Ganger Tavern

Chen introduced himself to the stunned duo and placed his heavy spear against the bar. He stretched his stiff neck and oscillated his arms to release some of the tension he had been building up.

"I apologise for being late. I'm new to the area, so it took some time getting here."

"N-No, no worries at all! Sir Adventurer, we're just glad that you're willing to take on our request!" The barmaid instantly switched to a friendlier tone. She adjusted her hair and made sure that there were no creases on her dress before extending her hand out.

"My name is Victoria Belfort! This is my father, Mervin Belfort! We are the ones who posted the subjugation request in the Gorentown Adventurer Guild."

"So I heard," Chen took the hand with a hearty smile. "Also, I'm no Sir. Please just call me Chen."

"How could we possibly do that?!" Victoria waved her arms in distress. "You may look young, but I'm sure that you're at least a B-ranked Adventurer! Otherwise, there's no way that the Adventurer Guild would have sent you to take this request."

"Haha… B-ranked Adventurer, huh..."

Chen's lips twitched a little as he averted his gaze. A muddied emotion flashed through his eyes, and his heart rate slightly increased. Of course, neither of the father-daughter pair was able to pick up on that minute change.

"That's right! A B-ranked Adventurer is someone that we would never see in our lifetimes! We are honoured that you came to our remote place in the first place!"

As a barmaid of a popular tavern, Victoria has seen people from all walks of life. Magicians, merchants, nobles and most common of them all, Adventurers. The Leona Republic relied heavily on Adventurers to complete various tasks within their country. Be it monster subjugations or plain bodyguard duties. Adventurers were the Leona Republic's primary defence.

In fact, even the tavern owner was once a hopeful Adventurer. Therefore, Victoria had seen many Adventurers throughout her young life as a barmaid. The vast majority of them were in the F or E-ranks, with a handful breaking through into the D-ranks.

However, in Victoria's twenty-years living on Ganger Road, she had never once met a B-ranked Adventurer.

"I beg you, Sir Chen! The Death Scythe Mantises have been wreaking havoc on Ganger Road for far too long! None of the merchants or travellers that used our route has returned! If this continues my vacation money, no I mean my life will be in serious danger!"

"Oi Victoria, your true intentions leaked out." The innkeeper face-palmed at his daughter's slip of the tongue.

"Shut it old man! I'm trying to appeal to his protective nature! You should know that a brave hero like him would never abandon a damsel in distress!"

"And what part of you is a damsel?"

The middle-aged man took a deep breath in before pushing his daughter's face away. They had been whispering the entire time, and it was rude to leave their visitor waiting.

"I apologise for my daughter's remarks," the innkeeper handed Chen the water jug he prepared. "We have been waiting for quite some time after all. She'd begun to lose all hope that help would ever come."

"It must've been terrible," Chen replied sadly.

"Yes, it really was! And just when I was beginning to lose hope for my retirement money, I mean my life, you showed up like a knight in shining armour!"

"Father..."

Well, some might say like father, like daughter.

"Ahem, sorry… I got carried away. Here, have some water. You must be tired from the long journey. Rest now, we can talk about the details of the request over lunch. Victoria! Show our esteemed guest to his room! I'm going to prepare him a nice meal for this fine gentleman!"

"Yes, sir!"

Victoria ran to take Chen's luggage from his side and rushed to show him up the stairs. "Please, Sir Chen! Follow me! We have waited for your arrival for a long time and have provided the best room we have in our facility! Not to brag, but at Ganger Tavern, we have nothing but the best bed and breakfast! We'll do everything in our power to make your stay comfortable so don't worry about anything!"

"A-Ah, thanks..."

Chen was swept away by the eccentric duo's antics and was unable to get a single word in. Before he knew it, the young Adventurer was already on a nice comfy bed with a nice pair of towels folded right by him.

"Now then, our shared baths are right down the corridor! If you need any assistance, please just ring this bell here, and I'll rush to your aid! Of course, if you need me to wash your back… Hehe, I wouldn't mind doing it for a B-ranked Adventurer." Victoria blushed and covered the drool that was spilling out from the corners of her mouth.

"N-No, that won't be necessary..."

"You sure? Fine..." Victoria rolled her eyes before leaving Chen with one final message. "I'll call you once father has prepared our lunch! Please enjoy your stay in Ganger Tavern."

The young barmaid left Chen, finally giving the man some peace and quiet.

"Wow, I feel like I was hit by a hurricane..." Chen raised his lips.

The young teenager removed his muddied coat and hung it by the bed. Just as Victoria had suggested, Chen took a fresh change of clothes and headed straight to the baths. It has been a while since he last showered and the putrid odour of sweat and dirt had been piling up.

As Chen washed, he thought back on the events that led to his move to Ganger Tavern. And most importantly, the reverence in Victoria and Mervin's eyes when they first saw him walk through their doors.

"I've heard that this mission has been untouched for about a month, that means they have been living under stress for that long..."

There were a few reasons why the Adventurer Guild didn't send anyone on the request for this long—C-ranked missions required at least a C-ranked team or a B-ranked Adventurer to complete. At the moment, the Leona Republic's Adventurer Guild lacked any talent to be dispatched and truth to be told…

"Ganger Road isn't that used by merchants anyway so they'd thought it would be a waste of resources to clean it up."

There simply wasn't much incentive to complete the request. It was the harsh reality of this world, and Chen had learnt it the hard way. Thinking of Ganger Tavern's plight, Chen felt a nostalgic rush to his head.

"When it had outlived its usefulness, they just threw it away huh… How relatable."

The young man sighed and walked in front of the foggy mirror. He looked older than his age, but Chen was a bona fide seventeen-year-old. In his short seventeen years, Chen had seen all sorts of humans. The good ones, the evil ones, and even the ones who acted good but were evil inside. But no matter who they were, there was one thing that they all shared in common.

Humans were all selfish creatures.

"Hah… I'm really their last hope. Will I really be able to live up to their expectations?"

Two years ago, Chen would have never had imagined that he would have said those words. From a young age, Chen was blessed with gifts that would come once in a generation. He mastered magic at a young age and very quickly rose through the ranks of a magic fighter.

After all, a B-ranked Adventurer was nothing to be scoffed at. For Chen to achieve that level in his young age was a feat few could replicate.

Spells? It wasn't a problem. Aura techniques? Chen could use them in his sleep. Martial arts? The young teenager was far more adept than most fighters in the Alliance Army.

Chen had everything in the world. But it all changed that fateful day…

"Urgh!"

Just as the red-haired youth was about to dry himself, a surging heat arose from the pits of his stomach. It hit Chen like a tsunami and sweat was falling from his crown. He fell to his knees and grabbed hold of his abdomen. The pain persisted for a good five minutes, as Chen fought desperately to keep his groans to himself.

"The relapses are becoming more frequent… What a pain..."

Chen rose to his feet, his cleaned body now covered in sweat.

"Hah… Now I have to shower again… What a pain..."

❖❖❖

"Master! Master! What's that over there?"

"Hmmm? That's a dam. People in the Alliance use it to get hydroelectric power."

"What about that thing?"

"That's a lighthouse. Sailors make use of that to determine where the shores are."

"Oh! What about that?!"

"That's just a house..."

Yachi tapped Roan's shoulders once every ten seconds as they cruised through the skies. They were encased in a mana bubble, one that was flexible enough to endure the high speeds that Roan was pushing it with and resilient enough to protect them from any significant attacks. In addition, Roan created an optical illusion to shield the pair from any peering eyes.

In essence, it was a leisure field trip through the skies for Yachi.

For the young and impressionable girl, everything was new. Even a simple house that looked more sophisticated than a village hut was something to get excited about.

"Master, where are we going now?"

Over the past few days, Roan had been giving Yachi a tour of modern society. Major cities, what technologies they used, what kind of cultures to expect… Roan had to give the young and naive girl a crash course about everything under the sun.

And although it was fun to see Yachi behave like a caveman that had been transported into the new age, Roan had another primary objective in mind.

"Hmmm, honestly, I have no clue! I'm using my main protagonist aura to find your junior disciple! So it'll take a while as we tour."

"... We're just wandering aimlessly?"

"Hey! Don���t say aimlessly! You should know that as the main protagonist, things will just show up on a silver platter to me! I don't need to move a muscle! Aish, you will understand it soon when you go through your development arcs." Roan proudly declared with his head held high.

"Okay..."

Yachi shook her head and just smiled. There were many times where Roan would just speak of things she just simply couldn't understand. In the beginning, she would question him about everything that he meant, but ultimately, the girl quickly learnt to just smile and accept his madness from time to time.

Thus, Yachi moved her mind to another topic.

"Master, why does this road look so abandoned? We've been over it for quite some time, and I've yet to see a single carriage or car?"

"Empty is it? Let me see..."

Roan pulled out his detailed map of the region and scoured through the details of the road.

"Ganger Road, one of the thirteen routes from Malpo Pier to Gorentown. It's mainly used by fishermen, but avoided by merchants due to its close proximity to the forests. Winter isn't here, so there should be some trade… Hmmm, you're right! It's a little odd for it to be completely empty!"

Gorentown was the Capital of the Leona Republic and the centre of all trade within the region. Unless it was winter, the fishermen would likely use the road to transport their fish.

"Is there something wrong with the route? A pothole or avalanche… No, there's nothing. Oh wait, look there's a house there!" Yachi immediately noticed the only establishment located on the road.

"Maybe we could ask them what's going on?"

"We could, but are you really going to..."

Roan was about to shut down Yachi's idea but stopped mid-sentence. He carefully observed the isolated hut with great interest, or rather, he was looking at its inhabitants with his magic eyes. There were two unassuming presences, people that were considered below average to the Magic God. But those two weren't the presences that stopped the Magic God in his tracks.

"What an odd magic source… It's powerful yet fluctuating… Magic circuits are also twisted about… Wait, how the hell is that thing alive?"

"Alive?"

"Hoho, my precious disciple! It looks like your main character aura has been awakened! To think that you've discovered a gem before I did!"

"Gem? There's a gem there?"

"Yeap! Though, whether it's a cursed ruby or a priceless sapphire, we'll have to take a closer look!"

Roan swept Serenity across his face and morphed his facial features away. He did the same with Yachi, disguising her as an ugly boy as her astonishingly good looks could attract some unwarranted attention.

"Ruby or sapphire? Which Pokemon will you be?"