oh that's right! Yeah... I'm not even allowed to order take out anymore, miserly bastards! So usually I use your name to get them to deliver since my Food Dragon has been suspended." Curtis explained.

"Oh My God! No wonder Food Dragon was warning me that my account would be suspended if I continued to deny payments..."

"Right!? The people are all so whiny these days! Oooh You have to pay for food, Oooh you can't just steal the food away from the delivery boy if he doesn't give you the food, Oooh you can't keep making the delivery boy join you to get drunk and eat the food you ordered together, pssh!" Curtis complained.

Akagi could do nothing more than keep her palm on her face.

Arthur who overheard those words had his hands clasped in prayer, thanking God that Akagi was the one covering that woman's bill tonight.

Due to the ruckus they were making, only Tasha perceived a group of three men and a boy walking towards them.

They didn't exactly give off a dangerous feel.

But two of those men were purposely keeping their bodies taut, making their already robust bodies seem bigger.

Like a beast trying to purposely make themselves seem more aggressive to their competitors.

It weirded Tasha out considering that these two men seemed more robust and domineering and yet they were standing on either side of a much weaker looking man and seemed to be following him.

In addition, they were making a bee line towards the table they were sitting in, knocking anyone who crossed their paths out of their way.

The man in the middle kept his sights upon Curtis, a confident grin plastered on his face.

The kid however had spotted Tasha at this table and had been unable or simply did not want to hide his disdain, his mouth formed a disgusted sneer directed at him.

While she was drunk, Curtis still sensed the group moving towards them just a little later after Tasha did and groaned, 'Why won't people leave me alone?' She thought.

Akagi had seen them far longer than the two and now had both her hands on her face as she made a similar groan directly into them. 'I'm already paying her tab and today's dinner, how much will I have left if I have to add today's damages to the list.' She began to calculate.

Despite none of them wanting to meet this group, things rarely happened the way one wanted it to.

In mere seconds the group was standing right in front of them and the man in the middle spoke.

"Good evening ladies" He said.

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