A Bar From Another World?
After arriving back in town everyone seems to prepare for something as a mysterious door awaits in front of the center of town. Joseph spotted me from the distance from the looks of it.
"The Hero that awoke me from that long slumber is here. The Son of the Woodsman! I can't thank him enough for breaking me out from the Demon Lord's grasp. And now I'm free I can serve the people once more.
And here we are gonna celebrate the successful subjugation of the Demon Lord through this one chance that we enjoy ourselves. Beyond this door right here is a legendary tavern filled with drinks you have never seen before in your life.
Alcohol and food you have never tasted and it's a one time opportunity so let us have our feast and everything is on me!" Joseph pulled me to the stage as he gave his speech.
Everyone seems to be cheering and is excited for this. The door writes… Phantom Cat, an interesting sounding place if you ask me.
Wonder what's beyond this door. Could be anything to be honest. But hey seems like Joseph has full trust on this one I'll let him have this.
"Alan, beyond this door, attaches through another world. But I know this place is a safe haven. You can trust it." The Goddess whispered.
I guess even Lady Agata trusts this place. Let's see what's beyond it then.
Joseph opened the door and immediately a Waitress walked up to us as if she was waiting.
"Welcome to the Phantom Cat, what can we do for you?" Asked the cheerful Waitress.
While Joseph is talking to the Waitress I look around the room and it feels like this is from my world. I saw alcohol on the shelf by the young man wiping up glasses seamlessly working.
Those are alcohol from my world?! Just what is this place?
"Are you okay sir? Is there something wrong?" Asked the cheerful Waitress.
"No, I was just mesmerized by the interior design of this place." I replied hastily.
"I see you liked our interior. The old master of this bar really loved this place so we keep it as is to keep his memory alive." Despite the quite sad story she seems to still keep her cheerfulness.
"Katie, please send our guests to their respective tables. You two gentlemen will be with me on this table." Said the young man behind the bar.
Me and Joseph walked up to him as the other guests were guided by the waitress to their tables. While we sat on the tall chairs nearby the Bartender.
"Nice to see you again Master Vic. It's been a while." Joseph happily greets the bartender whose name is Vic.
"Yes, it has been a while. From the looks of it someone freed you from the Demon Lord's control." Bartender Vic replied.
"Yeah, and this guy made me realize that something was really up from the beginning." Joseph replied.
"Sounds like a rough experience but hey you're here and you're up for drinks. What do you fine gentlemen have in mind for tonight you paying right?" Bartender Vic asked.
"Yeah, I'm paying for tonight. Give me a menu, I'll pick something different this time." Joseph asked for a menu.
"Alright, how about you stranger." Bartender Vic Asked.
"Name's, Alan. I never knew this kind of bar existed." I looked around the bar once more.
"You never expect this kind of special bar anywhere. So got anything in mind for your drink?" Bartender Vic asked me directly.
"Can I have a Last Word?" I replied.
"Ah, something of a classic drinker I see. Sure I'll make one. For our guest of honor. In our shaker we pour in 3/4 ounce equal part gin, green Charteruse, maraschino liqueur, and freshly squeezed lime juice.
Add in our ice and shake well until the mixture is well-chilled. Then on our chilled coupe glass we strain the drink and add in a maraschino cherry for garnish. And here we have it… Last Word, enjoy." The Bartender showed me how he made the drink and with a recipe included.
Seems like he knows cocktails from our world. I'm drinking what my Father drinks in his free time.
"You know this kind of cocktail isn't usually ordered around here. You know this drink already, have you?" Bartender Vic asked a question.
"You could say that. But I've never seen a bar that can cross worlds before so this is also a first for me." I replied.
"Our world to yours is probably the same in terms of name. We're in different dimensions, anyways I like your choice of drink anyways. Can give respect to that one." Bartender Vic nodded after that.
"Oh, Master Vic, can I order a Mojito!" Joseph called Vic.
"Sure you're paying for this anyways. Alright, Mojito, well known throughout the world where I came from. In our shaker we place some fresh sprig of mint, then we add 1/2 ounce of simple syrup on it and begin muddling.
After muddled we add 2 ounces of white rum, 3/4 ounce of freshly squeezed lime juice, after that add ice and begin a brief shake. On our highball glass we add in some pebble ice and gently pour in the mixture.
And top it off with club soda, and finally for garnish a fresh sprig of mint make sure you snap and smack the mint lightly behind your hand to release its minty scent. And a lime wheel to finish off the garnish.
Here we have it, your Mojito. Enjoy gentlemen." With such precision and clear instructions I could actually follow with.
We soon enjoyed ourselves in the bar with the rather calm and cool Bartender who seemed to be running everything here. Got to respect his workplace to be honest, though since I heard that there was a previous owner of this bar.
He's probably the owner's most trusted guy to run this place from the looks of it. Food is indeed great. It reminds me of food from my world which is nice I guess that I get to eat this once again.
I asked the Bartender some more questions while we're there.
"Hey, when will this Bar return to this place? Because I heard the citizens here saying that this is a one time opportunity." I asked.
"Ah, I never told you about this bar. This bar continuously travels through worlds. We never stop traveling and serving drinks to random strangers. That's the very point of this bar, if I told you the previous owner my Master used to be a legendary Hero as well.
He retired and opened up a bar that can serve drinks he loves to make to random people giving smiles and joy to those who love to drink. Who knows your Father might have visited here and ordered the same Last Word." Wait… He mentioned my Father and he knows his favorite drink!?
"How did you know that?" I asked.
"It was just a hunch since you feel comfortable on your seat there drinking it. Here I'll give you another one. It's on the house for that one." The Bartender whipped up another Last Word and placed it in front of me after giving him my empty glass.
Bartenders scare me sometimes since they're good. Some of them are good at reading the situation of a person while drinking.
"Thanks I guess?" I replied as I picked up the free drink.
"This man only appears every few years. And I've only drunk his cocktails like 4 times. Most of that time I enjoyed it with her…" Joseph transitioned from his happy side to slowly frowning.
"My condolences Joseph." The Bartender pats his shoulder.
"I know but she is with me wherever I travel now that she has become my Goddess. I guess I'm happy that she guides me throughout my future journeys from here on out. Hey Alan, I have a question for you." Joseph comments as he calls me to ask a question.
"Yeah, anything to ask?" I replied.
"What are you gonna do now that the Demon Lord here has been subjugated?" Joseph asked.
A good question that I have to answer now.
"Well I plan to follow where the wind takes me I guess. I do have some guidance from my Goddess but I still have a lot of things to uncover about my Father in this world. I wanna know everything he has gone through." I replied.
"Oh you're on the search for your Father's history?" The Bartender seems intrigued.
"Yeah, he was the legendary hero of this world. And I was sent here out of nowhere to learn a lot of his achievements that I never knew he had done. Also I'm here to do heroic deeds as well, not just searching for my Father's history." I replied.
"I guess you can put it that way so you can do something else if you hit a roadblock on your history searching." The Bartender replied.
"Yeah, it can be cold outside. It's nice to drink somewhere warm, cozy for once, am I right?" I answered back.
"I know that feeling and I've been there. But somewhere, sometime now you'll find yourself a permanent place to feel warmth every time you step inside." The Bartender replied.
We continued the night, talking, drinking, and enjoying ourselves. Throughout the night it was a fun one at least.